Friday, June 8. 2012

Today's schedule is B-AG-A-D-C

B Block Law 12 - Today is one of the last few days you have left to work on your project for the semester. Including today, you have four classes remaining to work on the project. Monday we'll finish the War of the Roses and that leaves next Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday for project work. Do not forget that this project is worth 40% of your term grade and that you've had almost two months to work on it. Keep up the good work.

A Block Social Studies 11 - Today we'll continue to work on questions: 1 from page 351; 1 and 2 a and b from page 357; question 1 from page 360 and question 1 from page 364. These questions deal with the cycle of poverty, the burden of debt, structural adjustment policies, and HIPC's (see the World Bank's list of HIPC's here). For an alternative view on the World Bank, the IMF, and HIPC debt see the New Internationalist March 2004 magazine article here.
After this review we'll look at vulnerable people in impoverished countries (women and children), health issues (including the HIV/AIDS epidemic), and foreign aid (CIDA). Don't be apathetic and feel hopeless! Is there something you can do? Check out the possibilities for Canadian youth at CIDA's Youth Zone.

D Block Criminology 12 - Today we'll move on to social order crimes, starting with what "obscenity" means. We'll look at the legal definition of "obscenity" so that we can understand the difference between the subjective and objective beliefs of obscenity. Immoral acts are distinguished from crimes on the basis of the social harm they cause. Acts that are believed to be extremely harmful to the general public are usually outlawed, whereas acts that only the harm the actor themselves are more likely to be tolerated. Acts that are illegal because they are viewed as a threat to morality are called public order crimes. I'll remind you that we already looked at the difference between what is deviant and what is criminal and this topic covers crimes that straddle the line between the two. People who lobby hard for their morals to become law are called moral entrepreneurs or crusaders. Think about Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD). From Craig Reinarman's article Social Construction of an Alcohol Problem:
 
The credibility of MADD, especially at its outset, was impeccable. The parents of children who have been killed in drunk-driving accidents are exceptionally strong symbols. There are few groups of victims who can inspire as much sympathy and adherence as the grieving mother. And this is one of the central foundations of MADD's success. The organisation was started in August of 1980 in Sacramento, California by a woman named Candy Lightner whose daughter had been killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver with multiple DUI (driving under the influence) convictions some 4 months prior. During the criminal proceedings Lightner was appalled by the apparent leniency and lack of concern demonstrated by the justice system towards drunk drivers and the rights of the victim. The campaign began with her tireless lobbying in the initial months and a strong push to make drunk driving a political issue where it had previously not been.

The power of moral entrepreneurs can be quite strong and we'll see that today. After we discuss moral entrepreneurs (crusaders) and then we will deal with the issue of prostitution in Canada. We will understand the different types of prostitutes (street walkers, circuit travelers, bar girls, brothels, call girls and escort services). We'll look at some high profile cases (former New York state governor Eliot Spitzer) and examine the reasons why people turn to prostitution. I'll have you answer the question:
Should prostitution be legalized? Why? If you believe it should be legalized, should all the forms of prostitution described in your text be legalized, or only a select few? If prostitution were legalized should government be able to exercise some control over it?

If there's time we'll examine the laws in Canada on obscenity - as related to pornography (Criminal Code section163 subsection 8 and the community standards of tolerance test) and ask the question "Does pornography cause violence?"  For help understanding just how far sex has infiltrated our modern society take a look at the article on canoe.ca about teen girls trading sex for favours.

C Block Geography 12 - Today you have a unit final on weather, biomes, climate, and ecosystems. If you came prepared, I am certain that you will have done well...No problems! I am certain that you will do well on this test as you've shown me that you can read and interpret a weather map with greater ability than most news "weather forecasters". The test will take the whole block, good luck.