March 5, 2014

Today, there was a Supreme Council meeting at lunch regarding the P-Olympics. Period 5 is sponsoring the water balloon toss and the limbo competition. Anyone can sign up to be photographers (though those positions may already be taken), broadcasters, or helpers.
Afterwards, we learned about the Battle of Somme. In a five mile area, which is from West to Best Buy, a battle happened, and "a lot of people died in [that] one battle." (Paul Ji) More than 1,000,000 soldiers died in that battle.
As we were going over what to do for the worksheet and were about to start reading document A, at 1:16, Mr. P. remembered about the Academy Awards for the World War 1 play actors. Remember, nominations are 100 points each, and winning a category is 300 points. Because of the awesome actors, actresses, and narrators, our stock went up 11 points! Way to go Period 5 Green Machine!
At 1:27, we read through Document A and discussed the questions along the way. The homework for that is to finish reading the other articles and answering the questions. Don't forget to write ONE LARGE paragraph on the back; it's due tomorrow WHEN THE BELL RINGS.
After that, we continued going over the propaganda worksheet. I don't have quotes or times for this because the class history stopped going around at 1:43... Guys, please stop doing that. It impairs this blog every time there is little information or the log stops going around.

-I

Interesting SWEN to read:

Iraq: More Than 700 Confirmed Dead in February

Iraq is also continuing to see increased levels of violence. The United Nations confirmed more than 700 people died in Iraq in February alone, most of them civilians, a higher toll than the same month last year. The total does not include nearly 300 deaths reported in Anbar province where security forces are fighting rebels.

Report: Israeli Settlements in West Bank Doubled Last Year

President Obama’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came as Israeli government figures showed Israel initiated more than twice as many West Bank settlement homes last year than it did the previous year. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics said construction began on more than 2,500 settlement housing units in 2013, compared to just more than 1,100 the year before. Last year’s number is the highest in a decade. In the West Bank’s Jordan Valley, Palestinian residents and local officials say Israel has demolished hundreds of homes.

Ali Ka’abneh, Jordan Valley resident: "The Israeli occupation forces came here on the 29th. They came in the morning, of course, while we were sleeping, at 6:30 with their bulldozers and their soldiers. They gave us 10 minutes to leave the buildings we lived in, and then they demolished them all at once, without any warning at all."

Arif Daraghmeh, head of Al-Maleh Council: "The occupation has demolished more than 500 structures in the past year alone in this area, and now the Israeli army and occupation is carrying out all these policies in order to pressure the people and drive them out. They have demolished these tents and driven out the inhabitants, and they plan to have exercises in this area and to build more settlements and military camps."