#15

When John Thompson was 18 years old, both of his arms were ripped off by a spinning power takeoff shaft on his father's farm in North Dakota. It is estimated that fewer than 10 people have had successful arm reattachments, so Thompson is very lucky. He credits this luck to his surgeon, Allen Van Beek. The doctor grew up in North Dakota as well, and can relate to this particular patient because he was run over by a tractor when he was thirteen. All of Van Beek's hard work on John Thompson and many others has paid off, because this week he was one of the Sioux Award recipients. This award recognizes great accomplishments made by UND alumni, and is very much deserved. Thompson overcame the odds of him having two arms again, much less partially functioning ones. Miracles can happen to ordinary people, and in this case a tragic accident turned into something to celebrate.


Walsh, Paul. "Twin Cities Reconstructive Surgeon Honored". Star Tribune. 19 October 2008. 22 March 2009.
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#14

The article I chose for today is about the love between a husband and a wife that is strong enough to get through anything. The article is written by the husband, and he describes the accident his wife was in about fifteen years earlier. In a car crash she was paralyzed from the waist down. This creates some unusual problems that occur on a daily basis, like bowel movements in her sleep, the inability to have sexual intercourse, sores that took months to heal, leg spasms, and even flying on airplanes or going into public bathrooms. Even though the lives of both of them and their children have been altered completely, the husband is still so in love with his wife and talks about how proud he is of her when she finished a marathon in a wheelchair. Their family has changed their lives, but make sure not to be afraid to ask for help. They are grateful to have their mom in their lives and don't fret about what she can't do.
The determination and support in this family shows what love truly is.


Martine, Lang. "In a Charmed Life, A Road Less Traveled". New York Times. 6 March 2009. 17 March 2009.
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#13

A bombing this month outside of Baghdad killed another 33 people. When we hear these things on the news every day 33 people doesn't sound like a whole lot, but in reality, the death toll of the war in Iraq is larger than anyone can imagine. American and Iraqi deaths alike, they should not be happening any longer. The bombing was a frightening clue that Jihadis and Baathists may be uniting to threaten the Iraqi capital-and officials are worried. Many recent attacks have been on Americans with relatively high security, showing that they were planned out and coordinated far in advance. Some members of the former al Qaeda supporters as well as those of Saddam Hussein are rumored to have banded together and are planning to destabilize Iraq and the US military that occupies it. Suicide bombs, car bombs, regular bombs, machine guns. Everyone needs to work together to bring back peace to both of our countries because the war has lasted too long.




Santora, Marc. "Bomber Kills Dozens in Iraq as Fears of New Violence Rise". New York Times. 10 March 2009. 15 March 2009.

#12

For this week's blog about colonization, an article was hard to find. Which is why I stole it from Claire because she has good ideas. In Darfur the youth are known for the rebelliousness. Young men are called "Shabab", which literally means "young men" in arabic. The Shabab work against the Sheiks of Sudan, fighting for what they believe is right, and violently killing those who stand in the way. Sheiks in Darfur have been found dead in numerous ways; shot at point blank range, a nail hammered into the forehead. These hotheaded youths have been growing up in a time of war and colonization by other African ethnic groups. It is no wonder that they are accustomed to violence considering it has been around them forever. Since the boys are opressed and live in camps such as the Hamadiya, people fear an uprising of a Shabab military group. There is the possibility, but Darfur does not need any more violence in its midst and this should definitely be controlled by anyone in power.






MacFarquhar, Neil. “Angry Youths Become a Force in Darfur.” New York Times. 20 December 2008. 11 March 2009. .

#11

Deforestation has always been a problem around the globe, but things have gotten especially bad on the island of Sumatra. The charred stumps and barren fields have been destroyed by paper and palm oil companies. not only does it affect air quality, but it affects the animal population and Sumarian people's livelihoods. One man said that a year ago he could earn up to 100 dollars a week catching shrimp, but now he is lucky to earn 5 dollars a month doing the exact same thing. Uses for the coveted palm oil include cosmetics and beauty products-but more increasingly it is used for biodiesel. Even the actual cutting of the trees is harmful to the environment, carbon stored in the trees is emitted into the atmosphere causing 20% of all greenhouse gasses.
More attention needs to be focused on the things that will have long term effects on our planet, and hopefully the Indonesian government will take action.


Gelling, Peter. "Forest Loss in Sumatra Becomes A Global Issue". New York Times. 6 December 2007. 8 March 2009.
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#10

The article I read is about the tough temptations for alcoholics during the holidays. When everyone around them, friends and family, are getting into the spirit--it can be hard to refuse "just one". With things such as eggnog martinis, Christmas Eve can tend to get a little out of hand as it starts to get late and people keep drinking wine. For the author, Jim Atkinson, the holidays also carry memories of mingling with drink in hand; and what it feels like to be drunk. It has been sixteen years since Atkinson had his last drink, and he remembers that it always took him much longer to pass out than his friends. Maybe in college this was something to brag about, but later in his life he reflects on how that led him to his alcohol problem. During the holidays family and friends should be considerate of party guests with alcoholism, and offer "virgin" versions of cocktails and other beverages.


Atkinson, Jim. "Its the Holidays. How About Just One?". New York Times. 8 December 2008. 3 March 2009. .

#9

The popular Bollywood movies in India and the middle east are a big part of culture in those countries. So big, that an Israeli arms dealer used the film style as a promotional video describing the benefits of Indo-Israeli defense trade relationship.
The advertisement was shown at Aero India 2009, and a company representative was questioned about the nature of the video. He said that the purpose was “to help build familiarity between India and Israel and Rafael.” Some critics have responded well to the attempted methods, while others have criticized it more harshly. Stephen Trimble, on his DEW Line blog called it a “catastrophic collision of Bollywood and the arms industry, and dared readers to watch the video “and, if you’re able, immediately erase the awful tune from your brain.”
I'm not sure how effective it would actually be in creating a weapon-trade alliance, but it might be a good start in winning over the people's favor of the agreement. Although the video is obnoxious, it does compare to Bride and Prejudice that we watched in class.


Mackey, Robert. "Israeli Arms Dealer Tries Bollywood Sales Pitch". New York Times. 10 February 2009. 1 March 2009.
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