Murder Rate in Latin America

Apparently you are much more likely to die of violence in Latin American than in Africa. Who knew?
"The comparative study found that the murder rate for young people was 36.6 for every 100,000 people in Latin America while in Africa it was 16.1, North America 12, Asia 2.4, Oceania 1.6 and Europe 1.2, although there are variations within a particular region. "

Where is the change?

Where is the change? These two articles outline the problems with Obama’s choices so far. First of all, the choice of Hilary as secretary of state does not signal a departure from conventional foreign policy considerations. The retention of Gates and appointment of Clinton might in fact signal the return to the politics of the first Bush administration (not all a bad thing actually).

“Ironically, Obama is likely to show more fidelity to George H.W. Bush's approach to foreign affairs than did the former president's own son. That's change, maybe even change we can believe in, but it's not the change so many expected.”

This article also supports Richardson for secretary of state. The main argument should be, and is, that he is the most qualified to be secretary of state. He has served in a previous cabinet level post, was ambassador to the UN, served in the House, and was special envoy to many international problem spots. On top of that, the choice of Hilary over Richardson is insulting to Hispanics who choose to buck institutional leadership and go with Obama. It’s a slap in the face to so many who stuck their necks out for Obama. It is also a slap in the face to Latin America, which might have received greater engagement with Richardson had he been appointed.

“This isn't about Richardson, who might be very happy heading for ribbon cuttings in Toledo while Clinton heads for blue-ribbon summits in Tel Aviv. This is about something larger. Richardson is the nation's only Hispanic governor and the most prominent Hispanic elected official in the country. And the way he was treated doesn't say much about Obama's respect for the Hispanic community. Nor does the fact that Obama seems to have filled his top four Cabinet posts — justice, treasury, defense, and state — and couldn't find a single Hispanic to put in any of them. America's largest minority took a chance on Obama despite the fact that the president-elect had no track record in reaching out to them and didn't break a sweat trying to win their votes. They deserve better.”

Is this really what we voted for? While I support the choice of Gates on practical grounds, it will not be the choice that will push for withdrawal from Iraq like so many expected and hoped. Clinton is an effective choice for the State department if Obama wants a free hand to deal with internal economic problems, but she does not represent the choice that many of us hoped for when we were expecting a new and different vision of American external relations. So I will ask again, where is the change? Why should we have hope if things will just remain the same with the same old people in charge? Don’t go to D.C. in January 2009 to celebrate the election of our first black president, go to D.C. to celebrate the retention of the old guard and the state quo.

Environmental Conflict

Sorry for the shape of my blog, the colors have been screwy for months and I need to fix it. I am busy trying to finish a bunch of different papers before the end of the month so the blog has not been a priority.

The "Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World" is getting a lot of news coverage for the wrong reasons. Some of the prescriptions and claims the report makes are accurate, others are not. This claim identified by the NYTimes really bugs me since it is not based on facts at all.

"The new report describes a world riven by increased conflict over scarce food and water supplies and threatened by so-called rogue states and terrorists, widening gaps between rich and poor and an uneven impact of global warming."

I recently found this piece online written by Idean Salehyan and it provides a simple review of the literature on environmental conflict and the dangers of focusing on the potential of enivromental conflict rather than practical political solutions. He notes: "Additionally, focusing on climate change as a security threat that requires a military response diverts attention away from prudent adaptation mechanisms and new technologies that can prevent the worst catastrophes."

Jobs for Lawyers

Here is an article last year on the state of the market for lawyers. Things have probably gotten worse since then. Send me any other articles you would like to post so everyone can have full information.

Here is another article from last year with stats. Keep them coming

Int Latino Politics Schedule

Nov 18

Great Power Involvement (Read: Latin America’s Wars, Ch. 33, 21, 35)

Drug Wars (Read: Latin America’s Wars, Ch. 38)

Nov 25

Latin American Rivalries and the Making of a State (Read: Thies)

Test Today

Dec 2

International Migration Patterns (Read: Age of Mig. Ch 2, 3, 4)

Causes of International Migration (Read: Age of Mig. 5, 6)

Latino Immigration into the United States (Read: Latinos, Ch 8)

Final Papers Due on Dec 10th at NOON

Bill Ayers Comes Out Hiding

*This event can only be used for extra credit in my Latino class since it will not deal with international issues.

EDUCATION POLICY PRIORITIES FOR THE NEW PRESIDENT:
A PANEL OF EXPERTS AND THEIR "TOP TEN" LISTS

Thursday, December 4, 2008
6:00-8:00 pm
UIC Forum, Event Center (725 W. Roosevelt, Chicago, IL)

Confirmed Speakers:

-Professor WILLIAM AYERS, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of
Education, and lead editor of "The Handbook of Social Justice in
Education"

-Professor SUMI CHO, DePaul University, College of Law; and Board member
of the Asian American Justice Center, African American Policy Forum, and
Latina and Latino Critical Legal Theory

-Professor CARL GRANT, University of Wisconsin at Madison, School of
Education; former President of the National Association for Multicultural
Education; and author of "Doing Multicultural Education for Achievement
and Equity"

-Professor CAROL LEE, Northwestern University, School of Education and
Social Policy; President-Elect of the American Educational Research
Association; and author of "Culture, Literacy, and Learning"

-Professor PAULINE LIPMAN, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of
Education; Director of the Collaborative for Equity and Justice in
Education; and author of "High Stakes Education"

-Professor HAKI MADHUBUTI, Chicago State University, College of Arts and
Sciences; and Publisher of Third World Press

-Professor ERICA MEINERS, Northeastern Illinois University, College of
Education; and author of "Right to be Hostile"

-Moderator: KEVIN KUMASHIRO, Chair of Educational Policy Studies, Interim
Co-Director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy,
University of Illinois at Chicago; and author of "The Seduction of Common
Sense"

This event is free and open to the public. A booksigning by the
presenters will immediately follow.

Please direct inquiries to Zell Williams, Assistant to the Chair, UIC
Department of Educational Policy Studies, 312-413-2414, zellw@uic.edu.
Co-sponsors include the Department of Educational Policy Studies, the
Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, the Collaborative for
Equity and Justice in Education, and the Powell Memorial Fund.

IR 184 Update

The updated syllabus is located here

Review of Latino Impact on Election

Pew Hispanic Center Releases a Report on the Hispanic Vote in the Presidential Election

Hispanics voted for Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden over Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin by a margin of more than two-to-one in the 2008 presidential election, 66% versus 32%, according to a new report from the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. The report finds that 8% of the electorate was Latino, unchanged from 2004. Nationwide, the Latino vote was significantly more Democratic this year than in 2004, when President Bush captured an estimated 40% of the Hispanic vote, a modern high for a Republican presidential candidate.1 Obama carried the Latino vote by sizeable margins in all states with large Latino populations. His biggest breakthrough came in Florida, where he won 57% of the Latino vote. President Bush carried 56% of the Latino vote in Florida in 2004. Obama's margins were much larger in other states with big Latino populations. He carried 78% in New Jersey, 76% of the Latino vote in Nevada, 74% in California, and 73% in Colorado. This report contains an analysis of exit poll results for the Latino vote nationally and in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and Texas. The report is available on the Center's website at www.pewhispanic.org.