History Presentation

 Life And Debt. History evaluation.

http://280slides.com/Viewer/?user=60494&name=Life%20and%20Debt&fullscreen

Notes for Presentation:
 Slide 2:

When Jamaica became free from Great Britain the English left the country suddenly without helping stabilize a working order or an economic strength in the country. This caused a incredible amount of financial issues for the country.

In order to make ends meet in the country, Jamaica had to import a majority of resources. This caused more problems with money and so the only other place to turn for help was the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF was a bank set up to provided short term loans to 3rd world countries in order to help them. 


Slide 3:

In 1976 Jamaica could no longer provided wheat to grow food or keep penicillin in the hospitals. The country was rapidly declining in self-support and needed immediate assistance for its financial troubles.

When the IMF got involved Jamaican leaders asked for a long term contract to return the loan and immediate revenue in order to stabilize the country over a organized and necessary period of time. The IMF decided to offer a short term loan with full interest and restrictions that left Jamaica to cut several vital programs and pay much more than they were loaned in order to fulfill the agreement.

The restrictions referred to what they could and could not spend the money in the country.

 Slide 4:

Jamaica argued that the contract would force them directly into another financial crisis immediately after receiving the money because of the interest and restrictions imposed. The IMF asserted that this would be the first step into a necessary change in the economy of Jamaica via globalization.

The IMF worked with the World Bank in order to globalize the economy of Jamaica. They used several methods to do this and all of these methods had serious consequences that effected the people of Jamaica greatly. The consequences completely out weighed all the benefits of the globalization of the economy. The movie included several examples of both the impositions and their consequences.

Slide 5:

Stephanie Black, the director, made the focus of the film on the attempts of globalization and its negative effects. By showing examples of international organizations attempts at restructuring the Jamaican economy and displaying the reactions of the natives and the factual effects on the country the main idea of the film was easily displayed.

Her main message was supported by the sources she cited within the movie. Documents that were displayed on screen and mentioned of their origins, interviews with employees of IMF and workers of small businesses in Jamaica, and pictures were all credible sources to base her assertions on.

The message was communicated well to the audience because the target audience would have responded well. It was clear the director did not want people to rush down to Jamaica right after the movie but instead wanted the audience to understand what was happening around them.
Slide 6:
By attempting to restructure the economy of Jamaica through globalization the IMF and World Bank made a human choice that effected the entire country. Thus answering the essential question, “ How do human choices have a local and global impact?”


Slide 7:

The only question that I am left with concerning the movie is How the Jamaicans can change the predicament they are in. With the economy the way it is it seem that their only choice now is to do as the IMF says for the sake of the survival of their country.

Irony would be to strong of a word but all the same the relationship between the topic of this film and the events that explained it are ironic in a sense. That is to say that because of the economic instability of the country when it became free, Jamaica became bonded and enslaved in a contract of economic restructuring that if it was loosed from the country would slowly crumble under its financial crisis.  One can not conclude that this would be the case in every case but in this specific event it seems to be.

 
 

RESEARCH QUESTION!

Why were forced marriages necessary? Why did the begin?
What system beget the concept of forced marriages?
*How does forced marriages compare with the concept of arranged marriages and how are they alike or different?
I am researching the concept of forced marriages because I want to explain how this concept violates article 6 of the Universal Doctrine of Human Rights in order to show an example of a human rights violation.
In oder to answer these questions I must use reliable resources that are found through strategic searching of specific terms.

Tentative research Proposal

I am looking at the topic of forced marriages in the form of both child marriages and arranged marriages. Although arranged marriages do involve a form of traditional and cultural consent it is a borderline method of a lack of freedom on the bride or grooms part.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_marriage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_Marriage_(Civil_Protection)_Act_2007
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/uk/features/article_1368195.php/Forced_marriage_under_spotlight_as_human_rights_issue

What human right does this violate?

DRC Current Events

The DRC is full of violence and rape. Within the Congo there are lots of killing and rape. There are reports of genocide orchestrated inside of the country. Rebel groups have caused lots of trouble and conflict gunfire is regular. Although some rebel leaders have been found and captured the problem has yet to be resolved.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/congothedemocraticrepublicof/index.html

Mass rapes are horryfing and caused cultural problems in and outside villiges of the Congo.
http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Rebel-chief-held-over-DRC-rapes-20101005

Discussion Review

1. Is Leopold Gay?
2. I think that we worked well together. We argued valid points and used proper support. We could improve by using more open ended questions so that the discussion can continue.

King L's Ghost Blog 1

I cannot honestly say that I enjoy neither this reading nor this book. I find it difficult to read someone’s difficult past or the difficult past of my ancestors with very much enthusiasm.  I don’t like reading about it. It depresses me and never helps me plan the future. I was told that to understand the future we must study the past but I feel that this reading is doing nothing but making the present worse. Although some of the detail was fairly irrelevant to the point of the book as a whole the rest was detailed to the point where I’d rather skip to other parts of the book. I had a hard time pointing out exactly were this book was going and I was not sure if I really wanted to. The general aspect of this book pushed me away from it.

Two Discussion Questions:

If the communication issue between the Africans and the Portuguese was solved would the result be the same?

Why are Stanley’s issues just as important to study as the African issues? Or are they? 

Thoughts at the end of 9/2

Today I learned that every country in the world was a colonized country and that most colonizing countries derived from Europe. I also learned about The Berlin Conference.
The only questions I have are if there are countries that don't fit under any of the categories that we listed to day. Also how the the acronym S.P.I.C.E.R. got started.
I am curious to learn more about the Berlin Conference. ]
~Reybren

Re: Class Activity - Current Events Reporting

This article speaks about how a Islamic Imam has been trying to build a mosque for his followers in the New York area. All that he asks is that he has one somewhere. The proposed plan was to put it near Park51 which happens to be 2 blocks away from ground zero. It seems to be controversial because of its placement so close to ground zero.

This news is fairly recent, with the article being published on August 25, 2010.

A couple of questions I have are: Is it legally wrong to place the mosque there? What are the steps to establishing a new building in New York?

Memorable Events in my Lifetime: Rant

September 11, 2001 and August 23, 2005 were the most memorable newsworthy dates of events in my lifetime. September 11, 2001 was the date of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  Like almost everyone else you meet I can remember the exact place I was when I heard the news. August 23, 2005 was the beginning of Hurricane Katrina’s massive rampage through southern Louisiana, specifically New Orleans.  The real effect of it only hit me a year later when I met someone from New Orleans who escaped before the damage hit and had to move her because when they returned there was nothing left. These dates are the most memorable to me because of the metal attack they had on me regarding the American public. They made me think about the attitude of United States citizens when it comes to the care of those in need.   On both of these dates the United States public didn’t hesitate to show enthusiasm with helping those in need. They organized charities, donated hundreds of thousands of dollars, and offered condolences of the thousands that lost their lives.  These were great tragedies and the United States public responded in turn. It made me question: What does it take for the people of the United States to unite as one to help solve a problem or fight for a cause? Is the only way to wait for a natural disaster or a crime to humanity to make people care? Do thousands have to die in order for people to realize that there is a problem to be solved? When will the people realize that there is more to care about than themselves? When will people see that there are others out there who are not a loved one or friend that needs just as much help? When will people start caring about others on a daily basis and not just in the time of a national crisis? My guess is, around the same time the genre of reality T.V. is forgotten because of poor viewership and a Utopia is formed.