Treaty of Versailles: Germany's Allowed Military Structure

http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Germany%27s_Allowed_Military_Structure

This article provides documents from the Treaty of Versailles, which dealt with the military structure that Germany was allowed after the world war. This part of the Treaty includes three tables. The first table talks about states and establishment of army corps headquarters staffs, and of infantry and calvary divisions. The second deals with the tabular statement of armament establishment. The last table talks about the maximum number of stocks authorized. Each of these tables include details and numbers of the amounts of weapons and divisions allowed.

This document greatly influenced the situation of Germany after World War I. Military structure is one of the most important aspects to the sustainability of a country. The limitations weakened Germany as a whole. With a limited amount of military defense and structure, Germany's original power in the world lowered. Without many weapons and soldiers and much structure, its ability to defend and fight also became much weaker in comparison to the Allies countries. This document symbolizes Germany's defeat. With the Treaty of Versailles signed, Germany, in a way, "agreed" that it has been defeated, and that the war has ended. Germany's people would face humiliation, and the nationalism and patriotism towards the country would be effected. Weakened nationalism weakens the country itself, not only in military terms, but also cultural and economical. This document symbolizes a great change and event in Germany' history.

In class, we have been been split into groups and each group was given a topic to research and explore. Our group's topic deals with the overall picture of the events of World War I.  This document relates to our topic in a cause-and-effect way, as it is the result to all the events of World War I. It was only after all the events occurred, that the Treaty of Versailles was signed and Germany's military structure was limited. You could also consider the Treaty of Versailles to be one of the many events that happened in the first world war. The treaty was the final event that put an end to the war, and changed Germany as a whole.

Hallucinations and Caffeine

tWhat causes some people to see things that are not there, and hear sounds that others can't? 

A recent BBC article reports UK studies on the connection between caffeine intake and hallucinations. The Durham University Team surveyed 200 students, and found a possible link between high caffeine intake and hallucinations. The human body releases a hormone called cortisol when it is stressed. Caffeine intake increases cortisol release in the body, and could be the cause of hallucinations. 

The article is unbiased in that it also provided the perspective of people who doubt the results to the research. However, I found it a little hard to believe because it did not tell us how the students were surveyed. I cannot think of a way to measure and compare hallucination accurately. However, the article was significant. I found the information very interesting and definitely proposed a new view towards the causes of hallucination.  

Read the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7827761.stm?lsm

Current Event: More Than 1000 Killed in Gaza

On January 14th 2009, the BBC reported that the deaths of the Gaza crisis has passed 1000. The conflict started about 19 days ago when Israel, specifically the Hamas, attacked the Gaza strip, Israel claimed in a campaign that the attack was to end Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.

Egypt is currently making efforts in negotiating a ceasefire. The article includes many statistics about injuries and deaths in the Gaza. Out of the 1000 deaths, more than 300 are children, and about 78 are women. There has also been about 4500 injuries, of which 1600 are children, and 678 are women. The article also talks about the humanitarian concerns towards the crisis.

This article is significant, as it provides many statistics and numbers to make people more aware of the Gaza crisis. The article contains very little bias, almost all of its content is information and numbers. However, there is always bias in an article, as it cannot include every perspective involved in the issue. I feel that the article didn't fully explain the Hamas' motives, but this may not be because of the author's bias. It may simply be the lack of the information.

To read the article on BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7828884.stm