I have homework and I don't want to do it. Ask me anything.

[funky_bug]

[JohnLocke]

1. What subject?

[funky_bug]

2. Generally speaking, Humanities

Specifically, discuss the Crusades. Make a connection with the ongoing religious conflicts today. Do we seem to learn anything from the past?

My answer thus far is "Hell no." I'm about 2098 words short.

[rogerashton]

9. Didja know

Saladin (Sala-ad-Din) was a Kurd?

[funky_bug]

10. Not only did I not know that...

but I don't know who that is. Which is why I am still in college, and not prospering in a high-paying career.

Thank you, for asking me anything.

[rogerashton]

12. Those mean dudes

in North Iraq, who have been divided among the Turks, Iranians, and Persians, and just recently seem to have sabotaged the Bush-Bremer constitution by demanding more autonomy than is consistent with keeping Iraq one country (and the oil flowing). But, at the time of the -- let me see -- second crusade they were the ones that rode to the rescue of the Arabs.

Hey -- I was trying to give you something to make the homework less of a drag.

Kurds and why?

[funky_bug]

14. I appreciate it, I do

I was leaning more toward the fact that the Crusades were about "defending the Christian territories" and comparing that to the conservative edict to "reclaim America for Jesus." You know the whole bs on how this country was founded on Christian principles, therefor the Christians have the right to determine policy as spelled out in the Bible. They seem to forget the founding fathers were NOT only NOT Christians, but many were athiests, and Ethan Allen even stopped his own wedding when the judge mentioned God. He made him clarify that the God he was referring to was the God of Nature. Then there's the Treaty of Peace and Friendship during Adam's reign that says this country was in NO way founded on the Christian religion... but I digress...

Ya feelin' me?

[rogerashton]

20. I didn't know that about Ethan Allan.

I have to remind myself, now and then, that Christians are human beings too, and entitled to their myth. And that the myth can be really beautiful, if, um, we ignore a lot of realities.

Actually, so far as the Crusades are concerned, I always thought that Christianity was mostly an excuse for Norman land hunger. "They are different, so we can take their wealth and it is OK!" Which did work both ways, except that the Muslims of that time did make it a principle to protect Christians and Jews from depredations. Did require them to pay extra taxes, but did not force them to convert, take their property, etc. A lesser evil, perhaps, in the framework of the time.

[funky_bug]

23. Absolutely

The Muslims respected the faith and cultures of others.

In looking at the Crusades, I can definitely draw a parallel with the Bush admin.

Pope Urban II impulsively called on Christian knights to capture Jerusalem from its Muslim Rulers. The Pope claimed that a new Turkish regime endangered the Holy Land’s Christian inhabitants.

So Bush impulsively declares war on Iraq, instilling fear that we were in danger, but we know that danger was exaggerated.

[JohnLocke]

11. Really? I though he was an Arab. (nt)

[ablbodyed]

24. I'm sure that he was from....

Tikrit.

[1monster]

13. "Those of us who study history can only watch in horror

as the idiots who don't repeat it..."

I don't know who's quote that is, but it is one of my favorites.

You should be able to get a really interesting paper out of that subject. Try using something different... like Did those who insisted on the Crusades of the Middle Ages use those same Crusades as a means to distract the masses from problems at home? Or were the Crusades meant to grab lands and resouces (the trade routes and precious supplies of alum and other relavtively rare, for the times, spices and luxuries)?

I'm willing to bet that, with a little help from Google, you'll find those 2098 words in a very short time indeed.

[funky_bug]

16. I want that quote!

If you find it for me, I'll show you Miss Piggy's left breast.

[1monster]

31. I'm sure that she has already bared her left breast on that '70s

television show where she was always scene stealing... But, to be truthful, I don't really get turned on by breasts, especially since I come with a DDD set myself...

Make me a better offer and I'll try to find it for you.

[funky_bug]

37. How 'bout a link...

showing Kermit the Frog engaging in pornographic activity with a sock puppet?

[citizen snips]

3. I hate homework.

It is very boring. What grade are you in?

[funky_bug]

4. Yes, it can be boring

But unfortunately, saying "Do you want fries with that?" is infinitely more boring, and will be my future career if I continue goofing off on DU.

I'm a (soon to be) 35yr old finishing my second year of college.

[citizen snips]

6. What grade are you in?

[funky_bug]

8. 35yr old college soph. eom

[Beearewhyain]

34. A fellow traveler here

35 yr old senior. From FL as well. Chin up, it gets more fun when you get into your upper division classes. However, I still feel like the "old guy" in school.

[funky_bug]

38. Take mostly night courses

Although I did take one day course last semester... a bunch of kids, and I felt like some decrepid old fart. I can't wait to hit the big leagues.

[ablbodyed]

5. Does being a Wesfreak translate....

into being good in the s..k? Remember, you said anything. Better do that homework!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[funky_bug]

7. I have turned this question over to a reliable source...

my husband. However, instead of just saying that yes, I am good in the sack, he wants to debate on whether you want to know about my sexual prowess, or his, as I am the WIFE of a Wesfreak. He states that if you diagram the question as it is phrased, you are actually asking about him. It's typical of a man, you see, to make it all about their penis.

So, I will humor him, and say that yes, a Wesfreak as I know him to be, is a very skilled partner. I will no longer give him the opportunity to respond to the question where I'm concerned, nor will I be giving him the opportunity to validate my claims any time in the near future.

Thank you for asking me anything.

[ablbodyed]

21. JUST the answer ....

I wanted. BTW, I loved history. Just watched a PBS docu in the Medici's. Learned a lot. Religious conflict creating horrors. Another about Shakespeare and his times: religious hatreds in the forefront then, too.
And weren't the Crusades one of the low points (among so very many) of christianity?

[funky_bug]

26. Ah the Medici family

The Merchant Princes of the Renaissance! I'm not sure if you found the documentary to portray them as "evil", but their patronage did more to promote artistic freedom that any other of their time. Lorenzo de' Medici was responsible for the patronage of many artist, and Pope Leo X was also a Medici, and the patron of Michelangelo after Julius II's death(Though is was Julius II who ordered Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel.)

In my opinion, the Crusades were a low point, and one of many. The iconoclastic controversy all but halted the arts, and until the Crusades ended, many artists still were prohibited from doing anything that resembled depiction of the human form. On the flip side, those returning from the Crusades brought back bits and pieces of the cultures of other lands, including art and philosophy. So I guess it's a toss-up.

[1monster]

36. Add to that list that Cosimo de Medici was a patron of Galileo

who named the moons of Jupiter, when he disovered them with his new invention of the telescope, the Medician Stars in an effort to curry favor with Cosimo...

[ablbodyed]

25. As Phoenecia....

my youngest (and the prettiest kitty in the universe in her 'humble' opinion) says constantly "Mens are such pigs"

[Catshrink]

15. I still have homework to grade and I don't want to do it.

I've been working all freaking weekend to get caught up....

Hm... I hate it, the kids hate it. Let's do away with it altogether then everyone will be happy!

[funky_bug]

17. As a future teacher...

I am looking forward to divine retribution, thank you very much!

[ablbodyed]

22. I LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE....

KITTIES. Tell me about yours.

[Catshrink]

33. Here they are:

Ryno, age 14, sweetest cat in the world! She's named for Ryne Sandberg of the Cubs.



Sammy, age 8, named for "Samurai Mike" Singletary of the Chicago Bears, weighs in at over 25# of loving:



Wrigley, named for Wrigley Field, is Sammy's litter mate. He's a trim and fit 17# of cuteness!



Princess Lucy Peanut Butter, age 4. She was Luis, after Luis Gonzales of the Diamondbacks, until I found out she was a girl. Now she's Lucy.



Ricky, age 3, Mr. Attitude! No baseball name for him, I had a Lucy, so I needed a Ricky.

[MidwestMomma]

18. Do you miss our Tuesday nailbiters?

Can't hardly stand to drink a Rolling Rock anymore.

I'm impressed you are going to college. Homework is rough. I don't know anything about the Crusades except what I learned from Monty Python. Is real history anything like Monty Python?

[funky_bug]

27. I wish real history were more like Monty Python...

and yes, I sure do miss our candle-lighting, beer drinking, Tuesday Night nailbiters... those WERE the days, were they not?

[Droopy]

19. What's your major?

I'm a 31 year old college junior, myself, majoring in English.

[funky_bug]

28. Education,

though what area I'll zone in on is still a toss-up. I'm going back and forth between English and Mathematics. I know that is opposite ends of the spectrum, right? I've been a writer for years, but there is such a great need for enthusiastic Math teachers in secondary education.

Long term - whatever I end up getting my certification in, I will pursue my Masters and my Doctorate, so I can teach college level courses.

[Jackhammer Jesus]

29. Amen to that!

I have a book review on "The O'Reilly Factor" (BLAAARRRGGGH) due tomorrow for an American Politics course, and it pains me to even open the damn book. I'm considering drawing on O'Reilly's cover picture before I return the book to the college bookstore... horns, pentagram on the forehead, that sort of thing. Hooray for partial refunds. Anyway...

Whereabouts are you going to college? Are you in a particular degree program?

[funky_bug]

30. UG! You poor devil!

I am abundantly sorry for you! At least my topic is interesting, and I can flavor it any way I choose.

I'm studying at a two-year community college right now. Next fall I'll be enrolling at USF, majoring in education. You?

[Jackhammer Jesus]

32. Community college.

I drive up to Mass. for a few classes a week. I'm not in any particular program, just taking some courses that interest me and biding my time until I decide what I'm going to do and where I want to study.

On the bright side, at least it looks like I'll have more options than I did coming out of high school - I had something like a 2.6 GPA then, and right now I'm working on keeping a 4.0 from last semester.

[bicentennial_baby]

39. Bummer..My PoliSci class is cool

My teacher's a lefty Dem, and relatively young. Half the reason I take his classes are because he's such a good teacher. Plus, I'm totally in lust with him, so that helps

[Jackhammer Jesus]

40. It's not too bad - my teacher's pretty openly anti-Bush.

The other book review we're required to do for the class is Michael Moore's "Downsize This," which I've heard a lot of good things about.

As far as the right-wing crap we have to read, though, it could be worse - at least we aren't reading Coulter.

[LastKnight]

35. me too, i got a few physics labs...

...to write up... long process, wanna do mine while your at it?

-LK