Those darn mongols!

The trial was honestly so much fun! I love activities that are interacting like this and they really help me understand what is going on. I was really happy that I was on prosecution becuase it way easier, and I believed what I was saying. I liked being a witness becuase it seemed pretty straight forward. The direct examination was easy, becuase it was all planned, but I have to say, I did enjoy my self maybe a little too much in the cross examination. Going back to the Mongols, I think that they were one hundred percent ruthless leaders. Yes, their military was amazing, and their conquest was brilliant, but that doesn't take away from the fact that they stole so many lives. That they tortured and killed thousands. If I were to judge them, without being biased, I would definitely say that they were guilty of genocide, kidnapping, and terrorism.

Genghis Khan: was he a crazy murderer?

There is a lot of controversy whether Genghis Khan was a great military leader, or a ruthless murderer. It is justified to say that he was a murderer. He killed many innocent lives,and spared few. It is even said that he killed his half brother because he stole his fish. But even with all this murder, it was to expand his kingdom. In the video we just watched g'day in class, it is said that Khan spared the lives of most of the women and children of the people he conquered. But personally, I don't think that takes away form all the other murders he committed. He also tortured in cruel and unusual ways to show his strength. I think he was crazy, but there must have been some kindness in him, if you can call it that. I say this becuase he was willing to spare the life of his best friend Jamuca. They were basically lovers, but became enemies. But when Jamuca was captured, the only reason Khan killed him was becuase he was asked to by Jamuca. And even then, he did it regretfully. So that small form of compassion shows that he is somewhat human.... Maybe.. All civilizations during that time think of his name, and associated it with fear.

My link!

So since this is all on twitter, just go to www.twitter.com and search the hashtag #APworldSillyCrusades. Sam is @Quran_4evah and I'm Allah_luvs_me.

My sources

So most of these sources are Internet, but we did use the text book. Also some are arabic, and some are Italian.
Sources

"Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture Page | The Crusades through Muslim Eyes." Al-Ahram Weekly | Front Page. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. .


"Arab-Islamic History." AL-BAB: An Open Door to the Arab World. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. .

Juma, Leila. "Muslim Perspectives on the Crusades - Through Western Eyes || Imam Reza (A.S.) Network." Imam Reza (A.S.) Network || شبكة الإمام الرضا عليه السلام. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. .

"Italian Visits - All about Italy - Frederick II - Emperor of the Sun." Visits Travel Network. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. .

Bentley, Jerry H., and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past: Volume A: From the Beginning to 1000. Boston: McGraw Hill, C2011., 2006. Print.

How twitter worked for me

So I was kind of nervous using twitter for this project, but it surprisingly worked out very well. It was so easy to make two accounts, and work with both of them. Sam and I used the app, which was great, becuase you can have more than one twitter account in one app. So basically we just responded to each others tweet. We made fake characters that were supposedly alive at that time. The whole thing is like one big conversation over the Span of a few hundred years. So basically we're REALLY old. The only problem I really had with the twitter feed was the character restriction. It's hard to go into detail with less than 140 characters, especially when your hashtag is really long.

More fun project stuff

So I find sweetsearch.com an amazing search engine. I honestly believe that it is better than google. The hardest part is actually finding how Muslims felt during that time. I mean, it's very easy to assume how they would feel, but when you look it up, there's a book that basically focuses just on that, and that's the only thing that shows up. I did use google in Afghanistan, and it actually worked out pretty well. There were a bunch of new sources and there were new perspectives.

Yay information!

So it is definite that sam and I are working together, and are doing the first, fourth, and peace crusades. I collaborated information with Melissa and Shannon, and Futaba posted some helpful links. Sam and I are doing a twitter feed, and I have to say, so far, it is so much fun. I love doing it, and it's a great way to get your own personal opinions about something. We each made a fake account, and acted as Muslims during that time. It think it's going to be amazing!

Starting the project

Seeing as this week has been extremely hectic, and I've been co stanly doing work, I didn't have anytime to work on the project and realizes that it is due this friday.... So this is basically just a blog post to begin it all. I'm going to be collaborating research with my usual group, which is consisted of Sam, Melissa, Shannon, Nrupa, and Helli. But, we are all doing our own projects. Well, actually sam and I are working on the project together as well.so I looked at all the crusades, and I want to do the first crusade, the fourth crusade, and the peace crusade, but it isn't official yet. I'm waiting on confirmation from the rest of the team. So until I get that, I can't really do much. But sam and I are thinking about doing a twitter hashtag for the project, which I think will be really cool. Especially if I act as the Muslim :). So that's about it...