Torture on Trial
OVERVIEW:
The Torture on Trial Project was definitely the best project I have done up to this point in my career at HTHCV. During the course of this project, we had ten weeks to investigate the concept and history of torture, and the experience of human trauma in the context of war and political and social persecution. First, we had to gather and explore stories of endurance and survival from within our own families, through the Family of Survivors portion of this project, which I will describe later on the page. In addition, we had to dissect various systems of justice and punishment through Socratic Seminars, guest speakers, research and simulations. Furthermore, we had to analyze the role of chemistry as an instrument of suffering and destruction, supported through the experiences of survivors. Then as cohorts, we had to create a realistic mock trial from different periods of time, and different instruments, to examine if the use of torture was justified or unjustified. All of this we had to do to answer our three essential questions, which were:
As all of these questions are philosophical in nature, they do not have a single, specific answer. All responses are based on what that person believes and how they interpret the information. Nonetheless, everything we did in this project was somehow related or came directly from these three questions. As a class, we began examining the questions through Socratic Seminars and Group Discussions. Personally, I believe that humans are the real instruments of torture, because the devices will not do anything if a person is not there to pull the lever, to cause unbearable pain to another human being. Secondly, I can only think of one scenario, of all the time periods that we studied, that I believe torture was justified, and that was when the detainees of Abu Ghraib were being tortured by their cell guards. I believe that the use of torture was justified in that case because it potentially stopped a second 9/11. I do not say this because I am a patriotic citizen that blindly agrees with everything the government does, but because I believe that saving a potential 2,000 lives is worth the death of one person, and suffering of 400 more potential terrorists.
As for the second question, I believe that we can practice resilience, reclaim strength, and celebrate vitality in the face of opposition by staying true to ourselves. Oppressive governments can tell me what I am not allowed to say, what I am not allowed to believe, and who I am supposed to worship, but eventually, they will lose. If I stay true to myself, all of their wrongdoings will not affect me as badly as they affect others. In addition, do you believe that if the American colonists had not stayed true to themselves, they would have started the Revolution, and founded the first free nation in the known world? Almost every uprising in history began because people remembered what it meant to stay true to themselves.
The third and final question is probably one of the most intriguing questions I have ever examined in my life. What does it mean to be a "Survivor?" To me, a survivor is someone who not only makes it out of the place where they were tortured, but is also able to put their life back together when it is over. A survivor is someone who is able to live life, even after experiencing things that no human should ever have to go through. After all, what is the purpose of escaping with your life if you are going to live as a slave afterwards? I am not saying that survivors have to completely forget what they went through, but they need to acknowledge their scars, accept them, and still have the courage and strength to live in everyday society.
FIELD TRIPS:
There were three major field trips that were connected to this project, and in those three field trips we went to the Museum of Man, Survivors of Torture International, and the San Diego Superior Courthouse. Our project kick-off occurred at the Museum of Man, where we went to see an exhibit on torture. Here, we were able to see and read about different types of torture devices from many places throughout Europe and from different time periods. This was a very powerful experience, and it made me realize just how cruel humans can be in their darkest forms. On display they had everything from devices that wet used against homosexuals and heretics, to devices that were used against gossipy women. There were multiple devices that left a major impact on me, some that I will never forget in my life, and some that just thinking about them makes me cringe, and summons great pity for the people they were used on.
Our second field trip was one that not everyone was fortunate enough to attend, and I was on of the lucky few that had the privilege of doing so. We had an in depth "Journey to Healing" tour at Survivors of Torture International. Survivors of Torture International is a non-profit organization that helps victims of torture heal enough, both physically and mentally, to once again live in a normal society. They mostly work with immigrants from the Middle East, but they have clients that come from all over the world. In the Journey to Healing tour, we were given an in depth explanation of what exactly Survivors of Torture International is, how they were founded, and what exactly they plan to accomplish as an organization. Then we were given a tour of their small facilities, and given an explanation of who works where, as well as the purpose of every room in their offices. Then we heard first had accounts of people that Survivors of Torture International helped get back on their feet, as well as inspirational success stories from people that work for Survivors of Torture International.
Our final field trip was to the San Diego Superior Courthouse, and this was by far my favorite field trip of the year. When we arrived we got to watch an arraignment hearing, in which people are told what they are being charged with, and whether they plead guilty or not guilty, mostly to minor crimes. Even though it was a little hard to follow and slightly confusing, I thought it was incredibly interesting to watch, and I was very impressed with how smoothly the court flowed and how easy the transitions between cases was. Then we actually got to have a short Q&A Session with a real judge, and I believe that will be one of the moments in my life that I will never forget. During the hearings, the judge was just like any that you would see on Law & Order, or any other criminal show on TV. He looked very organized and you could feel his passion and love for what he did, and had great charisma for a judge (which I did not know was possible). Never in a million years would I have guessed that he was disabled, yet after the Q&A our tour guide told us that he was completely blind. He will always be one of those people that I remember because of the impact that they had on me. After the arraignment court, we went to another court, and actually got to practice our mock trials in a real, official courtroom, and to me that was one of the main highlights of this entire project. To conclude the experience, we watched a portion of a witness examination in a real Civil law case.
RESEARCH:
After the field trip to the Museum of Man, the first step to get into the actual work of the project was to begin our research. We were divided into cohorts, and then we had to individually research the use of torture and actual torture devices from specific time periods. My cohort got to research torture from the Early 20th Century, so it was not very difficult to find information on torture. Many, many forms of torture were used in the early 20th Century, ranging from the use of castor oil to forced starvation, chemical experiments, and mustard gas. We had to research many different types of torture, but had to choose one to present to our group that we would want to build. I chose to present Chinese Bamboo Torture because, even though there was many to choose from, I wanted to present one that no one else would think of, and I had a feeling that everyone was going to research gas chambers and the Holocaust. That being said, there is only speculation that Chinese Bamboo Torture was used, as there is no physical evidence that the Japanese used it on American Soldiers. That set aside, this torture was theoretically used to extract information from American war prisoners. If it was in fact used, it was one of the most gruesome and insane methods of torture the world has ever known. This technique involved three simple steps, and the worlds fastest growing plant; bamboo. FIrst, tips of living bamboo plants were cut extremely sharp to create spears. Then, the victim was suspended horizontally over such a patch of bamboo. Eventually, the bamboo pierced through the victim's skin and continued to grow through their abdomen, ultimately causing one of the most painful deaths ever inflicted. To build this, all we would have needed was bamboo plants, a mannequin, and two metal or wooden poles. However, we did not build this because we felt that it was not a necessary component of the project, and it only would have brought down the quality of our mock trial.
As a group, we decided that we wanted to do our case study on the use of torture in Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was the Founder of the Fascist Party of Italy, and rose to political power by gaining the support of unemployed veterans of the Italian government, and using his personal army, the Blackshirts, to assassinate anyone who opposed him or was a threat to his steady increase in power. Eventually he named himself Prime Minister of Italy, and tortured his own civilians with Castor Oil, as well as anyone who opposed him. Castor oil can be helpful in small doses, but Mussolini forced large amounts down people's throats, causing extreme diarrhea, unbearable pain in the stomach, and in some cases even death. He also had his Blackshirts beat people so that they were on the verge of death, and through the use of these methods of torture he was able to remain in power in Italy until his assassination in 1943.
TORTURE ON TRIAL:
The Torture on Trial Project has been by far my favorite project that I have ever done at HTH. In this project, we were divided into two groups, and had to reenact an actual court trial, in which perpetrators of torture were brought into trial. The goal of the trials was not to convict people of guilty or not guilty of using torture, but whether their use of torture was justified or unjustified. The structure that we had in our mock trial was exactly the same as the trial would have in real life. We had a judge, that verified all the indisputable facts, decided whether evidence was valid and relevant, and made the calls on objections. We also had a bailiff, a clerk, a plaintiff, who in our case were the League of Nations, a defendant, who for us was Benito Mussolini, Defense and Prosecution attorney teams, as well as witnesses for both the defense and prosecution. In addition, we had to learn proper courtroom language and protocol, and learn how to use them in our trials. These ranged from when to use objections, and what the proper objections are, to how to properly rest your case after you have presented all your evidence. As Head Defense Attorney, I was in charge of all the defense's arguments supporting Mussolini, but my main focuses were our cases' opening and closing statements. We also had two witnesses in favor of Mussolini, a Direct Examination Attorney, and a cross examination attorney that was in charge of cross examining the Prosecution's witnesses.
The Torture on Trial Project was definitely the best project I have done up to this point in my career at HTHCV. During the course of this project, we had ten weeks to investigate the concept and history of torture, and the experience of human trauma in the context of war and political and social persecution. First, we had to gather and explore stories of endurance and survival from within our own families, through the Family of Survivors portion of this project, which I will describe later on the page. In addition, we had to dissect various systems of justice and punishment through Socratic Seminars, guest speakers, research and simulations. Furthermore, we had to analyze the role of chemistry as an instrument of suffering and destruction, supported through the experiences of survivors. Then as cohorts, we had to create a realistic mock trial from different periods of time, and different instruments, to examine if the use of torture was justified or unjustified. All of this we had to do to answer our three essential questions, which were:
- Are humans the real instruments of torture? Is torture ever justified?
- How can we practice resilience, reclaim strength, and celebrate vitality in the face of opposition?
- What does it meant to be a "Survivor?"
As all of these questions are philosophical in nature, they do not have a single, specific answer. All responses are based on what that person believes and how they interpret the information. Nonetheless, everything we did in this project was somehow related or came directly from these three questions. As a class, we began examining the questions through Socratic Seminars and Group Discussions. Personally, I believe that humans are the real instruments of torture, because the devices will not do anything if a person is not there to pull the lever, to cause unbearable pain to another human being. Secondly, I can only think of one scenario, of all the time periods that we studied, that I believe torture was justified, and that was when the detainees of Abu Ghraib were being tortured by their cell guards. I believe that the use of torture was justified in that case because it potentially stopped a second 9/11. I do not say this because I am a patriotic citizen that blindly agrees with everything the government does, but because I believe that saving a potential 2,000 lives is worth the death of one person, and suffering of 400 more potential terrorists.
As for the second question, I believe that we can practice resilience, reclaim strength, and celebrate vitality in the face of opposition by staying true to ourselves. Oppressive governments can tell me what I am not allowed to say, what I am not allowed to believe, and who I am supposed to worship, but eventually, they will lose. If I stay true to myself, all of their wrongdoings will not affect me as badly as they affect others. In addition, do you believe that if the American colonists had not stayed true to themselves, they would have started the Revolution, and founded the first free nation in the known world? Almost every uprising in history began because people remembered what it meant to stay true to themselves.
The third and final question is probably one of the most intriguing questions I have ever examined in my life. What does it mean to be a "Survivor?" To me, a survivor is someone who not only makes it out of the place where they were tortured, but is also able to put their life back together when it is over. A survivor is someone who is able to live life, even after experiencing things that no human should ever have to go through. After all, what is the purpose of escaping with your life if you are going to live as a slave afterwards? I am not saying that survivors have to completely forget what they went through, but they need to acknowledge their scars, accept them, and still have the courage and strength to live in everyday society.
FIELD TRIPS:
There were three major field trips that were connected to this project, and in those three field trips we went to the Museum of Man, Survivors of Torture International, and the San Diego Superior Courthouse. Our project kick-off occurred at the Museum of Man, where we went to see an exhibit on torture. Here, we were able to see and read about different types of torture devices from many places throughout Europe and from different time periods. This was a very powerful experience, and it made me realize just how cruel humans can be in their darkest forms. On display they had everything from devices that wet used against homosexuals and heretics, to devices that were used against gossipy women. There were multiple devices that left a major impact on me, some that I will never forget in my life, and some that just thinking about them makes me cringe, and summons great pity for the people they were used on.
Our second field trip was one that not everyone was fortunate enough to attend, and I was on of the lucky few that had the privilege of doing so. We had an in depth "Journey to Healing" tour at Survivors of Torture International. Survivors of Torture International is a non-profit organization that helps victims of torture heal enough, both physically and mentally, to once again live in a normal society. They mostly work with immigrants from the Middle East, but they have clients that come from all over the world. In the Journey to Healing tour, we were given an in depth explanation of what exactly Survivors of Torture International is, how they were founded, and what exactly they plan to accomplish as an organization. Then we were given a tour of their small facilities, and given an explanation of who works where, as well as the purpose of every room in their offices. Then we heard first had accounts of people that Survivors of Torture International helped get back on their feet, as well as inspirational success stories from people that work for Survivors of Torture International.
Our final field trip was to the San Diego Superior Courthouse, and this was by far my favorite field trip of the year. When we arrived we got to watch an arraignment hearing, in which people are told what they are being charged with, and whether they plead guilty or not guilty, mostly to minor crimes. Even though it was a little hard to follow and slightly confusing, I thought it was incredibly interesting to watch, and I was very impressed with how smoothly the court flowed and how easy the transitions between cases was. Then we actually got to have a short Q&A Session with a real judge, and I believe that will be one of the moments in my life that I will never forget. During the hearings, the judge was just like any that you would see on Law & Order, or any other criminal show on TV. He looked very organized and you could feel his passion and love for what he did, and had great charisma for a judge (which I did not know was possible). Never in a million years would I have guessed that he was disabled, yet after the Q&A our tour guide told us that he was completely blind. He will always be one of those people that I remember because of the impact that they had on me. After the arraignment court, we went to another court, and actually got to practice our mock trials in a real, official courtroom, and to me that was one of the main highlights of this entire project. To conclude the experience, we watched a portion of a witness examination in a real Civil law case.
RESEARCH:
After the field trip to the Museum of Man, the first step to get into the actual work of the project was to begin our research. We were divided into cohorts, and then we had to individually research the use of torture and actual torture devices from specific time periods. My cohort got to research torture from the Early 20th Century, so it was not very difficult to find information on torture. Many, many forms of torture were used in the early 20th Century, ranging from the use of castor oil to forced starvation, chemical experiments, and mustard gas. We had to research many different types of torture, but had to choose one to present to our group that we would want to build. I chose to present Chinese Bamboo Torture because, even though there was many to choose from, I wanted to present one that no one else would think of, and I had a feeling that everyone was going to research gas chambers and the Holocaust. That being said, there is only speculation that Chinese Bamboo Torture was used, as there is no physical evidence that the Japanese used it on American Soldiers. That set aside, this torture was theoretically used to extract information from American war prisoners. If it was in fact used, it was one of the most gruesome and insane methods of torture the world has ever known. This technique involved three simple steps, and the worlds fastest growing plant; bamboo. FIrst, tips of living bamboo plants were cut extremely sharp to create spears. Then, the victim was suspended horizontally over such a patch of bamboo. Eventually, the bamboo pierced through the victim's skin and continued to grow through their abdomen, ultimately causing one of the most painful deaths ever inflicted. To build this, all we would have needed was bamboo plants, a mannequin, and two metal or wooden poles. However, we did not build this because we felt that it was not a necessary component of the project, and it only would have brought down the quality of our mock trial.
As a group, we decided that we wanted to do our case study on the use of torture in Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was the Founder of the Fascist Party of Italy, and rose to political power by gaining the support of unemployed veterans of the Italian government, and using his personal army, the Blackshirts, to assassinate anyone who opposed him or was a threat to his steady increase in power. Eventually he named himself Prime Minister of Italy, and tortured his own civilians with Castor Oil, as well as anyone who opposed him. Castor oil can be helpful in small doses, but Mussolini forced large amounts down people's throats, causing extreme diarrhea, unbearable pain in the stomach, and in some cases even death. He also had his Blackshirts beat people so that they were on the verge of death, and through the use of these methods of torture he was able to remain in power in Italy until his assassination in 1943.
TORTURE ON TRIAL:
The Torture on Trial Project has been by far my favorite project that I have ever done at HTH. In this project, we were divided into two groups, and had to reenact an actual court trial, in which perpetrators of torture were brought into trial. The goal of the trials was not to convict people of guilty or not guilty of using torture, but whether their use of torture was justified or unjustified. The structure that we had in our mock trial was exactly the same as the trial would have in real life. We had a judge, that verified all the indisputable facts, decided whether evidence was valid and relevant, and made the calls on objections. We also had a bailiff, a clerk, a plaintiff, who in our case were the League of Nations, a defendant, who for us was Benito Mussolini, Defense and Prosecution attorney teams, as well as witnesses for both the defense and prosecution. In addition, we had to learn proper courtroom language and protocol, and learn how to use them in our trials. These ranged from when to use objections, and what the proper objections are, to how to properly rest your case after you have presented all your evidence. As Head Defense Attorney, I was in charge of all the defense's arguments supporting Mussolini, but my main focuses were our cases' opening and closing statements. We also had two witnesses in favor of Mussolini, a Direct Examination Attorney, and a cross examination attorney that was in charge of cross examining the Prosecution's witnesses.
Family of Survivors
In the "Family of Survivors" project, we had to interview two family members about our family history. We had to put together our very own interviews for our family members, and then use the information we gathered from those interviews to write a fictional story. The purpose of this project was to learn more about our family history, to begin to recognize the struggles that our families went through, and to gain a sense of pride for our heritage. The concept of survival through our families applied very well to our greater themes of torture for many reasons. Not necessarily because family struggles cause the same damage as torture, but because they both are heavy obstacles that people should be proud to overcome. They both also prove that no hill is ever too tall to climb; that no challenge is too difficult to overcome.
Through these interviews, I learned about so much history in my family that I otherwise would never even have asked about. It showed me that I really should be proud of my heritage, and no one ever has the right to be ashamed of who they are or where they come from. Because of these interviews, I can say that I have reasons to be extremely proud of both of my parents; proud of my dad for managing to achieve success even after all of the struggles he went through, and proud of my mom for sacrificing so much as a single mom. In regards to conducting interviews, I learned that when conducting an interview that is being recorded it is always best to use a monotone voice, and that pauses and phrasing in question is vital to the success of the responses. After going through the writing process, I learned that I am very good at incorporating imagery into my writing, but I still have a lot of work to do in grammar and sentence structure.
In the "Family of Survivors" project, we had to interview two family members about our family history. We had to put together our very own interviews for our family members, and then use the information we gathered from those interviews to write a fictional story. The purpose of this project was to learn more about our family history, to begin to recognize the struggles that our families went through, and to gain a sense of pride for our heritage. The concept of survival through our families applied very well to our greater themes of torture for many reasons. Not necessarily because family struggles cause the same damage as torture, but because they both are heavy obstacles that people should be proud to overcome. They both also prove that no hill is ever too tall to climb; that no challenge is too difficult to overcome.
Through these interviews, I learned about so much history in my family that I otherwise would never even have asked about. It showed me that I really should be proud of my heritage, and no one ever has the right to be ashamed of who they are or where they come from. Because of these interviews, I can say that I have reasons to be extremely proud of both of my parents; proud of my dad for managing to achieve success even after all of the struggles he went through, and proud of my mom for sacrificing so much as a single mom. In regards to conducting interviews, I learned that when conducting an interview that is being recorded it is always best to use a monotone voice, and that pauses and phrasing in question is vital to the success of the responses. After going through the writing process, I learned that I am very good at incorporating imagery into my writing, but I still have a lot of work to do in grammar and sentence structure.
"Flatland"
Reading "Flatland" was probably my least favorite part of this project. That being said, "Flatland" has one of the most interesting plots from any book I have ever read. "Flatland" was written in Victorian England, and it uses geometry to depict social order in 1800's Europe. For example, in Flatland all women are straight lines, which was meant to show how narrow women's roles in Europe were. In addition, in Flatland, the more sides a shape has, the higher social class that shape belongs to, and that was meant to show how impossible social ascent in Europe was, but also to show that people really had no say in what class you belonged to; whatever class you were born into, you stayed in until the day you died.
There is many themes that can be taken away from Flatland, but the one's that I feel were the strongest in the story were gender roles and the belief that knowledge equals power. I doubt there was any theme that was stronger than gender roles; after all, the author used an entire quarter of the story just to describe the gender roles in Flatland. A. square (the narrator) describes women, as inferior to men, and explains how women really serve no purpose outside of the house in Flatland. At the same time, A. square describes how men are the ones that are responsible for providing food and shelter for his family, and interestingly enough, the babies of Flatland actually grow inside of their father, and there mother gives them their final side after they come out of their father.
The belief that knowledge equals power is very prominent throughout the story, but it is especially visible in Part ii of the story. For example, when A. square is describing Flatland's Social Hierarchy, he talks about a sort of collection of files that only the Head Circle of Flatland has access to, and he only passes it down to his successor when he is on his deathbed. This clearly shows that the leaders of Flatland believe knowledge is power because if they thought that knowledge did not empower people, they would not go through so much trouble to keep those files secret. There was another instant towards the end, when the Head circle gives a speech about the "possible" existence of higher, more advanced dimensions, but then had every shape that was not part of the federal court in attendance destroyed. In fact, the story actually ends with A. square being imprisoned because he knew about the Third dimension, Spaceland, and was planning to spread the word to educate the public.
Poisons, Toxins and Chemical Weapons
"The Poisoner's Handbook"
"The Poisoner's Handbook" is a book that describes the evolution of poison use, control, and popularity over the course of US history. Each chapter focuses on one specific poison/toxin, and we were each assigned one chapter to read and annotate. I was assigned the chapter on Thallium (Ti); a Chemist's Poison. This chapter taught me many new things about topics that I probably would otherwise never have glanced at. Before the discovery of thallium, the FDA was a total joke. The people of the United States were animals for chemical companies that were indifferent to their customer's well-being, and the government did nothing to try and stop them. Products did have to list their ingredients on their bottles, and thus people came into constant contact with benzene compounds that caused corneal ulcers and blindness, lead acetate, mercury, aniline dye, which is derived from coal tar, and many other harmful toxins.
"100,000,000 Guinea Pigs" was a book written about these large issues, and a large section of this book was devoted to depilatory creams that contained the metallic element thallium. Some of thalliums effects include numbness of fingers and toes, vomiting, diarrhea, large hair loss, unusually rapid destruction of skin cells, and effects on the nervous system, lungs, heart, liver and kidneys. One third of an ounce of thallium salts is enough to kill just about anyone. Thallium's poisonous characteristics were not new discoveries; it was the main ingredient in many pesticides. The authors of "100,000,000 Guinea Pigs" warned about the use of thallium in these creams, yet the companies continued to use it, and women continued to purchase them. Case after case, there came evidence about the horrendous effects of thallium; and case after case they were ignored, until one specific case that started in April 1935.
Frederick Gross was a kind, gentle, hardworking man, who no one ever heard race his voice or a finger to anyone in anger, yet by the end of the month his wife and four of his kids were dead, and his remaining son and mother-in-law were hospitalized. One day in late March, Frederick came home to find one of his sons, 9 year old Freddie, wasn't feeling well. The parents believed that it was just some sort of cold or stomach upset. Yet that night he awoke retching and gasping for breath. By early morning the child was dead. The next day, their three year old son, Leo, fell ill. By the first week of April, he too was dead. The deaths were reported as bronchial pneumonia, but by that time Barbara Gross, Frederick's wife, had also fallen desperately ill. On April 4, two days after Leo, she died. This time the doctors diagnosed it as encephalitis. By the end of the month both girls were dead, and the only remaining son and mother-in-law were in the hospital, and all of them, dead or sick, were completely bald. The newspapers reported the case as a "$20-a-week-clerk" murdering his wife and children with an exotically unusual toxic agent. In the investigation of the bodies, thallium was found in the tissue of each corpse. The police questioned Gross and tried to get him to confess, yet he still maintained his innocent and bewilderment. Investigators found no motive for Gross to kill his family, except for poverty, as his financial state was dire. As time passed, however, the police began to develop an entirely new theory, one in which Barbara Gross knowingly tried to kill off her family so that her husband did not have the burden of a large family, and could pursue a better life. New tests showed that the children had been poisoned, but the mother had been correctly diagnosed with encephalitis. They also showed no connection between the poisons and Mr. Gross, and so he was released from jail. The word spread that he had been innocent all along, and in 1938 Congress passed the 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which empowered the FDA to demand safety testing and accurate labeling and to hold manufacturers legally responsible for harming their customers.
After we each read our assigned chapters, we had a Socratic Seminar and a Jigsaw activity about all the poisons discussed in the book. From the book as a whole, I learned about the effects, methods of use, and evolution of chloroform, wood alcohol, cyanides, arsenic, mercury, carbon monoxide, methyl alcohol, radium, ethyl alcohol, and of course, thallium. A large portion of what I learned in this book was about how these poisons killed people, and how many people they killed. All of these elements had their moments where they took many lives, but also helped save future lives, because if they had not killed those people, then scientists would never have studied the elements and discovered how dangerous and poisonous they are, and why it was vital to discontinue their use.
Chemical Weapons
EOD Technician Presentation:
When we first began studying chemical weapons, we actually had an EOD guest speaker come in and give us a presentation on chemical weapons. From his presentation we learned a lot of interesting facts. Riot control agents and herbicides are not considered chemical weapons because they have different uses; they're not used to kill people and are not used as a weapon by governments. The difference between a incapacitating and toxic chemical weapon is that an incapacitating chemical weapon is used as a deterrent, it is not meant to maim or kill, while a toxic chemical weapon's only purpose is to maim and kill. There are three classes of lethal chemical weapons; nerve agents, blood agents, and blister and chocking agents. First generation chemical weapons are the chemical weapons that were used in WWI; they are the oldest chemical weapon agents. Nerve agents affect your nervous system, while blood agents affect the oxygen transfer in your body. Their were many things that struck me about his presentation, but the three most striking points to me were that chemical weapons attack your blood, they have the capacity to keep your nerves from communicating, and that VX can kill you in one and a half minutes.
Chemical Weapon Individual Research:
Geneva Convention:
When Chemical Weapons were first used, they released a terror in the world unlike any it had experienced before. These new weapons were so frightening because they had the power to slaughter thousands at a time with no regards towards gender or age, and were possessed by multiple military powers. To try and combat these fears, and also establish rules for the use of chemical weapons, 195 countries came together and formed the Geneva Convention, which established the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of war, and banned the use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other gases, and of bacteriological Methods of Warfare, i.e. chemical weapons.
Reflection
Personally, I believe that my Group and I did a very good job of answering the guiding questions of our project, even if we do not have actual responses written down somewhere. In fact, our entire case argument was just a long, elaborate response to our first guiding question, as we were trying to prove why the use of torture is Fascist Italy was justified, and the prosecution was trying to prove why the use of torture is never justified. Personally, I believe that humans are the real instruments of torture, and that in certain, rare cases, torture is justified. In my case study, League of Nations Vs. Mussolini, I firmly believe that the torture was not justified. As for our second guiding question, the entire Prosecution argument was an answer to that because during our trial, Mussolini was still in power, yet the people were not afraid to take a stand and testify against him. The one question that we as a group did not do very well at answering was the third and final guiding question; what does it mean to be a survivor? The part of this project that I was most proud of was our end result; our final mock trial. I had been part of projects that seemed destined to fail before, but never had I been so hopeless of a project the day before Exhibition as I was for this project. Yet on the day, when we all came dressed for court, and every single member of our cohort delivered. The mock trial was my favorite part not just because of what we did, but what we had to go through to get to where we finished. No part of this project was not ideal, because it was all the assignments collectively that created such a through process and constant headache. It was a very stressful project that required 100% effort all of the time, but I honestly would not change anything if I had to redo it again. There were so many compelling and interesting things that I learned in this project, from Chinese bamboo torture, gas chambers, water boarding, castor oil and its history in Italy, to the different roles in a courtroom and all the rules and regulations that have to be followed during a trial. There was so many interesting things that I learned during this project, but if I had to chose the most interesting aspect, it would be all the different stages an attorney has to go through when construction his argument, whether he is on the defense or prosecution. Everything from the facts that the judge allows them to use, to what they want to gather from each witness, and how they plan to attack the opposing sides witnesses; there are more factors than I ever imagined when it comes to building a legal argument. As far as guiding principles go, I do not believe I was challenged very much in any of the categories, but the principle I believe I grew the most in was Take Action because there were many, many moments where me or one of my group members needed help with something, and I feel that this project I was much more independent than in past years with my problem solving, in regards to when and how often bring in the teachers for help or resolving conflicts within the group. This project changed me because it forced me to evaluate torture. I learned about things that I have no idea how any human could ever have done. This project also forced me to open my mind to new ways of thinking and to evaluate a situation from all angles, since I was Head of a team of attorneys that was tasked with defending a perpetrator of torture.
Reading "Flatland" was probably my least favorite part of this project. That being said, "Flatland" has one of the most interesting plots from any book I have ever read. "Flatland" was written in Victorian England, and it uses geometry to depict social order in 1800's Europe. For example, in Flatland all women are straight lines, which was meant to show how narrow women's roles in Europe were. In addition, in Flatland, the more sides a shape has, the higher social class that shape belongs to, and that was meant to show how impossible social ascent in Europe was, but also to show that people really had no say in what class you belonged to; whatever class you were born into, you stayed in until the day you died.
There is many themes that can be taken away from Flatland, but the one's that I feel were the strongest in the story were gender roles and the belief that knowledge equals power. I doubt there was any theme that was stronger than gender roles; after all, the author used an entire quarter of the story just to describe the gender roles in Flatland. A. square (the narrator) describes women, as inferior to men, and explains how women really serve no purpose outside of the house in Flatland. At the same time, A. square describes how men are the ones that are responsible for providing food and shelter for his family, and interestingly enough, the babies of Flatland actually grow inside of their father, and there mother gives them their final side after they come out of their father.
The belief that knowledge equals power is very prominent throughout the story, but it is especially visible in Part ii of the story. For example, when A. square is describing Flatland's Social Hierarchy, he talks about a sort of collection of files that only the Head Circle of Flatland has access to, and he only passes it down to his successor when he is on his deathbed. This clearly shows that the leaders of Flatland believe knowledge is power because if they thought that knowledge did not empower people, they would not go through so much trouble to keep those files secret. There was another instant towards the end, when the Head circle gives a speech about the "possible" existence of higher, more advanced dimensions, but then had every shape that was not part of the federal court in attendance destroyed. In fact, the story actually ends with A. square being imprisoned because he knew about the Third dimension, Spaceland, and was planning to spread the word to educate the public.
Poisons, Toxins and Chemical Weapons
"The Poisoner's Handbook"
"The Poisoner's Handbook" is a book that describes the evolution of poison use, control, and popularity over the course of US history. Each chapter focuses on one specific poison/toxin, and we were each assigned one chapter to read and annotate. I was assigned the chapter on Thallium (Ti); a Chemist's Poison. This chapter taught me many new things about topics that I probably would otherwise never have glanced at. Before the discovery of thallium, the FDA was a total joke. The people of the United States were animals for chemical companies that were indifferent to their customer's well-being, and the government did nothing to try and stop them. Products did have to list their ingredients on their bottles, and thus people came into constant contact with benzene compounds that caused corneal ulcers and blindness, lead acetate, mercury, aniline dye, which is derived from coal tar, and many other harmful toxins.
"100,000,000 Guinea Pigs" was a book written about these large issues, and a large section of this book was devoted to depilatory creams that contained the metallic element thallium. Some of thalliums effects include numbness of fingers and toes, vomiting, diarrhea, large hair loss, unusually rapid destruction of skin cells, and effects on the nervous system, lungs, heart, liver and kidneys. One third of an ounce of thallium salts is enough to kill just about anyone. Thallium's poisonous characteristics were not new discoveries; it was the main ingredient in many pesticides. The authors of "100,000,000 Guinea Pigs" warned about the use of thallium in these creams, yet the companies continued to use it, and women continued to purchase them. Case after case, there came evidence about the horrendous effects of thallium; and case after case they were ignored, until one specific case that started in April 1935.
Frederick Gross was a kind, gentle, hardworking man, who no one ever heard race his voice or a finger to anyone in anger, yet by the end of the month his wife and four of his kids were dead, and his remaining son and mother-in-law were hospitalized. One day in late March, Frederick came home to find one of his sons, 9 year old Freddie, wasn't feeling well. The parents believed that it was just some sort of cold or stomach upset. Yet that night he awoke retching and gasping for breath. By early morning the child was dead. The next day, their three year old son, Leo, fell ill. By the first week of April, he too was dead. The deaths were reported as bronchial pneumonia, but by that time Barbara Gross, Frederick's wife, had also fallen desperately ill. On April 4, two days after Leo, she died. This time the doctors diagnosed it as encephalitis. By the end of the month both girls were dead, and the only remaining son and mother-in-law were in the hospital, and all of them, dead or sick, were completely bald. The newspapers reported the case as a "$20-a-week-clerk" murdering his wife and children with an exotically unusual toxic agent. In the investigation of the bodies, thallium was found in the tissue of each corpse. The police questioned Gross and tried to get him to confess, yet he still maintained his innocent and bewilderment. Investigators found no motive for Gross to kill his family, except for poverty, as his financial state was dire. As time passed, however, the police began to develop an entirely new theory, one in which Barbara Gross knowingly tried to kill off her family so that her husband did not have the burden of a large family, and could pursue a better life. New tests showed that the children had been poisoned, but the mother had been correctly diagnosed with encephalitis. They also showed no connection between the poisons and Mr. Gross, and so he was released from jail. The word spread that he had been innocent all along, and in 1938 Congress passed the 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which empowered the FDA to demand safety testing and accurate labeling and to hold manufacturers legally responsible for harming their customers.
After we each read our assigned chapters, we had a Socratic Seminar and a Jigsaw activity about all the poisons discussed in the book. From the book as a whole, I learned about the effects, methods of use, and evolution of chloroform, wood alcohol, cyanides, arsenic, mercury, carbon monoxide, methyl alcohol, radium, ethyl alcohol, and of course, thallium. A large portion of what I learned in this book was about how these poisons killed people, and how many people they killed. All of these elements had their moments where they took many lives, but also helped save future lives, because if they had not killed those people, then scientists would never have studied the elements and discovered how dangerous and poisonous they are, and why it was vital to discontinue their use.
Chemical Weapons
EOD Technician Presentation:
When we first began studying chemical weapons, we actually had an EOD guest speaker come in and give us a presentation on chemical weapons. From his presentation we learned a lot of interesting facts. Riot control agents and herbicides are not considered chemical weapons because they have different uses; they're not used to kill people and are not used as a weapon by governments. The difference between a incapacitating and toxic chemical weapon is that an incapacitating chemical weapon is used as a deterrent, it is not meant to maim or kill, while a toxic chemical weapon's only purpose is to maim and kill. There are three classes of lethal chemical weapons; nerve agents, blood agents, and blister and chocking agents. First generation chemical weapons are the chemical weapons that were used in WWI; they are the oldest chemical weapon agents. Nerve agents affect your nervous system, while blood agents affect the oxygen transfer in your body. Their were many things that struck me about his presentation, but the three most striking points to me were that chemical weapons attack your blood, they have the capacity to keep your nerves from communicating, and that VX can kill you in one and a half minutes.
Chemical Weapon Individual Research:
- Chemical Description (Weapon name, Chemical formula, molecular structure, appearance) Weapon name: Methylphosphonothioic Acid (abbreviated VX) Chemical formula: C11H26NO2PS Molecular structure: Appearance: Has the texture and feel of normal oil, odorless and tasteless, and can be distributed as a liquid or as an aerosol
- Discovery/Development- Who discovered/developed it? Where? When? Why? Ranajit Ghosh, a chemist at the Plant Protection Laboratories of the British firm Imperial Chemical Industries was the first to discover/develop it. In 1954, it was put onto the market as a pesticide, but was withdrawn because it was too toxic for safe use.
- History of use- Provide an example of a time it was used (or allegedly used) in warfare. When, where, by whom? VX has not been used to its fullest potential yet because it is too dangerous. However, in the film, “The Rock,” VX is the liquid the terrorists threaten San Francisco Bay with.
- How does it work (how is it used as a weapon, mechanism upon bodily contact)? A special form has been developed that is so adhesive that it is virtually impossible to remove from the surface that it is in contact with. This leads to strategic attacks on enemy bases or airfields so that the VX remains stuck to the area and has the potential to kill anyone attempting to use the base or airfield.
Geneva Convention:
When Chemical Weapons were first used, they released a terror in the world unlike any it had experienced before. These new weapons were so frightening because they had the power to slaughter thousands at a time with no regards towards gender or age, and were possessed by multiple military powers. To try and combat these fears, and also establish rules for the use of chemical weapons, 195 countries came together and formed the Geneva Convention, which established the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of war, and banned the use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other gases, and of bacteriological Methods of Warfare, i.e. chemical weapons.
Reflection
Personally, I believe that my Group and I did a very good job of answering the guiding questions of our project, even if we do not have actual responses written down somewhere. In fact, our entire case argument was just a long, elaborate response to our first guiding question, as we were trying to prove why the use of torture is Fascist Italy was justified, and the prosecution was trying to prove why the use of torture is never justified. Personally, I believe that humans are the real instruments of torture, and that in certain, rare cases, torture is justified. In my case study, League of Nations Vs. Mussolini, I firmly believe that the torture was not justified. As for our second guiding question, the entire Prosecution argument was an answer to that because during our trial, Mussolini was still in power, yet the people were not afraid to take a stand and testify against him. The one question that we as a group did not do very well at answering was the third and final guiding question; what does it mean to be a survivor? The part of this project that I was most proud of was our end result; our final mock trial. I had been part of projects that seemed destined to fail before, but never had I been so hopeless of a project the day before Exhibition as I was for this project. Yet on the day, when we all came dressed for court, and every single member of our cohort delivered. The mock trial was my favorite part not just because of what we did, but what we had to go through to get to where we finished. No part of this project was not ideal, because it was all the assignments collectively that created such a through process and constant headache. It was a very stressful project that required 100% effort all of the time, but I honestly would not change anything if I had to redo it again. There were so many compelling and interesting things that I learned in this project, from Chinese bamboo torture, gas chambers, water boarding, castor oil and its history in Italy, to the different roles in a courtroom and all the rules and regulations that have to be followed during a trial. There was so many interesting things that I learned during this project, but if I had to chose the most interesting aspect, it would be all the different stages an attorney has to go through when construction his argument, whether he is on the defense or prosecution. Everything from the facts that the judge allows them to use, to what they want to gather from each witness, and how they plan to attack the opposing sides witnesses; there are more factors than I ever imagined when it comes to building a legal argument. As far as guiding principles go, I do not believe I was challenged very much in any of the categories, but the principle I believe I grew the most in was Take Action because there were many, many moments where me or one of my group members needed help with something, and I feel that this project I was much more independent than in past years with my problem solving, in regards to when and how often bring in the teachers for help or resolving conflicts within the group. This project changed me because it forced me to evaluate torture. I learned about things that I have no idea how any human could ever have done. This project also forced me to open my mind to new ways of thinking and to evaluate a situation from all angles, since I was Head of a team of attorneys that was tasked with defending a perpetrator of torture.