Group items tagged

I felt that this article was interesting leading up to the election. It explains the varying differences between Romney and Obama's policy regarding Latin America. Romey's policy plan that he has adopted seems to be very agressive and confrontational regarding Latin America. Reading this article made me heavily question Romney's plans. I do not always feel agression grants the best results. After the ongoing violence that has risen from the insuing war on drugs, this approach seems harsh. Although it does point out Obama's hands off approach (for lack of a better term), the article does outline Romey's opinions and strategies.

I'd sure like to hear more about other parts of the world in terms of the issues in the presidential and senatorial/congressional elections. I know that the Middle East is incredibly important, but in this increasingly interconnected global world other regions are vital as well, given the global scope of issues such as climate change and the global ocean, not to mention the issue of adjusting to working together across cultures as a general issue. But I'm always surprised that we don't think more "hemispherically" when we think about international relations in terms of public debates. Perhaps as the percentage of US citizens with Hispanic ancestry increases this might change? Perhaps it is related as well to the fact that Americans don't put as much effort into learning foreign languages as other countries do...perhaps if more of us were fluent in Spanish there might be more awareness of what is going on elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere? Maybe more foreign exchange programs as well as a consequence would help?

This article describes a recent update in the long standing battle with Chevron and the Ecuadorian State. Texaco, dumped a devastating amount of pollution into the Amazon basin between the 1960s and 1990s. The results of this pollution ranged from unheard of cancers among the local population and complete ruin of the natural resources that indigenous people relied on. Texaco/Chevron has fought against the accusations and have not apologized for their actions. There is a really good documentary available about this subject called Crude if anyone is interested.

This is a good article examining Latin America and its place within the foreign policy of the United States. Specifically it questions the reasons why Latin America did not come up in the final presidential debate on foreign policy.

This is a really good article. The United States often just doesn't seem to take Latin America seriously, and we have a somewhat tainted history of involvement in that area. This needs to change.

Rumors had circulated weeks ago that Fidel Castro was dead, in a coma, or on his deathbed. A letter with his signature was released to the public more recently. It certainly feels like a stunt to suggest Castro is well when he really isn't.

Venezuela will soon be holding Presidential elections. This is an interactive article which describes the two leading candidates, Henrique Capriles and Hugo Chavez (the incumbent), and their views on the important issues facing Venezuela.

This article shows the power of education to change the lives of kids living in favelas. In this case, music gives the children a way out of a life that would otherwise involve crime or some type of participation in the informal economy. This article reminds me of the successful afro reggae programs also started in favelas. I think the most important thing to take from this article is that the situation in favelas, although very difficult, is far from hopeless. I hope that the Brazilian government might someday sponsor programs such as this one instead of viewing favela communities as inevitably crime ridden and not worth helping

This article is an interesting update in Venezuelan politics. Chavez one another term with a decent majority proving that his socialist policies may be working for the majority of the population in Venezuela. His win could also be evidence of corruption in the government and election system. However I do not know enough about Venezuela to have any reason to believe that this is true. It will be interesting to see how the U.S. reacts to a continuing Chavez presidency.

Rosling is a global public health expert, and is passionate about how statistical data should inform our understanding of global regions, individual nations in comparison with each other, and he challenges the possibly erroneous conventional wisdom about differences between "first world" and "third world" nations in terms of social markers that exist. This item is also useful background for understanding the foundational aspects of any area of the globe, and it also points you to relevant data sources.

This animated data software is available at http://www.gapminder.org/ It could make a great format for your final project in lieu of a more conventional paper -- something to think about?

For those of you interested in ecological preservation.

another instance where contaminating the water with toxic waste is a culprit. It's rather remarkable that we've done so much intensive mining and agriculture and industrial animal raising (CAFOs) and somehow never stopped to worry too much about what happens when we pollute the water (groundwater, rivers, lakes, the ocean....) Just getting a grip on this kind of pollution would seem to me to go a long ways toward rectifying bad practices in a number of areas simultaneously.