ESSAY #2 & Short Story Due Friday, 4/23/10

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Rosemarie J

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Apr 23, 2010, 8:02:36 PM4/23/10
to English 101, spring 2010 online sections #0143 and #3226
The Armenian Genocide
E2
Rosemarie Johnson
Professor E. O’Connell / English 101, Class 3226
April 23, 2010


To Armenians, war has always been a determinant. When Turkey was
both an empire in decline and an emergent nation, the Armenians, a
small but significant minority in Anatolia, were subjected to two
massacres under the Sultan, who feared the secessionist Armenians
would hasten the demise of his empire. When the Sultan was deposed by
a nationalist, reformist group known as the Young Turks, the political
leaders, Talat and Enver conceived a transformation ideology that
Goldhagen describes as Imperialism at Home (Goldhagen, 2009, p 290).
Talat and Enver planned a “Turkey for the Turks,” an Islamic Nation
that would rid Turkey of its Armenian population, and restore Turkey
once again, to a position of importance. To achieve their
elimionatist aims, Talat and Enver indoctrinated the Turkish people by
“suitable and special” means against the hated Christian infidels.
The military, who were already predisposed to kill civilian women and
children, fell into line with the party position. It only required an
opportune moment for Talat and Enver to put their plans into effect.

The outbreak of World War I provided what Goldhagen rightly claims is
the “best context for undertaking pre-existing eliminationist
desires” (Goldhagen, 2009, p 270). War provided a cover of secrecy
with little threat of intervention. As Talat and Enver explained in a
memorandum to German officials, “The work that is to be done must be
done now; after war it will be too late” (Goldhagen, 2009, p 284).
The Turkish leaders having calculated the right opportunity, and
assessed their chances of implementing their plans with no threat of
intervention from the Allies, passed an emergency legislation to
enforce the roundup of Armenians simultaneously throughout Turkey to
prevent any retaliatory measures. When Henry Morgenthau, US
Ambassador to Constantinople tried to intervene, Talat explained
matter-of-factly that in order to politically restructure Turkey, the
Armenian question had to be settled.

In a prelude to the Nazi Holocaust, for the first time is the history
of modern genocide, technological inventions were adapted into killing
units run by a doctor, concentration camps were built and transport by
box cars utilized. Women and children, who were segregated from the
men, were forced to march without food or water to Zeir Yar in the
Syrian Desert. As Goldhagen (2009, p 99) correctly observes,
“volunteers are a characteristic of our age.” Kurds and local
peasants attacked the victims, raping the women and girls, and robbing
the Armenians of their few remaining
possessions. Not content with the depopulation of Anatolia, the cadre
of Turkish loyalists, who were exempt from prosecution at the trial
that convicted Talat and Enver in abstentia, violated the sovereignty
of Russia after the assassination of the Czar, and slaughtered
Armenian refugees once again with impunity. Russia, which was in the
throes of a Bolshevik revolution, and had its own internal problems,
was in no position to retaliate.

In the intervening decades, Armenians sought commemorative
resolutions in Congress with varying degrees of success but
reparations proved elusive. It was never a good time to address the
question of Armenian Genocide. World War II, which might have taken a
very different course if the Allies had seen Hitler as a later-day
Talat or Enver, came and went, and the Cold War took top priority.
The Armenians persisted through US entanglements abroad until the war
on terrorism destroyed Armenian-American’s hopes for reparations or US
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. When Hitler addressed his
generals in 1939, he proved as much a prophet as a politician when he
asked, “Who still talks about the Armenian Genocide?” (Goldhagen, p
34). When reported that when H Res 252, Affirmation of the United
States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution was cleared by the
House Committee on Foreign Affairs for consideration by the full
House, Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, speaking on behalf of the
Obama Administration, urged that the matter be dropped as reported by
(Watson, Labott, & Silverblieb. CNN 2010). Turkey is now a NATO
partner, an ally against terrorism, and most importantly, a
significant market for US munitions and armaments. (Gennet, 2010).
Expediency may trump justice but the Armenian lobby promises to make
its presence felt in the mid-term elections, and to hold both
President Obama and Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton to their
campaign promises.

For more than a decade, Armenian Americans have sought Congressional
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, only to find the Presidents
Clinton and Bush actively intervened to suppress the measure. The
Armenian lobby, well aware that candidates and incumbent presidents
would act differently and would renege on their promises, was
cautiously optimistic when Barack Obama promised, “As a US Senator, I
have stood with the Armenian American community in calling for
Turkey’s acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide. …and as President,
I will recognize the Armenian genocide.”(barackobama.com, January
2008).

Dr. Samantha Power, the National Security Council’s genocide expert
made a video telling Armenian Americans that as President, Obama would
definitely acknowledge their genocide. It was reported (Dissident
Voice, 2009), Dr. Power said, “Take my word for it.” The Armenian
lobby threw its significant political clout behind Obama, their only
viable choice for President. Once again the hopes of Armenian
Americans were dashed when the Obama Administration prevented the
passage of H.Res 252 by the full House.

In his documentary, Goldhagen questions Representative Adam Schiff
(CA), author of H. Res 252, which called on the President to affirm
the Armenian genocide, about the possibility of such a resolution ever
being enacted. Schiff held out no hope for the foreseeable future,
and Goldhagen appeared to accept the unspoken truth, that the
recognition of genocide is no longer part of US policy. By denying
genocide, Obama has affirmed a policy of non-intervention in future
atrocities.

Terence Des Pres observed “…great powers regularly demolish other
peoples’ claims to dignity and place and sometimes, as we know, the
outcome is genocide.” (Des Pres, 1986). The failure of the Allies to
carry out their threat to punish the perpetrators of the Armenian
genocide after World War I left a core of Young Turk followers in the
Turkish government, military, police and provincial bureaucracies.
This disregard for the consequences of crimes against humanity left
Turkey to adopt a revisionist policy that protected their fathers and
grandfathers from the stigma of a comparison with Hitler’s
elimionatist policies. The immediate results of the international
community’s failure to intervene took two very different paths. While
Armenian Americans sought peaceful resolutions and reparations for
property appropriated by the Turks, their countrymen in the former
Soviet bloc province of Armenia, on the Northern border of Turkey,
imbued with long standing hatred of the Turks, unexpectedly exploded
in a wave of terrorism.

Clandestine Armenian groups, formed in the 1970s, carried out a
campaign of political assassinations for a period of about ten years.
They were responsible for killing at least two dozen Turkish
diplomats. When Turkey closed its border in 1993, the US became
concerned about Armenia’s position as a Christian nation bordered by
three Islamic states, Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan, and strong armed
Armenia to make peace with Turkey. Turkey insisted that Armenia’s
charge of genocide first be adjudicated by the International Center
for Justice (ICTJ). In considering the element of “intent,” the ICTJ
ruled that “…at least some of the perpetrators of the events knew the
consequences of their actions would be the destruction, in whole or in
part, of the Armenians of Eastern Anatolia, or acted purposely towards
this goal, and therefore possessed the requisite genocidal
intent.” (ICTJ, 2003) If nothing else was accomplished, the Armenian
genocide produced a definition of “intent to commit genocide” that had
previously been a hindrance to the International Criminal Court’s
prosecution of the leaders of eliminationist regimes.

Goldhagen correctly asserts that “…even if one nation is rebuilt,
even if only some eliminationist assaults are stopped, then such a
policy’s success would be historic…” (Goldhagen, 2009) The US is
unconcerned about potential reprisals by a hostile Turkey against a
vulnerable Armenia. Currently, Turkey has a rotating seat on the
United Nations Security Council, and the US needs Turkey’s vote on
sanctions against Iran.

Armenia occupies an inconvenient geopolitical position in the Islamic
bloc that could impede Turkey’s plans in the region. Ankara wants
free access to its ally, Azerbaijan, and is moving closer to the
mullocracy in Tehran, and attacking independent media while aligning
itself with militants and anti-Western Middle East regimes abroad.

Goldhagen is correct in insisting that: “The long-standing, well-
founded sense of impunity must be changed.” (Goldhagen, 2009, p 570),
but there is an immense gap between what should be done and actual
implementation. Aware of Obama’s refusal to recognize the Armenian
genocide, other countries with eliminationist regimes will assess the
chance of US intervention, and act with impunity. President Obama,
like his predecessors, is dedicated to obscuring the truth. If
President Obama can deny something so thoroughly documented as the
Armenian genocide, he is endorsing it. Should Turkey decide to resume
its iterative assaults against Armenians, President Obama who has
already put himself in the same category as Iran’s President
Ahmadinejad, who denied the Holocaust, will rightfully incur the
charges of instigator and facilitator, as well as the Congressional
representatives who lacked the moral fiber to vote according to their
conscience. There is nothing left now for Armenian-Americans to do
but to exercise their votes at the mid-term elections, which at best,
will be nothing more than a Phyrric victory.


References

Press Release (2003, February 13). International Center for
Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
Report Prepared for TARC
Retrieved March 28, 2010 from
http://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.244/current_category.5/affirmation_detail.html


Obama, B. (2008, January 19). The Importance of US-Armenia Relations
Organizing for America / BarackObama.com
Retrieved April 4, 2010 from
http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/19/barack_obama_on_the_importance.php

Watson, I., Labott. E. & Silverleib. A. (2010, March 6). Cable News
Network
Official: Armenian genocide resolution unlikely to get full House
vote
Retrieved March 28, 2010 from http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/06/us.turkey.genocide.debate/index.html


Z, M. (2009, May 15). Dissident Voice
Obama and the Denial of Genocide
Retrieved April 6, 2010 from
http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/05/obama-and-the-denial-of-genocide/


Gennet. R. (2010, March 12). Huffington Post
Why the Armenian Genocide Matters
Retrieved March 28, 2010 from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robbie-gennet/why-the-armenian-genocide_b_496995.html


Schiff, Rep. A.B. (2010, March 6) House Resolution 252, (Thomas)
Library of Congress
Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide
Retrieved March 28, 2010 from
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:2:./temp/~bd2XG8::


Des Pres, T. (1986). “Remembering Armenia” In the Armenian Genocide in
Perspective
New Runswich, N.J.: Transaction Books


Goldhagen, D.J. (2009). Worse Than War
United States: Public Affairs, a member of the Perseus Books Group







SOPHIA
A Short Story
By
Rosemarie Johnson
(E2)
Professor E. O’Connell / English 101, Class 3226
April 23, 2010


It was quiet again today: A pall of silence hung over Haggia Sofia
as if all the bells had been muffled for the funeral of an important
dignitary. If the muzzeins in the minarets hadn’t begun the morning
call to prayer, I would have thought the city of Constantinople
abandoned.

Yesterday my brother was sent home from the army as if he were as
unfit to serve as one of the old Armenian men, who sit all day in the
shade, mumbling into their Turkish coffee about taxes, the good old
days, and the new Turkish leader, Talat. There are times when my
mother puts down her sewing and watches my brother pace up and down on
the terrace with sadness in her eyes that I’ve never seen before, but
my father fills his pipe and jokes about us all having to eat more
couscous and olives. I hate olives! I would much rather have figs or
sweet melons.

This morning my father has sent me on an errand to Gunduz, the olive
merchant. I would have rather wandered through the souks instead,
because I love the smell of sandalwood and rosewater candies. Some
day when I’m grown up, I will buy myself a turquoise necklace and a
tortoiseshell comb to put in my hair, that is if the souks are still
here. As I read the chalked signs on the Armenian bazaars, “Turkey
for the Turks,” I see soldiers helping themselves to the fruit and
sweet cakes as the shopkeepers remain silent.

As I walked slowly down the winding street to Gunduz’ store, I slowed
down not wanting to enter while he was talking to a Turkish customer,
but he must have seen me coming because the old olive merchant excused
himself and snatched my order, muttering under his breath as he
shuffled in old felt slippers to read it in the light.
“Three barrels of olive,” he growled showing his tobacco stained
teeth. “Your father isn’t going into the olive business by any
chance?” I didn’t reply for in truth I was dreading weeks and weeks
of eating olives.

In the early evening as I helped my mother sort skeins of silk for
her embroidery, I heard my father and my brother unloading the barrels
of olives. The day seemed like it would never end. No traffic could
be heard in the street, and a strange wind, unusual for April, rattled
the shutters and dimmed the oil lamps, so that dinner was unusually
late.

Mother and I had barely cleared away the meal when a knock came to
the back door. My father jumped up and said “I’ll get it, I’m
expecting someone.” In came my father with a man that I had never
seen before. He was about my father’s age and dressed like a sailor
I had seen in pictures. My father introduced him as Petros, a Greek
fisherman and offered him a drink of wine, which he laughingly
refused.
“There is no time to be lost, my ship sails with the next tide.” I
heard him say.

As I peeped around the corner to see what they were doing, the man
asked me “how much do you weigh girl?” I didn’t know, but my mother
answered for me as she led me to another room.

“You must dress warmly my dear, do what your father tells you and no
matter what happens be quiet!” “Petros is here to help us; we must
leave Turkey as it is not safe for us to remain here any longer. We
are going to hide in the empty barrels until we are out to sea. Do
not be afraid, your father has taken care of all the arrangements for
our safe passage. But I need you to be strong and do as you are
told. Do you understand, Sophia?” “Yes, mother, I understand, but
I’m scared.” “I know dear, but trust that God will watch over us in
our journey. Hurry, it’s time to go.”

My father explained to us that we would be hidden in the olive
barrels that I had ordered earlier in the day and that he would go
onboard the ship as a sailor. As we entered the barrels I tried not
to think about the olives and leaving the only home I’ve ever known.

After what seemed like the longest night of my life I heard the
crashing of water in the distance as the lid of my barrel was lifted
off, I saw my father looking down at me with relief. “We are in the
straits of Marmora,” he said as my family crowded to the rails to see
a last glimpse of our beloved Turkey. The Golden Horn of Turkey seemed
to be on fire.

Petros said, “we were just in time.” I still do not understand what
the meaning of those signs, “Turkey for Turks”, as we were Turks too.


Sophia’s Return

A summons to the Red Villa in the old section of Istanbul took me by
surprise. I, Sophia, the granddaughter of a little Armenian girl who
fled Turkey sixty-five years ago, never expected to visit that part of
the city. No one ever received an invitation from Talat’s widow,
Hayrike. If you’d ask anyone in the street, they would have shrugged
and said that she’d had died years ago.

I could have sent someone else from the Greek Embassy in Ankara but I
owed it to my grandmother, Sophia, in Athens to face the once great
beauty who might hold the key to our family’s tragic past, besides I
wanted to see for myself the notorious Red Villa where the Young Turks
once planned the annihilation of my people.

Time had changed the Red Villa to weathered gray, almost hidden in a
phalanx of cypress trees that cast long forbidding shadows over the
broken shutters and scattered tiles but the smell of jasmine and
damask rose reminded me that beauty once co-existed here with evil.

I was turning to leave the silent villa when the door creaked open,
and an old woman dressed in black motioned me to enter what must once
have been the grand salon. As I crossed the faded Sarouk Mahal rug, I
caught sight of a tiny figure swathed in purple veils lying on a
velvet sofa beneath a Byzantine triptych.

If this was indeed Talat’s widow, she must have sensed my surprise,
because she gave a low sigh and beckoned me towards her with a claw
like hand, heavy with topaz and moonstone rings.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I was once an Armenian who was forced to
accept Islam. What other choice did I have? All my family was
slaughtered by the Sultan.”

I searched for words to express my sympathy but something in her
voice told me that she was beyond compassion.

“Do with this as you will.” She thrust a cinnabar box into my hands,
sinking back exhausted onto a pile of cushions. I took one last look
at the peeling wallpaper and the tarnished gilt, and made my way back
to the quiet street that had never accepted modern Turkey.

The cinnabar box sat unopened on my desk until I learned of Hayrike’s
death. When I saw the contents, yellowed sheets of paper and a black
record book, I knew that I would need an interpreter, and there was
only one Turkish person of the utmost integrity, I knew I could trust,
Murat, a renowned historian. In less than an hour, he arrived, eager
to examine the contents that I had described only briefly.

“Mehmet Talat!” Murat exclaimed. “I should have known that a man
given to such meticulous detail would leave a record! Do you know
what this is, Sophia? It is the population record for 1915.” Murat
thumbed through the brittle pages, making rough calculations.

“There must be close to a million names of Armenians for 1915, gone
from the population record for 1916, and that is just the beginning.
Would you have any objection to me publishing these papers, Sophia?”

“Do with it what you will.” Hayrike had whispered to me at our
meeting. I handed the box and its contents to Murat, knowing that the
historian could be trusted with the truth.

Less than a year later, I received a copy of “Talat’s Black Book”
from Murat, who true to his word had kept faith with the Armenian
cause. This Summer when I go home to Greece, I will surprise my
grandmother with a copy of Talat’s Black Book. If she ever decides to
revisit Turkey, hopefully she will see the Red Villa for herself and
perhaps, the specter of Talat will finally be laid to rest.



--
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William W

unread,
Apr 24, 2010, 1:59:59 AM4/24/10
to English 101, spring 2010 online sections #0143 and #3226
William Wang
English 101 Section 0143
Professor O’Connell
04.23.2010 E2

According to Daniel Goldhagen, mass murder and eliminationism begins
in the minds of men. When men come together to form a group with
common interests, be it a political party, an ethnic community, a
racial group, a labor union or even a fan club for a particular sports
team, this is good. The problem starts when these groups become
fanatical in spreading their beliefs with other people who may or may
not share the same ideals. They start to get aggressive in order to
have their way, that is, if the opposition to their goal does not want
to budge or give way. The Federal government may cut funding to a
State government if the State government does not enforce the rules
set forth by the Federal government; the Nazis desiring to rid the
world of impure, tainted Aryans like the Jews by extermination; the
White Southerners who wanted to continue to enslave the Black race;
the trade union of Air Traffic Controllers who went on strike,
threatening the safety of thousands of innocent passengers traveling
by plane; and the San Francisco Giants fan who shot a Los Angeles
Dodgers fan in a dispute between their team loyalties. If man wants
to control territory or rule by their own accord, then man will find a
way. Even if that way is by means of mass murdering and genocide of
entire groups of people. Man does not discriminate on who to
discriminate when it comes to getting what they want.

The problem becomes magnified or increases exponentially when the
means of mass murder become easier with the advancement in today’s
technology. Add to that the relative ease by which nuclear weapons
are developed and obtained, being widely available and, “Houston, we
have a problem.” Goldhagen’s concern is addressed by Congress having
recently passing a bill “to establish the transfer of any nuclear
weapon, device, material, or technology as a crime against humanity”.
This is a formal document that lets the crimininals of our world know
that what they are doing is wrong, as if they did not already know
that what they were doing was a crime. And if that wasn’t enough, let
us add insult to injury when these architects of genocide think that
they can get away with their crimes because they know that the U.N.
(United Nations), who are supposed to be protecting our communities
and working for world peace, are effectively ineffective at stopping
them.

Our Team: America last year has even passed a bill that “support UN
Security Council referrals of situations involving genocide, war
crimes, and crimes against humanity to the International Criminal
Court...” Even then, the bill is quite conservative in the language
being used with words such as “support”, “exercise”, and “invoke”
which all sound very weak. Stronger and bolder words like “enforce”,
“exert”, and “instigate” would be more effective in striking fear into
the hearts of these lawless men. Another way to make a difference in
our world, is to follow Goldhagen’s advice in creating an authorative
international watchdog organization... to identify mass murders and
eliminationisms”. This would be a private military company so as to
prevent any conflicts of interest one nation might have with one
another while eliminating the threat in a given country’s territory.
Also, the name of the organization should sound intimidating, like
that of the private military security firm “Blackwater” who are the
largest of the three private security contractors of the US State
Department. I would call it “Holywater” or “Redwood”. Commercials
for Holywater would run with the tagline: “Got crimes against
humanity? Just add Holywater” and for Redwood, “Make like a tree and
leave!” It’s all marketing.

We, as a responsible society, have too be flexible in our methods of
solving the world’s problems because the terrorists, those who
threaten our freedom, get more and more creative each and every day.
If we can adapt to our “environment”, that is, the increased traffic
of terrorists and the manufacturers of WMDs or Weapons of Mass
Destruction, the world is ours. The radical and reactionary groups
who are in favor of violence cannot scare us or “phase” us (for lack
of a better term). We must be able to adapt, overcome and achieve.
We must be able to never give up and never surrender! We must be able
to believe that we can fly. We must be able to believe in magic.
Goldhagen challenges us as moral human beings and model citizens to do
the right thing. I believe that we are up to the challenge and so, we
must be. Like Bruce Lee once said, “Be like water.”

Works Cited

Goldhagen, D.J. 2009. Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and
the Ongoing Assault on Humanity (pages 14-18)

Casey, Jr. Sen. Bob, 2009, July 16. S1464: to establish the transfer
of any nuclear weapon, device, material, or technology to terrorists
as a crime against humanity. US Senate.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.1464:

Kennedy, Patrick, 2009, April 2. H.CON.RES.97: to support United
Nations Security Council referrals of situations involving genoicide,
war crimes and crimes against humanity to the International Criminal
Court...
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.CON.RES.97:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1619711

Short Story coming soon...
>         Retrieved March 28, 2010 fromhttp://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.244/current_category.5/a...
>
> Obama, B. (2008, January 19). The Importance of US-Armenia Relations
>         Organizing for America / BarackObama.com
>         Retrieved April 4, 2010 fromhttp://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/19/barack_obama_on_the_importance.php
>
> Watson, I., Labott. E. & Silverleib. A. (2010, March 6). Cable News
> Network
>         Official: Armenian genocide resolution unlikely to get full House
> vote
> Retrieved March 28, 2010 fromhttp://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/06/us.turkey.genocide.debate/inde...
>
> Z, M. (2009, May 15). Dissident Voice
>         Obama and the Denial of Genocide
>         Retrieved April 6, 2010 from
>        http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/05/obama-and-the-denial-of-genocide/
>
> Gennet. R. (2010, March 12). Huffington Post
>         Why the Armenian Genocide Matters
>         Retrieved March 28, 2010 fromhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/robbie-gennet/why-the-armenian-genocide...
> Subscription settings:http://groups.google.com/group/english-101-spring-2010-online-section...
Message has been deleted

William W

unread,
Apr 24, 2010, 9:15:27 PM4/24/10
to English 101, spring 2010 online sections #0143 and #3226
here's my short story, Professor!

William Wang
English 101 Section 0143
04.23.10 E2 Short Story

It is the year 2021. McDonald’s has taken control of the entire
cattle industry in the United States. All the cows are owned by
several dummy corporations so as to avoid government antitrust laws.
The few remaining burger joints left in the United States are subject
to being charged grossly inflated prices for ground beef. They are
threatened by the McDonald’s Corporation to either continue to pay for
the expensive, raw material for their hamburger meat or sell their
life-long business. The latter is the usual case for these poor fast
food establishments. The following is an account of recent events...

“This isn’t right.” said Thomas. “It’s going to be okay, honey. We
just have to stick with it. It’ll work out.” said his wife,
Jennifer.

Tom and Jenn own a fast food restaurant that mainly serves hamburgers
and french fries. It is a well known landmark in their community.

“The price of meat just keeps going up! We won’t be able to survive
in the long term.” Tom sighs. Jenn walks over to Tom and gives him a
hug. Tears form from both pairs of eyes as they hold each other
dearly.

A tall, dark and handsome man walks into T & J Burgers. There are no
other customers. Only the husband and wife can be seen behind the
counter. Tom and Jenn quickly wipe their eyes. Tom walks towards the
kitchen.

“Hello! What can I get for you today?” asks Jenn in a cheerful manner
despite her red face.

The young man quickly glances left and right and asks, “Are you the
owner of this restaurant?”

“Yes, my husband and I own this restaurant.” replied Jenn.

“And we ain’t sellin!” exclaimed Tom.

The young man takes off his cool pair of Oakley sunglasses and slides
it into the breast pocket of his navy pin-stripe suit.

“What I am about to tell you is highly confidential. Congress has
passed a bill stating that McDonald’s cannot own more than five
restaurants per square mile. There are currently seven McDonald’s in
this vicinity and they are planning to build three more, one of which
will be right here where we are standing.”

“F*ck you, asshole!” said Tom.

“The USDA has been ineffective in regulating the law.” said the young
man, grimly.

“You can say that again.” commented Tom.

“My name is Alex. I represent a group of business owners who, like
you, are threatened by McDonald’s. We are men and women who want to
cook, sell and eat our hamburgers free from persecution.”

“Holy sh*t. You guys sound like the Rebel Alliance.” Tom said in
amazement.

“This isn’t Star Wars, honey. This is real life!” Jenn said.

“The name of our alliance is HolyCow. Our mission: to restore cattle
to the free market. We would like you to join us in our cause.”

Tom and Jenn look at each other and Tom answers, “What can we do to
help?”

All of a sudden a rocket breaks through the window and whizzes by the
three of them but makes a direct hit to the kitchen. The explosion
knocks all of them down.

Tom gets up on his feet and helps his wife up. Alex extends his hand
towards the couple and says, “Come with me if you want to live.” Tom
grabs Alex’s hand and they rush to the side entrance.

The bluetooth headset of the perpetrator who fired the rocket with a
bazooka asked, “Is the target eliminated?” The perpetrator replied,
“No, they ran outside.”

“Don’t let them get away!” said the bluetooth device. “Copy that.”
replied the bazooka bearer.

Alex leads Tom and Jenn to his car, a white Subaru Impreza WRX. Tom
sits on the passenger side and Jenn sits on the rear passenger’s
side. Everyone fastened their seat belts and as Alex starts the car,
bullets are bouncing off the bullet-proof windows.

“Nice car.” says Tom. “The beauty of all-wheel drive.” says Alex with
a smile as they peel away.

In the background, a black BMW 535i pursues them.

“What the USDA has failed to do, we will accomplish by our own means.”

“They just tried to kill us!” said Tom.

“McDonald’s feels that their burgers are superior to everyone else’s.
Obviously, that is wrong but that is not going to stop them from
trying to convince every other American citizen otherwise. The term
for that is transformation. Another way that McDonald’s has taken
control of our freedom is by forcing us to leave and be deported
outside the U.S. Why do think there’s an In-N-Out in Japan and
France?”

“No wonder!” exclaimed Jenn.
The Subaru weaves in and out of traffic while being chased by the
persistent BMW. Tires screech just like how they do in an exciting
chase scene of a high-budget Hollywood movie.

“That’s called expulsion. And then we have extermination.”

“I’ve been reading the newspaper and I did happen to catch several
unexplained deaths of restaurant owners lately.” said Tom.

“Now you’re starting to get it.” said Alex. “We, at HolyCow, can make
a difference. Not only must we ban McDonald’s and their ridiculously
tempting french fries, but we must destroy the Corporation itself by
any means necessary. Are you guys willing to do that?”

Tom replies, “Yes, we are”.

Jenn said, “How can we choose not to?”

The intersection ahead gets blocked by two other BMW 535i’s. All four
doors open from both cars and men in black suits step out from every
door. The Subaru stops. The Bimmer that was pursuing them stops in
back of them. There is no escape route. Guns are drawn from the
agents. The driver from earlier steps out of his car and holds a gun
in one hand and a blow horn in the other.

“All your cows are belong to us!” said the bazooka bandit.

“What are we gonna do?” asked Jenn.

“Just enjoy the show.” said Alex. Alex grabs his Apple iPhone 3GS and
makes a call.

“Red 5, this is Skywalker. Can you send these guys a message?”

“Roger that. Message has been sent.”

Two rockets from an Apache Longbow helicopter hit two Bimmers in
front, knocking out most of the armed agents with the big
explosions.

“Message has been delivered.” said Red 5.

“Package confirmed. Thank you!” said Alex.

“You’re welcome.” said Red 5.

Sandy B

unread,
Apr 26, 2010, 5:15:01 AM4/26/10
to English 101, spring 2010 online sections #0143 and #3226
I'm sorry about posting my essay and story late, but I had problems
with my DSL modem right in the last minute. It took me a while to get
a right new modem for my internet connection.


Sandy Bonilla
Professor Ed O’Connell
English 101 # 3226
Essay #2 and Story
Friday, April 23, 2010

Inner Violence

“Do you believe that a street gang isn’t serious issue to put interest
as Nazi?
A street gang cannot be distinguishing from a group of Nazi” (Sandy
Bonilla).

Daniel Goldhagen discuss in his book Worse Than War many conflicts
that have “lead mass slaughter” (Goldhagen 59) in the last decades of
wars. In chapter 3, he introduced three different conflicts from the
American past history that have lead USA to be influenced in the “mass
slaughter.” In the US history, “American Revolution” and the “National
Building” (59-61) have been for the Americans the best glorious
history events because it’s part of their American patriotism. Until
Goldhagen point out the other part of these history events that these
events have been involve with “mass slaughter” by eliminating the
“Tories, Southerners, and the Native Americans” (62). After US gained
his independency, they expelled away the “Tories” from the America
land or they had to become “Loyal Americans.” The south slavery lead
the American Revolution war between the Northerners vs. the
Southerners that killed many African-Americans and American soldiers.
Then the “Tories” and the “Loyal American” eliminated most of the
Native Americans population in order to get land and gold which they
didn’t care about Native Americans life. These US history events
managed to eliminate sort of group of people by their differences in
race, in culture, and in religion. The same thought happen with “The
Germans” formed the “Holocaust” to eliminated the Jewish. Now the
American society it’s facing with criminal organizations known as
“Street Gangs” that related to homicides, drug trades, and recruitment
of persons. “Street Gangs” are groups of people that attack any other
different groups by their neighborhood, race, culture, and other
stereotype which lead to “Mass slaughter.” People don’t think it isn’t
a big deal, but the numbers of “Street Gangs” are increasing rapidly
because in America the human population and diversities are increasing
rapidly too. The Nazi or Neo-Nazi was formed first with a minor group
from about “20 workers from Munich's railway shops” (wikipidia) “On 5
January 1919” they were anger Germans that grew quickly from 20
workers to just the general members “nearly 7 million people by
1933’s” (wikipidia) to almost control the whole universe. By 1934,
“88.09 % of the German voters endorsed in yesterday's plebiscite
Chancellor Hitler's” (Frederick T. Birchall) that’s how much power he
hold on his hand to control his Nazi members, and attack their
enemies. “Street Gangs” are minor groups of anger teenagers that are
increasingly by controlling their own neighborhood. The “Anti-Gang
Enforcement Act of 2009” have been introduced since June 10, 2009 to
amends this bill to “predicate gang crime” and “Project Safe
Neighborhoods programs” (Thomas Library).
The Nazi was only one large group that almost dominated the entire
world then they got stop, but street gangs there are numbers of them
around the world it’s impossible to stop. In 2006, the United State
Department of Justice “estimates 30,000 gangs, with 800,00 members,
impacting 2,500 communities across the United
States” (dosomething.org). The number of gangs continues to rise
rapidly especially in school areas. As Goldhagen says, “individual–
centered...located mass murder in the psychological mechanism of the
individual that impel people to slaughter others” (Goldhagen 65) like
many street gangs started because of their personal anger issues and
wanted to get power by mass slaughtering other members from different
street gang and reserving neighborhoods as their territory.
No matter how many decades have passed the bad habits haven't
change. As Goldhagen mention before that "individual-centered" it's
one of the issues that form groups of mad people to target the weaker
ones, or take their anger on their opposite race or religion. Street
gangs it's one of those issues about a group of people that holds
power to make other people fear them. Most of the time, this human
disorder behavior of committing crimes doesn't affect them, but the
ones that are around them.

Reference:

Betty M. Chemers is Director of OJJDP’s Research and Program
Development Division. James H. Burch is Program Manager in the
Special Emphasis Division. http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-gangs.

Frederick T. Birchall, New York Times (19th August, 1934).
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERnazi.htm.

Goldhagen, D.J. Worse Than War. 2009. (59-65).

H.R.2815. “Anti-Gang Enforcement Act of 2009.” Rep Rooney, Thomas J.
[FL-16] (introduced 6/10/2009).
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:9:./temp/~bdKThK:@@@L&summ2=m&|/bss/d111query.html|.
Nazi Party From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party#Origins_and_early_existence:_1918.E2.80.931923.

=========================================
Story

The Girl in her Middler School Uniform

From the winter of December to the spring of May, I have travel
from corner to corner in the streets of Los Angeles. Everyday it’s the
same old same routine to find food around the trashcans, when I can.
Sometimes the residents scare me away with a broomstick, or racket, or
any thing that can be used as a weapon to just keep me away from their
trashcans. I cannot get myself a job because there isn’t any job for
someone with four legs. Nor I cannot be a home pet because I’m too old
to be a pet and nobody wants me. There are two enemies that I must
keep myself alert from: the bullies’ students, and the veterinarian
pet control. I came from Ontario, Canada, to Los Angeles, California,
and always the same old same like always. Except today morning I
noticed I wasn’t the only one that was getting bulled, a girl in her
middle school uniform was getting chase by an angry mob.
The angry mob looks so angry that she must have done something
really bad, but she doesn’t seem to be the type of a problematic
person to mess with them. I decided to follow her along with the
angry mob to check how far this girl would get from the angry mob. It
didn’t took her a while to stop running after she had reached to a
dead end, also they stop at the same time she stop running. A middle-
aged man from the mob got closed to her and asked her, “Didn’t I tell
ya to not bring them to my hood?”

She stood silent for a moment and replied, “But I don’t ride.”

The man faced his mob laughing, then turn to her saying, “Yo biotch,
yo think I’m stupid? We have seen ya with the “Crips*”

She replies him, “No, that’s my friend, but I’m not part from them.”

He slaps her and she stares at him.

“What?” he asks her. “I’m sorry, say it one more time.” She just
covers her cheek where he slapped her, and stares at him with terror.

“What? What yo starting at? Huh... Do yo gotta problem with my face?”

She stood in silence.

“Yeah, I tho so, byotch. Yo think yo can fool me? Didn’t ya tell ya to
not to hang out with them?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“An’ yo didn’t obey my orders. Do yo know what happens when someone
doesn’t listen to what I say?”

She decided to keep herself in the silence, but her eyes couldn’t hold
her tears from her eyes. He just stares at her from head to toes.

“Do yo think with tears I’ll let ya go?” He laughs, and so the rest of
the members from his mob laugh.

“First, yo gotta gimme something, so what do yo have?” He asks.

She replies, “I don’t have any money with me today.”

He just stares at her and grabs her bag checking her belongings. He
finds her iPod touch and throws her backpack at her.

“I’ll take this for now,” he says. She just stares at him wanting to
do something, but she couldn’t.

“What’s in my hood belongs to me. Since you live here, now yo goin to
do what I tell ya to do. Now, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes.”

The man walks away from the girl and leads his gang members to the way
out of the dead end. The girl couldn’t do much, but obey his orders
only. She hasn’t done anything wrong, but she was attacked and
harassed by a group of people with power to hurt the weak ones.

In the end, I realized human have more bullies than I do. Also many
students from gang street members are currently attacking people from
their neighborhood to fear their strength. Similar idea goes with the
country Germany which some of them didn’t have any choice to join
Hitler political party, “Nazi” party.
_____________________________________________________________

*Crips: A majority of the Crips and Bloods in Los Angeles are African
American with the exceptions of a Samoan Crip gangs active in Long
Beach, a Samoan Blood gang active in Carson, an Inglewood Crip gang
with mostly members of Tongan descent, and a mixed Samoan/black gang
active in Compton. With the exception of these four gangs, Crips and
Blood gangs are predominately African American.

Alex Alonso, PhD Candidate. “Black Street Gangs in Los Angeles: A
History
http://www.streetgangs.com/history/hist01.html

William W

unread,
Apr 26, 2010, 11:31:41 AM4/26/10
to English 101, spring 2010 online sections #0143 and #3226
good story Sandy! did you know that the Crips have extended their
reach to even our Nation's defense? Sad, but true.

http://www.streetgangs.com/topics/1995/072795cpblmil.html
> Special Emphasis Division.http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-gangs.
>
> Frederick T. Birchall, New York Times (19th August, 1934).http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERnazi.htm.
>
> Goldhagen, D.J. Worse Than War. 2009. (59-65).
>
> H.R.2815. “Anti-Gang Enforcement Act of 2009.” Rep Rooney, Thomas J.
> [FL-16] (introduced 6/10/2009).http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:9:./temp/~bdKThK:@@@L&su.../bss/d111query.html|.
> Nazi Party From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party#Origins_and_early_existence:_....
> Subscription settings:http://groups.google.com/group/english-101-spring-2010-online-section...

Sandy B

unread,
Jun 2, 2010, 6:22:00 PM6/2/10
to English 101, spring 2010 online sections #0143 and #3226
Sorry, I just noticed the replied. Thanks.

That's really sad. It's like a plague. Interesting site. It will help
me for research. Thanks, again.
> > [FL-16] (introduced 6/10/2009).http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:9:./temp/~bdKThK:@@@L&su....
> ...
>
> read more »
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