I just thought of this, random. Theres also this other documentary called "The Price of Aid." This one shows how Africa is affected by the rice which is "given" to them through the government agencies, and how the IMF basically controls developing world governments through giving them "aid." It seems as if many policies that are administered by the US fuel the gap between developing and undeveloped countries.
Like we talked about in quiz section today, these policies are put in place to secure our governments place in international relations and are intentional. One main point the documentary does bring up is the fact that because the US gives this "aid" to them they're becoming more dependent and grassroot movements need to be put in place to rise out of the control of such organizations as the IMF.
This documentary isn't on the www.freedocumentaries.com website, but when Karen brought up "Fast Food Nation," I thought of this website again-that one is up to view, for free of course.
PS the last (below) post is also put in place by me (Leeann) =)
Leeann
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Patents
So after the lecture today I was thinking back to a previous class i've taken. The globalization class this summer quarter was filled with lots of documentaries, and one of them being "Life and Debt" focused a lot on Jamacia and how they're struggling to become a stable economy. They showed examples of US milk that is "given" to them. The milk, which is actually a powder is given to them because it is cheap and the dairy farmers in the local areas are all put out of business, and tons of dairy is thrown out daily.
this just reminded me of how GMO's, or GEO's are taking over the agricultural industry. What is free trade? and what can be considered helpful to a nation that is trying to rise out of poverty?
The policies which are enforced by such few nations, as the US or EU countries are the exact ones that are keeping such impoverishd countries at the level they're at. The government and corporations all seem to put on a face of trying to help people for the greater good, but are really doing much more harm. Theres actually a great website if you guys don't already know about it for free documentaries, which the "Life and Debt" is also posted on. You can watch all this for free at www.freedocumentaries.com =) feel free to watch it whenever you're free, it's really insightful on the issue of how the government policies enforces developing countries to follow rules, while loaning money, etc.
this just reminded me of how GMO's, or GEO's are taking over the agricultural industry. What is free trade? and what can be considered helpful to a nation that is trying to rise out of poverty?
The policies which are enforced by such few nations, as the US or EU countries are the exact ones that are keeping such impoverishd countries at the level they're at. The government and corporations all seem to put on a face of trying to help people for the greater good, but are really doing much more harm. Theres actually a great website if you guys don't already know about it for free documentaries, which the "Life and Debt" is also posted on. You can watch all this for free at www.freedocumentaries.com =) feel free to watch it whenever you're free, it's really insightful on the issue of how the government policies enforces developing countries to follow rules, while loaning money, etc.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
read the newspaper?
Hey it's Michael D here to share some thoughts with you. Ok so i picked up the paper today and shuffled through the pages to see what the weather is doing, how the economy is faring and most importantly rite now, what the news had to say about the election. Lucky for me there was an article that fit perfectly into the theme of our project here. The article entitled "Shedding Light on Energy Issues" brings up several differences in the presidential candidates' views on the energy crisis. Each of their respective policies on how the U.S. should move forward energy wise differs. Where Obama pushes for alternative energy and renewable souces, McCain still relies on fossil fuels and nuclear power.
I find it appaling that McCain intends to create 45 new nuclear plants. While it would solve the energy crisis for the time being it would only add to the environmental crisis that is already upon us. The new plants would be around a 40% increase in U.S. nuclear power. But what will we do with all of the nuclear waste? Lets just keep buring it and pretend that it doesn't exist. Furthermore McCain wants to instate offshore oil drilling and opposes ethanol and biodiesel subsidies. I do realize that corn based fuel is not a good idea (more energy from oil to create it than clean energy that you get out of it...land tied up in corn production...increased pesticides...increas in food price...etc...), but bio fuels could totally work. Many intercity busses and some personal vehicles already run on biodiesel. And with homemade production of biofuel some people are getting a free ride from used fastfood vegetable oil. And why do we need to invest money in offshore drilling, and promoting our oil driven culture, when we could invest that same money into technology for cleaner cars and cars that don't depend on oil based fuel and other renewable energy sources? I'm really not thrilled with the policies from McCain and what its implications are for the environment.
On the other hand i do like most of what im seeing from the Obama campaign. I am impressed with the push for alternative energy sources. His call for a boost in clean coal technology and research in auto production along with renewable energy are a step (if only that) in the rite direction. With a 150 billion dollar plan to activate research, i think that many new ideas will come about and also this money will show the importance of sustainable energy. Small businesses may be invested in more as well including independant power plants (ie wind/solar/hydro...). Obama also wants power companies to have a certain percentage of their energy coming from renewable sources. I feel like this is good because once the larger utilities start using renewable resources then that will have a larger demand on renewables and hopefully increase use of renewables and reduce our use of conventional sources. Coal power is still damaging to the environment because we have to mine it and it is still burned releasing CO2 but with cleaner plants we can reduce our green house gasses substantially. Compared to the McCain campaign I feel like Obama has better policies in the works that will help the U.S. move to a cleaner brighter future. Just some initial thoughts on environmental policy and justice!
Inspiratin came from an article in the Seattle Times on Tuesday October 21, 2008
I find it appaling that McCain intends to create 45 new nuclear plants. While it would solve the energy crisis for the time being it would only add to the environmental crisis that is already upon us. The new plants would be around a 40% increase in U.S. nuclear power. But what will we do with all of the nuclear waste? Lets just keep buring it and pretend that it doesn't exist. Furthermore McCain wants to instate offshore oil drilling and opposes ethanol and biodiesel subsidies. I do realize that corn based fuel is not a good idea (more energy from oil to create it than clean energy that you get out of it...land tied up in corn production...increased pesticides...increas in food price...etc...), but bio fuels could totally work. Many intercity busses and some personal vehicles already run on biodiesel. And with homemade production of biofuel some people are getting a free ride from used fastfood vegetable oil. And why do we need to invest money in offshore drilling, and promoting our oil driven culture, when we could invest that same money into technology for cleaner cars and cars that don't depend on oil based fuel and other renewable energy sources? I'm really not thrilled with the policies from McCain and what its implications are for the environment.
On the other hand i do like most of what im seeing from the Obama campaign. I am impressed with the push for alternative energy sources. His call for a boost in clean coal technology and research in auto production along with renewable energy are a step (if only that) in the rite direction. With a 150 billion dollar plan to activate research, i think that many new ideas will come about and also this money will show the importance of sustainable energy. Small businesses may be invested in more as well including independant power plants (ie wind/solar/hydro...). Obama also wants power companies to have a certain percentage of their energy coming from renewable sources. I feel like this is good because once the larger utilities start using renewable resources then that will have a larger demand on renewables and hopefully increase use of renewables and reduce our use of conventional sources. Coal power is still damaging to the environment because we have to mine it and it is still burned releasing CO2 but with cleaner plants we can reduce our green house gasses substantially. Compared to the McCain campaign I feel like Obama has better policies in the works that will help the U.S. move to a cleaner brighter future. Just some initial thoughts on environmental policy and justice!
Inspiratin came from an article in the Seattle Times on Tuesday October 21, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
'Hey kids guess what time it is'
Hi Everybody,
Andrea here, as you can plainly see I have set up our blog just as Karen directed. I will have emailed all of you the security related info by the time you see this. If you have any questions or comments about accessing either our email account or this blog please email me directly at my personal account you wrote down today. I really hope nobody minds the silly attempts at a little humor. Just as a reminder, blogs are published out on the world wide web that means the information passed on here is always floating somewhere out there on the information highway. Please refrain disclosing any personal info about yourself or our group (i.e. personal email accts, phone #'s, passwords, etc). I am excited to see how this goes so... on your mark, get ready, go!
~AB
Andrea here, as you can plainly see I have set up our blog just as Karen directed. I will have emailed all of you the security related info by the time you see this. If you have any questions or comments about accessing either our email account or this blog please email me directly at my personal account you wrote down today. I really hope nobody minds the silly attempts at a little humor. Just as a reminder, blogs are published out on the world wide web that means the information passed on here is always floating somewhere out there on the information highway. Please refrain disclosing any personal info about yourself or our group (i.e. personal email accts, phone #'s, passwords, etc). I am excited to see how this goes so... on your mark, get ready, go!
~AB
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