Cuban History Essays - CubaUnited States Relations, Island Countries

Cuban History History of Cuba Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Cuba on October 28, 1492, during his initial westward voyage. In honor of the daughter of Ferdinand V and Isabella I of Spain, his benefactors, Columbus named it Juana, the first of several names he successively applied to the island. It eventually became known as Cuba, from its aboriginal name, Cubanascnan. Colonization by Spain When Columbus first landed on Cuba it was inhabited by the Ciboney, a friendly tribe related to the Arawak. Colonization of the island began in 1511, when the Spanish soldier Diego Vel?zquez established the town of Baracoa. Vel?zquez subsequently founded several other settlements, including Santiago de Cuba in 1514 and Havana in 1515. The Spanish transformed Cuba into a supply base for their expeditions to Mexico and Florida. As a result of savage treatment and exploitation, the aborigines became, by the middle of the 16th century, nearly extinct, forcing the colonists to depend on imported black slaves for the operation of the mines and plantations. Despite frequent raids by buccaneers and naval units of rival and enemy powers, the island prospered throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Restrictions imposed by the Spanish authorities on commercial activities were generally disregarded by the colonists, who resorted to illicit trade with privateers and neighboring colonies. Following the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, during which the English captured Havana, the Spanish government liberalized its Cuban policy, encouraging colonization, expansion of commerce, and development of agriculture. Between 1774 and 1817 the population increased from about 161,000 to more than 550,000. The remaining restrictions on trade were officially eliminated in 1818, further promoting material and cultural advancement. During the 1830s, however, Spanish rule became increasingly repressive, provoking a widespread movement among the colonists for independence. This movement attained particular momentum between 1834 and 1838, during the despotic governorship of the captain general Miguel de Tac?n. Revolts and conspiracies against the Spanish regime dominated Cuban political life throughout the remainder of the century. In 1844 an uprising of black slaves was brutally suppressed. A movement during the years 1848 to 1851 for annexation of the island to the United States ended with the capture and execution of its leader, the Spanish-American general Narciso L?pez. Offers by the U.S. government to purchase the island were repeatedly rejected by Spain. In 1868 revolutionaries under the leadership of Carlos Manuel de C?spedes proclaimed Cuban independence. The ensuing Ten Years' War, a costly struggle to both Spain and Cuba, was terminated in 1878 by a truce granting many important concessions to the Cubans. In 1886 slavery was abolished. Importation of cheap labor from China was ended by 1871. In 1893 the equal civil status of blacks and whites was proclaimed. Independence Although certain reforms were inaugurated after the successful revolt, the Spanish government continued to oppress the populace. On February 23, 1895, mounting discontent culminated in a resumption of the Cuban revolution, under the leadership of the writer and patriot Jos? Mart? and General M?ximo G?mez y B?ez. The U.S. government intervened on behalf of the revolutionists in April 1898, precipitating the Spanish-American War. Intervention was spurred by the sinking of the battleship Maine in the harbor of Havana of February 15, 1898, for which Spain was blamed. By the terms of the treaty signed December 10, 1898, terminating the conflict, Spain relinquished sovereignty over Cuba. An American military government ruled the island until May 20, 1902, when the Cuban republic was formally instituted, under the presidency of the former postmaster general Tom?s Estrada Palma. The Cuban constitution, adopted in 1901, incorporated the provisions of the Platt Amendment, U.S. legislation that established conditions for American intervention in Cuba. Certain improvements, notably the eradication of yellow fever, had been accomplished in Cuba during the U.S. occupation. Simultaneously, U.S. corporate interests invested heavily in the Cuban economy, acquiring control of many of its resources, especially the sugar-growing industry. Popular dissatisfaction with this state of affairs was aggravated by recurring instances of fraud and corruption in Cuban politics. The first of several serious insurrections against conservative control of the republic occurred in August 1906. In the next month the U.S. government dispatched troops to the island, which remained under U.S. control until 1909. Another uprising took place in 1912 in Oriente Province, resulting again in U.S. intervention. With the election of Mario Garc?a Menocal to the presidency later in the same year, the Conservative Party returned to power. On April 7, 1917, Cuba entered World War I on the side of the Allies. Growing Instability Mounting economic difficulties, caused by complete U.S. domination of Cuban finance, agriculture, and

Free Essays on Madness In Macbeth

In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth madness is portrayed in three of the main characters. Macbeth, Macduff, and Lady Macbeth are all people in this play that reveal characteristics that we would not expect. There are many ironic scenes throughout Macbeth that brings action into the play and catches the audience’s attention. The scenes of Banquo’s death, the suicide of Lady Macbeth, and Macduff learning of the murder of his wife and children, are the three main scenes that show madness in the play. Act three, scene four is the scene when Macbeth was at the banquet and started to hallucinate after the murder of Banquo. Prior to this Macbeth had sent two murderers to execute Banquo and Fleance, but they were only successful in the killing of Banquo. When Macbeth hears of Banquos death he is quite pleased, but when he learns of Fleance’s escape he is worried and looks troubled. As guests begin to arrive for the banquet Macbeth greets them, and when he goes to take a seat he sees the ghost of Banquo staring up at him. Macbeth, thinking this is real, begins to speak to him. The crowd is baffled and Lady Macbeth then hurries everyone out and announces that Macbeth has had this illness since he was a child. As it turns out, a banquet is prepared for all the guests, but because of Macbeth’s guilt, the banquet collapses in disorder and confusion before it even gets underway. This insane behavior about Macbeth exposes that he has regrets for what he has done to Banquo. Act four, scene three, is when Macduff learns that his wife and children have been brutally murdered. Knowing this Macduff is enraged and wants with getting even with Macbeth by joining forces with Malcolm. But Macduff soon finds out that Macbeth has no children so no revenge will be equivalent to the pain he felt. Unlike Macbeth, Macduff’s madness is different because things done to him brought on his anger. This mad behavior reveals the darker and more brutal si... Free Essays on Madness In Macbeth Free Essays on Madness In Macbeth In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth madness is portrayed in three of the main characters. Macbeth, Macduff, and Lady Macbeth are all people in this play that reveal characteristics that we would not expect. There are many ironic scenes throughout Macbeth that brings action into the play and catches the audience’s attention. The scenes of Banquo’s death, the suicide of Lady Macbeth, and Macduff learning of the murder of his wife and children, are the three main scenes that show madness in the play. Act three, scene four is the scene when Macbeth was at the banquet and started to hallucinate after the murder of Banquo. Prior to this Macbeth had sent two murderers to execute Banquo and Fleance, but they were only successful in the killing of Banquo. When Macbeth hears of Banquos death he is quite pleased, but when he learns of Fleance’s escape he is worried and looks troubled. As guests begin to arrive for the banquet Macbeth greets them, and when he goes to take a seat he sees the ghost of Banquo staring up at him. Macbeth, thinking this is real, begins to speak to him. The crowd is baffled and Lady Macbeth then hurries everyone out and announces that Macbeth has had this illness since he was a child. As it turns out, a banquet is prepared for all the guests, but because of Macbeth’s guilt, the banquet collapses in disorder and confusion before it even gets underway. This insane behavior about Macbeth exposes that he has regrets for what he has done to Banquo. Act four, scene three, is when Macduff learns that his wife and children have been brutally murdered. Knowing this Macduff is enraged and wants with getting even with Macbeth by joining forces with Malcolm. But Macduff soon finds out that Macbeth has no children so no revenge will be equivalent to the pain he felt. Unlike Macbeth, Macduff’s madness is different because things done to him brought on his anger. This mad behavior reveals the darker and more brutal si...

Sexual Misconduct Within the Prison System Research Paper

Sexual Misconduct Within the Prison System - Research Paper Example interferences to put off and revolutionize its health and societal consequences, which spatially focus on poor interior city regions where these people in the long run will return. Prison is usually known to be a place of violence. One form of violence that is frequently characterized to prison scenery is sexual oppression. Sexual oppression entails an array of behaviors from sexually offensive demeanor to nonconsensual sexual attacks and has an array of vital consequences on public health. Rape offers an opening for spreading sexually transmitted diseases, an issue of particular trepidation in prisons, where infections rates of HIV are higher than in the overall populace (Lockwood, 2005). Sexual oppression can stimulate anger, leading to future violent behavior either in or out of the prison, in addition to dejection and actions, of self-violence, for instance, abuse of drugs, suicidal ideas and gesticulations. In jails and prisons in the United States, the action of and the degree to which sexual oppression takes place among inmates has currently acquired elevated attention (Camp et al. 2003). The descriptions of sexual oppression differ and can create problems for distinguishing the actions of sexual violence, sexual attack, and rape. Rape is described as forced vaginal, oral, or anal penetration by a part of a body or an object that is foreign. Sexual assault is defined as any undesired sexual contact in which rape or tried rape does not take place. Nevertheless, some use the terms interchangeably. The rationales for sexual oppression in prison differ. In prison, there is a casual categorization structure amid convicts. This categorization structure makes use of vocabulary, or jargon to classify convicts including those who have been oppressed. Prison jargon can influence the treatment which a convict will get from fellow convicts that are because those labels are core aspects in the formulation of social relations (Camp et al. 2003). These expressions

Data Analytics and Understanding Big Data Literature review

Data Analytics and Understanding Big Data - Literature review Example Te article is relevant to the rest of the sources in that it also discusses the uses of artificial intelligence although in a different professional field. In this article, the researchers have found that artificial intelligence has not been widely accepted as a tool to use in medical settings although some of its earliest applications were healthcare oriented. Currently, artificial intelligence tools are being used individually for different purposes, such as, for device control and waveform analysis. The researchers have also found that because of the availability of big data and opportunities for improved healthcare delivery efficiency, AI tools must be applied in the intensive care environment for a variety of purposes including controlling of bedside devices and monitoring of electronic data systems. The researchers have concluded that with the use of artificial intelligence tools, healthcare delivery costs can be reduced and patient outcome can also be improved. The article has been written in a well-organized manner and the reader does not get out of focus at any stage while reading the article. Summing it up, the article includ es a wide range of information that can be used to the research paper regarding uses of artificial intelligence in different organizational settings. Bahrammirzaee, A 2010, ‘A comparative survey of artificial intelligence applications in finance: artificial neural networks, expert system and hybrid intelligent systems’, Neural Computing and Applications, vol. 19, no. 8, pp. 1165-1195. This article deals with the use of artificial intelligence tools in financial settings. The main purpose of the article is to establish the role of artificial intelligence tools in making true financial decisions. Portfolio management, credit evaluation, and financial prediction and planning are those three domains of a financial market that need a proper and careful analysis in order for them to come

Avoiding Burn-out in Community College Technical Educators Term Paper

Avoiding Burn-out in Community College Technical Educators - Term Paper Example Role conflict, role ambiguity, lack of intellectual work environment, and absence of institutional support to counter stress and development of burnout, are some of the issues educators cope with. Further, the teaching of online courses present new issues that community college educators have to additionally deal with. The occurrence and consequences of burnout in the faculty will be identified. To avoid developing burnout and to prevent stress, various effective techniques and strategies will be examined. These include: increasing the academic scholarship of community college educators to raise their knowledge background for enhanced student outcomes, applying the wellness approach to avoiding faculty burnout, workshops for reducing burnout, the provision of an environment of social support by community colleges, administrators’ promotion of faculty vitality, implementation of effective strategies to reduce workplace stress and consequent burnout, and the faculty eliminating burnout by improving their relationship with work. Avoiding Burnout in Community College Technical Educators Introduction Community colleges are public-funded institutions providing two year courses in higher education, mainly for the local community (Cohen & Brawer, 2009). Community colleges generally offer certificates, diplomas and/ or Associate degrees for various courses. A wide range of teaching personnel are employed by community colleges. The faculty may include â€Å"full time teaching instructors, part-time or adjunct instructors, librarians, staff in student personnel services† (Miller, Finley & Vancko, 2000, p.22), and occasionally college administrators teaching a course. Because of excessive work loads, diverse and academically under-prepared students, greater pressure for meeting performance expectations, increased accountability and other challenges, community college technical educators commonly experience burnout. Burnout is a depressive disorder which devel ops gradually over a period of time. It arises from an individual’s perceptions of unmet needs, unfulfilled expectations or threatening conditions. Besides progressive disillusionment as well as decline in self-esteem, the individual’s perception of being trapped in the situation and inability to cope with their feelings of hopelessness lead to the condition (Gold & Roth, 1993). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the significance of community colleges, identify the challenges affecting teaching effectiveness of the faculty, examine the prevalence of burnout in community college technical educators, and determine effective means by which the faculty can avoid burnout. Community Colleges and their Significance Increasing numbers of students opt to complete their first two years of post-secondary education at community colleges. At present there are more than eleven hundred community colleges in the United States enrolling approximately 6.6 mill ion students, and employing around three hundred and thirty thousand full time faculty. â€Å"Community college faculty in the United States constitutes a major labor force, and represents one-third of all postsecondary faculty† (Levin, Kater & Wagoner, 2006, p.3). The two-year colleges function as stepping stones to higher education courses consisting of fewer years, which would otherwise be inaccessible for many students on the basis of costs as well as adequate academic preparation.

Impact of Climate Change on African Countries

Impact of Climate Change on African Countries The Effects of Climate Change on Volatile African Countries In the fall of 2015, United States Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders received an onslaught of criticism when he attributed the rise of terrorism, and the series of Paris terrorist attacks that had just left 130 dead, to climate change. Immediately following the presidential debate, numerous reputable political pundits, from Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan, to Republican Senator and former Chairman of Homeland Security Ron Johnson, voiced their disagreements with Sanders’ claim. In fact, soon after the debate ended, Senator Bob Corker from Tennessee was interviewed saying, â€Å"I get disappointed when people see momentum around [climate change] and try to attach an unrelated issue to it.†[1]  (Henry, 2015) In fact, in December of that same year, Foreign Policy magazine, a political journal revered for its impartiality, published an article titled, â€Å"Stop Saying Climate Change Causes War† refuting both Sanders’ claim, and others that sou ght to connect climate change to the still ongoing devastating Syrian Civil War. While Sanders’ cause-and-effect relationship may have been exaggerated, the relationship between extreme weather events, temperature anomalies, and violence is neither baseless nor uncorroborated. In fact, over the last half-decade, numerous studies have been released substantiating the linkage between climate change and armed conflict. In a 2017 study produced by the Brookings Institution, author Vesselin Popovski found that â€Å"a 1 percent increase in temperature leads to a 4.5 percent increase in civil war in the same year, and a 0.9 percent increase in the following year†Ã‚  (Popovski, 2017)   Just a year later, author Robinson Meyer of The Atlantic discovered that out of the ten countries most frequently mentioned in climate change literature, six of them also hold positions in the list of the world’s most violent countries.  (Meyer, 2018) While there is still little evid ence to support Sanders’ grandiose claim that climate change triggered the proliferation of terrorism in the 21st century, it is becoming increasingly evident that climate change will not just slightly alter current standards of living. The rise in temperature has inadvertently begun to promote civil unrest and violence in some of the most underdeveloped regions of the world. In order to theorize possible mitigation and adaptation strategies, it is important to recognize both the ramifications of climate change, and the role that industrialized countries have played in contributing to this global temperature increase. According to author Lynn Hewlett, whose chapter â€Å"Learning from Student Protests in Sub-Saharan Africa,† featured in Fees Must Fall, explains simply, â€Å"the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas creates carbon dioxide gas†¦ which traps the sun’s heart in the atmosphere and makes the earth warmer†Ã‚  (Lynn Hewlett, 2015)   Although the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report of a per-decade temperature increase of 0.2 °C may seem negligible, the consequences of climate change are difficult to overlook.  (IPCC Working Groups I-III, 2015) Escalating temperatures resulting from greenhouse gas emissions not only deplete natural resources such as arable land, potable water, and breathable air. The abnormal temperature rise over the past half-century has also contributed to rising sea levels, a global biodiversity loss, and more frequent extreme weather events, from prolonged droughts to incessant rainfall. Although there is still some debate surrounding human contribution to climate change, most climate change experts agree that humans are at least partially responsible for the stark temperature rise. According to a study conducted by Yale University in 2013, over 97% of 12,000 peer-reviewed papers on climate change argue that the temperature increase is indeed at least partially attributable to anthropogenic greenhouse emissions. (Marlon, 2013)   More disturbingly, however, is the role that industrialized nations, such as the United States and Germany, rapidly developing countries including India and China, and transnational corporations have all played in producing this environmental catastrophe. As reported in the 2017 Carbon Majors Database, a peer-reviewed study which compiled and recorded companies with the most greenhouse gas emissions, â€Å"over half of global industrial emissions since 1988 can be traced to just 25 corporate and state producers.†Ã‚  (Griffin, 2017) Despite the influence that industrialized nations and the currently modernizing BRICS countries have had on the current climate system, the brunt of climate variability has thus far fallen largely on African shoulders. Natural resources which were at one point plentiful throughout the continent have diminished greatly over the past half-century, which has led to desertification, widespread crop failure, and even violence. In his article, â€Å"’Who Wins from â€Å"Climate Apartheid?’ African Climate Justice Narratives about the Paris COP 21† author Patrick Bond points out that inland Africa is uniquely susceptible to climate change, which is projected to warm 6-7 °C by the end of the century, more than two degrees greater than the anticipated greater world average.  (Bond, 2016) Author Christian Parenti offers similar statistics to illustrate African susceptibility to climate change. As a member of the Maasai people living in Kenya explains, â€Å"In the 1970s, we started having droughts every seven years†¦ Now they are coming almost every year, right across the country.†Ã‚  (Parenti C. , Chapter 4, 2011)   Yet, as Patrick Bond and others argue, nascent African countries are vulnerable to the effects climate change not because of their location, but rather because of the lack of the infrastructure and resources that allow countries to face constantly changing environmental conditions. These issues are only intensified in Africa by pervasive government corruption and political instability. For example, although farming is the main source of employment for greater than 60% of the continent’s inhabitants, African malnourishment has worsened with each passing year.  (The World Bank, 2018) African farmers simply lack the funds to acquire high-yielding techniques, and are not provided with adequate infrastructure systems to produce sustainable quantities of food in unfavorable climates. Furthermore, African countries eager to cement their places in the global economy often impose pro-investment policies that prioritize multinational commercial agriculture over small-scale subsist ence farming. As the example above illustrates, many African countries exemplify what author Christian Parenti calls â€Å"Catastrophic Convergence:† a phenomenon where political, economic, and environmental disasters collide, compound, and amplify one another’s effects.  (Parenti C. , 2011) In these â€Å"conflict systems,† climate change generates violence in many forms, such as intrastate conflict between competing tribes, looting and piracy of Transnational Corporations, and mass demonstrations protesting environmentally destructive African governments. The long-term rise in global temperature, coupled with the recent preponderance of extreme weather events, has induced a natural resource deprivation across the globe. In fact, Parenti estimates that by the end of the century, the proportion of land in severe drought will expand from 3% to 30%. (Parenti C. , 2011) Therefore, ownership, allocation, and management of these increasingly scarce resources has become an issue of the utmost importance for countries and tribes across the globe. In vulnerable African states that lack basic infrastructural needs, however, this competition over access to remaining natural resources has erupted into armed conflict. In his 2011 book titled, Topics of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence, author Christian Parenti explains how climate change can induce violence by illuminating the current strife between the Turkana and the Pokot, two competing groups living in Kenya’s Pastoralist Corridor. For tribes living in the Pastoral ist Corridor, a mountainous and arid region in Western Kenya, cattle are the economic and cultural center of life. Yet, without water and adequate grazing land, Parenti writes, â€Å"the Turkana would disappear. â€Å"they would die or migrate to cities and their culture would exist only in the memories of deracinated urban slum dwellers.†Ã‚  (Parenti C. , 2011) Due to the area’s regular droughts and flash floods, coupled with deficient adaptation policies imposed by the Kenyan government, pastoralist groups are left no choice but to raid their neighbors and engage in violent behavior just to ensure their own future livelihoods. While it is difficult to estimate how many men have fallen in the Pastoralist corridor fighting over limiting resources, Parenti’s interviews of Kenyan pastoralists highlight the pervasiveness of climate-induced violence in these already tumultuous African states. Former Kenyan pastoralist Lucas Airong lost both his father and friends w hen he was a young boy by way of the Kenyan cattle wars. Although Ariong is now a local NGO leader, and is far removed from the Pastoralist Corridor, he still owns â€Å"about 50 cows†¦ all kept under the watchful eyes of armed men, his sons, and hired hands.†Ã‚  (Parenti C. , 2011) Since the Kenyan government has proven incapable of providing sufficient watering holes and adequate irrigation systems, local tribes such as the Turkana and Pokot are left no other choice but to engage in violent behavior. The diminishing supply of natural resources has the ability to spark both small-scale tribal clashes, such as in the Pastoralist Corridor, and large-scale civil wars, as illustrated by the most recent humanitarian crisis currently unfolding between the Christian anti-balaka rebels and the Muslim former Sà ©là ©ka rebels in the Central African Republic. Although no current CAR casualty report exists, the Associated Press reported in December of 2014, just seven months after the armed conflict began, that at least 5,186 fatalities were caused by the strife between the anti-balaka and the ex-Sà ©là ©ka factions.  (The Associated Press, 2014) While religious differences and the desire for political control were undoubtedly factors in instigating this conflict, former CAR Minister of Environment and Ecology and current CAR liaison for the World Resource Institute Paul Doko is one of many who attribute the ongoing Central African Republic civil war to resource scarcity. â€Å"What w e have been facing in the provinces,† Doko claims, â€Å"is a struggle between different militia for control over natural resources such as diamond, timber, ivory and others, rather than willingness to actually change politics.†Ã‚  (Bollen, 2013) In these remote provinces outside of the capital of Bengui, the feud over the country’s remaining resources has had devastating effects on local communities. Sà ©là ©ka commanders have forcefully removed, and even slaughtered, CAR citizens for control over the country’s â€Å"artisan timber exploitation, ivory poaching, and diamond mines.†Ã‚  (Bollen, 2013) Similar to the Pastoralist Corridor, armed conflict over natural resources is facilitated by the country’s weak governance and rampant poverty. In this politically fragile state, access to the country’s remaining natural resources is a critical step in attaining political influence and achieving economic prosperity. Climate change has also fostered violence between African locals and foreign corporations that exploit African workers and extract African resources. In their article titled, â€Å"Globalization, Land Grabbing, and the Present-Day Colonial State in Uganda: Ecolonization and Its Impact,† authors Pà ¡draig Carmody and David Taylor argue that the depletion of natural resources has increased their overall economic, social and political value in the global economy, which in turn has caused â€Å"ecolonization,† a phrase coined by the two authors which refers to the â€Å"ongoing colonization of different types of natural resources by those states, companies, and consumers that are able to exercise power in the global political economy†Ã‚  (Carmody & Taylor, 2016)   Due to continent’s largely untapped resource market and each country’s eagerness to finally enter the global economy, Africa has become one of the most popular destinations for foreign inve stment. Yet, this mass influx of foreign governments and transnational corporations (TNCs) has created resentment among many already impoverished and malnourished African communities. In resource-rich countries such as Somalia and Nigeria, locals have responded to the arrival of outside corporations with acts of looting, robbing, and piracy. In a 2014 journal study titled, â€Å"Fisheries, ecosystem justice and piracy: A case study of Somalia,† authors Rashid Sumalia and Mahamudu Bawumia argue that the recent rise in piracy off the coast of Somalia is the result of the destruction of the local fishing industry caused by increased foreign fishing presence, ineffective state governance, and unregulated toxic waste dumping. Foreign trawlers often overfish and, because of weak government enforcement of environmental policies, are allowed to dispose toxic and hazardous waste into Somalian waters. This in turn not only reduces the supply of available fish for Somalian natives, but also threatens the ecosystem’s future availability. (Sumaila & Bawumia, 2014) Confronted with increasingly barren fisheries, Somalian fishers, unable to overcome corporate technology and capital, are provided no other alternative but to engage in theft and piracy. This ongoing conflict between foreign entities and Somalian locals has made the Somalian coast the most dangerous body of water worldwide, closely trailed by the Niger Delta.  (Gaffey, 2016) With a crude oil production capacity of close to 2.5 million barrels a day, Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, and the sixth largest worldwide. Although the Niger Delta accounts for 90% of all Nigerian commercial crude exports, and makes up close to 70% of the government’s total revenue, the region remains one of the most dangerous in the world.  (NNPC, 2016) While government officials, Nigerian elites, and major Transnational Corporations such as Shell, Mobil, and Chevron all reap the economic benefits of crude oil extraction, the vast majority of Niger Delta inhabitants still live in abject poverty. To make matters worse, crude oil extraction has subsequently led to greater pollution in the river basin, the widespread destruction of subsistence crops, and the expropriation of residential territory. The unequal distribution of oil revenue, the blatant disregard for environmental preservation, and the policies preferential to multinational corporations have all led to the emergence of multiple militant organizations in the Niger Delta. While these militancy groups differ in composition and extremity, they all employ violent tactics to achieve the same goal: a greater control over the country’s limited resources. (Francis & Sardesai, 2008) Lastly, in recent years, grassroots protests have arisen in several African countries in an attempt to combat environmentally destructive governmental policies. Having been hampered by colonialism for decades, many African governments are now employing â€Å"top-down development models† that concentrate on expanding industrial modes of production as a way to cement their place in the global economy.  (Leonard & Pelling, 2010) While such policies will certainly help propel national economies in the long term, they tend to relegate certain, already marginalized, African communities. Such marginalization and ensuing protest is most apparent in Kenya, and in the Darfur region of western Sudan. In her publication titled, ‘‘’It’s More Than Planting Trees, It’s Planting Ideas’: Ecofeminist Praxis in the Green Belt Movement,† author Kathleen Hunt points to the Green Belt Movement, a nationwide environmental campaign in Kenya, to illustra te the role that African citizens frequently play in protesting environmental and political oppression. The Green Belt Movement (GBM) was established by Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai as a means to protest the country’s latest model of economic development, which relies heavily on trading the country’s already limited unsustainable resources, like timber, charcoal, and coffee. Hunt explains that such policies, which are not unique to Kenya alone but characterize much of the African continent, favor â€Å"national trade of raw materials over local community economies.† (Hunt, 2014) According to Hunt, Kenya’s keenness to enter the world market has both exacerbated local food insecurity and caused â€Å"deforestation, soil erosion, sedimentation†¦ [and] migratory shifts, as men moved in search for work in the white settlers’ plantation.†Ã‚  (Hunt, 2014) While these policies have indisputably afflicted the nation’s pop ulation as a whole, the Green Belt Movement has primarily focused on ensuring the rights of Kenyan women, who have traditionally been in charge of â€Å"managing the family’s land, food production, gathering water and fuelwood.†Ã‚  (Hunt, 2014) Established in 1977, the Green Belt Movement hasn’t only combatted environmental degradation through public demonstrations, however. Rather, the movement places an equally large focus on empowering Kenyan villages, from teaching locals how to properly plant trees to hosting community-wide engagement seminars. Despite the organization’s holistic and empowering approach, the movement has indeed encountered a considerable amount of violence throughout its history. Once the Green Belt Movement adopted a pro-democracy message to its platform, the Kenyan government began to use state force in order to stop the dissemination of their message. This was most apparent in 1992 when GBM forces joined fellow pro-democratic grou p, Release Political Prisoners (RPP), to protest the unjust torturing and indefinite holding of political detainees. While the demonstration was originally planned as a three-day sit-in on Uhuru Park, the two allied groups immediately encountered police violence. Fighting off the police’s tear gas and batons, many GBM and RPP members remained in the park for over eleven months.  (Hunt, 2014) Although the violence encountered at Uhuru Park was an anomaly for the Green Belt Movement, more frequent displays of violence stemming from environmentally destructive national policies can be found in the Darfur region of Sudan. With an almost entirely Arab population and government, Sudan Arab semi-nomadic pastoralists and non-Arab sedentary farmers have long shared the region’s natural resources. Yet, over the past half-century tensions have heightened as climate unpredictability has forced the two groups to compete over shrinking grazing land and evaporating watering holes. The current day humanitarian crisis, however, began in April of 2003, when a rebel group comprised of non-Arab members attacked El Fashir airport in North Darkur.  (Sikainga, 2009) This attack was the culmination of numerous non-Arab demonstrations advocating for better resource distribution and greater political representation in the Sudanese government. In response to this attack, president Omar al-Bashir acted swiftly, employing numerous autonomous militias to suppress non-Arab rebel groups. One ethnically Arab group, known as the Janjaweed, employed particularly heinous tactics to combat their non-Arab counterparts, including torture, arson, looting, and mass killings, deemed by many as â€Å"ethnic genocide.†Ã‚  (Human Rights Watch, Africa Division, 2004-2005) While the Darfur region has historically been volatile, this particular resource-related conflict, which pit marginalized sedentary farmers against the predominantly Muslim Sundanese government and its hired militias, has been deemed one of the worst humanitarian crises in the last century, killing more than 300,000 citizens and displacing more than 2 million (Taylor, 2005) If the immediate ramifications of climate change, such as desertification, droughts and food insecurity weren’t enough already to compel state actors to institute environmentally friendly policies, the examples listed above, from Kenya’s Pastoralist Corridor to Sudan’s Darfur, hopefully serve to illustrate the true gravity of unabated greenhouse gas emissions. Currently one-sixth of the world’s population is starving, and with global temperatures expected to rise anywhere from 4-6 °C by the end of the century, one can only assume the consequences of climate change will intensify in the near future.  (Holt-Gimà ©nez) In order to reduce malnutrition, maintain our current levels of biodiversity, and stop resource related conflicts altogether, major polluters and African countries must agree to sweeping and stringent reforms. Although mitigation strategies, which seek to drastically cut the production of greenhouse gasses through the implementation of gre en energy and the disengagement from the industrialized economy, are preferred by environmental activists worldwide, they have proven to be ineffective thus far, as Annex I countries, rapidly developing BRIC countries, and African central governments all refuse to make economic concessions in the name of environmental preservation.  (Jacobs, 2018) This was best illustrated at the 2011 Copenhagen Conference of the Parties (COP), an annual meeting between all member nations of the UNFCCC. The only agreement crafted at the conference, in which the United States, Brazil, South Africa, India, and China all decided to take â€Å"inadequate and voluntary emission cuts,† was conducted behind closed doors.  (Bond, 2016) The industrialized world’s stubborn refusal to include African countries in the decision-making process has been a recurring theme in nearly all environmental negotiations. The Paris Agreement of 2015, for example, did not even mention â€Å"climate debtâ⠂¬  payment for vulnerable countries, even though many African countries are already owed reparations for the damage levied by local climates.  (Bond, 2016) While occidental countries should be reprimanded for their unwillingness to take environmental action, it is important to note that African governments are also partially to blame for perpetuating climate change. Primarily concerned with enhancing the national economy, African governments have repeatedly favored large-scale corporations over local industries. This partiality manifests itself most clearly in the coastal city of Durban, South Africa.   Although the Durban population has expressed its vehement disapproval through frequent demonstrations and protests, the South African government has continued to invest in foreign industries nevertheless. As authors Llewellyn Leonard and Mark Pelling write, â€Å"state and industry interests [in Durban, South Africa] have continued to invest in projects that harm the local env ironment and human health† (Leonard & Pelling, 2010) This widespread government reluctance to reduce carbon emissions has rendered most proposed mitigation solutions, like La Via Campesina’s global food sovereignty movement, unfeasible. In his report titled â€Å"Seven Reasons Why the World Banks Plan for Agriculture Will Not Help Small Farmers,† author Eric Holt-Gimà ©nez explains how promoting global food sovereignty could help ameliorate food insecurity and resource deprivation facing African nations today. Providing citizens with the right to â€Å"determine [their own] food and agriculture policies† will not only keep local malnutrition from worsening, Holt-Gimà ©nez argues, but will also hinder transnational corporations from inflating commodity prices to unreasonable levels. (Holt-Gimà ©nez, Williams, & Hachmyer, 2015) Although an effective policy in theory, global food sovereignty hinges on rural and urban communities agreeing to directly exchange products and policymakers deciding to cut out transnation al corporations from the food supply chain. This course of action seems unlikely in Africa’s current economic climate, however. Challenging the TNC dominated neoliberal market will not only take decades to achieve, but will also severely impede on long-term national growth. Even though mitigation strategies such as reducing CO2 emissions and excluding transnational corporations from the global food supply chain are unlikely to be effective, climate-change induced conflict will decrease nonetheless if African communities are well adapted to fluctuating environmental conditions. Ensuring African resilience begins with the implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture and increased infrastructural support from NGOs and already developed nations. Rather than just simply advocating for emissions reductions, Climate-Smart Agriculture promotes resilience among African communities by providing farmers with new technology and agricultural techniques, such as â€Å"mulching, intercropping, conservation agriculture, crop rotation†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The World Bank, 2013). While Climate-Smart Agriculture will certainly help attenuate the problems plaguing Africa today, infrastructural improvement is also required to curtail resource related conflict. In fact, when asked how to solve tribal violence in the Pastoralist Corridor, Lucas Airong responded with, â€Å"more wells. We need boreholes†¦ the issue is drought†Ã‚  (Parenti C. , 2011). Although both of these solutions require a collective and concerted effort on behalf of developed countries, they are more moderate than the mitigation plans rejected in the past. Even though these policies are mere strawman solutions and do not address the root cause of climate change, adaptation strategies are undeniably the best way to guarantee that the world’s most vulnerable nations are at least prepared to combat the consequences of climate change. Bibliography Bollen, A. (2013, December 18). Natural resources at the heart of CAR crisis. Retrieved from New Internationalist: https://newint.org/blog/2013/12/18/central-african-republic-natural-resources Bond, P. (2016, Winter). Who Wins from Climate Apartheid? African Climate Justice Narratives about the Paris COP 21. New Politics, pp. 83-90. Carmody, P., & Taylor, D. (2016). Globalization, Land grabbing and the Present Day Colonial State in Uganda: Ecolonization and its impact. Journal of Environment and Development, 100-126. Francis, P., & Sardesai, S. (2008). Republic of Nigeria: Niger Delta Social and Conflict Analysis. The World Bank. Gaffey, C. (2016, May 4). WHY WEST AFRICA AND NIGERIA HAVE THE WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS SEAS. Retrieved from News Week: http://www.newsweek.com/why-west-africa-and-nigeria-have-worlds-deadliest-seas-455714 Griffin, D. P. (2017, July 10). CDP Carbon Majors Report 2017. Snowmass: Climate Accountability Institute. Retrieved from Carbon Majors Database: https://www.cdp.net/en/articles/media/new-report-shows-just-100-companies-are-source-of-over-70-of-emissions Henry, D. (2015, November 11). GOP senators rip Sanders for linking global terror, climate change. Retrieved from The Hill: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/260465-gop-senators-rip-sanders-for-linking-terror-climate Holt-Gimà ©nez, E., Williams, J., & Hachmyer, C. (2015, Winter). Why The World Banks Plan for Agriculture will not help small farmers. Food First Backgrounder, 21(3). Human Rights Watch, Africa Division. (2004-2005). Entrenching Impunity Government Responsibility for International Crimes in Darfur. Human Rights Watch. Hunt, K. (2014, July-August). Its More Than Planting Trees, Its Planting Ideas: Ecofeminist praxis in the Green Belt Movement. Southern Communication Journal, 79(3), 235-249. IPCC Working Groups I-III. (2015). IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. Cambridge: Cambridge Unviersity Press. Jacobs, R. (2018). Slide 11. Climate Change and Resource Conflict. Leonard, L., & Pelling, M. (2010, February). Mobilisation and protest: environmental justice in Durban, South Africa. Local Environment, 15(2), pp. 137-151. Lynn Hewlett, G. M. (2015, December). Learning from student protest in Sub Saharan Africa. Fees Must Fall: Student Revolt, Decolonization and Governance in South Africa(43/44), 148-168. Marlon, J. L. (2013). Scientific and Public Perspectives on Climate Change. New Haven: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. Meyer, R. (2018, February 12). Does Climate Change Cause More War? Retrieved from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/02/does-climate-change-cause-more-war/553040/ NNPC. (2016). Oil Production. Retrieved from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation: http://www.nnpcgroup.com/nnpcbusiness/upstreamventures/oilproduction.aspx Parenti, C. (2011). Chapter 4. In C. Parenti, Tropics of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence (pp. 39-53). New York: Nation Books. Popovski, V. (2017, January 20). Foresight Africa viewpoint: Does climate change cause conflict? Retrieved from Brookings Institute: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2017/01/20/does-climate-change-cause-conflict/ Sikainga, A. (2009, February). The Worlds Worst Humanitarian Crisis: Understanding the Darfur Conflict. Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, 2(5). Sumaila, R., & Bawumia, M. (2014). Fisheries, ecosystem justice and piracy: A case study of Somalia. Fisheries Research, 154-163. Taylor, S. (2005, February). Genocide in Darfur: Crime Without Punishment? The Atlantic. The Associated Press. (2014, September 12). Central African Republic: Death Toll in Massacres Far Exceeds U.N. Count. Retrieved from Mercury News: https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/09/12/central-african-republic-death-toll-in-massacres-far-exceeds-u-n-count/ The World Bank. (2013). Policy brief : opportunities and challenges for climate-smart agriculture in Africa. Washington D.C.: The World Bank. The World Bank. (2018). Women, Agriculture and Work in Africa. Washington D.C.: The World Bank.

Henry David Thoreau Essays -- essays research papers

Henry David Thoreau is a man of many facets; a man who refuses to conform to what the masses believe is acceptable. He calls for the rejection of complexity and for a change in mankind’s view of life. Thoreau, in his many writings, demands change in a stagnant society. He emphasizes respect for nature, even to the point of blatant disrespect for humanity. Thoreau’s connection to nature was a key ingredient in his lifestyle. He studied ants closely; hoping to understand them like one understands the human race. He came to the conclusion that either ants are as dignified as men, or that men have lowered themselves to the ant’s position. He stressed the futility of war, showing in vivid detail that war does irreparable damage to both armies. He argued that we do not fight for what is right, ... Henry David Thoreau Essays -- essays research papers Henry David Thoreau is a man of many facets; a man who refuses to conform to what the masses believe is acceptable. He calls for the rejection of complexity and for a change in mankind’s view of life. Thoreau, in his many writings, demands change in a stagnant society. He emphasizes respect for nature, even to the point of blatant disrespect for humanity. Thoreau’s connection to nature was a key ingredient in his lifestyle. He studied ants closely; hoping to understand them like one understands the human race. He came to the conclusion that either ants are as dignified as men, or that men have lowered themselves to the ant’s position. He stressed the futility of war, showing in vivid detail that war does irreparable damage to both armies. He argued that we do not fight for what is right, ...

French needs to be translated from English to French ASAP

Indochine is the name of the film. The film takes place in the 1930s. (when Vietnam was owned by France) The film is historical, and very dramatic. There are three maln people. There is a woman named Eliane Devries. There is a vietnamese girl named Camille. There Is a young man named Jean-Baptise. Ellane adopted Camille when Camille was very young. The film has a lot of themes. In my opinion the relationship with Elaine and Camille Is supposed to be symbolic of the relatlonshlp between France and French Indo-China.Also, at the core of this story is the theme of unity and oing things for the greater good. People who watch the film can see how individuals working as a unit can alter the course of history. Not only Is there an overall theme In the movie, but there are themes for each individual character. Madame Devries owns and operates a large rubber plantation In Indochina that employs many indentured laborers. Eliane is not married. Eliane raises Camille as her own daughter.She adop ted Camille as a young child, after her parents were killed in a car crash. Eliane lives with her father. She sees herself as an Asian, born n her father's estates, never having been to France, but the Vietnamese see her somewhat differently. Ellane considers Indo-chlna as much her home as It Is for the anonymous laborers who work on her plantation. She Is not cruel, but she is tough and treats the local workers like second class citizens. In my opnion the character of Madame Ellane Devries has three main themes.First, I feel like her character symbolizes the French colonialists through out the film. she a powerful woman. she also has power over tons of Vietnamese people. Her character is the most powerful one in the film. Second, I think that Eliane has a lot of weaknesses. She falls in love with the wrong man, Jean-Baptiste. He left the relationship because he was In love with her daughter. She also has an addiction to opium. Often seeking solace in somking a pipe. After doing res earch I learned the story behind her demeanure. he Is forsty and beautiful Ilke the statue of Marianne, the official symbol of the French Republic. This is also more proof in my theory of her representing

Publish Your Short Story and Poetry Submissions HERE

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Las Meninas essays

Las Meninas essays Las Meninas by Diego Velzquez is a painting with some puzzlement. It is hard to tell whether the painting is a Genre scene or a history painting. It could be both, indeed this is a painting of everyday life for this family, but it also documents a particular point in time for a well to do family. The painting takes place in the home of King Phillip IV. The focal point of the painting is his daughter princess Margharita. She is being attended to by a kneeling woman and surrounded by several others. (Adams 670) If you look closely at the canvas itself, you will notice that it looks to be divided into thirds. Now it could be an after effect form its recent cleaning or it has always been there on the surface. It is possible that the image is much more vibrant after its cleaning and the images in the background are blurry because of it. The Infanta is in the center of the painting and it dressed elegantly. Her maids that are surrounding her are dressed in the same manor suggesting wealth above the normal classes. The child has a look that reaches out side the canvas and draws the viewer into the action. The woman that is to her right is also looking in the same direction suggesting that she is actually looking at someone or something. The mirror on the wall in the background further suggests this. There are three light sources in the painting. The two main one s are the windows that are to the right of the painting and the third is the doorway. The window to the right of it illuminates the image on the wall in the background. The glare that is visible on the edges of the mirror proves that it is a mirror and not a painting. The mirror is on back the wall where several paintings are. These paintings are a lot darker and are in shadow. This creates a secondary focal point by making the mirror stand out against them. The image in the mirror is known to be the King and his wife. (Adams 671) The presence of a reflection creates a t...

Implementation plan (Our company Starwood hotel&resorts) Assignment

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Geological Adventure Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Geological Adventure - Personal Statement Example My first destination would be this marvelous cave of Lechuguilla in the heart of the Guadalupe Mountains in southern New Mexico at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. These sun-blasted ridges and the rock below them had been alive 250 million years ago. A magnificent barrier reef, geologists call El Capitn. The living reef had died as the basin it enclosed grew too salty. Then, long buried under later deposits, the dead reef became limestone; the ideal stone for caves1 (see Figure 2) Climbing and hiking Fans would love the place beside all the under ground wonders made by chemicals and water reactions that would be great picture shots for photograph fans to add to their collections (see Figure 3) After staying in New Mexico for a while, I will be then heading to Hawaii and its Kilauea volcano (On Big Island),one of the world's prime attractions for adventure travelers2 along with two other active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Loihi that is located underwater off the southern coast of Hawaii's Big Island 3. There are many things to do there -besides watching Kilauea lava flowing into the sea. I would experience the mystery and walk through the native Hawaiian rain forest, hike over just-cooled lava. I could also visit the 52-foot Kilauea Lighthouse that was built in 1913 as a beacon for traveling ships4.