Disaster Sociologists Studying Katrina

In mid-September, John A. Barnshaw, a graduate student at the University of Delaware's Disaster Research Center, made his way to Houston and spent five days in the shelters in and around the Astrodome. He wanted to learn how families from New Orleans were making decisions about whether to return to their city.

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Welcome Back!!

Did I fail to say "Welcome Back!" to everyone?! Yes I did, so this is your welcome back to a new academic year.

I encourage you to keep your sociological perspective sharp by accessing some new additions to this "stuff" I call my work.

Sociology Interest Links This webpage is an extension of my class website. I keep this pretty up-to-date with some very good resources for the field of sociology. Don't forget to check it out. It's a good resource from writing term/research papers in the field of the social sciences, and of course, sociology.

My RSS Feeds Keep up-to-date with the current news events from around the world by visiting my RSS feeds. Before learning more about RSS feeds, check out these resources I have collected. Another good source.

If you don't know what RSS feeds are, go here.

Got additional resources I should add? Should me an email at chad.gesser@kctcs.edu.

Insights into New Orleans Flood

The devastation in New Orleans, LA has caught many people by surprise. For decades, New Orleans residents, elected officials, mimes, and musicians have suspected that such a storm as Katrina would cause utter destruction to the New Orleans metropolitan area.

For some up-to-date accounts to the rescue and recovery effort, click here.

To better understand how natural disasters result in collective trauma, and how communities and individuals deal with such circumstances, click here.

Break Time

Welcome all to the Blog that brings you exciting connections to items of sociological significance in our world. It's summer time here, and that means it is time for me to take a bit of a break. However, I'd love to hear any comments or suggestions you may have in my efforts to improve the offerings of this blog and its purpose useful. Send me a line at chad.gesser@kctcs.edu.

See you in Fall 2005, with maybe a few sundry items between now and then....

Social Class and Poverty: New report shows that child poverty is rising in rich countries

A new report published today by UNICEF finds that the proportion of children living in poverty has risen in 17 out of 24 industrialised nations of the OECD over the past decade. This amounts to some 40 -50 million children growing up below national poverty lines in the world’s richest countries.

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Social Class and the US Economy: The uneven burden of money's higher cost

By Ron Scherer
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

NEW YORK – The cost of being a borrower is rising.

As the Federal Reserve raises interest rates - as it is expected to do again Tuesday - everyone from students to car buyers to anyone carrying a credit-card balance will start to notice that lenders are charging more.

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Social Class and the US Economy: The uneven burden of money's higher cost

By Ron Scherer
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

NEW YORK – The cost of being a borrower is rising.

As the Federal Reserve raises interest rates - as it is expected to do again Tuesday - everyone from students to car buyers to anyone carrying a credit-card balance will start to notice that lenders are charging more.

To read the entirety of this article, click here

To access related sociological links, click here.

BRAZIL: Lack of Land Rights is Killing Indigenous Children, Say Activists

RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 14 (IPS) - ”We don't want charity or paternalistic projects,” stressed the leaders of the Guarani-Kaiowá indigenous community in the midwestern Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, where at least eight children have died so far this year from malnutrition.

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Globalization and Health

Mexico's Minister of Health talks about the role that disease, violence, and malnutrition play in the dialogue over global economic development.

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For blank and related sociological terms and concepts,
click here.

Global Population and Urbanization

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The human race is expected to swell from the current 6.5 billion to 9.1 billion people by 2050, with populations exploding in hungry developing countries and stagnating in rich nations, the United Nations predicted Thursday.

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Politics and Gender Equality in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, 2 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Two independent reports on domestic violence against women in Pakistan have found that the country is suffering increasing levels of abuse in spite of legislation to provide women with protection.


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European Union and the Global Economy

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission unveiled a plan on Wednesday to relaunch the EU's drive for economic supremacy, but quietly dropped the 2010 deadline set five years ago for a program that has been 'blown off course.'

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Click here for related sociological terms on the Economy and Global Stratification.

Politics: 1990 Constitutional Monarch, 2005 King-Less Republic?

BANGKOK, Feb 2 (IPS) - In May 1990, the winds of change that began with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and freeing of South Africa's Nelson Mandela, had reached the Himalayan Hindu kingdom of Nepal. The role of the god-king - the incarnation of Lord Vishnu - was challenged.

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Global economy: Free Trade Americas Agreement (FTAA) Sneaks into Summit Declaration

MEXICO CITY, Jan 13 (IPS) - The Summit of the Americas came to a close Tuesday in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey with a declaration asserting that the hemisphere-wide trade treaty should move forward according to plan because it will foment growth.

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Economy and Global Stratification: U.S. Reaches Pact With Central American Nations

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (IPS) - The United States and four Central American countries reached a so-called free trade agreement (FTA) on Wednesday, a deal critics say will cost U.S. jobs and transfer wealth from the already impoverished Latin nations to U.S. corporations.

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Global Economy and NAFTA: North American Deal Dismal After a Decade

WASHINGTON, Dec 26 (IPS) - After 10 years a deal that all sides say transformed trade and investment rules in North America has still produced far fewer positive results than originally promised, according to its critics.

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Click here for links addressing the Economy and Global Stratification.

Argentina's Economy Makes Progress: Economy and Global Stratification

In Argentina, there are signs of solid financial recovery three years after the country suffered devastating political and economic crises.

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To read related sociological terms and concepts click here for the section on the Economy or Global Stratification.

Peacebuilders span North America: Social Change and Conflict Resolution

The recent creation of the North American Peacebuilders Program, one of the first exchange programs of its kind in the world, is giving students...

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Mexico's Once-Dominant PRI Split Over Candidate: Mexico Politics

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Once compared to the Soviet Communist Party for its monolithic grip on power, Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party is now in turmoil over how to win back the presidency it lost in the 2000 elections."

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China: Strategic Policy and Marxism

BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Leng Rong said here Wednesday that his academy would stick to Marxism for guiding academic research.

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click here.

Citizens Against Government Waste: Politics and Special Interest Groups

I came across this site after reading a letter in the Jan. 23rd edition of the Messenger-Inquirer. Thanks to the reader for pointing this out! Below is the mission statement of CAGW.

"Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW's mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government. Founded in 1984 by the late industrialist J. Peter Grace and syndicated columnist Jack Anderson, CAGW is the legacy of the President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, also known as the Grace Commission. "

To visit this site click here.

To see related sociological terms and concepts on politics click here.

'Hookem Horns' sign has different meanings: Culture and gesture

By Jack Douglas Jr.
MKnight Ridder Newspapers


FORT WORTH, Texas -- President Bush, who's had difficulty at times holding alliances together, may have inadvertently ruffled feathers overseas by flashing a "Hook 'em Horns" sign during last week's inaugural parade.

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Sudan and Southern Rebels Sign Deal Ending Civil War: Social Conflict and Politics

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 9 - To cries of "God is great!" in Arabic and "Hallelujah!" the Islamic government of Sudan signed a peace agreement on Sunday with a Christian rebel group in the south that called for an end to one of Africa's fiercest and longest-running civil wars.

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click here for sociological terms related to social conflict.

Deforestation paves way in Brazil: Global stratification and culture

By Jan Rocha
BBC News, Brazil


Soya bean farmers in Brazil are demanding that a 600-mile-long stretch of highway, which runs due north through the Amazon region, should be paved so it can be used in all weathers. But environmentalists are alarmed at the plans to cut through the country's natural assets.

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click here for global stratification and culture related links.

Letter From the Americas: Learn English, Says Chile, Thinking Upwardly Global: Culture and assimilation

SANTIAGO, Chile - In many parts of Latin America, resistance to cultural domination by the United States is often synonymous with a reluctance to learn or speak English. But here, where Salvador Allende was once a beacon for the left, the current Socialist-led national government has begun a sweeping effort to make this country bilingual. Click here for the entire article.

Click here for the related sociological terms on culture and language.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Long, hard road to democracy: Democracy and development

BANGUI, 6 Jan 2005 (IRIN) - Preparations for democratic elections and efforts to restore security across the country featured greatly in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2004. Despite setbacks of insecurity and human rights violations, events in the year indicated that after years of instability, the country could be on the verge of democracy. Click here for the entire article.

Click here for the related sociological terms on politics and development.

The shifting politics of global giving: Stratification and Natural Disaster

A NEW BRIDGE: With the help of outside aid, Sri Lankans are rebuilding in Galle.Rumors and false information are complicating the clean up efforts along the southern coast.

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Latin American development: Immigration, economic development

BORDER ORDER: These three Mexican migrants crossed into the United States last April. They're some of the more than 10 million Mexicans currently in the US illegally. President Bush wants to pass a guest-worker program this year.


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China: Population

By Benjamin Kang Lim
BEIJING (Reuters) - China named the first baby born at a Beijing hospital Thursday as the 1.3 billionth person of the world's most populous nation, more than two decades after a one-child policy was introduced to keep its numbers in check.

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First hand account from Africa

Adventures in Africa: Saving the children

Part I of an ongoing series

Judy Lorimer has just returned from a month in Mali, West Africa, doing volunteer work for Save the Children. During her stay, she kept a journal, which we will run as a series of columns about Mali and Lorimer's work there. Her hope through this series is to educate our readers about what life in Rural Africa is like and to encourage you to consider sponsoring a child in the region, as she does, at the cost of $1 a day. Until last year, Judy was a teacher in Harvard. Now retired, she lives in Pepperell.

For the remainder of this article, click here.

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The outsourcing of American jobs: a timeline

This is a quick and easy look at the history of how the outsourcing of American jobs has become a critical piece of our economic development strategy. Thanks goes out to a former student of mine for pointing this out! Thanks Wendy!!!

Click here to visit the site.

Click here to visit additional links related to the economy and global stratification.