Global Warming

The argument over whether or not global warming is an actual problem that is threatening the lives of many of the animals that live in below freezing areas and harming the environment or just a myth created by scientists to see if they can get people not as smart as they are to believe whatever they tell them is the truth, still continues to this day. Although whether or not this warming of the earth is actually occurring the United Nations has some definite ideas on what should be done about this “crisis.” One of the United Nations first steps to keeping the world green was in 1992. At the Earth’s Summit, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change pledged to avoid dangerously affecting the climate by the buildup of greenhouse gases and not burning as many fossil fuels that we have been doing in the past. Under this agreement countries have agreed to establish national action plans to reduce these harmful factors.

The United Nations realized in 1995 that the Framework convention isn’t getting them the results they had planned on.

In 1997, countries that are members of the UN negotiate and agree on the Kyoto Protocol. Under the Kyoto Protocol the countries decided to set a goal to individually reach a national reduction target. Though the Kyoto Protocol was never meant to be a permanent or complete solution it is said to be a great step forward to reducing the affect we are having on our planet’s environment.

In 2009, at the United Nation’s conference in Copenhagen, the United Nations had their last opportunity to come up with a new policy before the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. They came up with another idea to try and reduce our role in global warming. This was called the Copenhagen Accord. This new policy included a mechanism to channel incentives to lower the number of forests being cut down and trees being disposed of. The Copenhagen Accord’s long term goal is to basically reduce the global temperature by at least two degrees. The Copenhagen has short term goals as well to help reduce their role in what people believe to be global warming.

In my opinion, global warming is not something that is actually occurring. I think that humans have not been on the world long enough to know all of the earth’s cycles and how often there is an ice age and how often there is a slight warming of the earth. Although, I do agree with cutting back our carbon footprint and not leaving the earth littered with our trash and waste products. I agree with the United Nations decision to cut down the affect we have on the earth and to do all that we can to be green and make an effort to keeping our planet beautiful and a healthy place to live. Even if we do not all agree with or believe that global warming is occurring, we can still all do our part and all that we are able to do to cut down our global impact.

Idi Amin

“In any country there must be people who have to die. They are the sacrifices any nation has to make to achieve law and order.” -Idi Amin


Idi Amin, who was also known as the “Butcher of Uganda” due to his brutal rule while he was president of Uganda in the 1970s. Idi Amin is possibly the most well known of all Africa's dictators. Idi Amin was the president of Uganda from 1971-1979. He was also a military dictator that killed more than 500,000 Ugandan citizens. Idi Amin was began by being welcomed by both Uganda and by the world.


Idi Amin referred to himself as "His Excellency, President for life, field marshal, Al Hadji Doctor." Which explains a lot about his reign. Idi Amin's rule was not a pleasant one. It could be summed up in the words abusing basic human rights, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and economic mismanagement. Idi Amin wasn't always a monster. He started out as just another young man, although somewhere between being a cook and becoming a dictator, something drastically changed.


Idi Amin had always been friendly with Israel and Britian, but in 1972 Idi Amin began attacking Israeli and British people, for no other reason then the fact that he didn’t like that they would not sell him weapons. Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi agreed to aid Idi Amin kill these people. With Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi’s help Idi Amin began forcing Israelis and fifty thousand Asian people out of Uganda.


Idi Amin’s policy was to stay in power at any cost. He would do anything to stay in control. Even if that meant killing people that opposed him. He used violence and terror to get rid of his enemies, whether they were real, or because of his paranoia, imaginary. There were several ways Idi Amin disposed of his opponents. Such as in 1971. Idi Amin became aware that Obote intended to arrest him based on charges of embezzling millions of dollars of military funds. While Obote was out of the country in January, Idi Amin had an idea that would take care of the Obote problem. Idi Amin was declared president and chief of the armed forces and almost right after he begins mass execution of troops he believed to be loyal to Obote.

Under Idi Amin’s rule, money and wealth had become more important than human life. Idi Amin used dehumanization to feel better about the fact that he was slaughtering his citizens. The human casualties of Idi Amin’s rule was extremely large. He killed thousands upon thousands of Ugandan citizens.


When citizens of Uganda and the world began to doubt Idi Amin and the way his rule was going he attacked Tanzania, a neighboring country to the south, in October. Tanzanian troops, as well as exiled and armed Ugandan citizens, put Amin's army to flight and in turn, ended up invading Uganda.

"Even Amin does not know how many people he has ordered to be executed... The country is littered with bodies."

-Henry Kyemba, Idi Amin's longtime friend and a former health minister.

In 1942 Irena Sendler joined Zegota, or the Council for Aid to Jews, in German-occupied Warsaw. She, along with twenty-five friends, were part of a plot to help Poland children escape from the Ghettos and into orphanages or Non-Jewish families that were willing to adopt them. Sendler would hide the children in suitcases full of clothes she was taking to orphanages. When sneaking out small children, she would give them drugs to keep them from crying and when she was sneaking out older children she would have them pretend to be sick and they would be taken away in ambulance. Although, it was most common that children would be taken through sewers, underground tunnels, or through the old court house. Once they were out of the Ghetto’s borders, Sendler would give them fake names and papers. She would make lists of the names of the children that she helped to escape, she would put the lists in jars, and then bury them in a garden so that one day she could dig them up and (hopefully) reunite them with their parents, or even just to tell them who they really are. Every day that she would sneak kids out, she ran the risk of getting caught. The danger of smuggling kids out of Ghettos wasn't over once they were in their new homes. If the families that are taking care of the Jewish children were caught by the Nazis, they all could be killed. More than 700 people were killed due to this.

Though, the hardest part of sneaking the kids out of the Ghettos, would be getting the parents to let go of their kids. Parents were reluctant in letting their children go, but they would rather them escape than die inside the Ghetto. In some cases the parents would let go but grandparents would object.

I think that letting the kids go and letting them have a chance at living would be better than staying with their families, waiting to die. And yes, the risk of dying would still be with them if they tried to escape, but the possibility of getting a second chance at life would be more than enough motivation for me. Letting go of my children would be hard, but I don’t think I would be able to live with myself if I robbed them of a second chance that deserved. Although, I understand why the parents wouldn’t want to let the children go, I still think that if they had a chance to save their kids and give them opportunities that they have been denied that you should let them live and be happy.

When she was caught, the Nazis broke both of her legs, her arms, and she was beaten severely. Her coworkers bribed one of the guards holding her captive, and she was in put hiding for most of the rest of her life.

Irena Sendler devoted and risked her life by working to free these kids. When all was said and done, she saved the lives of more than 2,500 kids. Irena Sendler had the courage to do what most of us would never be able to.

James Joyce

James Joyce might have been one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Although, many of James Joyce’s books that contain his new “stream of consciousness” type of writing are so confusing and hard to read that most people give up before they even finish the book. A site called Literary Kicks even says, “There cant have been more than three or four people who have ever read “Finnegan’s Wake” in its entirety from cover to cover, and its likely only one of them truly understood it. That would have to be its author, James Joyce.” They also said to “consider the ending, exceptional in itself for being one long run-on sentence that goes on for more than forty pages.” He wrote his books with the intent to belittle people and show them that he is so much smarter than they are. James Joyce was quoted as saying, “I’ve put so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality.” Joyce takes pride in the fact that he writes about things that no one but him can even begin to comprehend. I would never want to read any of his books just because they are so intimidating. Even the fact that I would have to dissect and think about every single word that he is saying, who it is being said to, and what he means by that is already way too much work than I am willing to put into reading a book. James Joyce just comes off as being arrogant and conceited and the thought of glorifying his work by reading one of his books is just ridiculous. In my opinion, a man to classifies his work as, “the demand that he makes of his reader is that he should devote his whole life to reading his works,” just comes off as being self centered and egotistical. James Joyce’s controversial books have been banned from school and cities and have been burned because the content of his books, and because during his characters “stream of consciousness” there are many sexual references and the mind of the character is very dirty, obviously since the main character is a man. While James Joyce and his wife, Nora Barnacle, were sending letters to each other that were said as being “quite pornographic.” I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise, though, that James Joyce’s crude and boorish attitude got carried out into his writings. James Joyce may have been a revolutionary writer during his time but the way he acted towards his readers and towards his friends was just plain out of line. Since he was successful and made such an important contribution to writing he should be more humble and not as proud. James Joyce was a good writer but he should have been more respectful to his peers and to the people that went out and bought his books.