Kylie's Blog

Occupy Wallstreet

2011-10-17T18:35:00.001-07:00

Occupy Wallstreet is an ongoing series of demonstrations that are going on all around the country. These protests began in New York City, and spread to other cities before it became a worldwide protest. The Canadian activist group called Adbusters instigated the protest. Last springs Arab movement in Cairo’s Tahir Square also had an influence in these protests. The people out on the streets protesting are for the most protesting economic and social inequality, corporate greed, and lobbyists over government, along with the power and influence of the major corporations, particularly from the financial service sectors.

The protests began in Mid September in New York City. A huge part of the protest is the use of the slogan “We are the 99%”. This slogan is referencing the influence of big business and the wealthiest 1% of Americans on U.S. laws and policies. By October 9^th, very similar demonstrations were ongoing or planned to be held in 70 major cities and over 600 communities just in the United States. Even internationally other protests have sculpted themselves after Occupy Wall Street.

One of the big questions that many people fail to understand is what exactly many of these protesters are actually demanding in these protests. Stories vary as to the exact specific goals of the grassroots movement. The main demand of the protest is to get President Obama to “ordain a Presidential Commission tasked with ending the influence money has over our representatives in Washington. On OccupyWallSt.org, a user misreported an official list of demands for the protests, and OccupyWallSt.org went on to say it was never proposed or agreed to on a consensus basis with the NYC General Assembly, and there is no official list of demands of the protesters.

I am a firm believer in the people having the right to protest all over the country. As New York Mayor Bloomberg said last week, “People have a right to protest, and if they want to protest, we'll be happy to make sure they have locations to do it.” He gave the protesters a place in the city near Wall Street to protest and the city has paid their officers over 3.5 million dollars in overtime to the police officers for security over the past month according to

Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader Representative said she supports the growing worldwide Occupy Wall Street movement, and that she includes herself in the group of Americans that are unhappy with Congress. Ron Paul, a republican from Texas and a Presidential candidate said, “If they were demonstrating peacefully and making a point, and arguing our case, and drawing attention to the Fed—I would say, ‘good.’” This is the problem, although many of the protesters are standing up for most of us, in the 99%, and we can all kind of feel their pain to a certain extent, they are simply not offering any new ideas to deal with the problem at hand. We are all fed up with Congress and the 1% controlling our country, but you cannot simply have a protest without putting any new ideas to the table.

Our country was born on the First Amendment, which provides ‘the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” So of course they are doing nothing wrong speaking out in protest, but I believe they should have new ideas to bring to the table, but they simply don’t. I am all for what they are saying, there is a massive void between the rich and the poor in this country, but I also feel that it is wrong for the taxpayers around the country to be paying for these protesters. We are paying for their security every minute they are protesting, making many officers work overtime, making New York taxpayers pay $3.5 million in taxes.

Although the millions have made their voices heard constantly on our televisions for the past month, and I agree with the message they are sending out to the rest of the 99%, that there is way too much power and influence from these massive corporations, with a majority being from the financial sector, but if they do not offer new ideas to the plate, how will they ever accomplish anything? They have finally given light on a very important worldwide matter, but no new ideas have come about of anything so far. This is currently an ongoing issue, so something new can happen tomorrow when we turn on the television, but for now, nothing new is going to change without offering new and relevant ideas.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-16/wall-street-protesters-vow-to-occupy-lower-manhattan-for-months.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/10/occupy-the-world-the-99-percent-movement-goes-global/246757/

http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet.html

http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-mainstream-propaganda-machine/

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/10/10-2

http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-demands-for-occupy-wall-st-moveme/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20120052-503544.html

Bib

2011-10-09T19:51:00.003-07:00

Bibliography

Bahree, Megha. "Child Labor." Forbes.com. January 31, 2008. Accessed October 9, 2011. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0225/072.html.

"Child Labor in India." Tulane University. Fall 2006. Accessed September 11, 2011. http://homeport.tcs.tulane.edu/~rouxbee/kids99/india9.html.

Dhariwal, Navdip. "Child Labour - India's 'cheap Commodity'" BBC News. June 13, 2006. Accessed September 09, 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5059106.stm.

"Gap: Report of Kids' Sweatshop 'deeply Disturbing." Featured Articles from CNN. October 29, 2007. Accessed September 11, 2011. http://articles.cnn.com/2007-10-29/world/gap.labor_1_clothing-retailer-gap-child-labor-gap-kids-stores?_s=PM:WORLD.

"Gap Under Fire: Reports Allege Child Labor." ABCNews.com. October 28, 2007. Accessed September 19, 2011. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3786371&page=1.

"India - Child Labour Statistics." International Labour Organization. Accessed September 17, 2011. http://www.ilo.org/dyn/clsurvey/lfsurvey.list?p_lang=en&p_country=IN.

"India - Nutrition, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, Diarrhoea, Breastfeeding, Dehydration and Oral Rehydration - Health Education to Villages." HealthEducationtoVillages.com. Accessed September 9, 2011. http://hetv.org/india/index.html.

"India and ILO, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India." Govt. of India Ministry of Labour. Accessed September 05, 2011. http://labour.nic.in/ilas/indiaandilo.htm.

"India-The Big Picture." Unicef. Accessed September 4, 2011. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_background.html.

Khanna, Summit. "Diamond Industry Plays down Child Labour Charges." Business Standard. December 13, 2004. Accessed September 09, 2011. http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=195628.

"Poverty in India: Map." Census.com. Accessed September 10, 2011. http://census.com/maps./Poverty_in_India.

Ravallion, Martin, and Shaohua Chen. "New Global Poverty Estimates--What It Means for India." World Bank--India. Accessed September 22, 2011. http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:21880725~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:295584,00.html.

Roggero, Paola, Viviana Mangiaterra, Flavia Bustreo, and Furio Rosati. "The Health Impact of Child Labor in Developing Countries: Evidence From Cross-Country Data." American Journal of Public Health. February 25, 2006. Accessed September 12, 2011. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1781398/.

"What Is Child Labor? - The Child Labor Education Project." Division of Continuing Education - The University of Iowa. Accessed September 10, 2011. http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/what_is_child_labor.html.

Final Draft

2011-10-09T19:51:00.001-07:00

Child Labor in India: A Worldwide Epidemic

Picture life when you were seven years old. Most of us were probably living an easy life, going to elementary school everyday, with not a single care in the world. Now imagine working long, non-stop 12-hour days in factories that were unsafe, and causing you to be sick and even killing some of your best friends. Imagine making less than a dollar a day and possibly never seeing your family again. For most of us in the United States and other Western Worlds today, this is a far cry from reality. But for more than 280 million children living around the world, this is what they are faced with every single day. They ultimately have no other choice.

Child labor is defined by the International Labor Organization as any work done by children that is dangerous, keeps them from getting an education, and is harmful to their health and development (“India: The big picture.” International Labor Organization.) According to the International Labor Organization, India is home to the largest number of child laborers in the world. It has become a widespread, crucial crisis that affects children throughout India everyday. Children younger than 14 years old are forced everyday to work in firework, glassblowing, and carpet-making factories, and even diamond mines throughout India that are putting them in increased danger. (“Child Slave Labor”, UNICEF)

According to the Government of India, there are 20 million children laborers, but more accurate organizations such as the International Labor Organization and Census put the number of child laborers in India at, at least 44 million, if not higher (Baroda: Operations Research Group, 2004). It has become increasingly difficult to estimate exactly how many children are actually working, because most work without pay, helping their parents, or are working for employers who do not report it to the census or the government and get away with it. Most locals believe child labor is necessary in order to overcome the widespread poverty that is rampant throughout region.

According to a World Bank report in 2005, 41% of India falls below the international poverty line of US $1.25 a day (“New Global Poverty Estimates—What it means for India”. World Bank.) After adults refuse to work for these substantiality low wages, factories then turn to children to work for these extremely low wages. Many of these children have no choice, as their families depend on every penny they make to help their family. There are high levels of extreme poverty throughout India. Every single state that reported information in India from 1998 to 2008 had grown more than 10% in annualized poverty rates (“Poverty rates continues to grow” Census Report, 2008). Most states in India during this time period grew more than 20% in poverty rates. Madhya Pradesh’s poverty rates grew more than 30% over a 10-year period (“A special report on India: Ruled by Lakshmi” The Economist.”) These high poverty rates force the children to work under dangerous, unsanitary conditions. Business continue investing in countries such as India because their overall expenses can be much lower when expanding its child workforce. This means higher profits, which is ultimately the goal of businesses.

The dire conditions in the factories that the children are enduring are desperate and dangerous. Many of these children work long, hot, 12 plus hour days, with possibly one short break for a quick bite of food, if lucky. Many are ill nourished and are fed the least amount of staples possible to save money. This creates a major health epidemic throughout India.

The major health impacts that affect these child laborers in India are widespread and visible in the rapid skeletal growth, the development of organs and tissues, higher chemical absorption rates, lower heat tolerance and the greater need for food and rest. (“Child Labour and Health: Evidence and Research Issues.” Innocenti Research Centre, 2002.) Although working conditions that are usually safe and healthy for adults may not be safe and healthy for children, because of their drastic physical differences. These labor-intensive jobs usually in agriculture, mining, and construction are very risky and training and supervision is insufficient. According to the International Labor Organization in a survey of 26 countries, “one quarter of economically active children suffer injuries or illnesses while working.” Children working in agriculture fields have an even higher risk of health problems and injuries because of the increased exposure to pesticides, the tools used, the lack of clean water, and the less restrictive standards seen in the industrial fields. (“Child Labour and Health: Evidence and Research Issues.” Innocenti Research Centre, 2002.)

Another major theme that is connected to child labor throughout India is the economic impact that these children workers have on India as a whole. Many believe that the diamond industry is benefiting the most from child labor. The International Labor Organization published a report in 2007 that claimed “Child labor is highly prevalent in the Indian diamond industry, as child laborers constitute nearly 3% of the total workforce and the percentage of child laborers is as high as 25% in the diamond industry of Surat.” Having child laborers working in the diamond industry has helped prosper and build the diamond industry throughout the world. Most throughout India believe the economic impacts of the diamond industry are only being felt by the very wealthy. “The majority of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished while workers are often paid only a fraction of 1% of the value of the stones they cut” (“Child Labour Crisis in the Diamond Industry,” BBC News, 2004). The people doing all the work are not seeing any benefit.

In a recent research study by the India Gandhi Institute of Development Research it was shown that “widespread economic growth in Western India was associated with an increase in the number of child workers over the last 15 years.” It went on to describe the low paying hazardous work and the lack of education the children receive because of their work. The work that these children are doing are making it able for companies to go into these areas and pay the children next to nothing for hard work, allowing the companies to prosper and expand, at the cost of the workers. Nothing ever goes back to India as a whole or the workers, only in the pockets of those who run these big businesses.

Many of the major companies that come to India to benefit for child labor such as The Gap, often have to fight with subcontractors and monitor their actions closely. It is up to the company as a whole whether or not they are going to do anything to stop child labor where their products are coming from. According to CNN.com, “In 2006, Gap Inc. ceased business with 23 factories due to code violations. We have 90 people located around the world whose job is to ensure compliance with our Code of Vendor Conduct.” Many of the larger companies, such as the Gap, take steps to prevent their goods from being produced by child labor, but it many cases it cannot be stopped and the companies are unaware of what is going on until they actually go and see first hand what is going on. Larger companies throughout the world need to take some of the preventative stops that Gap is taking to help combat this epidemic.

In 1979, the Indian Government formed the Gurupadswamy Committee to find about child labor and means to tackle it. The Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act was enacted in 1986 and a National Policy on Child Labor was formed in 1987 to focus on rehabilitating children working in hazardous occupations. (Initiatives towards Elimination of Child Labor—Action Plan and Present Strategy,” Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.) The ministry of Labour and Employment had implemented around 100 industry-specific National Child Labour Projects to rehabilitate the child workers since 1988 (“National Legislation and Policies Against Child Labour in India,” International Labor Organization.) Although every piece of legislation that is passed is a step in the right direction, these child labor laws are rarely enforced because punishment is minimal, if any at all. It is up to the world to put an end to this dire situation in India by being informed and spreading consumer awareness. By changing the structure of the workforce entirely and hiring the large number of currently unemployed adults in greatly improved work conditions is only the first step in this lengthy process. New labor standards and wages must be put in place and medical examinations and minimum nutrition requirements must first be established in India. Establishing schools and eliminating the widespread illiteracy that overwhelms the country would work to protect large-scale structural changes. However, these changes cannot be accomplished right away by any means. Pressure from the international community, especially the United States Government and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, is absolutely necessary to bring about any change in India.

I believe that it is essential for the U.S. Congress, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Obama administration to pay more attention to the exploitation of children in India as well as other areas in South and Southeast Asia. Currently according to the German Government, Germany has instigated a pilot program that places a stamp on all imported carpets that are child labor free, thus urging consumers to buy these products. Because of the high price range of these carpets, similar programs can and should be given serious consideration in the United States.

Child labor is a global problem. If child labor is to be eliminated, the governments and agencies and those responsible for enforcement need to start doing their jobs affectively. The most important thing is to increase awareness and keep discussing ways and means to fix this problem for good. We have to decide whether we are going to take up the problem head-on and fight it any way we can, or simply leave it to the Indian government to fix this problem.

A simple thing that we can do to make an impact is to boycott companies who have acknowledged using child labor when producing their products. Do a little research and find out where your products are coming from and who is actually making them. There are many organizations such as; the International Labor Organization, International Labor Rights Forum and UNICEF that can help you gather information and give you resources to make a difference.

Changing the structure of the workforce, improving work conditions, and improving the low labor standards and wages are only the beginning to helping India. With the help of citizens in the United States and other western worlds we can actually make a difference in the lives of many across India and the world and eventually help them prosper into the lives they deserve. Understanding, being informed, and spreading the word about child labor is a good way to start!

Teachers Wonder, Why the Scorn?

2011-09-07T17:25:00.001-07:00

Kylie Marshall-Bohn

Response #4

Sir Ken Robinson addresses many educational issues that America is dealing with today, in his video “Changing Education Paradigms”. This video gives brief details about some of the major issues in education. He talks about how our government created education during the enlightenment and how they made education “fit into our economy”. He explains that education was structured for a different age, and how America needs to make changes in education. He revels that there is a key problem, and its obvious, kids do not want to go to school, they are being forced to learn certain material, and for what a standardized test.

America is basing all of children’s knowledge off of standardized tests. The government is making two enormous mistakes, one they make the tests extremely hard only full of the subjects they classified to be taught in schools. Second mistake is the rising number of teachers being laid off each year. Teacher’s students have to score a certain percent on the standardized test for teachers to maintain their jobs. Many teachers have been laid off due low standardized test scores from students. In the article “Teachers Wonder, Why the Scorn” gives a great example of teachers being laid off due to low standardized test scores, it states “Oakland has many poor students and schools at the bottom on standardized tests — schools the federal Education Department identifies as candidates to be sweepingly overhauled by removing half their staffs.” The teachers are not to blame for this low-test score, but yet they are the ones this issue is mainly affecting.

Teacher’s have been receiving a lot of ridicule in the public eye lately for a number of things such as; asking for a higher income, asking for more benefits, low-test scores on standardized test and much more. The article “Teachers Wonder, Why the Scorn?” goes into great detail about what today’s teachers are dealing with. Something I found interesting in the article was what this man said, “Oh you pathetic teachers, read the online comments and placards of counterdemonstrators. You are glorified baby sitters who leave work at 3 p.m. You deserve minimum wage.” If people really think that about teachers then it will be an incredibly long time before anything will change in education.

Another rising concern for teachers is their lack of seniority can make them lose their jobs due to states cutting the school aid funds. One teacher tells his story “Last month Mr. Tougher was notified that because of his lack of seniority, he will be laid off, or “excesses,” this year under the state’s proposed cuts to school aid. A union activist, he believes seniority-based layoffs are fair.” There is a real problem here and something must be fixed.

Seeing all of the countless issues the education system has is extremely scary. The teachers are getting a real “beating” from our education system and it needs to end soon. Teachers are sculpting the minds of the future and the government gives them no respect for that. Teachers derive to get paid way more than they are getting now. Overall Sir Ken Robinson says it best “education was built for a different age” and he’s right its time for a change.

2011-08-31T11:35:00.001-07:00

Kylie Marshall-Bohn

August 29, 2011

Michael Benton

Something Like America

In the book “Someplace Like America” Dale Maharidge and photographer Michael Williamson explore real people dealing with economic crises. Most people they interview and get to know are homeless, but its not just an interview they get to know the people on a very personal level, such as sleeping outside with them. They are searching for the real story, and want real answers.

One of the first homeless people we get to know goes by the name of “Crazy Red”. Crazy Red lives in Santa Barbara, California and was a Vietnam War veteran. They got to know Crazy Red they followed him around all day seeing what his day to day routine was as a homeless American. Crazy Red also introduced them to many other homeless in that area. That same night they were all set out their sheets and coats to sleep on, but were woken up by flashing lights, yelling, and police charging all of them. They all gathered their things fast and began to run. Dale asked Crazy Red “How can they do this?” and Crazy Red replied, “Where do you think you are? Someplace like America?”

With that being said Crazy Red named this book, the writer and photographer want us (the reader) think about “someplace like America” as a question and a statement, but they also want us to focus on what this statement/ question means for the cover of the book. They also ask “what do we want to become as we move forward?” On the cover there is a picture of Ken Platt and his son, they did a thirty-year study on the Platt family. Both writer and photographer want us (the reader) to apply these questions to that picture on the cover. The cover picture explains a story of struggles, worries, and fate in this family’s life.

“Someplace like America,” explains the “human side” of where we are in the economic world today, and how many people are “trapped” in this crisis. It also describes how America has a huge unemployment rate. These are two main factors to why there are so many homeless people. The book states that our “business and political leaders have failed us (the People) and have done this repeatedly.” This is very true in today’s America, so many important leaders that the US people trust are “screwing us” in the long run, and its been happening for to long. The book also describes how we are at a “cultural and economic turning point”. Which maybe a reason for all the madness in America, there needs to be a change.

Over this book has caught my attention to a very important struggle America is having, it is effecting everyone, everywhere. This book is a real eye opener to what real people are going through, it’s the truth. This book breaks down the causes of their problems and the effects that it has made on people lifestyle and their family.

Response #2

2011-08-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

Kylie Marshall-Bohn

August 23, 2011

ENG 102

The Casey Anthony Trial

Casey Anthony was on trial for the murder of her daughter, two year old Caylee Anthony. Caylee had been missing for over thirty days before she was reported missing. Casey Anthony was out partying for those thirty days that Caylee had been missing and told lie after lie to everyone about the whereabouts of Caylee. Caylee was found dead in a forest less than a mile away from the Anthony’s home. Caylee’s body was decomposing by the time authorities found her. High levels of chloroform were found in Caylee’s decomposed body. After finding the body Casey Anthony was immediately taken into custody. Casey sat in jail for two years before her case actually went to trail. Casey Anthony was on trail for six weeks until the jury found her not guilty for the murder of her child Caylee.

Casey Anthony’s actions during the time that her daughter had been missing were very dishonorable and questionable. Casey was out partying with friends at bars, dancing on tables, and even got a tattoo on her back with the meaning “beautiful life”. Casey’s actions just during that thirty day time period make her look very suspicious, and guilty in my opinion. Casey was the prime suspect in this case; authorities contacted her wanting information about Caylee. Casey had composed a few different stories to tell, but all were lies. She had told police that she dropped Caylee off with a nanny. The nanny was identified and questioned, but had no idea who Casey or Caylee was. That is just one example for Casey Anthony lies.

Casey Anthony had been lying to everyone including her own family; her mother Cindy was the first person to contact police that Cylee was missing. In the police call you can hear Cindy’s heartbreaking, she’s very upset. Casey never really showed any emotions of being upset or heartbroken, which is very unusual for a mother who’s two year old is missing. Not only did Cindy report her granddaughter missing she also told police that Casey’s car smelled like a dead body was in it. That is a major red flag to me that Casey is guilty.

Casey Anthony should have been changed with the murder of her two year old Caylee. By just taking a deeper look into Casey’s actions during the thrifty day period of Caylee missing makes her guilty in my book. She acts so happy go lucky when in reality her is a murder. Casey Anthony did not go to jail for murder but she diffidently has so very bad karma coming her way.

ABOUT ME!

2011-08-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm from Louisville Ky.
I am a student at BCTC but I hope to transfer to UK next fall.
I took a Writting I class last year.
I find current events in the news and court cases very interesting.
I'm in college to learn so that hopfully one day I'll have a good job so that I can travel the world.
The things I enjoy are going to the lake with friends and family, going out to dinner, going out with friends, and traveling!

The Results of My Political Compass Test

2011-08-24T08:43:00.000-07:00