Cory Lidle, the New York Yankee's pitcher was killed wednesday October 11th when he crashed into an apartment building in NYC. His flight instructor was also in the plane with him. The plane hit the 39th and 40th floors of the high-rise and then crashed to the streetand, setting fire to the building. It took 45 minutes to control the fire. A witness said that it looked like the plane just flew into someone's living room. There were two people in one of the rooms when the plane crashed. Miraculously, no one in the building was killed or injured. However eleven firefighters were injured as well as 5 civilians.
There had been a distress call, before the plane had crashed, that the plane was having fuel problems. When they reached the 59th Street Bridge, radar lost contact with them. Thats when the plane was probably starting to descend. The National Transportation Safety Board still has yet to figure out how the plane ended up on 72nd Street because they have no idea.
Supposedly Lidle is the second Yankee to die in a plane he owned. Catcher Thurman Munson was also an unlucky one to have this happen to him. Lidle was on the last year of his contract and had just recently had the money he needed to go out and buy the plane.
I can't even imagine what his team mates as well as family is going through. It was such an unfortunate event that led to Lidle's death.
And for the people who had the plane come through their room, that must have been the strangest thing.. At first the crash had a lot of people thinking it was another terrorist attack but it was a accidental crash that led to the death of a respected Yankee pitcher.
What we did in class on Friday October 13.
Basically all we did in class today was GIS. We spent the whole time in the lab and finished our GIS. If we havent finished the paper, we need to do a paper on a country of our choice in Central America, and write a paper on the volcanic/landslide activities. The papers are due monday and that is basically all that we did in class today.
'Monster' Fossil Find in Arctic
This arcticle is interesting because of two certain discoveries found on the Arctic island chain of Svalbard. These fossils are said to be around 150 million years old. The piece said the two different finds belong to two groups of extinct marine reptiles. One, as some of us have heard as an old wives tale, was nicknamed The Monster because of its giant size. It was never really believed to be true from all the stories telling of sights where they have seen this snake like animal in the waters of lakes and oceans. Palaeontologist's have widely known uncovered numerous groups of ancient fossils, and most of them didnt contain the full skeletal structure that it once was. But these were found with all of the bones, which was the first time in history.
I have read many stories of people from all over the world who have sighted The Monster, or of something with a long kneck and a take sticking out of the water. Now that I know that the fossils were found, these stories may not be as bogus as they sounded. The other mythical creature was nicknamed the Loch Ness monster, which came in two varieties, one with a long kneck and small head, and the other with a larger head and a short neck. It's always remarkable to discover something new, something that NO ONE else in the entire world has ever laid eyes on except for ones self . I couldn't imagine the rush of feelings during the experience.
After reading this article, its amazing to actually think deeply about how the world has majorly developed over a long period of time. Dinosaurs, apes, cave men and so on. One of the skeletons that was discovered was said to have been in some kind of fight with another animal. It had a very large tooth that was in the area of the vertebra. What an outstanding discovery. And it makes me really wonder about what else there might be out there in the deep seas of the ocean or under the earth that hasnt been found or touched in millions of years.
Russia...surpressing rights?
If anyone recalls, last week a journalist was murdered in Russia. Anna Politkovskaya was a journalist who worked to reveal human rights violations that occured in Chechyna, a part of Russia.
Another strike occured today against the rights of Russian citizens. A high court shut down the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, a group that seeked to expose violations of human rights in Chechyna just as Anna Politkovskaya did. This group exposed, published, and campaigned against acts of terror by the government such as torture, abductions, and killing which are occuring in Chechyna.
At first one may ask, what gives the government the power to stiffle these basic rights? This ruling is the result of news abilities approved by President Putin, which allow the targeting of non-governmental organizations. The Friendship Society was shut down for some far-fetched reasons; many claim that it is because the group is against the state's interest.
This article renewed my thankfulness that I live in the United States, where citizens are presented with all basic human rights. It is realized that every country has one or two descrepincies, however, those of the United States seem extremely minute when compared to the violations occuring in Russia.
article
Did you know that Australia is the only country that is also a continent? How about this, did you know that the Atlantic ocean is Salter than the Pacific ocean? I surely didn't. I don't know about anyone else but sometimes I sure get sick of hearing about boring facts that really mean nothing to me. So I went on a search for cool website that could maybe make geography more fun and interesting. I think that you should check out this website. It might keep you from falling into deep dark boredom. Don’t forget that the international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672.
New species found in Andean range
A multicolored bird with reddish-brown and black eyes has been discovered as a new species in a Colombian cloud forest accessible only by helicopter, scientists say. The "fist-sized yellow" and black Yariguies Brush-Finch, "topped with an orange plume" as found by a Colombian-English ProAves Foundation team high on the country's eastern Andean range in Santander province. The bird was named after an indian tribe that once lived in the natural preserve where it was found. Colombia, one of the most "ecologically diverse" countries in the world, has about 1,800 species of bird. "The description of a new bird is a rare event," said expedition member Blanca Huertas of The Natural History Museum in London. "However, this is just the first of several new species that we will be describing from the Yariguies mountains, including several new butterflies."
OPEC
If OPEC follows through on the talk that it will cut oil production by a million barrels a day, it will send a clear signal that the cartel feels the world can handle $60 oil, but it could also "undermine" prices in the long run, the energy experts said, by encouraging more conservation and investment in alternative energy. The news of the planned cuts, last week, sent prices rising up above 60 dollars a barrel. But prices have gone down since then to around 58 dollars a barrel as OPEC ministers talk over exactly which nations should cut how much, and when they will do it. But most analysts believe a cut is coming soon, and Qatar's oil minister told Reuters Wednesday that "there is no objection" and "that it could happen within the next two or three days."
New UN Secretary General Elected
Today, Friday the 13th, the general assembly of the United Nations formally elected, unanimously, the next secretary general. Mr Annan, the current secretary general, will step down on December 31, 2006, when his second 5 year term ends. The newly elected secretary general is a man named Mr. Ban Ki-moon, from South Korea, who will start his term on January 1st, 2007, is the first Asian to be secretary general for the United Nations since Thant from Burma, whose term ended in 1971.
I think Mr Ki-moon will be a good change for the UN. Mr Annan was a good man, but in the past ten years, the United Nations has not been very influential or effective. Sanctions and resolutions made by the group are not followed as widely as they once were. A change in leadership creates a chance to solve this growing problem.
Mr Ki-moon recognizing the world's need for a strong United Nations; "'The UN is needed now more than ever before,' Mr Ki-moon said" (BBC news).
Mr Ki-moon outlined priorities that he has for his term, and I think he touches very important issues. He included poverty, HIV/AIDS, human rights, reforms, and combating terrorism in his list of priorities.
Two of these priorities will conincide with the US' foreign policy especially well. Combating terrorism is one key area. A secretary general who supports the United States' war on terrorism will benefit our cause immensely. Also, reforms within the UN are very, very necessary. In order to get the UN back on its feet and influential again, a reform of the corrupt UN is needed.
Overall, I believe that a change in the leadership of the UN, especially with Mr Ki-moon, will be very helpful for the global community.
read the article here
North Korea Nuclear Tension
This article on CNN.com was really interesting, it talked a lot about how Bush calls North Korea a "threat to national peace" after the reported Nuclear tests. It also talks about pledges on cooperation for missile defense with U.S. allies. Here were some of the highlights in the story.
On Wednesday, President Bush said North Korea's claims of a nuclear test establish Pyongyang as a "threat to international peace," and he pledged to defend America's allies and interests in the region. "North Korea has once again chosen to reject the prospect for a better future. Instead it has opted to raise tensions in the region," President Bush said. "The United States reserves all options to defend our friends," he said while reiterating that Washington plans no military response to the current crisis. Bush urged North Korea to return to talks with China, Russia, South Korea and Japan aimed at defusing nuclear tensions. The Bush administration has made clear it will not negotiate one-on-one as Pyongyang wishes. "To solve this diplomatically requires more than just America's voice," President Bush said. As he spoke, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said President Hu Jintao is dispatching a special envoy to the United States and Russia to discuss the North Korea crisis.
New York Snow Storm
On October 13 in buffalo, New York there was a snow storm that produced at least 2 feet of snow. The airport had to be shut down so that they could remove 14 inches of snow from the runways. Many trees and telephone poles toppled to the ground under the pressure of the heavy snow fall.
At least 3 people’s deaths were blamed on the snow storm. Two people were killed in traffic accidents. Another person was killed while shoveling snow, a tree limb fell on them. Much of the town’s power was out due to the powers lines being down. So many supplies had to be brought in by snow mobiles.
I think that this early snow storm was due to global warming because the wind patterns and weather have all been affected. New York also has many polluting thing and the air quality is very poor. I think that in order to stop global warming we need to recycle and use fewer pollutants such as oil in our cars.
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Iraqis 'fleeing rising violence'
Why is there still so much civilian violence when so many people are fleeing from Iraq? Earlier this week the Baghdad government estimated that about 300,000 people had been internally displaced since February but where are they going? They are living in Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, the Gulf States and Europe.
Some of them have left their homes but have not left Iraq. "The estimate now is something around 50,000 people per month are joining the growing numbers of internally displaced inside Iraq," Mr. Redmond said. I think the reason for the high number of people still in Iraq is because they don’t know where to go. The have seen so many horrible things but where can they go they don’t know who can help them or who will try to hurt them.
I hope that we can help these innocent people find homes and jobs but most importantly to keep them safe. How would we feel if we had to leave our homes for our safety but didn’t know where to go? Mexico and Canada can only take in so many so what would we do. The people of Iraq have done nothing wrong so we should not let them suffer but offer our helping hand and end the war on terrorism.
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Two Adults and Two Children Shot Dead on a Florida Turnpike
Early this morning, Two adult and two child bodies were found on the side of Florida's Turnpike near Port St. Lucie. It is not yet known if the people were a family, but the woman had the two children in a protective position under her arms. Police say that this was "deffinately not a murder-suicide." The victims' names have not been released, however, the man was 29, the woman was 25 with a Florida ID, and the two children appeared to be 4 to 6 years old. No tire marks have been found, and authorities have no clue who could be behind these random murdurs.
I find this article very scary. It is uncomforting to know that you are no longer safe driving down the road. It is ironic that only 40 or so years ago, it was relatively safe to hitchhike nearly all of the way across the country, and now getting a ride one block home from school with some stranger is probably the worst thing someone could do. I can't believe what this world has come to, when I hear about all of these random highway shootings/murders. It sickens me that some people are unstable enough to even consider doing something like this. One thing that could have influenced the shootings was that the victivms appeared to be Hispanic, however, no matter anyones race, I cannot believe that someone would have this much hatred. Nearly all of the people that are involved with the case are very emotionally dumbfounded right now. Everyone that viewed the scene of the crime said that it was one of the most gruesome things they had ever seen. I am completely baffled by this story. It seems like something you would read in a horror story, and it definately is not something I thought a human being was capable of.
To read the full story visit:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/13/florida.bodies/index.html
Troops Storm Prison Run By Inmates
I stumbled upon an article that was very interesting to me. It all took place in Fraijanes, Guatemala. Security forces took over Pavon, a Guatemalan prison controlled for more than 10 years by inmates. These inmates produced drugs such as cocaine and liquor. They lived in spacious homes with luxury goods and even rented space for stores and restaurants. Luis Alfonso Zepeda, a convicted murderer was elected by prisoners to control the prison. Zepeda earned around $25,000 a month from extortion and drug trafficking run from inside the prison.
Pavon, southeast of the capital, was originally built for 800 inmates as a farm prison, where prisoners could grow their own food. Its population grew over time and inmates began to construct their own homes on the grounds. After running Pavon for 10 years, most inmates were living a comfortable lifestyle, a Colombian drug trafficker had a Jacuzzi and another house had a king- sized bed that was protected by guard dogs.
After security forces took control of Pavon, they began transferring it 1,600 inhabitants to different prisons. This story is so strange. How could this have happened for such a long period of time? It just goes to show that Guatemala has very little security and control in its nation. I just hope now that they can learn from their mistakes and improve the standards of prison security.
Troops Storm Prison
The Worlds economy is going to go through a dramatic change in the next 20 years. China and India are going to become to become the worlds super powers. There growing economy and there expanding trade market is going to take the world my storm. Of course there are some bead affects from this, In which the worlds economy is going to do through some growing pains.
The United States are no longer going to be the worlds super power.
Nobel piece prize awarded to Banker
Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work in advancing economic and social opportunities for the poor, particularly women. Yunus was cited for his efforts to support the growth of his countries economic and social developments by using innovative styled of banking. The microlending system allows thousands of Bangladesh people most of them women to borrow small amounts of money to start there own businesses. The people use the small amounts of cash to by cows for dairy, or chickens for eggs, also the money goes for cell phones which really helps promote business due to the lack of land lines in that area. A micro loan consists of only $50-$100 U.S. way to small of an amount for traditional banking to give out but this little bit is all the opportunity these resourceful people need!
I thought that this article was very interesting, and related to what we have been talking about in class. This article talks about the how Cholera, a bacteria associated from human feces, is spreading in Latin America. This bacteria is a wake up call for much of Latin America to better the water there. Thousands of millions of people are dieing, but they can do much because there's no money to improve the sanitation. This disease is spreading,and though out many countries including Peru and many others. These countries are in such high poverty that there is no other place to put their waste ,other than letting it sit there. Instead people are dumping human waste into the seas and rivers, which is causing these diseases, and killing many people.
This disease Cholera is a bacteria that is from human waste or feces. It can kill with in a day with no medicine, or can be treated but only with top of the line drugs.(probably only found in top of the line hospitals.) Already in Peru, 1,140 people have died, and if they do nothing about Cholera the disease could sicken up to 3 millions Brazilian people. It was interesting to learn some of the statistics for this bacteria, which states that 40% of Lima's 7 million people don't have access to piped water. 40% of Brazillians 150 million people don't have access to sewers. Washing hands and boiling water are easy ways to prevent you from getting this disease, but to some people a stove is not always available.
Cholera traditionally was found in Europe and was a disease 2nd or 3rd class people used to get because of the polluted water they had to drink. This Cholera started a large scare in mostly Paris and London, causing people to buy all bottled water. But people were still getting sick because you would never think that the water you wash your hands in, or the water you use to brush your teeth could affect you so much. But with all the new advancements this bacteria has slowly decrease, and today there is very little threat.
I thought that this article brought up an excellent point that the sanitation in many countries need to improved. I also thought that the all the facts about the poverty in Peru and other countries was incredible, I never new how many people didn't have the simple things like a toilet for example.
U.S. and Guatemala Debt-For-Nature Swap
This week, the United States forgave about 20 percent of nearly 108 million dollars owed by the Guatemalan government. In return, Guatemala will put 24.4 million dollars into the protection of the country’s species-rich tropical and subtropical ecosystems. This is the largest of ten similar deals that the United States has taken part in under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998. Officials are hoping that this agreement will help Guatemala’s wild lands, which have been battered by loggers, hunters, farmers, developers and more.
Some of the targeted areas for this project include the coastal mangrove swamps, high-altitude cloud forests, and the country’s rainforests. One specific area is the Maya Biosphere Reserve. This area contains one tenth of the country’s land area, and is home to the jaguar. Another zone to be funded is the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve. This reserve is home to hundreds of different animal species, including the manatee and quetzal bird. Another local focal point is the Sierra Madre Volcanic Chain, a string of 37 volcanoes surrounded by broad-leaf cloud forest, pine-oak, and tropical pine forests. And the other high conservation priority is the Cuchumatanes mountain region. This area is home to 60 species of flora, 19 species of birds, and several amphibious species that are found nowhere else in the world.
With the approximate 24.4 million U.S. dollars, the Guatemalan government will put money into an account to fund conservation proposals by non-profit groups and academic organizations for 15 years. On a global level, this is the largest debt-for-nature swap to be recorded. However, the United States has made similar deals with Bangladesh, Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and the Philippines. And all together, the projected amount of money to be converted in to the protection of tropical forests is estimated to be around 125 million dollars. However, to qualify for this swap, a country needs to be democratically governed, cannot be claimed to support terrorism, must back the U.S. anti-drug efforts, as well as mean several other specifications of the U.S.
And although there are some opposes to a swap like this, I feel that for the most part, this is a great idea. But I think that the countries must make a strong effort to use this money properly. However, because there will be an oversight committee which will administer the program, I know that there will be a push to save the nature in Guatemala, as well as other countries.
U.S. Forgives Multimillion Dollar Debt
Wednesday's activities...
Oops. It has suddenly come to my attention that I was to post on the class activities yesterday. So, I guess better than never, right? What I remember goes as follows. First and foremost we turned in our political maps of Latin America. We then finished the movie on Mexico and its economy, then were given time to discuss the worksheet in small groups. When that was completed we took more notes. From what I can remember, they included: “Geopolitical Framework – Redrawing the map”, which went into Organization of American States (OAS), Mercosur, and LAFTA. We also went into “Iberian Conquest and Territorial Division” which was basically how the Portuguese and Spanish fought over Latin America, and how Latin America fought back. Two words that were defined:
Supranational organizations – governing bodies that include several states (trade blocks).
Subnational organizations – groups that represent areas or people within the state (native groups seeking territorial recognition). We were going to begin on the drug cartels, but were cut short by the bell. Again, sorry for being a day off.
Has anyone wondered why we do these blogs? (Other than because Mrs. Hartman says we have to for points). What is the purpose? I'm sure I'm not the only one who has questioned it, but something I heard on the news the other night caused me to think more about blogs in general.
I think that we are required to do these blogs so that we can stay informed about issues in our world. By reading other people's blogs, we can see a general summary instead of reading an entire article, and then if we are interested we are able to pursue the topic in more detail. It also makes us aware of other people's opinions and the differences in ways certain people react to these situations. Another use for the blogs is to link topics we are learning about in class to actual events in real life. Because Geography is constantly moving and changing, it would be difficult to just read about it in a textbook, so blogging lets us connect that to our lives outside of school.
Before this class, however, how many people knew about or used blogs? I know I never really considered them for reliable information because I thought they were just opinions. After hearing this special on the news I thought twice. Although they are still not extremely popular, some people are deeply interested in many different blogs and what they have to say. How about you? Have you ever used blogs and/or do you think you will use blogs in the future because of the information learned in this class?
Has anyone wondered why we do these blogs? (Other than because Mrs. Hartman says we have to for points). What is the purpose? I'm sure I'm not the only one who has questioned it, but something I heard on the news the other night caused me to think more about blogs in general.
I think that we are required to do these blogs so that we can stay informed about issues in our world. By reading other people's blogs, we can see a general summary instead of reading an entire article, and then if we are interested we are able to pursue the topic in more detail. It also makes us aware of other people's opinions and the differences in ways certain people react to these situations. Another use for the blogs is to link topics we are learning about in class to actual events in real life. Because Geography is constantly moving and changing, it would be difficult to just read about it in a textbook, so blogging lets us connect that to our lives outside of school.
Before this class, however, how many people knew about or used blogs? I know I never really considered them for reliable information because I thought they were just opinions. After hearing this special (
Our'>http://wcco.com/goodquestion/local_story_283174622.html">Our World on the news I thought twice. Although they are still not extremely popular, some people are deeply interested in many different blogs and what they have to say. How about you? Have you ever used blogs and/or do you think you will use blogs in the future because of the information learned in this class?
Hurricane study
Recent studies have shown that dust storms swirling out of the Sahara desert may lead to less tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic ocean. These studies have been led by Amato T. Evan from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and all though they are not said to be completely true, they have found that years with more African dust have led to less tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic. The researchers have used satellite images to help track the amount of dust blown across and compare it to the number of storms. Other studies have shown that there is a relationship between warming sea surface temperatures and the number of severity of tropical storms. With common sense, some researchers have linked more rainfall in Africa land more tropical storms.
Study: Dust may quell hurricanes
British Army Chief Richard Dannat, called for the removal of British forces in Iraq, claiming that their presence in Iraq is causing loss of securtiy at home. He also mentioned that he did not think that processes in Iraq are going the way that they should be. Dannat said that the post invasion planning was not adequate, and "based more on optimism than sound planning." However on the contrary, British Prime Minister is one of George Bush's closest ally on the topic. The article goes on to say that the plan to establish a democracy in Iraq was "ill prepared" and seems to be uraveling.
To me, the failure to put a substantial, fair government (democracy or not) in Iraq, would be one of the biggest dissasters ever. I think that if a stable country is made out of Iraq, then the lives lost and money spent will be worth it. However, if things fall apart now, and a makeshift government is left in place, then all of the people that gave their lives for the cause was a complete waste. It would be wrong to give up now, when so many people have given up so many things to make the mission a success. I can see the position of the people that disagree with the war, however, wether we should be in the war or not, should not be a debate right now. The war effort needs full support from everyone in order to get business done, and done right. The controversy over the criteria needed to go to war should be dealt with after this war is over, because we are too far into it to turn back now. So, I think that instead of hearing everyone complain about why we shouldn't have done this or should have done that, I think we should all show our support now and worry about these arguments after the job is finished.
RARRRRRG! DON'T JUST POST AT RANDOM!
It's quite irritating that no one is actually carrying on a conversation, they're just posting opinions without any reply to what others think. What's further irritating is when people just say generic things like "I find this apalling," or "This is terrible". What's the worst is people just saying "Oh, well this is a great example of how INSERT COLLEGE GEO TOPIC HERE is affecting our world." I hate you, generic, robotic posters.
Jobless man asks judge for jail time
What is the world coming to? A man with no job and really no other way to make a living or any money at all robs a bank because he wants to go to jail. On Thursday, October 12, 2006, a man in Columbia, Ohio robbed a random bank.
Timothy J. Bowers was in search of around a three year sentence in jail. He walked into the bank with all the wrong intentions and asked the person working behind the front desk to hand him all the money in the cash register. The man handed him a few twenties and then quickly pressed a silent alarm.
Right when the security guard came to the crime scene, Mr. Bowers handed him the money. Quoted from Mr. Bowers, "I want you to become a hero today, take the money." The security guard obviously called the police and was confused and relieved at the same time. When the cops came they had brought the man to the court room.
As the judge started sentencing the 63 year old mad, the man told the whole story. He said "At my age, the jobs available to me are all minimum wage. There is age discrimination out there." He asked for about a three year sentencing, just enough time to get some social security for himself. The judge Angela White replied by saying "It's unfortunate that you feel this is the only way you can deal with the situation."
He pleaded guilty with robbery and was tested for pyschological exams to see if he was mentally stable. They found him competent. Some prosecutors argued about charging him with taxpayer's expense but were scared that he would do something even more reckless to be put behind bars.
I think this story is both comical but also incredibly sad and unfortunate. I don't think I know realize how well many of us have it pretty easy. I couldn't even imagine even thinking about that for a solution. I think this man is mentally unstable somehow and can't have everything clicking right. The situation is sad and should be an eye opener to the lifestyle many people in our nation are living everyday.
If you want additional information or would like to follow up with this story, check it out:
Jobless man
In Uniontown, PA a youth basketball coach offered one of his players twenty-five dollars to throw a ball and injure another teammate during warmups. The player Keith Reese Jr. threw two balls at the autistic boy, one in the growing, and one to the ear. The coach intended on the boy being to hurt to play during the playoff game; he didn't want him to play because he didn't play as-well-as the other players. A judge sentenced 29 yr old Mark R. Downs Jr. to one to six years for his actions, and that he cannot coach any sports teams while on parole.
Personally I don't think the guy will ever get a job coaching anything again in his life. What kind of person pays a young kid to intentionally hurt an handicapped kid so they can't play in a game, in fear of losing. What about the high school basketball manager who was put into a game in the last five minutes, he was autistic and he scored about 7 three point shots in four minutes. He ended up winning the ESPY for greatest sports moment over Kobe Bryant's 80 some point game. In my opinion this coach should never be allowed to attend any sporting event for the rest of his life. I hope he has a bad time in jail, and he should be ashamed of himself
As we all know N. Korea has claimed to be testing nuclear weapons of mass destruction. They claim to have tested two smaller nuclear bombs. They crashed on bomb in the China Sea near Japan after a "small" problem. China and Japan both felt threatened along with the USA. United States set a very tough sanctions on N. Korea. N. Korea then threatened to test a hydrogen bomb which would be much larger of an explosion than another bomb they have tested yet.
In response to the sanctions set on N. Korea their government and
N. Korean leader Kin Yong Nam stated, "Sanctions are nonsense. If full-scale sanctions take place, we will regard it as a declaration of war,"..."The more they press us, the stronger our response will be."
North Korean official also warned that the sanctions would be considered and act of war.
In response to the declaration of war, south Korea checked its readiness of nuclear war. Followed soon after by a shake felt across Asia as reports of a second nuclear test being performed by N. Korea.
This story is still developing every day, check yahoo.com and search North Korea under news for the most recent update. What concerns me about the test and the declaration of possible war is that America isn't out of reach or touch. Now would be a great time to be testing our missile systems and our readiness of our troops protecting the homeland. If a nuclear bomb were to hit in America it would be unimaginably horrific. What has caused North Korea to get so defensive towards Japan, China and USA? Should we maybe not step in as a country and let N. Korea do their own harmless testing on their own grounds? We did? Why can't they?
Gunman kill 9 at Sunni TV station in Baghdad
Attacks, bombing, and torture. They are all becoming way to routine in Baghdad and all over Iraq. Yet today, there was the single most deadly attack on news and media since the Iraq quarrel had begun three years ago. In Baghdad there was an attack on the Sunni TV station which killed nine people. The working state of a TV anchor, reporter, and journalists has just gotten to the stage where it is unusually one of the most dangerous occupations there is.
That's not all though. Today, Thursday October 12th, 2006, there was also another attack. Two bombs were launched toward the area of a commercial area in central Baghdad. It ended up injuring 10 people and killing five. In that same area, also on Thursday, a suicide bomber biked through with bombs attached to his chest and unfortunately ended up killing 3 people and injuring and wounding 15.
The US and Iraqi forces have put in a strong effort to become better and stop with the constant fighting. In October the numbers of deaths are supposed to go up 20% due to Holy Month of Ramadan. In fact, over 400 bodies alone have been found this month; some appeared to be tortured, have hundreds of gunshots throughout their body, and others slaughtered. As a result of the war around 655,000 Iraqi people have died. Not only has this war affected Iraqi's but also the U.S. soldiers. Alone in October there has been 39 deaths and all together 2746 deaths.
Personally, I don't think we should have gotten ourselves into any situation with Iraq. We went in search for Suddam Hussein and were helping to free Iraq. Now that we have accomplished the task of capturing Suddam I think that it has carried on to long. Iraq is in a civil war with them selves and they kill each other based on religion, beliefs, and many other reasons. I think now that we got ourselves into it, we should still stay and help defend their country. Personally, I think it would be irresponsible and immature to abandon them now, when they need it the most.
False Alarm
I found an interesting story whilst I was browsing CNN.com. Apparently, a small passenger plane, flown by Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, crashed into a condominium complex in Manhattan. Both Lidle and his flight instructor were killed during impact, and several others were injured. Witnesses claim to have seen the plane flying sporadically before colliding with the skyscraper and falling to the ground. The story, although tragic, wouldn’t seem to cause a huge fuss. People however, starting thinking about 9-11 and thought of this as another terrorist act. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) sent fighter jets to monitor major US cities as a precaution, which is the exact same thing that happened after the 9-11 attacks. After the crash was deemed certain not to have been a terrorist attack, the fighters were called back.
Even though the incident turned out to be nothing more than a tragic accident, it shows how much terrorism, like 9-11, still affects people today. After the indicial crash took place, citizens of Manhattan didn’t know anything more than what was shown on TV, which was just word that a plane had crashed into a building. It would have been impossible for the citizens of Manhattan not to think of 9-11 after what has happened. With word spreading quickly via the use of phones and communication technology, many people became frightened of the possibility that this incident could have been a terrorist attack. Terrorism still strikes fear into people, even though America hasn’t had a major attack since 9-11. It still remains a very real possibility that an attack could still happen.
Full Story Here…if you feel so inclined to read
Illegal Immigrants are Becoming Desperate..
Illegal immigrants are becoming increasingly desperate for a chance to come into the United States. According to
an article on cnn.com it was reported that illegal immigrants were trying to enter the US by nothing other then STORM DRAINS. Security cameras caught these illegals in action and police were waiting for them on the other side of the drain. The police caught the first two but the others were still in the drain, one illegal was so "immersed" in the drain that the San Diego fire department had to pay the drain a little visit and jackhammer the illegal out. Also one illegal came out of the drain with minor injuries and had to be brought to the hospital. When San Diego Policewomen Maria Munoz was asked if these mexicans were illegal aliens she was quoted saying, "If they had any papers they wouldn't have been coming in through a drain."
My first reaction to this article was to laugh and wonder why through a drain? But the more I ponder this, my view on this is changing. Why are these people so desperate to come to America? Why would they want to work for less then minimum wage and live in poverty, just in hopes of having a good life? I believe that these Mexicans are so desperate because of many of the points that were brought up in that movie we watched two days ago about the Mexican economy. Sadly they are in somewhat of a depression and many of the workers don't even get more then a few dollars a day, not a fun way to live. Although Mexicans are obviously desperate, I still have to ask myself.. storm drains?
New Columbian Bird Species
Considering that in class, we discussed how diverse South American tropical forests are, I found this article quite interesting. Recently, a multicolored bird was discovered high atop the Columbia’s eastern Andean range in the Santander province. This species lives in a Columbian cloud forest, which is only accessible by helicopter. A Columbian-English ProAves Foundation team is responsible for the discovery of this new species. The bird was named the Yariguies Brush-Finch. This fist sized bird is red-crowned with a black back and a yellow underside. The name of this bird came from the Indian tribe that once lived on the natural reserve where it was found.
Columbia is one of the most ecological diverse regions in the world. And the area has around 1,800 know bird species. Blanca Huertas, an expedition member of The Natural History Museum in London said, “ The description of a new bird is a rare event; however, this is just the first of several new species that we will be describing from the Yariguies mountains, including several new butterflies."
To me, this is a great thing. It shows how the world still has its natural beauty. And how places in the world are as they were thousands of years ago, when they remained untouched by humans. I believe that places like this need to be protected, so species like the Yariguies Brush-Finch can continue to live for many years to come. But if the destruction of the world’s rainforests continue, the day will come when almost all of these species will be gone.
New Columbian Bird Species
Since the 2003 U.S. led invasion into Iraq around 655,000 Iraqis have died. That figure is almost 2.5% of the Iraqi population. Bush said that although this is a large number not many of them are innocent civilians. Although nearly 60% were men and boys between the ages of 15 and 44 and 31% contributed deaths to coalition forces which leads me to the believe many of these deathes are from war, or fighting back. The cause of the deaths is car bombs and gunfire but the majority being gunfire. Relating something that we learned in class the death rate has rose to 13.3 per 1000 people per year from 5.5 per 1000 which is a considerable increase. Supposedly the body count is around 50,000 for civilians but I found this hard to believe considering the magnitude of the number.
What do you think all think about this? This is just another reason why we shouldn't have been in the war I believe. For more information click the link above.
Separated Internet...is it in the future?
The IGF (Internet Governance Forum) is a body set up by the UN that is a multi-stakeholder in internet dialogue. Recently, at the first ever IGF conference, it was announced that a Balkanisation of the internet could result in the future. This means that the interent could get split up into different sectors. Imagine: an American internet, a Chinese interent, a French internet, etc. Why would this happen? One, these separate internets would allow pages, web addresses, everything, to be in a country's native language. Chinese webpages still have addresses in Latin characters, making it very difficult for citizens who only know Chinese characters. The only way to prevent this separation of the internet is global cooperation in creating an internet that will work for everyone.
I think that a Balkanisation of the internet would be harmful for everyone. Right now, we can access information from almost anywhere in the world, thanks to the globalization of technology. One can visit anything from a Japanese web page to a European web page. If the internet becomes split up, I believe that it will be like de-globalization. Instead of connecting information, views, and many other aspects of culture through a global internet, we will be confined to an American only internet. Balkanisation, in my viewpoint, would be a devastating event for every global citizen. Does anyone see any positives to internet Balkanisation?
...for full article, click
here
Afghani Support Shifting
NATO'S commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Richards, stated recently that
the support of the Afghanistan people could sway back to the Taliban if their lives do not improve in the next six months. Richards said that the Afghan people might just prefer the unstable and unpleasant life as opposed to five more years of fighting. He said that the country was at a "tipping point," and that more than 70% of the citizens would go one way or the other.
Richards said that this winter is critical for the coalition in Afghanistan. Troops need to gain ground, and stabilize regions to show visible improvements, many people could switch their allegiences.
Of course I feel that the citizens' allegience possibly swaying to the Taliban is an awful predicament. I think the underlying problem here is that America in general has forgotten about our ongoing occupation of Afghanistan. Yes, a new government was established . Yes, they have a new president. But with the war in Iraq, and the newly emerging problems of Iran and North Korea, the REAL war on terrorism (you remember that one...it had evidence and merit behind it) has been going on in Afghanistan for five years now.
Cuban Embargo
The United States government has declared that it will aggressively pursue any person who violates the trade embargo that was set on Cuba over twenty years ago. The violations include illegal traveling, money laundering, and trading with Cuba. Any of the above could easily now result in very heavy fines and a ten year prison sentence. The trade was first restricted in the 1960s and have become increasing severe over time. The plan has evolved into depriving the Castro regime of revenue from the United States in hopes of a political revolution.
The UN has condemned the embargo for fourteen years, but it hasn't faltered the position of the United States government. This policy was originally put into place because of the Cuban missile crisis forty years ago and it seems quite outdated to still be in effect. Even though Fidel Castro is no longer ruling over the country, his government is still in power making the plan ineffective. This embargo does not seem to be working, so why is it such a strong policy? Cuba has lost 1.8 billion dollars annually as a result of the program, but their governmental structure is still the same.
I think opening Cuba to trade and tourism would bring a flood of new ideas, money and hope to the island. Maybe it would not be enough to change the political structure, but it wouldn't be promoting poverty and extreme economic recession for such a small country. Many people who were born in Cuba cannot even travel back to their homeland because these restrictions are so severe. Time seems to be the only factor that could end the communist and destructive ways of the country, and this time could maybe be spent in more beneficial ways.
U.S. Tightens Trade Sanctions
Economy of Mexico
The article relates many facts and figures concerning Mexico's struggle to attempt to become a player in today's competitive economic world. In the past, the Mexican's economy was largely agricultural based, with fruits and vegetables being main exports. With trade agreements and their large work force, Mexico has made strides to improve the lives of their people and hope the future finds new and better markets in which to trade.
Mexico has an excellent number of popular vacation destinations, primarily on the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coastline. They also have an abundant supply of silver and oil, which is a good framework to build their future economic endeavors. The Mexican government is hoping new agreements and trade partners will increase their exports and eventually upgrade the standard of living for the majority of their population. Such changes, however, are difficult since ways of life and feelings of the people are deep rooted after hundreds of years living in poor conditions. It seems as if improvements in infrastructure and education should be on the leading edge of any type of change if a permanent, more modern society, and industrialized Mexico is to be attained.
Crime and corruption is everywhere and not 100% avoidable in any country. In Mexico its a been a continual serious issue. According to the article, which is attatched and obtains many other figures and facts, the World Bank states that together they make up as much as 9% of Mexico's GDP. It sounds as if efforts are being put forth in order to help this problem. Associations such as Alliance for a Legal Mexico have been formed to enforce people of Mexico to pay their taxes.
A couple of years ago while my family and I spent a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I witnessed first hand the incredible difference between the modern, plush resorts on the ocean and the rundown, poor areas only blocks into the city. Wages must improve and money has to reach the common workers in order for Mexico to grow and thrive in the future. I think the potential is there, but only if politicians and industrial leaders make decisions that are good for all the citizens in Mexico.
The article attatched is a reliable and useful source of statistics and an overview of Mexico's current situation in the area of trade between countries and their own positives and negatives in how they handle their place in the international market.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Mexico
North Korea claims that the United States has a hostile attitude toward the recent nuclear testing. In a formal statement North Korea threatened that further pressure regarding nuclear testing could bring a declaration of war against the United States. North Korea threatened during an interview with Japanese news agency that there would be more nuclear tests if the United States doesn't loose the attitude and back off. Even though North Koreas latest statements do not affect Japan, Japan plans to impose a total ban of North Korean imports and prohibit its ships from entering Japanese ports. In the meantime, concern is on the rise for South Korea.
Many say that the blast was significantly smaller than that of the bombs dropped during World War II. North Korea denies that claiming that the test was successfully performed as planned. A recent media report indicates that it is possible that North Korea already conducted a second nuclear test. A Japanese public broadcaster had claimed that secret government sources had been detected tremors in North Korea sparking the idea that additional nuclear tests are being performed. The United States and South Korea haven't detected any activity indicating that a second test has been performed.
The United States requested that the U.N. Security Council impose a partial trade embargo. North Korea demands one-on-one talks with Washington. Pyongyang has threatened to launch a nuclear-tipped missile if the United States doesn't comply.
This is definitely not going in the right direction. The last thing that the United States needs at this point is a war with another country. I think that North Korea needs to state their intensions. We are talking about creating weapons of mass destruction. Many nations of the world have a good reason to be worried. This situation is creating a lot of tension that could cause drastic actions to be taken in the future.
How does everyone else feel about this? Do you think that North Korea should stop with their nuclear weapon creation? Do you think the United States should step down a little and give North Korea more freedom to do what they please?
Parliment's of the European area backed a law in which companies will have to switch over to less dangerous forms of chemicals if a less dangerous form is available. This is an upgrade from last years vesion which was only "encouraging" the change.
The legislation claims that there are 30,000 chemicals that could be replaced with safe forms of the chemical. Changing all these chemicals will make testing toys, household cleaners and other forms of household chemicals possible for the first time. All companies will now need to claim all chemicals that they use in the facility, import of export. Their big message in the end is they want a safe cleaner less risk environment for working and living.
Parliment's of the European area backed a law in which companies will have to switch over to less dangerous forms of chemicals if a less dangerous form is available. This is an upgrade from last years vesion which was only "encouraging" the change.
The legislation claims that there are 30,000 chemicals that could be replaced with safe forms of the chemical. Changing all these chemicals will make testing toys, household cleaners and other forms of household chemicals possible for the first time. All companies will now need to claim all chemicals that they use in the facility, import of export. Their big message in the end is they want a safe cleaner less risk environment for working and living.
Gene Technology: a solution to world food supply and rural poverty?
Across the globe people are starving, getting sick, and dying by the millions due to hunger and poverty. That could all change with the introduction of gene technology to the rural areas of the world. By using science to alter the plant’s genetic make-up and allowing for more efficient farming of crops, many people could be saved from starvation. This is very wishful thinking; however it does have the possibility of working. It may take years, or even decades but it is a start.
The definition of gene technology is: any alteration of genetic material, as in agriculture, to make them capable of producing new substances or performing new functions; also called genetic engineering, genetic manipulation, gene splicing, gene technology, recombinant DNA technology
Positive and negative effects could result from gene technology but in my opinion the positive effects would greatly outweigh the negative ones. The positive effects are obvious; being less people would have the problem of starvation and hunger. Gene technology would increase the amount of food being produced, in order to keep up with the growing population. The negative effects could be unknown until after the fact, possibly leaving people sick.
I believe this is a good article that relates to previous discussed topics we've had in class about food production. In the perfect world, enough food would be produced to keep everybody healthy and well fed. Until then, scientists are attempting to come up with efficient ways of faster food production and gene technology seems to be on the top of the list.
http://www.kit.nl/smartsite.shtml?id=7182&ch=FAB
Summary of Class 10/10/2006
Today in class we continued our note taking on Chapter 4. First of all we discussed the Latin American city. Urbanization began in the 1950's and today 75% of Latin America is urbanized. Latin American cities are noted for their high levels of urban primacy, which is a condition in which a country has a primate city three to four times larger than any other city in the country. We looked at the Latin American City Model. The central business district is in the old colonial core. Coming out from the CBD is the older middle and lower class housing for in the zones of maturity and in situ accretion (area of mixed levels of housing and services.) Squatter settlements are makeshift housing on land not legally owned or rented by urban migrants, usually in unoccupied open spaces in or near a rapidly growing city.
Besides talking about the Latin American city, we talked about rural to urban migration and different patterns of rural settlement. Rural to urban migration is a process where peasants began to pour into the cities of Latin America. Many people went from the rural areas to the urban because they believed that there were greater opportunities in the cities. Also the living conditions seemed to be a lot better. There was enhanced access to education, health care, electricity and clean water. The majority of people live in cities. But life in the rural areas has definitely changed. The link between the urban area and rural area has improved greatly.
Lastly we talked about the patterns of Ethnicity and culture. About 2/3 of the people in Latin America speak Spanish and the other 1/3 speak Portuguese. In Latin America, about 90% of the religions are Roman Catholic. Syncritic religion is the blending of different beliefs. This allows animist practices to be included in Christian worship.
In the last part of class, we watched a video on the Mexican economic problems. We didn't finish it, but I found it very interesting. Many different issues were brought to my attention. I didn't realize that life was so hectic. At one point in time, the interest rates shot up and that put many people in debt. I couldn't imagine having most of your paychecks going towards your debt and not being able to have a lot of money to buy food and necessary needs. Hopefully they can figure out their problems and make life a lot easier.
N. Korea
Many experts have been studying the recent explosion in North Korea and have been trying to figure the bombs magnitude. A lot of studies have found that the actual magnitude of the explosion was considerably less than what the North Korean government had said it would be. There are multiple theories to why this is so.
Some believe that the nuclear bomb may have been built incorrectly causing a less powerful explosion. They support this theory with claims that building a nuclear bomb is a highly complex feat and that North Korean scientists may have easily made a mistake due to there inexperience and isolation.
Another theory is that North Korea purposely used a smaller bomb in order to preserve their limited supply of plutonium. One thing that makes me wonder about this theory is that North Korea’s government doesn’t seem like one to lie about the magnitude of there nuclear bomb and set off a less powerful one. I think that this makes them look less strong and less capable. Thus I doubt that it was on purpose.
Still another theory is that the bomb was actually the size that they claimed it to be but the seismic waves were absorbed by the cave that it was detonated in. Some say that if the cave was the right size and made of the right rocks that it could reduce the waves enough to make the explosion appear smaller.
I believe that while the magnitude of the explosion is important the knowledge that North Korea deliberately ignored the requests of the many of the worlds countries is a more pressing issue. I think that the fact that they went ahead with testing bomb after being told not to shows that they neither fear nor care about many of the world’s superpowers. This action will likely cause major repercussions throughout the region.
Dud or Deception?
All major countries have condemned North Korea on its nuclear test that occurred underground a short while ago. They are calling it a "provacative" act that could endanger world peace. Also the U.S. Security Council said that they would take any actions to stop North Korea from getting the correct materials to create weapons, Britain and France supported this.
There is some speculation that now that North Korea has produced nuclear weapons that Iran will soon follow, which causes greater concern to international peace. Also that North Korea would help Iran create weapons by sharing information, materials, and such. There is one more concern. There have been some links that said there are possibilites of North Korea working with Al Queda which also worries countries, especially the U.S.
This should worry all people of the world I believe because of the significance of them creating a bomb and the people/countries it will affect. They could quite possibly help Iran which would lead to another dangerous country with nuclear bombs and also the Al Queda, who at this point doesn't need any more powerful weapons to them. This scares me and I believe we need to do something about this now.
For more information on this article click the link above. For information on North Korea's nuclear weapons program click here;
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/nuke.htm.
Summary of Class 10/9/06
Overall today we mostly took lots and lots of notes about Latin America. First, thought, we did work on Latin America Politcal Maps which were quite easy if you ask me. Then after of course came the overabundant amount of notes and listening to Mrs. Hartman lecture about it. I must admit though, some of the things we learned today I found quite interesting. For example I thought the landscape of Latin America was pretty cool. I never knew that the Andes Mountains were as young as they are, guess I never just thought about it. Also, I thought it was funny when we were discussing how the Amazon Basin is the largest river system in the world by volume we somehow got onto the topic/debate of if the Mississippi is actually the longest river in the US or if it is actually the Missouri. Who knows? I guess when they finally get figure out the exact length of them both then we will.
Anyway... back to class. We also learned what Neotropics were; broke down the word into two parts: neo and tropics. Well neo means new (which again we got off track and started discussing Neo in the movie "The Matrix"). I just really remember this part because it was our trivia of the day and I found the answer and actually was chosen out of the box so yay for me! Anyway, Neotropics is the tropical ecosystems in the Wester Hemisphere, which makes total sense with the name. Not only did we learn about the landscape and population of Latin America, but we also talked about the deforestization of the rainforests. In my interest of why these rainforests are being destroyed I asked the dumb question, "do these people who are cutting them down realize that it is bad?". Well I had a lot of responses, "yes, but it's the only way they can survive", "no I don't believe they do know" (Mrs. Hartman), I forgot what else she said backing up her theory, but you get the idea. Obviously the deforestization of the rainforests is a very horrible thing and some of the concerns would be the loss of biological diversity.
Well all in all, today we learned about Latin America; the political and physical areas of it. I hope you all enjoyed and remembered a little something extra from today by reading this blog.
Community service... alternative to jailtime
I just found this article, and thought it was very interesting.
Britain's law enforcement has a project which offers community service as an alternative to jailtime. In order to get a first-hand look at the effectiveness of the program, British Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, assumed a false identity and posed an offender picked up for drunk driving. He secretly worked alongside common criminals for a day to promote the idea that supervised community service hours are much more productive than keeping a criminal in custody. The Chief Justice is a firm supporter of this project and insists, “I like to think that I am liberal, but that is not the same as being soft on crime. The idea that using alternatives to custody is being soft is wrong.” Prison overcrowding is a concern for the British government right now, and this program ought to help with that.
However, many government officials are upset over this 'publicity stunt' as they call it. Many argue that judges should assign punishments without bias. Many people believe that the service projects do not help deter criminals from committing another crime, and only give them more opportunities to do so by not holding them in custody. My opinion is that dangerous offenders (murderers, rapists…) should not be given the option, but it makes sense to try to have something productive as an alternative for shorter jailtime sentences. I have to agree with one of the reader’s comments on the site. Dhanraj, from Brasildon, Essex said, “Violent offenders, let them work with people seriously injured during assaults or robberies. Thieves, let them work with the really disadvantaged, the poor old lady who was mugged and stolen a pension from. This will bring home to them the suffering victims of crime have to undergo.” The offenders should work with and help people that are affected by the kind of crime they committed, to help them realize what it’s like to be on the other side of their crimes.
"Britain's top judge turns conman and serves a day's hard labour""'He is playing politics...'"
As mentioned on page 97 or our text book, NAFTA took affect in 1994 to help with the movement of goods among Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. According to the article Mexico mega-port plan key to ‘NAFTA superhighways’ controversy is brewing as Americans wonder if a highway and rail project carrying products to Mexico to the U.S. and to Canada on the NAFTA superhighways is such good idea.
In short, Mexico is questioning a mega-port in Punta Colonet, in which Chinese goods would be shipped on the NAFTA rails and superhighways. This port would be the major place on the west coast to ship Asian goods to America. Right now the ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach are being over used. A man named Gabriel Chavez; says the Punta Colonet port may contain huge amounts of titanium and iron which could be mined off the shore. The Mexican government has put all plans on hold until there is further research.
One key issue has to deal with bringing goods into the Mexican port. It means lower costs for us in the U.S. with cheaper labor and environmental regulations for Mexico because policies are not as strict. Again is this another way for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer? As of now the U.S. permits Mexican truckers entry into the U.S. that extends 20 miles from the border. The Teamsters Union feels Mexican trucks pose safety and environmental risk, but Mexico has limited U.S. truckers as well.
Do you feel the U.S. Department of Transportation should fully open borders to Mexican truckers and put foreign trade and cheap labor above everything else to integrate the 3 North American Nations? Do you feel highway safety, Homeland Security, border policies, and immigration concerns are too risky to fully implement NAFTA as intended in 1994?
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52242
As found on page 106 in our textbook, economies like Brazil are struggling with currency devaluation, debt burdens, inflation, and growing unemployment. Ironically Brazil's current president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (President Lula) has done so much to reduce poverty in the slums of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but didn't get enough votes to win a 2nd term. There will be a face-off election on October 29th.
President Lula is considered to be Brazil's first working class president who was born into poverty. Read
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15045273/this to find his interesting background and history. Globally President Lula attended workshops in the U.S. and Europe to learn organizing tactics and leftist social theory. Lula " adopted conservative fiscal and monetary policies that won praise on Wall Street." "Lula won the prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize in Spain for his 'admirable history of fighting for justice' and was cited as a potential canidate for the Nobel Peace Prize." President Lula also introduced a program called "Zero Hunger" which is like a food stamp program, giving poor families about $30 a month as long as they vaccinate their children and keep them in school. This is in a country where 1/3 of the people live on less then $2 a day. President Lula wants to focus on reforming taxes and labor rules in his 2nd term.
So what's the controversy? Major newspapers reported that Lula was running corrupt dealings and this may have prevented him from getting all the votes he needed. Lula received 48.8% and needed 50% plus 1 vote to win. It will be interesting to see if the corruption claims are true. Do you feel he deserves to win a 2nd term? Lula has been at the center front fighting to improve life for the average and below average Brazilians. Ironically voting is manditory in Brazil. If you can't justify your absence you may be fined. Do you think this would be a good policy to put into practice in the U.S.?
www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/10/01/brazil.elections.ap/index.html
