Monthly Archives: June 2014

hiroki y

My reaction to chile’s earthquake

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Summary

A powerful 8.2 magnitude earthquake occured in chile in April.This caused a lot of problems such as tunami,landslides,and so on.One of the most dengerous ploblems was that women’s prisoners escaped from the jail that the earthquake had broken.The number of the escapers was more than 300 hundred.Armed forces and polices recaptured most of those.However,the rest of those,even now,is running away.

My reaction

This incident made me think the safety of our country.In other words,Is our country safe compared to other countries?
I think our country is less safe than other countries.This is because,though Japan have experienced and recognized more earthquake than other countries,Japan has the optimistic view of disasters.Fukushima Daiichi nurclear disaster expresses the optimistic view.So I think we should improve our optimistic view of disasters.

daiki

A big drug producing country – Colombia – my reaction

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Summary

Recently, Colombian police have arrested 46 members of the Rastrojos criminal gangs, who were  accused of extortion from shop owners and selling illegal drugs. Rostorojos smuggled at least 30 tonnes of cocaine into Mexico since 2008.  The Colombian Government lead by President Santos has to tackle this issue as quick as possible.

My Reaction

In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons for Colombia’s problems is its weak government. At first,  I was surprised that the Colombian government legally allows people of Colombia to possess drugs. The criminal gangs can take advantages easily from this environment. It is a good way to earn money in this disordered society.   I might say that it is better to be gangs than to work normally in Colombia, simply because they can earn more money. As a reasult, there are huge numbers of criminal gangs in Colombia, who control the  Colombian societies. They have more power than the government to influence people.

President Santos must build a well-ordered society, where there are less drugs and less gangs. It is important to bulid a circumstance where a country can control criminal gangs.  In order to do so,  the Colombian government will have to have closer relation with their people, so that they can face many familiar problems and solve them one by one. Whereas,  even if the police arrests the head of the criminal gangs, it will not be very effective to solve the problems. I believe Colombian people will eventually become happy, even without any drugs.

hdaiki

 

yusuke

Can Brazil Host World Cup??

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Summary
Brazil is facing a big problem while they are hosting World Cup in June. It is said that 2 out of 13 airports in Brazil are not ready to operate yet. During the cup, 600,000 international tourists and three million Brazilians are predicted to transport across the country to watch the game. Brazil’s railway is not viable enough to allow travelers to transport by train, so Brasil’s reliance on air route is huge. Some experts say that unless airport construction is ready for the tournament, this enormous event will turn into a chaos.

Reaction 

In the class, our group discussed whether the Brazil World Cup will be successful or not. It was interesting that my group had separated exactly into 2 groups, people who thought it would succeed, and people who don’t. Opinion clashed, because the people who don’t think it would be successful, could not believe that the transportation without enough planes and airport would allow the fans to reach for the game in time. They also said that plane delays can lead to delay of the game. However, I think airport construction will end before the tournament starts, and even if it does not, I think they can solve the problems with the current number of airports. (Because the construction of the biggest airport in Brazil is already completed.) Afterall, everyone including me, is excited to watch games in World Cup!

jo

Evacuation of Copahue Volcano – my reaction

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I read news about evacuation from a volcano on the border of Argentina and Chile: Copahue volcano.

The volcano showed a sign to begin eruption.  Seismic activity had been increasing in recent weeks.  However, when I searched the news now, the volcano had not erupted too.

The authorities in both countries issued a red alert, the highest possible alert, and the mandatory evacuation affected some 2,240 people.  Despite the alert, many people refused to leave their homes.

They did not want to evacuate because they wanted to stay with their farm animals and personal belongings.  A police officer said they were going to go to the homes and going to remove the women, the elderly and children.

 

When I read this news, I had a simple question, “Why people do not want to escape, although they may be killed by eruption?”  I could not understand their reason: preferring to stay with their farm animals and personal belongings.  After I explored about the Copahue volcano, I could understand the reason.

The volcano erupted recently, in 2012 to 2013.  In the eruption, there was no damage to people because the volcano just rose thick smoke.  I think the people do not ralize what happen in a big eruption and do not think so seriously.

In my opinion, the governments should show what may happen by the Copahue volcano, with information of volcanos in the world, such as in Japan or Hawaii.

makoto

My reaction to Entrepreneurship seen as solution to S.Africa’s Unemployment Crisis

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Summary

South Africa’s unemployment rate has creeped up, standing at 25.2 percent.

Government’s attempts to help small business oweners are bound in redtape and bureaucracy.

Coming from a previously disadvantaged background, you have to begin from grassroots.

Education is one of the biggest advantages in starting a business. The country lacks the services to enable its young entrepreneurs.

My opinion

I totally agree with what the article says. People who come from a previously disadvantaged background tend to be disadvantaged again because their parents are poor and don’t have enough money to help their child. So I firmly believe that the government shoud attempt to help small business owners, not bureaucracy. Specific solution I think is good is to improve scholarship systems. Actually, I have been given a scholarship with repayment and interest mandatory. I wish I would not have to repay with interest.

marina

BRAZIL AIRPORTS WON’T BE READY IN TIME

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Summary:

The main topic of this article was about the Brazilian airport not being completed by the time of the World Cup. Brazil is having many troubles to hold the World Cup even one week before the tournament. The work of improvements projects at Brazilian airports has only less than 50 percent being done. The analysts say that the work might be done by the time of the competition, but there will be many last-minutes solutions to hide their work. Therefore, the tourists might face some negative images of Brazil and leave the country with those thoughts.

 

Reaction:

My reaction towards this article was that I felt Brazil is being too irresponsibly. World Cup is held every four years and people from all around the world is looking forward for this event. This means that the country that is hosting the World Cup has responsibility to success the event without any troubles. However, in my opinion, so far Brazil is not completing this mission. Even if they could complete the construction work in time, they still have to take care of citizens who are against the World Cup. It is understandable that to be a venue for worldwide events are difficult for any countries. However, if the country was chosen, they should have the responsibility. For next few days we should keep our eyes on the Brazil’s future actions, and leverage them for Tokyo Olympic in 2020.

ryotaro

My reaction for the big criminal problem in Colombia

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Summary

 Combating the activities of the criminal bands named Rastrojos is one of the priorities of the Colombian government.They demanded money from shop owners, market stallholders and other businessmen in the city by force  . In addition to the extortion, they  have smuggled illegal drugs and selled them by using children and teenagers in the coastal city of Barranqulia. The president of Colombia pursued the operation against Colombian criminal organisations ,so the colombian police arrested 46 members of the Rastrojos.

Reaction

 I think the poor public security in Colombia is related with the economic problems. Many people in Colombia think the cultivation of the illegal drugs is very lucrative job.Therefore,Colombia became big illegal drugs-growing district and many criminal bands are formed.I consider the best way of decreasing crime in colombia is improvement of economic conditions.  The attack against Colombian criminal organizations by Santos is the first step to improve the economic conditions. Therefore, measurable stability of public security is needed for  the investment and the advance  by foreign companies.If the people in Colombia stop  cultivating the illegal drugs, the activity of many criminal gangs  become reduction,I think. Afterwards, Colombian government should take action to annihilate them with other countries. In conculsion, mending the economic conditons is important for the fundamenal resolution for criminal problem in Colombia.

 

takahiro

my reaction to the bubble in brazil

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House prices have soared in Brazil’s big cities as salaries have also grown, so mortgages have become easier to obtain, since Brazil was named as the host of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. In Rio de Janeiro, property prices have risen more than 250% in the past six years. Not only millions of homeowners in this hotspot, but also many foreign businesses moving there have benefitted from this bubble. On the other hand, other people struggle to pay their bills, and are bombarded with advertisements in many places trying to sell apartment blocks.

I know that economy in Brazil hasn’t been good. But people in other countries like me think that Brazil is now so hot in many ways, misunderstand that economy will be boosted up, but when I see it from a different viewpoint, I find that so many Brazilians are living under difficult conditions. If I lived in Brazil, I would think that the government must improve living conditions of poor people prior to constructing expensive and useless stadiums. Poor people usually have little to do with inflation, they can’ t cash in on this bubble because they don’t have jobs, money, much less a real estate from the beginning. The government should use money raised in these big events to help people as a solution.

yoshika

MY REACTION FOR DRUG PROBLEMS IN COLUMBIA

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Summary

Columbian police have arrested 46 members of the Rastrojos criminal gang in northern Atlantico department. They are accused of extortion from shop owners and selling illegal drugs in the coastal city of Barranquilla. It is said that the Rastrojos have smuggled at least 30 tons of cocaine into Mexico since 2008.  Combating the activities of the criminal bands is one of the priorities of the Columbian government. There are many gang groups which deal with drug smuggling. They are rich and virtually stronger than the government. The same thing can be said in East Asia and other South American countries.

 

My reaction

My group mainly discussed mainly following two points.　First, “Why are the gangs so strong in Columbia?”I think that they are so strong in Columbia because they are rich because of the profit from smuggling drugs to USA. Since Columbia is close to USA, smuggling drugs to USA must be very popular and it must be sold very high price. Also, they have a lot of weapons that can hurt people.Second, “In most countries, why only drugs are prohibited but Tabaco and alcohol?”In my point of view, these are almost the same because they are all addictive and do harm to our body. The same thing can be said to sugar and other things too. However, drugs are the most harmful and addictive among those. So we should prohibit taking drugs and also take care not to take too much of other addictive things.

 

hirotaka

My reaction for immigration in Britain

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Summary

Our group talked about immigration problems in Britain. The Britain government talked tough on immigration but 15,000 migrants were entering Britain illegally through France every year. Britain is a magnet for illegal immigrants because those illegal immigrants can work on the black market in Britain. 40 migrants were getting through to the UK every night despite the efforts of the UK and French border agencies to stop them. France took more account of the burden than Britain. The morale of the Border Force has been at rock bottom and they did not function so the Border Force needs increases in productivity and flexibility of workforce.

Reaction
I think we should introduce immigration carefully. The allowing immigration has not only good points but also bad points. I think immigration has good influence to economy, national finance and variety of culture, yet it has bad influence to stability of politics and safety.
Firstly, immigration has good effects to economy and national finance because migrants make and buy many goods same as nation, and also pay their taxes. However, we need to pay attention to one problem. There is a possibility migrants took works from nation so immigration need the lack of labor population.
Secondly, immigration promotes cultural exchange. Migrants have many varieties of backgrounds so it can change nation’s exclusive and single sense of value.
Finally, immigration threatens stability of politics and safety. Illegally migrants tend to disturb peace and order. Moreover, even ordinary migrants disturb safety because of collisions of sense of value and culture. Politicians will need to concern circumstances of migrants. This means politics will be influenced by migrants.
In conclusion, we should be cautious of immigration and spend much time on the introduction.