Midterm Projects

                 As a class I thought we did very well. All presentations that were made in class used many different TOK terms. Also I thought the topics that were picked appeared to be very well thought out and pre planned. However I felt that some people focused more on the topic itself rather then the TOK terms. Most people just wrote a list of terms that connected rather than integrating it in. People also seemed to have an issue with time. Also there most presentations did not have a conclusion or an exact wrap up of the situation.  Some presentations were unclear about what the problem of knowledge was, but were more focused on the two different views of their topic.

For Kathleen and my project I felt like we did a very good job. Our problem of knowledge question was repeated throughout the presentation and was in our presentation outline about three times. I also felt that our TOK terms were well integrated with our topic. Instead of just talking about the terms that applied we used them throughout the presentation. Also I felt as though our time management was pretty good. We got in everything we wanted to say, but were unable to leave any room for much discussion. I also thought our outline was very strong, and I liked how we included the definitions of the terms we used there, instead of taking time in our presentation to do it like other people did.

 

War Speack

At least eight people have been killed and more than a dozen injured after a series of bomb blasts ripped through Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.
At least three including a policeman died in two blasts in New Baghdad district in the east of the city.
In the west of the city, three Iraqi soldiers died when a roadside bomb hit their military convoy.
Two civilians were killed in explosions in the central commercial district of Karrada, and near a police checkpoint.
The blasts occurred during the morning rush hour. Police said the explosions had mainly targeted Iraqi security forces.
'Pools of blood'
The US military said Iraqi police were hit when explosives planted on a truck detonated as they responded to the first blast in New Baghdad.
"I rushed out with others to see three bodies on the ground in pools of blood, " a witness, Mohammed Nasir, told AP news agency.
"This place has witnessed several bombings before and we fear that violence will come back after a period of quiet."
The explosions occurred on a road running through the commercial district, which local residents said was frequently used by police and army convoys.
Iraq has become less violent since the US military surge was launched 18 months ago.
More recently, however, Iraqi security forces have been targeted as they increasingly take the lead in military operations.

^taken from : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7823906.stm

I thought this was a good article to show that now we do not seem to hide military violence with 'war speak'. this article graphically describes people lying in a pile of blood. Also it doesn't try to cover the word bomb with any type of term or label. The word explosion and blasts are not covered by a less harsh word. Its almost as if the world has become so used to war and its violence that it is not as nesacary to dehuminanize the langauge to make it sound less evil. However this article appears to be written to make you feel bad for the innocents who were killed, and not to talk about a victory that was a result of these deaths. This may be why such harsh langauage is used.