Dylan

France is a country in the western part of Europe that borders 6 countries (8 counting Monaco and Andorra, but there is a big dispute if they are countries or not.) The countries are Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Italy. The capital of France is Paris which contains a great historical named “The Eiffel Tower.” France has 11 different ethnic groups including: Celtic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese, and Basque Minorities. People in France speak many languages, but the main one is French. France has a declining number of people who do not know their original language and dialect. Some people in France know. 85% of Frenchman live in urban areas. As of July 2011, France has a population of 65,312, 249. 0-14 year olds are 18.5% of France’s population, 15-64 year olds is 64.7% and 65 and over is 16.8%. France has a variety of religions. 85% of France is Roman Catholic, 2% is Protestant, 1% is Jewish, 5% are Muslim, and 4% don’t have a religion. People in France are living in a down economy. France is third in tourist income, mostly from foreign tourists. The unemployment rate in France is 9.3% with 6.2% of people living in poverty. France has many industries such as machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft and electronics. People say that France is a major tourist attraction spot because it is the art capital of the world. Some of France’s major exports are: machinery and transportation equipment, aircrafts, plastic, chemicals, iron, steel, and beverages. France sends their exports to Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, UK, and the US. Some of their major imports are machinery and equipment, crude oil, vehicles, plastics, and chemicals. France receives their imports from Germany, UK, US, Italy, Belgium, China, Spain, and the Netherlands. France has a Republic government. They’re government is split up into 3 branches: Judicial, Executive, and Legislative. The president of France is Nicholas Sarkozy. They have no official date of when their independence was founded, many people say sometime in the 1700-1800’s. On July 14th, France has a national holiday known as “Fete De La Federation” which began on that day in 1790. France’s Constitution was signed on September 28th, 1958, and it was put into effect on October 4th, 1958. A description of their flag would be a blue stripe down the left side, white stripe down the middle, and a red stripe down the middle of the right side of the flag.
 * France **

Terrorism in France

France has been afflicted with terrorism for a long time as of recent attacks by the Algerian’s. France is currently under a threat of terrorism by the Islamist terrorists. The French authorities have made the land so hostile that many of the terrorist groups that so many of them have relocated to Germany. France has been in the way of terrorism so much that they don’t look for ways to get it out of their lives, they try and manage it. This is done by years of intelligence and cop work to make sure terrorism doesn’t happen inside France.

This was tough at times because, terrorism isn’t a one layered extremist program. It’s more like a multi-layered terrorist operation that takes time and skill to execute such a plan to stop the terrorist activity. Operatives that were recruited in France were apart of the 1995 bombing attacks that left 8 dead, and around 150 wounded. Frances anti-terrorism police tracked down the bombers and let out an entire research program to find out what group they were apart of. In 1996, two ethnic Arabic suspects were arrested on the suspicion of being part of a failed car bomb attempt.

One of the suspects actually cracked under the questioning and told the truth about “The Gang of Roubaix” The group was a collection of Muslim militants (most of them were white French converts) who had been naturalized in trips to Bosnia. Robberies were put into place to pay for gun purchases, create fake ID documents. The group had recruited men for their “Holy War” to create staged attacks when told to do so. Fateh Kamel, a 40 year old Algerian, was arrested for the charge of suspicion of being in terrorist groups. It was later revealed the Kamel was an expert document forger, head of the Roubaix network, and had also spent time in Afghanistan where he came in contact with Bin Laden.

The French authorities don’t know for sure if Kamel worked for Osama Bin Laden, but they know for sure that Kamel was put in charge of creating fake ID documents and transported them to militants that were being created in Turkey, France, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, and North America. After Kamel was free, he traveled the globe for six months. The French Authorities and the Ant-Terrorism Police followed Kamel and took notes of everyone he met up with. Later Kamel and 23 other associates were convicted for suspicious activities related with terrorist enterprises. There was no proof that the services were from Bin Laden or not but the French police couldn’t take the chances.

French Terrorism Expert, Roland Jacquard said “The ones that truly believe are the ones that become suicide pilots. The ones who don’t, they end up with the grunt work of logistics, criminal activity, or gun running. Eventually, they’ll burn out. When they do, they’ll be valuable to intelligence people, if they are ever picked up.”

**__ France Gender Issues __**

French women have become recognized as assets of their jobs ever since the French Revolution. The easiest way to see gender issues is the way women have unpaid work. Men and women have different pays and different leave policies for leaves of absence for injuries, babies, or even conferences. The men earn 34% more than the women. The women are considered to be the mother and do household duties while the man is still considered the breadwinner, the man that makes the money and puts the food on the table. Gender issues affect the married women with kids and a full time job the most because they have to keep up a full job, take care of the kids, and do her duties around the house.

One thing that is able to lessen the burden of taking care of the kids and family is the Childcare options available to the kids in France. In France, women are expected to have a balanced life includes being able to take care of the family, cook dinner, help kids with their school work, commitments, obligations, duties around the house which takes an approximate 3-4 ½ hours and still have time for leisure activities. The gender document paper was adopted and is central to France’s gender policy. For things such as life expectancy, women will live about 7 years longer than men. For example, if you are a 30 year old woman living in France, you will have about 52 years of life left. Whereas, men will have about 45 years left.

The US and France’s gender equality and issues are very similar. Women have more freedom in the US. The women in the US are somewhat expected to do all of the household duties and take care of the family. Men in America do get paid more and women get paid less even though they both do virtually the same hours. For France, it’s about the same. The American woman stereotype is that women are expected to do the cleaning and make the food, women in France are expected to do them as well, it is said to be “their job.”

Gender Differences in politics remain the same. In 2000, a law was passed that required an equal amount of men and women on the political candidates list. However by 2002, the new law was still not taking hold of the new legislation of the country. Only The Green Party met the new quota.

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** Socio Economic Difficulties in France **

Poverty inFrance has fallen $60 over thirty years. The number of poor people in metropolitanFrance was estimated at 7.9 million people in 2006, which is about 13.2 percent ofFrance’s population. It is estimated that up to possibly 30 single parent families, mainly a mother and her children, live in poverty acrossFrance, with cities that have 20,000 inhabitants outside the larger Paris Zone, being hit the worst. The people that are less affected by the poverty are couples who have no kids at all. 6.4 percent of the couples with no kids are actually poor. Couples under the age of 25, have a standard living wage of 18,270 euros against 21,620, 3,350 euros less than a standard living couple.

Half of all French people receive a yearly income of €19,000 and 13 percent of them receive less than €949 a month. Unemployment continues to rise inFrance and has worsened income, wealth, and life outcomes of many French people. The poor people earn less than 780 euro a moth while the richest people earn more than 2,500 euro. For some poor people, the total year assets of that person might barley even exceed the monthly average of a rich person. Usually, the normal GPD per capita ofFrance was $35, 404 US dollars in 2006, which translates to about 28,000 Euros per worker per year.

On October 27th 2005, the riots began after two teens were electrocuted in a power substation after being chased by the cops. The poor people ofFrance started a revolt. They burned over 6,000 cars and more than 2,500 people were arrested in towns as far apart asParis,Lyon, Carpentras, andToulouse. Malik, one of the several young poor people said “France has two faces. The first is the one they show the world – we’re a democratic country, lots of museums, the Champs Elysees, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the good life, fine wine and all that. It’s not true. Here, it’s miserable poverty. We live here, we grew up here. And now we’ve burning it, they’re talking about doing this up, renovating that. But until we did anything, they’d left us for dead.”

On October 28th, 2005 Police inClichy fired tear gas into a mosque full of poor people and humiliated those who had fled the building. On the outskirts ofFrance, there are such places where poor people go to live and have limited to no access to vital resources like water and electricity. These places are called Bidnovilles.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/19/content_8574325.htm

http://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/2010/10/french-economic-inequalities.html

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=7779

http://www.eupedia.com/forum/showthread.php?24779-Gap-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-in-France

Brazil Brazil is a large country on the South American continent. It borders every country on the continent but Chile and Ecuador, Brazil also borders the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil’s main Natural Resources are iron ore, manganese, bauxite, nickel, granite, limestone, clay, sand, tin, and gold. There major exports to America are drilling equipment, and cotton fabric. There major imports are aircraft parts and raw cotton. The people in Brazil come from many different ethnic groups such as: African, Portuguese, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Indonesian. As f 2010, the overall population of Brazil is at least 190,000,000. Brazil has a younger ambiance since having a 93.2% of people from 1-50 and 6.7% of people from 51-UP. The total population for Brazil is 203,429,773 people. Brazil’s northern climate is normally warm, they rarely ever experience seasons. The reason that is, is because they live in the tropics, where it’s almost always humid and raining. The south has a cooler climate that reaches about 20c. They sometimes may get some snow or frost. The reason that is, is because they live outside of the tropics. Brazil has a well-developed economy, with their mining, agriculture, and manufacturing service. A lot of the food’s that are in our supermarket come from Brazil. And, Brazil’s economy is better than the rest of the South American countries. 26% of Brazil is in poverty while 6.7% is unemployed. In 2007 and 2008, Brazil hit an economic crisis. Their currency and stock markets saw a huge plummet. Brazil has a Federal Republic and their capital is located in Brasilia. They’re country is split into 3 branches: Judicial, Legislative, and Executive. Brazil’s president is Dilma Rousseff. Brazil received their independence on September 7th 1822, so like us; they celebrate their independence day on September 7th of every year. They got their constitution signed and passed on October 5th 1988. In the 1960’s Brazil had a dictatorship which means: One ruler who controls everything. Back then, people got along terribly, there was violence, police brutality, and hatred across the whole country. Brazil is still facing problems to this day from the dictatorship. There are still people who fight, and hate their entire country. The 2nd citizen right in Brazil is “No one will be beaten, abused or violently and humiliating tortured in anyway.” The main thing about the dictatorship is husbands treated their family with abuse and still do this day. That’s why the 1st citizen right is “Men and Women will be treated equally.

Terrorism in Brazil Brazil doesn’t necessarily contain any threat of terrorism, but a man named Khaled Hussein Ali lives in Brazil and is not considered a terrorist at all. The reason that is because they didn’t adopt the anti-terrorist law, so they don’t commit any sort of terrorism anywhere. There have been branching out and ties between Al-Qaida in Brazil, but most of them are financing jobs. Since Brazil is set to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, they have racked up their military and defense system since terrorism is a global concern.

When Brazil was on the brink of Civil War in 2008, President Dilma Rousseff and former President Luiz Inacio Lula Da were both arrested under the terms of fighting against the military dictatorship in 1964 to 1985. The President before Luiz Inacio Lula Da, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was exiled from Brazil for his activism. There has been one act of semi-terrorism. In 2002, three Chileans, two Colombians, and 1 Argentine were sentenced to 16 years of prison for kidnapping a Brazilian advertising executive. Manuel Rodriguez, a well-known terrorist, and Mauricio Hernandez were among those who were arrested and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

There has been a lot arrests on suspicion of local, national, and global terrorism. In 2002, The Brazilian Federal Police arrested individuals who were believed had ties to terrorist groups. In April, an Egyptian named Mohammed Ali Aboul-Ezz al-Mahdi Ibrahim Soliman (A.K.A. Suleiman) on charges of allegedly being tied with the 1997 Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiyya attack on the tourists in Luxor, Egypt. Later, the Brazilian Supreme Court released him due to insufficient data, evidence, and extradite. On September 14th, another suspect was arrested named Hesham al-Tarabili because of the same suspicion.

In January 2003, former President Fernando Cardoso proposed a revision of Brazil’s antiterrorism laws that would give out stricter punishments for those who are involved in terrorist groups. The Brazilian government has been cooperating in the efforts to stop terrorist related activities such as terrorism financing, document forgery works, and other suspicious activity. The Brazilian government and enforcements try to keep terrorists from using Brazil as a place to facilitate attacks and raise money for equipment for the attacks. The Brazilian government is achieving their goal thanks to investments in the border and enforcement to control the flow of goods, legal and illegal, through the TBA (Tri Border Area) of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay whose proceeds could be used for terrorist acts in Brazil.

** Gender Issues in Brazil **

Gender roles in Brazil depend on ethnic group, race, religion, place and residence, and sometimes gender. In Brazil, work opportunities for women are varies and available depending on social class, women are still expected to do all or most of the cleaning and cooking depending on if she is injured or has work to do, women are also told to not go to clubs and bars alone. The Brazil Constitution of 1988 says that both men and women have equal rights; the constitution also prohibits all forms of discrimination. It also sets out a way to get rid of domestic violence in many homes. Violence is a big problem in Brazilian women’s lives. The unemployment of Brazilian women and black Brazilian women is rising fast, more than the unemployment rate for males. The minimum age requirement for both men and women for marriage is 16 years old. Any lower requires parent or legal guardian consent. In a 2004, a poll show that 17% of 15-19 year old Brazilian’s were married, divorced, or widowed. In the event of a divorce, the child or children usually go to the mother. Brazilian women have the same inheritance as men. Violence against women is common and is a big social issue in Brazil. Ever since Brazil’s President Luiz Inazio Lula da Silva signed the “Maria Da Penha Law” in 2006, domestic violence against Brazilian women is being taken seriously. The law was named after a woman who was continuously beaten by her husband. This law changed the penal code in Brazil, allowing the aggressor to be arrested for committing an offense, but also decides if that aggressor’s freedom is a threat to the victim’s life. The usual outcome of the domestic violence trial is a 3-4 month suspended jail sentence followed by an attendance of 20 group therapy sessions at a group named SerH. The therapy group consists of 20 men who have all committed gender based violence. The group therapy aims to help the aggressors of the violence to open up and reflect on their behavior and think of ways to substitute anger and violence with communication and relationship controlling. Today, 40% of women in Brazil have jobs outside of the home and 2% of them are higher executive jobs. Women are mainly hired in low-skill, low paying jobs in electronics and textiles. The poor women with no male figure in the home have to take whatever job is available.

GRAPHIC LINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_gender_pay_gap,_by_sex,_race-ethnicity.001.png



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** Socio-economic Difficulties in Brazil **

Dylan Greenfield

Brazil is split into two different classes, the very rich and the very poor.

Poverty is widespread in Brazil even though the country is an important agricultural and industrial power. Poverty affects about 51% of Brazil in Rural areas. Approximately 19% of the total population (36 Million) people live in rural areas; this means that Brazil has about 18 million poor rural people which is the largest number in the Western Hemisphere. In that region, 58% of the total population and 67% of the rural population is poor. Northeast Brazil is the poorest part of Brazil and is the focus of IFAD’s (International Fund for Agricultural Development) activities.

Brazil is made into 7 socio-economic levels. “A” is for the very rich and is the highest point of social class. “B” is for the moderately rich and is the 2nd highest social class. “C1” is for the higher paid families, not rich, but they have money to afford higher class things and it is the 3rd highest class. “C2” is for the middle class, Brazil has a very little middle class but it’s still there. “C3” is for the poor people that can’t afford much. “D” is moderately poor people that can barely afford food and clothing. “E” is for the very poor people that can’t afford anything at all.

Poor rural parts of Brazil live in a place with bad living conditions such as: hospitals and schools are not stably ready, water supply is usually tainted and the sewage system is inadequate, and rural people face serious constraints in accessing technology. The most vulnerable and poorest people there are in Brazil are the women, young adults, and domestic people. The households that are controlled by women account for 27% of Brazil’s poor rural people. Either because they’re husbands go across to other parts of Brazil in search of work and employment, or because they are single mothers who don’t have a high paying job to support her family. Child Labor is still common in some parts of Brazil.

One of the main causes of poverty in Brazil is because of extreme inequality of land occupancy. Poor people in rural Brazil do not have enough land. Many people lose their homes, jobs, and income and have to move to larger cities across the coast. Another major cause is lack of access to the proper education and skills training to get a higher paying job. Since they can’t get the proper training for the proper job, they have a few less job opportunities.

They are many people who are living without any sort of shelter, so they live on the streets. The warm climate makes it possible for the Brazilians to spend a lot of time outside.

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