Theme Notebook

Week 1: Podcast
Using my binary opposites war and peace, I found an interesting This American Life podcast discussing current wars and how they relate to those in the past.  The history was interesting; talking about the first invasive war the US fought and what the vikings used to describe complicated battle vocabulary.  The part I was most intrigued with though was a section on the civilian look on wars.  The host interviewed a architect who escaped from Iraq after the first Iraqi war and moved to Canada.  He explained the physiological effect on people having their city destroyed by an enemy targeting a single person, but ending up killing thousands of innocent.

Week 2: Short Stories
This week in school I read an interesting story by Allen Gibbins called The Blokes.  It was about a small private school that accepted refugees from war-torn countries like Kosovo.  Unfortunately, there are a group of British kids who harass these fragile children.  They call themselves the Blokes, and claim they keep these kids in check.  Because my binary opposite was war and peace, I've decided to discuss Kosovo's fight for independence.  During the 13th century, Kosovo and other Baltic states were overcome by the Ottoman Turks.  After centuries of Turkish rule, the Baltic states finally declared independence.  This freedom did not last long though, for the Baltic states formed themselves into a large country called Yugoslavia.  Kosovo was then trapped between the Muslim Albanians and the Christian Serbs.  After the divide of Yugoslavia, Serbia claimed Kosovo for itself.  During the late 1980s, the Serb president Milosevic formed a nationalistic government, claiming the Albanian Muslims in Kosovo would strike the Serb nation.  This rally caused an 'ethnic cleansing' (bombing Kosovo in order to destroy the Muslims), which in turn, got the attention of the UN.  After much debate, the UN decided to aid Kosovo with NATO troops.  NATO began bombing raids on large Serbian cities to encourage the authorities to surrender.  Finally, Milosevic disbanded the military force in Kosovo, ending direct violence, but keeping tensions between the two countries.

Week 3: Computer Games
Believe it or not, computer games contain my binary opposites of war and peace.  One of my favorites it Civilization 5, where you start as a small nation and to grow to a giant empire.  During your growth, it is sometimes necessary to go to war with another nation in order to expand.  The thing I like about this game, though, is the fact that you aren't always fighting someone, but also being diplomatic, too.  Your average game is some crazy guy who goes around killing people.  Civ 5 is much more civilized and complicated.  The point is, war is often the easy way out; it only requires a good army and a purpose.  Peace is much harder; you have to be the better person by ignoring threats and invitations for violence.