Group items tagged

Video on infrastructure repair--worst flood in a century

High interest rates, inflation, and a lack of confidence in the recovery from the pandemic's economic destruction mean that Brazil could enter another recession (there was one during the pandemic of course).

This is scary

What is normally a routine storm for Louisianans has become a massive crisis due to climate change.

Once again, partitioning land between Hindus and Muslims does not go well for all. An Indian court decided that a 2.7-acre piece of land in the town of Adhoya would be shared between Hindus and Muslims (the Hindus were given a larger part). The debate over this piece of land had triggered "the worst sectarian violence in India since the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947". Another reminder of religious tensions in the Indo-Pakistani area.

Oh, for reference, 2.7 acres is approximately 117,612 square feet or 0.0042 square miles.

I think its interesting that piracy is increasing throughout the world. Personally, I feel that its good that other countries are working to counter this threat.

I found it interesting that American-made American flags are lower quality than those made in China. It struck me as very similar to the situation faced by the speaker who came to talk to us about her bag business: how she had to outsource because she couldn't find a quality producer in the U.S. Something that bothered me is that many of the flags are synthetic; if the government is going to hand our hundreds of free flags that might just get thrown away, it seems as though it would be better to at least make them out of renewable materials like wood and cotton. However, I suppose that may be more expensive... Also, I visited the Jinteng factory website because I was curious if they specialized in a certain type of flag or not. It turns out that they make all different types of flags depending on the order, just as the jeans we saw in China Blue varied order by order. I suspect that although some workers feel frustrated making other countries' flags, their catalog indicates that they make flags for many countries, not just one, so any anger would perhaps be less likely to be directed toward a specific country due to constantly producing their flag.

I thought that it is sad (and ironic) that, as Matthew said, our symbols of freedom and patriotism are being paid for with people's rights (in China). I had never considered how 9/11 would have caused a drastic increase in demand for American flags, and though it shouldn't have, it surprised me that the low price of American flags from retailers such as Wal-Mart does not cover the production costs of the flags. Like Larkin, I found the juxtaposition of the symbols of the flag and where it is actually made notable. I also had the same question as Alison about whether any flags are actually made in the United States. I thought that Matthew did a nice job pointing out the odd juxtaposition and talking about the production cycle of the flag.

Provides information on several countries with worst water access: Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Chad, Cambodia, Laos, Haiti, Ghana, India, Rwanda, and Bangladesh and identifies correlating health problems in each country

I think that is important to look at news from all over the world, and we have not been looking at latin america hardly at all in class. This article provides a snippet of what is going on in Brazil with corruption, and the article also gives a peek into the world of oil outside of the middle east.

To understand the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and why they are doing what theyre doing, it is extremely important to understand their background as it explains their motivation. This source explains the backround of ISIS in great detail- from their roots in Al Qaeda to the Paris shootings. Long, but well interesting and well organized.

India was struck with one of the worst monsoon storms in years, resulting in floods destroying over 20 000 homes. Combined Nepal and Bangladesh there have been 1 200 deaths during this year's season.

Russians head to the polls in what is expected to be an easy victory for the ruling United Russia Party. The power of the opposition parties has been significantly reduced thanks to crackdowns on political dissent by Putin and his government. It is interesting to watch Russia fall into authoritarianism while many lesser developed countries are moving towards democracy.

I wonder what it will take for Eastern European "democracies" to hold relatively fair elections (thinking of Belarus here as an example). Based on the corruption detailed in the article, it seems that dictator presidents kind of filled the vacuum left by the fall of the USSR and people haven't been able to break their iron hold since.

Yes, lots of corruption. Yet the 2004-05 orange revolution in Ukraine led to a time of high participation democracy. It's a mixed bag of mostly corrupt regimes, some more so than others, Russia the worst.

Amid the nation's worst Covid-19 outbreak, patients are trapped in remote communities and doctors are prioritizing treatment based on who is most likely to survive.

It amazed and disgusted me that the people defying the vaccine and the mask mandates in Alaska have been protesting by wearing the Star of David; likening their situation to the holocaust.

Stories like this are a reminder that Covid is still very much an emergency situation. As a vaccinated person in a community with low hospitalization rates, it can be easy to feel distant from the issue at hand.

Why do bonds suffer when interest rates rise? Is it still a good idea for the Federal Reserve Bank to raise interest rates? Why or why not? Good for who? These are all examples of questions that revolve around political economy.

With COP 27 about to begin hopes are not high among politicians and those in finance/business that anything will be accomplished. Given the war in Ukraine and other crises across the world, countries have found it hard to meet their agreed goals. Additionally, with countries struggling to move away from fossil fuels and coal during this time, it is possible rollbacks will be agreed on.

We are seeing more and more big businesses try to channel money into curbing climate change (or so we think). Country relations are at one of the worst levels in recent history so it will be interesting seeing countries put these disputes aside for COP 27.