3 topics im intrested in

Topic: Zoning issue's in county areas
There are many zoning issue's where companies or organizations are buying land in certain places and are not being able to develop it they way they planned. Many examples of mosques and cultural community centers have a very hard time being build due to community response to them. As well as zoning issues in Jefferson county where the community are trying to preserve the environment and spacing between the houses, the zoning companies have found ways around the regulations. Im interested in this because I want to see many more cultural centers and preserved environment and historical neighborhoods in the Saint Louis area.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/11/st-louis-dispatch-shills-for-bosnia-muslim-myths-ducks-gorin.html

Topic:Development of broken down city areas
The downtown area's in saint Louis are slowly losing population and there are many abandoned warehouses or even house's and neighborhoods. This causes a problem because it makes many people feel like its an un-safe and dirty place to be in, not to mention the waste of land close to the city. I think there should be a plan to develop these areas and hopefully attract more people to these areas closer to the city. Im interested in this because I have seen a huge separation between the city and the county where the city receives most of the crime ratings which causes even more divide and I think that developing these areas will help unite the whole area more.

http://www.stlrcga.org/x2038.xml

Topic: Highschool Drop-out rate in Saint Louis, City schooling in general
The highschool drop-out rate in saint louis is above the norm in the United States. Not only that but many city schools as well as public county schools are not getting the proper funding they need to provide for their students. For example a Jefferson county school, Bayless Highschool will be closed down in a few years because of lack of funding this year they even did not have funding for their buses in a prominently suburban area. I am interested in this because even though i don't go to these schools and I am very lucky to be in a good private school I live in some of these areas and know some of these kids and i think these school should be provided proper funding.
http://www.missourinet.com/2010/02/14/teen-pregnancies-and-high-school-drop-outs-on-the-rise/

Freedom Rider's Multimeia presentation

Freedom Rider's Multimedia Presantation

What are the reasonings for the torture and executions at the Abu Ghraib prisons? Was it a work by only a few? Or does it represent a larger view of the U.S. Military or Government?

I will have to find different sources on the reasonings for the Abu Graib prison in the first place. And then maybe find interview or information fromt the soldiers about why they commited some of these acts and then overall look at the governments views.

How does American government reactions and court proceedings to the atrocities at Abu Ghraib by American soldiers reflect their views on torture and International prisons as a whole?

I would have to look at the actual cases and court procedings for soldiers and then see how the U.S. reacted.

Abu Ghraib

Abu Ghraib prison camps are located in Iraq and have come to much public attention for the vast ways of torture and possibly human rights violations. I am interested in researching about this topic because i want to learn more about the reasonings for this torture prison and the different U.S. political reasons and rights being violated.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/10/040510fa_fact

http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iraq/abu-ghurayb-prison.htm

I am still open to many different specific torture cases but am more focused in on the circumstance where torture is used and if there ever is a right time to use torture?

Disturbing images Maus 2

Page 39, 41

These images of the bodies burning and the dead bodies of the mouse laying on top of each other just thrown unorganized way. In particular the little flies bother me because it shows that the bodies have been laying their for a while and are rotting flesh. Also the little lines showing the rib cages of the mouse and how that reminds me of human rib cages. The thought of little comic drawings being able to show me images relating to human beings frightens me. It also gets me really emotional when bodies are not given a proper burial and are left laying out like they once were not living human beings

DR Congo recent news/events/situations

This article brings up several good detailed situations that explain the situation in the Congo today. There is a lot of military violence going on especially acts of sexual violence and rape. The numbers of women raped in these villages are astounding and there are some accounts younger girls being raped and some of the stories are shocking. However now there seems to be an involvement with human rights organizations and UN. Why hasn't more international aid been focused on some of these issues in the Congo? Why there still violent military control in the Congo even after the war has been officially over since 2003. What can we do to understand the situation better and understand why there is still this military control there and still these atrocities and acts of sexual violence still being done there?



The United nations pulled 2,000 UN peace keepers from the Congo because the government in Congo thinks its a violation of their sovereignty. However in many cases the UN peace keepers have kept quite even when they heard about the rapes and killings the army has committed. I think its a bad idea to take these UN peace keepers away because of the violent corrupt military in the Congo. They need to train these peace keepers to do something about the massive rape happening in the Congo and trying to stop them. I think the international community needs to intervene in this situation because the Congo government itself cannot do anything because of the huge corruption going on. Why are the Peace Keepers there if they don't do anything to help?