More please... what's on your mind?

Elections in Tunisia (after 55 years of one-party rule), earthquake in Turkey, death of a dictator, flooding in Thailand... so much going on, and almost all of it has a connection to what we are learning about in school. I'd like you to investigate the "Occupy the World" movement that started on Wall Street in New York and has spread to many cities, including Prince George. On the surface, it seems to be about people's disgust for corporate greed. Search for "occupy" and "wall street" or "vancouver" etc. CBC has a map of other cities where this protest movement has spread. Why did it start? What are the protesters' issues? What do they want? How is the "movement" different from city to city? What is the role for social media like facebook and twitter? What impact do you think the "occupy" protests will have? Does this have anything in common with the Arab Spring protests last year that brought down the Tunisian and Egyptian governments and led to a revolution in Libya? Answer 2 or 3 of these questions in a comment.

What's on your mind?

Pic: Gadhafi captured and killed. SS10 students... some of you have been looking into current events and have found some interesting stories. Maybe you have other questions about Canada or society. Leave your thoughts as a comment, if you wish. If you have a news item, please leave a link, too.

Paris of the North

Saw this on the CBC News website story on the big plywood plant fire and subsequent fires in the BCR industrial site in Prince George. The interesting part comes in the comments, where PG's industrial zone is elegantly slandered and someone rebuts... a good case study in heartland/hinterland dynamics!

Punchinello's comment #1 "Yes, Prince George is the Paris of northern BC. This cultural icon, the industrial district is the Champs d'Elysée of the Cariboo with it's famous neo-baroque second empire poured concrete cinder block truck stop. I think it was about to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site too. What a loss."

kristahuot's response: "To Punchinello: I see a Vancouverite has seen fit to grace us all with their perspective on Prince George. Congratulations on knowing the main street in Paris, how extremely worldly and cultured of you. It is industrial cities like Prince George who provide BC's economy with most of its revenue, so this fire is actually more devastating than your comment implies. Many of those hardworking people will be out of jobs, and they are already suffering enough due to the pine beetle infestation and the softwood lumber crisis. I grew up in Prince George, and I lived in Vancouver for 5 years. I've also lived in Toronto and Montreal which are both 5 times the city Vancouver will ever be. Call Prince George whatever you like, but Vancouver as a city is nothing but a cultural black hole, with the artistic merit of a condo developer's sales model made out of used syringes. The beauty in that city is its natural surroundings, not the city itself. The poverty and addiction in Vancouver are an absolute disgrace, something that most Vancouverites turn a blind eye to, while they hang out in Yaletown sipping lattes and toting around tiny dogs. Maybe Main and Hastings can be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site too?"

Red Sea Volcano

Canadians rescue Yemenis fleeing the eruption of a shield volcano in the Red Sea

Current Events Activity

What news strikes you as interesting and/or relevant to our course? Find a reputable news source (like the ones listed below, and come up with a one-page (max!) news review which a) identifies the source and title of article, b) highlights the main pionts of the news artcile, c) discusses how or why this article could be used to explore concepts in SS10 (course tie-in), and d) gives your response, reaction, opinion to the article and connected issue. Keep a hard copy of your one-pager in your binder as part of a current events log. Good places to start a current events search include:
Mainstream media:
CBC news
Global Canada news
BBC news (UK)
Guardian news (UK)
New York Times (USA)
Alternate media sources
Z mag news
OneWorld.net
Alternet
Internet news
Google news
Wikipedia front page
Yahoo News

Issues Results

If you are submitting your issues research in a written format, you may choose to leave it here as a comment. Don't forget your name somewhere so we know who's who. If you are submitting as an audio or video file, hand it in on the server's "Classwork" folder (look for Thielmann folder, then Hand-In folder).