I have a 4 1/2 year old boy, an almost 3 year old boy and a 4 month old baby girl. I am loving being a father. Tomorrow afternoon I get to take my 4 1/2 year old and almost 3 year old out to their soccer game. I can hardly wait!
My 4 1/2 year old is going through a bit of a challenging stage right now...no pun intended. Whenever he is given direction, given an order...he now frequently responds with, "Why?" For the most part, I'd say, he asks for the following 2 reasons, (1) he's genuinely curious and is wanting to know more info, and (2) he is simply parroting what he's heard other kids say without realizing what he's asking.
Sometimes I wish adults, myself included, were more like my 4 1/2 year old. I find myself wondering "why?" when I consider this research that I've just completed, that I'm going to describe to you so you can do the same. You can search a wide variety of news websites for specific words or phrases simply by typing the word(s) or phrase into the search window of http://news.google.com. Try entering the term in quotations "Barbary Wars" in the news search and see how many news articles pop up in the search. Just one news article comes up with the exact phrase "Barbary Wars." Now, try typing in the news search box Vietnam and Iraq. In other words, research how many articles are probably drawing upon the Vietnam War as a frame of reference for the Iraq War. Well, you end up with 13,142 news articles. Now, to even the casual observer, this makes one's antenna perk up!
Let me ask you a question. What do you know about the Barbary Wars? If you do not know anything about the Barbary Wars or very little...why is that? Is it possible that you don't know much because it isn't being referenced in the news? If you are not aware of the history of the Barbary Wars please click on the following link and be astonished along with me...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Wars
Now, let me ask you another question...why are news reporters and/or editors intentionally framing the Iraq War in the context of the Vietnam War, but are intentionally not referring to the Barbary Wars? After reading the above article...doesn't it seem quite odd that a reporter/editor would not even mention the Barbary Wars? Doesn't it seem odd that the ONLY frame of reference, the only filter the reporters/journalists/editors want you to have is the Vietnam War filter? Why is that?
Let's be discerning people when it comes to what we watch on the TV. Everyone has an agenda. Networks have an agenda...journalists have an agenda...reporters have an agenda...editors have an agenda. Don't assume that simply because it's on TV news, or in the newspaper, or on an internet news site, that that makes it true. Consider the source and consider their agenda.
What did our nation learn about Islamic fundamentalists from the Barbary Wars?
My 4 1/2 year old is going through a bit of a challenging stage right now...no pun intended. Whenever he is given direction, given an order...he now frequently responds with, "Why?" For the most part, I'd say, he asks for the following 2 reasons, (1) he's genuinely curious and is wanting to know more info, and (2) he is simply parroting what he's heard other kids say without realizing what he's asking.
Sometimes I wish adults, myself included, were more like my 4 1/2 year old. I find myself wondering "why?" when I consider this research that I've just completed, that I'm going to describe to you so you can do the same. You can search a wide variety of news websites for specific words or phrases simply by typing the word(s) or phrase into the search window of http://news.google.com. Try entering the term in quotations "Barbary Wars" in the news search and see how many news articles pop up in the search. Just one news article comes up with the exact phrase "Barbary Wars." Now, try typing in the news search box Vietnam and Iraq. In other words, research how many articles are probably drawing upon the Vietnam War as a frame of reference for the Iraq War. Well, you end up with 13,142 news articles. Now, to even the casual observer, this makes one's antenna perk up!
Let me ask you a question. What do you know about the Barbary Wars? If you do not know anything about the Barbary Wars or very little...why is that? Is it possible that you don't know much because it isn't being referenced in the news? If you are not aware of the history of the Barbary Wars please click on the following link and be astonished along with me...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Wars
Now, let me ask you another question...why are news reporters and/or editors intentionally framing the Iraq War in the context of the Vietnam War, but are intentionally not referring to the Barbary Wars? After reading the above article...doesn't it seem quite odd that a reporter/editor would not even mention the Barbary Wars? Doesn't it seem odd that the ONLY frame of reference, the only filter the reporters/journalists/editors want you to have is the Vietnam War filter? Why is that?
Let's be discerning people when it comes to what we watch on the TV. Everyone has an agenda. Networks have an agenda...journalists have an agenda...reporters have an agenda...editors have an agenda. Don't assume that simply because it's on TV news, or in the newspaper, or on an internet news site, that that makes it true. Consider the source and consider their agenda.
What did our nation learn about Islamic fundamentalists from the Barbary Wars?
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