Knowledge & Understanding
1. What did you have the strongest reaction to in the reading and why?
Application of Knowledge
2. Amnesty International made numerous recommendations about judicial rights in Iran. Pick one abuse pointed out by Amnesty International and show how that impacted characters in the novel.
Analyzing your reading
3. Was this selection harder to read or easier because it was from a novel. Provide three reasons for your answer.
1. Over the last three years, the nuclear situation in Iran has worsened. In your view, what are the worst two events or trends that have occurred and why?
2. At this point, there are many options on the table including opening direct negotiations, economic sanctions, referring the problem to the Security Council or even direct force. What should be done and why? Use evidence from the articles to back up your point.
This article poses a number of questions that I have tweaked slightly for the blog. Pick two of them to answer and explain your answers as much as possible.
1. Will this man get the bomb?
2. What does Iran want?
3. Is Iran close to getting the bomb?
4. Why is Iran picking a fight?
5. Which option should the U.S. take?
1. Pick two quotes from the Ahmadinejad interview and explain how they influence your view of Iran’s President.
2. Zakaria argues that “[i]nstead of getting scared and spooked, America should view Tehran with a healthy dose of calm and confidence.” Use an argument from either article to explain why you agree or disagree with Zakaria.
1. Explain how this article helped you understand a specific part of Islam better.
2. Pick two potential areas for conflict between EITHER:
a. Sunni & Shiite Muslims or
b. Islamic beliefs and Western societies.
3. After reading the article, list two questions that you were unclear about or would like to learn more information about.
1. What were your three predictions before reading?
2. Were your predictions correct after reading the article? Briefly explain why or why not for each prediction.
3. In your own words, write Trudy Rubin’s thesis statement for this article and give two reasons why you agree or disagree with her conclusions.
4. HOW ‘BOUT THEM HOOVER BUCS – I finally saw the state championship game and invite comments (keep them clean) over whether it was Alex or Kristin’s fault…
The river Nile is the longest river in the world. It stretches from the tributaries of Lake Victoria in Tanzania to the Mediterranean in Egypt. The Nile is credited of having been the reason for the Egyptian’s ancient civilization. The ancient Egyptians depended on the yearly flood that caused the Nile to overflow it’s banks. The Nile’s water would nourish the land with the fertile silt dissolved in it. Because of this, the Egyptians enjoyed bountiful harvest that allowed for them to build such glorious monuments as the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.
-Enter European powers.
British imperialism was very present in Egypt. The British has annexed Egypt in order to control a strategic link to the Indian Ocean (via the Red Sea) and gain control of the fertile strip of land that borders the Egyptian Nile. What ensued in the last two centuries has completely stripped the Egyptians, as well as the other inhabitants of the Nile basin, of their primary resource- the Nile. The British constructed several dams in the 19th century around Cairo (located on the river’s delta) in order to provide additional water for Egyptian farmers to use during the long dry season. This project surmounted many expectations and caused a frenzy of dam building that gradually began involving larger and larger reservoirs/dams that were located ever further south.
Effects of river damming are tremendous in the long-term. Firstly, reservoirs begin to lose capacity as silt starts to settle in the reservoirs bed. Gradually, a dam’s reservoir will lose it’s ability to retain water, the very reason it was built. In the Nile’s case, the annual flooding lost it’s rejuvenating quality where it washed the soil clean of salts and returned nutrients brought from downstream. The increasing agricultural sector around the Nile is using more and more pesticides to counter the detrimental affects of salt-saturation (caused from salt build-up due to irrigation). This in turn adds to the pollution in the Nile.
Pollution in the Nile can be traced by looking at the population explosions taking place in these Saharan countries. After damming the Nile to form Lake Nassar, Egypt experienced a surge in it’s population from the profits made in the booming agricultural sector. Soon thereafter, Sudan and Ethiopia followed in Egypt’s lead and began damming their Nile tributaries in order to gain what Egypt had already. As each countries populations increased, so did the amount of strain on the river. Industrial waste, domestic sewage, and other untreated wastes are regularly released into the Nile. On top of this over-fishing and migratory route disruption (from damming) has proved disastrous for fish schools in the Nile.
Currently, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan are learning to cope with their sole source of freshwater. Dam designs have been improved, but their environmental effects not eradicated. Pollution and over-fishing are slowly being dealt with but are in need of strong infrastructures to enforce legislation.
1- What justifies Egypt having the lion’s share of the water when little if none of it actually came from it’s land?
2- What are some ways that Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan can share the Nile?
3- Should a international organization help deal with geo-environmental issues that span several political borders?
Jon Bass
Global Spartan
Wild Life in Africa
The Elephant is one of the rulers of the African plain. Many things such as open, unregulated African markets which fuel the illegal poaching industry, and park rangers patrolling vast acres with no means of communication, have been hurting the effort to protect this wild species. There have been many plans put in place to keep them safe and thriving. These plans range from sauces to crack downs on poaching, to the usage of Motorola radio handsets.
In 1997 Loki Osborn implemented his new found method of keeping crops from being eaten by elephants and other crop consuming mammals in the Zambezi Valley, which straddles the borders of Zimbabwe and Zambia. “Chili peppers are unpalatable to crop-raiding mammals, so they give farmers an economically feasible means of minimizing damage to their investments”, said Osborn, project director for the EPDT. He calls his idea Elephant Pepper. While other deterrents, such as electric fences, keep the elephants out of crops they are too expensive and hurt the animals’ as well. Chilies provide farmers with a cost-effective means of warding off the elephants without inflicting them with permanent damage.
Until now, park rangers have had no means of communication with one another. Thanks to Motorola, Inc. and AWF, that’s about to change. The African Wildlife Foundation has delivered 41 Motorola radio handsets to the warden and rangers of Samburu National Reserve, supplying the tools to ensure the park will stay connected while the wildlife remain protected. “We are extremely grateful to Motorola for its generosity,” says Mitchell, “and we hope this is the beginning of a long conservation partnership in which we can work together to provide fully-equipped communication networks.” Observation posts that operate around the clock to prevent poaching have been helped incredibly by the Reliable radio network links. Results from conservation efforts, using fully equipped communication networks, have been remarkable, and not just for elephants, In Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater, rhino populations have stabilized for the first time in twenty years. The radios also allow scouts to quickly report threats to elephants or to anti-poaching staff working to protect them.
Sorry the last post was mine.
————Brynley Q.
Part I; Summary
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), formed in 1987, has continued to send the country of Uganda into constant brutality. The groups leader, Joseph Kony, has sent his followers throughout the country to kidnap children, perform harsh attacks on villages, plant land mines, and steal the belongings from anyone they came in contact with. The group has kidnapped at least 14,000 children since the beginning of the year 2000 and of the 14,000 most were either killed, sold or traded, or kept to fight for the LRA.
The evil groups causes for these attacks seem unknown as of now, but the government has tried many times to converse with these leaders to get answers for the rest of the country. The Ugandan government has recieved at least two messages from the leader of the LRA posing peace amoung the two, but “government officials said they do not believe that Kony is serious, since he has not named a negotiating team and chose to call a radio station rather than the direct goverment phone line he has been given,” (ABC-CLIO 1).
Over the past sixteen years this “genocide” has faced everything from potential peace talks, to plans to kill the Leaders of the LRA, to more than one truce purposed by Uganda. President Yoweri Museveni has made many attempts to end the vicious and random attacks against the citizens of Uganda, but nothing has seemed to pull through for the benefit of this country.
Part II; Citation
“President Announces Plans to Kill Rebel Leaders. (2003)”
“Rebel Leader Calls for Peace Talks. (2002)”
“Uganda Signs Truce with Rebel Group. (2006)”
“Lord’s Resistance Army.”
5. “Uganda: Strife Rekindled in North.” Facts On File World News Digest 16 May 1996. Facts On File World News Digest @ FACTS.com.Facts On File News Service. 11 Oct. 2006 http://www.2facts.com.>
“Uganda: Strife Rekindled in North. (1996)”
Part III; Discussion Questions
1. What else do you think the government of Uganda could do to prevent the malicious attacks and provide safety for the citizens of its country?
2. What could be the possible reasons for Joseph Kony to be performing these attacks?
3. How could the Ugandan army retrive all of the kidnapped peoples from the LRA?
4. If you were President Yoweri Museveni and you had the option of either ending the countries misery but had to give up your thrown to Kony or keeping the misery in the country but trying your best to devise a plan against Kony, what would you do and why?
Morocco has an interestingly diverse environment. Morocco is surrounded by a long coastline on one sideand the Sahara Desert on the other. THe Atlas mountains run the length of the country near its center. While the mountains separate an area of farmable land from the desert, they have not traditionally been a barrier from invaders. Serveral times over the past 1000 years, groups of invaders have come from the desert into Morocco major coastal cities to take politcal control. While the farmable areas in north near the city of Fes have gone through periods of intense drought, the areaaround Casablanca remained green with plenty of rain. Agriculture employs half of the popultaion and with few other industries, development of economy, means that many irrigation projects with dams and water mangement being important. On the desert side of the mountains in the area of the hamada which is a place so hot and dry that the rocks turn black, the only agriculture is done where there are oasas and seasonal river valleys where springs water runoff from the Atlas mountains. This water is collected by small earthen banks. Plants that exist in dry conditions are being planted to hold back the push of desertification.
On the west side of the mountains, an almost alpine climate exists with much water, snow in the mountains, and forests of Atlas cedar trees. WHile some of these trees are protected, trees in other areas are the only source of fuel for people in areas like the Todra Gorge on the desert side. People in this area travel father an father to get wood for fuel, but don’t plant new trees which take a long time to grow and won’t be of immediate benefit. With fewer trees, the soil erodes and desert sand moves in.
The major industry is mining of phosphates with some oil production. These industries can help destroy areas with fragile ecosystems.
Questions:
1. Is it better to export food and use the money for other things or feed the country with food grown there?
2. Is it worth it to become dependant on aid from Western countries for the machinery for irrigtion systems that help grow more crops?
3. Is it good to re-establish animals for their meat or milk in dry areas where they eat almost all the vegetation and contribute to the desertification process?
4. How can the government turn back the desertification process?
5. Is it better to recover oil and mine for phosphates even if it add to the problem of desertification and harms fragile desert ecosystems?
Works cited:
"Agriculture." Mincom. Apr. 2006. 15 Oct. 2006 .
"The fight against desertification." Eden Foundation. Summer 2006. 15 Oct. 2006 .
"Morocco." WorldinFozone. Fall 2006. 15 Oct. 2006 . "Environmental policy in Morocco." Netcomuk. Oct. 2006. 15 Oct. 2006 http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/jpap/weid.htm. - Torri C
Agriculture is the major resource that Sudan finds to make money. Agriculture makes up about 40% of Sudan’s GDP which is a problem because they rely too heavily on agriculture. However the agricultures suffer in Sudan because the weather there is not great for growing crops. In Sudan it gets very hot and goes without any rain for weeks. With these kinds of droughts the crops do not grow which results in Sudan not making the money that they need. Agriculture is Sudan’s major way of making money to pay back debts that they owe.
Sudan has been in debt since 1970, they have been borrowing money form other countries for about 36 years. Sudan’s debt is about 28 million dollars that they have been borrowing for various countries, when they need money. Their debt has been growing as a result of their ongoing civil war between the northern government as well as the southern rebels. This war is mainly over power. This civil war going on in Sudan coast about one million dollars a day. Sudan owes so much money but they have no way to pay it back because of the war and their suffering economy. Sudan’s economy is so bad that majority of the people living there are poor or unemployed.
About 18% of the Sudanese people are unemployed however, 40% of the people are living in Sudan still “remain below the national poverty line” (Sudan). This manes that there are a good amount of people working however they are still not making enough money to pull themselves out of poverty. As a result of all of the poverty there is a “widening gap between the rich and the poor” (Ismail). Because of Sudan’s growing debt the money being made goes only to paying off the debt the countries expensive not towards helping to get their people out of poverty.
The money that Sudan makes is from their agriculture and livestock such as: Cotton, peanuts, sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sugarcane, mangos, papaya, bananas, sweet potatoes, sesame; sheep, livestock, oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, and sugar are the main crops, animals and products used keep the economy stabilized. They are use petroleum and oil exports to help to pull up their economy however most of this money goes towards the civil war of pay off old debts. Sudan has spent the late 30 years borrowing money, paying off debts and fight in a civil war. Sudan has a struggling economy that keeps getting worse by the minute because of the civil war. With out some ones help Sudan’s economy is going to keep getting worse.
Questions:
1) What are two reasons towards Sudan economy being so terrible?
2) What is the major resource Sudan uses to make money?
3) Why should Sudan not rely on agriculture as they biggest way of making money?
4) Who is involved in the civil war, and what is the reason for the war?
5) Sudan has been in debt for about 30 years. What do you think is the major reason contributing to their debt and why?
Citations:
“Sudan Country overview.” World Geography. Aug. 2006 .
“Sudan.” CIA World Fact Book. 19 Sept. 2006 .
"Sudan Economy - 2006." World Fact Book. June 2006 .
Erika I.
The economy of Ethiopia is basically based on agriculture. The major agricultural export crop is coffee which takes up about 65-75% of how much money they make in exports. They export about 105,000 metric tons of coffee each year. Currently coffee contributes 10% of Ethiopia’s GDP. Other exports include live animals, gold, hides, pulses, oilseeds, barley, wheat, corn, peas, potatoes, cotton and khat. Ethiopia’s agricultural problems include drought, soil degradation which is caused by overgrazing, deforestation, and poor infrastructure which is when it’s expensive to get goods to the market. Gold, marble, limestone and small amounts of tantalum are mined in Ethiopia. Some other resources in Ethiopia that could develop into major exports are potash deposits, natural gas, iron ore and possibly petroleum.
Ethiopia depends highly on oil that it imports even though it has good hydroelectric resources. Since the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea has landlocked Ethiopia, it relied heavily on the seaports from Assab and Massawa which are in Eritrea. Ethiopia currently uses the ports of Djibouti which is connected to Addis Ababa. Since Ethiopia has mountainous territory and the roads aren’t very sufficient it makes land transportation very difficult.
The values of imports are more important than exporting. Ethiopia depends on other countries for economic aid so that their able to feed all the people in their country. The major imports are good, petroleum and petroleum products, machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals and manufactured consumer goods. The leading trade partners with Ethiopia are Germany, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Japan.
Discussion Questions:
Links:
1. “Economy.” Infoplease. 10 October 2006.
2. “Economy of Ethiopia.” Wikipedia. 10 October 2006.
3. “Ethiopia: Country Overview.” World Geography. 26 September 2006.
-Christina Newsome
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome also known as AIDS has become an epidemic in South Africa. AIDS comes from HIV which an “estimated 5.3 million South Africans…[tested] HIV positive in 2003”( Global 1). In 2005 there were five and a half million people living with HIV and 1,000 people die from AIDS everyday. South Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 are the largest population that has been affected with HIV. Unlike the US heterosexual sex is the most common way for the infection to be transferred. However the rate homosexual sex is causing the disease sufferers rate to rise. A gay men’s association called the Triangle Project. In 2003 12 to 30 percent of gay men were living with HIV. “A study conducted in Durban in 2006 suggested that the HIV prevalence among Homosexuals was 33%”(HIV 5). This statistic is so high because studies have shown that this group does not use condoms. Women are another group that have a high rate of having the infection. There are two major reasons for this one is because “…women and girls in south Africa are often unable to negotiate safer sex and are frequently involved with men who have a number of sexual partners”(HIV 8). Also women are very venerable to rape and abuse. In 2004-2005 there were 55,114 cases of rape in South Africa. Although a pill was developed called Post-exposure prophylaxis if this pill is taken within 72 hours after being raped the chances of contracting the disease is significantly reduced. The women are having children and bring another generation of AIDS into this world. There are 50,000 children in South Africa living with AIDS. Because this disease is fatal many women die before their kids are eighteen causing them to become orphans.
The US and South African government has been very active in trying to prevent the rate of deaths from rising. They have done many surveys to try to help them to analyze the situation. The problem is that the government did not take the spread of the virus seriously until it began to “accelerate rapidly”(HIV 2). The government also has not helped the non-governmental organizations to educate homosexual population which is another reason why the infection rate in that population is so high. The president of South Africa named Thabo Mbeki has begin to put out to the people that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. He refuses to believe that HIV is caused by AIDS. “…he argues that HIV is just one factor among many that might contribute to deaths resulting from immunodeficiency, alongside others such poverty and poor nutrition”(HIV 6). The US has also begun to try to help the South Africans Suffering from AIDS. They have created an emergency plan.
There have been many groups that have tried to educate the population in South Africa about AIDS/HIV. There is a weekly radio program that reaches 1.7 million people. Another group called USG which partners with Soul City Institute of Health and Communications to created illustrated booklets to help educate people about HIV/AIDS. There is also another group called LoveLife which is the most “…prominent HIV prevention campaign carried out by South Africa” (HIV 5). It was launched in 1999 and has reduced the rate of teenage pregnancy and HIV being sexually transmitted through among young South Africans. It is designed to network education through the media. It also operates a network of telephone lines, clinics and health centers. LoveLife has been been supported by many groups. “Some activist feels that the campaign is poorly targeted and ineffective” (HIV 5). In 2005 LoveLife suffered a big cut back when of the people that were backing them withdrew their funds. They did this because they said that the “…campaign ‘was deemed to not have sufficiently addresses weaknesses in it’s implementations’” (HIV 5). HIV/AIDS has become a major problem in South Africa.
Questions
1. Has the government done all that they can to help prevent the disease?
2. What has been done to educate the people in South Africa?
3. Do you think that LoveLife has helped with prevention or is it a waist of time and money?
4. Do you agree or disagree with President Thabo Mbeki?
5. What is the largest group suffering from AIDS?
Citations
Global AIDS Program (GAP).” Centers for Disease Contol and Prevention . 27 Feb.
2006. Departmant of Health and Human Services . 10 Oct. 2006
.
HIV & AIDS in South Africa. Mar. 2006. 10 Oct. 2006
.
“South Africa .” AIDS Foundation . 2005. 13 Oct. 2006
http://www.aids.org.
Jamie Isaac
Part I Summary
Cote d’Ivoire is known around the world for being one of the leading exporters and producers of beans, palm oil, cocoa, and coffee. These and other agricultural products help to take up about 68% of the countries economy. Cocoa takes up about 90% of foreign exchange earnings but this number is being threatened by rebels. Northern rebels who would smuggle cocoa they had into neighboring countries to sell for a higher price is going to potentially bring the cocoa harvest down from 10% to 20%. This dependency on farmed goods does not help the country due to constant changes in prices for these products and of course the always changing weather.
In November 2004 an already rough political situation worsened when troops of President Gbagbo killed nine French peacekeepers. In 2005 more political unrest continued to worsen the economy, “with fear among Ivorians spreading, foreign investment shriveling, French businesses and experts fleeing, travel within the country falling, and criminal elements that traffic in weapons and diamonds gaining ground (CIA).”
Recently Cote d’Ivoire has been involved in an illicit diamond production scandal. In 2005, the same year when the countries political stability seemed to be the worst, unlawful activities were suspected to be going on in Northern Cote d’Ivoire, the illicit production and trading of rough diamonds.
Part II Works Cited
“Cote d’Ivoire.” CIA: The World Factbook. 15 Oct. 2006. https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iv.html>.
“Economic Overview.” CountryWatch.com. 15 Oct. 2006. http://www.countrywatch.com>
“Kimberly Process Resolution on Illicit Diamond Production.” Rapaport News. 15 Oct. 2006. http://www.diamonds.net/news/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=13716.>
Part III Discussion Questions
1. What recommendations do you have for the Ivorian government when doing with the Northern rebels who are affecting their cocoa production?
2. How should Cote d’Ivoire begin to transform from a agriculturally based economy to a more diverse economy?
3. How can the government keep foreign investments from deteriorating and foreign business from leaving?
4. How can the government keep tourism up and travel within the country from ceasing to exist?
5. What recommendations do you have for the Ivorian government in the illegal diamond trading situation going on in Cote d’Ivoire?
-Dylan L.
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