Friday, October 9. 2020

 Today's classes are: 

9:15 - 11:50 A Block Criminology

12:30 - 3:05  D Block Social and Environmental Sciences

A Block Criminology - Today you'll need to finish up your work on terrorism. For terrorism consider the following:

By design, terrorist attacks are intended to have a psychological impact far outweighing the physical damage the attack causes. As their name suggests, they are meant to cause terror that amplifies the actual attack. A target population responding to a terrorist attack with panic and hysteria allows the perpetrators to obtain a maximum return on their physical effort. One way to mitigate the psychological impact of terrorism is to remove the mystique and hype associated with it. The first step in this demystification is recognizing that terrorism is a tactic used by a variety of actors and that it will not go away. Terrorism and, more broadly, violence are and will remain part of the human condition. The Chinese, for example, did not build the Great Wall to attract tourists, but to keep out marauding hordes. Fortunately, today's terrorists are far less dangerous to society than the Mongols were to Ming China.



For more on this read Keeping Terrorism in Perspective at Stratfor
For information on terrorism check out:
Terrorism Watch and Warning
DHS Preventing Terrorism
Global Terrorism Database
FBI Terrorism
Counter Terrorism Canada
2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada
National Counterterrorism Center

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? 

Leaders of religious sects or cults may be psychopaths (charismatic) if they lead their followers to their deaths. This sub type often comes to believe in the fictions they create (which are often apocalyptic in nature) and are often irresistible (Jim Jones and David Koresh).

Today we'll watch an episode of Criminal Minds from Season 4..."Minimal Loss". In the episode two members of the BAU, Reid and Prentiss, are sent in undercover to investigate an alleged child abuse at an isolated property which is the home of a religious cult led by the charismatic Benjamin Cyrus. The real aim is to not only ascertain whether or not this is true, but also to look into the cult as a whole. The rest of the BAU, along with a plethora of other law enforcement agencies, are planning a raid on the compound, but when Cyrus gets wind of this, he imposes a lock down and unleashes a cache of weapons which make it pretty clear that he has no intention of being taken alive … and the same goes for his 'loyal' followers as well.

There are echoes to Waco Texas and David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidians.

D Block Social and Environmental Sciences - We have the learning commons / library booked for the entire afternoon. Your final assignment is to prepare for a round table discussion about what a renegotiated water compact should include. Instead of states you will be representing "user groups" (agriculture, municipalities, power generation, recreation, environmental organizations, Indigenous governments)

Consider all of the following for tomorrow's discussion...How much will groups have to share? Who will share it with? For what purpose should the water be used? Will it be sustainable in the face of growing populations and uncertain climate? How can we make our water use sustainable? Are there any conditions that need to be met before different user groups can use the water? The original pact for the river was made in 1922. What changes have occurred that would support changes in the pact today?

Remember that the river is a system where all the water is allocated and there is less water available as a whole. Giving more water to any one area or user group means less water available for everyone else. You know your groups. Today research the heck out of it, keep the questions above in mind and come prepared to participate on Wednesday in the discussion and come up with solutions. We will ask each group to explain their point of view first and then we will ask you to try to find a solution to increasing demand and dwindling supply. Consider:

What re-allocation schemes are feasible?
What changes regarding allocations and water rights should be made?
How would these changes impact other stakeholders?
Are all the many uses of the Colorado River compatible?
If not, what should the priorities be and why?
Are there fair ways to move water from one use to another?

California and the West prepare to get by on less water from the Colorado River
States sign short-term Colorado River drought plan, but global warming looms over long-term solutions

What kind of agriculture is practiced in the Colorado Basin? There are Six Types of Commercial Agriculture in MDC's (like Canada and the US): Mixed crop and livestock farming; Dairy farming; Grain farming; Livestock ranching; Mediterranean agriculture; and Commercial gardening and fruit farming. So in the Colorado Basin...

Agriculture provides extraordinary benefits for humans and consumes the vast majority of the Colorado River’s water. Diversions from the River for agriculture total about 78% of the River’s entire flow, almost 4 trillion gallons. Water is pumped in tunnels through the Continental Divide in Colorado to the vast irrigated plains of northern Colorado where it grows alfalfa and corn, much of which is used to feed cattle. Conversely, many times more water is pumped to the desert landscapes of southern California where it is used to grow vegetable crops that are shipped to grocery stores and restaurants across the United States.

About 90 percent of the pastureland and harvested cropland in the Colorado River basin is irrigated (NOTE Irrigated land ‐ includes all land watered by any artificial or controlled means, such as sprinklers, flooding, furrows or ditches, sub‐irrigation, and spreader dikes. This includes supplemental, partial, and pre‐planting irrigation).

From the 2013 Pacific Institute Study "Irrigated Agriculture in the Colorado River Basin"... 

More than half of the land and water use in the Colorado River basin is dedicated to feeding cattle and horses. Irrigated pasture and forage crops, used primarily to feed beef and dairy cattle and horses, cover about two million acres (60 percent) of the irrigated land in the Colorado River basin. Irrigated pasture and forage in the basin consume more than five million acre-feet of water each year. Nevertheless, Arizona, California, and Mexico’s 750,000 acres of forage crops and pasture in the basin consume roughly three million acre-feet of water each year.

Alfalfa, planted extensively from Wyoming to the delta in Mexico, alone covers more than a quarter of the total irrigated acreage in the basin. Arizona, California, and Mexico have more crop diversity than the other states in the basin, with hundreds of thousands of acres in vegetables, wheat, and cotton. Nevertheless, Arizona, California, and Mexico’s 750,000 acres of forage crops and pasture in the basin consume roughly three million acre-feet of water each year.

So what is an acre foot of water? How much water is that really? One acre foot = 325,851 gallons or 1233480.2 liters (one million two hundred thirty-three thousand four hundred and eighty liters) of water