http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&query=&b=play&id=8538&cast=72001&castPage=
episode #90
Apr
20
Apr
12
I watched “Iraqi Teens Work To Help Their Families” that is part of the series “Alive In Baghdad”. It was published on October 15th, 2007 and can be found at http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/10/15/iraqi-teens-work-to-help-their-families/ . One of the people that appear in the podcast is Hussein Kamal, who is 15 years old and works in carpentry with his dad and does furniture painting, a skill that his brother taught him. It takes him an hour to get to work when it should only take a half an hour, because the route that they take is very unsafe. His interview looks like it takes place in a plain building, and they show some of the furniture that paints, a few benches. The other interviews look like they took place in a run down community, that is not well maintained. Another kid that is in this podcast talks about how its unsafe where he lives and he has been working since he was a child and is only in 6th grade. You can learn how the kids in Iraq live their daily lives and what they do for work, or atleast what they are able to do for work to try to help support their family. The kids talk about how the Iraqi people have suffered enough and to stop terrorism. I think an image that is stuck in my head is when the boy that is in 6th grade was painting the bench and had been doing that for years, and he was in a place that looked like a run down basement, surrounded with dirt and very unclean.
Apr
12
In “Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog From Iraq”, Riverbend in her entries from August 31-September 16, 2003 referse to Al Capone. She compares the living status in Iraq to Chicago in the 1920’s, “when Al Capone was running it: gangs, militias, fighting, looting, vendettas, dubious business dealings, and shady figures in dark corners” (52). Al Capone is also known as “Scarface” and was an Italian American gangster who led a crime scene that was dedicated to the smuggling and stealing of liquor and other illegal activities during the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and then moved to Chicago and became the boss of the criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit. His career ended in 1931 after he was convicted by the government for income tax evasion.
Apr
6
Riverbend,After reading your entries from August 19, 2003-August 30, 2003, I have learned a lot from the point of view of an Iraqi woman while the U.S. is occupying your country. I didn’t know that there were 9 candidates for the president of Iraq and they each had one month long periods. It’s also imaginable how it’s hard to be unable to sleep and wake up in fear. I think one of the best lines I read out of these entries was in Thursday, August 21, 2003 when you said “And keep one thing in mind–tanks and guns can break my bones, but e-mails can be deleted.” I liked this line the most because you were talking about how people were basically sending you “hate mail” and that everything you have been writing about is fake, and it’s true that if they don’t want to read it then they don’t have to. I can see how the American troops are frustrating to a lot of Iraqis, and the suggestion about bringing in UN peacekeepers would be a good idea but I’m glad that you show some sympathy for the young soldiers that are there because of the president’s decision. I enjoy reading your blogs from the other side and am looking forward to more entries.
