1.Homelessness
-Beyond Housing: Helping low income families with money in order to have a house
-St. Patrick Center: Provides food, Mental Services, and a place to live for many homeless people
2. Inner City Children
-Big Brother, Big Sister: Helps mentor inter city children
-Together We Can St. Louis: Provides early care and education to children ages six weeks to twelve years through a full curriculum of educational and developmental activities
3. Rebuilding St. Louis
-Restore St. Louis: Help people through religion.
-Human Development Corporation of Metropolitan St. Louis :tutor, food pantry helper, family festival worker, general office helper
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Tentative Research Proposal
1. Blood Diamonds: Always have been interested in this topic ever since the movie Blood Diamonds came out.
Links: http://www.history.com/videos/blood-diamond-beyond-the-bloodshed#blood-diamond-beyond-the-bloodshed
Questions: Why do/did jewelers buy blood diamonds when they knew how the seller achieved the diamonds
2. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the "right to life"
Links: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?doc_id=427
Questions: Why does someone really need to die by death penalty
Links: http://www.history.com/videos/blood-diamond-beyond-the-bloodshed#blood-diamond-beyond-the-bloodshed
Questions: Why do/did jewelers buy blood diamonds when they knew how the seller achieved the diamonds
2. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the "right to life"
Links: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?doc_id=427
Questions: Why does someone really need to die by death penalty
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Free Write October 19th
1. The first thing that I notice in the photo is that all the staff working at Auschwitz are smiling. The workers do not seem the least bit frightened about what they were doing.
2. The idea that comes to mind when I see this photo is that the staff is happy that they are accomplishing what they set out to do. Kill Jews. The workers are not at the least bit worried about what they were doing to the Jews. I believe that they are all singing on the bridge because they accomplished something that has been asked of them. Its a time to relax and get away from killing.
3. Why are the staff happy? How could they stand there and laugh and sing while they are killing thousands of people? What role did music play in keeping the staff relaxed after killing?
2. The idea that comes to mind when I see this photo is that the staff is happy that they are accomplishing what they set out to do. Kill Jews. The workers are not at the least bit worried about what they were doing to the Jews. I believe that they are all singing on the bridge because they accomplished something that has been asked of them. Its a time to relax and get away from killing.
3. Why are the staff happy? How could they stand there and laugh and sing while they are killing thousands of people? What role did music play in keeping the staff relaxed after killing?
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Distingishing Human Rights
I believe that the challenge in defining Human Rights is that, many people have different morals and different religious views that might contradict with some of the articles. For example, if someone is homosexual, it is illegal for them to get married. Homosexuals believe they should have the right to get married because they have the right to life, liberty, and security of person. This means they should have the right to marry whoever they wanted to. To one person, they might totally be against it, while on the other hand someone might be totally for it.
As we were going through different senarios during class, I realized that not everything I think, is what they think. When it came to the question if the farmer has the right to kill the chickens on his farm, I was totally for it, while Shane Carr was against it. The difference is that, Shane is a vegetarian and I like to eat meat.
I believe that there will always be conflict to the articles. I believe when one generation leaves, the articles will keep on changing. I think human rights will change base on what each generation thinks of them.
As we were going through different senarios during class, I realized that not everything I think, is what they think. When it came to the question if the farmer has the right to kill the chickens on his farm, I was totally for it, while Shane Carr was against it. The difference is that, Shane is a vegetarian and I like to eat meat.
I believe that there will always be conflict to the articles. I believe when one generation leaves, the articles will keep on changing. I think human rights will change base on what each generation thinks of them.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
The Next Empire Notes
Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/05/the-next-empire/8018/
1. Note the author's key arguments. Make an outline of his points.
- China is the largest investor of Africa:
“Statistics are hard to come by, but China is probably the biggest single investor in Africa,” said Martyn Davies, the director of the China Africa Network at the University of Pretoria. “They are the biggest builders of infrastructure. They are the biggest lenders to Africa, and China-Africa trade has just pushed past $100 billion annually.”
“Africa is the source of at least one-third of the world’s commodities”—commodities China will need, as its manufacturing economy continues to grow—“and once you’ve understood that, you understand China’s determination to build roads, ports, and railroads all over Africa.”
- Building a Middle Class:
I see the explosive development of infrastructure. I see people producing more food and having more jobs … And besides, I don’t see how otherwise you are going to get a civil society, except by building up a middle class.”
- China is in it for the long term:
“And they asked to see all the old colonial maps of the Congo. These are the only maps that reflect reasonably accurate surveys of Congo’s underground, and they want to use them for development plans in Katanga and elsewhere. If you look at Chinese policy documents, it is very obvious that they are focused on opening up the heart of the continent. There is clearly a long-term strategy for doing this, and it seeks to break up the north-south flow of minerals, to build east-west lines that will allow them to bypass South Africa.”
In spring 2008, Congo’s beleaguered government unveiled a package of Chinese investments totaling $9.3 billion, a figure later reduced, for complex reasons involving International Monetary Fund pressure, to $6 billion—still roughly half of Congo’s GDP. China will build massive new copper and cobalt mines; 1,800 miles of railways; 2,000 miles of roads; hundreds of clinics, hospitals, and schools; and two new universities. Speaking before the parliament, Pierre Lumbi, the country’s infrastructure minister, compared the package to the Marshall Plan, and called it “the foundation on which the growth of our economy is going to be built.”
In exchange, China will get almost 11 million tons of copper and 620,000 tons of cobalt, which it will extract over the next 25 years—a “resource for infrastructure” swap that China first pioneered, on a smaller scale, in Angola in 2004. Congo will choose from a menu of Chinese construction companies—pre-vetted and supplied with credit by China’s Export-Import Bank—which typically begin (and end) their work quickly, dispatching hundreds or thousands of workers to do the job.
-Is China the new Belguim:
A prominent Congolese lawyer who is part of a loose citizens’ network that is investigating the Chinese package said the deal will leave Congo in the same position it was in after decades of exploitation by Belgium. “We could have said, ‘You can have our copper, but we want some of it transformed here.’ We’ve negotiated for billions of dollars without determining if those investments are productive, without thinking through the sequencing of things, without thinking about the creation of a metallurgy industry. We have cheap labor and abundant electricity,” so refining would make economic sense. “But we negotiated without experts and without analysis.”
Chinese are doing humanitarian work but only working so far as infastructure.
----I asked whether the huge building program—the roads and schools and hospitals—would produce dividends, and he shook his head grimly. “Six billion dollars in infrastructure is not development. Schools with desks are not going to educate our population. A road is not going to develop this country … Schools require a school system, and they need teachers. In this climate, roads last only 10 years without maintenance, and the Congo has no capacity in this regard.”
2. Record what you do not understand. It is always good to bring up what you were unclear on in a discussion, as your classmates will be able to help you clarify your thinking.
-What is China's secret that the west doesn't know?
-Is China succeeding?
As soon as we have problems, we ask someone else to take care of them for us,” Isaac continued. “We ask the Europeans. We ask the Americans. We ask the Chinese. We will run this train into the ground, and then we will tell the Chinese we need another one. This is not development.” I thought of the wreckage by the tracks. In China, there is no such thing as metallic waste. Armies of migrant workers scour the countryside with hammers and chisels, collecting and selling every scrap to the insatiable smelters that feed the country’s industries. Here, by contrast, was a land without industry.
-Is China the new Belgium and Why?
Things turned sour, though, when the new Chinese managers banned union activity and began paying Zambian employees less than the $67-a-month minimum wage.
-Is anything getting better because of China
3. Identify two or three areas of potential disagreement or debate.
-Is China making a huge impact on Africa?
-Will Africa change because of China?
4. Develop a critique of the article.
I believe that this article is very informational. I would like to do more research on this topic by reading another view because this is only one view. I would like to see more facts and figures to see if China is really making a huge impact on Africa or not.
1. Note the author's key arguments. Make an outline of his points.
- China is the largest investor of Africa:
“Statistics are hard to come by, but China is probably the biggest single investor in Africa,” said Martyn Davies, the director of the China Africa Network at the University of Pretoria. “They are the biggest builders of infrastructure. They are the biggest lenders to Africa, and China-Africa trade has just pushed past $100 billion annually.”
“Africa is the source of at least one-third of the world’s commodities”—commodities China will need, as its manufacturing economy continues to grow—“and once you’ve understood that, you understand China’s determination to build roads, ports, and railroads all over Africa.”
- Building a Middle Class:
I see the explosive development of infrastructure. I see people producing more food and having more jobs … And besides, I don’t see how otherwise you are going to get a civil society, except by building up a middle class.”
- China is in it for the long term:
“And they asked to see all the old colonial maps of the Congo. These are the only maps that reflect reasonably accurate surveys of Congo’s underground, and they want to use them for development plans in Katanga and elsewhere. If you look at Chinese policy documents, it is very obvious that they are focused on opening up the heart of the continent. There is clearly a long-term strategy for doing this, and it seeks to break up the north-south flow of minerals, to build east-west lines that will allow them to bypass South Africa.”
In spring 2008, Congo’s beleaguered government unveiled a package of Chinese investments totaling $9.3 billion, a figure later reduced, for complex reasons involving International Monetary Fund pressure, to $6 billion—still roughly half of Congo’s GDP. China will build massive new copper and cobalt mines; 1,800 miles of railways; 2,000 miles of roads; hundreds of clinics, hospitals, and schools; and two new universities. Speaking before the parliament, Pierre Lumbi, the country’s infrastructure minister, compared the package to the Marshall Plan, and called it “the foundation on which the growth of our economy is going to be built.”
In exchange, China will get almost 11 million tons of copper and 620,000 tons of cobalt, which it will extract over the next 25 years—a “resource for infrastructure” swap that China first pioneered, on a smaller scale, in Angola in 2004. Congo will choose from a menu of Chinese construction companies—pre-vetted and supplied with credit by China’s Export-Import Bank—which typically begin (and end) their work quickly, dispatching hundreds or thousands of workers to do the job.
-Is China the new Belguim:
A prominent Congolese lawyer who is part of a loose citizens’ network that is investigating the Chinese package said the deal will leave Congo in the same position it was in after decades of exploitation by Belgium. “We could have said, ‘You can have our copper, but we want some of it transformed here.’ We’ve negotiated for billions of dollars without determining if those investments are productive, without thinking through the sequencing of things, without thinking about the creation of a metallurgy industry. We have cheap labor and abundant electricity,” so refining would make economic sense. “But we negotiated without experts and without analysis.”
Chinese are doing humanitarian work but only working so far as infastructure.
----I asked whether the huge building program—the roads and schools and hospitals—would produce dividends, and he shook his head grimly. “Six billion dollars in infrastructure is not development. Schools with desks are not going to educate our population. A road is not going to develop this country … Schools require a school system, and they need teachers. In this climate, roads last only 10 years without maintenance, and the Congo has no capacity in this regard.”
2. Record what you do not understand. It is always good to bring up what you were unclear on in a discussion, as your classmates will be able to help you clarify your thinking.
-What is China's secret that the west doesn't know?
-Is China succeeding?
As soon as we have problems, we ask someone else to take care of them for us,” Isaac continued. “We ask the Europeans. We ask the Americans. We ask the Chinese. We will run this train into the ground, and then we will tell the Chinese we need another one. This is not development.” I thought of the wreckage by the tracks. In China, there is no such thing as metallic waste. Armies of migrant workers scour the countryside with hammers and chisels, collecting and selling every scrap to the insatiable smelters that feed the country’s industries. Here, by contrast, was a land without industry.
-Is China the new Belgium and Why?
Things turned sour, though, when the new Chinese managers banned union activity and began paying Zambian employees less than the $67-a-month minimum wage.
-Is anything getting better because of China
3. Identify two or three areas of potential disagreement or debate.
-Is China making a huge impact on Africa?
-Will Africa change because of China?
4. Develop a critique of the article.
I believe that this article is very informational. I would like to do more research on this topic by reading another view because this is only one view. I would like to see more facts and figures to see if China is really making a huge impact on Africa or not.
Congo News Article
In an article written by Al Jazeera news, it talks about the recent action taken by the UN, to stop rapist in the Congo. The UN Security Council is slamming the DRC, calling for tougher action to bring those responsible to justice. According to the article, The Mai-Mai militia and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have been accused of the attacks, which occurred when armed groups took over whole villages and raped women in front of their families. The UN believes that the DRC government took little to none action to prevent these rapist. Since this accusation, DRC have taken quicker and tougher action. One example of quicker action is that they have beefed up security in villages. With accusations of the DRC not taking enough action they responded by saying, "Mende insisted that government forces had done everything they could to tackle the rapists. DRC troops "were put into offensive contact with these groups of rapists, we besieged them", he told the AFP news agency. "Why is it the government that is criticized? We should be encouraged to continue the clampdown we are engaged in against these people," he added". Though they both blame each other, they are both at fault for not taking quicker action. The article hopes that they government in the Congo will beef up security in villages.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/09/201091718254460633.html
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/09/201091718254460633.html
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