Monday Matters- Marking Period 3 Week 1

Are We Getting Nicer? By Nicolas D. Kristof

Even though to many right now it may seem like the world is in chaos, when you look at are time from a historical context, we have made a lot of progress in "human decency"at least. There is less discrimination based on sex and race, and less violence (in war or otherwise). Either though civilian deaths and genocide still happen, now there is a general acknowledgment that it is wrong, as opposed to when it was just a fact of war. The reasons for this moral progress may include growing sympathy and education and declining chauvinism. 

Monday Matters- Marking Period 2, Week 5 Synthesis

Before, I did research on the case of Anwar al-Awlaki, I wasn't really sure about my opinion, and though the process of reading different viewpoints, I found that I could sympathize with both sides. I think that anti-terrorism measures are necessary, but I'm not sure to what extent they justify acts that may break with America's founding ideals. Anwar al-Awlaki's death as an American citizen is unfortunate, and I think that it would have been better if he got his right of due process, but I don't think that we can retrospectively judge events that are ambiguous in details, nor should we too harshly criticize the Obama administration for measures of national security. However, action needs to be taken, to more precisely define the exact powers that the executive branch has in these kinds of situations, so that something like this doesn't happen again. I do believe that there are circumstances that justify killing an American citizen, however in Anwar al-Awlaki's case I'm not sure whether that it was justified or not. Carefulness, thought, and time must however be put into these delicate decisions. However, in the case of Anwar al-Awlaki's son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, I am more sure that his death was wrong (despite his proximity to more justifiable targets). Nothing justifies the drone-strike killing of a 16 year-old, much less a 16 year-old American citizen, and I am dismayed that there has been much less press concerning Abdulrahman al-Awlaki's death, and the lack of an official response from the Obama administration concerning this tragedy.

Monday Matters-Marking Period 2 Week 5, Visual(s)

 

http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/09/photos-anwar-al-awlaki-killed-in-yeman/#name%20here 

These images of Anwar al-Awlaki  are as contradictory as accounts of his history. In one he is smiling;in the other his mouth is open in commanding speech. In one he is posed next to a white, non-Muslim women; in the other he is alone. In one his arms are relaxed and crossed; in the other his hand is strikingly pointed in a deliberate act of nonverbal communication. In the second picture al-Awlaki is a banner for Muslim/non-Muslim friendly relations; in the first he is a rallying call for jihad. The first picture is absent of a recognizable background, rather his fence-like surrounding seems manufactured for the cause of not distracting from his video, while in the second Muslim children can been seem behind al-Awlaki and Patricia Morris, symbols of innocence and purity that contrast the violence he is calling for in the first. In both pictures, al-Awlaki's clothing contrasts with the background, however the colors of black and white are flipped, symbolizing the change that has occurred in him from the time of the second picture to the first one.