Future of Womens Rights in Middle East

       Women’s rights are an issue all over the world. Contrary to what many Americans believe, this day in age in America, there are still instances where women and minorities are discriminated against. One area of the world we, as Americans, often think about as having a severe problem with this topic is the Middle East. For decades, women in the Middle East have been viewed as in superior to men; only there for child bearing and to serve men.  What this article, from CNN.com, talks about is the future of women’s rights in the Middle East.

      When reading this article something that stood out to me was what women from western countries are doing to help put an end to this unnecessary discrimination. By, “western women” I am referring to popular women from America or other established countries where women’s rights aren’t such an issue anymore. Nancy Pelosi is one female that has made an effort in recent years to change this discriminatory way of thinking in mid-eastern countries. I found it interesting that on several occasions she has made trips to places such as Egypt, Syria and Libya to talk to government officials about the positive effect women’s rights can have on social and political aspects in their counties. It has been said many times: if you educate a woman, you raise a whole village. That’s because an educated woman will teach her children the best path to the future. This is a great example of how women’s rights can improve a country as a whole.

      Another thing I found very interesting while reading this article was the fact that women’s social rights have increased in recent years, however their legal rights have been reduced. This seems odd to me and also seems as if it would make it harder for women to deal with. Think about it. You are a woman in one of these countries with no rights and then you’re all of a sudden allowed to get jobs, be voted to office and go to school. Everything would seem great; however legal issues are still very discriminatory towards women. The price of court costs are more than twice as much for women along with other legal issues that discriminate towards women.

      Often times men in these Mideast countries don’t understand that this discriminatory was of treating women is wrong. This is because it is how they have been raised and many times it’s what their religion calls for. Interesting to me was the fact that men don’t believe they are treating women negatively. They believe they are just doing what their Islamic beliefs call for. The major theme this article touches on is that awareness needs to be spread about this issue. If men in these countries along with political figures understood the positive impact women’s rights could have on the social way of life in their country, they would be more willing to change. 

      Though there are still cases in the United States where women are discriminated against it is something that is very rare in the overall scheme of things. My grandmother is on of the most hard working, loving and strongest individuals I have ever met. Because of the way I have been raised, I have always had a great respect for women. It puts a terrible feeling in my gut when I think about this issue in the Middle East; something must be done.

Link to Related Article

Concentration Camps in North Korea

      A gulag, as defined by Dictionary.com, is any prison or detention camp, especially for political prisoners. For the longest time the United States has suspected North Korea to be operating camps, such as the 20^th century Russian gulags, within their country. North Korea officials have denied this allegation for years, but what this article shows is, sound evidence, that they do indeed exist. 

      When I came across this article, I quickly skimmed through it. What caught my attention was that these possible 200,000 individuals are thought to be put in camps with no real charge or trial. The article states that the inmates are alleged to have a wrong way of thinking towards the government. To me this is crazy. I mean, most Americans know that the, social and governmental, conditions in North Korea are not the greatest, but to basically enslave individuals because they don’t support the way the government is working is just plain, absurd.

      The input from escapees was another way this article was interesting. Many of these individuals confessed about the living conditions being absolutely terrible. Common things reported were: forced malnutrition, mating, abortion, and labor along with other terrible living conditions. Interviewed escapees talked about how, often times, the poor living conditions led to inmates turning to violence which only made things worse.

      Sometimes I find myself forgetting about how privileged we are, as Americans, to live in such a wonderful country. We get caught up in so many little things that we forget about all the freedoms we are blessed with here in the United States. We have the right to believe what we want. To have an opinion that we can expressed in certain ways. Reading this article and thinking about what these people are going through, just because they believe the government could work a different way, has reemphasized that fact that we are extremely lucky to live in, “The Land of the Free.”

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Australia/United States Comparison

      One area of the world that has always interest me is Australia. I don’t know why, if it’s the Australian accent we love as kids, the kangaroos or the geography; maybe all of them. I decided to take a closer look at this country and make a few comparisons to the United States to answer something I have always wondered; how alike or unalike are the countries of Australia and the United States. By using the CIA world fact book I was able to gather some general information about language, economics along with a few other statistics to make my comparisons between these two countries.

      One of the first things I looked at in my investigation was the language breakdown in each country. Before looking I knew that English was a primary language in Australia but I was unaware that it made up 78% of the population; only 2% under the percent of English speaking people in the US. The biggest difference between these countries, in regards to language, was the breakdown of the remaining 20% of the population. For the US, Spanish makes up just over 10% of the population, with the remaining portion only making up a minor portion of the total population. For Australia, Chinese and Italian make up around 2% each with many other, less popular, languages making up the remainder of the population.

      Though the main information I wanted to acquire through this investigation had to do with the language breakdown, there were a few other things I inspired to understand about Australia to obtain a better understanding. Literacy in both countries is 99%; a very high score for any country. Unemployment in Australia is 12%; 5% lower than the United States, which was surprising to me. As for the economy side of things, Australia’s GDP/capita is at $40,800 compared to the United States $48,100.  Nearly $8,000 may seem like a large difference between the countries. However, when you take into consideration the 15% of people, in the US, below the poverty line, compared to the 8% in Australia, it isn’t so bad.  

      My main purpose in doing this comparison was to gain a better understanding of Australia; something I have wanted to do for a long time. I have always just assumed that this country was like the US, but never looked up the facts to back up this assumption. By doing this investigation, though it was only a general one, I feel I have indeed obtained a better understanding of Australia. My assumption proved to be correct in that Australia and the United States are very alike. Minus the geographic differences, these two countries are close to mirror images of one another.

Link to CIA World Factbook

Poaching in Northern Africa

       Poaching happens all over the world. Even here in America, where there are paid professionals and state agencies whose jobs are to stop this criminal act, it still happens. This article, retrieved from the CNN foreign news website, talks about the increase in the number of poachers and the effect it has had on the African elephant population in Cameroon. In the article it explains how elephant tusks have become a hot commodity in Asian countries as well as how poachers have evolved over the last decade; making them more efficient and deadly.

     It was very interesting to me to read about poachers in Africa; how my original thoughts about this activity were very wrong. Before reading this article I didn’t think poaching was anything more than one or two people going into a forest, out of season, and shooting a deer or any other game animal. However, in Africa, this happens in large operations of people with highly complex strategies and fully automatic weapons.

     

     One startling fact that I overcame while reading this article was that in China there is a well established ivory market. China’s government claims that this market is well regulated which I find a bit odd since it is highly illegal to hunt African elephants around the world. One thing that I did find while reading about this topic was that there are, what seems to be minor, things happening to end this problem. One of the things I thought was very strange was the creation of posters to inform natives about this problem. But honestly, how much will a poster do to stop poachers?

           

       I feel as if something more impactful needs to be done to set an example. I understand that to fully stop poaching would take thousands of dollars and complete governmental cooperation between nations. It is sickening to think about hundreds of elephants getting pumped full of lead just for there ivory tusks. One thing I can see that may be a useful way to decrease the number poached elephants is to eliminate the ivory markets in Asian countries. Also, a more logical approach that could have an impact to slow the ivory trade would be to enforce greater restrictions on ivory imports and exports. I understand this is an absurd thought, but by eliminating the ivory market or reducing the cost of ivory it would take the money incentive out of poaching African elephants.

Link to Related Article

             

HIV Analysis

           HIV/AIDS is a deadly disease as we all know, but who does it affect? With the help of Gapminder.org I was able to take a closer look at this question. I didn’t look at a specific area of the globe because I wished to understand how widespread this disease is. The three graphs that I used were: total number infected, percentage of population ages 15-49 that are infected, and percentage of population that are newly affected with HIV.

            Link to Statistical Map

          The first thing that popped out at me as important was that HIV is everywhere. Many times people just assume that this disease is only a problem in developing countries. However, just by looking at the first map anyone can see that well established countries are affected as well. The first graph doesn’t tell the whole story though. It is based solely on population size. Meaning, the more populated areas of the world are going to have a higher number of HIV viruses. When looking at the percentages of the population infected, a much clearer picture can be painted of which area of the world is most affected by HIV. The United States, China and India, barely register on this graph, whereas southern Africa almost jumps out of the computer.

            The real question isn’t what countries are infected, but how can countries slow the spread of HIV. The last graph I looked at is a good indicator of countries that understand HIV. By simulating the map graph based on the percentage of newly infected people, one can see that the percentages over the years have gone down for the entire world. However, it is easy to see that the southern half of Africa and other developing areas of the world have decreased at a much slower rate than the rest of the world. Though the percentages are dropping I believe it is important governments educate their citizens to ultimately put an end to this deadly disease, HIV. 

Tate DeMeulenaere

Disabilities in Ecuador

“The most important thing is to raise public awareness that people with disabilities can effectively integrate into daily life.” Luis Vicente González told this to a World Bank reporter on the subject of equality in Ecuador. This article from the World Bank Group website is about equal rights to those individuals suffering from physical disabilities in Ecuador. The article talks about how, despite of Ecuadorean law that says 4% of all employed workers should be disabled, these individuals are still getting discriminated against.

Living in America we just assume that equal rights is not a problem. To most it isn’t, but to a number of employers it’s as if they look down on the handicapped as if they can not do any job as well as a person without a handicap could. This is an absurd way of thinking because many people with these handicaps can do the same job just as well as anyone else and sometimes even better.  After a person stops and thinks about the problems with discrimination we have in America, “The Land of the Free,” it makes one wonder what discrimination is like in a developing country such as Ecuador.

One part of this article that jumped out at me as important was a particular paragraph talking about equal rights in schools and in the education system. The article points out that the World Bank has taken some major steps towards making sure all children get an honest chance at a good education regardless of any disabilities they may have. It was alarming to me that, in Ecuador, it is not uncommon for children to be held from school because of a physical or mental handicap they suffer from.  This is something that, as Americans, we take for granted sometimes because we have federal programs that allow for special treatment and teacher’s aids to help with special needs children.

Even a person unfamiliar with American history knows that equal rights has been a battle for minorities for many years, not just because of race, but because of physical and mental handicaps as well. The World Bank Group understands that in developing countries, such as Ecuador, these issues are present even more so than in established countries because of the lack of social awareness. Though this is a touchy issue for some and one that many lose sleep about, it’s good to know that there are people like Luis Vicente González and organizations like the World Bank that understand these issues and set out to educate the public and ultimately help with the problem.

Link to Related Article

Tate DeMeulenaere

Children Soldiers in Samolia

      War has become a way of life for the population of Somalia in recent years. The Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab has been battling the government of Somalia for some time now. This article, found from CNN’s world news page, talks about how children as young as 10 years old are being used in military combat. As the article explains this is nothing new in Somalia. The federal government recruits children to join the military as well.

    

      Children are being kidnapped all over Somalia from schools, off the streets, or even from their homes. What’s the most striking to me is that when these children are abducted, they are taken and used many times as human shields on the battle field. If this isn’t disturbing enough, what is the federal government doing about it? Nothing is the answer because the federal government uses children soldiers in their armed forces as well. “For children of Somalia, nowhere is safe,” Zama Coursen-Neff, Human Rights Watch deputy children’s rights director, told CNN reporters. It’s true though. How can a government fix a serious problem if they are committing the same crime?

      It may be hard to relate to this because something this absurd would never happen in the country we live in.  It just goes to show the world is not such a happy place as many American citizens assume. However, it is settling to know that organizations such as the United Nations, who are meeting this week to talk about this issue, are taking steps to prevent such absurdity from happening.

Link to Related Article

Tate DeMeulenaere

African Jazz/Blues Music

Music is something that people all around the world use to cope with problems, celebrate successes, morn deaths, and even practice religion. Music is not something only found here in the United States either, it’s global. I took an evening to sit down on my computer and listen to some native music found from the southern part of Africa. The songs that I listened to were from a group of African singers known as the Four Brothers. There music is of the pop jazz/blues genre and is of up tempo melodies. Some basic research informed me that the music this group sings says a lot about the culture and way of life in Africa.

One song in particular caught my attention, “Makorokoto”. It turns out, as I assumed, each of this band’s songs have a passionate meaning behind each of them. “Makorokoto,” is a song of Zimbabwean revolution. The Four Brothers band was formed during a time when current Zimbabwe was known as Rhodesia. Therefor, the members where part of this revolution. Before researching, I took the time to listen to the melody, beat and lyrics of this song. What was very clear to me from the beginning was, “Makorokoto” was a happy song. It makes since after researching as to why. In Shona, the bands native language, makorokoto means celebration.

Before listening to this native African music genre I didn’t know what to expect. It was hard for me to picture anything but, native, African tribesmen dancing around a fire singing songs passed down from generation to generation. I was very mistaken in this assumption. Just as music here in the United States represents a specific life event, so does this African jazz. Even though you cannot understand the words meaning by hearing it, just by listening a person can understand the bigger picture that is being painted. The beat, the ups and downs in the singer’s voices, all lead to the deeper understanding of what is being addressed. I believe that if a person wishes to get a better understanding of African culture, it is crucial that they take a few minutes to indulge in some of the world’s best and intriguing jazz/blues music.

Tate DeMeulenaere