Poland

· Country name: Poland

· Year founded: was founded in 966.

· Population: Poland has a population of over 38 million people.

· Primary language: Polish.

· Ethnic make-up: Poles constitute 97.6% of the total population; Germans make up 1.3%; Ukrainians account for 0.6%; and Belarussians, 0.5%.

· Political system: Parliamentary representative democratic republic.

· Year entered the European Union: 2004

· Representative of the European Union included (party):
Ireland takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Poland will become a full member of the EU.

· Type of economy: Poland is considered to currently have one of the fastest growing economies in Central European nations, with an annual growth rate of over 6.0%. Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of economic liberalization throughout the 1990s, with positive results for economic growth but negative results for some sectors of the population.

· Currency: euro

· Current Exchange rate for American Currency:

· GDP: Poland has made a tremendous overall economic progress over the last decade, and now is ranked 21st worldwide in terms of the GDP. With the largest component of its economy being the service sector, and the continued forecasts of positive economic growth, Poland is likely to continue to move up in the world GDP ranking.

GDP
$632 billion (As of 2007)
GDP growth
7% (As of 2007)
GDP per capita
$17,500 (As of 2008)
GDP by sector
Agriculture (3%), industry (32%), services (66%) (2007)

· Percentage of Trade within the European Union:

· Unemployment Rate: 9.7%

· Chief Exports: Machinery and transport equipment, intermediate manufactured goods, miscellaneous manufactured goods, food and live animals.

· Key imports:Overview of the energy industry in Poland and provides data and information on each of the key sub-segments of the industry – oil, natural gas, coal and electricity.

· Major religions: Religions: Roman Catholic 90%, Eastern Orthodox, Uniate, Protestant, Judaism.

· Surrounding countries:Baltic Sea, Russia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Germany

· Literacy rate:definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.8% male: 99.8% female: 99.7% (2003 est.)

· one insteresting fact: Poland is the 6th most populous and the 6th largest of the European Union's 27 member states. Most of the country is flat, with an average elevation of 173 meters.

• Country Name: Republic of Estonia
• Year Founded:The ancestors of Estonians most likely settled on the Baltic shores around 3500 BC and were organised in federated small states by the 1^st century AD. Since early 13^th century, Estonia was under the German, Danish and Swedish rule until 1721, when it was ceded to Russia.
• Population: 1,299,371 (July 2009 est.); -0.632% (2009 est.)
• Primary Language: Estonian
• Ethnic Make-up: Estonian 67.9%, Russian 25.6%, Ukrainian 2.1%, Belarusian 1.3%, Finn 0.9%, other 2.2% (2000 census)
• Political System: Parliamentary democracy
• Year Entered the European Union: 1 May 2004
• Representative of the European Union (include party):

Estonia has 6 representatives in the European Parliament: Mrs. Katrin Saks, Mrs. Marianne Mikko and Mr. Andres Tarand of the Estonian Social Democratic Party (Socialist Group); Mrs. Siiri Oviir of the Centre Party (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe); Mr. Toomas Savi of the Reform Party (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) and Mr. Tunne Kelam of the Pro Patria Union (European People's Party).

• Type of Economy: Estonia has a modern market-based economy and one of the highest per capita income levels in Central Europe.

• Currency: Kroon

• Current Exchange rate for American Currency: krooni (EEK) per US dollar - 10.7 (2008),
• GDP:

GDP (official exchange rate):$23.46 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:-3% (2008 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):$21,900 (2008 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 2.9%
industry: 32.3%

• Percentage of Trade within the European Union:

EXPORT PARTNERS: Finland 17.9%, Sweden 13.2%, Latvia 11.4%, Russia 8.9%, Lithuania 5.8%, Germany 5.2%, US 4.1% (2007)

IMPORT PARTERNS: Finland 15.9%, Germany 12.8%, Sweden 10.1%, Russia 10%, Latvia 7.6%, Lithuania 6.9%, Poland 4.5% (2007)

• Unemployment Rate: 6.2% (30 September 2008 est.)
• Chief Exports: Chief exports are food and animal products, textiles, and timber products.

• Key Imports: Leading imports are machinery and transportation equipment, mineral products, textiles, and foods

• Major Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 13.6%, Orthodox 12.8%, other Christian (including Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal) 1.4%, unaffiliated 34.1%, other and unspecified 32%, none 6.1% (2000 census)
• Surrounding Countries: Latvia and Russia
• Literacy Rate: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 99.8%
  male: 99.8%
  female: 99.8% (2000 census)

• One Interesting Fact: Life in Estonia started after a glaciar melting.

Greece

· Country Name
Hellenic Republic /greece

· Year Founded
Between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the classical Greek heartlands by Rome in 146 BC.
· Population
10,737,428 (July 2009 est.)

· Primary Language
Greek
· Ethnic Make-up
Population: Greek 93%, other (foreign citizens) 7% (2001 census) note: percents represent citizenship, since Greece does not collect data on ethnicity
· Political System
Based on codified Roman law; judiciary divided into civil, criminal, and administrative courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
· Year Entered the European Union
1981
· Representative of the European Union (include party)

· Type of Economy
Single market
· Currency
Euro
· Current Exchange rate for American Currency
1 eu =1.35 dollars
· GDP
$373.516 billion
· Percentage of Trade within the European Union

· Unemployment Rate

· Chief Exports
food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles
$27.4 billion f.o.b. (2008 est
· Key Imports
Machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals

· Major Religions
Greek Orthodox 98%, Muslim 1.3%, other 0.7%
· Surrounding Countries
Border countries: Albania 282 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Turkey 206 km, Macedonia 246 km
· Literacy Rate
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 96% male: 97.8% female: 94.2% (2001 census
· One Interesting Fact
As per 2007 UNICEF report, Greece had the lowest percentage of teenagers smoking cigarettes (or cannabis) or living in a step family structure.

Lithuania

· Country Name: Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
· Year Founded: in 1236
· Population: 3,555,179
· Primary Language: Lithuanian
· Ethnic Make-up: Lithuanian 83.4%, Polish 6.7%, Russian 6.3%, other or unspecified 3.6%
· Political System: Parliamentary democracy
· Year Entered the European Union: 2004
· Representative of the European Union (include party): Laima Liucija Andrikienė; Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats
· Type of Economy: capitalist free market
· Currency: Lithuanian litas
· Current Exchange rate for American Currency: 1 Lita = 0.391190 USD
· GDP: Grew by 7.5%
· Percentage of Trade within the European Union: 60.3% imports, 57.3% exports
· Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
· Chief Exports: mineral products (25%), electrical machinery and mechanical equipment (10.6%), chemical products (9.7%) and transport vehicles and associated transport equipment (8.6%).
· Key Imports: mineral products (29.7%), electrical machinery and mechanical equipment (14.2%), transport vehicles and associated transport equipment (12.1%) and chemical products (9%).
· Major Religions: Roman Catholic 79%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Protestant (including Lutheran and Evangelical Christian Baptist) 1.9%, other or unspecified 5.5%, none 9.5%
· Surrounding Countries: Belarus 680 km, Latvia 576 km, Poland 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km
· Literacy Rate: total population: 99.6%
· One Interesting Fact: Lithuania is expecting to switch to the Euro on January 1, 2013. Lithuania has the highest rating of Baltic states in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality of life index.

MALTA

- Country Name
Republic of Malta

- Year Founded
The Maltese islands were first settled in 5200 BC by stone age farmers who had arrived from the larger island of Sicily, possibly the Sicani.

-Population
2007 estimate
410,290 (174th)
2005 census
404,9621
Density
1,298/km2 (6th)3,391/sq mi

-Primary Language
Maltese, english

-Ethnic Make-up
Maltese (descendants of ancient Carthaginians and Phoenicians with strong elements of Italian and other Mediterranean stock)

-Political System
republic

-Year Entered the European Union
May 1, 2004

-Representative of the European Union (include party)
Prime Minister- DR. Lawrence Gonzi
Nationalist Party

-Type of Economy
is dependent on foreign trade, manufacturing - especially electronics and pharmaceuticals - and tourism all of which have been negatively affected by global economic downturn.

-Currency
-$538 million (2008 est.)
Euro (€)2Banks (EUR)

-Current Exchange rate for American Currency

-GDP
$9.801 billion (2008 est.)

-Percentage of Trade within the European Union

-Unemployment Rate
6.4% (2007)

-Chief Exports

-Key Imports

-Major Religions
Roman Catholic 98%

-Surrounding Countries
93 km off the coast of Sicily (Italy), 288 km east of Tunisia and 300 km north of Libya.

-Literacy Rate
definition: age 10 and over can read and write total population: 92.8% male: 92% female: 93.6% (2003 est.)

-One Interesting Fact
Traffic in Malta drives on the left, as in the UK. Car ownership in Malta is exceedingly high, given the very small size of the islands; it is the fourth highest in the European Union. The number of registered cars in 1990 amounted to 182,254, giving an automobile density of 582 per km²

HUNGARY

• Country Name:
conventional long form: Republic of Hungary
conventional short form: Hungary
local long form: Magyar Koztarsasag
local short form: Magyarorszag

• Year Founded
1000

• Population
9,905,596

• Primary Language
Hungarian

• Ethnic Make-up
Hungarian 92.3%, Roma 1.9%, other or unknown 5.8%

• Political System
Parliamentary democracy

• Year Entered the European Union
2004

• Representative of the European Union (include party)
Peter Balazs, diplomat

• Type of Economy
Market economy

• Currency
Forint

• Current Exchange rate for American Currency
1 Hungarian Forint = 0.004522 US Dollar
1 US Dollar (USD) = 221.148 Hungarian Forint (HUF)

• GDP
Purchasing power parity: $205.7 billion
Official exchange rate: $131.4 billion
Real Growth Rate: -1.5%
PPP: $20,500
Composition by Sector: agriculture: 3.2%
industry: 31.9%
services: 65%

• Percentage of Trade within the European Union
17% of exports, 14% of imports.

• Unemployment Rate
8%

• Chief Exports
Machinery, equipment and other manufactured products (automobiles, computers, etc)

• Key Imports
Aluminum, printed materials, medicinal equipment, business machines

• Major Religions
Roman Catholic 51.9%, Calvinist 15.9%, Lutheran 3%, Greek Catholic 2.6%

• Surrounding Countries
Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine

• Literacy Rate
total population: 99.4%
male: 99.5%
female: 99.3%

• One Interesting Fact
Hungary gets nearly one third of all foreign direct investment flowing into Central Europe, with cumulative foreign direct investment totaling more than US$185 billion since 1989.

DEFYING GENOCIDE

DEFYING GENOCIDE

1. What did Damas Gisimba, Carl Wilkens, and Simon Weil Lipman value, and what risks did they take by holding onto their values?
2. What values did the children of the orphanage demonstrate?
3. As events unfolded, what were Damas Gisimba's concerns?
4.What does it mean - as both Simone Weil Lipman and Damas Gisimba state - to "see the other as yourself?"

Think back to the incidents that took place during the Rwandan genocide:
1. What role did the international community play during the genocide?
2. Does the international community have the responsibility of assisting countries threatened by genocide?
3. How can students get involved and make their voices heard against genocide? (For suggestions, visit www.ushmm.org/conscience/alert/students/)

Think about challenges you face in your everday life:
1. Have you ever witnessed an incident by which a bystander took the responsibility of offering assistance to someone in need of help? What happened?
2. When someone needs help, do bystanders have the responsibility to offer assistance? What do bystanders risk when they intervene and when they do not get involved?

At the end of the film, Damas Gisimba stated that hatred must be "banished" to make the world a peaceful place. Reflect on that and answer the following:
1. What is "hatred?" When is it dangerous?
2. What are examples of different forms of hatred in the global community?
3. Can hatred be banished?
4. What would it take to banish hatred?
5. Whose responsibility is it to work to end hatred or to respond when hatred provokes violence?

Slumdog Millionaire Questions:),

- What do you think the film is saying about the globalization of culture through media? We see the game show"Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" adapted in the Indian culture. Is this a sign of progress? Why or why not?What is this film staying about the effect of money on culture?

culture is promoted by the average and the fact that theey adapted from "who wants to be a millionaire" to the indian culture is much progress because everything is globalizing and about the movie the most important thing for them is the money.


- The game show format brings into to focus the culture of meaningless competition. What does the spectacleof the game say about what people value today? What values does the media promote? Are they humanizingvalues?

in the movie more than promote values they are promote the importance of the money, in the movie that i saw what the people are interested more in the money than in the values, everything for them is money and moneey, what the people value most today is the money...
but in the movie jamal won a lot money and he was not interested.

Questions for reflection: Slumdog millionaire

*In one exchange of dialogue in the film during the interrogation of Jamal, the police inspectors discuss the

impossibility of what Jamal knows.

Police Inspector: Doctors... Lawyers... never get past 60 thousand rupees. He's on 6 million. [pause]

Police Inspector: What can our slumdog possibly know?

Jamal Malik: [quietly] The answers.

Discuss the irony in the film that Jamal “knows too much” and is suspected of cheating. Discuss the irony

that in the end, his poverty may make him rich. What point is the film making? What is real wealth?

He has gone through many things, different situations that life put him through and taught him a lot of things that’s why he’s got a lot of experience, a type of knowledge that even if you have studied a lot you won't have.

• *In the final scene, we see Salim and the choice he makes - filling the bathtub with money, etc. Why does he make this choice?

He gets in the bathtub to protect himself because he knows the guy would go after him. But in a way he knows he is going to die, but he let Latika go with Jamal though he was going to get killed because they deserved it.

slamdog millionare reflexion questions

• In one pivotal scene, the show’s host tells Jamal his own story about coming from the slums. He then gives
Jamal the wrong answer written on the mirror in the rest room. Why did he give Jamal the wrong answer?
Becuase he was the only person in history that have win, and he don’t want to loose his fame or that his story repeats.

What did Jamal do?
Don’t trust , he ask for 50% of possibilities and look that there was the answer the show’s host give him and he choose the other.

• This film weaves together nightmare and impossible dream. What do you take away as the most important message or impression from the film?
that all in this life i possible and that you learn all in life, you learn because of the things you live and you remeber etc .

Slumdog Millionaire Questions

What does the title mean? How does the title and the contrasts within it provide symbolic summary of the film?

I think is like a person from the street, those persons you see roaming everywhere and seem worthless, that at last transforms into a millionaire.

Is ethical decision making possible when one must make choices based on survival? Do seemingly “bad” choices make a person bad?

Yes. No, because if the decision is for your survival, is correct for you.

What do you think the film is saying about the globalization of culture through media? We see the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” adapted in the Indian culture. Is this a sign of progress? Why or why not? What is this film staying about the effect of money on culture?

That in countries we think are not that advanced like India, they really are. It can be told that yes, because they are offering money in the game, so they have a "good" economy. That money is one or maybe the "one" most important thing on culture.

Slumdog Millionaire; Questions of refection & discussion

·Early in the film we see the young Jamal dive into a latrine pit to steal a glimpse at a visiting movie star. How does his single-mindedness to see this movie star reveal his determination?What other examples do you see in the film of his determination?

He shows that he is not giving up his wish at an obstacle, which tells that if he has proposed himself something, he will accomplish it.
All the things he does for founding Latika; asking the blind boy, following Salim, entering the show, etc.

·In the film, the theme of destiny is a central theme. What does it mean that all Jamal desires is just out of his reach? (The prized autograph, Latika, his brother, the answers, etc.)

It means that if we wish something, and be able to fight strongly for it, we may obtain it.

·This film weaves together nightmare and impossible dream. What do you take away as the most important message or impression from the film?

Knowledge is not the same as studies. As the police man and the detective said "Doctors... Lawyers... never get past 60 thousand rupees." They all may have had incredible studies, but had never live even half the experiences Jamal did. Maybe we study a lot more than many people, but they may have learn more than us. We should never understimate no one.

Excerpts on Death Penalty

The Death Penalty is a form of torture

The cruelty of torture is evident. Like torture, an execution constitutes an extreme physical and mental assault on a person already rendered helpless by government authorities. Abolitionist groups claim that the cruelty of the death penalty is manifest not only in the execution but in the time spent under sentence of death, during which the prisoner is constantly contemplating his or her own death at the hands of the state. Prison is an extraordinarily severe punishment that should not be exacerbated with torture or the death penalty.

Torture Defined

Torture of prisoners violates the Eight Amendment’s provision against Cruel and Unusual Punishment, and also constitutes a violation of several international laws. The United Nations Convention on Torture defined torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.”

An example of torture in the US Criminal Justice System

In May 1998, a lawsuit was filed concerning conditions for death row inmates in Idaho Maximum Security Institution. The suit states that inmates are held in solitary confinement for 163 of every week's 168 hours in small concrete and steel cells with solid metal doors and a narrow slit for a window. Inmates are allowed out of their cells for a maximum of one hour a day, excluding weekends, for recreation, alone and handcuffed in one of 12 enclosed wire mesh pens measuring approximately seven by 15 feet. The prisoner named in the lawsuit, Randy McKinney, states that he has lived under such a regime for 16 years, and that such treatment constitutes torture.

Sinking of the Lusitania

This attacked occured on May of 1915 and was not precisely in America, but in the Atlantic ocean near the coast of Ireland.
In that time World War One was taking place and Germans had warned that any ship sailing in the "European War Zone" would be a target for their submarines. America was a neutral country.
The warnings of Germans were published in newspapers and people talked about, and for that reason the ship only had half of its capacity to go to Liverpool.
The attack started when a torpedo fired by the Germans slammed into the side of the ship followed by an explosion that ripped the ship apart. Very few passengers had a chance. From the 1,924 passengers traveling in the Lusitania, less than a thousand survived. It only took the Lusitania 18 minutes to sink.

The ship was made by the British Admiralty. Supposedly the Lusitania had munitions hidden for British war effort.

I think that was a huge mistake, you can't trust everyone and the americans trusted in other countries when they shouldn't have because a World War was taking place. The result of all this is that America declared war.

Bombing of USS Cole

On 12 October 2000, USS Cole set in to Aden harbor for a routine fuel stop. Cole completed mooring at 09:30. Refueling started at 10:30. Around 11:18 local time, a small craft approached the port side of the destroyer, and an explosion occurred, putting a 40-by-60-feet gash in the ship's port side according to the memorial plate to those that lost their lives.

The blast appeared to be caused by explosives molded into a shaped charge against the hull of the boat. It was reported that the boat was so close that the attackers aboard the boat and the sailors exchanged greetings before the blast. It is believed that sailors aboard the USS Cole thought the boat was just a garbage service boat.The blast hit the ship's galley, where crew were lining up for lunch.The crew fought flooding in the engineering spaces and had the damage under control by the evening. Divers inspected the hull and determined the keel was not damaged.

Seventeen sailors were killed and thirty nine others were injured in the blast. The attack was the deadliest against a U.S. Naval vessel since the Iraqi attack on the us on 17 May 1987.The asymmetric warfare attack was organized and directed by Osama bin Laden s al-Qaeda terrorist organization. In June 2001, an al-Qaeda recruitment video featuring bin Laden boasted about the attack and encouraged similar attacks.

Bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma

I chose bombing of the Murrah builging. Well this attack took place on April 19, 1995 at oklahoma city. An office complex in downtown Oklahoma City, was bombed. Until the September 11, 2001 attacks, it was the deadliest act of terrorism on United Stated. In this attack were killed 168 people and more than 800 people injured.

A little time after the explosion Oklahoma state trooper Charlie Hanger stopped Timothy McVeigh of 26 years old, for driving without a license and for unlawfully carrying a weapon, and him was arrested for that. Within days after the bombing, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were both arrested for their roles in the bombing.
Mcveigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001 and Nichols was sentenced to life in prision, and a third conspirator Michael Fortier who testified against McVeigh and Nichols was sentenced to 12 years in prision for failing to warn the U.S goverment.

On April 19, 2000, the Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the site of the Murrah Federal Building to commemorate the victims of the bombing and annual remembrance services are held at the time of the explosion.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

These events occurred in United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941.

The surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan.

The strike was intended to neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and hence protect Japan's advance into Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, where Japan sought access to natural resources such as oil and rubber. 405 aircraft were intended to be used: 360 for the two attack waves, 48 on defensive combat air patrol (CAP), including nine fighters from the first wave. The first wave was to be the primary attack, while the second wave was to finish whatever tasks remained. The first wave contained the bulk of the weapons to attack capital ships, mainly torpedoes. The aircrews were ordered to select the highest value targets (battleships and aircraft carriers) or, if either were not present, any other high value ships (cruisers and destroyers). Dive bombers were to attack ground targets. Fighters were ordered to strafe and destroy as many parked aircraft as possible to ensure they did not get into the air to counterattack the bombers, especially in the first wave. Before the attack commenced, two reconnaissance aircraft launched from cruisers were sent to scout over Oahu and report on enemy fleet composition and location. Another four scout planes patrolled the area between the Kido Butai and Niihau, in order to prevent the task force from being caught by a surprise counterattack.

Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships. After this, United States declared war to Japan, becoming enemies of Germany and Italy, leading to World War II.

Anthrax letters in New York and Washington, DC

The anthrax attacks in the United States began on September 18, 2001, 1 exact week after the WTC attacks. Letters that contained anthrax spores were sended by mail to several news media offices and two Democratic US Senators. The attacked killed 5 people and 17 infected. The primary suspect was Bruce Edwards Ivins, who suicide on August 1, 2008 after been told about his prosecution.
The anthrax attacks came in two waves. The first was on September 18, 2001. Letters were sent to NBC, CBS, and ABC News, and The New York Post, all in New York City, and one letter to the National Enquirer at AMI in Boca Raton, Florida. Scientists examining the anthrax from the New York Post letter said it appeared as a coarse brown granular material looking like Purina Dog Show.
The second attack occured 3 weeks after the first. The letters were adressed to Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. The material in this letters was more potent than the first ones, consisting on about 1 gram of nearly pure anthrax spores.
The US government has not found any guilties for the attack, although they insisted on blaming Al Qaeda and Iraq, since the attacks coincided with the tragedy on 9/11.
The role of technology in this attack clearly is the tool used to find a responsable person for the attack.

Beirut barracks bombing

United States Marine Corps barracks , in Beirut Airport was October 23, 1983 like at 6:20 am 241 American servicemen, 58 French servicemen, 6 civilians ,2 suicide bombers a rainbow Mercedes-Benz truck drove to Beirut International Airport, where the 1st Battalion 8th Marines under the 2nd Marine Division had set up its local headquarters. The truck had been substituted for a hijacked water delivery truck. The truck turned onto an access road leading to the Marines' compound and circled a parking lot. The driver then accelerated and crashed through a barbed wire fence around the parking lot, passed between two sentry posts, crashed through a gate and drove into the lobby of the Marine headquarters. The Marine sentries at the gate were operating under rules of engagement which made it very difficult to respond quickly to the truck. By the time the two sentries had locked, loaded, and shouldered their weapons, the truck was already inside the building's entry way.
The suicide bomber detonated his explosives, which were equivalent to 5,400 kg (12,000 pounds) of TNT. The force of the explosion collapsed the four-story cinder-block building into rubble, crushing many inside. In retaliation for the attacks, France launched an airstrike in the Beqaa Valley against alleged Islamic Revolutionary Guards positions. President Reagan assembled his national security team and planned to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon, which housed Iranian Revolutionary Guards believed to be training Hezbollah fighters. A joint American-French air assault on the camp where the bombing was planned was also approved by Reagan and Mitterrand. Defense Secretary Weinberger, however, lobbied successfully against the missions.
Besides a few shellings, there was no serious retaliation for the Beirut bombing from the Americans. In December 1983, U.S. aircraft attacked Syrian targets in Lebanon, but this was in response to Syrian missile attacks on planes, not the barracks bombing.
In the meantime, the attack gave a boost to the growth of the Shi'ite organization Hezbollah. Hezbollah denied involvement in the attacks but was seen by Lebanese as involved nonetheless as it praised the "two martyr mujahideen" who "set out to inflict upon the U.S. Administration an utter defeat not experienced since Vietnam ..."Hezbollah was now seen by many as "the spearhead of the sacred Muslim struggle against foreign occupation".
Amal militia leader Nabih Berri, who had previously supported U.S. mediation efforts, asked the U.S. and France to leave Lebanon and accused the U.S. and France of seeking to commit 'massacres' against the Lebanese and creating a "climate of racism" against the Shia. Islamic Jihad phoned in new threats against the MNF "pledging that 'the earth would tremble' unless the MNF withdrew by New Year's Day 1984.The Marines were moved offshore where they could not be targeted. On February 7, 1984, President Reagan ordered the Marines to begin withdrawal from Lebanon. This was completed on February 26, four months after the barracks bombing; the rest of the Multinational Force was withdrawn by April.

Assignment #1 Feedback...

Good job guys. You all found good articles and engaged in nice discussions. However, you did not follow directions properly. You were supposed to post the links to your articles in a single blog post, then discuss the articles all together in the COMMENTS section. For that, your team grade will fall just a little bit. Make sure that next time you do what the assignment says. 

Great job though, keep it up!

Outsourcing=),

Outsourcing has been talked about alot recently. Some look to outsourcing as the savior of their company; others see outsourcing as an evil-job-killing tactic of management. Before you start to evaluate if an outsourcing strategy is right for your company, you need to understand what it is and what it is not.
Outsourcing is any task, operation, job or process that could be performed by employees within your company, but is instead contracted to a third party for a significant period of time. Hiring a temporary employee while your secretary is on maternity leave is not outsourcing. In addition, the functions that are performed by the third party can be performed on-site or off-site.
The most common model of outsourcing that is in the news today refers to jobs that are being sent over seas to countries like India or China. This is more commonly called offshoring. Examples include telephone call centers, tech-support and computer programming. More common examples that are not going overseas are janitorial services, after hours answering services and security services.
Why outsourcing
There are many reasons why a company may choose to outsource a particular function of their business. Most managers have the end-result-in-mind that they are going to save time and/or money. Other reasons include:
Resource ShortageA particularly strong reason to outsource involves a shortage of a critical resource. This can be available employees that possess knowledge in a certain area (e.g. engineers), availability of material (e.g. petroleum or minerals) and a labor force at a level and price that will offset the cost of higher prices alternatives.
Ability to Concentrate On the Core BusinessSome necessary, but peripheral operations are outsourced most frequently. This gives the managers the ability to concentrate on the core business issues instead of getting distracted by required, yet minor matters. A good example is a major hospital in our area that outsources its security operations to a third party company specializing in security.
Cost savingsThe prices of labor and/or materials keep increasing and competition keeps forcing prices lower. If there is an outsourcing solution that can save your company money and overcomes the disadvantages of outsourcing, these areas should be investigated.
FlexibilitySeasonal or cyclical demands that ebb-and-flow put varying demands on the resources of the company. An outsourcing contract could provide the flexibility needed to stabilize these varying demands. Example: A business brings in extra accountants during tax season and when being audited by the holding company that owns the business.
Reduce Overhead CostsSome functions require a large outlay of money just to get started. This expenditure could be avoided by contracting with a third party. For example, expanding your call center’s capacity to the point where it exceeds the capabilities of your telephone system.
Common Outsourced Areas
Although many areas and functions are outsourced, here are some of the frequently outsourced areas:
· Information Technology Functions
· Network and Telecommunications
· Human Resources and Insurance Administration
· Accounting
Marketing
Security

http://operationstech.about.com/od/costsavingstrategies/a/OutSrcDefine.htm

In my point of view outsourcing is good because is a way that other companies of other countries (advance countries ) give us job and it can look like that they take advantage because they do this in countries that need works or poors etc.

OUTSOURCING

OUTSOURCING

Outsourcing means that two companies associate in order to provide better services of jobs that are usually made in separate ways. So it saves money, it is like having a double function instead of just one, many things can be done in the same company.

To outsource, companies have to follow these four steps:
1-. Strategic thinking: to develop the organization's philosophy about the role of outsourcing in its activities.
2-. Evaluation and selection: to decide on the appropriate outsourcing projects and potential locations for the work to be done and service providers to do it.
3-. Contract development: to work out the legal, pricing and service level agreement (SLA) terms; and
4-. Outsourcing management or governance: to improve the relationship between the client and the outsourcing service providers.

The success of outsourcing depends on executive-level support in the client organization for the outsourcing mission, ample communication to affected employees and the client's ability to manage its service providers.

Many companies do this because it saves money, but they don't provide benefits to their workers so I don't think that is good or fair to the employees. It is really convenient for companies that are in the middle of a crisis or having problems.







Outsourcing (Article)

So, what is outsourcing? Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a particular function. Almost every organization outsources in some way. Typically, the function being outsourced is considered non-core to the business. An insurance company, for example, might outsource its janitorial and landscaping operations to firms that specialize in those types of work since they are not related to insurance or strategic to the business. The outside firms that are providing the outsourcing services are third-party providers, or as they are more commonly called, service providers.

Although outsourcing has been around as long as work specialization has existed, in recent history, companies began employing the outsourcing model to carry out narrow functions, such as payroll, billing and data entry. Those processes could be done more efficiently, and therefore more cost-effectively, by other companies with specialized tools and facilities and specially trained personnel.

Currently, outsourcing takes many forms. Organizations still hire service providers to handle distinct business processes, such as benefits management. But some organizations outsource whole operations. The most common forms are information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO).

Business process outsourcing encompasses call center outsourcing, human resources outsourcing (HRO), finance and accounting outsourcing, and claims processing outsourcing. These outsourcing deals involve multi-year contracts that can run into hundreds of millions of dollars. Frequently, the people performing the work internally for the client firm are transferred and become employees for the service provider. Dominant outsourcing service providers in the information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing fields include IBM, EDS, CSC, HP, ACS, Accenture and Capgemini.

Some nimble companies that are short on time and money, such as start-up software publishers, apply multisourcing -- using both internal and service provider staff -- in order to speed up the time to launch. They hire a multitude of outsourcing service providers to handle almost all aspects of a new project, from product design, to software coding, to testing, to localization, and even to marketing and sales.

The process of outsourcing generally encompasses four stages: 1) strategic thinking, to develop the organization's philosophy about the role of outsourcing in its activities; 2) evaluation and selection, to decide on the appropriate outsourcing projects and potential locations for the work to be done and service providers to do it; 3) contract development, to work out the legal, pricing and service level agreement (SLA) terms; and 4) outsourcing management or governance, to refine the ongoing working relationship between the client and outsourcing service providers.

In all cases, outsourcing success depends on three factors: executive-level support in the client organization for the outsourcing mission; ample communication to affected employees; and the client's ability to manage its service providers. The outsourcing professionals in charge of the work on both the client and provider sides need a combination of skills in such areas as negotiation, communication, project management, the ability to understand the terms and conditions of the contracts and service level agreements (SLAs), and, above all, the willingness to be flexible as business needs change.

The challenges of outsourcing become especially acute when the work is being done in a different country (offshored), since that involves language, cultural and time zone differences.

Outsourcing:),

Outsourcing i think is when different countries extend in other states or elsewhere, but i think in mexico its not good because the other countries have more technology and, more things better than mexico. I was reading about outsoucring in mexico, and i found this article more detailed.

Article
Outsourcing has come to imply manufacturing in Asia. But closer to home, outsourced manufacturing is also booming in Mexico. Mexico has long been a location for large-item manufacturing. Automotive and large appliance manufacturers have utilized Mexico plants for decades. In recent years, however, the electronics industry has placed more emphasis on Mexico. Our southern neighbor is close, the Mexican time zones roughly match the United States business day, and there is a growing pool of skilled Mexican engineers to support manufacturing. For high volume, low mix products, Asia is still the first choice for outsourcing. Typically Mexico gets manufacturing projects that include small production runs, big product runs or new products. Microsoft’s Xbox, for instance, was manufactured initially in Mexico before it was shipped to Asia for high-volume production. “Mexico has not gotten into high volume production,” says Beth Ely, SVP of new channel development at Avnet Inc. in Phoenix. “Traditionally, Mexico has produced low volume, high mix products and new product introductions.” Outsourcing in Mexico comes in a couple distinct flavors. The border has long been home to twin plants – or maquiladora plants – that are owned by OEMs. The electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers tend to congregate around Guadalajara, which has become a growing territory for electronics outsourcing. “Guadalajara is the manufacturing hub for top-tier EMS companies,” says Ely. “That’s the fastest growing area for manufacturing. The border areas have the OEM-owned twin plants and lower-tier EMS companies.” Avnet supplies global EMS companies and North American OEMs that are producing products in Mexico. The distributor also supplies indigenous OEMs that tend to congregate along the border. “We support indigenous Mexican manufacturers along the board as well as EMS providers in Guadalajara,” says Ely. “Much of the product for the border plants comes from our Arizona warehouse, but we also have branches along the border to support Mexican manufacturers.” Avnet also maintains a large warehouse in the Guadalajara area that is designed to serve EMS providers. Proximity to the United States matters Because of its closeness to the United States, Mexico has been a preferred outsourcing location for big products such as autos and big-box appliances. “Automotive has always been big in Mexico, as well a refrigerators and washers because the logistic costs of shipping those items over the ocean is ridiculous,” says Eric Miscoll, senior consultant and COO of Technology Forecasters Inc. in Alameda, Calif. Mexico is also a likely spot to produce new products, since it’s easier for company personnel to pop down to Mexico than it is to travel to Asia. “If the company has just recently started outsourcing, or they have a new product, they will often take it to Mexico because of the proximity,” says Avnet’s Ely. “In Mexico they can be more hands-on and keep it closer to home. Because of that, you see a lot of industrial manufacturing but not much consumer high volume production.” Mexico is handy for outsourcing also because it is roughly in the same time zone as the United States. One of the biggest complaints about outsourcing to Asia is the time difference between North America and Asia. One distribution executive says he doesn’t even give out his business card when traveling to Asia any longer because the late night calls are disruptive. Plus, it helps to be close if there are production problems. “Even Asian companies are now setting up shop in Mexico so they can more effectively serve U.S. customers,” says Miscoll of Technology Forecasters. Another recent development in Mexico that has lured outsourced manufacturing, is the country’s emerging engineering talent. “We’ve seen an increase in the use of engineers in Mexico because the labor rate is low” says Miscoll. “Mexico is doing more design because their engineers are very competent. So it isn’t just cost that’s attractive, it’s also the quality.” Miscoll attributes the quality engineering to the technical universities Mexico has produced in recent years. Avnet’s Ely notes a distinct improvement in Mexican engineering in recent years. “Over the past 10 years, a middle class has evolved in Mexico, and that middle class puts a high emphasis on education as a way to move up the economic ladder,” says Ely. “So a lot of people are coming out of Mexican engineering schools.” She notes that most of the engineering work tends to support manufacturing and industrial production. But she notes there has also been a recent trend toward design engineering. “The design engineering is relatively new, but design centers are getting set up,” says Ely. “That’s part of Mexico’s maturing workforce.”

http://www.sourceesb.com/configurable/article20060517.html

Outsourcing =)

Here is a summary of the article I found and below is the original article.

Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a particular function. Almost every organization outsources in some way; although it has been existing as long as work specialization. In recent history, companies began employing the outsourcing model to carry out narrow functions, such as payroll, billing and data entry; now, outsourcing takes many forms. Organizations still hire service providers to handle distinct business processes, but some, outsource whole operations. The most common forms are information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO). BPO encompasses call center outsourcing, human resources outsourcing, finance and accounting outsourcing, and claims processing outsourcing. These outsourcing deals occupy multi-year contracts that can run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Some quick companies that are short on time and money apply multisourcing in order to speed up the time to launch. They hire a multitude of outsourcing service providers to handle almost all aspects of a new project, from product design, to software coding, to testing, to localization, and even to marketing and sales.
The process of outsourcing generally encompasses four stages:
1) Strategic thinking, to develop the organization's philosophy about the role of outsourcing in its activities.
2) Evaluation and selection, to decide on the appropriate outsourcing projects and potential locations for the work to be done and service providers to do it.
3) Contract development, to work out the legal, pricing and service level agreement terms.
4) Outsourcing management or governance, to refine the ongoing working relationship between the client and outsourcing service providers.
Outsourcing success depends on three factors: executive-level support in the client organization for the outsourcing mission; ample communication to affected employees; and the client's ability to manage its service providers.
The challenges of outsourcing become especially acute when the work is being done in a different country, since that involves language, cultural and time zone differences.

Article.

Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a particular function. Almost every organization outsources in some way. Typically, the function being outsourced is considered non-core to the business. An insurance company, for example, might outsource its janitorial and landscaping operations to firms that specialize in those types of work since they are not related to insurance or strategic to the business. The outside firms that are providing the outsourcing services are third-party providers, or as they are more commonly called, service providers.
Although outsourcing has been around as long as work specialization has existed, in recent history, companies began employing the outsourcing model to carry out narrow functions, such as payroll, billing and data entry. Those processes could be done more efficiently, and therefore more cost-effectively, by other companies with specialized tools and facilities and specially trained personnel.
Currently, outsourcing takes many forms. Organizations still hire service providers to handle distinct business processes, such as benefits management. But some organizations outsource whole operations. The most common forms are information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO).
Business process outsourcing encompasses call center outsourcing, human resources outsourcing (HRO), finance and accounting outsourcing, and claims processing outsourcing. These outsourcing deals involve multi-year contracts that can run into hundreds of millions of dollars. Frequently, the people performing the work internally for the client firm are transferred and become employees for the service provider. Dominant outsourcing service providers in the information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing fields include IBM, EDS, CSC, HP, ACS, Accenture and Capgemini.
Some nimble companies that are short on time and money, such as start-up software publishers, apply multisourcing -- using both internal and service provider staff -- in order to speed up the time to launch. They hire a multitude of outsourcing service providers to handle almost all aspects of a new project, from product design, to software coding, to testing, to localization, and even to marketing and sales.
The process of outsourcing generally encompasses four stages: 1) strategic thinking, to develop the organization's philosophy about the role of outsourcing in its activities; 2) evaluation and selection, to decide on the appropriate outsourcing projects and potential locations for the work to be done and service providers to do it; 3) contract development, to work out the legal, pricing and service level agreement (SLA) terms; and 4) outsourcing management or governance, to refine the ongoing working relationship between the client and outsourcing service providers.
In all cases, outsourcing success depends on three factors: executive-level support in the client organization for the outsourcing mission; ample communication to affected employees; and the client's ability to manage its service providers. The outsourcing professionals in charge of the work on both the client and provider sides need a combination of skills in such areas as negotiation, communication, project management, the ability to understand the terms and conditions of the contracts and service level agreements (SLAs), and, above all, the willingness to be flexible as business needs change.
The challenges of outsourcing become especially acute when the work is being done in a different country (offshored), since that involves language, cultural and time zone differences.

http://www.sourcingmag.com/content/what_is_outsourcing.asp

OUTSOURCING...=)
by Karina Limon


Outsourcing can be defined as passing of service provision or production to another internal or external party. The main reason of outsourcing is to reduce capital expenditure over a business process and its advantages go on and on like, management gets more time to concentrate over more competencies. This also reduces the dependency upon internal resources and increases the flexibility to meet the changing business and commercial conditions.

But outsourcing is not about rainbows and treasures. Of course, it has it disadvanges and I want to focus on them. Why is outsourcing not really a good idea? Well...

It tends to loose the managerial control. This happens because it is harder to manage the outsourcing service provider as compare to managing one's own employees. Also because we generally tend to skip (or miss to calculate) the potential hidden costs of outsourcing which includes legal costs of putting together a contract between companies and time spent on coordinating the contracts, we feel that outsourcing reduces the overall expenditure of a business process, one of the major reasons why a company goes for outsourcing. This hidden and missed out costs of outsourcing is hard to predict causing overall costs to be underestimated.

Another disadvantage is that outsourcing can also prove to be a threat to the security and confidentiality of issues of a company. If your company is outsourcing business process such as payroll, confidential information such as salary will be known to the outsourcing service provider. Therefore one must be very careful in choosing which business process to outsource and which one not.

http://www.softwareprojects.org/disadvantages-outsourcing.htm

Outsourcing..

I was reading about outsourcing until I found this article which talks about India, It states some advantages that India has in outsourcing. It says that in India is cheaper WAY cheaper, it has high quality services, it has organizations that wish to work ALL year, a stable government, etc. Here I list the complete facts for you to read and undestard better.

Today, outsourcing has almost become the order of the day. So why are global organizations choosing outsourcing? More and more global companies are choosing to outsource today for a number of reasons, such as, cost-effective services, increased efficiency, increased productivity, shared risks, reduced operating costs, increased quality, better services and more time to focus on core competencies. These are just a few of the reasons why organizations are outsourcing today. But why outsource to India and why do companies outsource to India. India is the most ideal place to outsource to, because India offers several advantages.

India has been a pioneer in providing outsourcing solutions and has been providing a range of outsourcing services to countries across the globe. Today, India can be called as the world’s outsourcing hub. Outsourcing to India can help your organization benefit from cost-effective services, high-quality services, reduced operating costs, greater flexibility and faster-time-to-market amongst others. These are just a few reasons why companies outsource to India. Another reason why outsourcing to India makes good business sense is because India has high-end technology and best-of-breed infrastructure. India has now become the world’s most preferred outsourcing location. India is also the global hub for software enabled services and software development.

Outsourcing to India can give your organization a competitive edge. The following are a list of reasons why companies outsource to India.
1. Cost-effective services
The numero uno reason why global organizations outsource to India is because India offers cost-effective services. Outsourcing to India can help you save more than half of your operating costs! India has a large, educated, trained and technically skilled manpower and this number only keeps growing every year. Unlike the west, where technical talent is rare, India has a large pool of highly-skilled professionals. Having a large technically skilled manpower has enabled India to provide cost-effective services without compromising on quality. Outsourcing to India, can help you save on your operating costs, while increasing your productivity, quality and efficiency.
2. High-quality services
India uses the latest in software, technology and infrastructure to provide global customers with high-quality outsourcing solutions. India has proved that it is technically superior when compared to other countries that provide outsourcing solutions. So, when you outsource your work to India, you can be assured that the best technology and software would be used for your services. India has the largest English-speaking audience after the U.S. India also has a highly educated manpower that is talented, educated, experienced, technically-skilled and computer literate. Outsource to India and be assured of high-quality services.
3. Time Zone Advantages
The time zone advantages between India and countries in the U.S and U.K has proved to be another important factor why companies outsource to India. Organizations who wish to provide their customer with 24x7x365 days customer support or helpdesk services can outsource to India.
4. India’s stable government
India has celebrated more than 60 years of democracy and has one of the world’s most stable governments. Building up the IT sector has been a top priority for the Indian government. India has a ministry of information technology that quickly approves the implementation of IT projects and streamlines regulatory processes. The Indian government has even released a bill termed as the “IT act 2000” India has been rated to have the most excellent investment potential in the coming years. The Indian government has given complete support to the IT and ITES industry in India. With ample support from the government, Indians have been able to build high-tech IT parks which has the best in technology and infrastructure. The Indian government has even permitted 100% foreign equity. India’s fast growing economy has been yet another reason why companies are outsourcing to India.
5. The Indian Advantage
Cost-effective services are one of the primary advantages that India offers, but it is not the only advantage of outsourcing to India. Outsourcing to India can give you access to professional and skilled outsourcing solutions within a fast turnaround time. By outsourcing to India, your organization can concentrate on core business activities and save on time, effort, manpower and infrastructure. More than 20 Indian software companies have achieved the prestigious SEI-CMM level. India also has the highest number of ISO-9000 software organizations. Outsource to India and give your organization a competitive advantage.
6. Global organizations’ most preferred choice
India has been the most preferred choice among global organization when it comes to outsourcing. In the U.S alone, more than 80% have ranked India as their first choice, when outsourcing software and IT services. The U.S has also recognized India as an outsourcing superpower. The number of organizations outsourcing services to India has only been increasing over the years. This is reason enough to outsource to India.

http://www.outsource2india.com/why_india/why_india.asp

Welcome

Welcome to our blog we are Alfredo Montiel , Fernanda Salazar , Karen Pacheo , Itzel Madero, Karina Limon, and Erika Fuentes we are starting our 4 semester at UVM high school in bicultural program , we would like toshare a lot of our experiences about different subjects we would dill with in our global culture class we woul also like for you to comment your ideas in our space so lucky reading.