Haiku

The black branches squeak,

As the heavy snow falls deeply

Engulfing our tears.

The clouds remain still

light breaks through darkness

eternal delight

The clear water shines

With the laughter of children

happiness splashes all over.

Attack by Siegfried Sassoon (1886 - 1967)

Depicts the scene of an attack during a battle. It closely describes the actions of the soldiers and tank. The fear and hope of the soldiers are depicted during the attack.

Language:

• listing: "with bombs and guns and shovels and battle -gear..."
• Personification: "...tanks creep"

Analysis of page 188 in “one flew over the cuckoo’s nest”

1. Context
The first time since years that Chief Bromden speaks and has a conversation with someone from the Combine. This specific scene depicts how Chief Bromden tells about his father, who was oppressed by his wife and the government to give away everything he has to the government. The father is oppressed by the Combine.
2. Themes, characters:
a. Themes:
· Self sacrifice vs. selfishness.
· Trust vs. mistrust.
· Control and opression
b. Characteristics:
Ø McMurphy
Ø Chief Bromden
· Expressed
Ø Chief Bromden is open to McMurphy and tells his family story.
Ø Chief Bromden talks openly. However, it seems as if he would suffer under what had happened to his dad. Sad atmosphere.
· Reinforced.
c. A change is taking place
Ø Chief Bromden gains trust and strength through McMurphy.
a. He dares to speak about his feelings.
b. He dares to speak against the Combines.
3. Motifs and symbols:
a. Big and small
b. Symbol – the hight of the people.
4. What drives this text?
a. Language
· Repetition
· Overstatement
b. Structure
· Diction – easy, no clauses.
c. Imagery
· “real moose of an old lady”
d. Rhetoric

Outline of modest proposal

Introduction:
· State the problem which Indonesia is facing:
o Low economy
o High unemployment
o Constant population increase
o No industrialization
o Poor government
o Poverty

2nd paragraph
· State reason why it is necessary to introduce a new solution.
· Why it is fair to introduce a new solution.

3rd paragraph:
· Slowly introduce the solution, however do not state the solution clearly.
· State that there can be change when the government and people would lose more control over their own life style and decision.
· Makes some comments about what would improve in Indonesia:
o It would become more productive.
o Unemployment would decrease

4th paragraph:
· State another reason why your scheme would be good for Indonesia:
o The rate of population would decrease, leaving more food to everyone.
§ If women do not have to look after children they can work.

5th paragraph:
· State clearly what your proposal is supposed to solve.
· Why it is important to introduce the proposal.

6th paragraph:
· State you intention of the proposal now clearly:
o Therefore, The American oil company should own Indonesia and rule it.

7th paragraph:
· Make paragraphs of every positive aspect which would be made if the proposal would be made real:
o Unemployment – would decrease because the company would order children, women, old men and young men to work 24 hours a day to make the greatest profits of oil production for America.
o Rate of population growth – would decrease because the Oil companies would set through a law, which says who is allowed to have a baby at what time period. If this is neglected then the family will be punished. In addition, people will not have time to make babies as they have to work all the time.
o Industrialization – Indonesia, will become one big company which will only be controlled by technology and machines. In addition, the company will control the people by watching them through cameras located throughout the country.
o Poverty would decrease – since everyone would have a job, everyone will be supply with the same apartment and same amount of food needed. This makes everyone equal and able to survive.
o The government – will be led by the company who wants to make as much profit as possible, therefore, they will only regard having to make a better economy. This will cause more income for the government, company. Since the people are anyway well off, the income can be used to “help” other nations as well such as America.

8th Paragraph:
· That I can think of no bad argument against this proposal.
· Summarize all positive aspects the proposal will bring

Conclusion:
· I only want the best for Indonesia
· This is the best for Indonesia
· If this would be introduced Indonesia will have a marvelous future.

Hit men in Iran

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/4640052/Israel-launches-covert-war-against-Iran.html

 

Experts claim that front companies, sabotages and hit men are used to stop the weapon project in Iran. To achieve this aim assassinations are even planned out against top figures working on atomic weapons for Iran.

 

The United States and Israel fear that Iran might proceed in building atomic weapons. However, since President Barack Obama has been elected Israel feels a change in attitude coming from Washington.

 

Israel realizes that Obama is not willing to attack Iran, however, he offers peace between him and Tehran. The aim is to stop Iran developing atomic weapons. The American government wants to solve this problem without military force.

 

However, a former CIA officer believes that it is impossible to stop the development of atomic weapons in Iran. America’s goal is to delay the process of the project until another solution has been found.

 

Reva Bhalla explains that with the co - operation of America, Israeli is able to sabotage the nuclear supply chain of Iran. This would stop the program and fear of atomic weapons.

 

The sudden death of the Iranian nuclear scientist Ardeshire Hassanpour now seems very mysterious. Many believe that he was killed on purpose to stop the atomic weapon projects. Other deaths have been reported which could be a result of sabotages to the weapon project. Israel is willing to kill people in order to stop Iran gain more power through atomic weapons.

 

The Iranian government became worried about penetration of the program and therefore, it began arresting spies.  

 

Many believe that Israeli’s attempts are useless since the program has already reached a high status in Iran. The program had secretly existed for many years and has only been discovered 2002. Due to this it will be very hard to stop the project now in 2009.

 

Hit men are the once being asked to stop the atomic weapon program in. They try to do this by sabotaging Iran and murdering scientists. The hit men now have to safe their countries out of programs they have introduced. 

The truth about Bechtel

http://www.sea-us.org.au/roxby/bechteltalk.html

 

The Bechtel Cooperation is one of the biggest engineering construction companies in America. The Bechtel Company built half of the nuclear power plants around the world. This is a very famous and popular company that is constantly booked for new projects in other nations. Bechtel is a private company and therefore, does not have to disclose its profits.

 

Since the company has been started, many have claimed that the company uses false methods to receive their profits. They are blamed for using the influence of friends, decreasing workers rights and using 3^rd world military solutions to solve problems with local people who disagree with their projects.

 

The Bechtel Company also has a close connection with the CIA and with the Agency for International Development. As for example, the company received 4.3 million dollars from the International Development Agency to help countries as Morocco, Costa Rica and Jamaica to modernize.

 

Bechtel particularly gained support from Ronald Reagan, when he was governor of California. Reagan increased electricity rates and hired Bechtel to built other nuclear power plants. However, Bechtel also gained support from Dwight Eisenhower, George Bush, George Shultz and McCone (Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission).

 

The Bechtel Company built a U.S. airforce base in South Vietnam, although local people protested that it should not be built. Today, the fishermen complain because of toxic wastes.

 

The Bechtel Company constructed the first privately owned fuel reprocessing plant in New York. However, six years later it had to be closed down. The result of the plant was that 600,000 gallons of radioactive wastes were buried in the ground and 163 tons of irradiated fuel was left behind.

 

In addition, Bechtel persuaded the American government that nuclear energy is the most powerful source of the future. This caused the government to invest in nuclear energy sources, rather then in projects involving around new energy sources.

 

During the partnership between Bechtel and WMC, 800 workers were sponsored from Bechtel to work in the Roxby Company. Nevertheless, now the workers are on strike fighting for new and better working conditions. This uprising began after a group of workers became ill due to a sulphuric acid leak.

 

This company gains a great income due to their powerful connections in nations. They do not regard what would be best for the population or the environment. For their own benefit they are willing to destroy the environment and go against human rights.

 

Truth about Halliburton

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1tvxm/thepoliticalarena/The Truth About Halliburton.htm

 

Many members of Anti – Bush and left wing groups believe that the campaign contributions have helped to reconstruct new contracts for. This theory is supported when one takes a closer look at the two companies Bechtel and Halliburton and their reconstruction contracts.

 

Studies have proven that of the 10 largest contractors only 4 have made contributions greater than 250,000 over a time period of 12 years. However, there are also exceptions, for example the Bechtel and Halliburton company have spend millions of dollars for political contributions, nevertheless, other companies believe that this money was not the reason for the countries success.

 

As there is great uncertainty about the reliability of the contractors, governments are very carful about partnerships with contractors. However, as other people move against the Halliburton company others support it. As for example Clinton’s undersecretary of commerce protects Halliburton and says:

 

„This is a group of people who know what they’re doing in a difficult business. „

 

Other people claim that Halliburton was chosen among many companies in order to make contracts with Iraq. This would support the Americans while they are trying to fix Iraq and abolish terrorism.

 

2003 Halliburton was asked to implement the classified oil – fire plan. Halliburton was asked to do this job although there was war in the country.

 

Based on these facts Clinton used the United States in the Balkans to benefit Halliburton. Fact is that under Clinton, Halliburton had received hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuilt Kosovo and Haiti. However, Halliburton has used that money built jails at Guantanamo Bay, a base in Kuwait, an air station in Spain and a facility slammed by a typhoon in Guam.

 

However, although Halliburton has done a lot of harm for it’s own benefits they still get a lot of support from international army’s and governments.

 

In addition, the question arises if Halliburton gained a lot of profits from the Iraq war. Many believe that the company has gained huge numbers of money from the work they have done during the Iraq war.

Nevertheless, according to the statistics of the company, they had not made such a great profit from the war. In 2003, Halliburton earned 85 million dollars from 3.6 billion dollars in Iraq contracts. In 2004, the company reported that they earned 1.4% of a 1.7billion worth contract in Iraq. According to these numbers, the success of Halliburton decreased once they had engaged in these businesses.

Another proof that Halliburton has not been profiting from the Iraq war is that it’s stock prices were fallings not climbing. If the company had been successful, then their socks would have increased.

 

Halliburton gains about 2/3 of the profits of it’s businesses in Iraq, 1/3 from the LOGCAP contract and 1/3 from the RIO (restoring Iraqi oil) contract. The RIO contract is controversial since it was made before the war and made in secret. Halliburton was chosen to complete this contract, since they were the only company able to complete the task according to CEO David Lesar.

 

Halliburton was not punished for bad service, accept when they had to pay a fine of 5.1 million dollars to the pentagon.

 

Later it was discovered that the pentagon discovered that Halliburton overcharged gasoline with 61 million dollars. After this Halliburton offered to pay 6.3 million dollars back to the pentagon.

 

Although there are a lot of facts speaking against Halliburton, many still claim that they did a great job. Especially the American soldiers in Iraq appreciated the work of Halliburton.

 

The work the company has made in Iraq was not profitable. There is no evidence that the American government had given the contracts (RIO) before the Iraq war was announced. Therefore, it is very difficult to proof if Halliburton is guilty or not.

 

 

Presis on "confessions of an economic hit man"

Summary and themes of the “confessions of an economic Hit man”

“Confessions of an economic Hit Man” written by John Perkins, depicts the truth about the corrupt motifs and methods of the American government and international consulting firms. John Perkins was an American Hit man, who trapped poor nations into contracts that made countries lose their fortune. This confession depicts how his work has affected the American involvement in Panama, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iran. This novel describes battle between rich and poor, the greed and personal motifs of people and unjustifiable governments.

Indonesia:
John Perkins began to work for a company called MAIN, whose aim was to ensure American power in Indonesia with an electrification project. John Perkins job was to adapt Indonesia to new technologies such as electricity, pipelines, ports and companies. Nevertheless, this industrialization was not made to support the poor people of Indonesia. On the contrary Indonesia was only industrialized to enable American oil companies to have better working conditions in the country itself. American firms settled into Indonesia and therefore, created more American power in Indonesia. Consequently, some Indonesian people became very wealthy, however, on the long term Indonesia became more and more dependent on American firms. Although John Perkins performed his task well, he observed, that his job was not a support to the people of Indonesia. However, he only became aware of the truth when his partner accused him of underhand dealings.

“…You’ve sold your souls to the devil. You’re in it for the money…” (page 37)

John Perkins did not acknowledge the truth, but continued his greed and personal motivation, money and power. The more he communicated with the poor people of Indonesia, he began to realize that the American government gains its control by force.

“Yet, the more time I spend with these men, the more convinced I became that I was an intruder, that an order to cooperate had come down from someone, and that they had little choice but to comply.” (page 46)

According to this passage John Perkins depicts what misleading power the American government and firms used to corrupt other nations for their own benefits. He has to understand that his work is destroying the living standards of whole families. His job influences the government of other nations to such an extent, that it is impossible for these governments to assist its citizens. Due to the greed of nations and powerful people, like John Perkins, other people need to abdicate to their needs. This automatically creates a clash between poor and rich social groups. Such a clash can cause the government and the nation to separate and make it impossible for advancement to a solution.
John Perkins continued writing manipulated economic predictions about Indonesia. He succeeded with his false statements and was promoted to Chief economist of MAIN, although he had no experience with economical studies. This once again proved that American companies acted irresponsible to other nations welfare, since they are not hiring well educated economists, but people who write what the firm wants to hear. With such corrupt partnerships and employment, the decline of the nations and their population is no surprise.

Panama:
John Perkins was sent on a business trip to Panama in 1972. During this time period Panama was ruled by Omar Torrijos, who became very popular among the population for his liberal aims and ideas. Torrijos was fighting for liberal rights of Panama and also for the Panama Canal. While Torrijos was not interested in popularity or power, John Perkins aim was gain a greater income and influence through this mission. John Perkins was sent to Panama to introduce a development plan for the World Bank, Inter – American Development Bank and USAID. In addition, during this mission he began to introduce the Markov method for econometric modeling made by Dr. Nadipuram Prasad. This new modeling plan enabled John Perkins to make better predictions about a countries infrastructure. This was an extraordinary development among economic hit men, since it made it easier for them to per sway countries into deals with better information. Although this plan seemed as though it would assist the nation’s economy, it only cheated Panama into huge amounts of debts. This was a great profit to the American government and firms but it created a decline of wealth in Panama.
John Perkins met Omar Torrijos during his stay in Panama. Although they both had contrary aims concerning their businesses they agreed to make a contract.

“By the time I left him we both understood that MAIN would get the contract for the master plan, and that I would see to it that we did Torrijos bidding.” (page86)

Once again two powerful men were able to decide over the lives of millions of people. If this system would be liberal and beneficial for the population, then such agreements and actions would not be able to be made. This situation also depicts how powerless the people who live in poverty are. As they do not have any possibility to speak up, they have to live with the results greed and self interested people around the globe have made.

“…it’s band of EHM’s, and the jackals waiting in the background would never allow the little guys to gain control”. (page 89)

Similar to his previous task, John Perkins had used the unfair and irresponsible working methods of his firms. Due to his greed and self interest he continued manipulating countries in order to gain benefits for himself and his country.

Saudi Arabia:
1974, John Perkins was ordered to find a solution to the oil crisis. He quickly found a solution and his new victim, Saudi Arabia. This country had not been developed and industrialized and was the perfect target for John Perkins. He predicted the infrastructure of Saudi Arabia would increase if firms would begin to invest into the country. Although he knew that this new system was not beneficial for the population, he established a development plan.

“I simply put my imaginations to work and wrote reports that envisioned a glorious future for the kingdom” (page 99)

Since this development plan only assisted the American firms, Saudi Arabia became dependent on American support. Therefore, Saudi Arabia agreed to give their oil income to America, in order to become a modernized nation. With money and sex, John Perkins convinced Prince W. to agree to the industrial development plan. However, the relations between America and Saudi Arabia quickly became tense, after Arabia realized that they were fooled into a false deal. This disagreement eventually resulted in the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001.
Nevertheless, John Perkins continued influencing other nations and per swaying them that America would accomplish positive change in nations. On a mission in Iran, he also aimed to make a profitable deal with Iran for America. However, soon after Perkins communicated with poor people from Iran, he understood how much the American government controlled and influenced the Iranian government. Although many people try to convince John Perkins, to stop his business, he continuous and creates even further dramatic changes in other nations.
Nevertheless, John Perkins plans for America began to get out of control when Iran and Saudi Arabia rebelled against these industrial involvements.

“I helped create a covenant that guaranteed continued oil for America, safeguarded the rule of the House of Saud, and assisted in the financing of Osama Bin Laden and the protection of international criminals like Uganda’s Idi Amin.” (page 160)

John Perkins understood that his influence had not created better nations, but brought the world into war. Only after the firm MAIN had corrupted since one of their development plans had failed, John Perkins decided to resign and back up form work of an economic hit man.
Perkins changed his profession to an expert witness, who approved the building of new power plants. From a distance he watched as many other economic hit men grew successful with their jobs and tasks. However, he also understood the impact of the death of Omar Torrijos, a human rights fighter. For him it was clear that this death was not an accident, however, organized by the American government.
After a request from the company SWEC, John Perkins agreed to become an adviser of industry practices on a legal basis. In his new job John became aware of how America pushed Iraq into submission, by their influence in Panama. However, America underestimated Saddam Hussein and believed that he would agree to the deals of the economic hit men. The United States of America lost control over Saddam’s power and therefore, the economic hit men prepared America for an invasion.
Conclusively, the development plans John Perkins had made for Panama, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iran were so destructive that they led these countries into poverty and war.

Slumdog Millionaire, an Oscar Favorite, Is No Hit in India

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1873926,00.html

Slumdog Millionaire, an Oscar Favorite, Is No Hit in India

"Slumdog millionaire" has been a great success in many nations and has received 10 Academic Awards. However, the Indian population does not seem to share this interest and excitement about the movie. The movie is about an educated young man from the slums of Mumbai, who wins a million dollars in a TV show. Although the Indian people can identify their lifestyles with this movie, they do not approve it.

Many people in India claimed that the movie was full of stereotypes and false facts. They therefore believe that the movie was only made to entertain people and not to bring them nearer to Indian culture. Other citizens of Mumbai are aware of the social problems and the slums, however, they do not want to be reminded of these problems. Therefore, they do not want to be confronted with the movie.

"...but if I speak for Indians like me, there's nothing new in it for us. It's saturated with stereotyped images of India."

However, not only middle class people from India are critical towards the movie, but also the people who are actually living in the slums. Many of these people feel offended by the movie and do not want to be named a "slumdog" and be presented in a wrong manner.

Nevertheless, why are the people who are faced with a cruel life in the slums rebelling against this movie? Don't they realize that this movie could make other people understand the problem and start helping them? The movie certainly made many people think about these poor communities in India and could maybe even bring some improvement to the slums. However, the improvement cannot occur until the people in India are not ready to accept this help.

Giving the Poor Their Rights

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1640435,00.html


Giving the Poor Their Rights:

Margaret Atieno Okoth and her husband are both working for 2$ a day in order to survive with their 12 children in the slums. The two parents have very bad living and working conditions and are only able to send three of their children to school. Like Margaret, 1 million other Kenyans are also forced to live in the slums under horrible conditions. Many of these people are convinced that their situation will not change, as their family has been forced to live in the slums since generation.

People like Margaret have no chance to find their way out of the slums, because they do not have the rights to do so. They do not have any birth certificates or legal addresses, which makes it impossible for them to move, or to find a sufficient job. In addition, it is very dangerous for them not to have legal identity papers, since the landowners of the slums could force them of the land at any time. Another problem is that the people living in the slums know nothing about their rights since no one of them can read or write. Therefore, they do not understand what they should rightfully receive from the government. Automatically, the people are scared of any confrontation with the government or the laws. Since the people fear the government they do not dare to ask the government for support or a decent job. This causes even more problems among the poor people and poverty increases as no one dares to rebel against the unfairness.

Organizations are now intending to help these people to understand their rights. With such organizations the people from the slums are being educated and gain courage to stand up for their rights. Although these organizations are now helping the poor people, they still have to have a lot of support from others. The change among the slums will be very slow because still a lot of these people are being suppressed by their landowners and the government.

Cell-Phone Use Spreads Among World's Poor

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1882564,00.html

Cell-Phone Use Spreads Among World's Poor:

According to the U.N. report the use of cell phones has increased to 6 of 10 people. This increase in technology has particularly increased among developing countries. These countries are now trying to adapt as fast as possible to the new technology. However, it is almost impossible for them to keep up with the technological development of other nations.

In 2002, the number of people using mobiles in developing countries was less then half. This has increased dramatically, since now, in 2009, two - thirds of the people in developing countries are using cell phones. In addition, also the use of internet has increased among poor nations. However, the number of people who have internet access at home in Africa is still only 1 in 20. Although the developing countries are trying to keep up with the new technology, they are too slow. It is impossible for them to benefit or get wealthier from the technology when they cannot keep up with it.

Both the rich and poor countries will have to cooperate and adapt to each other in order to make sure, that the poor nations are able to keep up with technology. When the rich and the poor would work towards each other then the poverty rate of these countries would automatically decrease and new jobs would be available. However, there is no cooperation between the two and therefore, every year, it becomes more difficult and impossible for the developing countries to keep up with technology.