Blog 19

     The United States declared war on Germany on April 2, 1917. In our declaration we were concerned with governmental issues, rights of the people, and the nation as a whole. This was generally a peaceful declaration, with no aggressive or violent actions stated to be taken. The German response, however, included several aggressive war terms. Tacticts such as unrestricted submarine warfare, blockades and foreign policies were mentioned as a resoponse to our declaration.

Weekly 5

       Mature-rated video games, such as Call of Duty, are the fastest growing segment of the video gaming industry today. According to the Federal Trade Commission, about 40 percent of those who play mature-rated games are under 18. Of the 146 million gamers in the United States, 65.7 million are children and teens and 20 million video game players are 12 and under. Also, 95 percent of teenage boys play video games each month. Statistics have proven the huge role video games have in the majority of Americans lives.
        I do not believe that these violent video games should exist. Even though these games are not available for all age levels, kids still manage to get their hands on them to play. Children perform what they wittiness. For instance, a child will watch their father reading the newspaper in the morning. Even if the child can't yet read, they would try to imitate what they see their parent doing based on observations. If a child were to walk in on some teenagers playing a violent game, such as Call of Duty, they would no doubt become interested and curious to what the older kids were playing. Actions performed in these games would also inspire young children. Additionally, kids tend to idolize their favorite characters. Being good or bad influences, children look up to these characters. Again, they would try to be just like them - learning dangerous moves or violent actions. Having never actually played Call of Duty, I find it hard to imagine the purpose for such games. Killing off the enemy? Discovering the most fatal weapons? Creating war scenarios found in real life? I, personally, can't fathom how that could be entertaining or even fun. Why would you want to be in such situations? What benefit do you gain? Sure, maybe video games are "fun", but I don't see how violent ones could fit in that category.
        Some people may argue that such video games lessen the amount of violence in the world; I, however, disagree. I believe that constant exposure to violence increases the tendency for people to copy what they play as a part of their daily routine. As stated in the assignment topic, there is no "reset" button for soldiers in war. Yes, your lives are numbered in the games, but in real life, you only have one shot. There are no "undo", "save" or "quit" buttons in life. If you make a mistake, it could cost you your life. Also, no "hints", "helps", or "cheats" are given. Unfortunately, no helpful messages appear at the bottom of the screen to warn us of danger or inform us of ways to succeede. 
        The futures of our children are in our hands and we have to responisbitly to set the right path for them. Why would you want to expose your child to violent games? They're most likely too young to fully grasp the concept of death and war anyway. Based on all the information collected and observations made, I do not believe that violent video games should be created and sold or that these games lower the violence or crime in society.


http://www.gameguru.in/first-person-shooters/2008/20/call-of-duty-world-at-war-review/

Blog 19

      From the movie trailer to "Gallipoli", a variety of artillery is shown. The Great War had an extreme impact on the world, causing an enormous amount of casualties partially due to new weapons and war tactics. Replacing the more formal style of standing at the line of battle used in the Revolutionary War, trench warfare emerged. This concept, still highly dangerous, provided more protection for the soldiers than standing face to face. Other war strategies used were: unrestricted submarine warfare, blockades, dogfights and flame throwers. Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships without warning as opposed to attacks following the rules of war; this tactic was used mainly by the Germans. Naval warfare in WWI was charactarized by the efforts of the Allied powers to blockade the Central powers. Dogfights are a form of aerial combat between fighter aircrafts where each is aware of the others presence. This appeared in WWI after the airplane was invented that would be used in many other wars, including WWII. Flamethrowers were a great technological advancement from previous simpiler weapons. Taking about four men to opporate, these machines project a stream of ignited flamable liquid or a long gas flame. All of these new weapons and tactics improved the way war was fought; but with an improvement in war, comes an increase in casualties. During the Great War, 16 million soldiers were killed and 21 million were injured. This extreme amount of casualties devestated society greatly, resulting from loss of loved ones, former employees and soliders.