Blog Assignment#6

Topic Three

Hi, everyone, this blog is my assignment which asks us to do some research on NDAA so that we can know clearly about NDAA, and then discuss was there any connection between NDAA and Zeitoun’s experiences. 

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a United States federal law that makes budget and expense for the United States Department of Defense.  In another word, federal government takes some money from tax and put it into building.  It was signed by President George W. Bush in 2006 and 2008, and house people voted to pass it.  In 2009, 2010, 2011, President Barack Obama signed for it, and passed by Congress.  However, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 is still being debated by congress.  Actually, this act was for protecting United States’ safety, affording armies’ health care cost and counter-terrorism.  Although most senators agreed this act, there were seven senators voted against it.  They were Thomas Coburn, Thomas Harken, Mike Lee, Jeff Merkley, Rand Paul, Bernard Sanders and Ron Wyden.  As a matter of fact, this act gave militaries authority to arrest people whom they suspect without any proves.  However, it is very dangerous and unfair to citizens because anyone has a chance to be arrested without any explanation.  In the Book “Zeitoun” written by Dave Eggers, Zeitoun was arrested by the black men who had no identification and abused in the prison.  However, there was not such an act at that time, so they did not do it legally.  NDAA make it legally, and it can be a nightmare to Zeitoun and other people who was tortured.

Blog for the English orientation

Hi, everyone, my name is Vince Li.  In this blog, I am going to talk about the orientation I attended last Thursday.  In the orientation, the professors introduced the Creative Writing major.  They said this major could help us develop our writing, research and critical thinking skills which are very useful in our future.  They also talked about poems.  Actually, I like poems, and I am also good at Chinese poems.  They gave us a form, which we could easily change our major.  However, I am more interested in Science than art courses, but this orientation really gave me some information about Creative Writing major. 
By the way, there were some games in the orientation.  Those question were so difficult to me.  I could not answer any of them.  At last, there were some random prizes, and there were 2 times I almost got it.
All in all, that was a useful orientation.

In class about twitter

Original tweeter: Kathy tried by all means not to hv the kids worried abt their father. She lied to them, but deep inside their knew things weren't ok(184).

It was so funny because Kathy was so worried about Zeitoun but she had to pretend she wasn't.  She had to lie to her children that their father was safe so that her children could go to school.  It was hard for Kathy.  However, all of them knew Zeitoun was not OK.  They all knew Zeitoun were doing a rough time, but they didn't want each other to be crushed. 
(@Digna101)

Hurricane Sandy

                In this blog, I am going to talk about my personal feeling about Hurricane Sandy, which New York City has not met for a long time. 

                October 28, 2012, the day before Hurricane Sandy came, Mayor Bloomberg announced that Hurricane was coming, and it would cause serious consequences.  I was wandering if it just liked Hurricane Irene which we met last year.  Last year, people worried about Hurricane Irene, but it turned out it was not a big deal.  Therefore, I did not pay much attention on Hurricane Sandy.

                Last night, I was just reading “Zeitoun” which is one of my assignments when people told me something happened.  My friends told me that subway was flooded and many areas were out of electrical service.  I went out of my home, and I saw everything was fine.  The wind was so strong, but obviously there was little rain. 

                It reminded me Zeitoun and Cathy.  Should we leave New York City to other states? I did not think so.  I knew New York City is safer than New Orleans because New York City is above the sea level, and the buildings are more secure.  However, it was very excited as I was reading “Zeitoun” when Hurricane Sandy came.  There were several times I thought I was in Zeitoun’s shoes.  I wanted to go out of my home and save the people who were in need.  Before long, I realized I was just reading a book, and everything outside was OK.

                Actually, Mayor is very important in saving the city.  If I were in Mayor Bloomberg’s position, I would first shut down all the subway because subway is underground, and it can be easily flooded.  Second, I would find a safe place to settle down those people who live in dangerous areas.  Third, I would financially support those people who were deeply affected by Hurricane Sandy.  In fact, I would do some research first to make sure government’s money would not waste on the people who is not in need.

                Finally, I was shocked when I heard Hurricane Sandy because before long I just wrote an essay about if New York City was ready for flood.  So far as I know, Hurricane Sandy has caused 39 people died and hundreds of thousands of dollars lost.  Therefore, it fit my thesis that New York City is not ready for flood, otherwise, it won’t lead to such a horrible consequence.

PS:         I want to add some experience on it.  My uncle who lives so close to Coney Island was deeply affected by Hurricane Sandy.  The day Hurricane Sandy came, water rise very fast.  At fist, he just saw appear on the street.  Sooner, the water rise to his knee.  It was too fast for him to move any of the  furniture, and almost everything on the first flood were ruined.  It took them a whole week only to throw away the garbage.  Even if Hurricane Sandy had gone for 4 days, their basement was still full of seawater.  Besides, the new car they just brought, LEXUS, was unfortunately damaged by seawater.  Therefore, I am trying to say, many people like me cannot really know how horrible Hurricane Sandy.  In fact, where I live was totally fine when Hurricane came so at first I thought it was not a big deal, and maybe people overreacted to it.  It turned out I was wrong.  In short, I just want people to realize that we have to care about Hurricane Sandy, and we have to know climate change, and what climate change will bring to us.





 

Blog Assignment #4 (Lower 9th Ward)

                Hi, good evening, every one.  I am Vince, and this is my fourth blog assignment which asks me to summarize my findings on the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.  I will introduce the Lower Ninth Ward from 3 aspects: before Hurricane Katrina, being attacked, and after Hurricane Katrina.

                On August 23, 2005 New Orleans was attacked by Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed entire neighborhoods.  During Hurricane Katrina, 2,000 people died, and hundreds of thousands of people lost their home.  More seriously, most of them were poor people.  Government had a $105 billion budget for rebuild, but that was far not enough to rebuild. However, we cannot expect government to cover all the lost.  All Americans have to make their efforts to help New Orleans.

                Before Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Mayor had warned people how serious it was and asked people to leave.  However, many people still stayed in the town, especially for the people who lived in Lower 9^th Ward.  Actually, there were three reasons.  First, some people thought it was like the old hurricanes which would not cause terrible consequence.  Second, some people thought their properties were most important to them, so they had to stay and protected their properties.  Third, the people who had no wealth could not leave even though they wanted.  Many people lived in Lower 9th Ward did not have a car, and they could not afford the expense when they escaped. 

                After 4 months, almost all houses were damaged, and there were few people lived in Lower 9th Ward.  Some victims said that the flood was too fast for them to react, and they could not even image that.  In addition, a victim explained that “many people lived here were poor and elderly” (Hurricane Katrina: The Drive: New Orleans Lower 9th Ward).  Poor people and elderly people did not have wealth, so they could not afford the expense if they left their home.  Even if they could escape, their home was all they had.  Once their home was ruined, they had nothing to rely on.  In fact, wealthy people did not have to worry about it because they could easily rebuild their home with money. 

                6 year later, there were lots of grasses in New Orleans, and many buildings were for sale, and people were hardly seen.  Hopefully, Politicians and leaders were planning to rebuild, and many environmental group and volunteers offered their help.   However, Pierce said placing business in Lower 9^th Ward could hardly make any profit because those people who live in Lower 9^th Ward were low-income and they did not have extra money to buy goods.  Lynette Gibson held different opinion, and he said building business in Lower 9^th Ward was necessary because it could bring people back to the town so that Lower 9^th Ward would become rich, and they could have ability to rebuild.

                In conclusion, money could help people get through Hurricane Katrina.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  r      Eggers,Dave.  Zeitoun.  New York: Vintage Books,2009. Print. 

"    Katrina aftermath"

"    Hurricane Katrina: The Drive: New Orleans Lower 9^th Ward" 

      Demby, Gene. "6 Years After Katrina, Lower 9th Ward Still Bleak." The Huffington Post.com, 28 Aug. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/28/6-years-after-katrina-low_n_939782.html>.

In-class Zeitoun blog (Frame quotation)

Dave Eggers notes that Kathy loved her family so much.  The children were very important to Kathy.  Eggers states that “though she was exhausted, and was being driven near-crazy by her flatulent dog, Kathy was looking forward to a few days in Baton Rouge” (57).  Kathy was so tired, but she insisted driving to Baton Rouge.  Basically, Kathy drove so many hours by herself, so she was too tired.  However, New Orleans was going to be attacked by the hurricane, and it was very dangerous for them to stay.  For her children’s safety she had to send them to Baton Rouge regardless of sickness.  In other words, Eggers shows that Kathy was an excellent mother.  She cared more about the children than herself.

Soemthing I learn about Zeitoun and Kathy

Zeitoun was a famous printer in New Orleans, and Kathy communicated to clients.  Zeitoun worked so hard, and Kathy worried about him because she loved him and did not want him to meet any danger.  Zeitoun started as a normal worker, but with his efforts, he became a boss and had some printers beneath him.  Kathy got divorced before, and this was her second marriage.  She had been mocked for a long time because she was an Islam. 

In my opinion, Zeitoun was a hard-working, responsible person because he cared about his works even more than his family.  There was one time, his bike was broken on his way to work, and that was an obviously good reason to be late or even absent.  However, he carried the bike on his shoulder and run to work.  When the hurricane Katrina arrived, Zeitoun did not leave the city, and he had to stay until he “secured” all his job locations (Eggers 53).  That was because Zeitoun’s businesses were tightly related, and if he left his businesses easily, his businesses might be ruined.  In addition, his clients trusted him, so he could not let their properties be damaged.  Therefore, he was responsible.

Kathy was an excellent mother, and she was so nervous about Zeitoun and the children.   When she heard the news that the hurricane Katrina had killed three people, she was so worried about her family and could not see more news.  Because she loved her children so much, she would rather take her children away from the city by herself when Zeitoun insisted staying.  She did this all for her children’s safety, so she was a wonderful mother.