World Conflicts 7.6

United States-Cuba Relations

Essential Questions: 

• What caused the rift in Cuban-American relations? 

• How long has there been issues with Cuban-American relations? 

• What is currently being done about the United States relationship with Cuba? 

• Will there be a change with the United States embargo against Cuba?  

Although it is said that Cuba and the United States want nothing to do with each other, this is not true. The United States and Cuba have been watching each other with interest, even before the embargo against Cuba began. Plans to purchase Cuba from the Spanish Empire have been brought up for years but never fully put into action. When the United States gained authority over the Caribbean islands, the Spanish lost  its economic and political influence over the area. Cuba is about 90 miles south from Key West in Florida, United States, which was not taken over by the United States. 

Following the Cuban Revolution in 1959, relations fell apart fast. 2 years after the Batista regime was removed from office, the United States placed a embargo on exports to Cuba (excluding food and medicine). (A embargo is an official ban on trade or commercial trade with a particular country.) In 1962, the embargo was extended and was more drastic stating that no food or medication was allowed to be sent to Cuba. The embargo is currently enforced with 6 written statutes including the trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Cuba Assets Control Regulations of 1963, the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, and the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement act of 2000. Regulations concerning the Cuba and America are continuously updated and more enforced. 

What is Amnesty?

Although the United States and Cuba have a difficult relationship, that does not change how the public feels. Excluding how the governments feel about each other, the citizens of each country may feel differently. Cuban Citizens are treated poorly and have no freedom. The United States is concerned with the Cuban governments having no concept or respect of basic Human rights.  Cubans are granted Amnesty which is an official pardon for people who have been convicted of political offences. If any Cubans set foot on American soil, they are granted immigration Amnesty and have the ability to obtain American citizenship. You may wonder how they get to America if we do not allow them to fly here. The United States does NOT allow any transportation for Americans to go to Cuba or for Cubans to travel to the United States. Thousands of people each year try to leave Cuba and escape to freedom in the United States. Cubans will make makeshift boats and take on the dangerous 20 hour-4 day journey at sea. They will try to float to either Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas or Key-West in Florida. The United States Coast Guard act as boarder patrol on the sea preventing as many Cubans as they can to stop entering the United States. If caught, they will be sent back into Cuba in which they will be prosecuted for attempting to leave the country.

Currently, the United States government is attempting to remove these forums and stop the embargo. If the United States makes a new treaty with Cuba, it is said that it may open public air travel to and from Cuba. Relations with Cuba may once again be on the positive side of their long going relationship. 

Click HERE to watch a video on President Barack Obama statement concerning on how the United States relationship with Cuba may be normalized. (shortened) 

Click HERE to watch the full speech

Related Links/Sources:
A Brief History
Cuba-U.S. Relations in Detail 
5 Questions

*Feeling up to the challenge? Gather into groups of 4 and each discuss about a different essential question from above.

Thanks for Reading!
Made by Ethan Tipton
Mr. Sontheimer's Global Issues Final

Kinetic Energy

What is Kinetic Energy? 

The dictionary definition of Kinetic Energy is as simple as "The energy a body possesses due to its motion". What does your body's movement have to do with anything? Our everyday movements may be the next big way of getting energy to satisfy our needs without polluting the environment or releasing carbon into the air. Kinetic energy may be one of many solutions to our environmental problems. This all came about in 1841, when a man named William Thomson introduced the true idea of kinetic energy being used to generate power to the public. 

How does it work? 

Kinetic Energy is from energy that is from motion of matter. In this case, we can use our own movement to generate energy. We can then use this energy to create electricity. The real key, is how to transform this energy into usable electricity. 

How is it transformed into usable power?

The kinetic energy from movement or force, is captured by a generator or gear (momentum) which is then harnessed and sent to capacitors for storage and distribution. This can be used on or off grid as it can be used for smaller mobile devices attached to the body or it can be connected to a power grid to help give more power to local areas. This would be part of a decentralized system as it does not need one control point. They can all run separate.

How can we capture Kinetic Energy in our everyday lives?

Kinetic energy is already spiking in today's society. Kinetic energy is being captured in a variety of objects. Kinetic energy is captured in small things such as watches, and large things such as people jumping in stadiums. The energy captured from your movement in a watch is used to power the watch. The energy captured form your movement in a stadium, is used to power lights and electricity used throughout the area. Typical business and homes can adapt to kinetic energy by installing tiles on the floor to capture walking movement or even cheaper methods such as adopting the kinetic watch in order to help save battery's and electricity. Kinetic work-out machines can help store energy from your workout as well as motivate people to get in shape. Its a two in one deal! The largest obstacle to overcome is the amount of power that current day kinetic methods generate or store. we are not able to transform an abundant amount of energy into electricity, otherwise we would have switched years ago! Within time, we will be able to capture more kinetic energy as well as adapt to alternative energy saving devices. 

              

How will it look? 

Between the basic ideas that I have stated above, they can hide within our everyday devices. With unique designs, they may be their own style in time. Most kinetic energy generators/capacitors/ or even devices are not as large as people thing. Scientists are finding ways to store more power using smaller components! 

Click here for a video about kinetic energy

Sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_energy
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/ke.html
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/energy/u5l1c.cfm

Thanks for reading!
Mr. Sontheimer's Global Issues
~ Ethan Tipton

Tornado Outbreak

What is a Tornado Outbreak?

A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same synoptic scale weather system within a short period of time. Although tornadoes are deadly by themselves, they are not nearly as dangerous as when there are multiple tornadoes at once spreading across multiple vast areas. For it to be considered a tornado outbreak, tornadoes must spawn within 6 hours of each other within the same region. According to the NWS (National Weather Service) There is a 62% increase in damages and a 23% increase in casualties for every tornado spawned.

What is known, to be the worst Tornado Outbreak?

The worst tornado outbreak occurred during April 25-28th in 2011. This surpassed the last most deadly outbreak occurring in 1978 in which 148 tornadoes were counted. During the warm spring of 20ll, the worlds largest recorded tornado outbreak occurred causing pandemonium across southern and mid-western parts of the United States. On April 25th through April 28th, there were 324 confirmed tornadoes which caused well over $11 billion dollars in damages. This disaster took its place in being the worlds most costly tornado disaster as well as one of the countries most costly natural disasters. Along with being the most costly tornado disaster, this also became one of the leading tornado disasters in human casualties killing 348 people.

Who was affected? 

21 states were affected across the United States. Mostly occurring within the Southern, Mid-Western, or North-Eastern regions. Mississippi and Alabama were hit the hardest. Mississippi and Alabama spent Millions in rebuilding their beloved towns. Each day that the outbreak continued, more and more tornadoes spawned in a pattern like formation. This pattern like formation became known as "Pulgas o ver", meaning flea or see. To the locals, this meant leave while you can or watch your possessions disappear.

What happened each day?

April 25th

Beginning on April 25th, officials reported that there would be mild yet dangerous tornadoes through Arkansas and Tennessee for only a short amount of time. Little did they know, that cold air continued to blow from the north causing it to collide with the warm air from the gulf of mexico. The storms only grew larger and more air began to blow through. By the end of the day, meteorologists realized that they had a crisis on their hands. They alerted over 500 towns before enough tornadoes formed to cause destruction. Unfortunately tornadoes are unpredictable and change direction at a moments notice. This caused for more unpredictable destruction. 

April 26th

On April 26th, a server weather alert was issued across the south/eastern areas of the United States. Areas such as Interstate 30 as well as the lower great lakes and many other surrounding areas were closed and or warned. Northern areas began to attract tornadoes causing server flooding around the great lakes. By this time, tornadoes were not the only source of destruction. Civilians had to be cautious about tornadoes, flooding, and storms. 

April 27th

On April 27th, across the southern United States, there was a 45% chance that at any given time of day, you would either have a tornado or a server wind storm. Alabama and Tennessee were facing large power outages and water contamination. Tornadoes spread to interstate 81 and eventually began to affect areas in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and even New York. Over 240 tornado reports were given on this day alone. 95% of deaths happened on this day. 

April 28th

On the final day, April 28th tornado watches were given along the Atlantic coast from New York to Florida. The tornado count was decreasing significantly. The last tornado hit North Carolina in the late afternoon. By this time all tornadoes became weak and flash flooding began to seep away. 

Fatalities

Date	Total	EF0	EF1	EF2	EF3	EF4	EF5	Deaths	Injuries
April 25	42	17	20	4	1	0	0	4	--
April 26	55	31	19	4	1	0	0	0	--
April 27	211	63*	78	36	19	11	4	316	2000+
April 28	47	18	23	5	1	0	0	3	--
Total	355	129*	140	49	22	11	4	324	2000+

Can this be prevented in the future? 

Mother nature is unpredictable, and can not be contained. Although we can not prevent this from happening, we can do our best to secure what we have and reduce damages and deaths. For instance, we can bolt down buildings, secure wiring, and prepare food and water to be in stock. Flood barriers may reduce flash floods from affecting as many homes. 

Click Here for a video about the difficulties of rebuilding

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak
http://www.ustornadoes.com/2012/04/25/april-25-26-27-28-2011-super-outbreak/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_25%E2%80%9328,_2011_tornado_outbreak

Thanks for reading!
Mr. Sontheimer's Global Issues
~Ethan Tipton

Globalization of Music

Turn it up, And the world will Listen...
The Globalization Of Music

How has the world been affected?

The world is an amazing, yet vast place full of wondrous cultures and diversity. Throughout the seven continents, people celebrate different religions or occasions. During these events, they often include music. In today's society, we have the technology to travel across the globe with ease. Compared to the old days, in which long distance traveling was not as common as we see it today. We can take with us, customs and morals much faster. Along with those customs, music is along for the ride. Music can be easily shared or heard from no matter where you are. You can be in the marketplace, a store, or the streets. Whether if your in China, India, Egypt, or The United States, music plays a vital role in celebrations and entertainment. It is very difficult for it to be ignored by anyone. 

Any Changes? 

It would be a lie to say that there have not been any changes to our own culture with the influence of other types of music. Music is one of the top creative outlets in the world, according to a study conducted by Professor Herrick of Newport Road Island. Although this is not true for everyone, any type of music can affect your thoughts and feelings both positively and negatively. "An individual's musical experience may affect how they formulate preferences for music form their own culture and other cultures". In today's world, we can Liston to another cultures music with the click of a button. Music itself can be affected as well. New genres of music have been created by mixing different types of music worldwide. 

Examples?

The Beatles were one of the first examples of modern globalization in the entertainment world. They sold millions of records across the world including places such as the United Kingdom, Europe, and North America. Their first satellite broadcast in the 1960's, truly showed the worlds love for them. They became one of the worlds most recognizable faces during their time. Another current example, can be the song "Gangnam Style" by PSY. This South Korean song became a worldwide hit single across the world within weeks of its release. Today, they earned a nomination for the worlds best song. They also achieved in having the most views ever on you-tube. 

Click Here to View a Video about the Beatles Globalized

I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. it's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music. ~Billy Joel

Sources:

https://www.iwu.edu/news/2014/02-beatles-earlyglobalization.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_in_music_cognition
http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/item/17311-influential-beats-the-cultural-impact-of-music


Thanks for reading!!!
Mr. Sontheimer's Global Issues
~Ethan Tipton

Fracking

What is Fracking? 

Fracking, otherwise known as Hydraulic fracturing is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock that is located deep within the earth. This involves drilling deep within earths crust as well as injecting fluids at a high pressure to break the shale rocks and release the gas. Because of fracking, we are able to obtain more natural gas to meet our growing demand. Although this seems very important, as a result there are highly negative effects. Fracking is a long yet complicated process in which it can take 1-6 full months to finish extracting the gas. During this time frame, the process affects our water supply, fresh air, health, safety, and causes environmental hazards.

What is Needed? 

Fracking is a long yet complicated process. It takes 1-8 million gallons of water to complete each fracking job. Because the work sights are commonly far from wells or easy water access, it takes 400 tanker trucks to simply carry water and supplies to and from the work zones. At the fracturing sight, water is mixed with sand and a series of chemicals to create fracturing fluid. 40,000 gallons of chemicals are needed. 600 separate chemicals are used such as lead, uranium, mercury, radium, methanol, hydrochloric acid, and formaldehyde. 

What is The Basic Process? 

The process can be broken down into a few different parts. The first step would be to find natural gas. Thanks to new technologies, 3-d imaging and underground friction detectors can find exactly where there is a large amount of natural gas underneath the shale rock. The next step is to hire workers and gather supplies (Of Course). Because the water is constantly needed, tanker trucks need to be filled. Next, the fracturing fluid needs to be made. Once the final checks have been completed. It is time to begin to drilling. On average, they need to drill 1 mile bellow earths crust to reach the natural gas. Fracking fluid is then pressured into the ground through the drilled pipelines. Once the high pressed fluid hits the shale, it will crack above the gas. This will cause the gas to be pumped through the well. During the process, gas and toxins from the fluid will leak out and contaminate the water and soil around it. Some toxins can evaporate with the water and precipitate on nearby areas. (Acidic/toxic rain). After the all of the gas has been contained, most of the remaining hole is filled with cement. (This helps in no way other than to fill up the hole). 

Who is Affected? 

People are affected locally, nationally, and globally. Locally, locals end up with contaminated water. Because of the chemicals that leak into the water supply, if consumed this can result in either illness or possibly death. Because the chemicals do not simply "go away" it costs millions of dollars to re-purify the water. Nationally in the United States, the main states that are affected consist of Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, California, Michigan, North Dakota, West Virginia, Colorado, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Louisiana, New York, and Pennsylvania. The list will only increase if this continues. Globally, this will all add up in the end. This will increase pollution and destroy the world around it slowly buy effectively to the point that it will be difficult to bounce back.  The air becomes more polluted, it kills wildlife, affects our water, affects our health, and destroys the environment around it. It does not help that only 30-50% of the fluid is recovered. The rest is left to contaminate the area around it. The waist fluid is left in open air pits to evaporate, As stated above this causes acid rain. This needs to be stopped.

Positive Vs. Negative? 

On the bright side of this nightmare, over 300,000 barrels of gas are contained every day. Gas is becoming more and more important as time goes on. We depend on it. Yet this destroys everything we know and love. Thousands of reports have been filed claiming that this will only hurt the world more and more.  People everyday are getting sick because of fracking. There truly are healthier ways to extract gas. There is alternative ways to achieve power as well. The best way to power our technology is solar power, wind power, and water. These are all better for the environment as well as our health. After all, Is this really worth it? 

Whats more important, Money or Health? 

Click the Video Below to learn more about Fracking

Sources:
http://www.dangersoffracking.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing
http://www.energyfromshale.org/hydraulic-fracturing/what-is-fracking


Thanks for reading!!! 

Mr. Sontheimer's Global Issues

~Ethan Tipton