Economic Hitman

John Perkins is an economist that has traveled and studied a variety of worldwide issues. From abuse of power to fights for territory, Perkins has analyzed problems mostly in third world countries. Perkins says he was actually an "Economic Hit Man." His job was to convince countries that are strategically important to the United States to accept enormous loans for infrastructure development and to make sure that the lucrative projects were contracted to U.S. corporations.

Perkins lived in Panama and he was shocked about the death President of Panama, a person who gave hope and had defended the poor. Perkins' job was to produce economic growth projections that would make the case for a variety of major projects. He wrote his experiences and the truth about a lot of countries and how the use their money.

"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man." Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins--the Shocking Real-life Story of How America Built an Empire on Third World Debt. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

NATO concerned over Russian army buildup on Ukraine border

CNN's reporters Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Phillip Taylor inform about the crisis in Ukraine. One of NATO's military commander were worried about the buildup of Russian forces on Ukraine's border.

"Russia is acting much more like an adversary than a partner," Breedlove said.  Russia had a large force on Ukraine's border so lots of countries in the world are afraid of what Russia would do next. Many people even think they will take over Ukraine.
There are a variety of points of views from other countries. Breedlove said " Russia is acting much more like an adversary than a partner," But Russia says they have no intention to move further into Ukraine
Tony Blinken , white house national adviser said "It's likely that what they are trying to do is intimidate the Ukrainians. It's possible that they are preparing to move in."
Every country wants to support the side they think is more favorable for them, so that causes a lot of different perspectives on weather Ukraine should become a part of Russia or not.

G7 leaders meet at the official residence of the Dutch prime minister in The Hague on March 24, 2014 

Gumuchian, Marie-Louise, Journalist Azad Safarov, Ivan Watson, Frederik Pleitgen, Laura Smith-Spark, Tom Watkins, Matt Smith, and Ben Brumfield. "NATO Concerned over Russian Army Buildup on Ukraine Border." CNN. Cable News Network, 23 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

Power of privilege

There are always privilege people in every society. Either because of race, culture, religion, economic statues and many others. 
There is always someone who has the power in every city, state, and country. Is there any way to change it? I do not think so. Many countries have tried different systems to govern and find equality like socialism or communism.
 For many years there has been major discrimination in the world. A country like United States has divisions because of skin color, since the day the became a nation. A country like Colombia is more known for economic statues discriminations, people with low incomes have the lower benefits and get almost any power. But will this segregation ever stop?  

“What is it you most dislike? Stupidity, especially in its nastiest forms of racism and superstition.” 
― Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22: A Memoir

Power of Illusion

What is Race? There is not a specific answer for it, but its most common definition is that race is a system of classification that humans created hundreds of years ago to divide people into groups based on their culture, beliefs, religion, linguistic and many other factors.
Racial groups cant be defined by biology, so this leads to the question: is race a real thing or just an idea that people created in their minds?
Every human being has their specific traits. Based on the documentary "Power of Illusion" we saw the different sides of opinion people have about "race". 
Many people think genes are what define race but this documentary said that genes can not define race, there are no characteristics that demonstrate that there are specific genes for every race. 
People created this separation of people to take advantage and have individual benefits, because there are advantages of being white. I really like a quote from the documentary that was "Under the skin we are the same but we are fooled by what we see."

www.radiolab.org

• Pounder, C C. H, Larry Adelman, Jean Cheng, Christine Herbes-Sommers, Tracy H. Strain, Llewellyn Smith, and Claudio Ragazzi. Race: The Power of an Illusion. San Francisco, Calif: California Newsreel, 2003.

"Kerry on Ukraine: Solution is tough, but situation better than yesterday"

Ukraine crisis on the crimean peninsula could make Ukraine fall into bankruptcy unless there is international intervention.
This specific article published on March 5,2014 on CNN by Michaels Holmes, Catherine Shoitchet and Laura Smith talks about the dialogues that could soon be done by Ukraine, Russia, United Kingdom, France, Germany and United States. The U.S secretary of State John Kerry said that they were in "the beginning of a negotiation", and the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius had an optimistic opinion "For the first time, something has moved in the process, and we will continue to talk".
On my point of view this is something positive that will mostly benefit Ukraine because they can prevent a bankruptcy in their country. I think if other countries that are in crisis and having internal issues,(countries in the middle east) see that the negotiations are going in a positive way they might me willing to come to an agreement with their people and accept help from other countries.

Catherine E. Shoichet. Laura Smith-Spark and Michael Holmes. "Kerry on Ukraine: Solution is tough, but situation better than yesterday" CNN. March 5, 2014. 

Israeli Apartheid Wall

Israeli Apartheid Wall

The students at Temple university held an "Apartheid Wall" demonstration on April 26, 2011. The students represented mock checkpoints, IDF soldiers, and an 8 foot tall wall in and around Palestine.I find this video interesting because they are trying to show everyone how crazy it is to build a wall to separate people, and preventing them from moving to other territories. Most people do not know how delicate this issue is. 

SJ Temple. Israeli apartheid wall demonstration by Temple University. Standard youtube licence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccqyTjuTqOU

Senior UN official calls for Haiti cholera compensation

BBC News reports the call from a UN representative Gustavo Gallon asks for "full compensation" for the 600,000 victims of cholera in Haiti. 
The UN has never acknowledged responsability for the epidemic.

I think it is really important for the UN to help this people because every day more and more people get infected by this disease every day and they are getting no help from the government. Since the day of the earthquake in Haiti, thousands of people were left with no home and have been exposed to hundreds of diseases.
After all we have learned in class it makes me think if the UN is really going to help because due to the history of UN vetos, there is little chance that this request will be approved.

Photo credit: CNN

CNN News. "Senior UN official calls for Haiti cholera compensation."March 1 2014. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-26397373

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-26397373

Interesting Facts

UNITED NATIONS

CNN published an article of facts about the UN where we can see the members and the organization of the UN. Also there is a video posted by the RMIT university about how the united nations work.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/03/world/united-nations-fast-facts/

CNN Library, "UNITED NATIONS FAST FACTS." September 3, 2013. CNN

Israel/Palestine Conflict

A Synopsis of the
Israel/Palestine Conflict
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/

This website publishes an article by the University of Berkeley gives us a brief explanation of the conflict that has been going on between Israel and Palestine since the late 1800's and it is still a massive issue. 
I find interesting the name of the website, (If Americans Knew) because It is not a secret that the government of almost every country hides things and facts from the people in order to avoid riots and protests. 
"Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip live in an odd and oppressive limbo. They have no nation, no citizenship, and no ultimate power over their own lives."
We can see maps and information about The UN Partition Plan, 1947-1949 War, 1967 War & USS Liberty, Current Conflict, and US involvement
I am posting this video because it explains in a easy and animated way the Israel and Palestinian conflict.

Sean, H.. N.p.. Web. 1 Mar 2014. <http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/>.