Histories Mysteries

Bomb's planted in the WTC's

This video, from Youtube, shows eyewitness accounts of bombs, supposedly, going off in the North Tower, South Tower, and WTC Building #7 sometime after the planes crashed into the World Trade Centers.  According to the eyewitnesses and the media, these explosives, or "secondary devices" seemed to have gone off minutes before the towers fell, thus showing that the collapse of the towers and Building #7 was previously planned to be a controlled demolition.

Were explosives used?

This video, also from Youtube, goes into more detail to support the theory that the WTC's, and Building #7 collapsed due to bombs planted there.  It, primarily, provides various hypothesis's (such as the "pancake theory") to prove the theory that the collapse was due to demolition caused by bombs.

Much of the evidence in this video were provided by physics professors and other specialists in the field of controlled demolitions and implosions.  The first evidence provided by the video is the numerous eyewitness accounts of people hearing mulitple explosions prior to the collapse of the buildings.  According to one eyewitness, explosions could be felt five blocks from the buildings.  Next various professors specializing in the fields of physics and demolitions were asked to give thier opinion on the collapse of the buildings.  One such theory was the aforementioned "pancake theory".  According to this theory, bombs were, supposedly, placed on each floor of the core support struts in the builidngs.  When the bombs were activated, the floors collapsed on top of each other like a pancake.  Also, after the collapse of the two towers, no chunks of concrete was discovered.  This was becuase the concrete was pulverized by the bombs.  These along with many more convincing evidence shows that bombs might have caused the ultimate devise of the towers and Building #7.

There is something about conpiracy theories that seem to capture the attention of the American public.  Could it be that in the desire to discover the truth, the public concieves theories about our goevernment creating these disasters?  Or could it just be human nature and curiosity?  The separate comments posted on each of these videos are interesting in that one set of comments counter's the other set.  The comments posted on the "Bomb's planted in the WTC" video show that many people believe that the bombs were, deliberately, planted in the buildings.  The comments on the "Were explosives used?" video shows people who think that this theory is bogus.   

#6: The Dentist, the 9/11 Hijackers. and the FBI...

The Strange Death of Dr. David M. Graham

This article, published by guerilla news network, a small independent new group, centers around the strange death of Dr. David M. Graham. This article states that in Novemeber, 2000, Graham, a dentist, a radio journalist, a war veteran, and a amateur jounalist, indirectly made contact with two of the hijackers that would cause the 9/11 attacks: Nawaf al-Hazmi and Fayez Banihammad. While with a meeting with Jamal Khan, the man who introduced Nawaf al-Hazmi and Fayez Banihammad to Graham, Graham overheard Khan stating that "[his] father has recently been to meet Osama bin Laden." When Graham reported his meetings with Jamal Khan, Nawaf al-Hazmi, and Fayez Banihammad to the FBI, it was ignored. Ten months later, after the 9/11 attacks, Graham was shocked to discover that Nawaf al-Hazmi and Fayez Banihammad were the hijackers. After contacting the FBI again on his previous report ten months earlier about Nawaf al-Hazmi and Fayez Banihammad, Graham recieved threats and intimidations from them. However, that did not stop Graham. He started his own investigation and two years later, when he was about to publish his report on his meeting, he was intentionally poisoned with ethylene glycol, a key ingredient in antifreeze. He succumbed to this poisoning on Semptember 2006

What the article is trying to show that Graham was intentionally poisoned by the FBI because "he knew too much." His family, friends, and coworkers state that Graham was a friendly man who knew no strangers, didn't make any enemies, and was not into committing suicide. Thus many in Graham's community beleive that his death was an incident of foul play. The following link shows a video clip of Graham's investigative work into Jamal Khan, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Fayez Banihammad, along with the FBI.

The Dentist, The 9/11 Hijackers. and the FBI...

#5: Muscle Cars

picture essay

#4: John Mosby and his Rangers

     During the Civil War, the Union Army was successful in pushing the Cofederate forces back into the South. As the Union Army progressed South, the Confederacy desperately tried to slowdown or completely halt its progress. Enter John Mosby. Nicknamed "The Gray Ghost", Mosby and his Rangers took part in quick lightening raids against the Union Army by primarily intercepting and capturing their railroads, dispatches, horses, and soldiers. But who was John Mosby, and why was he feared by the Union Army?

     Born in Powhatan County, Virginia in 1833, John Singleton Mosby was the son of Virginia McLaurine Mosby and Alfred Daniel Mosby. Even though he had a small stature and was sickly, Mosby often got into fights with local boys. While arrending the University of Virginia, John Mosby got into an altercation with George Turpin, a local bully at the university, which resulted in Mosby being expelled from the university and jailed in Charlottesville. While in jail, Mosby showed an interest in law after befriending the Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney and reading his law books. After being pardoned from prison, Mosby became a law clerk and eventually ended setting up his own small practice. As news of secession spread, Mosby took a unionist stand, even though he despised the idea of secession.  After the events at Fort Sumter, when Virgina was forced to take arms, Mosby "with a heavy heart, did the only thing possibe for a Virginia Gentleman to do: he enlisted in the service of his mother state."[1] 

     John Mosby enlisted as a private in the the 1st Virginia Cavalry and due to his bravery as well as his skills in scouting, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant thus earning him the respect of Gen. J.E.B Stuart. After capture and brief imprisonment, Mosby returned to the service of Gen. J.E.B Stuart and was given "the authority to raise a band of partisans for service in the Loudoun Valley in northern virginia."[1] Being one of the two Confederate partisan Ranger units (partisan units refering to units that engaged in guerilla warfare) in the Confederacy at the time, the job of Mosby's Rangers was to disrupt Union supply lines by operating behind enemy lines. Originally consisting of a few men, Mosby's Rangers ranks swelled due to support from the Northern Virginian community.  Since his operations were so successful, he earned a legendary reputation, and he steadily rose in rank: from Captain to Major, to Lieutenant Colonel, and finally to a full fledged Colonel. His reputation also earned him the fear of the Union Army.  It was due to this fear that the nickname "The Gray Ghost" was given to him by Lincoln because the Union Army feared that Lincoln would be kidnapped by Mosby "right underneath thier noses."[2] Despite the succesful operations of Mosby's Rangers, the Confederacy ended up losing the war and Mosby disbanded his rangers unit after General Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House.

     After the Civil War, Mosby moved to Warrenton County, which was known as "Mosby's Confederacy", so that he could stay close to his men. He became a politician and a staunch supporter of reconstruction. Mosby possesed many different occupations during the closing years of his life: he was the U.S. consul to Hong Kong, he was a lawyer for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, an employee for the Department of the Interior, and finally an assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice.  Mosby died of natural causes on May 30, 1916, Memorial Day, at the age of 82. Even though Mosby disapproved of slavery, he fought on the confederate side because a "soldier fights for his country—right or wrong—he is not responsible for the political merits of the course he fights in."[2] The South was John Mosby's country.

(For pictures, click here: Civil War: John Mosby and his Ranger's)

Work Cited:

1. Mosby, Col Biography of Col. John Singleton Mosby. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from Mosby's Rangers.com Web site: http://mosbysrangers.com/bio/

2. Colonel John S. Mosby. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from The Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley Web site: http://www.angelfire.com/va3/valleywar/people/mosby.html

3. (2005). Retrieved October 26, 2007, from The Mosby Heritage Area Association Web site: http://www.mosbyheritagearea.org/index.htm

#3: Barrow's Plantation...Where is it?

    Barrow's Plantation was one of the many plantations in the south that maintained a large property. The 1860, pre-Civil War, map shows the plantation with the gin house, and the master's house surrounded by slave quarters, while the 1881, post-Civil War, map shows the plantation dotted with the houses of the free slaves as well as a school and a church. Now, 127 years later, what has become of Barrow's Plantation and its small community? Does it still exist?

    The first step in finding Barrow's Plantation is to interpret the clues that are given in the maps. From the maps, it can be noted that Barrow's Plantation is located in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Also, the plantation has various geographical features in the form of creeks, such as Syll's Fork and Branch Creek, that can aid in research. By researching Oglethorpe County, Georgia on Google, one can find various maps of the respected area. One of the maps, published in 1883, seems interesting because it mentions a town called Syll's Fork. Looking at a larger  map of Oglethorpe County, published in 1894, the town of Syll's Fork is more visible along with D.C. Barrows Plantation. From the 1894 map it can also be noted that the town of Philomath P.O. is located less than half a mile north of Barrow's Plantation.  Since towns that have post offices (P.O.) never undergo name changes due to mailing reasons, it would seem that the town of Philomath should still exist. By plugging Philomath, Georgia into yahoo maps, a satellite picture of Philomath is produced. Moving south of Philomath, with some careful observation, Barrow's Plantation is located. By studying the actual location of Barrow's Plantation via satellite pictures, it becomes obvious that the orientation of the 1860 and 1881 map is faulty: the north of the map is actually the west of the plantation. The satellite images also show that there are no indication of houses, the creeks and streams have dried up, and the entire plantation is covered with trees.
   
    The online Library of Congress is used to find the first true map of Barrow's Plantation. By researching the keyword Barrow in their online archives, the Library of Congress produces an article in a March 1881 issue of Scribner's Monthly, written by none other than D.C. Barrow.  This article contains the pre-Civil War and the post-Civil War maps of Barrow's Plantation, thus showing that the earliest public appearance of this map was in 1881. Using the online Digital Library of Georgia, various articles and pictures are obtained relating to Barrow's Plantation during the late 1800's. One image shows a couple of African American children picking cotton on Pope Barrow's Plantation.  This may look like slavery, however noting the date of the photograph, 1899, it would seem that these children are free slaves who were trying to make a living by working for their landlord, who was their former master. Another picture, also taken in 1899, shows the cabin of Pope Barrow. Finally, after conducting some research into D.C. Barrow and Pope Barrow via the New Georgia Encyclopedia, it is discovered that both men were in fact brothers.

    As can be noted from the maps, Barrow's Plantation became a small community after the Civil War. The slaves, now freed, lived in their own houses around the plantation. The free slaves and the master, now known as a landlord, engaged in sharecropping.  However, Barrow's Plantation might have gone deserted due to the harsh laws that many states would impose on African Americans in the coming years, such as the Jim Crowe laws, thus driving them out of Barrows Plantation.

(For pictures click on this link:Barrow's Plantation )

Works Cited:

1.  Arguelles, Jeanne (2001). Oglethorpe County Maps and Places. Retrieved October 12, 2007, from Oglethorpe County GAGenWeb Web site: http://rootsweb.com/~gaogleth/maps.htm

2.   David C. Barrow Jr. . (2003). In The New Gerogia Encyclopedia [Web]. Georgia: The New Gerogia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10/12/2007, from http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-857&hl=y

3.   Vanishing Georgia. Retrieved October 12, 2007, Web site: http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/vanga.cgi?userid=public&dbs=vanga&ini=vanga.ini&action=retrieve&recno=1&rset=005&numrecs=10

4.   Retrieved October 12, 2007, from Yahoo maps Web site: http://maps.yahoo.com/broadband#mvt=h&q1=philomath%2C+Georgia&trf=0&lon=-82.991967&lat=33.707991&mag=4

#2: Clash of Cultures.

    In the narrative "Story of the Pigeon's Egg Head", Wi-jun-jon (Pigeon's Egg Head), a proud Assinneboin warrior, has undergone a drastic change ever since he took a trip down to Washington. He leaves as a proud, dignified warrior and returns as a reformed "civilized" person, influenced by Western culture. The new Wi-jun-jon, however, is looked at as a disgrace by his own people and his return is met with untrustworthiness, which ultimately leads to his demise. The story of the deterioration of Wi-jun-jon's relationship with his people, after returning from Washington, represents the culture clash between Native Americans and whites that will escalate to conflict.

    Wi-jun-jon's drastic change is notable by his two paintings, by George Catlin. The left painting shows Wi-jun-jon in his Assinneboin warrior dress complete with quiver, bow and shield. He is adorned by locks of scalps from his fallen enemies and war eagle's plumes. The right painting shows Wi-jun-jon dressed "in a full suit of regimentals,"[1] complete with a broad sword, bottles of wine, and a high-crowned beaver hat harboring a two foot high red feather. The left painting represents the Native American way of life; simple, bound by honor, consisting of religious as well as spiritual events, while the right painting  shows how the Native American culture and way of life has vanished after contact with the whites, replaced with western culture.

    In response to the gradual eradication of their culture, Native Americans have tried to halt it. For example, when Wi-jun-jon tells his people about Washington, the Assinneboins disgrace Wi-jun-jon by stating that "he has been among the whites, who are great liars, and all he has learned is to come here and tell lies."[1] It is obvious from this quote that the Assinneboins haven't seen or experienced western culture, and it could also mean that they want no part of that culture.  What the Assinneboins see in Wi-jun-jon is a man who has given up his way of life, his culture, thus he can no longer be viewed as one of the Assinneboins. 

     The clash of Native American and western culture will eventually lead to conflict.  This can be seen when Wi-jun-jon is killed by one of his own people.  Another example is the pan-Indian resistance movement. The message of this movement was that "white encroachment had to be stopped and tribal and clan divisions submerged in a return to native rituals and belief systems."[2] Initially intended to be a peace movement, it turned bloody after Harrison, governor of the Indiana territories,  sent an army to "quell" the movement. The "Story of the Pigeon's Egg Head" as well as events such as the pan-Indian resistance movement, foreshadow the future treatment of Native Americans by the whites as they continue to take over Native American land.

Works Cited:

1: The narrative "Story of the Pigeon's Egg Head."

2: Abbott, C., Anderson, V., Argersinger, J., Argersinger, P., Barney, W., Goldfield, D., Weir, R. The American Journey: A History of the United States. Page. 246-247. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.

#1: A code of conduct for woman

    The court records from "A Chesapeake Afternoon Mystery" shows that the entire case centers around Katherine's rape. After filing her complaint, investigators, or "deposeths", are sent in to investigate and see if they can find some clues to this crime. However, by the end of the case, four out of five deposeths claim that it was due to her actions that Katherine got what she deserved. In fact, the court records doesn't even mention the kind of punishment that John has to endure for his crime. "A Chesapeake Afternoon Mystery" shows that woman were supposed to know their place in society; they were supposed to act proper and ladylike.

    According to John Aust, a deposeth, Katherine was seen acting not ladylike by flirting with the servants while drinking syder.  She kissed some of the servants, touched their "codpiece", and commented on Dirke's "thing" several times. She also went as far as to take "Mingoe one of the said Cocke's Negroes about the Necke and fling on the bedd and [kiss] him and putt her hand into his Codpiece." [1]  However another deposeth, Humphrey Smith suggests that John Aust is lying about his testimony because "the deponent saw Katherine's Mouth torne and her lipps swell'd, And the handkerchief that she said the Mulatto Stopt her Mouth with very much bloody." [1]  John Aust's testimony states that Katherine was in "good terms" with the servants but Humphrey Smith's testimony states that she showed signs of physical abuse during her rape.  These quotes could mean that John Aust might have exaggerated the truth on his testimony, thus she needed to be taught a lesson in ladyship by being raped.

    Another example is at the ending of the court records, when Humphrey Smith states that "Mulatto [confesses] that he had been to aske the said Watkins wife forgiveness three tymes, and likewise the Mulatto sayd that Henry Watkins bidd him keepe off his plantation or else he would shoote him." [1]  Henry Watkins, husband of Katherine, wasn't even interviewed in the whole record, so in a sense he didn't care that his wife was raped.  However, when John visits Katherine's house to ask for forgiveness, Henry threatens to shoot him.  This could mean that Henry  thought that Katherine got what she deserved since she didn't act lady like; he doesn't care about Katherine and how she feels about the whole ordeal, which also shows that he cares about his reputation more than he cares about his wife.

    The code of conduct for woman back then was strict because they were supposed to learn how to take care of the house, rear children, and care for the husband as well as stand by his side.  However,  in Katherine's case, she flirted with other men, drank profusely, and acted in a raunchy manner. So according to most of the deposeths, with the exception of Humphrey Smith, if Katherine hadn't mingled with the servants in the first place and had kept to herself, she wouldn't have been raped. This code of conduct would be mandatory for woman all the way till the early twentieth century when womens rights movements would sweep the nation resulting in equal and fair rights for all women in America.

Works Cited:

1. A Chesapeake Afternoon Mystery. 1681. Court records of Virginia

 

DUB Show in LA

Over the summer I attended the DUB convention in LA.  They had alot of custom, sporty and exotic cars for viewing.  Everything from Lamborginis, Rolce Royces, Ferraris, Bentleys, etc to Mercedes, BMW's, etc.  For more pictures check out this link:

http://syed.typepad.com/photos/dub_show_in_la/

Me in a nutshell

Hello! My name is Syed and I am currently a junior at George Mason University.  I am majoring in biology with a concentration in pre-dental.  My career goal, as you already know from my concentration, is to become a dentist, specifically an orthodontist.  I am originally from Dubai, one of the emirates or states that compose the United Arab Emirates, a small but prosperous country located in the Middle East.  I came to the States roughly seven years ago in search of a better education.  It took me a while to get used to the American society and customs but now I consider America my home.  I am always interested in meeting new people, however I am somewhat shy.  But once I get to know you I can be relatively loud!!  My interests include hanging out with friends, basketball, football, swimming, cricket, reading, going out to parties/movies, driving, and cars.