Monday, February 1, 2010
Semester 2 Oratory Thread (Respond here for Oral Presentations)
For your oral presentations this semester, you will need to do two "Research Lites" and post them to this comment thread. I have started one below as an example. You will be evaluated on the insight of your comments, and your accompanying write-up. You will give a 1-2 minute oral presentation; to prepare for Research Lites, you will do academic internet research on a topic of your choosing relevant to a unit of study. Areas include: Africa, the Middle East, India, China/Japan, and Latin America. Topics vary, and should include current events. One great source may be online news articles, or other outside reading you have done. This may be scholarly research (from the library databases page)—you may NOT use Wikipedia or non-academic/news internet sites. These may be a good place to start, but you need to use authoritative research. This will be similar to (but not identical to) your powerpoint group presentations, on a much smaller scale. Your posting should include the source of the research.
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Research Lite Model: "Sprucing up the dead..."
ReplyDeleteLink to article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100124/ap_on_re_as/as_fea_taiwan_dead_end
This article regarding the booming--and at first glance, "bizarre"--mortuary business in Taiwan brings to mind the conversations we've had in class about the importance of death rituals in different cultures. A couple of things to note: First, rituals have a great deal of power and significance to those participating in them. Since time immemorial, man has wondered about his existence, and about the nature of the universe; ancient cultural myths from any culture bear this out. Usually, you can find a story explaining death, or exploring what happens to a person after death, in the afterlife. This is one very important way in which the death ritual is very important to us--it helps us speculate about the unknown. We saw this in the classic Western era--death was integral to the hero's ascension and assumption of that title; we noticed a lack of this in the ancient Middle Eastern story of Gilgamesh--in that culture, death help no promise, so it's fitting that there would be no focus on elaborate ritual. However, a second idea to note is that the death ritual (or funeral, for us) is more for the survivors than for the deceased, especially in modern times. This helps give us closure on the culmination of the life of the departed; indeed, even though we can leave our wishes for what happens to our remains, we ultimately will not be left with the responsibility of handling or executing them--our survivors will.
While it may seem somewhat bizarre to us that the Taiwanese would go to such lengths to create this industry, it should make sense to us when looked at from that context. This is not only a way for them to honor their dead, which is a strong part of their culture, but also a way to give a sense of closure to those that live on. What compels them is the same force that drives us to where gowns for graduations, to dress us for wedding ceremonies, to bake cakes for birthdays--there is a power in the ritual, even if it's only the power that we as members of the culture give to it.
Katie Coutermarsh
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World lit (6)
February 8, 2010
Cultured camping
This article is published by the American camping association. At first glance, I wondered, what does camping have to do with cultural differences? But soon after reading, the article makes point of some very common yet subtle characteristics of different cultures. The purpose of the article is to educate camp leaders on how to communicate and understand campers from other countries. Although intended for camp counselors, many of the suggestions could be highly useful in understanding someone from another culture on a day-to-day basis. The basic theme of this article is that you must think of other cultures perspectives on simple things, rather than assuming that they will view the subject in the same way.
The article discusses the variety of meanings behind smiles, answers, communication, eye contact, and food preferences among different cultures. One very good point made in the article is that when talking to someone who doesn’t understand you, raising your voice and getting angry will do nothing to benefit the situation. Instead they say to attempt to act or simplify what you are trying to say. An example of a simple custom of Americans, is to eat corn, when to many around the world ,corn is only fed to livestock. If a camp leader was to offer the corn this gesture could be taken as highly offensive. It is in everyday society that people overlook the tiniest of things that are normal to you but that can be misinterpreted by another culture. It is for that reason, that we all must take the time to understand the standpoint and perspectives of other cultures.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1249/is_4_73/ai_64519577/pg_2/?tag=content;col1
ReplyDeletethis is from katie ^^^ thats the article i ddi my research lite on
Research Lite: "Dubai says Hamas Man Killed ..."
ReplyDeleteJon Miller
Mr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
15 February 2010
Hamas Man Killed by European Hit Squad
If you have ever watched a C.S.I. television show, or any program dealing with a murder mystery, you see how far a killer must go to make sure he remains anonymous to the police and government. Recently, a group of eleven European hit men (and one woman) murdered a Hamas man in his hotel room in Dubai, and like C.S.I., they were very discrete and acted like normal tourists with tennis rackets, yet quickly fleeing the country and paying for everything in cash to make sure they could not be traced. But through and through, and big question must be asked: “Why go through so much effort, time, and ultimate risk to kill one ordinary man?” Creating plans for months and acting discrete is difficult to get by the security of the world today, especially after terrorist attacks like 9/11. It had been said, however, that this Hamas man, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, was involved in the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 and helped to smuggle rockets into the Gaza Strip. May this be a reason for his death? Authorities are still unsure, but ultimately, there is a bigger picture.
The word is called revenge. Its definition: to take vengeance for; inflict punishment for; avenge. But is it really necessary? Our world lives together on the same soil and same planet. The Israeli government had to have sent these eleven men to kill the Hamas man, but why? And because of this, “Hamas has accused Israel and vowed revenge.” There is no God in this world that believes in revenge or retaliation. Even our follower, Jesus Christ, believed in the saying, “An eye for an eye.” If you are hit on one cheek, do not hit back, but turn your other cheek. Yes, you may be angry and want another person to feel your pain, but would you rather them die or you look like an amazing and sincere person? It is not human to be perfect and live without mistakes, as long as we learn from them and ensure that we will not make the same error. With a single blow of retaliation, wars can begin, conflicts will arise, and in this case, countries and citizens are torn apart, resulting in an everlasting hatred.
This article, Future History from the EBONY magazine connects to our studies this year about culture and how important it is in a society. February the month of Black History takes the time to honor those and commemorate all of the amazing things that have been done by African American women and men. This one-month is responsible for holding and sharing thousands of accomplishments done by the Black Community. Earlier in our unit we learned about Africa and how that country has endured so many hardships, an apartheid government, starvation, poverty, and most importantly genocide. The interesting fact is, even though Africa still faces these struggles today, Africa is the worlds top growth market. From 2003 to 2008 the numbers have greatly increased in mobile subscriptions from 54 million to 350 million. It seems crazy for a country without clean water to have cell phones in many peoples hands all around. As it may be the perception of disaster, it’s on the verge to reality of booming success. Nigeria and Angola, two countries in Africa rich with oil and ethanol, are becoming so important as oil producing nations. As the ancestors of Africa, Black America has strongly improved and increased in almost everything. From Emmett Tills death which inspired Rosa Parks to stand up for her seat on the bus to Halle Berry winning the first Oscar as an African American women, these famous moments in history are all shared and remembered during this sacred month of February. Why should it only be remembered in one month? It shouldn’t. The multiracial group of America has become one of the countries fastest growing demographic groups and has increased since the last census in 2000 by 33%. America is a quilt, a melting pot of many different kinds of people. The diversity of our country is so strong but it was a long journey with sweat and tears throughout our history. As the Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American history and culture, Lonnie Bunch, Ph. D. strongly encourages us to remember, “Nothing is more powerful than a nation steeped in its history. Nothing is more dangerous than forgetting.”
ReplyDeleteNatalie Savini
ReplyDeleteFranklin
World Literature (5)
February 18, 2010
When you think of racism, you usually think of someone that "hates" a certain race and wishes to rid of it or avoid it. When looking at someone who has those thoughts, you probably feel like that person is evil or rude, but what if psychologists found racism to be a mental illness? In the article they mention that a mental illness is classified as; a behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual. Wouldn't you say that disliking a certain type of person whether it be Black, White, Asian etc. is a pattern? Someone who is "racist" probably does not even know half of the people he/she discriminates yet they still feel resentment towards them. To me that seems like a pattern that one doesn’t just pick up on. At the same time, you have to consider the Holocaust when tons of people came together to exterminate the Jews. Many people developed a hate towards the Jews, which challenges that it is a mental disorder because how could it be that such a large amount of people developed a mental disorder at the same time. Maybe researchers need to narrow it down to the specifics because saying all racism is something one cannot control seems pretty radical. Also, a lot of times it is seen that children are more "colorblind" than adults; they don’t pick up on racial differences. So if it was an illness, maybe it develops over time? Alongside the topic of racism is sexism, ageism, etc., so are psychologists going to say that those things are mental diseases as well? I think this topic needs more research, but it is an interesting idea.
http://www.thefamuanonline.com/opinions/is-racism-a-mental-disorder-1.2152636
Megan Linney
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit. (6)
February 18, 2010
Women’s Rights
God made Adam before Eve, so does that mean that males are the dominant gender on earth? Not necessarily, but that is the way that the different genders are portrayed by society. Women are known for being property, housewives, soccer moms, teachers, caregivers, etc. However how were they given that title? What made society say, “Men, you’re more important than women. You deserve to be seen as the stronger sex and therefore dominate over the women.” Nothing. It’s a human assumption that we all make that shapes our global society, and the way different genders are treated. This isn’t as prevalent in the United States because women here are given many more opportunities and chances than girls of other parts of the world. Women can become doctors, lawyers, politicians, firefighters, writers, CEOs, or pretty much whatever else their hearts desire. In unison with these rights, men, for the most part, are accepting of the idea that women shouldn’t be shown any subordination to the opposite gender. However in other countries, the women aren’t as fortunate as they are in the United States.
In Iran, Parliament’s legal committee jut approved of a bill that diminished women’s rights to an even greater extent. Women in Iran and the Middle East already have fewer rights than those women of other countries, but for the government to take away more of their rights is simply cruel. The rights that the government would be altering regard marriage laws. Iranian Parliament wants to allow a man to acquire multiple wives, without the consent of the original, if she is gone for more than six months. Thankfully, about 1,200 Iranians signed a petition against the bill. Women are a large part of this petition and have been running protests since June, the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The people in Parliament are supporting this bill because they’re all men, and those individuals against the new bill are predominantly women. It really is going to be a battle of the sexes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/world/middleeast/18iran.html?sq=women%20rights&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=print
Sean Downey
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature p. 6
February 18, 2010
Last Monday a Hamas military leader who was vacationing in Dubai, was found dead in his room one day in to his stay. Camera footage shows 10 men and one woman together in the lobby and walking around together. Each of these people stayed in different hotels, and paid in cash. These 11 people stole the identity of people all over the world in order to not be caught. The assassination of al-Mabhouh was linked to Israel as an act of revenge. Al-Mabhouh was involved in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers. He also was involved in helping smuggle rockets into the Ganza Strip. The Israelis truly did not like al-Mabhouh, because they felt like he got off free from those incidents. The Israeli government is under surveillance for the killing. Rather than rising above, and taking the higher road, the Hamas have vowed for revenge. This statement shows that they will attack back in some way. By doing so this feud between the two countries will keep going until one mature government stops it.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=9841796
Gabrielle Vasquez
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
21 February 2010
Women in the Workforce
This article found in the December 2009 issue of The Economist highlights one of the biggest social changes happening in our economy today, women gradually taking over the workforce. Many of the opinions expressed throughout the article are closely tied back to our recent discussion in class about the roles of women and men in society.
In our discussion we identified stereotypes of both genders, some of which are no longer prevalent in society today. As proven by this article, the role of women in the workforce has radically changed and broken down many negative stereotypes.
A few generations ago, women were commonly subjected to sexism and confined to boring and repetitive jobs. It was the norm for women to abandon their careers once they married and had children. However, times have changed and here are some promising statistics: the American workforce is over 50% female, the majority of university graduates are females, and women run some of the world’s greatest companies like PepsiCo in America.
Although it is quite a revolution, not all societies are willing to accept women’s prolific presence in the workforce. Many Arab countries, Japan, and some southern European countries have tried to resist the trend. American society as a whole has mostly embraced women in the workforce, but there is still more we can do. Women are under-represented at the top of companies and are paid significantly less than men on average. Overall, the progress women have made in the recent decades of breaking down barriers in the workforce is commendable. We must also ask ourselves the question: what about the men? Are they getting left behind?
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15174489
The article I've researched is called Defriending Facebook from the New York Times magazine Upfront. The article talks about the negative impact facebook has bestowed upon young teens all over the world. A reported 350 million facebook users use facebook spend 10 billion minutes everyday. So someone had to make a stand, thats when Halley Lamberson and Monica Reed step in. These two girls made a pact to help each other to resist logging into facebook. More and more people all over the world have discovered the magic of facebook. Some may say it's bad and others may say its good. But investing time into something online normally doesn't help benefit ones life. This article relates to the our Middle East lesson about the philosopher/poet Rumi. Rumi was respectively the world's best poet so to speak. He saw the assets of one's life such as: work, stress, and rejection as a big distraction and wanted people to realize the true beauty of what the world really offers like: love, opening up, romance, nature, and freedom. Facebook can be seen as a big distraction--meaning one's life can be solely based upon posting their feelings with the world and feeling rejection as appose to seeing the world with an open mind.
ReplyDeleteThomas Peters
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin (2)
World Literature
28 February 2010
Unrest Persists over Israeli claim to shrine
Research Lite
This past Thursday in the city of Hebron in the west bank more bitter conflicts between Palestinians and Israeli’s ensued. The conflicts are in no way new to any people of the two cultures. In this incidence the shrine, “Cave of the Patriarchs” is the center of the dispute. The cave of the patriarchs is recognized highly by Jews, Muslims, and Christians as the birthplace of Abraham, his wife Sarah, as well as other matriarchs and patriarchs as the name of the cave implies. The site of the cave is a prospect for a Jewish heritage site which enrages Muslims and Palestinians because Abraham or father Abraham with many sons is revered as a prophet in Islam. Due to these disagreements dozens of Palestinian youths have been quarrelling with Israeli forces for four days as of last Thursday. Despite attacks including tear gas, stun grenades, rocks, and burning tires, no serious injuries have been sustained on either side. The attacks over the shrine are no new occurrence. In 1994 an American born Israeli shot 29 Muslims who were praying in the shrine. The news of the conflicts are the same conflicts over territory we have heard about throughout this semester. The conflicts started in 1948 but actually have much deeper roots than that. Tension has come in forms of peaceful civil disobedience to widespread violence leading to casualties on both sides of the argument. As evidenced, this article proves to us the conflicts are still very much alive and have yet to be solved.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/world/middleeast/26hebron.html?ref=middleeast
Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Margret Thatcher, Corazon Aquino, all these women were all great figures throughout History. However societies today are beginning to pick up bad habits. Women are being striped from their basic given rights such as the women in South Korea. These women who are well educated aren't getting as much opportunity to put use of that knowledge into the workforce. Numbers is a key factor in the society and only 45 percent of women were employed as appose to 70 percent of men. These unfair actions have been existing for years and may continue unless society learns to realize that women are equal to men and are very capable and competent of any type of occupation a man could do.
ReplyDeleteKatie Coutermarsh
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World lit (6)
February 28, 2010
http://www.mixedmediawatch.com/2006/06/06/crayolas-efforts-to-dismantle-racism/
http://www.crayola.com/colorcensus/history/chronology.cfm
The article I chose to respond to is regarding a crayola crayons name change. Although this name change seems very unimportant and minimal, it was a rather large issue that had to revert back to the U.S civil rights movements. The name change was from “flesh” to “peach.” The crayon was a light color. The fact that the crayons name was flesh was disturbing to many. It signified that the color of the crayon was the color of skin. When in reality if I said flesh it would categorize a multitude of colors from different ethnicities. Many complaints were made about this stereotyping of skin color. The manufacturer quickly responded changing the name to peach. Many school teachers have commented on how the name “flesh” gave young ethnic students the idea that if they were not that color they were outside of the social norm. Crayola has also changed other colors considered controversial such as Indian red. The unconscious impact that crayola has on kids with identifying colors is huge, especially since they are at a young age. It is important that the name of the colors remain culturally friend. Since the problems with the “flesh” color, Crayola has released a special case of markers and crayons that are “skin ton friendly” and are “specific to certain cultures.”
Andie Stager
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
March 2, 2010
Oral Presentation
I came across this article called “Hamas Founder’s Son: I Spied for Israel.” Its about how the son of a founder of the Hamas Palestinian militant group. He had gathered information about Hamas terrorist attacks and shared them with the Israeli military. I thought this was interesting because it ties in with our Middle East unit by talking about the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis, and their fight for land. I think its interesting because we learned about this conflict while learning about the literature, and even though some of the literature we studied was old, this conflict is still going on today. I also thought this article connected with what we are taught at Mitty, especially through Mitty, which is to love everyone, even your enemies. As Mosab Yousef tells the reporter, “Later on, I became a Christian, during that time, the first few months, and I was convinced by the principle of loving your enemies. And I saw that my enemy, who I thought that they were my enemies, they had morality, they had their responsibilities more than my own people.”
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/02/hamas.spy/index.html
Daniel Phan
ReplyDeleteFranklin
World Literature (2)
6 March 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hxAApIEcowv7gsPdOVRueWisUyvA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100306/wl_sthasia_afp/indiapoliticswomen_20100306101103
India Strives for Equality
For my research lite, I found an article about India’s pursuit to increase the social and economical development of women in their society. They are attempting to do is to pass a bill guaranteeing women one-third of the seats in their parliament. Right now, there are only 59 women in India’s lower house out of 545 seats, and only 21 women out of 250 seats in its upper house. The passing on this bill would dramatically increase women’s participation in India’s politics. Though there are many people who oppose this idea, the ruling Congress Party in India is determined to pass the bill. I think that India is setting a great example to other countries around the world that shelter women from its politics. It shows that the world’s largest democracy is advancing forward and making progress towards a less male-dominant, just, and nondiscriminatory society. This is a major step forward for India, a country that has one of the world’s most skewed sex ratios in favor of boys. In the World Economic Forum report in 2009, India was ranked 114th out of 134 countries in terms of female life expectancy, health, and education. Though India still has much to do to achieve gender equality in their society, they are taking the right steps toward this goal.
Jon Miller
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
07 March 2010
Angry elephants in Kerala, India
If you were listening to the news and heard that a tiger, lion, or any jungle animal had gotten loose and been running free from city to city, you would be pretty scared and want to stay inside protective doors. However, if you heard that an elephant had gotten loose, would you be as scared, especially if it was an animal that your society uses in festivals and daily rituals? In the country of India, specifically the state of Kerala, elephants are used on a daily bases and participate in “more than 10,000 festivals every year.” Elephants to these people are like dogs and cats to Americans. In Kerala, however, these elephants have started to become very aggressive and angry, killing 212 people in the past 12 years. These elephants are rented out for parades and festivals, and everyday they have to suffer crackers being set off, travel long distances in ramshackle open vehicles, and walk around tarred roads in the scorching sun for hours on end. In fact, some say that renting out elephants is a profitable business. Many elephants have died recently because they have had to face hardships, little sleep, and torture. The elephants that survive, however, have been killing humans, even though they are very humane animals.
These hardships, nonetheless, lead to a much larger picture dealing with captivity among living creatures. “Renting out elephants” may sound normal, but it is no different than saying, “Renting out humans.” The world may be a world of humans, but does that necessarily mean it is “our world?” We have brains, but they have brains. We have hearts, and they have hearts as well. The only thing that separates us is our shape and color, but why does that matter at all? We came to this world in God’s image, and so did every animal alive. How would you feel if animals had the ability to contain humans? Would you enjoy being forced to work long hours, receive daily torture, and at the end of every day, be locked away by yourself, or locked in an inhumane area? Animals are no different to humans, and without animals, our society would not run the same because as a whole, we are dependent on animals. For example, we depend on dogs in the police force for locating criminals. We depend on bumblebees for pollinating and bringing color to our world. We depend on cows for milk, pigs for bacon, chickens for eggs, and all this to please the human race. We must never forget the other lives in this world, no matter what shape or form, and remember that without them, we can no longer call this planet “earth.”
Christopher Lamelas
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
03/ 08/ 10
Research Lite : Palestinian Conflict
As we have been learning in our class, there have been debates and fights regarding the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. It all started in the late 1800's when a movement called political Zionism happened, which was basically an attempt at placing Jewish people somewhere. The area they chose was Palestine, which would soon have a new area called Israel. Both sides believed that this area was rightfully theirs. Even though the land was currently occupied by Palestinians, the Jewish people believed that this was the land that their ancestors settled on. Even after one hundred years of fighting, they are still having trouble to this day with this conflict. Just recently, Palestinian leaders agreed to hold a United States-mediated peace talk with the Israelis. This talk would break the silence that they have had for over fourteen months. Although this is an argument between the Palestinians and Israelis, others have tried to help work it out, such as the United States, who are holding the meeting, and the Arab League, who are endorsing the meetings. Even though they are having peace talks, the Palestinians are skeptical of the Israelis and ask them to do certain things. They had rules such as a complete freeze of the Israeli Settlement construction. Another rule they came up with was to have a form of indirect talking. This would provide political cover, as well as preventing a fight to break out in the middle. With this process though, they will have to have a representative from the United States going back and forth between both of the government offices. Even though the Palestinians are having these peace talks, some believe that there is no chance for peace and they have to make decisions quickly.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123942365&ft=1&f=1001
ReplyDeleteTaliban fighters are mounting a tougher fight than expected in Marjah, Afghanistan even though they are outnumbered and outgunned. The newly appointed civilian chief for Marjah said for the first time since the attack that he would begin trying to restore Afghan government control. Usually the Taliban would leave behind many explosives when running, which they did, but surprisingly a considerable amount of militants stayed behind to fight as well. This was the reason for the surprisingly tough fight that our troops are currently facing. On Sunday, February 21, 2010 one service member died in a roadside bombing, bringing the number of international troops killed in the operation to 13. The Marjah operation is a major test of a new NATO strategy. It stresses protecting civilians over finding and taking out insurgents quickly. Since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan it is one of the first major ground operations. This way of fighting is being considerate of the people living there, rather than the need to rid the area of the insurgents.
Article: "Should Public Schools Offer Single-Sex Education?" by Kathy Piechura-Couture, and Kim Gandy in the New York Times "Upfront" article.
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Should Public Schools Offer Single-Sex Education,” by Kathy Piechura-Couture and Kim Gandy, it shows the debate between whether or not boys and girls should be in the same classroom. On the “Yes” side, it says that boys and girls benefit from being in a single-sex classroom because there is a lot less pressure of impressing the opposite sex. Therefore, more boys feel confident about taking art or drama classes, and girls with more technology filled classes. On the other hand, the “No” side talks about how single-sex classrooms are not beneficial. The reason behind this is that it provides an unequal opportunity for both genders, which goes against the Constitution (all are created equal).
In my opinion, I agree with the opposition side of the debate. I believe that boys and girls should be allowed to be in the same classroom because it can help us to deal with social issues, and it can help us balance our lives. Also, it will help people be more prepared for the outside world. If boys and girls are separated for most of their lives, it will be more difficult to interact with each other in the world outside of school. Having the opposite gender going to one’s school can help with speaking and communication skills, and the friendships will be more diverse. I disagree with the proposition side because in my opinion, I do not think it would benefit a certain gender group. It all depends on how good the teacher is, and if the kids want to learn. I also think that having a single-sex classroom is not equal at all because it promotes the stereotypes of how men are superior to women. Men still today have more opportunities than women, and the two genders going to different schools promote that. However, it may be beneficial to the students now because there is not much of a distraction, but I believe that it would hurt them in the long run because they do not have as much experience with working together with the opposite sex as opposed to going to a classroom with both genders.
"South Africa: Gender Loses Out in Basic Education Crisis" by Ann Hellman
ReplyDeletehttp://www.globalissues.org/news/2010/03/11/4819
This article, “South Africa: Gender Loses Out in Basic Education Crisis,” explains the issue of gender inequality, as well as the hardships of the economy. In many parts of Africa, water, education, and good food is hard to come by, and because of these problems with the economy, the issue of gender inequality is being postponed. In classrooms now in Africa, there are over 60 students per classrooms. Sometimes, there are even 90 students. However, the government will not allow more teachers for the kids because it costs too much money. Since the government is not focusing on the gender dilemma, principals at the schools are able to deny girls who have gotten pregnant from ever returning to that school. More girls than boys are forced into secondary schools. With all of the other problems that are hurting Africa, people have not even started to consider the inequality between men and women yet, even though it is a huge issue to think about.
I think this article does a really good job of showing the hardships that Africa has to go through. However, I disagree with the statement about how people are not considering the gender issue. I believe that people should start considering it because it could ease some of the difficulties that Africa has. The economic problem is going to last for a long time, but I believe that the government should at least start in the process of fixing the inequality issue. For the girls getting pregnant statement of the article, I think that it is unfair for the principals to kick them out of the school even though they already had their babies. The article explained that girls are getting raped constantly because they are in such poor neighborhoods. It is not their fault that they got pregnant. I do not believe that they should be denied their basic education rights for something that is not their own fault, especially when the staff at the school has been raping the girls. I also think that because of these insecurities the girls must have, they are affected by not doing as well in schools, therefore being forced into secondary schools. This is why the gender issue of inequality should quickly be brought up and on its way to be solved.
Dana Sever
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit (6)
March 2, 2010
Different Cultures
In the New York Times I found an article about the different views of what privacy is. It discussed how the idea of privacy in Europe is more centered on protecting information, images, and all personal things from being displayed to others. Here in America we have the same idea but because of our first amendment, we are more used to other peoples’ business being our business as well. We are less concerned about society seeing “private” things and more concerned about keeping the government out of our business and private lives. The controversy arose because of video that Google allowed to be shown on its site of a young challenged boy being teased. In Italy people felt that this was a violation of their personal privacy and did not approve of it being shared with everyone. The court originally sentenced the executives of Google to six months in prison but the charge was later suspended.
I found this idea of privacy being different to everyone, very interesting. Everyone develops their own idea of what others should know about them from experiences they have. Privacy almost becomes apart of the culture in a society and varies around the world. It is both a good thing because then we can monitor what we tell others and a challenge because for companies like Google, they have to decide how they incorporate all these cultures into one sight that serves people around the world. In years to come it will become more and more difficult for them to please everyone as their sight becomes more popular and offers more services as technologies advances.
Hanna Tannenbaum
ReplyDelete2/24/10
My first oratory project
As we read in the story of Kaffir Boy and Train to Rhodesia, both families in Africa lived in extreme poverty. Even though these stories are about times long ago, they still hold true to today. Africa’s economy is one of the most damaged in the entire world. They also hold some of the lowest income rates per year in the entire world. More than half the country makes less than 765 dollars per year. The average American makes about 28.000 dollars per year at the age of 25. This just goes to show how much poverty Africa is in. Africa has also been stripped of their natural resources, as in diamonds over the past years. Places like Botswana, who have middle wage income, also have severe cases of poverty that can be seen throughout the country. Ethiopia and Burundi have a national income of just 90 dollars a year. That’s less then some professions make in a day. The government and campaigners have had many discussions on how to fix the poverty in Africa, some of the options include things like campaigns to aid the poor and building new towns and homes for them. This is an ongoing process that may take years to resolve.
Hanna Tannenbaum
ReplyDeletehttp://nymag.com/nymetro/news/culture/features/11621/index2.html
In some countries in the world the idea of an arranged marriage is completely normal. Although here in America the idea seems a little out of the ordinary for most. In the article I read a young women of about 32 talked about arranged marriages that her Indian culture supports. I found it interesting how although her parents spend a lot of their time looking for a husband for her she doesn't even want to get married. In Indian culture she is already past the marriage threshold so her parents are becoming extremely worried. They also have specific requirements for men, they must be vegetarian. Although her parents are setting up an arranged marriage she is allowed to chose the man she wants to marry. In the end of the article she explains that arranged marriage is not as bad in America, but in any circumstance it is still an arranged marriage. I don't think I could ever have an arranged marriage, unless I was allowed to pick the man.
Tommy Soares
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit. (6)
03/09/10
Oral Report
Yesterday, the Indian parliament’s upper house passed a historic pro-women bill. This bill’s aim is to reserve one-third of the seats in India’s state and federal legislatures for women. The bill will next move to the lower house of India’s parliament, but there is no date set for when the bill will be debated there. There were many protests against this bill from lawmakers representing regional groups. The protesters were the minority because the bill passed with an overwhelming majority. “Political analysts said the small but fierce opposition to the bill is a sign of a duel between the country's regional and national politicians. This opposition is about regional politicians trying to preserve their regional monopolies." This article is important because it shows the great strides India is starting to take towards equal opportunity. It is important to note that India elected its first female president in 2007.
Maddie Moore
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
March 9, 2010
The Veil Being Worn in France
There has been a long debate about weather or not the veil should be banned from France State Schools, or if the women should have a choice if they want to wear the veil or if not. The primary group of girls that would be being told to not wear them are teenage girls. And as Marjane Satrapi says “when you are adolescent if you are told you cannot do something, you will surely do it.” Meaning if the country of France bans the veil some girls may still want to wear it just to show rebellion. Some people are saying that by banning the veil it is like what the Iranians did during the revolution by making them wear the veil and look a certain way for their “safety” when France is trying to do the same thing.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=489955231&SrchMod..OD&VType=PQD&TS=clientld=48926
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100314/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
ReplyDeleteJames Soares
The Obama administration was embarrassed last week when Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a plan to build 1,600 new homes for Jewish immigrants in Eastern Jerusalem. This was embarrassing because the plan was proposed only to Vice President Biden was present. The administration took it as an insult to not have Obama there. This event did not help the growing tension between Israel and the U.S. Even though Washington said that it could undermine the negotiating climate as indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are about to begin under U.S. mediation, Netanyahu has not showed any signs of calling off the plans. This announcement of construction has made the Obama administration so furious because they feel that it will draw away from the very delicate peace talks in the Middle East and it serves as a negative signal for those peace talks.
About 15 million people in India are now using online matrimonial sites in order to find a partner. The largest of these sites is Shaadi.com which has 10,000 new users each day. It is not only a way for people to find a partner to take part in a love-marriage, but a way for parents to find their child a partner. It is a way for parents to look at their child’s option and find a suitable partner, one belonging in a certain caste or community. Some hope that the internet can be used as a way to simply date, rather than searching for a specific type of marriage partner. Others think it is breaking down social barriers because on Shaadi.com half of the people are searching for a partner without specifying the caste they are searching for. They think that is a sign of change within India. The founder of Shaadi.com says, one in 10 of all registered marriages in India can be attributed to the internet, but in five years' time he believes this could number could rise to as many as one in two. As a long term strategy he hopes to reach the parts of India that do not have internet.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8558078.stm
Aeron Monsale
ReplyDeleteFranklin
World Literature
3/18/10
Israel’s Expansion
Israel and Palestine have been against each other ever since the end of World War and it is still currently continuing. At first, I was surprised at why Israel is expanding even though there were limits to where they can live because they have to share some of the land to the Palestinians. Reports say that they are planning to build new houses and units in occupied East Jerusalem. This raises the tension between the two regimes as the construction is planned. The Israeli housing ministry plans to build 1,300 new units and buildings in East Jerusalem. Though, this planned construction still needs the approval of the Prime Minister who in the past vowed to continue the construction of settlements in the city of Jerusalem. I think that this is helpful to the Israelis only and this will only heighten the tension and ager of the Palestinians. This is also wrongfully for Israel to do because the Palestinians had a Mosque built in that area which was destroyed during the 1948 Middle East war. The reconstruction to the Palestinians means that the Israelis will replace the Palestinians’ mosques and churches with Jewish settlements, buildings and units. Ever since Israel took the land that was already taken by the Palestinians, they have been expanding. Israel has been expanding so much that the Palestinians had to go to other countries to live. The two countries, Israel and Palestine, should share the country and this act by Israel is not helping the process of peace to the two regimes.
Aeron Monsale
ReplyDeleteArticle
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121083§ionid=351020202
My article is titled “The Reality or Arranged Marriages”. The beginning of the article first talks about marriages we often read about in romance novels. The author, who is the author of many romance novels, says that sometimes these marriages are just out of convenience; the woman marries a man for the sake of her kids, or for financial reasons, and so on. Even though the two may not be in love when they initially get married, we know that in these novels the two people are going to fall in love. However, this is not always reality. Many people in the real world get forced in to marriage too, especially in countries such as Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Japan. In these marriage situations it is the family of the bride who choose a suitable man for their daughter. It is a matter of how well the two families get along, not how the couple themselves relate. These couples are not in love when they get married, and it is possible that they may never fall in love with each other like what tends to happen in romance novels. This is not to say that they cannot grow to love each other, it just might not happen exactly in the way that we read about. It also interested me that the author stated that the divorce rate of arranged marriages is a lot lower than that of traditional marriages in the United States. I think this may be because in places where arranged marriages are the norm, couples feel obligated to stay together for their family’s sake. If they didn’t have the choice when they first got married, they would not get the chance to divorce after they were already married. This is different than in the United states where we most of the time get married when we love someone, and then people get divorced when they are not in love anymore. They do not feel as bad getting a divorce, because it was their decision, and they are not letting their families down in the way that they would if it was arranged by the family.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte Ruby
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (6)
March 19, 2010
This article talks about a female Indian politician named Mayawati. She is given another garland, which is made of rupees, which is the Indian form of money. She is India’s first woman Dalit chief minister. A Dalit is a former untouchable. Because she has moved up, she has a large group of followers among the poor. She is given money wherever she goes because people respect her greatly. The garland that was recently given to her was made out of entirely money and worth 1.8 million rupees which is worth around 39,000 dollars. She is accused of wasting government funds that are needed to help fund one of India’s poorest states, which has a large crime rate, poor health services, and a low literacy rate. In Nectar in a Sieve, Rukmani gives Kenny a garland when he returns. This is seen as a sign of respect, which is why she gives it to him, and for the same reason it is why people in India present Mayawati with these garlands. I agree with what critics are saying about how she is wasting government funds. I think that having herself once been an untouchable she should be more inclined to help the poor and she should share her wealth in order to improve the lives of those less fortunate. She has such immense wealth that she really does not need to be presented with more money and instead it should go to helping the state which is what can really benefit from the money.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8571983.stm
Ande Fieber
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (6)
February 21, 2010
McDonald’s vs. Italian Tradition
McDonald’s is known for low prices, speediness, and above all, the unhealthiness of its food. Italy, on the other hand, maintains a reputation for fresh, healthy, and tasty cuisine. Some say opposites attract, but few could have predicted this pair. McDonald’s has teamed up with the Italian Ministry of Agriculture to bring Italians healthier fast food representative of the traditional Italian culture. Hoping to give relief to struggling Italian farmers, the fast food chain has created a new sandwich featuring all-Italian beef, Asiago cheese, and artichoke spread called the McItaly burger. “Slow Food” movement supporters are completely against this new trend; they say that Italy’s reputation for healthy, home-cooked food should not be jeopardized. They argue that Italian farmers would still be supported just as much by restaurants and businesses that emphasize the freshness and uniqueness of Italian food.
Essentially, this is an issue of reputation. Both sides of this new campaign—supporters like Italian agricultural minister Luca Zaia and antagonists like Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini—want to help Italian farmers, but the conflict arises when it interferes with Italy’s globally recognized culinary culture. Like a person, a country has its own identity created by its unique culture. For Italy, this culture is largely defined by its reputation for fresh and healthy cuisine, something many Italians are not ready to relinquish for the benefit of farmers that could be achieved in other ways more representative of classic Italian food. Slow Food enthusiasts believe that “globalizing the identity of Italian culture” is a step in the opposite direction of what kind of message they want to convey to the rest of the world, and they do not want to sell out their culture to a fast food chain. Many Italians feel that the McItaly burger is not fair to their reputation as a country—why should they give up a distinction they worked so hard to achieve?
Link to article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20100209/ap_tr_ge/eu_travel_brief_italy_mcitaly
Bridget Fahey
ReplyDeleteWorld Lit(2)
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15719200
The Rights approach in India
I found it astonishing that although people are technically granted equal rights under the law in India, many of the former “untouchable” caste are still turned away. People still hold strong prejudices against the lower castes and thus deny them health care and a good education. What use does it do to have laws written down if no one respects them, not even the government? It can be hard to believe that this sort of segregation and denial of rights still occur in the world. People shouldn’t have their whole life dictated by the color of their skin or the class from which they come. There have been six decades of elections and a new constitution providing equal rights to all Indian citizens. However the reality is that India has failed to provide economic opportunity and health care to millions of its people. To address these issues, Indian judges have begun demanding action form the people. The government has begun a series of “right-based schemes” and more is now promised to everyone. A law that guarantees and demands for all children between six and fourteen years of age access to “free compulsory education as well.”
“On the headier claims of rights activists about the benefits of their approach, the jury is still out. Their central idea is that once citizens understand that social goods are an entitlement not a privilege, they will demand them. This will in turn force the state to perform where it has previously failed, and start to overturn the traditional power structures so entrench in India’s villages. The ambition goes beyond poverty alleviation to the cleansing and improvement of a rotten administrative and social system.”India feels that people will only demand rights once they understand that by law they are entitled to them, yet many already firmly understand this concept and are still denied their basic rights. They feel that until people have uprooted the generations of beliefs surrounding the caste system change could be difficult.
Andy Pham
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
March 20, 2010
Delai Lama Says China Aims to Annihilate Buddhism
I found this article on CNS News. The Delai Lama was upset with Chinese authorities, accusing them of trying to annihilate Buddhism in Tibet after a failed uprising against China’s rule over that region. Beijing then accused him of fighting for independence for Tibet, which is part of China’s territory. The Delai Lama says that he only wants his people to freely practice culture, language, and religion and that the Chinese were putting monks and nuns in prison-like conditions, depriving them of study. Because of the problem, the police presence has been really heavy. The Tibetan leader attempted to speak with the Chinese leadership about granting limited freedom but they couldn’t. Later on China was irritated when the Delai Lama met with Obama. Thousands of Tibetans, including nuns and monks, wearing traditional silk and wool robes then gathered in the compound of a Buddhist temple to listen to the Delai Lama and other leaders of the Tibetan government. After the failed uprising, the Delai Lama fled.
Ashwini Bhatia. “Dalai Lama Says China Aims to Annihilate Buddhism.” (March 10, 2010). CNSNEWS. Web. March 21,2010. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/62562
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100321/wl_mideast_afp/yemenwomenchildrenrights
ReplyDeleteJessica Reynolds
Mr. Franklin
World Lit (2)
March 24, 2010
Oratory Project
For my research lite I found an article off of yahho.com about women from Yemen who oppose the plans to ban child marriage. Parliament in Yemen is proposing to ban marriage of girls under the age of 17 years old and boys under the age of 18. The women believe it is part of their Islamic religion and protest outside, standing with veils covering their face. In this country as many other poor rural areas, have their children married off at the earliest at eight years of age because the parents can no longer provide for them. About a year ago, a 12 year old girl was killed during childbirth, which is probably why parliament started getting ideas about banning child marriages. They didn’t want anything like that to happen again.
I completely agree. Children should not be forced into marriage if they do not want to. Even if it is a part of their religion, it is not fair to the child. When you put a child through marriage so young, they are forced to give up their childhood. No one wants that. And if the parents put their children through this because they are poor, then they should have thought of that before.
This ties into what we are reading, Nectar in a Sieve, because in the book too children are married very young. They too do this because they have little money. Overall, Islamic women are outraged that they cannot continue on with their religious customs even if it is unfair.
Samantha Rodgers
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (6)
March 22, 2009
Link to article: http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty
"Causes of Poverty"
This article relates to how much poverty there is in the world and that we are not capable of fully understanding it. The gap between the rich and the poor is wide and is continuing to become even wider as the years go by. There are a lot of factors that play into this huge amount of poverty that we see in the world today, though. The causes of this include bad government policies, poor health and education. Problems of hunger and diseases also come up, too, that result in living in poverty. Those living in poverty also have very little, if any, say in debates or meetings because they are usually looked down upon, which does not help them escape poverty either. The world also spends a lot of money on things such as the military which really only benefit the wealthy, while they spend very little compared to that to help with the problems of poverty in our world. What is also surprising is the amount people are paid daily. Almost half of the entire world’s population is paid less then three dollars a day and about 80 percent of people in the world live on less then ten dollars a day. How can that not result in poverty? It is surprising that nations do not pay more attention to these issues and offer to help more. In 1970, the world’s rich countries all agreed to give 0.7% of their national income to offer international aid. A lot has been given to help, but this promise by these countries have rarely ever been made, showing how surprising it is that we do not show more concern for issues as big as this.
Jonathan Lee
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit. (6)
March 26, 2010
India's Hindu Pilgrimage to the Ganges
Kumbh Mela, a Hindu pilgrimage to the Ganges took place on March 15, 2010. It is celebrated four times every twelve years. It takes place when Jupiter enters the Aquarius and when the Sun enters Aries. The Kumbh Mela is the largest religious gathering in the world. Millions of people attended including thousands of Sadhus and Babas which are the holy men of India. At the gathering, people bathe themselves in the Ganges river, and cover themselves in ash. This shows that they have been cleansed and forgiven from their sins.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/24/india.khumb.mela/index.html?iref=allsearch
Briana Miller
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (6)
March 19, 2010
“Mariah Carey’s Struggles with Mixed Race Identity: America’s Most Misunderstood Black Woman”
In an Essence Magazine a few years back, there was an article on Mariah Carey dealing with her racial identity. In the beginning of her career she was labeled, “White Whitney Houston”. Starting off in the article, they questioned, “Why should her mixed heritage matter?” The answer that was given stated, “America’s stance on race matters. Critics are cruel.” Mariah’s nephew, Shawn McDonald was interviewed for this write-up. He started off explaining when Mariah first began to deal with her racial struggles. It began at age five. During class, she was laughed at by two white teachers for drawing her father using a brown crayon. Another incident happened when she was six. She took her best friend to her father’s house and her friend laughed at the sight of a black man hugging her. It’s shocking to realize that children even under the age of 8 are already experiencing the issues that deal with mixed heritages. Later on in Carey’s life when she started her career, she introduced herself to Jermaine Dupri. When she first walked in, he said to himself, “This white girl is crazy.” After he hung out with her for a while, he noticed that she listened to hip-hop all day long. This statement was debatable by many readers because later on in the article it mentions that Pop is “white” and Hip Hop is “black”. After reading this, I noticed more that this “racism” still goes on even when we do not realize it. Why should that assumption be made when blacks listen to Pop and whites listen to Hip-Hop? There is still an issue with biracialism. Automatically when we hear that term, we think half white and half black. The term can be used for many different varieties of culture yet they do not make an issue on their “main race”. In the end, no one is pure of any race and the label should not matter.
http://www.mixedmediawatch.com/2005/03/14/mariah-carey-is-essences-cover-story/
http://www.mixedmediawatch.com/2005/03/17/mmw-letter-to-essence-magazine-regarding-their-profile-of-mariah-carey/
Alex Hughan-
ReplyDeleteIndia has high hopes for contracts to sell its rice to two large companies. If the deals go through then India’s rice market will grow from 3 million tons a year to 4.5 million tons a year. If these predictions are correct and India can make a deal with China and India then India’s economy will surely grow and many new job opportunities will be created in India. India has always been a large producer in rice but these contracts could make India a lot of money. The rice market throughout the world has been growing, new countries have been buying rice and countries who already buy rice are looking to increase their purchases. Overall, this is important for India because it could boost their economy and create new jobs. India has always had a large population of farmers and rice is one of their greatest agricultural exports.
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/India-to-expand-basmati-rice-markets-to-boost-export-26904-3-1.html
Alex Hughan-
ReplyDeleteThe census is coming this 2010. The census occurs every 10 years and its information is crucial to our country. The information collected during the census effects many things. The number of representatives in congress depends on the number of people in your state; it also brings new businesses to your state or even county. This year’s census aims to collect information on our countries residents by having them fill out a ten question survey. The pre-collected data shows that the number of minorities living in the U.S. has grown. In 1980 20% of Americans were minorities, it is projected that this year 35% of Americans will be minorities. This information will change the way that politicians run their campaigns. Overall, this year’s census will change the way our country works.
-On an article from TIME magazine
Lani Bariao
ReplyDeleteFranklin
World Lit
March 29, 2010
I chose the article “India: Pollution Fine Sought Against Coca-Cola” comes from the New York Times. The article talks about how a Coca-Cola bottling plant has caused damage to the water and soil in Plachimada, a village in southern India. A government panel is stating that the bottling plant had discharged a sludge that contained toxic chemicals. This toxic sludge is causing the farmers harvest to be less productive. The panel is suggesting that Coca-Cola be fined $47 million for the damages. This article connects to the novel we are reading, Nectar in a Sieve, because urbanization is causing problems for villagers. In the novel the tannery is built on part of the land Nathan works on. Which makes his harvests smaller. Since the toxic sludge is causing a less productive harvest the villagers and their families are probably going hungry because they do not have enough food to eat. Similar to Rukmani and her family when the rains don’t come and the family has small portions of rice to eat. With the villagers not having enough to eat they are probably growing weak just like Nathan and the rest of their family. I think it is interesting that they are deciding to sue Coca-Cola because it shows that they can stand up for themselves. The tannery, in the novel, caused so many issues for the villagers but they still didn’t do anything to fix it. In both villages families are having troubles with their harvests that was started by something modern.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/world/asia/24briefs-Indiabrf.html?scp=10&sq=india%20&st=cse
Steven Leong
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (P6)
March 29, 2010
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hubli/-Family-sets-would-be-bride-on-fire/articleshow/5735950.cms
On Sunday, March 28th, near the village of Sankeshwar police find a bride to be burned to death. The engaged man Shashikant Balappa and his mother admitted to pouring kerosene and setting fire to his bride to be. The marriage was arranged months in advance and it was to be held on Monday. Shashikant Balappa’s family didn’t know first hand that the girl was divorced and belong to a different caste. From hearing the news, they were in rage and decided to burn her. Police arrested the mother and Shashikant for this horrific action.
As you can see the caste system and which social standing a person belongs to could play a major role in marriage today. If a family in India is not informed on which class you belong or prior divorce it can lead to problems. I believe that it was right for the husband and his mother to suffer the consequences because it doesn’t justify murdering a person because they don’t fit all the attributes a family desires. The family should look at the positive attributes in her and not just the negative attributes.
Bridget Fahey
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit. (2)
http://www.economist.com/opinion/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=15606229
Gendercide
“IMAGINE you are one half of a young couple expecting your first child in a fast-growing, poor country. You are part of the new middle class; your income is rising; you want a small family. But traditional mores hold sway around you, most important in the preference for sons over daughters. Perhaps hard physical labor is still needed for the family to make its living. Perhaps only sons may inherit land. Perhaps a daughter is deemed to join another family on marriage and you want someone to care for you when you are old. Perhaps she needs a dowry. Now imagine that you have had an ultrasound scan; it costs $12, but you can afford that. The scan says the unborn child is a girl. You yourself would prefer a boy; the rest of your family clamours for one. You would never dream of killing a baby daughter, as they do out in the villages. But an abortion seems different. What do you do?”(The Economist print edition) Millions of female babies are being aborted in China and in parts of Northern India. The desire for sons over daughters has lead to a catastrophic devastation. Women are now missing by the millions from either abortion, being killed, or neglected until they die. Whether one is pro choice or pro life, I think that everyone can agree on the severity of this “gendercide.” The imbalance of genders has lead to many issues such as China alone having over a million unmarried young men. In many Asian societies, single men are considered almost like outlaws, with crime rates, bride trafficking, and sexual violence rising. The destruction of baby girls is a result of three factors: the ancient preference for sons over daughters, a new desire for smaller families, and new technologies that detect the gender for the fetus along with abortion. These countries increase the value of females, engage women in public life, develop and promote female education, and stop laws denying females inheritance of land. This imbalance of gender has many negative side affects which will only continue to grow if not dealt with.
Ande Fieber
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (6)
April 11, 2010
From the moment politics became a part of society, there have been opposing parties. Liberals and conservatives famously contradict one another, but how does this relate to human nature? A new theory has arisen that says liberal behaviors are not a result of culture or upbringing, but rather an effect of evolution. Author Satoshi Kanazawa explains that the evolution of intelligence leads more modern thinkers to consider things in a way that creates constructive change. More evolved humans tend to turn to atheism, liberalism, and monogamy as a way of preparing for alterations in society. This new way of thinking is one that came from an adaption to be able to deal with the unexpected—for example, a strict liberal would want strong government reform in the event of it being necessary.
It is astounding that these views are already a part of us and are not something our culture has taught us. People have commonly thought that beliefs are personally chosen based on the needs and ideals of a given society, but this theory presents the idea that it may have little to do with what concepts are pushed onto us. Could it really be possible that our parents, friends, and teachers have no influence on the directionality of our lives? It seems a bizarre thought to consider, but if mindset really is directly linked to something completely beyond our control, maybe culture has less importance in our lives than we credit it.
Link to article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100303-liberals-atheists-smarter-evolution-evolved/
Jack McKeon
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit
March 8, 2010
Current Event
On Monday the 8th, a new bill was proposed in India that was meant to give women 1/3 of the legislature's seats. Protest to the bill, which included a man actually coming up to the prime minister and tearing up the bill, led to a stall in voting for the new law. But voting should take place on Tuesday. After failing once before, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh brought the newly formed bill to Parliament on National Women's Day. The bill was made as a way to correct some of the mistreatment that South Asia has placed toward women in the years passed. Parties have already stated their support for the bill, but others have gone against the bill in ways such as trying the take all the microphones in the hearing. The bill would raise the number of women in the lower-house legislature to 181 seats from the current 59, not to mention that it would nearly quadruple the number of seats in the upper-legislature. Though this is a step toward equality, India still has a very long way to go.
Jack McKeon
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit
March 29, 2010
Current Event
Recently, India's central bank has raised the interest rates. This is a huge deal because the banks has not done so in over two years. With an inflation rate described as "worrying" and "unacceptable," it was the only move that the bank could make with the world economics being the lowest since World War II. Many people have agreed with the new change saying it will increase the economy and the standard of living in India. But with the sudden change, the economic market will open with a 200-300 point decrease. The sudden change will cause a stir in the country but the recovery will come soon and fast.
Thomas Peters
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin (2)
World Literature
Research Lite
World Health Day aims to make city life healthier
Recently on April 7th, World Health day happened under the organization of WHO. The goal of the special day was address health issues in the ever growing suburban population. The population is become so vast the WHO estimates around half of the world’s population lives in cities and by 2050, seven out of every ten people will be dwellers. With the growing urbanization health becomes a concern due to water and sanitation, air quality, and conditions and home and in the workplace. In a city called Varanasi, there are over 227 slums spread across its boundary. In each slum, the population varies at extreme rates of 200 to 9,000 people. In most slums the environmental conditions are not ideal which result in health problems. The people living in slums for a long time have been living in poor hygienic conditions with inadequate bathrooms and other necessary facilities. Despite six new health posts sanctioned in the city of Varanasi the issue of poor living conditions is still at hand. I chose this article due to its direct correlation to the movie Slumdog Millionaire and because it gives me a greater insight and look into how tough the slums in India are.
Site used: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/World-Health-Day-aims-to-make-city-life-healthier/articleshow/5771694.cms
Chris Martin-
ReplyDeleteI did an article on the census, which is coming out this year. The census comes out every 10 years and it shows how many people are in our country and state. With those numbers the government adjusts to how many people it has to have in it and also it has to adjust and build new business within the individual state. This year’s census is going to show how many minorities live in our country, which is projected to be a lot more than in 2000. All in all we cant move forward with our country unless everyone mails back the census and then our government will try to make our country a better place.
-Article from Census.gov
Christopher Lamelas
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
04/ 12/ 10
Research Lite : Arranged Marriages in India
Most people think that arranged marriages, even to this day, are forced and chosen by someone else, but in fact, it is more guided. As time progresses, so has technology, and one of the most popular sites in India are matchmaking sites. In India, people are making love more of a business by using websites that have a fee to use. People have used these sites because it makes it easy to search for the direct criteria that you and your family care about in an orderly manner. Although this does make it easier, it does create a problem as well. The people living in areas that aren't as rich to pay the fee of around $10 a month or those who don't have a computer or simply aren't as technological as others are separated from those who do, which could cause a good match to disappear. Even though many things have changed like the technology and way people meet, the thing that has not changed is the importance of the family and parental approval that they have on the person they are about to marry. Even criteria as small as astrological sign, skin fairness, green-card status and dietary habits are taken into consideration along with the more important like education, religion, and caste. But in some cases, a person can have the right qualifications that you are looking for, but lack in the less important, yet still noticeable areas. Many brides and grooms still don't get all the details before choosing their partner in marriage because they are often forced because the mate's qualifications are right. There are still many flaws with the way that they are trying to find someone compatible, but only as time goes on will it become easier.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=2501711&page=1
Jake Grant
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit (6)
April 12, 2010
Oral Presentation
http://www.merinews.com/article/mulayam-singh-rankles-women-with-sexist-remark/15802266.shtml
Mulayam Singh, an Indian leader states, “"I don't like to say this, but they (those elected after women's bill is implemented) would be the women at whom youths would whistle”. This remark is saying that these women would just be items that these kids would look at for pleasure. I think that this is discriminating women is a huge issue around India and other countries. This makes the men look bad and the women look even worse. This relates to Nectar in a Sieve because Rukmani also has issues being treated equal to men. She has to hide her treatments with Kenny from her husband out of fear
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasai/Culture/Festivals/karwa.html
ReplyDeleteFor my research lite I did Karwa Chauth, an Indian festival. During this festival, married Hindu women fast and pray in the hopes of welfare, prosperity, well being and longevity of their husbands. This proves their love and willingness to die for their husbands. Many women in India observe this festival. On an average day of this celebration, usually occurring between October and November, the women eat a small portion of food, sometimes karwa which is sort of sprout, in the early morning and nothing else for the rest of the day. This fasting lasts all day until the moon is visible. When this happens, the story of Karwa Chauth is read. This story is about when Muslims intruded into India, killing wives of men. So a tradition was set that when the man or protector of the house dies, the wife must be killed too. Hence the tradition that women pray that their husbands live long, so they can live long too. This shows that women really car about their lives as well as their husband’s.
Howie Chang
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
March 26, 2010
World Lit
Oral Presentation
Article: India to capture 11.2 billion population in new digital census.
On April 1st, India will have about 2 million data collectors to stat the National Population Register (NPR) which they will do finger prints and other personal data. The first census conducted in India was in 1872 when the British occupied India. The census contains the country’s demography, literacy, migration, mortality, economy, and culture. The cost of the census is about $820 million. The census can be used to identify those who need the governments help and help the government make proper funds. This would be helpful because India has been suffering financially due to some terrorist attacks and people cheating taxes. And also illegal immigration was also a problem in India and the census could help detect them.
I think this census would really benefit India. I think this because since there are around 11.2 billion people in India, it is really difficult for the government to provide different kinds of funds, especially since they are hit financially. With this census, the government would be able to balance out funds such as funds for infrastructures and funds for schools since one third of India’s population cannot read or write, according to 2011 census.
Howie Chang
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
March 26, 2010
World Literature
Article: detained gay couple to face trial in Malawi
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were arrested for professing love and marriage traditionally, this is called chinkhoswe. These two were arrested for unnatural offenses and indecent practice between males which are under sectionals 153 and 156. They were denied bail as well. They were also verbally abused and beaten and did not receive proper food. In most African nations, like Malawi, homosexuality is illegal but the section 20 of Malawi’s constitution provides equality for all citizens and prohibits discrimination. They will appear in court this week.
This is an interesting article because homosexuality is frowned upon in African culture. Even though the law permits them to be equal with all citizens and prohibition of discrimination, they are still discriminated. It just seems ironic how they made laws for homosexuality. Even though they are arrested, they were not given the rights for bail, adequate food and other necessities. There are many organizations that are supporting these two men, while there are more organizations degrading these two men. The same thing is going on here in the united states where the homosexuality has divided our nation up as well. People say this trial is a test trail for gay rights. other than discrimination, they had undergo medical examinations and psychiatric evaluations without the consent of the two. I think it is extremely wrong of the government to conduct evaluations without their consent. They maybe gay, but they are still citizens, and under the constitution of Malawi, they are equal and free from discrimination. So why are the exempt from that? Because they are gay? Sounds like discrimination to me…
Alex Caldwell
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit [2]
March 14, 2010
India
In the New York News & Features article, “Is Arranged Marriage Really Any Worse than Craigslist?” describes the honesty of a thirty- year old Indian woman living in America on the look out for a husband. Growing up in a strong cultured Indian family, her parents have been on a search for a husband for their daughter since the beginning of her first birthday. Anita Jain describes her parent’s intent investigation for a husband. Her mother’s concern of being prepared for marriage is a given, “A few days after my 1st birthday, within months of my family’s arrival in the U.S., I fell out the window of a three-story building in Baltimore. My father recalls my mother’s greatest concern, after learning that I hadn’t been gravely injured: “What boy will marry her when he finds out?” This shows how important your childhood is leading up to your marriage. Everything you do leads to finding your spouse and the most important aspect of arranged marriages in India is learning how to love your spouse. Anita also shares how she feels about being put up for a price almost. A short description of yourself and a picture is all it takes to marrying a complete stranger. Her father stays up looking on arranged marriage websites for a good match for his daughter but she can’t stop to wonder whom it will be.
Works Cited
Jain, Anita. "Is Arranged Marriage Really Any Worse Than Craigslist?" New York News & Features. New York Media LLC, 21 May 2005. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. .
Arranged marriage gets high-tech twist:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/04/23/web.arranged.marriages/index.html
This article talks about a woman named Sabiha Ansari who was flown to India in 1991 to meet the man she was arranged to be married to for twenty minutes. Her family asked whether she liked him based on the brief meeting and she said yes and they were married days later. Sabiha’s sister’s experience with her arranged marriage in 2005 was very different than Sabiha’s because of technology. She was able to get to know her husband through email and calling each other and married a year later. Arranged marriages in immigrant families in America aren’t as common, but there has been a change in the past ten years because of technology. There are now websites where parents create profiles for their children to be married. Also email and cell phones help the long-distance relationships arranged by parents. The websites allow parents to find people for their children to marry based on backgrounds and finances which are most common among India, Middle East, and Japan. Most marriages don’t end in divorce because it is looked down on by these cultures. I think that technology has a positive effect on arranged marriages because it helps the two people get to know each other first instead of marrying right away. I think that this would make these marriages easier for the children because they can see if they have compatibility first and also marry someone they know rather than a complete stranger.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/world/asia/19india.html?scp=25&sq=india%20education&st=cse
ReplyDeleteThe Nouveau Riche Farmers is a new economic caste system in India. They make money by selling more than 50,000 acres of farmland as Noida, India is changing into a suburb city that has 300,000 people with shopping malls and office parks. These farmers gets several millions rupee when they sell their land. Many people buy even more land and invest their money, but some actually goes broke by spending all this money on cars, trips, and other luxuries. In the article, it describes a wedding host by a member of the new caste system. The wedding included a rented Lexus car, a helicopter, and beautiful clothes that cost lots of money. The groom side had to pay around $13,000, not including the bride’s larger share. I find this really interesting, because while some people have an annual income of $1,000 and live on $2 day, these people are dropping thousands of dollars for just a wedding. During the description of the wedding, I saw how much the family’s wealth stood out among the people. Their Lexus was blocked by bullock cart, the truck that was playing music was too big to move around the village, and how the mud brick houses seems to be shaking by all the commotion. I found it really interesting how two different economic classes can live so close together. Even though, they were extremely wealthy, there were still poor people living in the village. It surprises me how much these people are living in such luxury while there are people who live in rural parts of the countries that are only living on $2 a day.
Link: http://giftmefreedom.yolasite.com/
ReplyDeleteIn India, child trafficking is an old yet popular practice but remains to be a very serious issue. In fact, 64% of the Indian population is affected by human trafficking. Within time, people began to realize the solemnity of this practice and concluded that a change must be made. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, or PITA, was passed in 1956 in India, which was a legislation that was intended for limiting and hopefully abolishing prostitution. However, this act did not offer any protection for children. The main causes of child labor are a deficiency of money, religious and cultural factors, children without guardians, and inadequate government involvement. Children are commonly trafficked for several reasons, including sexual exploitation, cheap labor, and begging. In many cases, young children are forced into prostitution, labor, slavery, or even the removal of organs. It is clear that adults in India take complete advantage of naïve children. These brutal people torture young children, take them away from their families, and use them for their own personal profit and pleasure. Such a practice is beyond dehumanizing in addition to being an utter disgrace to society.
Aaron Lock
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World lit
4/15/10
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/15/militants-ban-school-bells-somali-town/
in the article I read Islamic militants banned the use of bells in schools to signal the start and end of classes because they sounded like church bells. I think this is ridiculous and really stupid. There have been other bans like the ban on bras, movies and playing music on the radio. These bans have all been because the things have all been un-Islamic.
Megan Linney
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit. (6)
March 2, 2010
A Broken System
Ruchika Girotra was only fourteen when her life changed forever. Her tennis coach at her club called her into her office and secretly molested her. She didn’t say anything after it happened, but when it happened for a second time, her and her friend Aradhna decided to tell their parents. Ruchika’s molester, Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore, was a senior officer for the Haryana State Police, and that’s why they had so much trouble with the trial.
The different levels of classes in India play a large part in everyday life. Because Rathore was a police chief, it would be so much harder for Ruchika’s family to press chargers. He was “…hand in glove…” with all of the politicians and powerful officials, and Ruchika’s family was only middle class. Her brother, Ashu, was charged for many false cases and put in jail for many months because of Rathore and his political influence.
This case wasn’t taken care of for an entire decade because they were afraid to press charges. Over whelmed by the chaos and misfortune brought to the family, Ruchika committed suicide. The case started in 2000 and just in December of 2009, on the 21, was he actually convicted. This really just proves to show that they run a broken system and that the ways of India and their lifestyle has changed, in turn demanding political modernization as well. This case really has been a beacon of hope for the government systems in India because it greatly symbolizes the anger and dissatisfaction of the middle classes. They are a growing population in India and it’s time that they start having some weight in the government and more political representation.
Jonathan Lee
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit (6)
April 15, 2010
Britain has recently passed an equality bill stating that India’s caste system is considered to be racists towards the Sudras “the lowest class.” The Sudras have suffered extreme persecutions, and excessive punishments. Over 250 million Sudras have been denied water and a proper education. In addition, Sudras are not allowed to walk through an upper class neighborhood because the upper-class believes that the presence of the Sudras pollutes them. Recently a member of the Sudra class filed a complaint to the police regarding men of the upper class for raping his daughter. He was asked to withdraw the complaint but when he refused he had his arms and legs amputated. India and Britain have are having a dispute about whether or not what India is doing is appropriate. I agree with the Britain. What India is doing is wrong and something should be done to prevent further harm.
Many of the women in this generation are concerned about their image and their fitness. A new study suggests that even fit women still have issues with their own body image. Ten normal-weight women and nine normal-weight men between 18 and 30 were tested using functional magnetic resonance imaging. They were shown images of people with different body sizes that matched their gender and they were asked to imagine themselves having that shape. When women looked at the pictures of overweight people, their scans showed activity while men showed no activity whether they pictured themselves as fat or thin. This is not due to biological difference. I agree with the researchers because women tend to try and be more perfect than they really are while men sometimes don’t really care. It isn’t a male female difference; it’s the social pressure that surrounds the men and women. In my opinion, I think that women are pressured to strive to be more perfect because of the modern society and the media. They pressure the women to not be themselves and to be more like the women in the ads.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100415/sc_livescience/allwomenworryaboutgettingfatstudysuggests;_ylt=AmtZXQ378lsTfSpMgqWmHBTDr7sF;_ylu=X3oDMTNwcGFobTVzBGFzc2V0A2xpdmVzY2llbmNlLzIwMTAwNDE1L2FsbHdvbWVud29ycnlhYm91dGdldHRpbmdmYXRzdHVkeXN1Z2dlc3RzBHBvcwMyMwRzZWMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNhbGx3b21lbndvcnI-
Christie Tran
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
12 April 2010
Spreading of Separation
India is known for its grand weddings and booming wedding industry. Who would have thought that divorce would spread in a country whose culture emphasizes marriage? Before, divorce in seemed taboo, but marriages are breaking up at an alarmingly fast rate. Around 40% of marriages in India are ending in divorces. It seems that most arrange marriages would end up like this because the partners don’t know each other as well, but actually, love marriages are also affected by the break up trend. Marriage counselors believe the reason is that most couples prefer to only have one child, making it easier to take care of the child’s needs or problems. Because of that, their tolerance levels when they’re adults are much lower so they don’t have the patience to work out problems in marriages. Marriage counseling has become more prominent in India now, but counselors don’t get a lot of visits because people don’t think it’s important.
Hearing this, I think it’s similar to what’s happening here. We also have large amounts of divorce. It’s seen in movies and with celebrities. Marriage doesn’t hold the same value as before. I think this could be a real problem if we can’t cooperate in relationships and work together.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/relationships/man-woman/Marriages-are-breaking-up-at-an-alarming-rate/articleshow/5759888.cms
Christie Tran
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
24 February 2010
Citizenship Denied
A man from Morocco was planning to settle in France with his wife, but his citizenship was denied because he forces his wife to wear the full body veil. His actions are considered as going against French values and gender equality. The Prime Minister Francois Fillon said, “If this man does not want to change his attitude, he has no place in our country.” The Prime Minister also said that this man doesn’t deserve French nationality. Although this decision is supported by the French band on full body veils worn in public areas, the French Catholic Church doesn’t seem to agree. The Church argues that the French must respect the rights of its Muslim inhabitants if it wishes for Islamic countries to do the same for the Christian Missionaries. Those of us born in the US are considered citizens by birth; for immigrants, there are certain requirements for becoming an American Citizen such as taking the citizenship test. The requirements have nothing to do with beliefs or culture. I think denying someone citizenship based on their beliefs is discriminating them. I don’t believe that the French government should deny him citizenship because of the veil or the gender issue. There are other people who discriminate against others because of personal thoughts. The veil is a part of his culture which is being discriminated against.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/02/france-denies-citizenship-to-man-who-forces-wife-to-wear-full-islamic-veil/1
Samantha Rodgers
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (6)
April 19, 2010
Labor Violations in China
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/technology/20soft.html?ref=asia
Two Chinese factories have been cited for violating labor laws. They are both factories that supply goods to companies, like Microsoft. They failed to register more than three hundred workers that were between the ages of 16-18. Microsoft was investigating the factories and also claimed that these factories were forcing these young workers to work long hours that exceeded the amount allowed and in harsh conditions. These workers were also paid very low amounts ranging from sixty-five cents to a dollar an hour . The Human Resources Bureau cited the factories but did not specify any penalties. They were given two weeks to fix the problem or they would face punishment. I think that that is a very surprising factor in this story. Microsoft found out about these harsh conditions, but they did not really force any action to take place. And the fact that the Bureau gave them two weeks to fix the problem is not much of a threat while figuring that they can still work these young teens in these harsh conditions during that time. Microsoft seems to be the only company that is really concerned with this issue and I think more companies and factories need to take appropriate action to fix their standards and conditions because issues like this should not be happening in the world today.
Jamie Roberts
ReplyDeleteFranklin
World Lit (6)
April 21, 2010
We recently learned about Tu Fu, who took the civil service exam to become a government official, but failed. He wanted so badly to have an imperial position, but he did not pass the poetry portion of the test. The Chinese Civil Service exam lasted for 1300 years and was abolished in 1905. Anyone who wanted to hold a position in the government had to pass this test, but unfortunately only one or two percent passed.
I found an article about the college entry exams in China. The article was about how crucial it is for students in China to pass their college exams, or gao kao. This one guy spent a whole year studying for his college entry exam. He would study for sixteen hours a day, and would take off only one day every three weeks. This article really emphasized how important it is for students to pass this test. They compare it to the SAT’s we have. This test determines admission to almost all Chinese colleges and universities and about three in five pass. Parents also want their children to pass so much that in some cases they would wait outside the exam building for the duration of the nine hour test, sometimes help their child cheat by feeding them answers through an earpiece, or offer them rewards if they pass. I connected this to the imperial exam process, which no longer exists in China, because it is important for people to pass these exams in order to be successful.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/world/asia/13exam.html?ref=world
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9403E2D91638E233A2575BC2A9679C94659ED7CF
Steven Leong
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (P6)
4-21-10
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=434805&type=Metro
Today parents announced that they are less satisfied with the education their children are receiving from the teachers. Teachers in China for thousands of years have been recognized high in the social class system. Now respect is being lost for them because they are just in for the money. Many teachers are doing multiple jobs such as teaching in an elementary school and also having a tutoring business on the side. Parents believe that the teachers are focusing more on their side business, instead of teaching the students.
Teachers should be able to have an outside business aside from their teaching in school. In China teachers also don’t earn a lot of money compared to other professions. They should be able to supplement their income by having other opportunities to make money. However, teachers should continue the high standards that the parents expect.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/64117
ReplyDeleteIn this Article, on April 14th hundreds of travelers return home after Israel told its citizens to leave the Sinai Peninsula because of a kidnapping alert. Israel’s anti-terror office cited concrete evidence of an expected terrorist attempt to kidnap Israelis in Sinai. Out of 650 Israelis, 430 of them left after the warning. The peninsula was once a popular vacation destination. The reason that Israelis shun the Sinai was because of the suicide bombings in 2004, which occurred at popular vacation sites in Israel. The office says that the terrorists might have plans to kidnap an Israeli and bring him to Gaza. Palestinian militants have already been holding an Israeli solder captive for more than 3 years.
Gabrielle Vasquez
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World literature (2)
April 25, 2010
Japan’s Royals Pen Poems to Mark 50 Years Wed
“As I walk by your side, the path stretches far ahead, though 'tis now evening, yonder in the distance, a glow of a lingering light.” This 31 syllable Tanka poem was written by Empress Michiko to her husband in honor of their 50th anniversary. Along with many others, it was read aloud at an annual palace poetry reading ceremony filled with many important Japanese elites. The annual event has been a part of Japan’s history for over a thousand years. It has become such a national event that is televised throughout the entire country of Japan. More than 23,000 poetry entries were submitted to the contest, all from ordinary citizens. Of the entries, 172 came from overseas, including 58 each from the U.S. and Brazil. So, what is the significance?
Personally, I admire the fact that Japanese elites and citizens alike all take part in the poetry contest. No matter your age, background, or culture you are allowed to participate. In Japanese culture, poetry is considered an important and valuable art form. In our westernized society, poetry is somewhat uncommon and is rarely ever televised. It’s interesting to note that poetry plays a unique role in Japanese tradition, and although it has been around for centuries, it is still present in today’s modern society.
Charlotte Ruby
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World History (6)
April 26, 2010
China Car Industry
This article talks about the car industry in China. However it doesn’t just talk about cars being made in China, but rather about automakers outside of China who are taking note of the potential to sell their own cars in Asia. Last year, China surpassed the United States as the worlds biggest automobile market. Many Chinese automakers are trying to take leadership in hybrid and electric vehicle production. Many automakers such as Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Porsche are designing cars with Chinese tastes in mind. They are making cars that are larger with four-doors instead of two. I think this article is really interesting because it shows the important role that China has. China is in the driver seat in the car industry. I think that if China becomes increasingly interested in hybrid and electric vehicles it will trigger the rest of the world to become even more interested in these as well. China has a lot of power in the car industry because they have so many buyers interested in purchasing cars. The automakers know that there is a lot of money that can be made if they take Chinese car buyers into consideration when making their cars. This is exactly what they are doing; they are trying their harvest to incorporate what Chinese car buyer’s want when making their cars.
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/china-in-the-drivers-seat/?scp=2&sq=China&st=cse
Lani Bariao
ReplyDeleteFranklin
World Lit (6)
April 28, 2010
I found the article “U.S Supreme Court to consider California’s violent video game law” in the San Jose Mercury News. This article discusses how the Supreme Court is going to consider the California law that prohibits the selling or rental of violent video games to minors. Last year this law was stuck down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals because of the free speech rights and that California did not have evidence that the video games had a negative effect on children. Senator Leland Yee from San Francisco said that California has the right to withhold violent materials from minors. Other countries have similar laws for games that include many images of killing characters in the game. In “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” you can see terrorists shoot innocent civilians in the back of the head. In the game “Gears of War” you can use a bayonet to slice your enemy in half. The video game industry argues that the law threatens free speech rights. They suggest that parents should be the ones who limit the games their children can play, not the state. Retailers would face a fine of $1,000 if they violate the law, and the law would require them to publish an “18” label on violent video games. It was turned down because the law’s definition was too vague. I think this law would be hard to pass because there really is no evidence that the video games are causing children to behave differently. But I do understand why some would want this law to pass because video games have become very explicit and I it isn’t appropriate for young children to play. This law would apply to people of our generation because there are so many that play games like Call of Duty, Halo, or Grand Theft Auto. If this law goes into effect than they won’t be able to purchase games like these on their own.
Laila Kreitem
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
March 19, 2010
Research Lite - India Digital Census 2011
This month India is attempting to present one of its most bold plans which is the 2011 census. It is a digital census which will try its best to identify every single member of India’s 1.2 billion population. The first census held in India was in 1872 and they have been persistent in conducting it every 10 years. However this census will be different and an identity-based record. It is an $820 million project and will have several people working on it. It is said that this idea was selected due to worries of national safety and because they felt that uncontrolled corruption in India’s government was holding the nation back and hindering its potential success. By taking this step Indians are taking responsibility and trying to better the country. A federal home minister, P. Chidambaram wrote on an NPR presentation that he believes that “this is the biggest exercise since the humankind came into existence.” The country’s urban population is anticipated to double in quantity. They are hoping these solid database of citizens can be useful in relieving load on cities. Hopefully this new form of census may assist them in their political and economical struggles.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/18/india.population.register/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/books/19rodgers.html
ReplyDeleteCarolyn Rogers, a poet from the black power movement died from cancer on April 2nd in Chicago. She was 69 years old. She was a very influential and powerful poet. She was African-American, and feminist. Her poems always spoke her mind and would shock people. It says in the article that, “ When she would read, people would sit up and listen.”
This article really speaks to me because this woman was not afraid to speak her mind. She had different views then a lot of people that she spoke to but still said what she felt was right. She spoke in a very different launguage, with a lot of profanities and vernacular writing. She was an African-American woman growing up in a society that this was looked down upon. I respect her because she writes about what is on her mind, not someone else.
Julina Ly
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit. (6)
May 04, 2010
The Beauty of Poetry
Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Union, recently published a book of haikus. This book holds the collections of 40 or so poems that have been written over a span of 6 years. Some of the themes include nature and present of time. Herman’s love for haiku started when he was drawn to its simplicity, its compact use of language, and how it is based on nature. Because of this, he published this book in order to set an example for other authors to share the beauty of haikus. I found this article really interesting, because Herman is a president and a politician. It is the last person that you would expect to publish a book of haikus. Because of the beauty of haikus, people are still drawn to it all over the world. It all started in Japan, as their tradition thousands of years ago. However still present today, people are sharing the beauty of what haikus can offer. People continue to write haikus like how it was hundreds of years ago. Even though we have modernized, old traditions are still passed on today.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100415/lf_nm_life/us_books_europeanunion_1
Joey Mason
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit. (6)
5/10/10
Eye Site
A leading eye doctor in Australia filled heath warnings on 3D television because he said it was harmful to young children. Our country is now moving towards 3D television. Now in stores you can buy 3D televisions and in the next few years there will be 3D shows we can watch on TV. The doctors stated that watching 3D TV can lead to headaches, eyestrain, dizziness, and nausea from watching 3D TV which is no surprise to me because I get that sometimes when watching a 3D movie. The doctors said that the most people that will be affected by this are people who have epilepsy because due to their brain disorder they will not be able to watch 3D. A Random fact in the article said that 3D television is testing the human eye. To get a 3D picture, the screen shows images from the left and the right of the eye tricking it to show a 3 Dimensional image, which according to the doctors will ruin our eye site over time.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/d-tvs-harmful-effects-on-children/story-e6frf96f-1225858524591
Delaney Lewers
ReplyDeleteFranklin
World Lit (6)
May 10, 2010
Blog Response: Arizona Law on Immigration
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html
In Phoenix, Arizona on Friday, the governor, Jan Brewer, signed a bill on illegal immigration. This bill will try to identify, prosecute, and deport illegal immigrants. The immigration bill has caused many protests nationally, and President Obama criticized it because it “undermines fairness” that we have as Americans. This bill would allow police to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally, and it is a crime to not carry immigration documents. People who oppose this bill believe that it will allow discrimination and harassment towards Hispanics. The law will take effect in August, and Arizona is the first state requiring immigrants to meet federal requirements to carry identification and documents of citizenship. The governor said that it would be ensured that the police have training to carry out the law and racial profiling won’t be tolerated. Many other states have proposed hundreds of bills that address immigration since 2007, and last year there were 222 laws enacted and 131 resolutions in 48 states.
Rebecca Zavala
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
Research Lite
Henna tattoos are one of the oldest forms or body art in history. It is used throughout North Africa, The Middle East, and Indian. It actually is made from a plant that is naturally grown in the tropics. The leaves would be crushed into a fine powder. There are thousands of designs that each have a different meaning. Traditionally henna was put on women, as they were about to meet their husband through arranged marriage. It is also used for many other celebrations. This ancient art form is still used today throughout the world. But recently, there has been a harmful chemical that is used particularly in the ‘black henna’. This toxic dye is called para-Phenylendiamine also known as ‘PPD’. PPD will stain skin of the user and is soaked in. It can cause chronic excema and can blind you if entered into the eyes and is extremely dangerous if ingested. This is very dangerous and illegal to use in several country. But it is still legal in Europe and USA and is used in many hair dyes. There was a serious case of a young child getting a henna tattoo and then later getting a severe rash. There are also cases of several others having a bad reaction and irritated skin after. It is always important to be cautious and safe because you never know.
http://www.hennatattoos.com/articles/2008/01/22/para-phenylediamine-aka-ppd-aka-black-henna/#more-95
Rebecca Zavala
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
Research Lite
Recently the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer signed the nation’s toughest bill on illegal immigration. This new law aims to identify, prosecute and deport any illegal immigrants. This new law allows any officer or authority to demand any person to show documentation that he or she is here legally upon any sort of suspicion. This new law has caused much controversy throughout the United States. Many people are protesting and demonstrating against the government. I personally, think that this new law is outrageous and unfair. If I were to live in Arizona and a officer pulled me over for no reason and asked to see my birth certificate or some sort of evidence that I am here illegally I would get deported because I don’t carry that around with me. There is still an ongoing debate about the long run effect of this bill.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html
Christopher Lamelas
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
05/ 12/ 10
Research Lite: Food in Latin America
In Latin America, in areas such as Buenos Aires, Argentina, there are serious problems with their health, mainly because of their dietary habits. Their usual meals consist of an occasional fruit, no vegetables, and no meat. The main food products that they are able to buy, in the poorer parts of Latin America are bread, pasta, and sweets. There have been studies that show that diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis are rapidly increasing in Latin America. There is also actually a contradiction to popular belief these days, but obesity is just a different form of malnutrition, they are not on completely different sides of the spectrum. This really interested me because usually when you think of kids being obese, you don't think of poor places that can't afford food. About 10 percent of the people living in these areas, such as the Caribbean and Latin America are obese. The problem with the food though does not lie in the availability of the food, it lies in the prices of the food. Like Britos, a professor at the University of Buenos Aires said, "Food consumption by the poorest of the poor is not necessarily lacking in quantity, but it is poor in quality." In these modern times, people are trying to sell the more fattening foods at a lower price, which has completely flipped the idea of a child suffering from poverty and malnutrition from skin and bones to chubby. This is all because of the food that they are limited to buy. A normal family these days has a variety of over 250 food products that we eat, but in Latin America, in the poorer areas, there are only around 20 products. The poor do not have much to choose from and eat what they can get, which leads to obesity and malnutrition.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50917
Barack Obama had wanted to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader however, China, who has had control over Tibet since 1950, threatened that if foreign countries tried to meddle in China’s internal affairs then they would respond accordingly. China threatens to take action if Obama speaks with the spiritual leader because China views the Dalai Lama as a separatist group. Many harsh words have been said back and forth between the Dalai Lama people and the Chinese government however China would still like to keep all their internal affairs away from other foreign countries. Foreign countries must realize that Tibet is a part of China and must also resist interfering in any possible way to avoid conflict with China. China is extremely territorial and refuses to let any foreign country interfere even with Taiwan, which is considered to be under control by the Chinese. There are many conflicts that are erupting within China but because of their strong devotion to be isolated from other countries they demand to be able to resolve all issues without any foreign help and/or interference, which is way they have threatened, “corresponding action to make relevant countries see their mistakes!”
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8492608.stm
Doug Gimenez
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit.(6)
5/13/10
The wife of Mexico's most wanted drug lord was questioned and released after she was found during raids on seven houses linked to the fugitive trafficker, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
The combined raids by police and soldiers were carried out in upscale neighborhoods in the northern city of Culiacan. The city is considered the cradle of Mexico's most powerful drug lords. They seized six houses as well as seven luxury vehicles, computer equipment and five safes containing jewelry. It was not clear if any of that property belonged to Lopez Perez. Guzman, has reportedly built alliances with other cartels and trafficking gangs in the country's northern border region. The Mexican government has traditionally denied it pursues relatives of drug suspects unless they are suspected of involvement in crimes. Last August, prosecutors released the mother of another drug cartel leader,but released her after two days. His gang had threatened to retaliate against police if they bothered his family. Federal police did suffer violent attacks in the cartel's home state both before and after the mother's detention. This shows that the drug cartels are still very strong in Mexico and the police are scared of them or being paid off to not prosecute family members.
Recently the Pakistani government has arrested a suspect who is connected to the Pakistani militant group, who he said was an accomplice to the bombing in Times Square. The Pakistani Taliban was behind the attempt to bomb Times Square, and the suspect has admitted to helping Faisal Shahzad, the main suspect behind the bombing. Looking to see if the Pakistani Taliban is connected to al-Qaida is huge, since al-Qaida is a major threat to the United States. This would put Barrack Obama in a bind since he is trying to build a relationship with Pakistan. I feel that this incident shouldn’t harm United States relationship with Pakistan, that it should better their relationship and want to track down militant groups.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_15082038
Recently the wife of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the most-wanted drug lord in Mexico was released after questioning in the police station. Six of the seven houses, safes, and all the luxury cars belonging to Guzman were searched and confiscated by the police. It has been identified she has been Guzman’s wife since 2002. Guzman is head of the Sinaloa cartel rivals with the Zetas cartel. Guzman has been operating out of the mountains. The Mexican army reported Thursday that it has detained 5 gunmen armed with rifles and grenades in the northern state of Chilhuaha. I just find it interesting how year after year Mexico still has to fight against drugs. Also it’s very different how in some parts the drug lords have more power than the government.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_15082058
Tommy Soares
ReplyDelete10/14/10
Mr. Franklin
Oratory Project
Blog Response
The title of this article is Mexican Candidate Killed in Drug-Plagued Region. The drug war along the border has increased in violence over the last several months. The most recent victim has been Jose Mario Guajardo, a politician running for mayor in the town of Valle Hermoso. The evidence shows that the killers were most likely members of one of the gangs fighting in the drug war. The candidate was murdered along with his son and an employee. Even though Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon, is considered tough on crime, he has done little to suppress the gang violence in regions along the U.S. border. This article is newsworthy because it clearly shows how much the violence in this region has escalated. The fact that people running for office aren’t safe there puts into perspective how much this situation has grown out of hand. Hundreds of people have already been killed because of the growing drug and gang related crime. The U.S. and Mexico have to find a way to put an end to it or else it will get bigger and more people will be killed.
Briana Miller
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (6)
May 14, 2010
In a recent upfront magazine, there was an article “Disaster Fatigue” that caught my attention. Patricia Smith, the writer, stated, “When it comes to natural disasters, our attention spans are short.” Once a huge earthquake struck Haiti, thousands of reporters from all around the world rushed to the island. This disaster resulted in more than 300,000 people killed and many became homeless. Not to mention that Haiti is already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Now, mostly all of the reporters are gone and this topic is no longer mentioned as often compared to the news publicity it received in January. Joceline Magloire, a victim of this earthquake, mentions in the article that she already feels forgotten and is still in need of a tent and food for her family. There has been quite a few of devastations in the past couple of years but eventually is no longer mentioned in the news. Immediately, celebrities are willing to make donations and government officials send any necessary aid to the country but after awhile the news coverage will fade. This proves that the public has a short attention span and that they are just not interested, as they seem to be when the crisis first happened. The article mentions that there is always a more interesting story covering the front pages. For example, Tiger Woods. Another problem with the short attention span is that helping a country go through a disaster is expensive and sometimes not many news broadcasters are willing to pay. I do not understand why the media stops covering certain topics like this one, which is more important than following up with weekly celebrity gossip. If the news continued to keep updating on Haiti or any other disasters, I think that the show would slowly lose viewers. After awhile, people are tired of hearing the same story and would rather hear news about Tiger Woods, Paris Hilton, Lil Wayne, etc. Once these disasters are no longer brought up, people forget. When Hurricane Katrina happened, a lot of people were concerned but 4 years later we do not hear news about it anymore, except during Super Bowl season when the Saints won. For a while I thought that everything was better in the city because it’s not mentioned but in reality there are still many people suffering and struggling to survive any way they can. Disasters do not get fixed in a few weeks or months, it’s a yearly process for awhile and I think that if we paid more attention to trying to help it may take less time for countries to recover.
Allison McAndrews
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
12 April 2010
For Chinese, Web Is the Way to Entertainment
After already censoring Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter from Chinese internet services American Internet companies are taking it one step further and censoring even some of Google’s operations from China. The internet has become the prime entertainment service in China. Many young people have become frustrated with this decision, since they already have other limits on state-run television and limits of foreign films allowed to be shown in China each year, and have made alternative sites such as Baidu, Tudou, or Sina.com which are used for online games, pirated movies and music, microblogging and instant messaging. A study that was conducted by the Boston Consulting Group found that people in China are much more connected than Americans, and only the Japanese spend more time on the web globally. The power of technology in China has the Communist Government worried viral messages will spread that could start social movements, and have major rolls in politics altogether. Chinese Internet companies have learned their lesson: entertainment trumps politics on the web in China. They are now working on making websites much like ones here in America, such as Baidu Knows which is supposed to be much like Wikipedia, and an online video site where TV shows can be broadcasted. This tells us just how connected people have gotten to the internet. They rely so much on the internet that even in the article one person said that there is “nothing else to do.” It is amazing how much time people spend on the internet, I myself spend at least an hour or 2 a day on it and I’m sure many other young people could say the same. We have been so cut off from the world around us and since we have grown up with the internet haven’t known anything different. It is amazing how desperate we get once our resources are gone, and I feel that young people in China are desperate for internet resources for certain things, which is why right after the internet was censored they already have made many alternative sites. It is amazing how we don’t realize how much we rely on certain things until they are taken away from us.
Allison McAndrews
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World LIterature (2)
7 March 2010
Research Lite
The upper house of India’s Parliament passed a bill on Tuesday, March 9 that would amend the Constitution to reserve one-third of the seats in India’s national and state legislatures for women. A small group of regional caste-based parties spoke out against this arguing that it would diminish their influence. The amendment is a long-sought tool to improve the women of India, which is the world’s most populous democracy. Despite having had several female leaders, Indian women lag behind men in virtually every sphere of life. Many governments have been trying to get the amendment passed since the 1990s, but each has failed despite wide support across the political spectrum. The fight over the bill illustrates the major competition between caste, religion, ethnicity and gender over who will benefit most from laws designed to reduce inequality. Opponents of the bill say that it will favor wealthy upper-caste women at the expense of the lower castes and Muslims. Lalu Yadav, leader of one of the parties seeking to block the amendment, said “We are not against women reservation, give reservation to poor India, to original India. Ninety percent of the population is deprived in India.” Critics of the amendment say that it will only worsen what is already a big problem, powerful men substituting their daughters, wives and sisters in political office.
I think that the people of India need to realize that men and women are equal, and that they should be treated as equals. Their caste system and government in general is limiting everyones equality and causing a lot of unneeded havoc. Women deserve the right to hold a spot in government, even if it means taking a powerful man’s place. I hope India gets far more women in politics , not because men are worse, but because people should be able to play a role in the laws that apply to them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/world/asia/10india.html
Here is the link to my other blog article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/technology/19chinaweb.html?src=busln
James Soares
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
5/16/10
Research Lite on Oil Spill Clean up
With the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 210,000 gallons of oil have spewed into the sea each day causing a slick up and down the coast of Louisiana. The first sign of a successful cleanup has taken place though. BP has sent a mile long tube into the sea to capture some oil, however so far the tube has only captured a “dribble” of the oil spilled it is hope for the future cleanup efforts. I think that with the massive oil spill a whole new era of hybrid cars will emerge. With the loss of so much oil and damage to the environment people everywhere will start to really feel the need to do their part to not pollute the world and use its resources. I believe the dawn of a new age of “greener” modes of transportation, technologies, and resources will be about us faster than many of us think, and hopefully this will put a stop to the over consumption of oil all over the world.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100517/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollution
James Soares
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
5/16/10
Research Lite on Mexican Kidnapping
Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon has just ordered a huge manhunt to find a missing politician that is a close friend of his. His name is Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, and he may be the most prominent kidnap victim in the Mexican drug wars yet. A vehicle belonging to Diego was found near the town Queretaro, showing signs of violence. There are no leads as of now to where Diego may be. I think this is extremely scary because it shows the instability of Mexico at this very instance. Even the highest of Mexican political circles is now stricken with fear. In 2006 the current president launched a military crack down on crime, and since then a lot of violence over drugs has ensued. I believe that since Diego is a close friend of Calderon’s then this kidnapping was no coincidence, but an orchestrated plan to send a signal to Calderon. With the chaos in Mexico there is a good chance it might start pouring over into the United States. I believe that Mexico needs to regain control of their country before more violence occurs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100517/wl_afp/mexicocrimepolitics
Christopher Lamelas
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
05/ 17/ 10
Research Lite: Nuclear Fuel Swap
This past Sunday, May 16, Turkey said that Iran had agreed to do a deal for a nuclear fuel swap which could possibly end Tehran's struggles with the West because of the West's atomic programs. There have been many negotiations with the Turkish, Iranians, and Brazilians about what Western and Russian authorities have said is the last chance to avoid U.N. sanctions against Iran. Although full details of the agreement weren't released, it is suspected that Tehran is secretly building a nuclear bomb. There have been many situations to where these suspicions would be made. For instance, last October Iran had shipped 1,200 kg(2,646 lbs) of low enriched uranium to Russia and France to be made into fuel for a Tehran research reactor. The amount that was sent to Russia and France is enough for a single bomb if the uranium was purified to a high enough level. Also, Iran has been saying that they would only do the swaps on their own land, which to other parties would be considered unacceptable. Currently, Iran and America are having a conflict because America is accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. There have been many attempts to mediate to find a resolution to this problem when all of the worlds powers are together at a U.N. meeting. Recently in February, the Islamic state started higher enrichment to create fuel for a research reactor after the failed talks over the nuclear swap. From this step, it has brought Iran's enrichment closer to a level needed to create weapons-grade material.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100517/wl_nm/us_iran_nuclear_mediation/
Joey Mason
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit. (6)
17 May 2010
India
India launched a nuclear submarine becoming only the sixth country in the world to do so. China, France, Britain, Russia, and the United states were the only 5 countries in the world to have launched a nuclear submarine in years past. It was launched by India’s prime minister and was built entirely in India with Russian assistance and there is another to be constructed shortly. The submarine is able to launch missiles 437 miles away. With India now getting nuclear weapons I see a new threat to other countries around the world and I believe many countries will watch India very closely over the next few months.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8169360.stm
Melissa McCall
ReplyDeleteFranklin
World Lit. (2)
April 27, 2010
Monks Turing to a Different Way to Lure in Followers
During this year, Buddhist monks in Japan are using alcohol and rap music to lure in more people to the Buddhist religion. Monks feel that their religion is struggling to survive just like they say all the other religions are struggling too. They decided to take a different approach and get the younger generation to accept the Buddhist faith. Monks say that today’s temples are disconnected from the ordinary person. They felt the need to change it so that they can lure people back in and even more people from the younger generation. They take the old chants and interpret them from old Japanese to the Japanese now so that it is easier to understand and put them to a hip-hop beat. They then set up a bar so that people can talk about their problems with ease. I think that it is good that they are trying to reach out to other people by modernizing the religion but I feel like if you modernize it too much, then it can result in losing the traditional religion. I feel like a traditional religion is what should be practiced with adjustments made but not drastically.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/21/japan.monks.rap.religion/index.html#cnnSTCText
Jake Grant
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit (6)
May 16, 2010
You May Be More Racist Than You Think
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/07/racism.study/index.html
In this article that I found on CNN.com it talks about several tests that were produced by Kerry Kawakami, associate professor of psychology at York University in Toronto. This tests were conducted by placing 120 non-black participates in a room with another light-skinned person and dark-skinned person. In one scenario the dark-skinned person would bump into the white person as they were leaving the room. The people would record any comments that these people would make about the person. Not very many people reacted harshly to when the person ran into them. Immediately after this they were supposed to pick someone to complete a test with, more than half choose the light-skinned person whether or not, they made a rude comment about the dark-skinned person. There was also a website posted on the article that there is a test to see whether a person has bad attitudes about people’s race, age, and size. 75-80 percent of the people who took this test show that they are prejudice against dark-skinned people.
This article astounds me with how bad people treat each other. It would seem like in this century we would all be over this discrimination stuff, but it is still going on without these people noticing. It says in the article that most of these people have non-overt views. This means that they feel this way without even being open about it. It also says that parents have a big role in how you look at people. Some parents still to this day show a bad example to their kids and they follow in their parents’ footsteps with these feelings about other people. It says that ¾ of the people who took these racism tests were positive for having negative thoughts about another gender. This is a huge number and it seems like the number has not gone done since people have been given rights. I feel that we need to lead others and ourselves in the right direction. Everyone deserves to be treated equal and not looked down upon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJHSRuYW_3c&playnext_from=SL
Andie Stager
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
April 18, 2010
Research Lite- Yin and Yang symbol
The yin and yang represent the idea that the universe is run by a single principle. That principle is split into two principles that are opposite of each other, the yin and the yang. The yang represents principles of maleness, the sun, creation, heat, light, Heaven, and dominance. The yin represents principles of femaleness, the moon, completion, cold, darkness, material forms, and submission. Each of these are the opposites of the other. This principle is equal because it creates a balance so that no one side becomes more dominant than the other. Since there is no dominant principle, all principles could change into their opposites. I think that this symbol and idea represents peace, because it represents a balance of each principle. This balance would lead to a peaceful state of mind if no principle was more dominant over the other.
Laila Kreitem
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
May 19, 2010
Research Lite--Cuban lawmakers denounce Arizona immigration law
The Arizona law against immigrants was signed April 23rd making it so citizens have to provide their birth certificate if asked to verify their citizenship. Cuban lawmakers have recalled an old debate stating that hen the United States purchased Arizona from Mexico in the 19th century, it was equivalent to theft. Many cities have passed rulings against the law or implored boycotts. President Obama denounced the law as “a misdirected expression of frustration.” Arizona lawmakers said the Arizona measure “aims to close the doors on immigrants to territories that were stolen by force from the noble Mexican people.” The United States and Cuba have had an uneasy friendship over the years, but hopefully they can figure things out in this situation.
Alex Josten
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Lit (2)
April 15, 2010
Research Lite
In the Arabic and Islamic customs and beliefs, they believe in a supernatural creature that occupies a parallel world to that of mankind. The word, Jinni, in the Arabic language means “ to hide” or “ to be hidden”. As we learned in, Daunte’s Inferno, Lucifer was an angel that rebelled against God’s orders and was sent down to the core of hell as the devil. But, in Islam, it is believed that Lucifer was a Genie who was granted a special privilege to live amongst angels prior to his rebellion. After the rebellion, he was granted a respite to lead humans astray until the Day of Judgement. The Genies were frequently mentioned in the Qur’an. In comparison to the Arabic theory, the Islamic theology genies are creatures with free will, made from smoke and or fire by Allah. According to the Qur’an, genies were creatures with free will, but Lucifer abused this freedom in front of Allah by refusing to bow to Adam when Allah instructed to do so. As a consequence, Allah expelled him from Paradise and called him Shaytan, or Satan. Genies were invisible to humans and humans do not appear clearly to them. Genies often harass and sometimes even possess humans for various reasons such as romantic infatuation, or dealing with revenge. Genies have the power to travel long distances at extreme speeds. They are known to live in remote areas like mountains, seas, or trees. Just like humans, Genies will be judged on the Day of Judgement and will be sent to Paradise or Hell according to their deeds.
Chris Martin
ReplyDeleteMr. Franklin
World Literature (2)
May 15, 2010
Oil Spill
I did an article on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a massive spill that has not even been attempted to get cleaned up. It says that the oil has gone down through the ground 4 miles deep. Also, there are things that are in the way, that are blocking from people cleaning up the oil spill. All in all this oil spill has been one of the major natural disasters that will affect the world for at least the next 20 years to go.