On the internet today, there are over 200 mail-order bride agencies that focus on Russia and other soviet republics. The popularity of these sites have apparently increased over the years. According to one site, Russian women are viewed as beautiful, less materialistic, and more appreciative. Maybe that's why American men spend their dollars ordering a Russian Bride. However, these arrangements usually aren't "fairy tales". Some Russian women meet their future husband beforehand, while others only receive a photograph prior to the wedding. However, the price to pay for a better life, can sometimes turn deadly. Anastasia King, an 18 year old mail-order bride from the nation of Kyrgyzstan , married a man twice her age. The young girl's promising life in America was cut short when her husband murdered her. Such abuse and murder of mail-order brides has caused new laws to be proposed. Congress recently drafted a bill that would enable foreign women seeking American husbands to learn the criminal background of men seeking them from matchmaking agencies. Hopefully, more Russian brides-to-be, will be better protected. In my opinion, the general idea of mail-order brides is wrong. These women are vulnerable to abuse and violence. How sad are these men, to have to have a wife delivered to their doorstep? This isn't Fedex! What's your opinion on
MAIL-ORDER BRIDES?
This website is very interesting in talking about Russia's poor habits with Nuclear material. Russia has some of the most polluted areas in the world. A couple months back I read somewhere that Russia is talking about taking other country's nuclear waste for a certain fee. That is a very bad Idea in my opinion. Why would we give nuclear waste to the most careless countries in the world.
Russian Racism
Violent racism is a growing problem within Russia. In 2005 alone, 28 people were killed and 366 were assaulted. Two specific examples the article gave were that of a 20-year-old Vietnamese student who was stabbed to death by 18 gang members in St. Petersburg. Also, a nine-year-old Tajik girl was attacked along with her family and stabbed nine times in her chest, stomach, and arms. Needless to say, she died at the scene.
The worst part is, the Russian police force is hardly doing anything about it. They classify the actions of skinhead extremists and murderers as "hooliganism". Despite racist killings and violent attacks, the police continue to turn a blind eye. When Dmitri Krayukhin, head of an anti-racist organization "United Europe", receieved threats to "cut off your head", he was repeatedly denied protection from the authorities in Orel (western Russia).
Most victims of the attacks refuse to travel to St. Petersburg and demonstrations have not yet influenced the authorities for a needed change.
Not Cool
A Child in Russia
We all know that each country or region around the world lives a little bit differently than us in the United States. Since we are studying Russia now in College Geo, I decided to see what life was like for children in Russia. I found a really cool site that actually has a write-up from a Russian resident named Trevor. Trevor talks all about Russia from the clothes, food, and living conditions, all the way to his favorite things to do for free time. One thing that I found to be interesting was Trevor's favorite foods. One of them was in his mind a pastry, and it consisted of pastry bread with meat on the inside.-Yuck! One other thing that was neat was the fact that Trevor mentioned that in Russia they live and dress a lot like us in the United States. After reading Trevor's life in Russia summary, I would have to say there are some similarities. Go check out the site to find out how you would be living your life right now growing up as a kid in Russia.
Russian Life
Permafrost
While doing notes the other day, i was interested in Permafrost... closed minded i may be but i had never heard of Permafrost before.
Permafrost and PipelinesI found this website that is actually about pipelines but it has a section on permafrost problems. I saw that 2/3 of Alaska has a discontinues permafrost
Permafrost and RussiaThe second site i found has more of a relevence with Russia. In the chart in the middle of the page, you can see a comparison in temperature changes. The rest of the website is mostly about Alaska, i know, but it still has some good information on permafrost thawing.
Jury Reaches verdict for Moussaoui
Moussaoui, was one of the nine men involved in the deadliest terroist attack in U.S. history. After many days of deliberation, the judge reached a verdict. Moussaoui would not get the death penalty, but face life in prison becauase his description of being involved in the attacks was minor.
The jury did agree that Moussaoui “knowingly created a grave risk of death” and committed his acts with “substantial planning” (These were two of the factors necessary for the death sentence)
President Bush said that the "verdict represents the end of this case but not an end to the fight against terror.” And as Mousaoui was escorted out of the court room, he clapped his hands and said: “America, you lost. I won.”
Do you think that the judges made the right decision? And do you think that it was necessary for Moussaoui, to say what he said, knowing the tragedy he left behind on all U.S. citizens?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12615601?GT1=8199
Black Sea Plane Crash
An Armenian plane crashed sometime after 2:15 this morning (local time) when it disappeared from radar. 113 people were killed, among those at least six children and the airline's deputy general director, Vyacheslav Yaralov. Apparently the plane was attempting an emergency landing, although they didn't report an actual emergency. After circling Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, ground controllers told the crew they could still land. The flight was told to circle again, and that's when it crashed. 11 bodies have been pulled from the water and four miles from the scene empty life jackets have been found. The empty life jackets could signify that people didn't have enough time to put them on. Andrei Agadzhanov, Armavia's deputy commercial director, said that the stormy weather was "certainly" the cause because the crew of the flight was experienced.
Plane Crash
Lake Baikal
For the Russian people Lake Baikal is a natural treasure. Baikal is an immense and breathtaking area of physical beauty. Baikal holds 20% of the earth's fresh water and harbors more native species of plants and animals than any other lake in the world. For it's home to 50 species of fish and the world's only fresh water seal. Lake Baikal hosts 1085 species of plants and 1550 species of animals.
Baikal's volume, at 23,600 km3, is greater than any other fresh water lake. If you were to drain Lake Baikal, it would take the Great Lakes of the United States: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario to refill the empty basin. At 1,620 meters, nearly a mile deep, it is without doubt the world's deepest lake. Baikal is about 560,000 km2. Of the 336 rivers and streams flowing into Baikal, only one, the Angara, flows out from it. At different times, researchers have counted varying numbers of tributaries, up to 544 depending on the amount of precipitation during the year.
This 30 million-yr. old lake is so huge that locals call it sea. This "sea" is rapidly growing with the average rate of 2 cm (0.8 in) per year. Baikal is considered to be a future ocean; in several million years there’s expected that there will be a new great ocean all over Asia and Baikal is a starting point for this ocean. Baikal is one of the cleanest surface water reservoirs on earth and you can drink water right from the lake. The water is cleaned by the unique microorganisms, which cleans the 50 meters deep slice of water surface three times a year.
Lake Baikal
Russia’s environmental problems are mainly caused by the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union’s emphasis on industrial production and disregard for the environment has left Russia with numerous environmental problems. One of the major problems is air pollution. It is severe in some of Russia’s major cities including Moscow and St. Petersburg. Russia’s air quality standards are below U.S. and European, although, Russia’s standards are becoming stricter.
While taking notes today, we discussed a lot about how Russia’s climate affects many things such as agriculture and even human settlement. It says that many regions experience six months of snow cover over their soil, which causes it to permanently freeze (Permafrost). The average yearly temperature of nearly all of European Russia is below freezing. I know that I don’t like the cold very much, but I don’t understand how they can stand it.
Women and 'gendercide'
From the article:
“Worldwide, at least 113 million women are 'missing.'
One United Nations estimate says that between 113 million and 200 million women around the world are "missing." Every year, between 1.5 million and 3 million women and girls lose their lives as a result of gender-based violence or neglect. As the Economist, which reported on the policy paper, put it last November, "Every two to four years the world looks away from a victim count on the scale of Hitler's Holocaust." How could this possibly be true
New Cold War?
After accepting his Nobel Peace Prize for helping better relations between Moscow and Washington, Mikhail Gorbachev warns that another Cold War may be coming. In the past, relations have been good between the two, but according to Gorbachev, relations have taken a turn for the worse. Rumors have been spreading about the desire to start another Cold War, but in the business front, there is "nothing of the sort" going on.
New Cold War?
Aerial images aid in government planning
Some of the aerial images we are using for our GIS project are based on satellite images and some are geo-referenced aerial photos. The use of such images in websites such as Google Earth has raised some questions about privacy issues. This article talks about those questions and describes Stearns and Benton counties use of aerial photos in land management and county planning. Another example of GIS in the real world.
Reproductive Tourism
A new trend has grown out of outsourcing to India; surrogate motherhood.
Women in India are hiring themselves out as surrogate mothers for infertile couples in the US. They can earn between five and ten times the average annual income renting out their reproductive organs for nine months. Apparently an increasing number of couples are looking to India for the services because they are much cheaper there than in their home countries.
I have to say I find this outrageous.
russia urban devlopment
While browsing the internet I encountered a website that shows that some of Russia's historic landmarks were and are being destroyed for urban economy use and devlopment. This kind of story really surprises me because Russia is the biggest country and I would never think they would have to destroy land in spots of russia to make room for citizens to live. To read more visit my link.
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=0d5cb6f0f026c40f
Question for Mrs. Hartman
Mrs. Hartman,
For the final paper, could I do mine on women's rights in the Middle East. Maybe like show the differences depending on the religion in the area?
Chapter 8 Notes
Just a reminder that the Chapter 8 Notes are up to date for our test this coming Tuesday. Since I take notes on my laptop during class it's very easy for me to upload the Word document when I get home. If you want the Word version of the notes they are always available in the same spot on the blog (it's just the link that's updated), but if you need the notes you can get them here.
Notes
Spanish National Anthem
One item that was large in the news on Friday night was the release of a new version of the Star Spangled Banner that is written in Spanish so those who speak poor English are able to participate in singing our National Anthem. There is a lot of criticism to this idea because people believe that those from other countries need to learn our National Anthem. My opinion falls on this side as well. If someone from another country is coming to the United States they need to adjust partly to our way of life. It's okay to practice parts of their culture and share it with others, but we are not going to adapt our culture for others (i.e. writing our national anthem in a different language). Despite our largely diverse country, other countries are not going to re-write their national anthems just so everyone has a fair chance to sing it and we shouldn't either. The argument for having a Spanish version of our National Anthem so everyone has the chance to participate, especially if they don't speak English well is silly. If someone wants to come to our country from another this is one of our customs that they need to follow and that we don't make adoptions. I do believe that perhaps breaking down the National Anthem and translating parts in a "English as a second language class" to better understand the meaning of the song is okay because it's for learning purposes, but to make it a national item to make it easier for those who don't know our National Anthem is silly.
Electric Cars
Kare 11 did a segment about this guy who makes and sells cars that run on batteries. I thought it was pretty cool. The cars are only for city driving however. There top speed is 25 mph and they cause very very little pollution. I think it would be sweet if they could make a car like this that was able to be driven on the highway or anywhere with a speed limit over 35 mph. I believe these cars are the future but right now I don't see a city limit car being very benifical to anyone living in Sartell.
Electric cars
Annual European Precipitation
On my trip to England/Ireland, it didnt take me long to notice that it rained. A
LOT. It seemed that every day it was at least drizzling lightly, if not pouring. One of the people we talked to in Ireland said that Spain was a popular weekend/spring break vacation (or in his words, holiday) area because it isnt nearly as rainy. Out of curiousity, I looked up a precipitation map of Europe. Sure enough, it showed high areas of precipitation for the area. To my surprise though, areas north of Italy have quite a bit of annual precipitation as well. A link to the map is listed below:
http://www.gbvienna.com/mapprecipitation.htmOr if you want to see it in bright, neon, hard to read colors:
http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/GIS/img/eur_prcy.jpg
I felt that a domestic issue other than high gas prices should get some attention. Since I haven’t heard anything about the clean up efforts in the south after hurricane Katrina I decided to look into it. While the message seems to be a little mixed I feel that the clean up efforts should be receiving more attention, especially because the hurricane season will eventually start again. I think we should put more focus on our domestic issues, while it may seem selfish, they are continuing to grow in number and refuse to back down. Or we should focus our attention on global issues that are more important in life than gas like the lack of food and fresh water.
Here’s the link for the most recent Katrina article I could find.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/28/washington/28bush.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
At the national Mall a rally has been scheduled; a rally to speak of a place that his dealing out 180,000 killed and 3 million homeless people: Darfur. Celeberties, athletes, and other activists have gathered to bring relief to a place that can be correctly labeled as the black pit of pain in Africa. No where else in the world needs more help then this crumbling area in Sudan. Finally, someone has noticed. This rally was led be George Clooney himself. He went to Africa and was shocked. He understands that the U.S. government, the U.N., and NATO are all stretched monetarily. His solution is triple the news coverage in Darfur and to call not from great orginizations for help but from the average citizen and working man or woman.
Every March 8th, women in Russia are showered with chocolates, fresh flowers, and sweet compliments. However, many women are unsatisfied with their situation in the country. One interpreter said, "The Soviet authorities who invented this holiday were ready to concede that women should feel like women, but wanted to make sure it would only be for one day." Not ony that, but a survey given to Russian residents, asking what function women have, discovered: 48 percent answered "mother," 17 percent "wife," and 11 percent "housekeeper." More unconventional roles like, "politician" were almost nonexistent (1%).
With that said, many women have their own view on the holiday. Some feel it's just a relaxing day, filled with home made cards from kids and perfume bottles from husbands. However, others feel it's just an excuse for a day off. As one woman put it, "The main thing we need right now is not another hypocritical Women's Day holiday, but some open social discussion of our problems. That's got to come."
*Read these interesting
ARTICLES1. This one has opinions of women on the holiday.
WOMEN"S OPINIONS
