Catching The Rain

May 08

Introduction

My website is http://agentorangepastandpresent.onmason.com/

This site is about the history and the conflict that comes with Agent Orange. For those who do not know, Agent Orange was a herbicide used to defoliate the surrounding forests of military bases in Vietnam, as well as areas that had low visibility due to the dense jungle throughout Vietnam. There is much controversy surrounding the side effects on those who were in direct contact with the chemical. Agent Orange is attributed with startling birth defects, diabetes and many different cancers. This website will not be dealing with the claims of death, and health deficiencies, instead a focus is put toward the physical areas sprayed and the amounts sprayed. The people affected will not be addressed because the data about them is too vast in its disparity. There is also conflicting evidence as to how much was sprayed where and by whom. Approaching this topic is complicated because it has caused a lot of people pain. This website’s purpose is to try to illuminate the conflicting evidence so that readers can make their own somewhat informed opinion. I am trying to show the variance of evidence on the use and distribution of herbicide use in Vietnam.

What is Agent Orange?

Agent orange was a chemical the United States sprayed in order to eliminate foliage that enemy guerrillas used as cover in the Vietnam War. It was also used to increase visibility around military bases. As a tool of war the U.S also applied herbicides to rice crops, in an effort to eliminate their enemy’s food source. Agent Orange is just one of several chemical defoliants used in the Vietnam War. There was Agent Pink, Green, Purple, Blue and White. Named for the color strips around the outside of the barrels that contained the toxic substances.

Operation Ranch Hand was the mission under which the herbicides were sprayed. Of all the chemicals sprayed in Vietnam “between August 1961 and April 1971 . . . dispersed some 72 million liters of herbicides over the former South Vietnam, of which 42 million liters were Agent Orange.” (Palmer). Agent orange is made up of two chemicals 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. Each of these chemicals by themselves are common weed killers still used today. Once mixed together, in their 50/50 ratio, they become extremely potent. Due to the high levels of demand for the rainbow of herbicides, chemical companies often took short cuts when it came to preparing the toxins. As David Zierler argues in his book The Invention of Ecocide, the amount of toxins produced can be lessened if the production is given enough time and prepared thoroughly. When the proper precautions are not taken high levels of TCDD are left behind.  TCDD is the toxin that persists for years after the spraying of herbicides. Short for 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, it is often simply called dioxin. This dioxin is what pollutes the ground, and the water table.  There is evidence that military officials were aware of the damage the faster paced production would produce, but because it was to be used on the enemy, they simply did not care. The chemicals themselves are actually a growth hormone. If added to the plant in small amounts it increases the plants growth. If too much is added the plant grows rapidly, until the plant can’t handle it, and it shrivels and dies.

Preservation of My Website

The subtitle of my website is “A Work in Progress” because I intend to keep up with my website in the future. This topic has interested me, so I hope to continue my research. But as far as preservation goes I have saved my information into a separate document. That document was uploaded to Google drive so that I can return to it even if my computer crashes. I also saved the information onto a USB  thumb drive. I doubt that those will become outdated in computers any time soon. BUT if they do, I also printed off a copy and placed that in my school folder of my filing cabinet. I think that covers most possible contingencies. If one copy goes I have the other one to go back to. I also have to make sure that I remember my log in information, and where I put the thumb drive in order to be able to retrieve the information again. This summer I am planning on finally backing up my computer which is one of the key things I have taken away from this course.

Apr 23

Archive of websites

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I love the website thinkgeek.com and it was really neat to look at the transformation of the website.

Here is the current website.  http://www.thinkgeek.com/

The original which is also my least favorite looked like this http://web.archive.org/web/20000226065551/http://thinkgeek.com/

My favorite came from October 2007 looked like this http://web.archive.org/web/20071015072345/http://www.thinkgeek.com/index.shtml

I didn’t like the first one because it was a little bland looking and lacked pizazz. My favorite was simple enough that I could find what I wanted, but it had a neat border that helped draw my eye to it.

Apr 01

Chart of my life data

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So, these are the charts I made. Tuesday I caught a cold and I definitely tried to sleep it off this weekend so I recorded the number of hours I slept going into each day. So if the chart says Friday it means Thursday night and includes naps during the day on Friday.  Yes, I nap, it is one of my favorite things to do. 🙂 I couldn’t figure out how to make the amount of space being counted larger so I was left with what looks like a smooshed graph, but hopefully I can figure out how to fix that this week.  The second chart is a direct result of the amount of sleep and the having of a bad head cold. Thus the lack of motivation to get any of my other work done. I hope your weekend wasn’t spent in bed as much of mine was.

chart chart2

McKenna Weipert

Mar 25

The Map Activity

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Just a couple places in my life that have been important.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214242253099844365697.0004d8b564c950878fa8a&msa=0&ll=38.865909,-77.27972&spn=0.072309,0.169086

Mar 20

This is a map of a few places I have been on vacation. I used their code and tweaked it a little. I couldn’t figure out how to change the colors but I did change the shade of the dots so that they were all one color.

http://savedbythegoog.appspot.com/?id=ef284f6a6d249091cc392a00de6cf75e94814fcb

 

-McKenna Weipert

Feb 03

Posted in Uncategorized      Tagged       1 Comment »

This is heading 1

This is a subheading 2

Unnumbered List

  • Red
  • Orange
  • Yellow

Numbered List

  1. Red
  2. Orange
  3. Yellow

Bold

Italic


This is a link

Jan 30
  1. Calvin Coolidge – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Coolidge

    John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4, 1872 – January 5, 1933) was the 30th President of the United States (1923–1929). A Republican lawyer from Vermont,

  2. Calvin Coolidge | The White House

    www.whitehouse.gov › About the White House

    Gives a portrait, short official biography, and “fun fact” about the 30th president.

  3. American President: Calvin Coolidge

    millercenter.org/president/coolidge

    Expert University of Virginia biography of President Calvin Coolidge, including facts on his term as vice president and his relations with the press.

  4. Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation | Plymouth, Vermont

    www.calvincoolidge.org/

    Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation honoring President Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States | Virtual Museum, Presidential History,

  5. Calvin Coolidge — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts

    www.history.com/topics/calvincoolidge

    The 30th U.S. president, Calvin Coolidge led the nation through most of the Roaring Twenties, a decade of dynamic social change, materialism and excess.

  6. Calvin Coolidge Quotes – BrainyQuote

    www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/calvin_coolidge.html

    Enjoy the best Calvin Coolidge Quotes at BrainyQuote. Quotations by Calvin Coolidge, American President, Born July 4, 1872. Share with your friends.

  7. Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum | Forbes Library

    www.forbeslibrary.org/coolidge/coolidge.shtml

    May 20, 2012 – Papers, photographs, memorabilia and artifacts associated with the political and personal life of Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), 30th President

  8. Calvin Coolidge (president of United States) — Britannica Online

    www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/136173/CalvinCoolidge

    30th president of the United States (1923–29). Coolidge acceded to the presidency after the death in office of Warren G. Harding, just as the Harding scandals

  9. Calvin Coolidge – Internet Public Library

    www.ipl.org/div/potus/ccoolidge.html

    Includes portrait, biographical facts, cabinet details, and related links.

  10. 30. Calvin Coolidge . . WGBH American Experience | PBS

    www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/…/presidents-coolidge/

    30th President Terms: 1923-1929 Political Party: Republican First Lady: Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge Vice President: None, Charles Gates Dawes Overview

Jan 28

First Post

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Hello all,

I really enjoyed reading “Promises and Perils of Digital History.” My favorite part of it is the discussion on accessibility. This is one of  the largest  factors that makes the internet both a positive and negative influence. As our professor stated last class, he was glad that some students had laptops so that we could look up a date every now and again. This is an amazing tool that sits at the tip of our fingers. At the same time it can become an easy crutch to rest upon. Why go to a party where social inconveniences arise, when you could sit at home in pajamas? The article brought up some very valid points that are important to keep in mind when studying the internet, no matter what lens you’re using.

The three potential topics that I am interested in researching

1. Weapon technology (How it has developed, possible focuses within that, maybe track a particular kind of weapon?)

2. Technology in the work place (How has this changed teaching/ learning environments? Companies and technological perks, for example Google. Not entirely sure how I could focus this but it’s a start)

3. Digital simulations for training soldiers. (How has this developed, where is it going towards, does this really prepare soldiers?)

-McKenna-

Jan 23

Short Biography

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Hello to all readers. My name is McKenna Weipert. I am a history major with a theater minor, graduating in the spring. Most of my life consists of studying and hanging out with my friends. I am in a committed relationship with my boyfriend and we have been together for a little over two years. As far as future plans are concerned, I intend on going to a stage combat workshop in the spring down in North Carolina. As far as what I want to do with my life… I am not entirely sure at the moment. Hopefully, that will be figured out in the near future. One last thing, as far as explaining the title, sometimes life can be overwhelming if we try to catch each drop of rain, but if you stand there and let it wash over you instead you end up catching far more droplets by just being, rather than focusing on the tiny things.