As our topic of discussion has been the Cold War for the past few lectures, I think it is important to look at how the old alliances born in the Cold War often resurface in modern times. Specifically, the United States has been negotiating with Vietnam to stop allowing Russian bombers to refuel in Cam Ranh Bay, an old US military base. Relations between the US and Vietnam have been rebuilding slowly since the Vietnam War, yet Vietnam still remains closely tied to Russia economically as a result of its old ties to the Soviet Union. This makes negotiation difficult, and also shows that the Cold War may be over, but its effects are still highly visible.

As we continue to talk about the cold war in large lecture the tv show the Americans came to mind when the Professor talked about how calling communist spies out in court backfired.During the 70s and 80s most of the American public shared a common paranoia. It’s taken decades for the topic of the cold war and spies to become okay. The show the Americans portrays a soviet spy couple living in D.C.

As side note, I find this is similar to the paranoia that terrorists from the middle east are in (or have infiltrated) the United States.

It could be argued that, in both cases, the government has invested interests in ensuring the public shares a common fear. It makes it easier for the government to achieve their goals when backed by the public.

JAH

As we learn more of the Cold War in class from Dr. Putnam it is obviously that today we are still dealing with issues with Russia. In this instagram post it is portraying Obama as Hitler and showing that people believe he is also trying to destroy Russia. This is showing that we may believe that the Cold War maybe over but could another one be starting again?

n

As we continue to talk about Atomic Bombs in lecture, while I was going  through my Twitter feed I had saw this and it reminded me of what we have been discussing. Notice the date that the tweet was posted was a  few days ago, this shows that this topic is still talked about outside of history class.

Dr. Putman talked about in his lectures about the atomic bomb. The words “atomic” and “bomb” had such a bad connotation that people needed to create new ways of avoiding the reality. At first, they had three different reactions: anxiety, fear, and elation. It was nerve-racking to think that they could be bombed however, they were happy that it ended the war. Since there was so much fear around it, they had new hopes for it. For example, they believed that it could have positive developments in making in atomic cars and more. The phrase “you’re the bomb” is another way of making Americans feel positive about the atomic bomb.

My roommate enjoys knowing random facts, so one day when we walked passed Trujillo’s she decided to tell me the history of how the Trujillo name actually has a somewhat negative connotation, so I decided to hack it. While I’m assuming that the Mexican restaurant chain isn’t named after Rafael Trujillo himself, this man was the dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1891-1961. He came to power by political maneuvering and torture, and he was assassinated in 1961.

The 40s are recognized as a time of war for most of the world, yet also of great opulence in the United States. In movies and TV shows, 1940s America has always been portrayed as glamorous and visually appealing despite the war overseas. Stories are set in the 1940s to amplify ambiance and the feeling of either great trepidation or great wealth. Great films have been made to adapt to the style, jargon, and life of people in the 40s. ‘Agent Carter’ takes place after the war in 1946 and does a good job in portraying American life after the war during a time of booming economic gains as well as the early rise of the Cold War and opposition against communism.

Vanessa Rodriguez

Section 1

In class this week we talked about the Cold War, I found the atomic bomb of Hiroshima to be interesting. Hiroshima was launched in Japan on August 6, 1945, which was the first atomic bomb to be used. The atomic bomb that Truman used carried 20,000 tons of TNT. The Hiroshima bomb killed 80,000 thousand people immediately and later more were killed due to radiation. Japan thought America was bluffing and would not use this bomb against them. But little did Japan know America was serious and an unexpected surprise happened to Japan on August 6. Many say that the war ended earlier because Japan surrender to America. If this atomic bomb was not used, WWII may have gone a couple of years longer and more lives would have been lost. Underneath is a picture of Hiroshima before and after the atomic bomb.

http://www.teror-victims.com/en/index.php?Page=definition&UID=7238889

In a past lecture or small talk, we touched on aspects of the Hippie culture. I recently visited a friends grandparents at their beach house in La Jolla. Upon parking in the driveway, I noticed a torn and faded flag with “Peace” and the peace symbol embroidered on it. It instantly reminded me of the classic hippie culture of spreading love and peace. The flag, to me, served as a reminder of times past and the lasting impact of historical movements. Just as Blum says, “History is all around us.”

In the beginning of large lecture on Monday, Dr. Putman played a song about the atomic bomb. It was in the time period of WW2 and so the song was essentially reflecting the chaos of the time. Similarly, when I was listening to my iTunes I noticed J. Cole did the same thing in his rap “January 28th”. He raps, “What’s the price for a black man life? I check the toe tag, not one zero in sight”. I interpreted the lyrics as touching on all the recent police brutality and aggression towards young black men. Interesting how we can look to music to reflect current and past times.

s.