Causes 2: Great Music, Greater Cause

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope all are having a good summer. I know some of you said that you'd be on here from time to time over the summer, so I hope that this blog post finds a few people. Towards the end of the year, many of you all were looking for charities to get involved in, especially when it come to Africa. I recently found a benefit album that you all may enjoy, and 100% of the profits go towards human rights. The major focus here is the ongoing crisis in Darfur. You can click here to see more about the album and the charity. The album features some of my favorite artists including Gnarls Barkley, The Decemberists, LCD Soundsystem, and My Morning Jacket. If you decide to purchase the album through a download or the mail, hopefully you will be exposed to some great music, as well as contributing to a greater cause. You can see more information on the charity and situation in Darfur below.

While I'm Away For the Summer...

Hopefully everyone will now look at history as something that is constantly unfolding, and you will want to keep up with it every day as the book continues to be re-written. You've known me for a year now, so you know that I will tell you that BBC News and NPR News are your best English language sources for keeping up. I would also like to tip you off on something that hit the blogosphere at 6:05 AM this morning, and that is NPR's new news blog, The Two-Way. I will not be posting to my blog over the summer, but I will definitely be posting to The Two-Way, and I look forward to perhaps reading some of you guy's posts too if you so choose to blog over the summer on major world issues (I know that now many of you are addicted to the blog format, so this is a great way to continue). You will also be able to keep up with how my China trip will go, how it is going, and how it went by following me on my other blog- Prill China Tour 2009. So for the final time ladies and gentlemen, it's been a pleasure getting to know you all, and I hope to see all of you again next year and the year after from time to time. So for the entire AP World History team at North Gwinnett High School, this is Roger Prill signing off, and wishing everyone a pleasant summer, and an incredible 2009-10 school year. Cheers!

Au Revoir

Enjoy your summer folks! This is the point that I say goodbye and wish you all the best next year. I'm glad that most of you seem pretty pumped about the exam yesterday, and I hope that you'll be happy with your score in July. Stay safe, stay smart, stay motivated, and PLEASE HELP TO MAKE THIS WORLD A LITTLE BETTER THAN THE IT CONDITION IT WAS IN WHEN YOU FOUND IT. Remember, it's never about how much you know, it's about how much you love what you know and what you plan on doing with it in the near future. In fact, over the summer, see what you may be able to do NOW by visiting this website. Cheers!

All Season Whapey Award Nominations

Ok folks, here they are, we take the best (and worst) of each season, and narrow it down to one winner in each category. This is also one excellent final bit of review. So without any further delay, here are you All Season Whapey Award nominees... VOTING CLOSES ON FRIDAY AT 11:59 PM.

Best Government

Byzantine Empire

Meiji Japan

Persia

Republic of India

Tokugawa Japan

Most Influential Society

Continental Europe

Great Britain

Mongols

Rome

USA

Most Influential Person

Confucius

Genghis Khan

Mohandas K. Gandhi
Napoleon Bonaparte

Peter the Great

Best Leader

Akbar

Cyrus

Genghis Khan

Mahmud II

Mikhail Gorbechev

Worst Leader

Adolf Hitler
Empress Dowager Cixi

Ivan the Terrible

Justinian

Xerxes

Best Conflict

Battle of Chaldiran

Cold War

Mongols vs. All

Rome vs. Nomads
Russo-Japanese War

Best Social System

Abbasid Empire

Meiji Japan

Mughal India

Persia

USA

Best Economic System

Byzantine System

European Capitalism

European Mercantilism

Japanese Free Market

Persian System

Best Labor System

British Industrialization

American Capitalism

Worst Labor System

Mao China Peasentry
Western Indentured Servitude
Western Slavery

Best Invention

Guns

Internet

Printing Press

Road Systems

Steam Engine

Worst Invention

Agriculture

Factories

Gunpowder

Guns
Nuclear Weapons

Most Influential Writer

Ibn-Khaldun

Karl Marx

Martin Luther

Best Cultural Contribution

Bread and Circuses

Europe's Renaissance

Industrialization

Motion Picture

Song Chinese Arts

Best Film

Aladdin (really?)

Darwin's Nightmare

Gladiator

Mean Girls

The Mission

Pakistan Continues to Heat Up

The growing reality is that the war on the Taliban has turned into a two front war, with the Pakistani government trying to push them back and perhaps out of Pakistan, and the United States, along with a small international coalition, trying to remove them from Afghanistan. The two growing issues seem to be (1) keeping the Taliban away from the nuclear arsenal in Pakistan (and yes, they are literally within 100 kilometers), and (2) a rapidly growing refugee crisis in Pakistan's Swat Valley. This is the real news story that we should be paying avid attention to. You can click here to get the latest from BBC News. You can also click here from the latest from NPR News.

Whapey Awards Season 5 Winners!

Well the USA racked up the most awards with 4, but India takes the big prize in Season 5, joining ranks with Persia, the Byzantine Empire, and Japan--all previous winners of the big prize this year.

Best Government: India

Most Influential Society: USA

Most Influential Person: Gandhi

Best Leader: Mikhail Gorbechev

Worst Leader: Adolf Hitler

Best Conflict: Cold War

Best Social System: USA

Best Economic System: Japan

Best Labor System: USA

Worst Labor System: China

Best Invention: Internet

Worst Invention: Nuclear Weapons

Most Influential Writer: Karl Marx (not alive in Season 5 mind you, but certainly has a huge influence over the season post-mortem)

Best Cultural Contribution: The Motion Picture

All Season Whapeys are coming tomorrow!!!

Pakistan (and its Nuclear Arsenal) in Grave Danger?

Through our discussions in this class regarding South Asian politics, we all know very well now that Pakistan is a member of the "Nuke 9." Therein lies the reason that so many globally are becoming increasingly concerned over the Taliban's incursions into Pakistan. With their entrance into Pakistan's Swat Valley, the Taliban is literally within 100 miles of Islamabad the capital, yes within 100 miles of taking Pakistan's nuclear supply. Keep in mind the Taliban is the same group that housed al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and funded and supported the attacks of 9/11. Yes, this Taliban is now edging ever closer to taking down the Pakistani government and their weapons arsenal. You can read on all the latest regarding these developments by clicking here to read the BBC Special Report on "Pakistan in Turmoil."

Mexico's Most Tragic Victim of "Swine Flu"-- The ECONOMY

Mexico finds itself in a terrible bind right now, the challenge of luring visitors back to Mexico. Tourism is one of Mexico's biggest revenue generators, and at the moment Mexico City alone is losing 100 million dollars a day. It seems that Mexico is indeed safe to visit, but how do you convince tourists of that. Apparently the government is very close to launching a huge ad campaign to re-generate tourism, but it will certainly be an up-hill battle. In era of economic uncertainty, this could indeed be devastating to the Mexican economy. You can read this story, and all the latest news on H1N1 by clicking here.

China Remembers the Sichuan Quake as We Approach the One Year Anniversary

It was almost a year ago now (May 12, 2008) that southwestern China was rocked by a 7.9 earthquake in Sichuan province. The tragedy of that day was too much to ignore for people around the world. Some places like Beichuan were literally reduced to rubble. As with so many natural disasters, the disaster itself didn't take center stage, but instead the governments preparedness (or the lack thereof) and the response (or the lack thereof) (one can easily recall to mind a similar situation regarding Hurricane Katrina here in the United States in 2005). Children were literally crushed in school buildings. Then the allegations began to emerge of government corruption and cutting corners on sub-standard building materials and policies. In any case, NPR is following the anniversary of the tragedy this week, and yes the controversy still rages on calling into question the effectiveness of the current system government in China. The situation certainly does expose the fact that there is an underground resistance to that was exacerbated by these events. NPR reporter Melissa Block, who just happened to be in the city of Chengdu (in the Sichuan province), is back in Chengdu this week for the anniversary, and she has an EXCELLENT blog she has set up called Chengdu Diary (that you can check out by clicking here).

Better News Emerging Regarding the 2009 H1N1 Virus

Well folks, it looks like things are easing up a bit, and there has been encouraging information from the CDC in recent days that we are not dealing with anything like the Spanish Influenza of 1918. I still personally applaud governments and non-governmental organizations for jumping on this quickly though because (1) we're not out of the woods yet, and it could come back with a vengence when the fall flu season kicks into gear, and (2) perhaps we've been able to keep the levels of spread of this one down because we have been so vigilent. At any rate, the latest is that Mexico will begin to slowly reopen starting Wednesday, and you can read up on the details by clicking here. Currently, the 2009 H1N1 virus has infected 1,025 in 20 countries, but only two countries (Mexico and the U.S.) have reported deaths. We still need to remain alert, but my trip to Mexico in June is actually starting to look like it will happen again.

This is Good Advice For Any Day... See You all Tomorrow at 7:45am in the Commons Area