What I liked about this book, is how it gave you essentially an "Inside Drop" about the Vietnam war. Fallen Angels is a very detailed, yet fictional account about a soldier Richard Perry, during the Vietnam War. Walter Dean Myers, (author) writes this book in first person, and the way he writes the story really connects you to Richard. The book contains many close deaths, Anticipation, and thrill, as the US soldiers venture throughout Nam. I say an "inside drop", because when most people think of war, they think of soldiers marching on the battlefield, always fighting. In this book, most of it was sitting around at their camp, waiting for something to happen, and I conversed with some family friends who participated in the Vietnam war, as well as others, and truly most of it was just sitting around. Every now and then, the soldiers would jump up and fight for maybe 3 pages, maybe a bit more, and everything was super crazy, and the Adrenaline pumps up, and then it's over. Back to sitting around. That is how war works, and that is why I liked the book, it was very realistic. By the end of the book, many soldiers had died, but the war was over, and the citizens of America rejoiced. I feel like the general takeaway from the book is that war really isn't just fighting and fighting, like all the other stories depict it, and I liked knowing that. However, when the soldiers were fighting or walking through the hamlets, which were cities around their camps Walter Dean Myers had a very accurate description of what the war was like, since he himself participated in the Vietnam War, and I thought that was pretty cool.
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So I was thinking about how the Vietnam/ Cold War relates to the situation of today's world. Like what is similar, and what is different. I did a bit of research, and here is what I found. So I have heard some things about North Korea planning to wipe out the US and Syria with massive bombs, just a bit smaller than a nuclear bomb, and recently, our beloved President decided to release a different massive bomb, also known as the "Mother of all Bombs." This can't help but remind me of the Arms/Space Race that took place during the Cold War. Like I had stated in my previous post, the Congs would overload on drugs to not feel pain while in battle, until they die, and well then, you feel nothing. I read a book last year called "A long way Gone," by Ishmael Beah. This book is a personal account of the author's experience as a Child Soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone, which took place from 1991-2002, and they used that same method. These were my connections from Nam to Now, hope you enjoyed reading it!
Fallen Angels is a story about a young man named Perry, and his adventures throughout the Vietnamese war. He goes to Vietnam at the beginning, were the war is taking place. Since the book is about Nam, some of the facts in it must be pretty well based, since the Vietnam war did actually occur. For example, there is a very graphic part when the soldiers are walking through the woods in Vietnam, and there are dead bodies pinned on the trees. this is a legitimate thing that the Congs did in the war. There are many other dangers that the general tells the soldiers about, including how the Vietnamese used all these drugs and things before a fight so they will literally fight until they drop. This technique has been used all over history, in multiple wars throughout time. It started with the Chinese during the Ming Dynasty, and is still even used today, so it's got to be effective. This made the Vietnamese fighters very difficult to defeat, since they felt virtually no pain. This too, was a true technique used by the Congs. Along with that, the general tells them about the the dangers of the Vietnamese Black Market, as well as the diseases they could gain while in the area. This includes the diseases gained by air, food, and other things along those lines, but also the dangerous STDs possible to get while in the area. I looked it up, and Vietnam is a very dangerous place, disease-wise, especially when it comes to the places like Chu Lai, where the soldiers in my book are fighting.
INTRODUCTION
A clean environment is good for more than just looking pretty. As the North Carolina Public Safety website explains, “Everyone knows that litter creates an eyesore and an image problem. But littering is not only ugly, it can be dangerous.” Not only that, “Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, but it contributes to your physical well being, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. (University of Minnesota).” Even Scientific American describes how studies have shown the positive impacts a clean environment has on health (2012). So, shouldn’t we strive for the cleanliness of our environment? As children, many people visit parks, go to pools, and walk on green ways to enjoy the environment. These public areas of our state are part of our childhoods, and they will be a part of the future too. Future children and animals will visit same parks, breath the same air, and drink the same water we are using today. That’s why everyone should work to protect these important facilities. According to the NC Department of Public Safety, “In 2015, the North Carolina Department of Transportation spent more than $15 million to remove approximately 7.5 million pounds of roadside litter.” The government has done a lot to help, but there are still things we can do, but what exactly are we up against? ISSUE The excessive pollution we emit into our atmosphere could cause major issues in air quality, water quality, and roadside litter. This could lead to an unhealthy community. Since the parks are as dirty as they are, no one will want to go to them, and the companies who run the parks will lose money. Then, they will be unable to provide us with more parks and greenways to supply our recreational needs. If you think about it, water has to come from somewhere. If one water source is infected, it could spread to the whole watershed. However, trash here and there doesn’t cause all pollution. There is also ozone and diesel pollution. Cleanaircarolina.org explains to us that ozone pollution happens when car exhaust reacts with sunlight, causing nitrogen oxides to form. Diesel pollution comes from trucks, buses, trains, and construction equipment. Throwing out trash or other harmful things into our environment has been a problem for almost as long as humans have been around. Throughout the previous centuries, humans he have had poor sanitary conditions, which Mother Nature mostly took care of herself. Unfortunately, as time went on, throughout Industrialization in America and all the other countries, this little bit of trash here and there, and all the energy sources that were used resulted in severe air quality issues all over the world. The amount of trash that the average North Carolinian generates each year, is equivalent to the weight of 7,866,666 cars. Today, places with high industrialization have incredibly high Particulate Matter Concentration(PM). India, has a PM of a massive 75. Egypt, has a PM is 73. Turkey, is also 73. And in China the PM is 71. In America, the Average PM is 10. Here are some images of the air in the cities I had previously mentioned. China, Egypt, Turkey, India, Water in India CURRENT SOLUTIONS People are doing what they can to protect our environment from pollution. Pollution is a serious matter in today’s society. The greenhouse gases that we emit from various sources, such as cars and burning other fossil fuels, badly damages the environment, by releasing greenhouse gasses. Many organizations are trying to minimize the amount of greenhouse gas in our atmosphere, like the Clean Air Carolina organization. Their goal is to inform citizen the types and dangers of air pollution. You can find their website in the sources listed below. Air pollution is not the only way we’re hurting our environment. We are also tossing chemicals and waste into our water under the impression that it will be cleaned out at a plant. Instead, the waste is going to the nearest stream or pond. This water is contaminated with fertilizers, paint, oil, and other devastating chemicals we overlook. This can heavily affect the wildlife in the area that gets its drinking water from the water source. The City of Raleigh is a government body that handles some of the everyday things that happens in Raleigh. They have decided that the runoff pollution we cause has gone on long enough. They are asking that you report anyone you see that is disposing anything other than storm water into a storm drain. They plan to clean up the water we have so long polluted. You can find a link to their website in the sources. Aside from air and water pollution, there is also littering itself. We see people doing it on a regular basis, despite the fine for it. Littering is not only an environmentally menace, but a safety hazard as well. For example, on June 9th, a sofa fell out of the back of a pickup truck onto I-40 and caused a crash that destroyed $20 million dollars worth of insulin. This is a larger scale of littering, but it conveys the point. NC Public Safety is another government body that encourages people to make a “ Litter Free NC”. They inform people of the hazards of littering and what it could do to you. Littering is a problem we can end today! See the NC Public Safety link below. SERVICE PROJECT Pollution is a big problem, and the solution requires everyone's participation. Air pollution and water pollution might be difficult to deal with, but litter is a direct result of us. So it’s our job to fix it. We have to pick up after ourselves, or other people, to ensure that our community stays a healthy, safe place to live. We will organize a litter clean-up and walk to House Creek trail, split up into small groups, and pick up trash for two hours. Some things we would need to do before the clean up are:
Although pollution is such a big issue, if we all work together we can make a difference. Achieving our goal will make our neighborhood will be a little bit cleaner. HERE’S THE SITE FOR THE ACTIONN PLAN: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17VsxdL2Qa9WIkFQOkxEWbcQ7Rc0IAdjNCfTZ7o-Tgvo/edit Bibliography: What Others Are Doing: https://www.raleighnc.gov/environment/content/PWksStormwater/Articles/WaterPollution.html https://www.ncdps.gov/DPS-Services/Crime-Prevention/Litter-Free-NC Sources for Intro: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nature-that-nurtures/ https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/enhance-your-wellbeing/environment/nature-and-us/how-does-nature-impact-our-wellbeing Sources for Issue https://cleanaircarolina.org http://www.re3.org/docs/nc_recycling_stats_facts_with_calculations.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_polluted_cities_by_particulate_matter_concentration I am comical most of the time however I can be a hard worker if i put my mind to things. I greatly enjoy hanging around with my friends, especially when time allows. I can joke around with you for a while but if you get carried away my temper snaps, I usually try to apologize, however sometimes my emotions take control. I tend to question what others think before I do. I am also quite the debater, however I can listen respectfully to others' opinions while they speak. If you are talking to me, I will take into consideration what you have said and use it to support your ideas as well as others. I try to be supportive of everyone and their choices, unless you step over the line.
Poverty is an issue that affects a VERY large quantity of people worldwide. There are some areas that are more affected by poverty, in fact, 9.6% of the world's population, is impoverished. That is nearly 1/10 of the entire world! In multiple ethnic groups, poverty is greater than in others. For example, with whites, poverty doesn't affect them as much. However, with African Americans, poverty seems more usual. The most impoverished countries are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Burundi. There isn't much we can do to solve this issue, except raise awareness to the larger authorities, and see if they could do something about it. I believe that if we can raise more awareness about this matter, hopefully our President could maybe try to do something about it as well.
Public Transportation is a major issue here in Raleigh, NC. In my opinion, we definitely do not have enough public transportation. Yeah, we do have CAT buses and things but I do not think there are enough, and also, I hardly see anyone on them. So I think we should have a metro or subway of some sort. they travel much faster and are far easier to access than a bus or taxi. I also believe there aren't enough taxis, and taxis cannot fit many people, however a metro could. North Carolina isn't the only place suffering from lack of transportation, there are many other cities without much public transportation which is confusing to me, since how in the early 1900/ late 1800s, when us Americans went through all that trouble to build trains, yet with the new evolution of trains, only major states like New York, and Washington DC are overloaded with this. Shouldnt we connect the whole US instead? Even if that only means a few Metro stations in less populated areas, that still makes sense to me. So I think a good solution to this issue is to build more subways throughout the US, rather than mostly compacted in very populated areas.
Many face great hardships through immigration. This includes the immigrants, and the countries these immigrants are coming to. between 1820 and the 2000s, 10,170,928 refugees came to America. these immigrants did not know at the time that they would come to face many racial discrimination, prejudice, racial slurs, and all kinds of things separating them from "Real Americans. people from all over the world including Oceania, Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe, all came to America seeking a new future. They may have expected things almost like how the animals from the movie "Zootopia," expected Zootopia to be. Anyone Can be or do anything they want, and we all hold hands and sing Kumbaya! Well sorry folks, that ain't exactly how we 'Murican's do. Ellis Island, also known as the first immigration station, was a beacon to millions around the world as a representation of "America" and when the immigrants would get there, this was the first thing they would see. From then on, they would then have the whole rest of their life to themselves, and for most of these immigrants, even jobs were really hard to come by, so they and their families could end up living in Slums, like this hyperlink I found for you all. http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/men-sit-outside-their-shacks-in-a-new-york-slum-in-the-early-1900s-picture-id515578712
as you could probably see, america wasn't all fun and games for New Americans. |
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