China pledges to double its aid to Africa
China has released that it will now double its aid and association with Africa. There was a conference with Chinese leaders and 35 of 53 African leaders. China would like to fortify Beijing bond with Africa in search or new oil and export opportunities.
Many people are worried that China may just be forcing a modern day colonialism onto Africa and people are also skeptical of China's poor human human rights record. President Hu announced that Chinese aid will include $3 billion in preferential loans and $2 billion of export credits over the next three years. He said Beijing will create a $5 billion fund to encourage Chinese companies to invest in the continent. China said that they would build schools, hospitals, and anti-malaria clinics. They also said they they would train as much as 15,000 Africans for the work force.
As much as China said that it would help out Africa, there are a couple reasons why the joining of China and Africa could have devastating affects. The president of the world bank accused China of its poor human rights record and its environmental issues. Paul Wolfowitz (president of the world bank), also stated that with that much readily available credit it could fuel corruption and make Africa's debt burden worse.
China pledges to double its aid to Africa
Lamprey Found
I read an interesting article, that earlier this mouth there was an eel-like creature that was found in ancient South Africa. It is considered to be a living fossil. A lamprey, is what this species is called, is stated to be a 1.7 inch creature, that hasn't changed for the past 360 million years. These creatures would connect their sharp teeth to prehistoric sharks. Most of the previous lamprey had gone extinct or evolved, however some lampreys just became another lamprey. It's said that the lampreys backbone is built exactly as the humans, with the same type of cartilage. This discovery of the lamprey can help us easily study the lampreys mouth. This is one of the few jaw less mouths of a species with a backbone. The study also believes that they were the first vertebrates, and then were visible later then 540 million years ago. I even found this more interesting, that humans and lampreys could share an ancient comment ancestor. If you would like to research more on the
lampreys click on the underlined site.
OK, this article is a little old, but it tied in so well with class it had to be blogged. (RED) was started by U2's Bono (how many charities has the man started?) and The Global Fund to sell specially branded (RED) products to help bring African AIDS awareness to the US public and raise money by having influential companies donate some profits raised to help Africa. So far, only 6 companies have joined: GAP, Converse, American Express, Motorola, Emporio Armani, and Apple (woo-hoo!). Their products include "red" fashion/shoe lines (GAP, Emporio Armani, Converse), red cellphones (the ever-popular MOTORAZR), a red credit card (3 guesses which company released that), and red iPods (Apple's sleek nano, in 4 and 8GB sizes). It's such a great idea that it makes you think "why didn't I think of that." And with the iPod alone, they could have quite the payoff, indeed...
The AIDS epidemic is a huge issue in southern Africa, and we have discussed in class how treatment options are often times too expensive for the average citizen to obtain. Since all the products mentioned above already are in pop culture, it shouldn't take long to amass a large enough sum (as of Oct. 13, $12 million) to help treat those infected, and (hopefully) create education plans to stop the disease at its source. (Product) RED also helps by causing look alike programs, like other Red, to appear to help other problems, like orphans.
linkslinkslinkslinkslinkslinkslinkslinkslinks:(Product) RED other Red
VA Cops selling drugs & guns
Who would think that police would be selling drugs that they have taken from drug busts?? According to
this article up to 19 men from Virginia were allegedely selling drugs and guns to the public. These man were doing their duties, busting drug headquarters, taking away guns when they were not supposed to have, but instead of throwing them out- flushing them down the toilet or doing whatever the procedure was, they were selling them. They got really into it, they had spots for a drug drops.. Some of the charges brought againist them including The theft of drugs and firearms in the custody of the sheriff's department, Distribution of cocaine, marijuana and a date rape drug, Money laundering, and Obstruction of justice.
This defys so many things police usually stand for. It really makes me wonder whats going on around with other police men and women are doign around the world. Let me know some of your fed back about what you think and what you think should be done with these men!
A U.S. officer who has returned from Iraq says that the Iraqi army is not ready to take over full control of military actions. Without American support he says the Iraqi army will give up and consider the effort a lost cause. For example, when an enemy attacks Iraqi soldiers they "empty their 30 magazine ammunization" quickly and shooting anywhere around the enemies. 90% of the time there is no target and it is just a waste of ammunition. This is an example that the Iraqi army is not ready for take over in their homeland. Iraqis are also horrendous at keeping track of their soldiers, American's have to do checks just to count the number of soldiers for them. If an army can't keep track of their own soldiers how can we expect them to protect a country?
One trait good about the Iraqis is they will not give up the hope of their future and will continuously fight for it.
This makes me think. I have been posting many blogs on the Iraqi War about American deaths over in Iraq and how we should be pulling out. President Bush has said he has a plan on when we are going to pull out but it seems evident that it is nowhere in the future. We will not let our entire efforts go to waste because the Iraqi army cannot take full control of their own country's security. If we did this and our effort was wasted Bush would look like even more of an idiot and he of course does not want that. So, this article tells me that we will still be in Iraq for QUITE sometime.
SUVs and truck sales are on the rise. While small economy cars fall dramatically in sales. Many believe this is a direct result of the recent drop in the cost of fuel. I find this to be a unbelievably ignorant action of the American consumer. How could people have such a short memory of only a few months ago when gas prices were nearly a dollar higher, and think that they will not go up again if measures aren’t taken to prevent this. The more of these fuel guzzling machines on the road the more demand there is for gas which results in the rising price which we all were crying about in the recent past. Also the more we need gas results in the more dependent we are on the middle east and its oil. If that is not enough to discourage purchase of an unnecessarily large vehicle than consider the amount of air pollution it is causing and the danger that this poses to our future. Overall I think that this rise in the purchase of large vehicles show just how ignorant and blatantly stupid people can be in this county.
9/11 Remains
The remains have been found. Two people's remains have been found and identified at the ground zero site from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The two people were attending the first plane which hit the North tower. The first person was a 40 year old woman, Karen Ann Martin, who was the head flight attendant on the flight. The second was a 54 year old man, Douglas Joel Stone, who was a passenger on the flight.
These findings brought along surprise and outrage from an array of different people. Many families of the 2,749 victims involved were in shock at why we are still finding people. On Thursday they demanded a group of forensic experts to re-search the area. In two weeks there has been over 200 body parts found. There are yet to be 1,148 people to be identified and the families of those people are requesting a search, one that shows respect and passion.
The mayor of New York City was in a loss of words when it came to explaining why they are just finding remains 5 years later. On October 27 the mayor agreed to have a site cleanup all the way from underground, on top of buildings, and roofs.
Personally, I think that it is horrible that they are just ow finding people in the rubble. I think it is devastating to tell someone 5 years after the incident that they just found their spouse, sister, coworkers, etc. I know that if that was me, I would be outraged also and would try to take action. I think a new in-dept search is very needed right now for this situation. I am guessing that after 5 years people are still extremely sensitive about the situation but also just starting to get over the fact. Getting a call saying that they found the person you lost 5 years ago, today in the rubble by workers would be miserable.
I also think this is very disrespectful and heartbreaking to know that after 5 years we haven't used all more of our time and effort into looking for these people. This was one of the U.S. biggest attacks and it seems as if we don't even have enough gratitude for the victims, to explore and look for them. If we are finding the remains while construction working, and not even searching for them, it just comes to show that they couldn't have been that tough to find.
9/11 Remains
Class Summary
Whoops- sorry. I was supposed to do the Class summary for yesterday, but I wasn't home much and I didn't get to it. On Wednesday we finished the movie Cry Freedom. After that we played the African Countries game, where we were split up into groups and given a life (We were told where we lived, how many people in our family, and a starting income). We played the game, and just like real life, certain countries suffered disasters and others recieved aid. (Togo + Angelina Jolie= love!!) The group with the most money at the end recieved 5 extra credit points, second place received 3, and anyone else that had over $100 received one. Word has it that first block was unable to play the game, so they had the option of doing a crossword for extra credit.
Class Blog
Well, today in class we just took the Africa test which was not as long as the usual tests that we take. We also reviewed for the end of the quarter test by playing jeopardy. The senior to sophomores also got the news that they have to write three essays, because Mrs. Hartman still is not informed about the prognosis of who is registered and who is not. All in all it was a fun day being in class.
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Elections in Congo Could Bring Stabilily to Central Africa
After a four-year postwar transition time, Congo finally held a runoff election between a president and a rebel warlord. There is hope that these elections will finally bring peace to a country that has been burdened with war and despotism for decades. The two major candidates are 35 year old Joseph Kabila and 44 year old Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader who is now the vice president of a power-sharing government. Kabila is favored to win the five-year term, considering that he claimed 45 percent of the first round votes, while Bemba only received 20 percent. The two candidates voted in neighboring Kinshasa schools. Kabila had to avoid puddles inside and outside the schools. Rain had seeped through broken windows and a leaky roof, even though it was build in one of the better neighborhoods. This was an illustration of the country’s ravaged infrastructure. Even though Congo is rich in many resources like diamonds, gold, cobalt, copper, and coltan, it has had troubles receiving much income. Since the country gained its independence in 1960 from Belgium, it has been ruled by greedy dictators. Mobutu Sese Seko ruled for 32 years, and pocketed billions of dollars from the nation’s mineral wealth, doing little to develop the country. Finally, in 1997, Laurent Kabila, Joseph’s father, ousted Mobutu from power. However, once backed by Rwandan rebels, Kabila fell out with them and created a year later; dividing the country. Then in 2001, Kabila was assassinated by a bodyguard, leaving his son in power. A year later, Joseph Kabila help negotiate the war’s end. Aid groups predicted that nearly 4 million people died during the conflict. The trasition period has been secured by the largest U.N. mission in the world, a 17,600-strong back up for the vote with nearly 2,500 EU troops. Today the government is trying to establish a unified army and regain control in the east. Here, rebels accused of raping and pillaging residents have been collecting their own taxes.
However, while all of the country’s problems, Sunday’s voting was largely peaceful. Although, no peace is guaranteed. Forces loyal to the two major candidates were reported to have fought with tanks and heavy weaponry, leaving at least two dead on Sunday. And in the northeastern town of Bumba, more than 200 Bemba supporters looted polling stations and burning ballots. This was in response to rumors that officials were stuffing ballots supporting Kabila into boxes. This disruption left one boy dead and another wounded from stray bullets. Other similar incidents have been reported. Also, thousands of people weren’t allowed to vote when soldiers blocked a road and demanded money to pass.
However, there is optimism that democracy in Congo will bring peace to the surrounding area. And being one the largest African countries, it could be the bread basket of the central region. This is just an example of the many conflicts located in Africa. But if these countries can overcome war and corruption, development and productivity can result. I hope that these elections can bring stability to the country, making it a model for other countries in the area. Countries like Sudan and Nigeria, who are suffering from war and oppression. But overall, this is a very good sign for Africa.
Congo's Mostly Peaceful Elections
Southern Africa: The Flip Side
As we studied about Africa this last past week, we all learned that it isn't exactly the place to be. AIDS/HIV and other major issues were often talked about and it got to be kind of depressing. I read some of the other posts and comments about Sub-Saharan Africa and found nothing but negatives and sad stories. I wanted to change it up a bit and look at the bright side of things. Yes, you all may be thinking, well what exactly is the bright side of things in a country that is being basically wiped out by AIDS, or a suffering economy? And, let me tell you, it wasn't easy to find but after searching through countless articles and stories, I came upon a website
(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/southern/southern_people.html) that actually shows some positive activities people in Southern Africa in particular are taking part in. Despite the fact that most of them have very little, they are happy, grateful people in search of a good life.
There are different groups in South Africa, with different traditions, music, foods, and values. The customs of the Xhosa people differ from the Zulu, however, all special in their own ways. The people of South Africa avoid negative issues (health, economic, etc.) by taking part in various celebrations. The celebrations are filled with music, dancing, and food, often times, raising spirits and helping the people to forget about hardships. When reading the articles already posted on "Our World" it seemed as though the only thing that happened in Sub-Saharan Africa was hard labor and constant fight for survival because of diseases. Yes, this is often times the case, however, people are attempting to enjoy life as well.
I strongly encourage everyone to take a look at the website. It not only talks about different groups in South Africa, but their customs and history too. It gives a good representation of the country on a positive note. Afterall, we do have computers and advanced technology to do so, so we might as well not take it for granted because after learning about what the people have in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, I know I'm grateful for the things I have.
Impact of AIDS in Africa
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has left Africa economically devastated. A statistic shows that more than one-fourth of the sub-Saharan working age is infected with HIV. In many families there is bound to be a member with the HIV/AIDS disease. The caring for these members and their sickness makes a large deficit in many monetary needs that would be used for other necessities in their daily life. Around the area of Cote d'Ivoire, many families cut spending on children’s education in half, reduce food consumption by 40% as the struggle to keep up with the needs of the HIV/AIDS carrying member. Alan Whiteside, head of Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division of the University of Natal in South Africa, reports that up to 50% of the beds in South African hospitals are occupied by citizens with AIDS.
From the AIDS epidemic, the economy suffers in 2 ways. One way is the Labor Supply. The loss of young adults in their most productive years takes a toll on how productive the economy will get. Also if economic workers of the elite suffer, the number of reliable workers will decrease. The second way is through costs. Much of the money in Africa is going towards families who need to pay for medical care, drugs and funeral expenses for their family members. Having a family member suffering from AIDS causes the families money intake to go down some. Wives or daughters may have to take off work to care for the sick. By taking off, they probably won't gat their usual daily payment, which will create an economic problem for the family.
AIDS has dramatic effects in some other significant sectors. One is health. This is significant for a couple of reasons. It will increase the number of people seeing services and health care for AIDS patients is more expensive compared to any other expense. Another type of significant sector that is extremely important is education. There are three ways that make this an issue that needs some attention. The number of experienced teachers will be reduced due to AIV illness and death. Also children may be taken out of school if they are needed at home to help care for their sick members. Or they may have to drop out and get a job that will help pay for the cost of the medical needs. Lastly, is that teenagers are more prone to HIV infection due to lack of education in how to protect themselves.
Overall, I find it extremely astonishing that one country can suffer that greatly from a disease. In the United States there aren't nearly as many people with the disease as there are in Africa. Due to our good health conditions and education on how to protect yourself it makes a great impact on our quality of life. I believe that there has to be some way that we can teach the Africans on how to create a better lifestyle. I am aware that we have many fundraisers that generate money that helps provides aid struggling areas and families. But I’m not really aware that there are many educational opportunities provided. Don't you think that maybe we should focus more on the education rather than just give them the money without teaching them anything?
Impact of AIDS
Bad News for Fish
Lager species of coral are dieing and being replaced by smaller species. While the problem may not seem highly important it is because it is an effect of human pollution. The water around the Virgin Islands, Jamaica else where in the Caribbean is being polluted and over fished, leading to the destruction of the coral life there. The smaller corals can not hide the marine life depending on their protection. So not only is this affecting the coral plants but it is a cause of extinction of the fish that live in the coral.
The species of the boulder star coral is most as risk. The coral takes hundreds of years to grow and could possibly be completely gone in 50 years because of this destruction.
Another cause of this problem is the increasing water temperatures. The big coral can not survive with warm waters. Researchers hope that when the water does eventually cool down there will be enough of the big corals left to reproduce the reef again. This can take many many years. If nothing is done researchers expect up to 60% of the worlds coral to be gone by 2030.
It is sad to see how much our world is changing due to both human and natural problems. The pollution and over fishing done in the Caribbean mostly comes from tourists from the US. It is another less positive way that just the US alone can change the environment.
The entire article with additional information from researchers can be found at
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15512381/If you want to find a way to help this destruction and protect our wild life check out the web site
http://www.reefrelief.org/ to see what you can do
Africas Last Apartheid Leader Dies at 90
The South African president that led South Africa through its years of terrible racial violence and international isolation died Tuesday. P.W. Botha, who was 90 years old, was known as the apartheid era president. Botha was nicknamed the “old crocodile” in regards to his feared temper and brutal manners. He served as the head of the white racist group in South Africa from 1978 to 1989. He was also the president who resisted the pressure by the nation to free Nelson Mandela. A year after he stepped down from presidency Mandela was released after 27 years in prison. Botha was known for his strict restrictions on black political organizations and his act of detaining more than 30,000 people. In December of 1997 Botha resisted appearing in front of a court investigation his apartheid related crimes.
A little background on Botha, he was born in 1916 in the Orange Free State province. He never graduated fro college. Instead of joining the army during WWII he joined a group called Ossewabrandway which was a group of Nazi supporters. Following this Botha held many positions in the government of South Africa. As prime minister he gave himself more power and changed his title to president.
Botha died peacefully in his home.
This news on Botha fit nicely into our class discussions on Sub-Saharan Africa. The country has been fighting for equality among the races as we saw in the film “Cry Freedom.” To see that Botha was what is said to be South Africans apartheid leader shows a possible hope for change. Now that he has died possibly his ideas have died along with him, or at least been overlooked.
To read the full story and get more information of Bothas life as a leader read
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15500869/page/2/To read more about the apartheid in South Africa you can read
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html to learn more about what it did to the country.
Second Languages.....Come on people, lets get some discussion going on this one!
This post isn't really based on any special research. It isn't really based on an article I found or anything else. I'm mainly blogging today because of conversations I've had in the recent past (as recent as today) about languages being taught in schools in the USA. Consider this:
- More people in China are learning English, than those who speak it in the US.
Does that not blow anyone else's mind? Granted, those people are not all up to par as far as speaking or writing ability. But that means there are more than 300,000,000 million people in ONE COUNTRY alone learning English.
However, I think they're on the right track. With the globalized world becoming more and more connected, it seems imperative to learn how to communicate more effectively, and learning that country's or that culture's language is exactly the right thing to do.
Which brings me back to my point: Should we be changing the languages we are teaching in school. I'm not trying to put any one language over another, but it seems to me that German and French are becoming obsolete in schools. In both of these countries, the general, educated population speaks decent English. However, I have to say that Spanish is still a very important language for US students to learn. With the massive immigration (both legal and non-legal) of Hispanic people to the US, learning Spanish can only help solve the problem.
Personally, it seems to me that both Mandarin (Chinese) and Arabic are the two languages that are in dire need of students in the United States. Both languages come from regions of the world (China and the Middle East) where the United States is either already, or going to very soon, have serious implications in.
Alright, it's 11:30 and I'm probably starting to not make sense. So I'll stop ranting. Lets see what you guys have to say........alright on, you can say it.......no pressure or anything, just say something.............nothing to say?.........Alright whatever. Adios.
(That means goodbye)
I was very surprised that mobile phones are becoming so widely used in Africa as stated in our text. In fact, Africa is the first continent to have more mobile phone users than regular fixed-line phones according to the article found at:
http://www.afrol.com/articles/12176 Africa has also become the world’s fastest growing mobile phone market. Mobile phone use increased 65% in Africa which is twice the average globally. Are you as surprised at this as I am?
Another interesting fact is that more than 50% of people in Africa have never even made a phone call because only 2.8% have ordinary phone service. It is also remarkable to realize that most people in Africa earn $2 or less a day and 40% are unemployed. Another source
http://www.nytimes.com/2005.08/25/international/africa/25africa.html said that competitive phone companies selling air time in smaller, cheaper units are making it possible for even the very poorest to have mobile phone access. Currently though, only 60% are in reach of a signal.
Even though many Africans still get water from the rivers, gather wood to create fire, and get light from a candle, many see mobile phones as a necessity. As mentioned in the second link, those who have access feel their lives are changing dramatically. One program allows 100 farmers to discover prices for produce in the major markets which help them negotiate with middlemen. Those in health care can get ambulance services while another woman living near the Congo River, who isn’t even able to write her name, can sell fresh fish when the call comes in. Another man said his farm and garden plants are now selling. He tried for eight years to attract white people to his business, but they were hesitant to come to the township where he lived. Having a cell phone enables his customers to call him resulting in him making same day deliveries.
In closing, I have really taken my cell phone for granted. How about you? I never realized the impact it is having and will continue to have on remote regions like those found in Africa.
On page 137 in our textbook it tells about Wangari Maathai and her Green Belt Movement. Interestingly enough, I discovered an article posted on Thurs. Oct. 19, 2006 in a Philadelphia paper which shared that she was touring the U.S. with her memoir.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/15792601.htm Maathai, in 2004, became the first African American woman and environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Her efforts to plant trees have been a national movement in which more than 100,000 women have planted over 30 million trees in Kenya. Maathai also speaks out against women being violated and beaten by government officials. The Nobel Committee cited Maathai’s contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace. They noted, “She always thinks globally and acts locally.”
Although Maathai earned her bachelor’s degree in the U.S., she returned to the University of Nairobi to earn her doctorate’s degree. Upon returning to her homeland, she found many of the forests she knew as a child replaced with cash crops such as coffee, tea, and sugar cane. With the forests cleared and lack of clean drinking water she said, “This land is naked, let’s dress the land, and make a belt….a green belt!”
What is even more interesting and a great opportunity for average citizens to connect globally with Kenya and Maathai’s efforts is to take a Green Belt Safari. See link for all the details of what you can experience.
http://greenbeltmovement.org/w.php?id=25 As a guest you can be part of a 2 week experience which exposes you to the movement as well as Kenya Culture. I found this safari to be very clever and a wise method to connect people world wide globally to Kenya. I think Maathai’s Nobel Peace Prize is highly deserved and feel her memoir entitled, Unbowed would be interesting to read. If I had a chance to hear her speak, I would certainly appreciate her native dress and speaking voice. As stated, “Maathai could lull a lion with her voice.” What are your thoughts on Maathai and The Green Belt Movement?
Taxi Wars in South Africa
We have all heard of drug cartels, but I was surprised to find information about
cartels involving taxi drivers in South Africa. In this country, the transportation is by low cost minibuses known as combis, somewhat like the taxis we know. For twenty years, thousands of South African drivers and passengers of combis have been killed in this strange form of a guerilla war. Rival cartels fight over routes and the drivers that serve them. The apartheid in South Africa deregulated the combis, which made thousands of poor blacks join the occupation in 1987. After the influx of new drivers, competition soared. Years of politics, crime, and racial hatred have muddied the rivalries of the cartels, so there is no simple solution.
Even though South Africa is the most industrialized and developed country in Sub-Saharan Africa, this issues proves that there are still many things that need to be improved. The end of apartheid greatly diminished racial intolerance in South Africa, but the hatred still exists. The government will require stricter laws for new licenses, but that doesn't solve the problem of the current combi drivers. I think that the government should put more regulations in effect to protect the combi drivers that are safe. They could organize paths for groups of drivers in the same cartel to take so that there would be no confusion and violence as a result. Then if people were killed, the government could narrow it down to a small group of people who could have caused it. Any other ideas?
Friday, October 27
Sorry for the delay of this post, so anyways basically on Friday we worked on GIS. I am in block 1 and we did GIS for the whole class, but from what I’ve heard, the other 2 classes started watching Cry Freedom for the remainder of class. Since we worked on GIS the previous day, many of us were close to being done with the activity. The GIS for this week basically involved comparing Africa with Europe. Europe, as we know, is a highly developed region, but Africa isn’t. The information on the map showed how most regions in Africa have very high birth and death rates, and still have a high natural increase. Europe on the other hand has a relatively low rate of natural increase. Infant mortality rate is another factor that was described in the map. Africa, being the less developed country, had a high IMR. Europe, being the more developed country, had a lower IMR. Basically the living standards for Europe are much higher than in Africa. Once all of these themes were present on the map, we were to make 2 layouts for Africa and Europe. That was all first block did, and apparently 2nd and 3rd block started Cry Freedom.
Islamic leaders in Pakistan have blamed the United States for 80 deaths on a military attack on a religious school. The leaders have called for nationwide demonstrations.
This sounds bad but actually the building was used for an al Queda training center, it is also said though that the attacks killed innocent students as well as teachers. This attack though came after a warning form the United States to shut down the facility which was ignored. A political leader though for Pakistan said that the fact about it being a military training center was "rubbish" and among the dead were 30 children.
We have completely denied these accuasations blaming the Pakistani military for doing so. These accusations by both sides are just causing more conflict in Pakistan. There were gatherings of al Queda members chanting that they wished death on Bush.
This is not good, Pakistan became a good ally on the war on terror deploying as many as 80,000 troops along their border where Bin Laden is believed to be at large. We are in need of their troops and if this supposed attack doesn't bode well with their political advisors, which it seems like it isn't, we may lose their help which could be a great loss in the war on terror.
I do believe that we attacked that building because it sounds like it was a training center and the political leaders are just trying to put the blame on the United States to rally their citizens against the U.S. I believe what we did was right and we need to continue to destory militants and training centers that promote al Queda, it is the only way we can stop or slow down terrorism.
Poverty issues in Africa
I thought that this article was very interested and sparked my interest due to the fact that we are discussing the economic issues associated with Africa in class right now. Sub Saharan Africa has one of the poorest regions in the world and deal very frequently with famine and disease. It is actually considered the poorest continent of the world and is known for its issues. The united nations says that Africa alone needs 2 billions dollars to help feed more than 25 million people in 2005. So far they have raised less than half and still have over a billion debt.
For the region of Sub Saharan Africa this issue affects people every single day. It internally affects them more than people think it does. It obviously affects the issue of famine and poor living conditions. A dramatic crisis could soon happen in Africa, as in Zimbabwe along up to 7 million people suffer from starvation. Many people have abandanned their homes in search for food or wildlife. One in three of Africa's 900 million people are lacking the adequate amount of food.
Poverty in Africa also affects the crazy spread of disease such as malaria, sleep sickness, and HIV/AIDS. Malaria, cause by mosquitoes and sleeping sickness, caused by tsests flies are both due to the poor living conditions and unhealthy lifestyles. HIV/AIDS affects millions of people every day there and is by far one of the largest causes of death.
In Africa more than half of the hospital beds are occupied by people with HIV related diseases and are becoming more and spend more than 4 times longer than other people in the hospital. This raises the needs, commands, prices, and time of the hospitals there. AIDS kills 25-35% of the population in Africa which is killing off the future employers. The relationship with AIDS and poverty is the pricey ways to cure and help AIDS. In the US we pay 10,000 to 15,000 dollars for treatments to this disease. No one can afford these treatments or even afford the information to get educated about the issue and how much it is affecting the region.
I personally think that the issue about Africa and it's poverty has become a large issue for that region and a large issue worldwide. We are a humane society and set up fundraisers and humanitarian aid to help this poor country out. Other countries are trying hard to help Africa out and so it affects us by the time and effort we put into assissting them.
I think that we know the problems but we don't know the full extent of what these problems go to. I think the G7 countries, the government of the seven most industrial countries which drive the economics of the world, could help out more. It is obviously a problem and will keep getting worse if we don't help out.
We can help out by giving subsidies and financial aid from our government. The US and other countries shouldn invest in the economy and business. We can teach them how to bring business and how to farm, also to put them as a part of a trading partner. With providing support it will help stregthen Africa as a whole.
Africa lags behind other regions of the world. There are few traditional telephone lines. According to our text book (Globalization & Diversity) there are only 4 lines per 1,000 people in Nigeria. The expansion of mobile telephones in Africa allows people not to have to rely on expensive traditional landlines for communication. It is becoming more common for multinational cellular providers to compete in building out cellular networks in the region.
In recent news, it appears that the cell phone networks in the African region aren’t as good as they could be. Many Africans are adapting and becoming dependent on modern mobile phone technology. In the article, it seems that the available cellular networks aren’t very dense thus causing the coverage to be spotty. It seems that there isn’t enough infrastructure available in the region to support the demand. Oddly enough, people seem to be going out on a “limb” to find a usable signal for their cell phones. Literally, people are crawling trees to be able to use their cell phones. “A Ugandan author has coined the term "Nebrols," short for Network Broken Limbs Syndrome, to describe the injuries suffered from folks climbing things (usually trees) in an effort to get a bar or two of signal strength on their cell phones.” The people of Africa are finding ways to use the technology they are so dependant on. As the region grows hopefully the existing infrastructure grows so that people don’t kill themselves to be able to stay connected.
“Can You Hear Me Now?”
NationalGeographic.com recently published an article concerning the rising illegal market of ivory in Africa. Researchers walked through a market in Luanda, Angola and identified enough ivory to account for the deaths of 250 elephants. This becomes even more staggering when one notes that the estimated number of elephants in Angola is only 240. Many assume that the ivory is being smuggled in from nearby countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. The reason Angola has such a large market for ivory is that it is not part of the CITES program as all of the other countries with elephants are. This organization monitors the illegal sale of protected species. I don’t find it fair that a country such as Angola won’t accept this organization and as a result is hurting not only its own elephant population but that of other countries who are trying to protect them. I think that more global pressure should be put on Angola to accept the CITES organization and hopefully help slow the illegal poaching of elephants. Another thing that is causing an increase in poaching is a high demand for ivory from the eastern region most notably China. In these markets ivory can go for as high as $750 per kilogram. This demand is doing substantial damage to the elephant population. More security should be put in place to stop the sale of this item and an effort should be made by China to discourage the high demand. If something isn’t done soon we will see the population of this amazing species continue to decrease in many African counties, and I find this extremely sad.
First Invisibility Cloak Tested Successfully
There was a new commodity created in society recently. Scientists spoke out about their creation of the first ever invisibility cloak. It works on microwaves and in two dimensions. This cloaks can actually disappear an object. Just think, by placing a cloth over something, and it is as if it's gone, is unbelievable. Technology has been so advanced and impressive. Researchers were able to take electromagnetic waves and grasp them over a specific area and it is able to hide this region. This is possible by materials that use matamaterials. Matamaterials is a human-made item. It is used with metal wires and loops to maintain radiation. Some even consider this process to be magic. I on the other hand, would have never guessed that scientists would ever be able to come up with such an idea. Ever since I've seen Harry Potter, I thought it would be amazing to use one, and with researchers help today, we are able to. The cloaks exceeds every little child's imaginations. If you want to read more about this incredible matter, please visit
cloaks.
