La Jornada Dariana

El 18 de Enero de 1867 fue el día del nacimiento del gran poeta Nicaragüense Rubén Darío. Por lo tanto en esta misma fecha todos los años se emprende la Jornada Dariana en nuestro colegio. Esta época es un énfasis a Rubén Darío y a otros grandes poetas Nicaragüenses que han influenciado la literatura Latinoamericana.

En lo personal esta Jornada Dariana ha sido una de mis favoritas ya que no solo nos hemos centrado en Rubén Darío como en todos los años anteriores, sino que también hemos tenido la oportunidad de aprender sobre otros poetas como Azarías H. Pallais (que fue el poeta asignado a mi grado). Me gustó que nos hicieran declamar un poema de él y también que hayamos leído su cronología. También me pareció muy interesante la conferencia que dió José Arguello Lacayo. Creo que es bueno que hagamos esto para que nos hagamos personas más cultas y sepamos más sobre este país.

Imperial China, Neo-colonial India

Indian Express, Imperial China, neo-colonial india, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/imperial-china-neocolonial-india/15944/2




"After decades of seeing themselves as victims of imperialism, China and India will find the tag of neo-imperialism and neo-colonialism shocking if not distasteful. Yet Beijing and New Delhi must confront a new reality. The greater their economic and political capacity to influence outcomes elsewhere in the world, the stronger will be international scrutiny of their policies." (Mohan, C.Raja)

As I've mentioned before in the previous posts China is seen as a country that has imperialist tendencies and India (which i haven't talked about before and is the msin objective of this post) is portrayed as a neo-colonialist country. India and Chinese have spured economically and politically and now their foreign policies look similar to the ones of the superpowers especially in the interest to defend their new economic interests beyond their borders. This article also talks about how the new interests of this two countries are a threat to existing powers such as the Europeans and Americans. We can observe this situation in Africa "as China and India transform the geopolitical balance in Africa and threaten to push Europe and America from their privileged positions in the developing world, they are bound to face inevitable reaction from the major powers and liberal activists in the West" ( Mohan, C.Raja)

 I think that all this imperialist tendencies have a domino effect. If we remember well India and China have been countries that when they were less developed were victims of imperialism. When this countries develop optim economies and governments that allow them to progress and they are faced with the opportunity of imperialist-or disguised imperialism such as neo-colonialism or neo-imperialism- ideas, they take the opportunity and the same effect spreads. Off course this is all in a long time span and can[t happen in a few years.

Exploitation of Africa's Land and People

 The Final Call, The exploitation of Africa's land and People, http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/world_news_3/the_exploitation_of_africa_s_land_and_people_5661.shtml

Africa has been the land of opportunity for a long time. Executive director of TransAfrica Forum writes: “As a continent, Africa is still enslaved because of its vast wealth. The mining and extraction of precious materials—oil, natural gas, coltan and cobalt—enrich corporations but cast a shadow of poverty throughout the continent. Whether in the Niger Delta or the Democratic Republic of Congo, the people experience lives of misery and receive very little benefit from the richness of their land. This is known as the “resource curse”—the paradoxical relationship so many Africans have to the richness of Africa.” (Lee, Nicole C.)  In other words, instead of taking financial benefits out of their natural resources the African people are encounteres with a a source of problems that leaves them with a deplorable quality of life.

Emira Woods, director of Foreign Policy in Focus for the Washington D.C.said that the coorporations are the ones who use the labor and land and the people are the ones who pay for it. She calls this :modern slavery and that it is exploitation that makes you think about slavery in the old times. As an example Mrs. Woods talked about Firestone which for years has run the largest rubber operation. According to her they use child labor and don't pay the proper taxes for the government. Also, Africa is the greatest supplier of oil to the U.S, the 80 percent of cobalt used in lithium powered batteries comes from Africa, and the majority of the coltan used by celphone companies and electronic devices has the same origin.

According to the United Nations and several human rights organizations, many of the conflicts on the African continent can be traced to the control of mineral resources.

This article also talks about the involvement of the U.S gov. and the plans that the actual president, Barack Obama, has for Africa. Pan-Africanist Dr. Mtangulizi Sanyika said that he anticipates Obama will have a special connection and obligation over the problems of Africa because of his African roots.

"The advent of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) on the continent bears witness to the fulfillment of Dr. Nkrumah’s words. In 2007, former Pres. George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the creation of U.S. Africa Command. The decision was the culmination of a 10-year process within the Department of Defense acknowledging the emerging strategic importance of Africa and recognizing that peace and stability on the continent impacts not only Africans, but the interests of the U.S. and international community." (Muhammad, Ashahed M.)

As we can see in the previous quote the U.S said as an argument to form the AFRICOM that peace and stability in the continent also impacts the interests of the U.S. In my opinion this is a form of Imperialism similar to the white man's burden and I consider it as imperialism disguised as help.

Made In China- Mc Donalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut exploit workers

Publicalpha, Demandan en China por explotación laboral a McDonald’s, KFC y Pizza Hut

http://publicalpha.com/demandan-en-china-por-explotacion-laboral-a-mcdonalds-kfc-y-pizza-hut/

Get the closest item you have to you and read the label. Probably you just came up with the expression: "Ugh. Made in China". Although China fabrics many poduct most of the time they are from brands of the United States, France, or other developed countries. Yes, in fact,laboral work in China is very cheap and available. many famous brands take advantage of this and not just by paying the minimum salary but by paying even less than that.

The fast food franchaises of KFC, Mc. Donalds, and Pizza Hut have been demanded for laboral exploitation in the province of Canton, since they pay lower salaries than they should and have extended working hours. The lawsuit was presented after an investigation of the New Express of Guandog newspaper that said this franchaises paid 40% less than the lowest salarie of 97 dollar cents an hour. Now investigations are being held in other provinces to find out how are the conditions of workers of this fast food giants in other provinces.

In my opinion this is unexcusable and in all means imperialism. American franchaises are taking advantage of the low labor wages and besides this they are imposing even lower salaries to their workers in other words they are being exploited by American companies. Isn't that one of the main characteristics of imperialism? As author Xiao Ming said, after reading this everytime I see a Happy Meal I won´t be able to think about its delicious french fries, but about the Chinesse and other exploited workers who make enourmous sacrifices to bring this to my table.

"Refuting the Myths" Part I

Global Research.ca, American Imperialism and its Domination over Asia-Refuting the Myth that China is becoming an economic super power PART I, link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=4999,  March 6, 2007.

"China is the next world power". That's what everyone says these days, but is it true?

Well, when I was looking for imperialism articles in the internet I found one this article that focused mainly on that. It talks about how although China has extended its political and economical influence in Asia and outside of Asia, it still can't surpass the United States military or economically. According to this article the United States put China as a threat to them so that they have a pretext for military expansion in that region. The article also focus on saying that China as a super power would balance the power of the U.S and help third-world countries. China, supposedly, is not interested in mutual benefits economic relationships but in rapidly increasing their GDP growth. China is inferior to the United States in economical matters such as the accumulated investments of companies. Also, China depends on many other economies for their own economical stability. The powerful people in China have exploited China's workers and resources to an undesirable point. China may behave like an imperialist country but truly it is weak imperialist country. They have signed trade pacts, investment deals, and other kind of economic cooperation but none are in a mutual plataform.

At the begininng when I read this I didn't really found a strong connection to imperialism but then as I went on to part II. US Imperialism and its hegemony over Asia, and after reading the following quote I realized that it has a lot to do.

"We are now at the beginning of the 21st Century. On the one hand as the capitalist economic crisis has deepened, the imperialist powers will be competing with one another more fiercely for resources, for investment opportunities, and for markets. On the other hand, the US has further expanded its military forces in Asia targeting China as its potential threat." (Ching, Pao-Yu)

See the connection?

Imperialism Disguised as Economical Help

Source:

Neo-colonialism: The long arm of imperialism by Ed Caffin (Only Economic Control subdivision) http://latitudes.nu/neo-colonialism-the-long-arm-of-imperialism.html.

According to the American Heritage dictionary, neo-colonialism is a policy whereby a major power uses economic and political means to perpetrate or extend its influence over other nations.

 

"The end of World War II sparked a process of decolonisation throughout the World, the days of imperialism were proclaimed over. More than half a century later however, developed countries are still highly involved in developing or third-world countries. According to many critics, this involvement is nothing less than imperialism, often disguised as development aid. In a system often referred to as neo-colonialism, developing countries are still being exploited by developed countries. As we will see, neo-colonial practice has taken many forms. This is the case in Indonesia". (Caffin, Ed)

In a subdivision of this article we can see how developed countries take advantage  their third-world inferiors.  It is subdivided in 4 parts of the article: economic development, other ways of exploitation, mass tourism as Neo-Colonial practice, and the rich and the poor. The part that I consider the most impactant and relevant is the one of economic development. In this segment we are explained how financial aids to poor countries are just disguised ways of imperialism because for the financial aid the countries need to follow the regulations of the developed country who is "helping them". They give us the example of Indonesia, which had massive external debts that then were controlled by the decisions of foreign parties (Intergovernmental Group on Indonesia (IGGI), later knows as Consultative Group on Indonesia). This consortium conformed mainly by Western leaders had to made decisions such as how mush financial aid they would give to Indonesia and they had to approve Indonesias budget. After all, this resulted in economic growth but the conditions were to strict and one could say that Indonesia was imprisoned.

Another thing besides financial aid was that rich countries got interested in the raw materials of many developing countries. Indonesia which is rich of crude oil, natural gas, tin, copper, and gold, was victim of this form of imperialism. Most of their raw materials were exploited by world powers such as the United States. These developed states which exploited the raw materials of third-world countries like Indonesia often obtained monopolies of these exploitations.

The Best Gift

I never receive birthday or Christmas gifts from my parents but instead from the other members of my family. The gifts from my parents always come disguised as trips, which I love because traveling is one of my passions. For my 15th birthday (which is supposed to be a special age for women) I chose to travel with my mom to London, Egypt, Italy and then take a cruise around Greece. It has undoubtly been the best gift I have ever received in my life! I had a lot of fun with my mom and other 4 female members of my family and at the same time I learned a lot about different cultures and traditions. I also met a lot of great persons whom I befriended rapidly.

My parents didn't just grant me with a trip. It was way more than that.

Something My School Needs

Let's be honest we are never happy with what we have and when it comes to school, a place to which we must attend 7 hours and 5 weeks of the day,  the matter just gets worst. We are always suggesting things to make our schools more comfortable and fit to our needs. So, what is it that my school needs?

1- More language classes. What I mean is that we should have a language elective class such as choosing to take French, German, or any other idiom. This is very important for the formation of cult students and a positively built curriculum.
2- Teacher coordination for the planning of tests and homeworks. Having way too much homeworks, tests, and projects is something unbearable for those of us in honors class. We think that this is imperative for the development of responsability in students and the teacher-student bond.
3- A strong and optim teacher staff. Many of the teachers we have here are great and I love them, but besided this inevitable truth I can't help myself but notice teacher instability, lack of skilled professors, and teachers who are not qualified to teach their classes. We all know that a teacher is very important to a student, they can either be your lifetime role models or the person who ruined your dream. Teachers need to be patient, willing to learn, open to change, passionate, creative ,and off course, respectful towards their students and superiors. All of this are qualities which aspirant teachers as well as professionals must not lack or fail to apply in their daily classes. This is probably one of the aspects in which this school must try persistently to improve.
4- Cafeteria = NOT. Ingesting food at school is very important, and thus it is important for schools to have nutritious, delicious, and adequate food in their cafeterias. We know that the owners of the cafeteria need to gain profit from the food they sell, but seriously? It's way too expensive and inconsiderated! Some of the students come with their stomachs empty to school and others don't eat snacks in the whole school day which is obviously unhealthy. If we don't have a good nutritious program here at school the situation just gets worst because it is true that we can bring lunch from our homes but sometimes with all the stress and our marked daily routines it gets a bit complicated.

I hope that this school tries to improve in this aspects because it is noticeable that they need to. Anyway, thanks for reading and have a great day.

What do Nicaraguans do Well?

Even though I'm not Nicaragua I have lived enough in this country to get to know them pretty well. Off course, the nationality of a person doesn't determine him or her completely but as a nation there are many things that are promoted and thus the people begin to be good at them. One of the things in which I think Nicaraguans are remarkable is in the arts. Cooking, crafting, singing, dancing, writing are all things that Nicaraguans are good at, maybe because of tradition or heritage.

GASTRONOMY:

I haven't ever visited another country in which tourists can gain weight so easily. Nicaraguan food is amazing cooked with lots of love. The charisma of the people is portrayed on their colorful dishes and drinks. From a variety of fruits, vegetebles, meat and lots of corn, what's there not to love? I must say that I love this food, specially the tajadas or platain fried chips with fried cheese, their cacao drink, a creamy and sustantious drink made of pure cocoa beans,and off course how forget the famous rosquillas!

There's no doubt that Nicaraguan gastronomy is between the best of all Central American Countries.

CRAFTING:

If you are looking for a beautiful souvenir for those that you've left at home don't hesitate just come to Nicaragua! Besides having a beautiful and rural Market of Crafts in Catarina you can find a series of items in the streets and the Roberto Huembes market.

SINGING AND DANCING:

There may not be a lot of known Nicaraguan artists but there are in fact a lot of talented Nicaraguan singers. The Majias Godoy is a musical group formed by family members. They delight people with their music in their own restaurant. Another remarkable artist is Luis Enrique who is known not just in Nicaragua but in all Latin America. To this you may add their dancing talent which is probably comes from their latin roots.

LITERATURE:

Two words for literature in Nicaragua: Rubén Darío. Off course he is not the only influential poet, there have been many more like Azarias H. Pallais, but Rubén Darío could probably be considered as the most widely known. An innate genius, he wrote his first verses at the age of 13 and further on began the literary movement of Modernism in Latin America. There are also many Nicaraguan literary works worth reading.

Black Swan's Natalie Portman- CNN

Living a role for a movie is hard work -- living the physically punishing life of a ballet dancer is even harder. But it's worth it when you get awarded with a Golden Globe for your efforts.

Actress Natalie Portman -- who Sunday won a Golden Globe for her performance in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" -- went method for her role as tortured ballerina Nina Sayers.

Though at a press conference in London she said she was more of a "pleasure-seeker" than a "self-punisher," Portman described the grueling training she underwent for the film, and how mid-way through shooting the film she suffered a dislocated rib.

"Black Swan" is set in a fictional New York ballet company, where highly strung young women battle it out for star roles. Portman plays a corps dancer given the role of a lifetime: that of the Princess Odette in Tchaikovsky's classic ballet, Swan Lake.

But not only does her character have to portray the good princess Odette, who is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer; she also plays the sorcerer's daughter Odile, the black swan of the film's title.

Dancing as the two swans proves psychologically unsettling for Sayers, a good girl required to turn bad for the role of Odile. She is goaded by the ballet company director (played by French actor Vincent Cassel) into exploring her dark side for the role.

Federer defeats Simon!- CNN news

World number two Roger Federer survived a comeback from France's Gilles Simon on his way to a hard-fought second round win at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Defending champion Federer, who is bidding for his fifth victory at Melbourne Park, opened up a two-set lead over 34th-ranked Simon in just 68 minutes.

Simon, 26, had won both his previous meetings with Federer and mounted a fightback to force the match into a fifth and final set.

However, the 29-year-old Federer dug deep to secure a crucial break of serve in the sixth game of the deciding set -- eventually sealing a 6-2 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3 victory after nearly four hours of play.

What can I say? Federer is indeed the best tennis player ever. To his skill you add his incredible modesty and you have a complete package ;)

My Favorite Movie

I'm a HUGE fan of films. Oldies, releases, whatever comes my way I'll watch, that's why when it comes to movies it is very difficult for me to think about one in specific that I prefer. One of my favorite movies that I can recall at the moment is "The Secret Life of Bees". This movie, with a beautiful plot and talented cast, make the tough hearted like me shed a river of tears.

"The Secret Life of Bees" is based on a historical novel with the same name by Sue Monk Kidd. It was published in 2002 and received much critical acclaim as well as a spot on the New York Times Bestsellers. The story which is set in 1964 is developed around Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her dead mother. To get away from her abusive father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo), Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping. From the deepest part of my heart I recommend everyone to watch this mesmerizing film.

A Song That Will Take Your Breath Away

Normally, we teenagers, change favorite songs each 10 days according to the new releases and the songs that are pumping the stereo. Weirdly, no matter how much I try to open myself to new songs and artists my favorite song is not as new or famous as one would imagine. I love songs that we can relate with, songs that no matter how much you hear them never makes you want to break your ipod and ask for something else.

This is the case with "Breathless" a.k.a my favorite song to those who know me well. "Better than Ezra" is guilty for the creation of this amazing song which was written for their album " Before the Robots" released in 2005. Off course, this song couldn't go unnoticed by a new celebrity and so, Taylor Swift made a cover of it in 2010 for the telethon  "Hope for Haiti".