The Weather Underground

The 2008 U. S. presidential election brought the issue of domestic terrorism to national attention when it was reported that then-candidate Barack Obama was professionally linked to William â€Å"Bill† Ayers, co-founder of the Weather Underground. The Weather Underground was a militant faction of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a national organization representing the New Left on college campuses. The American public was forced to confront the actions of the Weathermen, as they were known, and decide whether or not these former terrorists could be accepted as members of society.Although 60 percent of voters said that it was not a valid campaign issue in an ABC poll, another 37 percent felt that it was. The Weathermen are unarguably an interesting lot, and a subculture worth exploring. At the time of their founding in the early 1960s, the SDS was a group that advocated nonviolence and followed the ethos of the civil disobedience. By 1969, the SDS had over 100,000 m embers, and was a leading anti-war group. At its peak, infighting severely fragmented the group during their 1969 convention.In the midst of the infighting, a sect that called themselves the Weathermen took control. They got their name from a Bob Dylan lyric, â€Å"You don’t need to know a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. † They were a group of college students that were keeping up to date with the revolutions in 3rd world countries, and believed that a world revolution was imminent. Bernardine Dohrn, a former leader and cofounder of the Weathermen, said that â€Å"White youth must choose sides now. We must either fight on the side of the oppressed, or be the oppressor. She believed that the Weathermen should join forces with the Black Panthers, but a prominent member said that he viewed the Weather Underground as a â€Å"kindergarten revolution,† and didn’t take them seriously.In the same year, several hundred Weathermen moved into houses, w hich they called â€Å"collectives,† in lower income areas because they saw working class youths as more valuable than students. Meanwhile, the privileged students already in the organization began learning to use weapons. Laura Whitehorn, one member who lived in a collective, said that they would â€Å"eat noodles with garlic butter every day for months. This was an attempt to harden them and â€Å"force us to give up our bourgeois luxuries. † In these collectives, monogamy was considered repulsive and Weathermen believed they were breaking repression with group intimacy. The mission was quickly underway in the collectives, with a campaign to â€Å"Bring the War Home. † The Weathermen attempted to make violence visible in U. S. cities by breaking windows while distributing their leaflets. One of the first major demonstrations the Weathermen planned was called â€Å"Days of Rage,† an uprising in Chicago where they planned to confront police using violenc e.Inflated reports from the various collectives led leadership to expect varying numbers from the 1000s to the 100,000s to attend the demonstration. In a â€Å"hard collision with reality,† only about 150 to 250 showed up. Leaders began to realize that they could be held personally accountable for the riot, but the event had become out of their control. The mob trashed windows while moving through the city of Chicago. After this, the FBI began to seriously assess the Weathermen. Don Strickland, an FBI agent in the 47th â€Å"Weathermen† squad, started conducting constant searches of the collectives.December of 1969 proved to be a difficult month in the United States. At a Rolling Stones concert, the Hells Angels gang started a riot. Charles Manson’s family had become news. Violent films from Vietnam were all over. Fred Hampton, a Black Panther in Illinois, was killed while in bed during a police raid of his residence. The last event in particular affected Bill A yers, as he realized that the U. S. government would kill people in it’s own cities when their power was threatened. The group began to divide again, this time because of fear. One faction felt that the bigger the splash, the better, while the other feared for their safety.The more radical element began to seriously arm themselves, with the slogan â€Å"Piece Now. † One member reflected on this buildup, saying that â€Å"When you feel that you have right on your side, you can do some horrific things. † Arguably the first major black mark in the Weather Underground’s history occurred in a Greenwich Village townhouse, where members were building bombs and planning to detonate them at a noncommissioned officers’ dance. A short circuit in the wiring caused the bomb to explode, killing members Theodore Gold, Diana Oughton, and Terry Robbins.This is when the FBI began to devote a large amount of resources to bring the organization to justice. In response , the leaders truly went underground and severed all ties to their families. They met at a collective in Northern California in order to reevaluate their mission. It was here that the Weathermen realized that it was wrong to commit random violence against ordinary people in order to penalize society for the war in Vietnam. Bill Ayers in particular began to ensure that no one would get hurt in future bombings and only chose relevant targets.Starting with a police station in New York City, the Weather Underground began bombing various police, military and other government buildings. Every time they’d call in to insist that everyone evacuate the building. It was here that the members of the Weather Underground became idealized, as most didn’t expect them to get away with it for more than a few months. Living as outlaws, they were often compared to Bonnie and Clyde or Butch Cassidy. The leaders, at the time called the â€Å"Weather Bureau,† began making trips to the various safe houses, sharing information with members on a strict â€Å"need to know† principle.This secrecy helped them elude the FBI’s standard law enforcement techniques, but the FBI was quick to adapt. They infiltrated the Weather Underground using undercover agents. These agents were accused of spreading â€Å"divisive stories,† and even physically attacking members. A group called the Citizen’s Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI office in Media, PA, and stole documents describing COINTELPRO, which covered a wide range of covert law enforcement tactics designed to divide both the anti-war movement and the black power movement.They leaked the information to the press. These techniques were effective, and the New Left began to lose its steam. As black power and anti-war sentiment faded, the left broke up into various causes, including the Women’s Liberation Front and gay rights. When the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the Weather U nderground had entirely lost its sense of purpose. First, Mark Rudd turned himself in to the District Attorney in NY. Bernardine Dohrn soon followed. Eventually, the entire leadership turned themselves in, but very few were prosecuted because of the FBI’s proven misconduct.Works Cited Berger, Dan. Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity. Oakland, CA: AK, 2006. Print. Rudd, Mark. Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen. New York: William Morrow, 2009. Print. Varon, Jeremy. Bringing the War Home: the Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the Sixties and Seventies. Berkeley: University of California, 2004. Print. The Weather Underground. Dir. Sam Green and Bill Siegel. Perf. Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Mark Rudd. The Free History Project, 2002. DVD.

Impact of Technology Essay

Every day we cannot live without technology. We wake up in the morning, we take a bath, we have breakfast, we do our daily activities, and all are affected by something called technology. From the simplest form of it until the most complex one, technology filled our daily life. The famous phrase â€Å"Information Technology† of course is one of the forms of technology. Before we continue talking about technology, we must know its definition. Shortly, technology is something related to science and engineering, which is used by the human or other creatures in dealing with their environment, to make their life easier. The technology develops fast. From the ancient age to the modern age, there are billions of its products that have made our life easier. In prehistoric age, the ancient human created the tools made of stone. They also invented the wheel, which is very important to the next centuries. Imagine that there weren’t any invention of wheel. We must give a lot of energy to move our goods from one place to another. Many centuries later, there are a lot of important inventions for human’s life, such as the invention of telephone. Using it, we may communicate through long distances. And the latest technology which has given many changes to the world and is still being developed is the information technology. The development of technology gives some impacts to human beings and the other creatures. The positive impact is, it makes our life easier. Without the inventions of technology, I think we would live our lives just like the prehistoric men did. Technology, just like the other things in this world, also has negative impacts. I’ll give you three examples. First, technology takes out the filters, like social filter, cultural filter, and religious filter. We can see in Internet technology. Internet is a medium in which no filter and censorship. Without parental guidance, your children may consume inappropriate materials from the Internet. The second one is the decrease of your social skills. Too much usage of technology makes you more antisocial. In the past, children used to play traditional games with their friends outside the house. But now they prefer playing video games in their own room, all by themselves. The easy access of technology also makes you too dependent to it. In the past, our people had more memorizing skills. They had to memorize things, because there was no tool to use to record things, except notebooks (the original phrase of notebook, not the portable computer). But nowadays, by using the computer, you can save any information you want in its memory to retrieve it in another day. In advance, by using the Internet connection, you may search any information you need through any search engine like Google, Yahoo, Altavista instantly. Dealing with those negative impacts, what can we do? First, we must be aware of them. We must be aware that technology could also cause bad things. After that, we must give the people knowledge of those negative impacts and how to deal with them. The government also has to do some actions about this. They must give some regulations relating with the press and the media. It is just need to be done to protect our society, not to restrain the press. And then, to increase the social skills, we must create the real community; build the real network, makes friends in the real world, of course not in the cyber world. By doing that, it will take us back to our nature as social creatures.

What is an Islamic City and Where has the Idea Come From Essay

What is an Islamic City and Where has the Idea Come From - Essay Example As the report stresses that the idea of Islamic City simply originates from the works of the Western Orientalists, who purported to describe the essence of the Islamic cities that emerged on the eve of westernization to try and make sense of the ancient Arabic cities . It is the work of these Western Orientalists that spread the idea of Islamic City as it is known today. The city has been associated with the convergence of people with different ideas, life perspectives and philosophies of life that results in the generation of different fundamental ideologies that shapes the world. Religion is one of the fundamental principles that shapes different world cultures, and for that reason, it is also associated with urbanization and the city. This paper declares that Islam has been characterized as an urban religion since the days of Prophet Muhammad. This argument has been advanced by the western orientalists, who mainly for lack of full knowledge and understanding of the Islam and then whole Muslim culture made assertions that may not hold true in the true context of understanding the Muslim religion and culture. The western orientalists argued that Islam is an urban religion, due to the fact that the requirement that the solemnization of the Friday Islamic prayers be done at a congressional mosque made urbanization for the advent Muslim faithful a necessity. The early mosques, just like the early churches and synagogues, were mainly built in the urban areas, effectively making Islam an urban religion.

Short and Long Term Consequences of Adolescent Victimization Essay

Short and Long Term Consequences of Adolescent Victimization - Essay Example The understanding of immediate affects abuse would have, how it relates to voluntary behaviors,howvictimization translates from adolescence to adulthood, and how it affects adulthood as a whole would be the main focus. Being a victim of crime is a common experience for both adolescents and adults. Victimization happens more to adolescents than it does to adults. The outcomes of being a victim of crime tend to be stronger among adolescent victims than adult victims. According to the National Youth Survey study they examined the consequences of adolescent victimization. The survey seems to focus on how being a victim of crime during the adolescent years seems to affect the negative outcomes when they become an adult. These negative outcomes include voluntary behaviors (e.g., committing crime, using illicit drugs) and involuntary outcomes (e.g., mental health problems). The Bulletin begins with an overview of the research literature on the consequences of criminal victimization.

Product Strategy, Pricing, and Distribution Research Paper

Product Strategy, Pricing, and Distribution - Research Paper Example Product strategyAspirin as an external and internal analgesic is an example of OTC substance that is approved in the United States and manufactured by Bayer. The products strategy of Bayer Aspirin is that they sell their products through retail channels. They aim at attracting and retaining customers by appealing to them to continue using the products in case it works for them (Rogers, 2001). The company boasts of the best and most effective external and internal analgesic. In the introduction state of product lifecycle, Bayer aspirin is promoted so as to create awareness using skimming price strategy. In the growth strategy, the company has increased its advertising costs to outdo the generics. The company promotes the brand name version of the product to compete the competitors with similar offerings. In the maturity stage, the company’s sales stabilize and the company uses more widespread promotion to remain in the market. While in decline stage, Bayer has introduced new mo re innovative products. The company also improves profit by lowering marketing spending. Aspirin has a brand name Bayer Aspirin which has not been changed since 1899. The company has spent millions of dollars to build this trusted brand image which has helped them in attracting and retaining many customers. Though the brand-name aspirin versions are costier than generics, the company still has high sales volume due to loyal customers.Being a high-end provider, Bayer Inc includes distribution factors in its pricing decisions.

Foreign Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Foreign - Assignment Example costs, distribution, advertising costs and government policies are some of the many factors which mostly impacts on the success of a new business in a new country. Physical and demographic environment such as the population, its distribution and growth impact on a new business in that it determines the capital invested in establishing the business and quantity of production. Economic environment goes a long way in analyzing the existing competitor and the availability of disposable income and patterns of expenditure (Hopkins 13). Cultural and social environment touches on a diverse range of factors. These factors which entail situations like education levels and literacy rates can detriment the success of a business in a foreign country. Legal environment constitutes of government guidelines that foresee how trade is oparationalised on the day to day basis. This may include working hours which may vary from country to country depending on its governing legislations.Lastly, political environment also to a great extent impacts on business growth in a foreign country. Constant political turmoil scuttles security prospects which in the long run lead to eventual failure of the

Professional capstone project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Professional capstone project - Essay Example in this theory include â€Å"Carative Factors† (emotional, human and spiritual, care-giving factors), a â€Å"Caring Relationship† (the patient and nurse mutually explore for wholeness and meaning) and â€Å"Caring Moments† (constant time spent, to create a human-to-human relation, with a patient). Caring is the ethical model of nursing whereby the conclusion is enhancement, preservation and protection of human solemnity. Thus, the two individuals, i.e. a client and a nurse, partaking in a caring operation are mutually involved in a process of becoming and being (Adventist Health System, 2011). Since nursing provides a sigh of relief to the ailing patient, this theory provides an insight into the behaviors that can be utilized to apply proper care mechanism to ease the patient’s sufferings. Some of them include comforting, attentive listening, peace, honesty, responsibility, patience, rendering information to enable the patient to construct an informed conclusion, respect, sensitivity, touch as well as addressing patient by his/her name (Anonymous, 2012). Using this theory, a nurse can constitute a caring association with patients by exhibiting unconditional acceptance using a holistic intervention approach (a treatment plan that involves treating the spirit, body, soul as well as mind), spending as much as necessary time with the ailing patient and promoting health through intervention and knowledge. This theory will be applied in the project by implementing the proposed behaviors in the real world situation and reporting the outcomes generated. The factual impact of the application of simulations on scientific decision making is undetermined. Cioffi, Purcal and Arundell (2005), have developed a pilot study that employed a posttest designed to explore the impact of a simulation strategy on the decision making process within the clinic for nursing students. The findings reported suggest that the students that were provided the simulation strategy gathered more