operation delta force: 2009

Sunday, May 17, 2009

active learning information

the URL of the site where I got my information

http://books.google.com/books?id=wxzsifUxviwC&dq=the+battle+of+mogadishu&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=3drXSf39MpiktAP6v_isCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPR15,M1

Friday, May 15, 2009

passive learning information

here are the websites that i used as information for the passive learning section

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Shughart

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gordon

http://www.pbs.org/weta/americanvalor/stories/gordon.html

http://www.militaryconnections.com/heroes_gordon.cfm

I believe that most things are a lot harder than they look or sound. Take what Gary Gordon and Randall Shughart did: they inserted themselves into a fight that they knew they might not win. They went in even tough they knew they were heavily outnumbered, and heavily outgunned. Even when their 3^rd sniper team member Brad Hallings was removed from the team they still went into the fray. But that sounds easy all they did was asked for permission, to insert twice, and they died after fighting many Somalians. This sounds a lot easier than it really is, until you add the psychological level of fear, and pain, and fear of pain, Then what they did takes on a whole new meaning. Who knows what was really going through Gary’s head as he called in for permission to insert his whole sniper team into this very hot and hostile situation. For all we know he could have been thinking of ways to get to the crash site, or he could have been thinking about if this was really the right thing to do. The thing was Gary requested permission to insert, his whole three-man sniper team, even though they would face a situation where death was highly possible. He had to make a hard decision for not just himself, but for the whole three-man team. When he made this decision it was a share victory and defeat kind of thing, meaning if this insertion dragged him down, it would drag down the whole team. That is what made the insertion so hard risking the deaths of everyone under your command, and the possible fear of dying.

But on to more trivial things, when I came up with this project idea I thought to myself: well I could do some research and put it in some kind of media form, and some active learning thing.” The thing that immediately came to mind for the research part was a tribute to someone. Then came the second part, the part about active, this was the part that had me stumped for a long time. Only after several weeks of debate, research, and more debate over research, did I come up with a great idea, do some kind of interview and make it come to life. All of this sounded very easy at the time, just do some research, find some pictures get some music and voila, instant tribute. As for the interview all it needed was a little research, some cameras, good lighting, a stand, a place to do my work, and I would be ready to go. Unfortunately, in the heat of action some plans got changed and all the good ideas and things that seemed to work went out the door. As a result I now had to compensate by doing the tribute a little differently. Instead of making a music and picture track, I instead recorded my voice and added pictures that corresponded to the bit of information that I was talking about. This did require research as the information given had to be factual, and not opinion. That did not seem as easy as it first seemed. The next part the active learning part was a lot harder than it first seemed. The active learning part had to teach the class something about the battle of Mogadishu, and/ or about the themes of the book. So I got some teacher feedback, and came up with a few ideas: film a interview using real information given by the person portrayed on the different aspects of October 3^rd 1993, smear face with shoe polish, and act like some random somalian and give his/her perspective on “Maalintii rangers”(day of the rangers), and finally last but not least, find some way to portray Mohamed Farrah Aidid, either through necromancy, or through some spiritual interpreter. Then to make it real hard I had to deal with the more material things that would restrict the production, things like props, costumes, camera, budget, crew sets and time. The worst part was time, which I had the least of. Also I had to find the opinions of the men portrayed and somehow work their opinions into a script in order to start filming. Set was the hardest and restricted the most of this film. Naturally I had no real set. So instead I had to film as little as possible and make all of the flashbacks inside the hangar at the airfield. In all I really underestimated what the project would really involve, and so it seems I am now working my way into crash and burn mode. Which leads to another part of the project theme. I will probably be able to teach the theme just by sharing the project… don’t underestimate the circumstances, don’t or else you may end up with a lame project that has so many loose ends, and has no real timeline or plot.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

sonnet multimedia component

Guilty As charged

Servant of remorse

Christopher Len

I stole from hell while the devil wasn’t looking

Escaping that which was haunting me

I went quietly so nary a soul heard my passing

I came to the surface looking for thee

Came I upon a man filled with anger and hate

And I was obliged to bring him sorrow

I bid him do away with what put him in that state

And I came for his soul on the morrow

To him I gave a gift of fear and remorse

Around his soul his sins were adorning

And for him the acts did run their course

As I followed like the garments of mourning

As servant and master I do what is bidden

In this life I show you what is best left hidden

Analysis of guilt

Christopher Len

We all know about guilt, it does wonders for human society. It tells us when to go, when to stop and it dictates how we should act when confronted with certain situations. Guilt can always be found in some ways or other in everyday life. It can range from the small scale to the large scale. Guilt like most human emotions can be dealt with in many ways and with guilt the two easiest are confessing to the supposed crime, or running from the scene altogether.

In my sonnet I start out by writing it in the first person. I am supposed to be guilt and this sonnet tells about my actions and other things. The first line of my sonnet was: I stole from hell while the devil wasn’t looking. To put it bluntly this line could mean several things. First it could mean that guilt could have quietly and quickly left hell while the head figure was not looking. Another meaning of this line could be quite simply that guilt really took something from hell while the devil wasn’t looking. This line could mean that guilt can turn life into hell simply by making its appearance after some event or other that evokes shame or remorse. The next important line: I came to the surface looking for thee, this line simply states that guilt is looking for a new “host” someone who can fit its criteria, anyone who can use what it offers.

The entire second stanza is devoted to talking about guilt’s host and what guilt’s criteria for picking a host is. Guilt looks for people who are having problems in their current lifestyles, problems that can only be solved through bloodshed, or theft. When guilt comes upon a man filled with anger and hate he then bids the man rid himself of his problem. Thusly we can infer that guilt found that the man fit the criteria perfectly and so arranged for events to fall into place in its favor. To rid himself of his problem the man either killed someone, or caused some form of misfortune. However the line and I came for his soul on the morrow shows that guilt like the supervisor he slipped past enjoys taking hold of a very persons core. When a man kills someone he will try to put the evidence of the crime away from himself, this is guilt. It tells us that what we did was wrong, and it tells us that nothing good can ever come out of it. It is self preservation and conscience all wrapped into one, for it tries to keep a person alive by making their life hell on earth as they avoid or confess to the crime that they have committed. This is also what the last stanza hints at what may befall the man now that the acts are committed for there will be no turning back. The garments of mourning also hints at death, it hints that either someone else died or this man will eventually die for what transpired, whilst guilt whispers to him of what he truly has done, and how he did it.

The last two lines of the sonnet wrap up the purpose and the intent of guilt. It shows that guilt is both the master, who is the one who leads, and the servant or the one who follows. He leads by telling you of what you did, while he follows by telling you of your options. Guilt shows you what is best left hidden because it is guilt, that is what it does it shows you those things about your life that you don’t want to remember doing or being a part of. That is the nature of the beast for it is an integral part of who we are and how we act it is why we must hide or show our crime, or sin our wrongdoing. For once the act is committed there is no turning back.

English free choice book Final

The theme of Blackhawk down

Christopher Len

The book Blackhawk down is an interesting read about a battle fought in the 20^th century. The book Blackhawk down is about the battle of Mogadishu fought on October 3-4 1993, and it is also about what the men had to experience and go through when they fought this battle. The men were originally supposed to go in by helicopter to secure the target building, and to load the captured militants onto humvees. Then the men were to run out of the city on foot. Unfortunately the extraction did not go as planned. This brings me to the theme of the book, which can be tied in with this. The theme of the book is that one must never underestimate the circumstances for doing that may yield unwanted results.

The theme of Blackhawk down can be interpreted many ways. One theme could be that man may underestimate his enemy and may begin his downfall. In the book Black hawk down, the rangers have underestimated the Somalis. They mistook them for an unorganized, group of men, who when challenged would take a few wild shots and run. However they then proceeded to think that this would allow them to walk in unchallenged and take the top lieutenants in Farrah Aidid’s militia. Since they had no real challenge they left behind most of the gear that they would need, partially because they expected it to be easy, and partially because they thought it would only take 90 minutes. What ended up happening was: things didn’t go according to plan. The Somalis put up more of a fight then the rangers expected them to. Now the rangers have to fight against a fully trained militia, one that will not back down. Another problem is civilians; the rangers are use to the conventional warfare, one that involves shooting at targets that are armed. In Mogadishu the people who were not armed would throng to disturbances like flies to sugar. This makes it all the much harder for the rangers to distinguish their targets from civilians. This is another reason why the rangers underestimated their enemies; they thought that the armed men would just show themselves, that they would be discernable and easy to see. But they underestimated the Somali militias will to succeed, and did not prepare for some battle that involved shooting civilians. The theme of never underestimate the circumstances, also ties in with the title of Blackhawk down. The title, which suggests the whole theme of the book is about a Blackhawk that goes down, is very correct but it does not imply the reason the Blackhawk went down. The reason that the Blackhawk went down is because the pilots and the rangers did not expect the Somali militia to have RPGS or any tactics that could quickly down a helicopter. So naturally when the Somali militias showed up with their RPGS and their aim up tactics the rangers were caught unawares. So they shot down 2 Blackhawks with their RPGS and the rangers lost several pilots, all because they underestimated their enemy. Sometimes though the rangers were not underestimating the Somalis but they also underestimated the circumstances. When Blackburn fell from a fast rope he dropped 70 feet to the ground. He was carrying extra M60 ammunition and so he was heavier than he had ever been on a fast rope. The only reason that he injured himself is because he missed the rope entirely, from over excitement or from the height of the drop. What is clear is that he underestimated the circumstances of the insertion, and so ended up removed from the action and severely injured with neck, back, and head injuries. The theme of the book Blackhawk down is how the rangers underestimated their enemies and paid for it with blood.

One of the main themes of Blackhawk down is that you should never underestimate the circumstances. This underestimation of the circumstances will often lead to terrible, often disastrous results. This can be attested by the example of the rangers and the somlian militia and how that turned out. This is relevant information for all people, for by passing this information over you are making a mistake. Your mistake is simple yet will have major repercussions later on. And though the repercussions may not be as momentous as the battle of Mogadishu it will still have the same reasons behind it. Do not pass this information over. Do not underestimate this theme, for it holds the truth, or the future. Be prepared.

Monday, April 20, 2009

inspirational short story

Veterans day parade

Christopher Len

When I was seven my father decided to take me to the Veteran’s parade he was taking part in. He then told me that I would be joining him in the parade. That involved waking up before 4:00 to get dressed and ready for the parade. The first Veterans Day parade I participated in started early that morning. My father came into my room at three thirty and woke me. “Son, time to get up. Get dressed, we need to eat and leave.” As I was still tired, the most I could muster was: “but dad its only 3:30.” All he said to that was “we need to be at Mike’s place by 6:00.” That was that and I had no choice but to get up and get dressed. It seemed to be as if I was dressing in some very strange suit. It was only a shirt, a jacket, some pants, a belt, blousing bands, boots, socks, and a hat, but even so it seemed that the uniform alone would weigh several tons. Breakfast consisted of lots of toast with jam some milk and some oatmeal. The strange thing was I did not feel like eating, as it was only 4:00.

After some thumping straining grunting groaning and pushing my father managed to get the rest of the stuff we would need for the parade into his car. After reminding my mother that I would be perfectly safe riding in the duce and a half, also known as a two and a half ton truck we embarked for the parade, and possible embarrassment before thousands of onlookers. We arrived at Mike’s house a little early and so we had to help him load everything into the duce and a half. They loaded several different odd-looking packages into the truck before boosting me into the back end. What I found there hinted at the cleaning skills of “uncle mike.” The back of the truck was filled with junk of all sorts from things that we would be needing during and for the parade, and things that would normally be found in a tool shed. So that is how we set off on our little adventure, with junk sliding around in the back of a truck. Upon arrival at our destination I just sat and waited while everyone else in the parade ran around taking pictures, or asking if they could ride in this or who was driving that. So that is how the time went until 8:00, the time when the parade started. As my father climbed into the back end of the truck all he told me to do was to smile and wave at the people, easy as pie. That’s all there was to it and the thing was nobody knew who the heck I was. It was a simple routine just smile and wave at people, all the old men, smiled back and waved while the kids waved flags and clapped their hands. We just smiled and waved while the people gave the same reactions clapping and flag waving. That’s how it went until the end of the parade, when we pulled into a park. That’s how we ended the parade, milling around in a park while people checked out the military vehicles and asked us questions.

The thing about the day was I really liked it. The best part about it was that the people actually thought of me as cool and not some idiot with ego problems. I guess I liked it so much that I did it every year after that. For seven years. The best thing is after you do it for seven years the event suddenly becomes routine, and is nice and easy. That was at least the way I thought it would be until my father started adding the webbing and the gear needed to fully feel the experience. That’s when things started to get a little different. The gear he told me was to “signify that you are not a kid anymore and that you can handle carrying a bayonet around with you.” That at the time sounded good, but sounding is better than being. Ever tried sitting on nice wooded bench that’s harder than a church pew, while wearing a bayonet? The feeling is very painful, especially when seated. The bayonet will dig into the very sensitive and yet painful areas of your back causing due pain. But the pain is worth it because I get ht admiration of all the people I see. Best of all they have no idea who I am so a normal life is easy. Of course there are downsides to. My father also made me pull guard duty consisting of guarding the duce and a half, and allowing no one inside. Times have changed since Blackwater, and all the terrorism problems now no one is allowed to enter the vehicles without the permission of the owner. Even so the people still ask me the same old questions of what kind of gun is that mounted on the truck or how much the truck weighs? One kid asked me if It was easy killing anyone, of course I had to spin him a tall tale cause hey, that’s my style. Why do I do it all? To do my thing in a Veteran’s parade, and represent the USMC (United States Marine Corps) worth it? I think so?