Tom Selleck

Best known for his role in Magnum, P.I., his iconic mustache saved the day countless times and always got the girl. His mustache gave him an unforgettable appearance and he may not have been quite the actor he was without it.

Hitler

This mustache is without a doubt among the most influential, albeit horrible, of all the mustaches of the 20th century. Hitler’s appearance demanded not only obedience, but also respect and unwavering loyalty from his subjects. Ironically, this style of mustache was made popular by Charlie Chaplin, because he thought it made him look more humorous. That brings us to…
Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin was a God of silent film. Being a professional comedian and entertainer, he created characters with his appearance that could be easily recognizable. His mustache provided a look that didn’t take itself too seriously, yet he was able to play a character that was an off take of Hitler in 1940’s “The Great Dictator”.
Stalin

Stalin’s mustache is what he wanted everyone’s image of the Soviet Union to be: Strong and Eternal. Among the greatest of world leaders’ mustaches, his provided an image of power and sophistication simultaneously. It worked quite well with his hair, I might add.
Teddy Roosevelt

Roosevelt and Taft were the only two U.S. presidents well known for sporting a mustache. Roosevelt takes the prize though because his mustache has the spirit of adventure. His mustache had been everywhere from the Badlands of Dakota to the Amazon Rainforest.
Hulk Hogan

Even though he’s a scary man, with eyes that would make you freeze in your tracks, and veins popping out every which way, it’s really the mustache that make’s Hulk Hogan such a fearsome figure. When he talks, something about the mustache amplifies the power of his death threats a thousandfold. His mustache was the last thing a lot of people saw before they blacked out.
Yosemite Sam

His mustache is as wide as he is tall. Enough said.
Michael Jordan/Martin Luther King

They’re like carbon copies of the same mustache, which is why they occupy the same spot. I must say that jordan’s appears more subtle, whereas King’s stands out a bit more.
Ghandi

Ghandi’s mustache definitely is a symbol of silent power and amazing resistance, yet I can’t take him too seriously because he is smiling like Bill Cosby.

“Hey…bum bum bum…..got any rights?”

The man said “no, but we’ve got oppression. It’s cold and it’s dank and it’s all foreign made. Would you like a glass?” Tilak said “I’ll pass” He protested away pro pro tested for Hindu Reforms until the very next day bum bum bum bum bum badabum bum.

Hindu radicals walked up to a British man and said to the man, running the land, “Hey….bum bum bum….got any Civil rights?” The man said “no, like I said yesterday, it’s just the British way, okay? Please don’t give us a deny?” The radicals said “We’d rather die.” And then they bombed away bomb bombed, the government buildings, bombed bombed, until Tilak was sent away bum bum bum bum badabum bum bum”

Indians walked up to a british man

and said to the man running the land

hey bum, bum, bum… got any civil rights?” And the Brits said “Look this war’s getting old. Fight with us and you’re independence is gold. Why not give it a go?” The Indians said “Let’s Go!” And then they fought away in the trenches, losing men and supplies from India and fought away fought fought until the end of the war bum bum bum bum badabumbum.

Ghandi walked up to a British man, after the war, still runing the land and said “Hey..bum bum bum…..where’s our independence?” The man said “THAT’S IT! If you don’t stay away, schmuck, i’ll throw you in jail and leave you there all day, stuck! So don’t strike or you’ll pay. And Ghandi said “Namaste!” And he protested away nonviolently, with hunger strikes, and British boycotts, all called satyagraha, gathering many followers, until the British decay bum bum bum bum badabum bum.

When Ghandi walked up to the British man, after the war, still running the land he said “Hey, got any jails?” And the man said “What? Why would I- OH!”

“Then one more question for you- GOT ANY CIVIL RIGHTS/(Independence?)

The man just stopped. He started to cry, being weakened for a while. Then he said “Come on Ghandi protest no more, I’ll give you independence so you wont protest us any more.

So the Indians got their Independence and it took until 1947. The Rowlatt Act was removed, for it restricted the Indian groove. Each Brit was perceived as a schmuck, who each ran a muck, in each of their ranks.

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12th century Persian cult leader, Hassan-I-Sabbab, never would have believed that the small group of murderers-for-hire, that he famously led would lead to his being the root of the modern word assassin.  That was what he did for a living, but where his executions were completely impersonal, the most outrageous assassinations in history were anything but simply business.

In ancient Rome, before the Empire really took root, bloodshed was commonplace. The man mainly credited with founding that mighty empire ended up paying a heavy price. Political lives were often ended, prematurely, by jealous rivals, rulers being by no means immune from such assaults. Rivalries within factions often led to killings, by friends and families, just as much as by enemies, foes, but Caesar being slaughtered, on 15 March 44 BC was a lunacy that led to major unrest within Rome.  On the Senate floor, he was set upon by 60 of his colleagues in power, his body said to have been subjected to 23 knife wounds, one of which killed him.

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In the year of 1914, Europe was an area full of barely contained aggression between different states, needing nothing more than a push, in the right direction, for all hell to break loose. Heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, once very powerful, t Archduke Ferdinand powerfully influenced political opinions of the time.  He was shot dead, by 19 year-old Gavrilo Princip, of the revolutionary independence movement Young Bosnia, in Sarajevo, around noon on June 28 1914, the most destructive single pistol shot in history, leading to the deaths of more than 15,000,000 men during WWI, the young assassin escaped execution, dying of Tuberculosis.

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One of the most horrifying, and history changing killings of the last century took place on 30 January 1948, when Mahatma Ghandi, father of Indian independence and spiritual guide for millions, was shot three times during a prayer meeting in the grounds of Delhi’s Birla House. Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist, who felt maddened by Gandhi’s support for the partition, into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, carried out this dreadful act. Godse had not the slightest notion of how deeply this outrageous killing would affect Indian society, to this day, a wound that just refuses to heal, for so many.

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 Ghandi and his mantra, of passive resistance to authority, brought about change in India, while at the same time, black US activists were fighting just as had for equal rights. Unrest was explosive, one man always making himself heard above the protests, that being Martin Luther King, who was undoubtedly the most important voice for black civil rights then, though his charismatic and inspirational life was cut short, by his being murdered on 4 April 1968. A fatal rifle shot in the neck, and Dr.King fell, dying at the hands of James Earl Ray, his killer. This untimely and senseless death,  in Memphis, Tennessee, led to riots across the USA, and, to this day, rumours of a  government-funded conspiracy refuse to go away, despite any convincing evidence to support the idea.

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The worst assassination of the century was witnessed, on worldwide TV, when John F Kennedy, President of the USA, was ruthlessly shot to death, on the rear seat of an open limousine in Dallas, Texas on 22nd November 1963.  Lee Harvey Oswald, a loser who had been a bit of a communist, himself shot to death 48 hours later by Jack Ruby, was the killer, yet, even half a century later, conspiracy theorists still debate this heinous crime, asking if government involvement played a part. Presidents have not ever been allowed to travel in open-top cars since Kennedy’s killing, an event  shaking western society to its very foundations, and one we can only hope will never be repeated. 

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All images used with permission

India, located on the southern tip of Asia, is the second most populated country in the world behind China.  India has a population of about 1.17 billion and a total area of 3,287,263 sq. km which is about one third the size of the USA. The median age of all Indian citizens is about 26 years old, which makes India one of the youngest countries with a large economy. In India about 80% of the population is Hindu, 13% Muslim, and 2% Christian. India’s government type is a Federal Republic. The current Prime Minister of India is Dr. Manmohan Singh and the current President of India is Mrs. Pratibha Patil.

The earliest known inhabitants of India were of the Indus Valley Civilization. This civilization lasted from circa 2600 to 1900 BCE. Through the Bronze, Iron and Stone ages many different civilizations took form. After many hundreds of years, 326 BCE Alexander the Great conquers the Indus Valley and puts Greek officials in the area. After Alexander the Great dies Chandragupta Maurya founds the Maurya dynasty, the first Indian empire. By 184 BCE this dynasty conquers most of India. In 273- 232 BCE Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya and the most famous ruler of the Maurya Dynasty rules india. During his rule he brings about moral reform to India. In 184 BCE the Maurya Dynasty ends when the last ruler is assassinated.

After the Maurya Dynasty ended the Gupta empire emerged and lasted from circa 240 to 550 CE. The Gupta Empire was one of the largest empires in ancient India and covered most of modern day northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. During the Gupta Empire India flourished in science, religion and philosophy. During this time the decimal system and the concept of zero was invented in India. The Gupta Empire later fell due to numerous attacks.

Over the next couple hundred years many different small kingdoms emerged in India and Vasco da Gama sailed to India in 1498 CE. In 1494 Babur inherited a kingdom, located on now modern day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, when he was 11 years old. His elders soon took the kingdom from him and kicked him out. Later Babur built an army and captured much of northern India. The empire that would follow would be called the Mughal Empire. After Babur’s death his son, Humayun, took over and lost most of the territory Babur captured. After Humayun’s death Akbar, Babur’s 13 year old grandson took the throne. Akbar was one of the most famous Kings in Indian history. Akbar was quickly realized as a great military leader and recaptured northern India and captured most of the Deccan plateau. Although Akbar was a great military leader he was more famous for his religious tolerance. Even though he was Muslim he defended religious freedom and allowed people to practice their own religion.

By 1707 the Mughal Empire was collapsing and in 1757 Robert Clive led the East India Company army to a victory at the Battle of Plassey. After the battle the East India Company ruled India until 1858. India became Britain’s most valuable colony because it provided raw materials and a market to sell British made goods.

After the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, Britain’s government directly controlled India instead of The East India Trade Company. Later in the 1900’s Mahatma Gandhi led the independence movement. After the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre where fifty British soldiers opened fire on a gathering of unarmed Indians and killed 1526 people Mahatma Gandhi pushed for nonviolence. After World War 2 the entire Indian population was against British rule and soon after Britain gave India Independence on August 15, 1947. India was divided into the mostly Muslim part of India which became Pakistan and the mostly Hindu part of India which remained India.

I think that there were both good and bad effects of the British rule in India. The bad effects of British rule were the division of India into three countries, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Also when British left, they took a lot of India’s resources and wealth and India became a poor country. There were some positives to British rule such as it industrialized India and provided the railway, justice and education systems. British rule also unified many kingdoms of India.

Introduction

     “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can judged by the way its animals are treated” – Mohandas Ghandi. Every day, somewhere in the world, an animal is forced to fight for its life. Whether it be an adorable puppy or kitten, or livestock on a factory farm, animals are unnecessarily abused. The purpose of this report is to educate people about the cruelty animal’s face on a daily basis.

Loyal Companions

     The news today is often filled with horrible stories about animal abuse, at the hands of sick and twisted people. An example of this is Pit-Bull fighting. It is a cruel form of entertainment and it means exactly what the name implies. Pit-bulls are pitted against each other in deadly combat. They are abused and trained to become aggressive fighters. (Blackdog) This in turn has caused people to see these creatures as a threat to society, causing them to become hated, banned and even put-down in many areas. (Blackdog) If we take away pit-bulls from society, won’t these dog fighters just find a new breed to intoxicate with their irresponsible ways? However, society will not blame the owner! They are always going to put the blame on the animal even though they were taught to act that way. Another terrible form of animal cruelty is the concept of puppy mills and farms. The main purpose is to produce large numbers of puppies and to find the cheapest way to do so. (Blackdog) The puppies are not properly cared for and must live their lives in tiny cages and unsanitary conditions. (Blackdog) The owners of these farms do not care about the puppies, only the money they make by keeping them. However, not all animal abuse is intentional. Animal hoarding is a mental disorder and people who suffer from it will keep a huge number of animals in their home. (Blackdog) They do not realize the harm they are doing to these poor creatures. It becomes overcrowded with so many animals being there and it becomes unsanitary to live in. (Blackdog) We hear so much about the abuse these innocent creatures suffer,  but it still continues.

Factory Farming

     Furthermore, most people don’t know the truth behind their food but, the sad fact is that a lot of the animals we eat have been abused in some way. Small family farms are done and large factory farms have taken their place. “Over 95% of the 650 million animals raised and slaughtered for food in Canada today are mass-produced on factory farms.” (Chooseveg)  These animals are packed tightly into dark and dirty warehouses, stuck in cages and chained to stalls, barely able to move. Most of them never experience fresh air or even sunlight! (Chooseveg) Some animals even suffocate because of how overcrowded it is on these farms. (Chooseveg) How would you feel if that was how you were to spend your entire life? The meat suppliers of Canada do not care about the well being of their animals and they are “treated as no more then mechanized parts of a food assembly line” (Chooseveg). The animals are forced to suffer terrible abuse. Chickens have their beak tips amputated, suffer ammonia burns, broken limbs, and have their throats slit while still conscious. (Chooseveg) Cows endure branding, castration and dehorning. (Chooseveg) Pigs have their tails cut off, teeth clipped, ears notched and are castrated. (Chooseveg) It’s disgusting and sickening that they feel the need to unnecessarily harm these innocent animals. Female animals are kept constantly pregnant, left to live in cramped cages. The worst part is that after a mother gives birth, her child is taken away from her. Imagine how you would feel if your child was ripped away from you. That is the worst pain a female animal will suffer, because they are losing someone they love. “Most Canadians do not view animals the same way that people did in the Victorian era,” said Melissa Tkachyk. These animals suffer horrible abuse for society and most people don’t even care.   

The lack of Justice

     In addition, many incidents of animal cruelty have resulted in little or no punishment. This proves that Canada’s cruelty laws are weak. Compared to other developed countries, Canada is sadly behind in its animal cruelty laws. Bill S-203 was created in 2008, in order to update Canada’s animal cruelty act and help to further decrease the amount of animal abuse in society. (Perkel) “However, [less] than one-quarter of 1 percent of the charges under Bill S-203 result in convictions.” For example, in one case a New Brunswick man was acquitted of charges for killing five dogs with a hammer. Apparently since the dogs were seen as his property, he was allowed to dispose of them however he wanted and was only charged a fifty dollar fine. (Perkel) The only reason this law was passed in the first place was to make the Canadian politicians look good. The government does not care about the well being of animals.  Canada has made an effort to decrease animal cruelty, however it still remains a serious problem.

Conclusion

     In conclusion, animals suffer terrible abuse and it has become a serious issue in society. The sad fact is,           most people don’t care

 Sources

Perkel, Colin. “Animal Cruelty Law Lacks Teeth.” The Star. The Star, Sunday 12 April. 2009.

     Web. 10 January. 2011

“Animal Abuse and Cruelty”. Blackdogrescueproject. N.P. 2009. January 10. 2011

“Factory Farming in Canada”. Chooseveg. N.P. N.D. January 10. 2011

India’s history is very big. The earliest cities on the subcontinent were built in the Indus River valley, and were part of the Indus civilization which was about 2500 B.C.E to 1500 B.C.E. These cities were built from brick and were home to a large population of people.
This was a good place to settle since it had fertile soil, and it had water for irrigation and trade. The people on the Indus river valley got to build streets, private homes, public baths, and shops. They also learned how to make cotton which made them one of the first cotton textile company. 
Ashoka (grandson of Chandragupta) was the greatest of the Maurya rulers. He was also India’s most interesting leader. Under Ashoka, nearly all of India was brought together as one large empire. In one military campaign, against the kingdom of Kalinga, thousands of people were killed or wounded. Ashoka then converted in to a Buddhist. Several hundred years before Ashoka’s birth, Siddhartha came to believe that killing was deeply wrong. So Ashoka stopped and worked on how to make life better for his empire and India. 
Then came India’s Golden Age, after centuries, the Gupta Empire was founded by another ruler named Chandragupta. He dreamed of recreating the glory and stability of the Maurya Empire. After series of manoeuvres Chandragupta got himself crowned Maharaja (King of Kings) in the ancient capital of Pataliputra. During all this great new things were made like Indian art, Science, Music, and literature. This was called the India’s Golden Age.

India’s economy in Gupta times was based only on agriculture. Famers lived in villages, and even now they do. Villages have always been very important in India. Villages are the home of extended families, and are really small societies. Each society has its own worship place, and ways of doing things. 
Farmers were taxed for part of their income, and the money went to the royal treasury. Most farmers paid the value of 1/5 of their cattle and 1/6 of their produce to the tax collectors. They also had to pay special water taxes if their lands were irrigated. Crafts-persons were also taxed. But most of the wealth of Indian states came from the taxes paid by landlords, and people that worked on that land. Indian temples and priests were given money by offerings and fee’s, mostly from farmers, and produce of the lands owned by individual people.
Crafts-persons were well organized in the Gupta’s age. Many of them belonged to specialized guilds, which created cloth, pottery, and metal ware. There were also guilds that made oil from palms and other plants. Each of the guild members got money by putting in their money and more experienced guild members got the largest amount of money paid to them. 
The Gupta’s were also traders and explorers. They carried on regular trade with China and even, indirectly with the Romans. Indian ships under the Gupta have sailed as far as China and Arabia. 
 All these topics make just make up a part of India’s great History. The history of India has very roots. I thought all these topics were interesting to me , hope you liked the topics I chose.

Image via Wikipedia

These individuals did not want anything in return except, maybe a hug or a smile. A facial expression showing them they had saved a person, in all ways a person could be saved.

These people will be remembered; they will be treasured throughout history; and when they are or have been at the end of their days, they will be able to say that they helped others to achieve greatness.

They are in no particular order as it hard to measure greatness within these individuals.

Mother Teresa

A Roman Catholic nun who for over 40 years aided the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying. By the 1970s she had become internationally renowned as a humanitarian and campaigner for the poor and helpless. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and India’s highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work. Mother Teresa’s set up the Missionaries of Charity which continued to expand to over 600 missions in over 100 countries.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

Goodwill Ambassador to the World who assumed a role as an advocate for civil rights. Eleanor continued to be a worldwide prominent author and spokeswoman for the New Deal coalition. She worked to improve the status of professional working women, although she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because she believed it would adversely affect women.

“It was not until I reached middle years that I had the courage to develop interests of my own, outside of my duties to my family. In the beginning, it seems to me now, I had no goal beyond the interests themselves, in learning about people and conditions and the world outside our own United States. Almost at once I began to discover that interest leads to interest, knowledge leads to more knowledge, the capacity for understanding grows with the effort to understand” (Roosevelt, 412).

Per Anger

A Swedish Diplomat that aided Hungarian Jews from being deported in WWII by the Nazi’s. Much like Oskar Schindler, Anger designed makeshift passports and certificates to protect Jews from incarceration and deportation. Although there was a question of legality of the documents, the government accepted them under the impression that these were Swedish citizens.

Martin Luther King Jr.

A leader in the American civil rights movement led the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-6) and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957), serving as its first president. Martin Luther King led a March on Washington in 1963, where he delivered his most influential speech, “I Have a Dream”. While in Washington, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement leading him to become the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Awards:

Nobel Peace Prize in 1964
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977
Congressional Gold Medal in 2004

Jimmy Carter

Carter and his wife Rosalynn founded the Carter Center after his term in office had ended. The institute promotes global health, democracy and human rights. Carter has traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations and establish relief efforts. Carter is also a strong figure and advocate in Habitat for Humanity .

“I have one life and one chance to make it count for something . . . I’m free to choose what that something is, and the something I’ve chosen is my faith. Now, my faith goes beyond theology and religion and requires considerable work and effort. My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can”

Oskar Schindler

A German Industrialist that originally sought out to be among some of the wealthiest businessmen at the time of the Holocaust. He operated his factory at will, with cheap labor. However, as time went by, he grew a conscious and with that he arranged with Amon Göth, the commandant of Plaszow, for several Jews to be transferred to an adjacent factory compound. The Jews would be relatively safe from the depredations of the German guards. Schindler also reportedly began to smuggle children out of the ghetto and sent them to stay with Christian nuns.

In 1967, Schindler was honored at Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial to the victims of the Holocaust as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, or “righteous Gentiles”, an honor awarded by Israel to non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust at great personal risk. Schindler was the only former member of the Nazi party to be so recognized by the planting of a tree in his name at the Yad Vashem Memorial.

Harriet Tubman

Helped hundreds of slaves escape from slavery on her “Underground Railroad.” The railroad was a collection of safe homes for slaves to stay while they were making their journey to freedom. Tubman was known as “the Moses of her people”. She was a leader in the abolitionist movement, and during the Civil War she acted as a spy for federal forces.

“I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other.”

Princess Diana

The Princess of Wales was a well known supporter of all charity projects close to her heart.

As a princess, there was an expectation for her to involve herself with hospital organizations so that she could comfort the sick. Her interests surpassed her responsibilities when she concerned herself with certain illnesses and health-related matters. Diana was the first celebrity to actually touch a person with HIV. Her hope was to change the views or public opinions of the AIDS virus. Her royal blood and birthright did not overshadow her humanitarian acts of kindness. She was seen as a saint.

Betsy Ross

In case you didn’t pay attention in history class, Ross originally sewed buttons for George Washington; she was the daughter of George Ross. Ross was an upholsterer so; it was only fitting to have her sew the first American flag. She was presented the grand design by the committee and the colors were the same as the Great Seal of the United States. She will always be remembered for constructing the most significant symbol of freedom our country has ever had.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

He led a coalition against non-violence-which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. He is universally known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi. He is officially honored in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday is on October 2, and it is known as the International Day of Non-Violence.

“We must be the change we wish to see.”
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”