log 7b

I was taken back when all that the Katrina piece was only a photo, rather than the normal long passage that we have to read. Though they do say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I guess its like we read a thousand word passage. The first “hotspot” for me was found in the expressions in all the peoples faces. The look of despair on their faces, I cannot imagine what they were seeing or what was happening to them. Perhaps they were being told by the soldiers that there was no more relief for them, or that everything they had was destroyed. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst national disasters that this nation has ever known, the devastation to the people affected is unimaginable, their lives will never be the same. All we can do is help them try to rebuild, but that takes more than just thinking about it to make a change, it takes money and effort on our part. The second part of the photo that stood out to me was the apparent chaos in the situation shown. It is impossible to predict when such a disaster will strike, which means when it does it is all the more terrible. The thought of losing everything is not a pleasant one, so people don't usually think about it. When you do lose everything, I imagine some people would go into denial, which only makes reality hit harder once it sets in. The chaos of trying to feed and shelter this large amount of people is a nightmare, and when you tell people that there simply isn't enough, that is when all hell breaks loose. People fighting each other for the basics of life we take for granted every day, the very definition of chaos cannot be shown in a better way.

The first hotspot on the second reading came when I realized that the terror that the people of Cambrai suffered was brought by another group of people, that is the Boche. I know that we still have problems like this in Africa today, but thinking about it is still disturbing. The thought of slaughtering a village of innocent people is unthinkable. It's a shame that there are people in the world who have to worry about whether or not they will survive the day, or have to wonder about whether or not they will eat tomorrow. I know we try to help these people but it seems that no matter what we do it doesn't do anything. I suppose that it is simply human nature to fight, but to take it so far as to level a village of innocent people is beyond that argument. Though as they said, seeing the Boche prisoners cleaning the mess they made brought justice, but how much will that really help in aiding the people who's lives were destroyed by the war. The answer is it wont help that much, but justice is important because it makes an example of everyone who would think of causing such pain on others.

The second hotspot for me was at the end when the motives of helping were being scrutinized by each other. This type of behavior only leads to more problem sown the road, and only hurts the people that need help. I don't see why all the different countries need to be so suspicious of each other, as they are all there for the same purpose. I really hope that we can learn to set aside our differences in the future, maybe then we can do even more to help these people in need. I don't see any possible ulterior motives for being in Africa, so the countries are only suspicious because of what they think of the other countries helping. People probably think America is only there for the resources it can get there, which is wrong. Until we can get rid of this suspicion, I fear that there is no way we can ever help Africa and maintain the aid we give them without them falling back.

7b

After reading “Katrina: Growing Despair”, I had two hotspots. My first one was on page 225. It said that the hurricane had done an estimated 81.2 billion dollars in damage. This was one of my hotspots because I obviously knew that the hurricane had done a lot of damage, but I never knew the number that they put to it. I can't even imagine how much 81.2 billion dollars is and I can't imagine how they will ever be able to get anything close to that amount back. Literally everything must have been destroyed. I've seen pictures, but it's definitely not the same thing as being there in person. It's good to know that there are celebrities and other people going over there frequently to help rebuild the city and put their own time and money into it the reconstruction. I wonder what the city looks like now and how fair it's come. It's definitely not the same but it has to be better than what it was. It's going to be a landmark for forever now.
My next hotspot was also on page 225. It said that the “head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned amid accusations of poor leadership and mismanagement of resources.” This was my second hotspot because I remember hearing on the news that the federal government's reaction was poor and slow. I did not know that the person in charge actually resigned. You have to wonder why it took so long for the government to react. Of course there were probably other things going on, but something bigger than the loss of 2,000 lives in one city? That should be a big red flag and you would think help would be sent immediately. I guess we'll never know the reasons behind the lack of reaction to the hurricane, but just hope it never happens again if another catastrophe ever happens.

“The Devastation Is Terrible” had two hotpots that caught my attention. The first one was actually in the introduction on page 227. It said that “Ashe wanted to serve with the American Red Cross during World War 1, but she was rejected because of her age.” I haven't done my math so I'm not sure how old she was the time but it was a hotspot for me because of all the injuries and casualties that occurred during WW1, you would think they would take all the help they can get. Even if she is young, she could still help gather things and bring the real doctor's what they need. I don't know, I just thought it was strange that help was rejected in a time of need.
My second hotspot was on page 228. This is when it talks about a lady who was in charge of a hospital and 107 men took refuge in there. She kept them there for two weeks and let them escape one at a time. She disguised them as butchers, bakers and other things so they wouldn't get caught. She also burned their uniforms in a furnace. She eventually got very sick and was sent to a prison hospital where she walked for miles to try to get away. She was caught and returned to the hospital. This is a hotspot of mine because I could picture her as I was reading this, doing the things she did. I could picture her helping the men out and her running away from the prison hospital. I could picture her getting thinner and thinner like the book says. It's sad, really. A little old lady (I'm assuming) doing these things for other people and protecting people when it puts her life in danger. The ten accomplices she had also put their lives in danger for people they barely knew. I like how the lady said that “no one knows what freedom is who has not been deprived of it”. I like this because it's so true. We take our freedom for granted everyday without knowing, and we never will understand our freedom until it's stripped away from us.