June Newsletter..

:SIX MONTHS IN SPACE::

If I were given the opportunity to board the International Space Station I would definitely not decline. I would want to do it because I think it would really be a neat experience. It would be cool to see how things work in the space programs. It would be really educational, and I would would be interested to find out how things works and the amount of work it takes to run a space program.

: SWINE FLU: NOT JUST FOR PIGS::

If I had a plan to go to Mexico on a holiday, and found out about the Swine Flu being a danger, I would not cancel my trip. I would not do it because the chances of me catching the flu are pretty small. I would want to go there to just enjoy myself and relax. If I were to catch the Swine Flu while I was there, I would quickly get on a plane and fly back home.

John Maynard Keynes

John Maynard Keynes was a british economist who had strong ideas that have had a mighty hard impact on modern economics, political theories, and government policies. His ideas were that the government should bail out the economy when they are faced with a recession and he thought the private sectors were inefficient. His ideas have played a huge roll on the economy today.

The idea that the government should bail out the economy in the time of a recession is the trend that many countries are following today. One prime example is the United States of America. Right now they are in a huge recession, and yet they keep loaning out money to people, and spending way more than they intake. In the long run they believe that this is a good thing, and will work to their advantage in the future. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future as the economy hopefully gets better. 

When Kaynes was going about this plan he had two main ideas that would make his plan possible. One was to invest in infrastructure, and other was reduce interest rates.  He believed that by doing these things the economy would start to progress and speed up again. However by doing these two things the value in money was lost, causing inflation. Inflation is a huge problem today because money is so common, and people do not realize the significant value of it; instead they spend in faster than they can intake it. Many countries today suffer from inflation, and I wonder if the ideas of Keynes is what started the popular trend of inflation?

I think one of the major problems with Keynes economic plans was the fact that he just wanted to ignore all the bad things about the economy and cover them up with money. Money cannot solve everyones problems, in fact most of the time they make things worse. In my opinion, Mr. Keynes plan was intelligent, but in the long run it did not give countries positive effects. It mostly started a bad trend that brought about inflation, and bad planning that has led many countries to lend out money they do not posses.

John Maynard Keynes' has had many strong ideas that have effected our economy today greatly. His ideas of bailing out the economy in the face of a recession have caused many countries to fall into inflationary issues. These issues that many countries are facing in the world are not going to be easy to get out of. I don't believe his ideas are going to help us in the long run because spending more money is not always the answer to the problems we face. I think we need to face these problems with our heads held high, and quit spending money we do not have!

IMF: International Monetary Fund

The IMF is an organization that oversees the global financial system. It is also an organization that formed to stabilize international exchange rates and facilitate development.  There are three main things that the International Monetary Fund deal with, they include surveillance, lends to other countries, and they providing technical assistance. These three things are used to strengthen financial sectors of the economy. 

Surveillance involves the monitoring of economic and financial developments, and the provision of policy advice. Surveillance is important because in today's globalized economy the decisions of one country affect many other countries also. There are two different types of surveillance the IMP deals with. The first is multilateral surveillance, this is an oversight of the worlds economy. The second is bilateral surveillance, this section comprises appraisal of and advice on the policies of each country that is a member of the IMF. 

Lending is a major responsibility of the IMF. They are responsible to provide loans to member countries experiencing payment balancing problems. Since they lend money, it gives countries a chance to rebuild their international reserves. Unlike developing banks, the IMF does not lend for specific projects, they lend to countries who are going to fail. By doing this they are able to help a lot of countries out when they are in desperate times of need.

One of the most important things the IMF does is provide technical assistance. By doing this they are able to support the developments of the member countries by  helping them effectively manage their economic policy and financial affairs. About 90% of the IMF's technical assistance goes to low and middle-class income countries, and post-conflict countries. By helping  countries reduce weaknesses the technical assistance they provides a more robust and stable global economy. 

The IMF is a great organization that helps many countries with their issues dealing with finances. Surveillance, lends, and technical assistance are only a few of the things they do. These three things combined all help to strengthen the international financial system, and all the financial sectors of the economy. This organization is rapidly growing and continues to help countries in need.

Oka Crisis Timeline!! :)

1.  March 1989 the announcement about the golf course making 9 new holes becomes open information to the public.

2. April 1, 1989 the Mohawk people hear of the plans for the golf course and they went into the Oka community to talk.

3. April 27th, a meeting is held for the Mohawk people, and the Oka municipality. At the meeting the the government said the land was free for the golf course to use.

4. The native peoples were not happy with these actions so they decided to rebel, and take matters into their own hands. They did not want the golf course to expand, so they plan to do something about it.

5. August 1, the work for the course officially begings. They planted the first tree despite the Environment minister, and the Mohawk peoples.

6. August 21st: Negotiations begin between Chief Clarence Simon, Oka-vilage Mayor Jean Ouellette, and Oka parish mayor Yvan Patry. It is resolved that the municipality of Oka Village will postpone the project to help resolve the difficulties.

7. March 11th: Mohawks set up a road block at the chemin du mille as the municipality lifts the moratorium on the golf club expansion project. A petition is also put forward with 1276 signatures against the expansion project.

8. April 26th The superior court grants an injunction to the Municipality of Oka forbidding Mohawk demonstrators to hold up any traffic and to block access to chemin du Mille.

9. May 2: The Sureté du Québec is preparing to intervene to remove the barricades. The police operation is called off.

10. May 3: Thirty citizens from Oka village create a group of "vigilante" during a town hall meeting. The group is given the mission to remove" by force if necessary" the occupants of the barricades.

11. May 8: Minister John Ciaccia and Mayor Jean Ouellette agree that in order to help discussions resume in a peaceful climate, it would be best to postpone the golf club project indefinitely provided the Mohawks lift their blockade. 6 days later the Town Council of Oka Village refused to endorse the Mayor's commitment.

12. June 4: The municipality of Oka is willing to declare another moratorium for three months, provided the barricades are taken down, end in the case of a refusal an injunction will be requested. The Mohawks for their part are willing to lift the barricades, if the moratorium is declared for an indefinite period of time. 

The Oka Crisis!

Late in March 1990, the Mohawk First Nations people (commonly known as the Kanesatake) got news that the town of Oka, Quebec was planning on expanding a golf coarse on their land which was at one time a burial ground for their sacred ancestors. They were very upset about this, and they decided to barricade the land and not let anyone touch it because they believed it belonged to them. While in the process of barricading this land a police officer was shot and killed, many citizens were scared for their lives, and it caused a great disturbance in Eastern Canada.

In my opinion the Kanesatake people did not handle this issue very well. When they heard that this land was going to be occupied they should have gone and talked to the government leaders of this area before they starting taking physical action. If they would have taken the time to do this I believe the police man that got shot could have lived. I think as humans, we tend to make rash decisions and not think things through very well when we are angry. I think this is what must have happened with these native people. Obviously they were upset, but this issue could have been prevented if they would have calmed down and thought things through better.

When the Oka Crises happened many citizens of Eastern Canada were scared for their lives, and did not want to go out of the comfort of their home. I can understand their fear because I know if the First Nations People from around our part of Canada came to Magrath and started to barricade the roads I would also be extremely scared to leave my home. When this happened in Quebec, the First Nations People were carrying weapons with them which made them a serious threat. I would not want to take the risk of leaving my home to travel around the community if I knew there were armed men that could possibly hurt me.

I think some of the  most damaging effect that the Oka Crisis caused was the disturbance it brought to Eastern Canada, and the reputation it left for the Natives in Quebec.  After this happened the Kanesatake people earned a reputation of violence, and many people grew very fearful of them. This is unfortunate because it even gave a bad name to the Kanesatake people who were not involved in the disturbance. Even though it was only the one tribe of natives who were involved I get the idea that all First Nations People in general are violent people.  I know this is not true, and that most Native people mean well, but it does not give them a good reputation. 

The Oka Crisis was a very unfortunate event that took place in the history of Canada. Because of it one police man got shot, many people were fearful for their lives, it caused great disturbance among Eastern Canadian citizens, and it gave the Kanesatake people a bad reputation. I think it was wrong for the Government to not inform the First Nations People that they were going to occupy their ancestral land, but I also believe the situation should have been handled more maturely by the Natives. I hate to see awful things like this happen in my country, but evidently things like this occasionally happen. When events like these conspire, I think the most important thing we can do is learn from past experiences and handle situations more maturely.

Red River Rising

If I were in a situation where I was faced with the decision to save someone's life I don't think I could walk away. No matter what the circumstances may be everyone deserves to be saved. If the person knowingly entered into this situation and put themselves on harm by their own choice some people would walk away and say it was their fault. I personally could not do that because I don't think I would be able to live with the regret inside of me knowing that I could have helped save a life and I walked away. I know that if I were the person that needed to be saved I would want someone to help me, and I would forever be grateful to the person who stepped up and entered a risky situation in order to help me. 

A. 1826

B. 225,000 cubic feet

C. 125,000 cubic feet

D. 100,000 cubic feet

Earthquake Strikes Central Italy

#1. Pacific Plate

#2. Extensional, Compressional, and Transform. (The worksheet says there are 4 ways, but I could only find 3)