Blog #8: Canada backs Latin American funds in hopes of achieving better human rights

Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged nearly $100 million Friday in Canadian economic aid for Latin America, but this weekend he plans for a push for greater democracy and better human rights in the area.

The Prime Minister arrived in Panama City to attend the seventh Summit of the Americas, a regular gathering that allows leaders from more than 30 countries in the Western Hemisphere to meet, and for the first time Cuba has been invited to this. The warm invitation shows some signs of an improving relationship between Cuba and the United States, even after a half-century of distrust since the Cold War. U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro are expected to meet Saturday during the two-day event.

Harper, who before had not approved of inviting Cuba because it is not a democracy, is said to also be interested in meeting Castro at this gathering. This chance at reconciliation between the U.S. and Cuba has only been a realistic goal because Canada aided secret negotiations between the two countries within its own soil. 

If the meeting is successful and continual growth between the two becomes a reality, Harper plans to meet with Castro as well, only to tell him Cuba has work to do on improving human rights for its citizens. Also, Harper is set to deliver an address to all leaders at the summit that Canada has made it a priority to improve human relations through the region as a whole. 

Before the start of the gathering Friday evening, Harper met with CEOs of Canadian companies, including Scotiabank, Barrick Gold, BlackBerry and Ellis Don, to come up with business opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Harper announced the details of seven projects that will last several years and receive a total of $98.1 million in Canadian government funds. The money will be distributed to Honduras, Colombia, Peru, Cuba and Guatemala for projects to boost mining, agriculture and coffee production.

According to the article, the Canadian government says its “Americas Strategy has three goals: increase Canadian and hemispheric ‘economic opportunity’; foster democracy, human rights and rule of law; and create ‘lasting friendships.’”

After making this move, I think Canada has become a major game-changer among the developed countries in improving human rights. Prime Minister Harper is a headstrong individual, and laying the groundwork for close economic ties with Latin American countries by investing millions into funds for their improvement is a commendable strategy. It serves as an example for the US government regarding its relations, or lack of, with Cuba. In recent months, American and Cuban negotiators have worked towards a deal to restore full relations but have failed, despite being facilitated by Canadian governement. Until the U.S. removes Cuba from its list of states that sponsor terrorism, no deal can be reached. Though the goal remains in grasp, Canada seems to be working well with human, political, and economic international relations. 

Read the article here: http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/harper-pledges-funds-for-latin-america-will-press-for-better-human-rights

Salwa Majeed

04/10/2015

10:52 PM

Blog #8- Rio water pollution

As if the rural deforestation of Brazil’s Amazon forests is not bad enough, there have been cases streaming to the surface about Rio’s pollution getting worse.  As the 2016 World Olympics was promised to Rio de Janeiro in 2009, the government promised to get most of the pollution cleaned up in time. Now they are saying it will not be done on time and that the mess is only getting worse. As the letters between Senators and representatives and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Congressional Caucus come to attention, the question of the Olympic sailors’ health come to mind.  It is said in the letters that the 7 million Brazilians’ sewage waste ends up right into Guanabara Bay, which is directly where the water portion of the Olympics will be taking place. A test done in December of 2014 has come back showing that the “super bacteria”, KPC enzyme found in the water causes several different bodily infections and diseases such as E-coli, dysentery, hepatitis A & B and is only treatable by antibiotics.  There have been meetings to discuss where the sailing portion should be moved to, but no public information has been released.  It is also showing that it is killing many of the fish species there as well and aerial shots of the bay shows household trash filling up throughout the bay, including where is to be the sailing lanes for the Olympics. As for the living conditions of the area, it is unacceptable. The sewage water for cities need should not be flushing their sewage into the bay directly next to them. As we can see it carries diseases that can severely harm the population and the ecosystem contained near it. The trash in the bay should not be there, as it should be put away in a landfill somewhere outside the city. Trash in the water around the city only provides more hazards. Regardless of all this trouble in the water, Carlos Nuzman, the head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, inform the public that the water will be ready on time for 2016 somehow.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/water-rubbish-rio-art-exhibit-uses-trash-stress-pollution-problem-ahead-olympics/

http://www.sail-world.com/Pollution_in_Rio_is_a_major_issue_and_it_could_get_bigger/132963

Blog 8-China's anti pollution drive risks running out of gas

China has been using fossil fuel power to generate their heat for centuries.  They have a great reliance on the material, but it is detrimental to the health of the people and is also becoming more scarce as the years go by.  China's pollution level is so high that the World Health Organization's (WHO) safe level of particulate matter in the air has increased by 45 times.

Not only is China facing health concerns with regards to air pollution, but an economic one as well. Because there is only a limited amount of fossil fuels, so the Chinese are turning towards natural gas. This would solve both the heating in the winter problem and it would also be better for the environment.  The shortage of the natural gas, however forces the government to ration gas supplies, even to the extent of banning new construction.  This would in turn, take a heavy toll on the economy.

They are in need of natural gas, because if they do not, the people will just go back to using coal powered power, thus creating a downward spiral in the pollution realm.  They have to find an alternative method of power because, they are being scrutinized by not only the citizens of the country but also the world.

Gas would be a big help for China's air pollution problem, but they have only numbered amounts, thus having to ration it.  They will probably have to rely on foreign imports to sustain their growing population and demand.

Socially, China is in a predicament.  Their citizens and the world are shoving clean air down their throats.
The government is under vast amounts of pressure and are claiming to be doing their best, although they claim that the implementation will take a decade or so.

An opinion on this article read, "Amazing how wimpy Chinese are getting.  They survived for centuries with the same hostile cold environment, but now that they are starting to live like the USA, it seems they can not pollute enough to stay warm.  Funny, I almost thought for sure that there would be some comment about global warming or climate change here, maybe they will re-edit the script to make it sound more "cool."" -BasicKnowledge

This is an example of how the world might view the rapid modernization of China.  Some feel that they do not or should not live like the western world and that they need to stay in their place.  It really is a sticky situation because the modern world is moving so quickly, it is difficult for deep rooted ancient civilizations to adjust at the speed that newer societies do.

Reuters

Lillian Brown

3:00 pm Nov 1

Multidimensional Inequality-Alex Plummer

The following article refers to the many forms of inequality that trouble the world beyond income inequality. While income inequality is a major issue within society, many other critical inequalities go unaddressed. The author, Evan Soltas, believes that if social division is on so many people’s minds than these other aspects of inequality need to be addressed. Soltas states that inequality is multidimensional, environmental, and most importantly intergenerational. There seems to be more discussion on income inequality in the news and in government than talk on unequal rights and policies that affect whole communities. In regards to education young adults are more likely to be high school dropouts if their fathers were. And only three times as likely to graduate college if their fathers did. The focus on income inequality is far more common because the government can redistribute income and alter taxes.

The article attributes multidimensional inequalities to various forms of public policy. For instance the Anti-drug Abuse Act of 1986, resulted in a large increase of incarcerated adults; greatly impacting the social dynamic of communities. Soltas considers criminal justice and education reform to be the most powerful weapon against inequality. He also states that rehabilitation without incarceration is the best policy for non-violent drug offenders. Soltas is right in recommending a change in these public policies and lowering the number of non-violent individuals locked up. Not only is it a waste of money to lock up non-violent individuals but also the extensive damage done to families and communities is immense. The lose of a parent, due to imprisonment, has a colossal affect on a child’s life and can potentially lower the likely hood of their future success. The U.K. is currently bettering their school systems by finding more advantageous ways to monitor teacher’s performance and allocating more independence in their teaching structure.  Public policy has the greatest ability in altering and correcting societal inequalities. 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-02/tax-increases-alone-won-t-solve-inequality.html

Blog #8, Corey Sitton

Saudi Oil is quite a subject in todays economy. What people don't realize is that Saudi Oil goes to other places than the US, such as China. At least, I had never considered this. Foreign oil in the US is something that always grabs peoples attention, because everyday citizens are paying the price for what the US is deciding to import. Many people believe that drilling domestic oil is a much better option than importing foreign oil.  That said, people may get their wish. Saudi dependency from the US is forcasted to go down in the upcoming drilling season, as dependency on Canadian Oil reserves and drilling in the Dakotas and in Texas goes up.  However, it is believed that the oil pipelines cannot sustain the demand that the US economy needs, therefore there will always be a substantial demand for foreign oil. The problem however, is tension in the middle east.  With the concerns of Irans nuclear program, the US has been trying to restrict the sanctions for Irans ability to sell crude, which is the lifeline of Irans economy.  However, the backlash of this may be a blocakage of the Strait of Hormuz, which could be a disastrous political conflict. The Obama administration seems to not be overly concerned with this problem however, believing that we can survive on our backup domestic reserves.  The Saudi Government needs to sell the oil one way or the other, and less dependency from the US would mean that they would focus their sales elsewhere, such as China, despite Chinas economic struggle right now.

“There are going to be tensions in the Middle East whether that oil is going to the United States or going to somewhere else,” said Adam Sieminski, administrator of the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration. “And if oil prices go up because of a problem in the Middle East, that causes a problem for the world in general and not one that is specific to the United States.”

Since the 2010 BP Oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico has yet to hit the projected number that they were expected to in Oil Barrels per day.  The US import of barrells of foreign oil however has been decreasing, as we try to focus our drilling on domestic soil, and from our neighbors in Canada.  The presidential election will also have a effect on the price of oil, depending on Obama's adjustments to the Oil economy and Mitt Romneys new plans. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/business/energy-environment/us-reliance-on-saudi-oil-is-growing-again.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all