Oklahoma City Bombing

   I chose to do my topic on, the Oklahoma City bombing. When I first chose this topic, I was not sure what I was going to be reading in the near future, but i did want this topic because my dad used to live in Oklahoma so it brought up some interest to me. What I found out that was pretty interesting is that until 9/11, this was the biggest threat of terrorism America had faced. Also, to help begin my research and lead me to the websites below, I started on Wikipedia.

Newspaper

   When I began to do my research on the topic, I quickly found at that this chaos was cause by an ex-Army soldier and security guard named Timothy McVeigh. All of this information can be found on the FBI website by the way, it's actually a very neat website to look at, especially when bored in classes. I recommend clicking the hyperlink and looking at all the info about the bombing, you might even find some cool info about a relative or friend with a rap sheet (hopefully not)! 

Timothy Mcveigh

 On April 19th, 1995 Timothy parked a rented truck out front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown OK City. He was about to kill 168 people, 19 of them would be children. The bomb that Tim used was a fertilizer bomb. Who knew a homemade bomb could do so much damage? The bomb collapsed around 1/3 of the building. There's actually a really cool and helpful time line on a website called newsok, and I'm guessing it stands for news Oklahoma City. 

Right after the bomb

 So, how many people were actually in on this massarce? Well some say that Tim tried to recruit more people a few days before the attack on the federal building. But, he did manage to get one co-defendant-Terry Nichols. Terry will go to trial for the death sentence. Timothy McVeigh also went to trial for the death sentence and was accused guilty and was sentenced to death in 2001. I found a lot of information on msnbc, and this just told me more about the conspiracy behind all of this. Terry's girlfriend was actually telling the FBI how they made a video swearing a war against the government. That's kind of crazy to think about today but I guess it wasn't as radical in 1995. 

Aerial view of the building and debris

 Timothy McVeigh's motives for killing are simply unreasonable. People think it was just because of the trauma of the war, but others think it was because of his fascination with his grandfather's guns and survivalism as a child. While i was reading an article on, The Washington Post and ukmc, i came across two ideas with different reasonings. The Post was saying it was because of his childhood and how his mom and dad were divorced, but just think about all the kids then and now whos parents are divorced now and they aren't as screwed up in the head as he is. But something that both websites shared the same views were his lack of trying in school. He didnt try at all, so it led him to only be able to join the Army. But, when he got back from war he really did not have many options for jobs since everyone and their brothers were trying to get one. I found a really cool saying from the ukmc website talking about guns and this is what it said: "his view of weapons as the great equalizer." This really intrigued me, because it's saying if you don't have a gun then your definitely outmatched and will be the less domiant. But, if you do have a gun your either equal or ahead of the game, but he was ahead of the game since he's an ex-army man.

 

After doing all this research, I realize how much this effected the families who lost someone in this horrific bombing. It's been 17 years since the bombing and I hope that it goes on infinitely until another terrorist attack occurs. I was watching some YouTube videos of fertilizer bombs to see how big the explosion was and you can watch it by simply click on the video below!

 

Homework April 27, 2012

Directions 

Contract

Walker Evans Photograph

New York, New York. 61st Street between 1st and 3rd Avenues. Children playing in the street - Walker Evans (1938)

   Evans is showing how even though the economy and some families were bad off, children were still trying to make the best out of life. This photo I think is to try and lift peoples spirits, because its just four kids playing with their toys on the street. But, it can also be seen as a far more depressing photo. Maybe Evans is showing how they're playing in the street with their tattered clothes and their broken toys, because their families can not afford to keep eye on them 24/7. My hypothesis is that these kids are orphans and are unloved.

World War I Era Hollywood and My Fascinating Journey as a Researcher

Rin Tin Tin - many movies are still made about him.

 Becoming famous itself is very tough, but becoming a famous animal is even tougher. There is a truly heroic story of two dogs that were saved from a soldier in WWI, and their journey to stardom. I simply just went to AVL then scrolled down maybe a notch or two and clicked ebscohost where I typed in my subject - to which I found the information about these cute little pups. Finding a picture for Rin Tin Tin was the toughest though, because I was looking for a primary source. Supposedly, the soldier taught his male dog to jump great heights and to play dead at a dog show in Los Angeles. Someone recorded it and played it in theaters and a movie executive saw it and offered him a part in a movie. He is one of the biggest stars for Warner Bros. Pictures. They were going bankrupt and this dog brought them out of their bankruptcy.

Cover of the movie

 Another famous movie that relates to World War I is "Wings." "Wings," is about Jack Powell who is a young man with passion for cars. His next door neighbor is Mary Preston, who is in deep love for him, but Jack does not notice her. Jack loves Sylvia Lewis, but she is in love with David Armstrong. When USA joins World War I, Jack and David join the Air Force to fight in France and become pals. Mary joins the Women's Motor Corp, trying to be close to Jack. But it is war, and a tragedy happens between the two friends - Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To find the information for this film, I went to Google and searched for, "'Wings' movie 1927." I found a movie plot summary on imdb and found some information about this silent film!

Cover of the movie

 One of the best known movies that came out after World War 1 was, "All quiet on the Western Front." it showed how the Germans viewed the war through the soldiers eyes rather than the Americans point of view. I found some information on this movie at ebscohost as well. I am actually very timid to post certain websites because I am afraid i am gonna be using inappropriate sources. So much pressure Mrs. Lawson.

Propaganda-tried to get money

 Propaganda was used to influence many Americans into joining the war against the Central Powers. The Division of Films ensured that the war was promoted in cinema. The film industry had a bad rep and they were hoping to regain some of it by putting some propaganda up on the big screens. The film industries used film titles like: The Kaiser: The Beast of Berlin, Wolves of Kultur, and Pershing's Crusaders. To Hell With The Kaiser, was so popular that Massachusetts riot police were summoned to deal with an angry mob that had been denied admission. I found all of this information on a website I found on Google, it is called... firstworldwar. It actually has a lot of great information about how propaganda was being used and how Wilson was talking about peace when he actually led America into the war against the Central Powers.

Mary - "America's Sweetheart"

   A very well know silent film actor, Mary Pickford was a bigger world box office draw than any of her silent film star contemporaries. Mary was very successful in the movie industry and she raised over a million dollars in war bonds to help the U.S. She had become a citizen of the U.S., while still holding her Canadian citizenship. She was loved by everyone, America called her, "America's Sweetheart," while the world called her the "World's Sweetheart." She even won an Academy Award for her role in, "Coquette." The next generation star that was as famous as Mary was Shirley Temple. I found all of this information on goldensilents. I thought it was really interesting in how many movies she was in, there is a list at the bottom of the link i just gave and she was in more movies then I think I have seen, it is phenomenal. But for being "America's Sweetheart," I thought she would be much prettier.  

Cover of the movie

 One of the highest grossing films that was ever in theaters was, "The Big Parade," created by King Vidor. It was the first realistic war drama and serves as a model for all other war movies through the ages. It was the first big box office success of the newly formed MGM Studios, and possibly the most profitable silent film of all time - it helped bring back the popularity of war films in the late 20s. People now a days would say he was the Steven Spielberg of his time, which means a lot since everywhere you look you see his name. But, i ended up finding info on this popular movie on filmsite. Finding information on this last paragraph was semi-hard because I was running out of ideas to write about and it was getting slim to the info I was finding about all the other people/movies! 

WWI - Trenches

WWI trench - soldiers using a mortar 

The trenches on both allies and the axis were very similar. The trenches them self were not very tall, they were roughly 5'8", and then they had multiple sandbags on the top to stop the snipers from killing all of the troops. There were many twists and bends in the trenches so that if a blast went off, it wouldn't fill up the whole trench with debris or kill multiple friendly's. But, since there were so many twists and bends if a soldier was injured, it would be very very difficult to get them out, so they started carrying them on their shoulder rather than carrying them on stretchers. Both sides made separate sections for the heavy weapons such as bombs and grenades, because sometimes the men would be so tired and fatigued while they were putting the fuses in they would drop one grenade and it would set off a ripple effect and make a huge explosion. I found all of this information through a video I watched here.