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Katie Feikema

Costa Rica's citizens of conservation: in their newly adopted homes, enclaves of foreig... - 0 views

  • Historically, Costa Rica has been ecofriendly. It has set aside a higher percentage of land as national parks than any other nation in the Americas. Government programs assist landowners with reforestation, helping to bring land back to its natural state.
  • a number of examples exist where foreigners have become agents of change who add to the richness of Costa Rican fife. The Costa Rican government hopes to encourage such balanced exchanges.
  • Out of the Kyoto Protocols and through the World Bank, Costa Rica was selected to sell carbon credits. "They are paying people to produce oxygen,"
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  • Several times a year, they bring groups of university student volunteers to work in this small Costa Rican community. Last year, the volunteers renovated the school by painting it, sanding and varnishing the desks and chairs, and repairing windows. They also helped build an organic garden and learned about the value of growing their own foods.
  • The group also had a dream to create a library to serve the schools in the four communities of the Valle de Diamante. This past February the library opened right next to the freshly renovated school in La Florida.
  • The library, which serves the four community schools, will enhance the quality of education and create long-lasting opportunities for the areas children.
  • Villages are looking for a new ways to sustain themselves and their culture. This library, along with new skills related to farming organically, composting, using bio-fuels and alternative energy, and rehabilitating and reforesting land will bring greater financial abundance to the communities.
  • Their dream is to create a sustainable environment and a balanced ecology benefiting their region and the entire planet.
  • I see my role as making them aware of what's available through national programs and then facilitating the implementation." When he leaves after two years, the community will be more aware of the resources available to them and more able to fight for their own development.
  • Over time, Ewing's interest in cattle was replaced with an enthusiasm for the natural world of the Costa Rican forest. Little by little, he began thinking of the hacienda as a nature preserve.
  • Ewing allowed other parts of the hacienda to regenerate naturally. The rich, fertile, volcanic soil of the region, along with the vast seed bank of the primary forest and the average 150 inches of yearly rainfall, brought rapid reforestation.
  • In August of 1995, President José María Figueres signed a decree designating Hacienda Barú as a National Wildlife Refuge. The forest continues to regenerate.
  • Hacienda Barú's story is one of enormous success, and it is not just an ecological success, as spectacular as that is. Perhaps more importantly, the experience of Hacienda Barú has pioneered a way for others to follow.
  • Hacienda Barti National Wildlife Refuge. The densely forested 830 acres belie its previous incarnation as a cattle ranch and rice farm.
  • Source Citation"Costa Rica's citizens of conservation: in their newly adopted homes, enclaves of foreigners support their local communities by using sustainable methods to preserve the land and the environment." Americas [English Edition] July-Aug. 2010: 22+. Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.
    • Katie Feikema
       
      Reflection: I think that what these people did in Costa Rica seems to have been very beneficial to them and the native Costa Ricans. Through the experience they are able to serve and get close to nature which can be a very relaxing and rewarding experience. They are also able to improve the education, environment, and quality of life for the Costa Ricans. They are teaching them a bit about how to farm better as well wich will be a great asset to the natives as they build up their economy through better agriculture.Questions:1) I wonder how the natives feel about what American's are doing there. Do they give their full support? Or are they skeptical?    2) Is the impact they have made becoming more noticeable in the economy as well as the environment?3) Do they plan to slowly back out of the leadership positions and teach the natives how to carry on for themselves? 
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    Research Question: What effect does Costa Rica's ecological conservation have on it's environment and economy? Source: "Costa Rica's citizens of conservation: in their newly adopted homes, enclaves of foreigners support their local communities by using sustainable methods to preserve the land and the environment." Americas [English Edition] July-Aug. 2010: 22+. Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. Summary: This article is about the success and help that people, not native to Costa Rica, have been able to bring to their "adopted land" in Costa Rica. They tell about what got them interested, what they did and how it has helped the country of Costa Rica. 
khamkhoun sedsaykongsa

Cuba Under Raul: Creeping Toward Capitalism? - 0 views

  • CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR July 23, 2008, n.p. © Copyright 2008, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR. All rights reserved.
  • Cuba Under Raul: Creeping Toward Capitalism?
  • By Sara Miller Llana and Matthew Clark Staff Writers of The Christian Science Monitor
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  •      Such gray-market microenterprises exemplify a spirit of dynamism and creativity straining to be fully unleashed, say some observers of Cuba. The question of the day: Is Raul Castro about to release it?
  •      The island nation's economy has struggled mightily since losing the support of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
  •      Raul's reputation as a pragmatist is unfurling expectations here that the era of asceticism and austerity is coming to a close. Major agricultural reforms have been unveiled. And in a speech earlier this month, he seemed to be preparing the populace for an economic shift.
  • And a recent flurry of headline-grabbing changes--such as allowing Cubans to patronize tourist hotels and to own cellphones, DVD players, and computers--is fueling speculation about how fast Raul will pursue the "China model" of a managed creep toward free markets.
  • The government created about 150 categories of licenses for Cubans to start their own businesses, and the ranks of self-employed swelled to 200,000.
  • Raul granted private farmers the right to till plots of up to 99 acres of unused government land. This follows a previous announcement to shift control of farms from the central government in Havana to local councils, raise prices for certain products to boost production, and give farmers the right to use whatever farm equipment they can afford to buy.
  •      Cuba now relies heavily on Venezuela, whose leftist President Hugo Chavez sends nearly 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the island in exchange for social services, such as Cuban doctors and teachers.
  •      Currently more than half of arable land lies fallow or is under used, according to Cuban government figures cited by The Associated Press. Cuba spent $1.5 billion importing food last year. This year it is expected to spend $1 billion more, say officials.
  •      But while some Cubans blame their economic woes on strict controls and prohibitive taxes, many still view the US and its 1962 trade embargo as the bigger culprit. No matter how much Raul seeks to open the economy, the embargo will stand in the way of much-needed foreign investment, analysts say.
  • On May 27, a group of trade representatives from Texas wrapped up the first official state visit to the island since the US established the embargo.
  • Cuba is an important market for Texan cattle, rice, poultry, cotton, and processed food products that enter under provisions in the US embargo that allow small amounts of trade in agricultural products.
  •      Such goodwill may not be the status quo in either nation right now, but the sense that change is coming certainly is. "The social values we espouse mean nothing if there is no economic basis," says Renel, a young lawyer in Havana. "Whether it is socialism, communism, capitalism, even feudalism, things are going to change."
  • Citation: You can copy and paste this information into your own documents. Llana, Sara Miller, and Matthew Clark. "Cuba Under Raul: Creeping Towards Capitalism?." Christian Science Monitor. 23 Jul 2008: n.p. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 08 Mar 2011.
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    Llana, Sara Miller, and Matthew Clark. "Cuba Under Raul: Creeping Towards Capitalism?." Christian Science Monitor. 23 Jul 2008: n.p. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 08 Mar 2011. Summary: The article describes how Cuba has an underground free market economy that Raul Castro is allowing. They is a shortage of food and texans want to end the embargo to sell their cattle and crops. Reflection: Their people are hungry, hardly any food for their own people. So the U.S and Cuban should work together to get rid of the embargo because it would help both. Question:  1. How much will Fidel Castro let Raul making change? 2. How Cuban American fell about getting rid of embargo?
Hojin Choi

ISLAM DOMINATED RELIGION COVERAGE IN 2010. - 0 views

  • Islam was the most frequent topic of religion news coverage in 2010, as the media doubled the amount of time and space devoted to religion compared to 2009
  • plans to build an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero
  • Florida pastor's threat to burn the Quran
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  • commemorations of the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
  • religion tended to get more coverage in the blogosphere than in traditional media; religion ranked among the top five stories covered on the Web for 12 of the 48 weeks studied.
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    Research Question: Is Islam a religion of peace or invitation to violence? Citation: "ISLAM DOMINATED RELIGION COVERAGE IN 2010." States News Service 2 Mar. 2011. Student Edition. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=STOM&docId=CJ250426352&source=gale&srcprod=STOM&userGroupName=lom_accessmich&version=1.0 Summary: This article shows that the Islam have the many issues in 2010. The study, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life research the News that more than 40 percent of Islam cover the whole religion. There are three main topic about the Islam: Plans to build an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero, a Florida pastor's threat to burn the Quran, and commemoration of the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The analysts found that the religion tend to get more coverage in the blogosphere than traditional media. Reflection: This article contain the important material; the writer obviously show people that the Islam religion dominated the entire religions during 2010. There are two aspect for the Islam in 2010. Some articles are positive, but the negative articles are dominated. The articles prove the characteristic Islam; if the Islam prefer to take the peace, at least the positive articles are dominated than the negative. Hopefully, the Islam leader read the article about what they did during 1 years in order to feedback themselves. Question: 1) What is the Islam original purpose to everyone? 2) Why they still continue the violence material? 3) What is the result to Islam during 1 year? 4) What is the opinion for the other religions?
ni iang

Campaign to plant 5 million trees in Central America - 0 views

  • A youth organization in Costa Rica announced Wednesday that it will plant at least five million native trees throughout Central America in June, with the goal of reforesting the region and mitigating climate change.
  • The organizations have the goal of not only planting trees, but also monitoring their growth. The Union for the Conservation of Nature supports the initiative.
  • The campaign “Reforestando Centroamérica” ("Reforesting Central America") involves social and environmental organizations and businesses from Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
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  • A youth organization in Costa Rica announced Wednesday that it will plant at least five million native trees throughout Central America in June, with the goal of reforesting the region and mitigating climate change.
  • Guatemala accomplished a similar project last year through the work of 10,000 youth volunteers.
  • In Costa Rica, the initiative hopes to plant at least 5,000 trees in mangrove areas in towns in the Caribbean and Pacific as well as metropolitan areas. The main day for planting the trees will be June 25.
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    "Campaign to Plant 5 Million Trees in Central America." Tico Times 11 Apr. 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. . Summary  In Costa Rica, a youth organization is planning to plant five million trees throughout central America to support the environment.  And also not just planting them, they are planning to continue to take care of all those trees and make sure that they grow well.  The group also is going to plant at least five thousand trees in the City in Costa Rica but also bigger areas of their neighbor's land like Caribbean and Pacific as well.  They announced that the big planting day will on on the 25th June.   Reflection  I think this plan is really good plan because iit s not hard to plant a tree, but it will help a lot of the environment as long as they take care of them as they plan.   They seem very serious about this plan because they are even going to plant to their neighbor's land, which shows that they really care for the environment.  Since this plan is coming soon, I'm excited to learn about how it will go.  This makes me think that if the rest of the world will  care like them, our world would be so much healthier than today.  How old are the  youth  who volunteer?How would the neighbor's country respond? How much will it help the environment from this many tres being planted and how long will it take to grow?
Jessica Ruthsatz

War in Juarez: anthropologist Howard Campbell on Mexico's increasingly violent drug war... - 1 views

  • THE MEXICAN CITY of Juarez, just over the border from El Paso, has suffered through wild spasms of drug-related violence during the last few years.
  • preceded by hideous torture and followed by public displays meant to inspire terror, such as tossing a rival gangster's head into a crowded club.
  • Howard Campbell, a sociologist and anthropologist at the University of Texas at El Paso,
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  • rug War Zone is composed of more than a dozen personal testimonials of people whose lives touch the drug trade in different ways.
  • Howard Campbell: Two factors caused me to write this book. One was living in Mexico for many years and realizing that the drug business was so huge, and there was quite a bit of information publicly known in newspapers, yet the government didn't se
  • Campbell: It is a dangerous world, but I was really more worried about the safety of my informants than myself. They have more at stake. I disguised their identities as much as possible so they'd be protected. I found people surprisingly open to ta
  • The big Mexican cartels have been around roughly for 30 years, and for the first 20 years they operated freely, and there was not really a high level of violence and public insecurity connected with drug trafficking. There were murders, but they were internal to the cartels; the people being killed tended to be part of the underworld.
  • PRI, a populist party well organized at every level of Mexican society but very corrupt. It lost favor among the people, and PRI lost power in 2000 to PAN, a more free-market, American-style party. PAN lacked the political skills to keep a lid on the drug problem. The more corrupt government did more to manage the drug trade. Mexico might be a more democratic country now and booming in free trade to some degree, but all of that created more freedom for cartels to expand business. The old mechanisms used to keep cartels under control broke down when PRI was thrown out. There was more competition between drug organizations and hustling to create new alliances with people in government and the police.
  • 2000 the violence has really been heating up, and from 2006
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    Research Question: Citation: Doherty, Brian. "War in Juarez: anthropologist Howard Campbell on Mexico's increasingly violent drug war." Reason Feb. 2010: 46+. Student Edition. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. Summary: Reflection: Questions:
Luke Terpstra

Putin meets South Ossetia leader in Moscow - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review - 0 views

  • ussian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that a Russian-funded “plan on rehabilitation” launched after the August war between Russia and Georgia that led to Moscow’s recognition of South Ossetia as an independent republic “is practically over,”
  • Putin, speaking at a meeting in Moscow with Eduard Kokoity, the de facto leader of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, said problems might remain
  • After the meeting Kokoity said it was possible to say that “consequences of the Georgian aggression of August 2008 will be fully eradicated in a year or two.”
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  • “Despite the global economic crisis, Russia has completely met its commitments,” said Kokoity, regarding financial assistance to Tskhinvali, adding that a total of 792 of South Ossetia’s facilities were rehabilitated with Russian assistance.
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    "Putin meets South Ossetia leader in Moscow." Hurriyet Daily News 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2011.   Summary:    Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, says that he and Eduard Kokoity,  the leader of the region in Georgia called South Ossetia, and stated that hostilities may still exist, but they have assisted South Ossetia in rehabilitating some of their facilities. Putin claims that with Russian aid, nearly 800 facilities were rehabilitated.  Reflection:      I find it hard to believe that Russia would help restore South Ossetia at all. They have constantly met all hostilities from Georgia with more offense, and not with the respectful defense they should have. I also find it strange that they find it strange that Georgia would attack them back.  Questions:  1. What do you think caused Russia to help South Ossetia out. Was it that they were obligated to do it, or did they just want to play the good guy role?  2. How much help do you think South Ossetia got, and what kind?  3. Why do you think Georgia is still hostile to Russia?
Kyleah Vander Klok

HEART OF DARKNESS.(AIDS and HIV in Zambia). - 0 views

  • The country is 17 years into an HIV/AIDS pandemic.
  • One in four of the 9.5 million population is infected, according to experts in Zambia, and in some areas it's risen to one in three.
  • 1.5 million children in Zambia have lost one or both parents to AIDS
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  • Zambians are reluctant to accept that HJV is the cause of all the dying. The stigma of AIDS is so enormous here, survivors prefer to say that family members died from tuberculosis or meningitis, common AIDS-related conditions.
  • a baby who manages to avoid contracting HIV in utero or during delivery has about a one in three chance of getting the virus from breast-feeding
  • We have 45 orphans in our extended family already
  • This disease has become a wa
  • One generation has been wiped out due to AIDS, says Salvation Army social worker Thebisa Ghaava. "The next one will be lost due to a lack of schooling," she says.
  • Zambia has little in the way of a national HIV/AIDS education program
  • Life expectancy has dropped from 56 years to 37 in recent years, and observers believe it could reach as low as 30 within the next decade.
  • For 19-year-old Rachel Musonda, who lives in the Copperbelt mining region in the north of the country, the past four years have been a nightmare, as first her father, then her mother, and then her three older siblings died of AIDS. With each new casualty, Musonda, who was forced to drop out of high school to nurse her parents and who has no skills or financial means, has been left with more children to raise. At 15, she had no choice but to become mother and father to her six younger siblings, then aged from 13 down to one year. With the subsequent deaths of her two older sisters and brother, and their spouses, she had to take on three more children, bringing the total to nine, because there was nowhere else for them to go.
  • Anti-AIDS medications cost $10,000 to $15,000 a year, more than the vast majority of Africans earn in a lifetime.
  • Consequently, the country's budget for health care is a pitiful $6 to $8 per person per year, and that sum includes the cost of hospitals and treating other rampant health problems such as malaria.
  • And even the discounted price of $2000 a year per patient is still a fantastical sum for Zambians, representing as it does an average of nearly seven years' income for the 40 percent who are fortunate enough to be employed.
  • medications must be taken on a strictly observed schedule around meals. In Zambia, the reality is that many people can eat only when food is available. And that is increasingly becoming only once every several days.
  • 50 percent of children are chronically malnourished.
  • In spite of Christianity's wide reach, traditional beliefs still run deep, and AIDS is often attributed to witchcraft
  • Another growing factor in the spread of AIDS is the legion of street kids, often AIDS orphans, many of whom must turn to prostitution to survive, as the country has only a handful of orphanages. About 750,000 children, some as young as four, have already been forced onto the streets.
  • In 1991, they underestimated the number of infections in the year 2000 by 40 percent. Already, 17 million have died, and today there are more than 25 million infected.
  • n the capital, the HIV rate among pregnant 15-to 19-year olds is beginning to drop for the first time
  • Twenty-five percent of our population is positive," she says but that means 75 percent is negative. Three out of four of us have the means to turn the situation around. But to do that Zambians need to take control of their lives."
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    What are the effects of HIV/AIDS in Zambia? 1.Harper's Bazaar: GOODWIN, JAN. "HEART OF DARKNESS." Harper's Bazaar Mar. 2001: 450. Student Edition. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=STOM&docId=A72411528&source=gale&srcprod=STOM&userGroupName=lom_accessmich&version=1.0 2. This document is about how so many people are orphaned because of AIDS. People do not want to hear about AIDs and they pass it off for witchcraft or other Viruses.The lifespan of the people has dropped significantly over the years.People are trying to help by letting themselves be open to the youth and be models. 3. It is terrible the effects of the virus, so many have died because the don't know or they can't do anything about it. Those poor children having to raise other kids when they themselves are still to young and have no way to support any of them.  4. WHat can be done to help kids stay off the street and not to sell their bodies to feed their family? Where can the people turn to to know what is happening and what is better for them? 
Mark De Haan

The Future of Lebanon - 0 views

  • Hezbollah ended up in a full-scale war, in which it won some battlefield victories and popularity in the Arab and Muslim world but which devastated its Lebanese Shiite constituency and narrowed its tactical and political options.
  • srael, despite unleashing massive airpower on Hezbollah strongholds, failed to knock out the organization or even to stop its missile attacks, while the setbacks suffered by Israel's ground invasion had the effect of puncturing the aura of invincibility long projected by the Israel Defense Forces.
  • When Israeli forces withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah claimed a historic victory. At the time, many argued that it was time for Hezbollah to give up its arms and cede its territory to the Lebanese army.
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  • Tehran reaped some benefit from Hezbollah's increased popularity and perhaps can point to the organization's robust performance as a warning to those considering military action against Iran, but this war wasted much of the deterrent power that it had vested in Hezbollah for its own hour of need
  • But instead, Hezbollah managed to put itself at the center of Lebanese politics, leading an anti-American coalition against the anti-Syrian March 14 coalition.
  • As the guns fell silent and the dust began to settle onto a scene of extensive devastation, many Lebanese were initially preoccupied with the debate about who had "won" or "lost" the war. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, rushed to declare a "divine victory": the war had not ended with triumph for Israel (as all other Arab- Israeli wars have)
  • Hezbollah fighters had routed Israeli armored columns and elite brigades, and Hezbollah had continued to launch missiles and inflict heavy losses on Israeli troops throughout the war.
  • Hezbollah's victory was trumpeted throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
  • But it also became clear that Lebanon, and particularly the Shiite areas in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, had paid an enormous human and economic price. Some 1,200 civilians (almost a third of them children) died, 4,000 were wounded, and a million were displaced. Some 130,000 housing units, thousands of small businesses, hundreds of roads, 300 factories, 80 bridges, dozens of schools and hospitals, and the country's electricity network were destroyed or damaged. This was the costliest Arab-Israeli war in Lebanon's history - - more devastating even than Israel's 1982 invasion. Economic losses were initially estimated at around $7 billion, or 30 percent of GDP. For a country still paying for a decade of laborious reconstruction and with a debt burden equal to 180 percent of GDP, the war dealt a staggering blow.
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    The Future of Lebanon Foreign Affairs - Paul Salem Salem, Paul. "The Future of Lebanon." Foreign Affairs 85.6 (2006): 13. Student Edition. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. Summary: This article talks about what the future holds for Lebanon and Hezbollah after the 34 Day War between Hezbollah and Israel. After all the fighting had ceased, Hezbollah was quick to claim themselves victorious. They were able to break Israli amored columns and Israel's elite brigades.  Reflection: Although Hezbollah has often been a nuisance to Israel, as well as a constant pain to the IDF and UN forces attempting to make peace, what is often lost in all this is the impact that Hezbollah has had on Lebanon. The 34 Day War between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 was the cause of death for 1,200 civilian, the displacement of a million, and destruction of 130,000 housing units. Economic losses were estimated at $7 billion. Hezbollah, through their resistance toward Israel, has not only been a pain to Israel, but also to Lebanon, to some extent. Questions: 1. Has Hezbollah gained strength or have they weakened since the 34 Day War? 2. Has Lebanon recovered from the disaster of this war? 3. Have there been any other large exchanges of warfare between Hezbollah and Israel since this incident?
Kyleah Vander Klok

World Health HIV counseling and testing. (the effects of HIV/AIDS in Zambia). - 0 views

  • When people know what their status is, they can cope better and make plans for their own and their family's future.
  • Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, has been severely affected by HIV. The seroprevalence among women, as shown by anonymous antenatal screening surveys, is around 30%, and recent community surveys indicate that 26% of both men and women aged 15 to 39 years are HIV-seropositive.
  • most households have to care for sick family members or for the children of relatives who have died.
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  • Zambia's first VCT centre, the Kara Counseling and Training Trust, was established in November 1992 and offers a variety of support services outside the workplace or medical centre. These include a skills training programme for people with HIV
  • There are tens of thousands of AIDS orphans
  • there is still often great reluctance to be tested.
  • there is little medical help available for people with HIV
  • More than 20 million of the 30 million people estimated to be living with HIV at the end of 1997 live in sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS estimates that more than 90% of these are unaware of their infection.
    • Kyleah Vander Klok
       
      When people know what their status is, they can cope better and make plans for their own and their family's future. The seroprevalence among women, as shown by anonymous antenatal screening surveys, is around 30%, and recent community surveys indicate that 26% of both men and women aged 15 to 39 years are HIV-seropositive. most households have to care for sick family members or for the children of relatives who have died. tens of thousands of AIDS orphans here is still often great reluctance to be tested there is little medical help available for people with HIV More than 20 million of the 30 million people estimated to be living with HIV at the end of 1997 live in sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS estimates that more than 90% of these are unaware of their infection.
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    What are the effects of HIV/AIDS in Zambia? Ignatius Kayawe, Michael Kelly, and Rachel Baggaley. "HIV counselling and testing." World Health 51.6 (1998): 12. Student Edition. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=STOM&docId=A54902050&source=gale&srcprod=STOM&userGroupName=lom_accessmich&version=1.02. After a VCT test people can more easily prepare their life with or without the disease. They say how counseling and preparing for the future will be help the people and bring down the rate of people who get it. They examined why people do not what to take a test. The reasons they do not is because of fear of having it, and what others will say, the strong denial of it ever happening.3. I did not realize that there was so much fear that was behind having AIDS. I knew there probably was some but not in the want to get rid of it. I really like that people are at least trying to help people cope with having the virus and that people with the discovery are changing their lives against getting the virus. It is terrible to think that their are so many orphans living in Zambia and having to support themselves after their parents die.4. Do people realize how many kids live without parents? What can be done to encourage people to take the tests and get help? Is there research being done to eliminate the virus? How long can a person live with the virus?
Haley Luurtsema

Survey Highlights Haitians' Vulnerability; Access to food, shelter, healthcare less pre... - 0 views

  • Haitians' lack of access to basic needs such as food, shelter, and healthcare, even relative to neighboring Dominicans.
  • The effects of a 7.0-magnitude
  • 60% of Haitians said there had been times in the past year when they didn't have enough money to purchase food that their families needed, while 51% said there were times when they could not afford adequate shelter.
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  • Haitians were far more likely than any other population in Central America or the Caribbean to say they have had trouble providing shelter
  • Haitian President Rene Preval said some hospitals have collapsed as a result of the quake, further handicapping a public healthcare system poorly equipped to handle a disaster of this proportion.
  • Fewer than one in four (22%) said they were satisfied with the availability of quality healthcare in their communities, and one in nine (11%) said healthcare is accessible to anyone in the country.
  • Poor sanitation and lack of access to clean water are likely to make cholera and other waterborne diseases a major problem
  • including roads and highways, and schools -- were decimated by the quake. These facilities too were already seen as insufficient by most Haitians polled a year ago. About one-third were satisfied with the roads and highways (31%) and the schools (35%) in their communities
  • n the wake of a disaster, friendships and family ties become lifelines, serving as conduits for material as well as emotional support.
  • 30% said they have no relatives or friends they can count on for help
  • foreign aid both to make the country more resilient to natural disasters, and to improve access to basic social services like healthcare
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    Research Question: Still today, what are the social, economical, and political effects of the earthquake in Haiti? Citation Source: "Survey Highlights Haitians' Vulnerability; Access to food, shelter, healthcare less prevalent than in neighboring countries." Gallup Poll News Service (2010). Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. Summary: This Article is about the Haitian people and their lack of basic needs such as food, shelter, and healthcare. The 7. magnitude earthquake effected manly lives of civilians in Haiti. Although, 60% of the people said that in the past year they didn't have enough money to even purchase food for their families needs. While 51% said that they could not afford a shelter. President Rene Preval said that hospitals having been destroyed, the public healthcare system is even more helpless. The Article tells us that less than 22% say that healthcare was fine to begin with in Haiti. Along with 11% that said healthcare was accessible to anyone in the country. Which leads to poor sanitation and lack of clean water in the area. In conclusion, Bill Clinton emphasized that foreign aid must make the country more resistant to natural disasters, and improved basic needs such as healthcare if people wish to survive. 
Mallory Huizenga

"Costa Rica: Committed to Conservation" - 0 views

  • As a result, it intends to protect at least 25 percent of its territory as wildlands. The economic benefits of Costa Rica's conservation commitments include important revenue from hydropower, ecotourism, and scientific activity.
  • Based on land-use capability, less than 40 percent of Costa Rica's land is suitable for agriculture and approximately 60 percent is most suitably left as forest. Some 35 percent of Costa Rica is now pastureland, but only 8 percent is appropriate to that use.
  • The current government has established a goal of completely protecting primary forest, allowing secondary forest to flourish, and promoting tree plantations on degraded soils to meet demands for lumber and paper products.
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  • Costa Rica has done more than any other developing country to establish a comprehensive joint implementation (JI) regime as a strategy to meet the objectives of the climate treaty and promote its own sustainable development goals.
  • The law addresses four key environmental services offered by plantations and forests: (1) carbon fixation, (2) watershed protection, (3) biodiversity resources, and (4) protection of natural forest ecosystems located in zones of particular interest.
  • More recently, the OCIC strategy has been exclusively to promote three national-scale projects focusing on (1) consolidation of parks, (2) natural forest management by private landowners, and (3) renewable energy.
  • Changes in Costa Rica's forestry laws during the 1980s and '90s supported substantial tree planting in Costa Rica
  • A high-level Consultative Committee on Climate Change was formed to shape JI policy, within the context of the national greenhouse gas emissions
  • An understanding now exists between the nations of the world that protecting climate and conserving biodiversity are important goals.
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    Research Journal #1: Article Two Question: How is ecological conservation effecting Costa Rica? Source: MEL Database: "Costa Rica: Committed to Conservation" by Rene Castro Citation: Castro, Rene. "Costa Rica: committed to conservation." World and I Nov. 1998: 65+. Student Edition. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. Summary: This article talks mainly about what Costa Rica's government is doing to converse the land. The article emphasis how Costa Rica is implying their hopes and dreams into reality for the country. The author uses specific facts such as the percentage of wild-lands, the percentage of forests, the percentage of land used for agriculture. The articles also presents the measures that the government set in place in the mid-1990s to create a more sustainable ecology. The end of the articles discuss how Costa Rica is going to keep this "green" idea alive into the future. Reflection: I found this article helpful because it talks about the government side of the conservation, and what the government is doing to help provide and enforce conservation in Costa Rica. The articles makes great points, and is filled with a lot of facts about the country's ecology. I was glad to find an article that talked about the steps that were made to bring Costa Rica to the place where they are in ecological conservation.   Questions: 1) What is the government continuing to do? 2) How well have the guidelines been followed over the years. 3) What other steps outside of the government have been taken to enforce the conservation. 4) As a group we will need to include the starting point behind this push for conservation in our exhibit.
Brielle DeFrell

Oil unrest grips Nigeria; Turbulent delta raises fears of global energy shock - 0 views

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    Research question: What are the effects of the competition with oil in Nigeria?  "Oil unrest grips Nigeria; Turbulent delta raises fears of global energy shock." Washington Times 9 Feb. 2006: A17. Student Edition. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.Document URLhttp://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=STOM&docId=CJ141860182&source=gale&srcprod=STOM&userGroupName=lom_accessmich&version=1.0 Reflection: I never realized how much oil could effect the whole country as a whole. That there would be so much blood spelt just because of the production of oil. That so many people would have to suffer from severe poverty because the government doesn't spread the wealth through the whole country. I can understand why the militia doesn't like the production of oil because of the effects it has on the land, but with how much revenue that comes out of the production I don't think Nigeria has a choice.  Questions: Is there a way Nigeria could lessen the effects on the land, but keep producing oil? Is there some way that the government could spread the wealth so no one was living in severe poverty?  Is there a way to stop the militia without them acting up and messing with the oil production companies? 
Mackenzie Haveman

Academic OneFile  Document - 0 views

  • in the weeks, months and sometimes years that follow, the mental health effects may linger well after physical wounds have healed
  • Attention to psychological and emotional well being, say experts from Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, is therefore critical to the long-term recovery of both individuals and communities.
  • have joined together to look at the mental health of Haiti's earthquake survivors and how they are coping.
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  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be experienced by any individual exposed to a traumatic event. Common symptoms include severe depression, severe anxiety, substance abuse and hypervigilance, and extreme sensitivity to signs reminiscent of a potential threat, such as loud noise
  • roughly one in every five people who survive a disaster will experience PTSD or depression.
  • "There is a misconception that mental illness is not important in resource-poor areas, but it is, and [the world] has consistently underestimated its importance," said Galea
  • "Mental illness can be debilitating, and can delay both individual and community recovery--that's why paying attention to mental health issues after a disaster is extremely important."
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    Research Question: Still today, what are the social, economical, and political effects of the earthquake in Haiti? Citation: "RESEARCHERS FOCUS ON PSYCHOLOGICAL CARE FOR HAITI'S EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS." States News Service 24 Mar. 2010. Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. Summery: This article is about researchers from Columbia University who look at the psychological conditions in Haiti's aftermath. These researchers talk about how the mental health effects may stick with the survivors, even though the physical effects may heal. Since there are many of the Haitians that have discovered these mental wounds, the communities is also greatly effected as a result--and it spreads. As a result of these mental illnesses-- Post-traumatic stress disorder falls into this category. This disorder can be experienced by anyone who has been exposed to a traumatic event in their lifetime. Some symptoms that this involves would be depression, anxiety, substance abuse, hyper vigilance, and extreme sensitivity to signs reminiscent of potential threat. About one in every five people who survive a traumatic event with experience this. Galea says, "Mental illness can be debilitating, and can delay both individual and community recovery--that's why paying attention to mental health issues after a disaster is extremely important."
lane rottschafer

Iran hangs Dutch-Iranian woman for drug smuggling, report says - 0 views

  • Fars said Bahrami smuggled cocaine into Iran with the help of a Dutch partner.
  • drug charges were only a pretext to execute her.
  • accused of bringing cocaine into the country twice
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  • 70 lashes and a $1,400 fine
  • 450 grams of cocaine and 420 grams of opium were discovered
  • 150 grams of cocaine.
  • lawyer was "shocked" to find she had been hanged
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    http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/30/iran.execution/index.html?iref=allsearch Iran hangs Dutch-Iranian woman for drug smuggling, report says How is the Opium Drug Trade affecting the people of the middle east? Summary: In Tehran Iran, A Dutch-Iranian woman was hung for drug smuggling. Iran hanged Zahra Bahrami saying she was a drug smuggler. Fars said Bahrami smuggled cocaine into Iran with the help of a Dutch partner. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran were saying that the drug charges were only a pretext to execute her. Her lawyer was shocked that she was hanged and had no idea of the situation. Bahrami was accused of bringing cocaine into the country twice, and of selling it. Cocaine and opium were booth found during a search of her home. Her sentence also included 70 lashes and a $1,400 fine. It was said that 450 grams of cocaine and 420 grams of opium were discovered and, through further investigation, it was found that she had also distributed 150 grams of cocaine. On Sunday, the Netherlands strongly advised Dutch-Iranian citizens not to travel to Iran. Reflection: I think that this whole situations is absurd. The first thing, is that not only was she hanged, but she also was given 70 lashes, and a fine. If the people knew they were going to hang her, why did they also need to do that. And The fact that all the Netherlands did is suggest that no one else goes there, its crazy. I know she did a lot of drug trade, but there are a lot worse people out there. She shouldn't have been tortured and then hanged. Questions: 1) Why was she hanged? 2) Before she was hung, why did she get the 70 lashes 3) Why didn't the Netherlands do more? 4) What is something else that could have been done other than executing her? Citation: CNN Wire Staff, . "Iran hangs Dutch-Iranian woman for drug smuggling, report says." CNN World 30 january 2011: n. pag. Web. 16 Feb 2011. <http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/30/iran.execution/index.h
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    Great posting Lane, but you are missing your annotations? Where are they?
Leah Hop

Priests and parishes threatened by drug cartels - 0 views

  • Mexican priests have suffered numerous threats of violence, kidnapping and extortion from the nation's narcotics-trafficking cartels.
  • a growing number of priests--mostly serving in remote and mountainous areas rife with illegal drug trade activities--have been transferred to other parishes, assigned other types of work or even moved to other parts of the country because of threats. Other priests, meanwhile, have been forced to raise up to $800 each week for extortion payments.
  • violence overflowing parts of Mexico has claimed at least 22,700 lives--a figure recently revised upward by the federal government--since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and sent the army and federal police to crack down on the cartels.
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  • fear exists and the insecurity destroying the life of so many communities isolates them and exposes them to new expressions of violence
  • cartels and their affiliates have threatened to kidnap evangelical pastors and extorted churches and charity projects through protection rackets.
  • Rev. Manuel Corral, who initially denied similar threats against members of the Catholic clergy, but stories of aggression against priests and the church quickly surfaced.
  • In his region near Ciudad Juarez it has turned once-peaceful communities into ghost towns as frightened residents flee to Texas and cartel members burn down buildings thought to be affiliated with rivals.
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    Research Question: What is the cause of all the violence associated with the Mexican drug trade? Source: "Priests and parishes threatened by drug cartels." America 3 May 2010: 6+. Student Edition. Web. 17 Feb. 2011.http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale(en,,):FQE%3D(ke,None,6)Mexico:And:FQE%3D(ke,None,10)drug+trade:And:FQE%3D(ke,None,8)violence:And:LQE%3D(AC,None,8)fulltext$&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&tabID=T003&prodId=STOM&searchId=R1&currentPosition=1&userGroupName=lom_accessmich&docId=A226089688&docType=IAC Summary: This article is about Mexican priests that have faced threats of violence, kidnapping, and extortion from the cartels. Because of these threats many priests have to transfer to a different parish, take up different types of work, and even move to other parts of the country. On the other hand, other priests are forced to raise $800 a week for extortion payments. The violence created by the cartel has killed at least 22,700. This number has increased ever since Presiden Felipe Calderon stepped into office as President in 2006. Reflection: I was kind of surprised that priest are being threatened and that because of this many need to move to a different part of the country. It's sad to see that this violence is turning once peaceful communities into "ghost towns" where residents are feeing in complete terror. This article doesn't really help answer my research question, but it does help me understand what the cartel is doing, and who the violence is being inflicted upon. Questions: 1) What is the motive behind targeting/threatening priests? 2) How should the church respond to this violence? 3) What are Mexican police doing to stop this? 4) How do other cities in Mexico respond when they hear about the violence created by the cartels?
Leah Hop

BBC News - Mexico's drugs gang 'death squad' - 0 views

  • come into existence some seven years ago, when leaders of the Gulf cartel of illegal drugs traffickers took it on as their security network.
  • The gang was called Los Zetas after the Mexican word for the letter 'z', as this was the radio call sign of one of their first leaders, former Mexican Special Forces Lieutenant Arturo Guzman Decena.
  • Mr Guzman took 30 other personnel from Mexico's Special Forces Airmobile Group to work with him for the Gulf cartel.
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  • The original group trained new members, and quickly became known for its ruthlessness, in particular for beheading their victims.
  • The Mexican Defence Ministry has described the cartel as "the most formidable death squad to have worked for organised crime in Mexican history".
  • By 2007, after the extradition of Gulf cartel leader Osiel Cardenas-Guillen to the US, the Zetas are said to have begun running their own drugs smuggling operation from Mexico to the US.
  • In February and March 2010, between 200 and 250 members of rival cartels were killed as they battled to control regions in Mexico's north-east.
  • It says he was a corporal in the Airmobile Group before being recruited by the Zetas in 2002, and it has offered a $5m (£3.2m) reward for his capture.
  • Ten members of the Zetas are on the DEA's most-wanted list, with total rewards offered amounting to $50m.
  • The Zetas have apparently switched their operations from the west coast state of Michoacan to Tamaulipas on the east coast, and down to Cancun in the Yucutan Peninsula.
  • As the Zetas have tried to take over territory controlled by other gangs, there has been a sharp increase in murders of rival gang members.
  • According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in 2009 the leader of the Zetas was Heriberto Lazcano-Lazcano.
  • In addition to drugs, the Zetas have specialised in human trafficking,
  • The Zetas are said to charge $1,000-$2,000 for each man and woman smuggled across the border. The business also gives them contacts throughout Central America, and in the US, where they are suspected of committing a number of murders.
  • In late August 2010, they are thought to have been responsible for the deaths of 72 Central and Southern American illegal migrants
  • They have also become notorious in Mexico for breaking out of jail when they are caught and imprisoned.
  • In May 2009, 53 inmates of Cieneguillas prison in Zacatecas state escaped, freed by gunmen thought to be Zeta members.
  • Some analysts say that Mexican government's hardline tactics, such as the recent raid which ended with the deaths of 27 alleged Zetas near the US border in Tamaulipas, have seriously weakened its capacity.
  • in July 2010 in the northern city of Monterrey, when Zetas leader Hector Raul Luna Luna was captured by the authorities.
  • there are as many as 30,000 youngsters aged between 18 and 24 who have no work apart from the easy money offered by groups such as the Zetas
  • Some 28,000 deaths have been blamed on organised crime since President Felipe Calderon came to power in 2006.
  • He has drafted as many as 50,000 members of the security forces into the fight against the cartels, but is facing increasing criticism because of the surge in deadly violence throughout Mexico.
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    Research Question: What is the cause of all the violence associated with the Mexican drug trade? Source: Caistor, Nick. "Mexico's drugs gang 'death squad' ." BBC News. N.p., 4 Sept. 2010. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11189017 Summary: The Zeta drugs gang, formed around seven years ago, is known as the most ruthless and threatening death squad in Mexican history. Ten members of the Zetas are on the DEA's most-wanted list with rewards reaching $50m. As a result of the Zetas trying to take over more territory, there have been a rapid increase in murders of rival gang members. "President Felipe Calderon has drafted nearly 50,000 members of the security forces into the fight against the cartels, but is facing increasing criticism because of the surge in deadly violence throughout Mexico." Reflection: To be honest I didn't know a lot about the Mexican drug trade, and had never heard of the Zetas. It's unfortunate to see how influential and dangerous this group has become over the course of just seven years. It disgusts me to read about how ruthless this gang is; particularly for beheading their victims. Also, I read about what Mexico's president is trying to do, however he is being criticized because of the increase in violence. Thinking more about President Felipe Calderon makes me want to look more into what Mexico is trying to do to stop such violence. This article helped me understand more about the Zeta gang but didn't specifically help answer the cause of my research question. Questions: 1) What is the most effective way of trying to reduce violence throughout Mexico? 2) Are the Zetas targeting certain areas or specific gangs? 3) Why do the Zetas want to conquer more territory so badly? 4) Because the Zetas committed some murders in the US, is the US doing anything to stop this from happening?
Laurel Ackerman

Letter From Palestine - 0 views

  • The Tel Aviv suicide bombing a week earlier, in which twenty-one Russian-immigrant kids were killed and about a hundred wounded, was a good thing, and many more such bombings are needed in order to throw off the yoke of Israeli occupation.
  • The Palestinians I talked to were just as harsh on their own leadership, excoriating the Palestinian Authority for its incompetence, corruption and brutality. The signs are everywhere: You can drive through Gaza and see, amid the shocking poverty, sumptuous palaces built by Arafat's cronies, many of them paid for by the crooked import/export monopolies they wangled after the Oslo agreements were signed
  • In Deir al Bala, there was still animated discussion and approval of the January assassination of Hisham Makki, the notoriously corrupt head of the Palestine Broadcasting Authority (the hit is widely believed to hav
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  • e been carried out by dissident elements of Yasir Arafat's Fatah organization). The PA has done little to relieve the suffering of civilians impoverished or made homeless by Israeli army closures and shelling, though it should be pointed out that the majority of its revenues, tax transfers from trade, have been withheld by the Israelis since the beginning of the intifada.
  • I visited the village of Al-Khadir, near Bethlehem, the day after the army had set up new blockades that prevented the villagers from getting to 5,000 acres of their farmland, the lifeblood of their community, land that the nearby settlement of Efrat has had its eye on for some time
  • The government will prevent villagers from going to their fields, using various pretexts; then it will declare the fields "abandoned" and seize them. Finally, they'll be handed over to a new or existing settlement.
  • n an attempt to head this off, the villagers had set up tents next to their fields, to let everyone know they weren't giving up without a fight. I could see the Israeli tanks patrolling on the next hilltop. "Don't point at them!" one man told me. "They'll shoot at you." A few days after I was there, a coalition of villagers from Al-Khadir and Israeli anti-occupation activists marched up to the hilltop together and held a peaceful demo. The army ordered them to leave in ten minutes. After deciding that they weren't leaving quickly enough, the soldiers began to beat the protesters, breaking the arm of one Israeli activist, Neta Golan.
  • the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre in Beirut, in which 1,000-3,000 Palestinian civilians were butchered by Israel's Phalangist allies while under close Israeli army supervision
  • The latest signs from the region are ominous. After the recent killing of a settler near Hebron, Israel carried out a scorched-earth campaign, demolishing dozens of houses and wells, destroying fields and expelling hundreds of occupants. This was followed by the demolition of dozens of homes in the Jerusalem-area refugee camp of Shuafat and in southern Gaza. For its part, Hamas has vowed revenge and more suicide bombings in response to the Israeli army killing of an 11-year-old boy in Gaza.
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    How does the conflict in Israel affect the futures of Palestinian children compared to Israeli children?  Carey, Roane. "Letter From Palestine." The Nation 273.4 (2001): 28. Student Edition. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. Searched InfoTrak Student Edition: Israel Palestine Conflict http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&amp;contentSet=IAC-Documents&amp;type=retrieve&amp;tabID=T003&amp;prodId=STOM&amp;docId=A76563733&amp;source=gale&amp;srcprod=STOM&amp;userGroupName=lom_accessmich&amp;version=1.0 Summary: This is a letter explaining the issues between Palestine and Israel. It starts with talking about some radical Palestinian men who are bent on bombings being the way to throw off Israeli occupation. Then, the author talks about the violence between the two people groups and the futile attempts of the Palestinians to dissuade the Israelis. It also talks about the history of the conflict.  Reflection: I realized that even though we did listen to Abdullah in class, there are people who still want the bombings. I think that will have to have a play in the futures of the Palestinian children. Depending on the families of the Palestinian children, do their futures change? It's also interesting that the Palestinians are even harsh on their own government. Nothing is working in Israel. It's an issue. Questions: What are the statistics of Palestinians killed? What are the statistics of Israelis killed? Is there any way to get a kid's perspective?
Ji-Yoon Jeon

Muslims Asked to Be Peaceful. - 0 views

  • Muslims to avoid violence in the name of religion.
  • the religious values of Islam are best promoted and nurtured through peace and understanding, not violence.
  • "Religious values of tolerance and compassion, both within the Islamic community and in relations with others, can go a long way in inculcating the much needed culture of peace,"
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  • the efforts of the Acholi Religious Peace Initiative, which brings together Christian and Muslim leaders in search of peace in northern Uganda.
  • "Such collaboration among various social and religious groups in Uganda will foster national unity,"
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    Research question: Is Islam a religion of peace or invitation to violence? "Muslims Asked to Be Peaceful." Africa News Service 23 June 2004. Student Edition. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodId=STOM&docId=A118509071&source=gale&srcprod=STOM&userGroupName=lom_accessmich&version=1.0 Summary: This article was about the United Nations Development Programe advising Ugandan Muslims to avoid violence. One of the representer, Toure, said that the value of Islam is best promoted and nurtured through peace, not violence. He kept stressing that peace is the key for better religious values and peace will bring foster national unity. Reflection: I think he is absolutely right. Violence is never an answer for anything. Peace might not always work out as we think, but peace is the ultimate key for incorporating all other religions and achieve better value of Islam. By reading this, Muslims asked to be peaceful, it tells me that still people's view of Islam is violence. Even though it's only a small group of people being violence, it's impact is enough to get this kind of advise. I think Muslims should remind themselves of the foundation of Islam.  Questions: 1)Why are they asking Muslims to be peaceful and not other religions? 2)What is the relationship between Muslims and the advisor? 3)What is Muslims view of this advise?
Andrew Kuper

Water, water everywhere: strong storms flood Australian cities. - 0 views

  • The downpours have caused the worst floods there in 50 years.
  • The cyclone caused rivers and lakes to flood, leaving about 386,000 square miles of the nation underwater. That is an area larger than Texas.
  • The rushing waves affected more than 200,000 people.
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  • some experts say the country's economy could suffer for years.
  • estimates repairs will cost more than $5 billion.
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    What are the effects of the Australian Floods? Citation: "Water, water everywhere: strong storms flood Australian cities." Weekly Reader News Edition 4-6 [a Weekly Reader publication] 11 Feb. 2011: 2+. Student Edition. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. Summary: Australia is recovering from the worst flood it's seen in 50 years. The flooding was caused by heavy rain from a cyclone. Over 386,000 square miles of Australia is underwater. The flooding has affected over 200,000 people, and has cost at least five billion dollars (not sure if it's Australian or US) in damages. Analysis: This is simply shocking to me. I'm bothered by how little attention this has received in relation to the magnitude of what's going on. The amount of land that is underwater is larger in area than the state of Texas, and 200,000 people have been affected. By comparison, Hurricane Katrina left only 1,500 people homeless, and we're still talking about that six years later. Questions: 1. What are the environmental/ecological impacts of the flooding? 2. How will this affect Australia's economy/businesses? 3. What all is being done to help those affected?
Joy Merlino

Testing the water - 0 views

  • THE PALESTINIAN STRUGGLE FOR national liberation lacks leadership and is currently on hold. What's left for Israel to sort out now are its Palestinian citizens, who comprise 20% of the population in Israel and are increasingly treated as a fifth column, discriminated against at every level.
  • The call for a state for all its citizens, for equality and full democracy, are demands that threaten the Zionist project of a Jewish state with exclusive rights for Jews, preferably without the indigenous Palestinian population.
  • The silent and semi-visible system of segregation, apartheid and racist policies placed against them since the establishment of the state of Israel is taking more aggressive, visible and vocal expression, both within the government and Israeli media.
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  • We are also witnessing an unprecedented and alarming rise in the submission of overtly racist bills that target Palestinians individually and collectively; calling for revoking their citizenship, limiting their political freedoms, banning them from marking the Palestinian Nakba (1948 catastrophe) and banning them from residing in Jewish towns, amongst other things.
  • Racist right-wing activists not only thrive in such an atmosphere but are also given the means to publicly target Palestinian citizens, frequently inciting violence and racism and provoke yet more dehumanising campaigns.
  • he march of the fascist group in Umm AL Fahem on 27 October was a case in point. The march was called for by the extreme right-wing organisation, Eretz Yisrael Shelanu, and supported by Michael Ben-Ari, an Israeli Knesset member from the National Union, an extreme far-right party.
  • He is a leading figure in the colonial movement in the West Bank, and has been sentenced to several prison terms for physical assaults on Palestinians.
  • Marzel is a former member of Cakh, a Jewish terrorist organisation headed by Rabi Meir Kahane, which called for the forced expulsion of the Palestinian population.
  • The 'performance' in Umm Al Fahem was a message to all Palestinian citizens and their leadership warning them to beware, telling them "you either accept Israel as a Jewish state, with exclusive rights for the Jews, and live with gratitude as second-class citizens, or we will crack down mercilessly", with transfer remaining a looming option.
  • According to the organisers, they wanted to impress upon the residents of the town that they "are the landlords of the State of Israel" and called not only for outlawing the Islamic movement, which happened to be their chosen Arab 'enemy' of the day, but also for its expulsion from Israel.
  • Viewed by many as a deliberately provocative act, the march was nevertheless authorised by the Israeli Supreme Court, despite its history of incitement to violence.
  • In the online version of Yediot Aharonot, the second-largest daily publication in Israel, Marzel is quoted as saying: "nothing is more symbolic than the fact that on the day of the 20th anniversary of his murder, Rabbi Kahane's followers will continue his struggle against the Arab enemy."
  • The problem facing Palestinian citizens is not what Marzel and his ilk say: they are merely articulating what the government is not yet able to say. These small, partisan, fascist groups achieve their purpose by successfully organising media stunts such as the event in Umm AL Fahem. However, the real 'performance' was the one choreographed and directed by the official authorities, including the police.
  • Was the Israeli Supreme Court decision and the thousand-strong police presence, including their brutal confrontation with fellow citizens, only intended to protect the freedom of expression of a group that publicly incites violence against Palestinians and Arabs, and calls for the expulsion of Palestinian citizens? No, not entirely.
  • Cakh was outlawed in 1994, following the massacre of 29 Palestinians in Hebron by one of its members, Baruch Goldstein.
  • n Umm AL Fahem, Marzel and his group were simply doing a job for the government with their attempt to demonise the Palestinian citizens as terrorists, this time taking the Islamic movement as their cause celebre, to 'legitimise' future government actions against them. In Umm Al Fahem, just as in Israel's operations in the West Bank and Gaza, where it has been escalating violence against the Palestinian communities in incremental doses, Tel Aviv is testing the ground in preparation for future, more aggressive operations to come.
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    Shiekh, Awatef. "Testing the water." The Middle East Jan. 2011: 22+. Student Edition. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. Summary: This article is talking about the racism that exists for the Palestinians living in Israel. It states that they are "discriminated against at every level." The government as well as the media are taking part in this visible discrimination. The freedom of Palestinians living in Israel is being limited by racist bills. Right-wing activists are publicly targeting Palestinians. An example of this is the group Umm Al Fahem.  Reflection:  We have heard about the seizing of Palestinian land, and the Israelis living in Palestine, but we do not often hear about the Palestinians living in Israel. According to this article, the treatment of Palestinians in Israel is horrible. There is open discrimination, not openly supported by the government, but definitely not stopped by it. In reality, the actions of the Palestinians towards the Israelis are not the only acts of violence. The Israelis act out as well, it is simply not brought to our attention as often.  Questions: 1) How will this affect the peace treaty negotiations? 2) How will this attitude of hatred affect the future generations? 3) Will the refugee negotiations be affected by this treatment? 4) How does this compare to how the Israelis living in Palestine are treated?
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