Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Wednesday, March 11. 2020

Today's schedule is BADC

B Block Human Geography - So, our job today is to look at the differences between folk and popular culture and we'll do this through the lens of music, sport (soccer football, skateboarding, UFC) and clothing...

Popular Music (I know it's from 1971 but the video of the Marvin Gaye song below is of musicians from the world over singing a pop song)


Folk Music (Musicians from the Hawaiian Islands singing a song unique to the islands)


Football (not soccer)

I'm hoping that you are seeing some consistent themes in Human Geography this year. Remember that folk culture is traditionally practiced primarily by small, homogeneous groups living in isolated rural areas while popular culture is found in large, heterogeneous societies. Folk culture is influenced heavily by the environment that it develops in while popular culture depends less on the environment because it diffuses on a larger scale (globalization). With the larger globalized scale of popular culture (becoming more dominant), the survival of unique folk cultures is threatened...This is one of the themes I hope you are starting to see.

So...Customs in folk culture (such as provision of food, clothing, and shelter) are clearly influenced by the prevailing climate, soil, and vegetation (utilizing localized resources). Today we'll look at clothing, and then focus on the tragic story of Sulli

From the National Public Radio article Sudden Death Of A Young K-Pop Star Spurs Talk Of Action On Mental Health, Bullying
Women in the K-pop industry are particularly scrutinized and harassed accordingly online — whether for reading a book that allegedly promotes feminism, for wearing clothes that are too scandalous on stage, or even just for sporting a phone case that reads, "Girls can do anything." These types of "scandals" have been exacerbated as Korea experiences both a growing feminist movement and a backlash against it. Sulli was one of the most outspoken female celebrities on women's issues — after Korea's Supreme Court ruled that abortion should be legalized, she posted a message of support, drawing the ire of many online commentators.
This is a strong example of the conflict between folk and global culture. I have a question for you to answer about this in your week 7 work package today.

A & D Blocks Legal Studies - Today I'll have you work on questions 3, 4, and 5 from page 149  along with questions 2, 3 & 4 from page 154 of the AAL text. We'll then look at what a lawful search (not unreasonable) is and find out what search warrants are, how they are obtained and what your rights are connected to searches. To help I'll have you work in partners on the R. v. Clayton (2007) case on page 156 and on the R. v. Shankar (2007) case on page 159 in the All About Law text (that's the talky part of class, right?)

C Block Criminology - Today we'll look at terrorism.

The 2016 GTI (Global Terrorism Index) report reinforces the fact terrorism is a highly concentrated form of violence, mostly committed in a small number of countries and by a small number of groups. The five countries suffering the highest impact from terrorism as measured by the GTI; Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria, accounted for 72 per cent of all deaths from terrorism in 2015. Similarly, only four groups were responsible for 74 per cent of all these deaths; ISIL, Boko Haram, the Taliban and al-Qa’ida. While terrorism as a form of violence has a major psychological impact on the societies it touches, there are other forms of violence which are more devastating. Major armed conflicts resulted in more deaths in 2015 as well as the wholesale destruction of economies. The global homicide rate is 15 times the death rate from terrorism.

The 2019 GTI indicates the total number of deaths from terrorism declined for the fourth consecutive year in 2018, falling by 15.2 per cent to 15,952 deaths. This represents a 53 per cent reduction since its peak in 2014 when 33,555 people were killed in terrorist attacks. The primary driver of this reduction in the number of deaths from terrorism has been a fall in the intensity of conflict in the Middle East, and the subsequent decline of ISIL. The year-on-year fall in deaths mirrors a fall in the number of attacks, which dropped from 8,629 to 7,551, a 12.5 per cent decrease. Preliminary data for 2019 suggests that the decrease in both incidents and deaths from terrorism has continued, and that 2019 will have the lowest level of terrorist activity since 2011.

Fact-Check: Terrorism from Wolfram Friele on Vimeo.

Global Terrorism Index 2014 from Vision of Humanity on Vimeo.


Statistical analysis of the drivers of terrorist activity show there are two distinct sets of factors associated with terrorism, depending on whether the country is developed or developing.

The first set of factors which are closely linked to terrorist activity are political violence committed by the state and the presence of a conflict. The research finds that 93 per cent of all terrorist attacks between 1989 and 2014 occurred in countries with high levels of state sponsored terror, involving extrajudicial killing, torture, and imprisonment without trial. Similarly, over 90 per cent of all terrorist deaths occurred in countries already engaged in some form of conflict whether internal or international. This means only 0.5 per cent of terrorist attacks occurred in countries that did not suffer from conflict or political terror. This underlines the close link between existing conflicts, grievances and political violence with terrorist activity.

When analyzing the correlates of terrorism there are different factors that are statistically significant depending on the level of development. In the OECD countries, socio-economic factors such as youth unemployment, militarization, levels of criminality, access to weapons and distrust in the electoral process are the most statistically significant factors correlating with terrorism. This reinforces some of the well-known drivers of radicalization and extremism. In developing countries, the history of conflict, levels of corruption, acceptance of the rights of others and group based inequalities are more significantly related to terrorist activity. Some stuff to help with your questions:
What Motivates Terrorists?
Public Safety Canada Counter Terrorism
Terrorism threatens Canada
It’s time to talk about terror in Canada


I'll have you work on the following questions:
  1. Despite cultural awareness and various initiatives in schools and in the media, hate crimes continue to happen in significant numbers in Canada. Discuss the types of hate crimes most prevalent in Canada and the current responses to them. 
  2. Governments have tried numerous responses to terrorism. Discuss some of these responses. 
  3. It is unlikely that the threat of punishment can deter robbery; most robbers refuse to think about apprehension and punishment. Wright and Decker suggest that eliminating cash and relying on debit and credit cards may be the most productive method to reduce the incidence of robbery. Although this seems far-fetched, society is becoming progressively more cashless; it is now possible to buy both gas and groceries with credit cards. Would a cashless society end the threat of robbery, or would innovative robbers find new targets?
  4. Based on what you know about how robbers target victims, how can you better protect yourself from robbery? 

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