The Irish Times - Fri, Jun 20, 2014 - D- Day was important - so were the battles against the Nazis in Russia and the East.

  Irish Times article comparing the well-known battles against Nazi Germany in Western Europe with the often overlooked battles on the Easter Front - where the Russians suffered horrific casualties in a war Hitler described as a 'war of annihilation'.  

Click here

Time for Bagration commemoration: looking to the Eastern front - European News | Latest News from Across Europe | The Irish Times - Fri, Jun 20, 2014



 In Normandy, the Germans deployed 11 divisions against the initial D-Day landings. In the east, the Germans had 228 divisions. The casualties of this operation were equally staggering. The German historian Karl-Heinz Freiser has calculated German casualties at more than 399,000 killed, wounded, missing and POW. A conservative estimate of Russian casualties is more than 180,000. Total Russian wartime deaths still remain unclear with estimates ranging from 18 to 24 million, both military and civilian. The worst damage inflicted on the Germans occurred on the eastern front but at a huge cost to the Russians. The Bagration campaign also saw a further hardening of the attitudes between the combatants on the eastern front. The scene was set for the merciless campaigns of 1945, culminating in the brutal battle of Berlin.

Welcome Grade X students to your new life as IB Independent Learners in Grade X1 - you are now part of a global community of life-long learners!

NAZI BOOK BURNING BY STUDENTS OF FAMOUS LITERATURE BANNED BY HITLER.

Most societies use some censorship - but why is censorship always extreme in extreme societies? How is it linked to critical thinking or lack of critical thinking in the general population?      

From Socrates we learned the importance of using questions to pursue knowledge.

Plato's "Republic" teaches us through the parable of The Cave. Do not confuse appearance and reality.

What can we learn from modern writers? 

Should we watch film versions of books before or after we read the book or not at all? Opening scene from film version of Ian McEwan's "Enduring Love". The title is ironic and ambiguous in a way that the movie cannot convey - read the novel first! Buy a book and feed your mind.

CORNELL NOTES - WE LOVE THEM! WINNERS READ AND WINNERS TAKE NOTES IN CLASS.

Leadership Styles and Types: Authoritarian, Laissez-Faire & Democratic

Leadership Styles and Types: Authoritarian, Laissez-Faire & Democratic

1. click here for interesting website

http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/leadership-styles-and-types-authoritarian-laissez-faire-democratic.html#lesson

2. Fareed Zakaria article on leadership styles with some interesting parallels between Eisenhower approach and Obama.

A Democratic Advisory Council committee headed by Acheson called Eisenhower’s foreign policy “weak, vacillating, and tardy.” But Eisenhower kept his powder dry, confident that force was not the only way to show strength. “I’ll tell you what leadership is,” he told his speechwriter. “It’s persuasion — and conciliation — and education — and patience . It’s long, slow, tough work. That’s the only kind of leadership I know — or believe in — or will practice.”

click below for full article in "Washington Post"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fareed-zakaria-obamas-disciplined-leadership-is-right-for-today/2014/05/29/7b4eb460-e76d-11e3-afc6-a1dd9407abcf_story.html

Legendary author Maya Angelou dies

CNN Aviation Expert MH 370 DISAPPEARANCE