Los Angeles Independent Media Causes Essay Example for Free

Los Angeles Independent Media Causes Essay The Los Angeles Independent Media Center is a website that allows for left wing issues to be reported and shared on the web for all to see. They have over two dozen different categories that people have reported on ranging from animal rights and anti-war to immigration and indigenous rights and issues. Arizona has a proportionally large number of illegal immigrants working in the state just like California. Naturally this was one of the categories that caught my eye. When reading some of the article I came across a story from 2007. It was a march in Los Angeles (LA) in which mostly immigrants participated. They were marching because they wanted to be treated just as fairly as the legal citizens of the United States. They preached that they have been working just as hard to contribute to the economy of this country. There are two sides to any story and this is true in this case as well. On one hand they are doing the jobs that normal Americans do not want to do but others argue that they are here illegally and should not have the same rights as legal Americans. These two sides will be debated for years to come until someone can come up with a reasonable solution that will satisfy both side. The idea of illegal â€Å"under the table† help is too engrained within our society that it would be impossible to eliminate the issue over night. Not only are illegal immigrants fighting for their rights, but in some cases so are Americans. In California Wal-Mart would contract with temporary job agencies to fill jobs working in warehouses. These workers can be exposed to toxic chemicals and extreme heat conditions. They are also sometimes not given the wages that they were promised. Because Wal-Mart uses third party companies to supply the labor they have in the part denied any wrong doing in the situation. Of course in this case there are no unions to represent the workers and them facing the threat of losing their job if they express their dissatisfaction of their working conditions. Some groups are not even worried with the thought of having a job; they just want to protect areas that have existed for hundreds of years. Kuruvungna means: â€Å"A place where we are in the sun† in the Tongva language. For thousands of years the Tongva people lived here in relative peace and harmony with their environment until the European invasion of the Americas. (Sunday, 2012) In 1992 a group of environmentalists was able to secure a piece of land that was located on a public school’s property for the low cost of one dollar a year. This piece of property contained a natural spring that once belonged to the Tongva people before they were forcefully removed. The spring is said to have natural healing powers as well as native fish species, fresh water crayfish, a 200 year old Mexican Cypress tree, oak trees, hummingbird sage and other native grasses. The group is trying to secure another long term lease for the same price. One of the more controversial issues of our times is the use of genetically modified foods for consumption. These foods consist of simple fruits and vegetable to more complex animals like cows and pigs. One major reason behind this is that scientists can modify items to produce more nutrient rich foods for consumption. Scientists can also produce animals that can be modified to produce medicine, organs for transplant, meat or even engineered pets. It seems like a good idea to have enough organs and such to go around so that way no one would have to wait for a transplant and in the long run saving human lives. The biggest debate is to determine whether a human life is more important than that of an animal. This debate has been going on for some time now and will probably keep going on especially since the US Food and Drug Administration has taken steps to allow for the sale of genetically engineered animals. One of the biggest issues we have in America is politicians supporting special interest groups and not the constituents they were elected to represent. The City of Fullerton California was faced with a lawsuit from a construction company after denying the company’s proposal to develop a more suburban sprawl in one of the last bits of natural ecosystems in Orange County. Initially the city council had voted to deny the request from the company. In a strange turn of events, a year later the city voted to settle with the company and approve the proposal. Currently citizens have collected signatures to get a referendum on the next ballot to hopefully overturn the city’s decision. Every year across the country we hear about budget cuts in the education system. Along with the cuts we also hear of colleges increasing tuition to cover basic costs. So the question remains how can a school cut costs because it does not have money yet at the same time raise tuition? People finally had enough and all across the country students were walking out of class in protest and joined their community members in protests at superintendents’ offices, city councils and board meetings to express their concern with all of the cuts that have happened. In recent months teachers have joined the effort, which has become inspiring that they seem to not have a concern for their jobs while they protest. Alas, the protests have had little success as we still see cuts being made and tuition is still being raised semester after semester. America is in the middle of a war and with that comes anti-war protests. Different groups have tried to use different tactics to draw attention to their cause. One group protests on thanksgiving while others have protested on Christmas ask the question: what would Jesus choose? One of the more powerful messages came from a group back in 2009. They staged a mock funeral precession honoring those American and Iraqi people who have died during the war time period. These protests have been so powerful that the president vowed to end the war if he was elected. The baby boomer generation has grown up with the knowledge that if they want their voice heard then they organize a protest or a walk. After a bad statement from a Canadian police officer in 2001, large groups of women took to the streets to get the word out about sexual assaults. The groups organized what they called a â€Å"Slut Walk. It is one of those situations in which they should have thought about how the name of their walk could be portrayed within the community. These walks have occurred throughout the world to include the US, Canada, UK, Australia and several European countries. These walks have had support from several large human rights groups such as Planned Parenthood, CA National Organization for Women and Peace over Violence. There are many different subjects for people to post article on that would spark criminal acts and public disorder. These subjects include Anti-War, Class War, Immigration, Police State, and Racism. These are all catalysts for groups to recruit people who believe in their cause. The best part about the website is that people can post at any time they wish. It also helps that the website has multiple links to other cities, states and foreign countries similar websites. This is crucial because it does not bog down the website with data and provides a worldwide platform for left wing issues and causes.

The Myth of the Old West Essays -- American History, Cowboys

Over the years, the idea of the western frontier of American history has been unjustly and falsely romanticized by the movie, novel, and television industries. People now believe the west to have been populated by gun-slinging cowboys wearing ten gallon hats who rode off on capricious, idealistic adventures. Not only is this perception of the west far from the truth, but no mention of the atrocities of Indian massacre, avarice, and ill-advised, often deceptive, government programs is even present in the average citizen’s understanding of the frontier. This misunderstanding of the west is epitomized by the statement, â€Å"Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis was as real as the myth of the west. The development of the west was, in fact, A Century of Dishonor.† The frontier thesis, which Turner proposed in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition, viewed the frontier as the sole preserver of the American psyche of democracy and republicanism by co mpelling Americans to conquer and to settle new areas. This thesis gives a somewhat quixotic explanation of expansion, as opposed to Helen Hunt Jackson’s book, A Century of Dishonor, which truly portrays the settlement of the west as a pattern of cruelty and conceit. Thus, the frontier thesis, offered first in The Significance of the Frontier in American History, is, in fact, false, like the myth of the west. Many historians, however, have attempted to debunk the mythology of the west. Specifically, these historians have refuted the common beliefs that cattle ranging was accepted as legal by the government, that the said business was profitable, that cattle herders were completely independent from any outside influence, and that anyone could become a cattle herder. In order to p... ...by the American government and rightfully rebelled. This rebellion, unlike the others, was successful, as Red Cloud forced the Bozeman Trail to be closed. Nonetheless, it demonstrates the American Government’s oppression of Native Americans. All in all, the treatment of the American Indian during the expansion westward was cruel and harsh. Thus, A Century of Dishonor conveys the truth about the frontier more so than the frontier thesis. Additionally, the common beliefs about the old west are founded in lies and deception. The despair that comes with knowing that people will continue to believe in these false ideas is epitomized by Terrell’s statement, â€Å"Perhaps nothing will ever penetrate the haze of puerile romance with which writers unfaithful to their profession and to themselves have surrounded the westerner who made a living in the saddle† (Terrell 182).

Assessment and identification Essay

Assessment and identification are key elements in education, in particular, special education. Assessing students is essential to knowing where to begin with a student. No matter what the student’s ability is or is being, they all need to be assessed. After the assessments are done and evaluated, a teacher should have a better understanding of what level of performance the students are in the classroom. More than likely not all students will perform equally. The child needs further identification, a teacher needs to initiate a meeting with that diagnostician and get the students started in the Response To Intervention (RTI) process. The child is identified and then an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) is created at and ARD(Annual Review and Dismissal) meeting. For Emotional or behavioral disturbed students, a BIP (Behavior Intervention Plan) is usually utilized to assist the child and teacher to â€Å"pinpoint† troubled times of the day or particular settings that are not productive for that child and their learning process. Once the ARD meeting has taken place and the modifications have been approved and relayed to the teacher, the learning can begin. Learning can either be successful or not, depending on the approach and strategies used by the teacher. In order for the teacher to accommodate for students with learning disabilities, here she must use differentiated instruction and multilevel assessments. Not all students can learn or perform at the same level. One might suggest strategies or approaches, such as creating a syllabus allowing the students to know what will be covered and assignments that will be expected of them throughout the course. A calendar should accompany the syllabus to assist the visual learners. Technology could be used to present information, and to assess students. This method is especially helpful for a kinesthetic learner or one that has dyslexia. Visual learners could also benefit from the use of technology. Assessments need to be multidimensional with all learners in mind. Of course, the modification and accommodations should align with the student’s IEP. Teachers must know how to create an assessment that is tailored for all learners and remember both the high and low scoring students. In all areas of instruction, whether it be the first time information is being presented or not, the assessment must be given in a way that is effective and efficient. They must always remember to† go as quickly as you can, but as slowly as you must. †

Who Are the Dalits

Even in the 21st century, an entire population in India and Hindu regions of Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh is often considered contaminated from birth. Called Dalits, they face discrimination and even violence from members of higher castes, or traditional social classes, particularly in access to jobs, education, and marriage partners. Dalits, also  known as Untouchables, are members of the lowest social group in the Hindu caste system. The word Dalit, meaning oppressed or broken, is the name members of this group gave themselves in the 1930s. A Dalit actually is born below the caste system, which includes four primary castes: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriya (warriors and princes), Vaishya (farmers and artisans), and Shudra (tenant farmers and servants). Indias Untouchables Like the Eta outcasts in Japan, Indias Untouchables performed spiritually contaminating work that nobody else wanted to do, such as preparing bodies for funerals, tanning hides, and killing rats or other pests.  Doing anything with dead cattle or cowhides was particularly unclean in Hinduism. Under both Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, jobs that involved death corrupted the workers souls, making them unfit to mingle with other people. A group of drummers who arose in southern India called the Parayan were considered untouchable because their drumheads were made of cowhide. Even people who had no choice in the matter (those born of parents who were both Dalits) were not allowed to be touched by those of higher classes nor ascend the ranks of society. Because of their uncleanliness in the eyes of Hindu and Buddhist gods, they were banned from many places and activities, as ordained by their past lives. An Untouchable couldnt enter a Hindu temple or be taught to read. They were banned from drawing water from village wells because their touch would taint the water for everyone else. They had to live outside village boundaries and could not walk through the neighborhoods of higher caste members. If a Brahmin or Kshatriya approached, an Untouchable was expected to throw himself or herself face down on the ground, to prevent even their unclean shadows from touching the higher caste. Why They Were Untouchable Indians believed that people were born as Untouchables as punishment for misbehavior in previous lives. An Untouchable could not ascend to a higher caste within that lifetime; Untouchables had to marry fellow Untouchables and could not eat in the same room or drink from the same well as a  caste  member. In Hindu reincarnation theories, however, those who scrupulously followed these restrictions could be rewarded for their behavior by a promotion to a higher caste in their next life. The caste system and the oppression of Untouchables still hold some sway in Hindu populations. Even some non-Hindu social groups observe caste separation in Hindu countries. Reform and the Dalit Rights Movement In the 19th century, the ruling British Raj tried to end some aspects of the caste system in India, particularly those surrounding the Untouchables. British liberals saw the treatment of Untouchables as singularly cruel, perhaps in part because they usually didnt believe in reincarnation. Indian reformers also took up the cause. Jyotirao Phule coined the term Dalit as a more descriptive and sympathetic term for the Untouchables. During Indias push for independence, activists such as Mohandas Gandhi also took up the Dalits cause. Gandhi called them the Harijan, meaning children of God, to emphasize their humanity. Following independence in 1947, Indias new constitution identified groups of former untouchables as scheduled castes, singling them out for consideration and government assistance. As with the Meiji Japanese designation of former Hinin and Eta outcasts as new commoners, this emphasized the distinction rather than formally assimilating the traditionally downtrodden groups into society. Eighty years after the term was coined, the Dalits have become a powerful political force in India and enjoy greater access to education. Some Hindu temples allow Dalits to serve as priests. Although they still face discrimination from some quarters, the Dalits are untouchable no longer.​