Idle No More

In Canada, the Idle No More Movement among "First Nations" (Canada's indigenous peoples)  is becoming more and more prevalent as Canada is passing new laws that nullify old treaties. The First Nations are protesting in public places by performing flash mobs and singing native songs. One chief has been starving herself for twenty-seven days until the prime minister of Canada schedules a meeting with her to revive the treaties.

These protests signify the bringing together of a community of people over a common cause. When I read about these protests I begin to understand the idea of community and imagined communities. The First Nation peoples drew their own borders before colonization, claiming their own territory. Once Northern America was colonized, those imagined communities disappeared and colonizers began to take their land and resources. These imagined communities meant nothing to the colonizers.

Now in modern times, the Canadian government is still trying to borrow resources and use native lands that they promised they wouldn't tamper with in their treaties. This signifies the continued abuse of treaties among colonizers and the colonized. As well, it shows that sometimes imagined communities aren't "imagined" by all and sometimes borders are abused.

The legitimacy of assimilation

 Last night I stayed up to watch a special on this annual holiday tradition from the Mexican culture, which as a Mexican American seems more distant to me as the years pass.  I wondered why this tradition aside from the religious aspect has stuck for so long? In those days (1500's), whilst many indigenous were still reluctant to convert to Catholicism, this one event changed the entire history of a country when hundreds of thousands of Aztec natives converted. The apparition is up for debate, but supposing it did happen, why did it happen to the lowly indigenous peasant, and not the superior holy clergy guy? Whatever the reason was, at that point the placement of racialization and denaturalization on indigenous by the Spanish, had been challenged and a shift of legitimacy was born. Hence, the melding and becoming what we know of as Mexican today. The connection is still there for many who migrate and feel like the Aztec who was trying so hard to assimilate to the new Spanish culture when they are trying to assimilate to the American culture as well. It is a need to become accepted by the new culture as well as keep a connection to the old.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/our-lady-of-guadalupe_n_2285175.html?utm_hp_ref=latino-voices

Not really "the good ol' days"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/bad-love-advice-_n_2279562.html#slide=1869828

Although it is meant to be funny today when we look at it, and it is, much of it was very real during the time the book was published. In this case we see how gender roles and disability were connected in those days. The ideology that in order to find a husband women shouldn't talk, they should just sit and look pretty because a conversation with substance was too much for us to handle. (Slide #6 & #12) But also, in slide #8 where it speaks of not becoming engaged to "someone who has a serious affliction of health" because of the possibility of children from "tainted stock was cruel". It was in those days a legitimate reason to not marry someone because they had some sort of disability and for women it was twice as hard when being a woman was a disability itself.

The Saddest Day for Disabled

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2012/12/06/nbc-republicans-make-disabled-people-cry-one-saddest-days-us-senate

The UN treaty which aimed to help disabled completely redundant to the Americans With Disabilities Act was turned down in Dec 4. The republican made many excuses for their act
like the fiscal cliff and fear that UN would strengthen its power. This reminded me of the lecture on disability and eugenics. It had a long history that the disabled received unequal treatment. Their rights were sacrificed when American exceptionalism used to eliminate undesirable “defectives” from the nation, and when US are against UN's impact on its households. Also, it made me feel like that US was an unique country so that other countries could not lie their influence on its politics.

Who the Best?

The commercial stars Kobe Bryant and Leo Messi who compete to impress a little child. It shows them doing crazy things so that the little kid will ask for their autograph instead. Also, towards the end of the commercial, Turkish Airlines advertise their airlines by saying "The best fly with Europe's Best Airline" having a self-made man overtone just like Kobe's quote "I just want to be the best, simple and plain." This commercial not only shows that Kobe wants to be the best in other competitions, but also shows, through Leo Messi and Turkish Airlines, that Kobe is not the only one trying to be the best. Should competitive attitudes to this extent be seen as a bad thing though?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/leo-messi-kobe-bryant-compete-impress-small-child-201213549--sow.html

Globalization Revolt Percolating?

In light of the globalization lectures we've had this past week, I came across an interesting article in the New York Times addressing how Apple will start to manufacture some Macs domestically. Apple is one of the few companies that are attempting to bring manufacturing back to the United States. Apple's investing over $100 million in the US and this may be from pressure Apple has been placed under to create jobs do to its economic influence, as the article goes to point out. Could this be the beginning of the globalization revolt? Even though it may seem inconceivable, right now, I definitely think it is a step in the right direction. Major brands and corporations didn't  just shutdown factories and establish industrial empires in foreign lands overnight. Rather, a few left and many followed. The factors of production may be less costly overseas, but there are also advantages of producing in the US such as quality and safe working environments. I think it would be cool one day to look at the back of an iPhone 20 (it's not a typo) and see the words "Designed in California" replaced by "Made in California."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/technology/apple-to-resume-us-manufacturing.html?hpw&_r=0

Women Cook, Men Work?

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/06/living/gender-toy-marketing-petition/index.html?hpt=us_c2

This article is about an Easy-Bake Oven toy being an issue because it seems as though it is  specifically targeted for girls. The product uses the colors pink and purple and the box has a picture of a girl playing with it. The problem with this toy wast that it reconstructs the ideology of women staying at home cooking and men going to work to make money for the family. Not only that, but I feel there is an ideology of color relations with masculinity and femininity. Because this product used pink and purple, it was considered a "girl toy." But would this problem be solved if they change the box and the colors they use? What do you think?

How parents, kids interact on Facebook

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/06/tech/social-media/facebook-parents-kids/index.html

This article reminded me of the idea, material culture. As a technical tool for sharing and communicating,facebook has become part of American life. The article listed out three findings: who friends whom, who talks to whom and what they say, somewhat reflecting how parent-child relationship changes as the child grows up and how different words are used by different genders.I think technology not only changes our lifestyle, constitutes who we are but also reflects our identities and habits.

The ugliest Air Jordans? You decide.

So I was reading an article today about the new Air Jordan xx8 expected to release in February of next year. They carry a $250 price tag and are billed as the lightest and most tested Air Jordans to date. Even professional NBA players are claiming that they really like the shoes. This things also look just god awful, and yet I already know people will pay the money for them. This got me thinking about what makes people go and buy these shoes. Is it an ideology that we have created were shoes dictate social status? The article's author Jeremy Thomas makes some interesting examinations,  "When it comes to style of a person, a pair of shoes can say a lot about them and the type of look they like to showcase. Money can usually dictate the kind of shoes women and men can buy and the stylish look they represent.  However, it just seems to be the brand name that sets expensive shoes apart from your everyday kicks." Perhaps this widespread desire for said shoes is a a result of the globalization of Nike brand , and subsequently the Air Jordan name. There are so many factors that it could be anything. Make I'm just weird and people actually find these things cool looking.

http://z6mag.com/featured/air-jordan-xx8-release-date-february-2013-unveiled-1616315.html

Today in Native American Studies we watched a film entitled "California's 'Lost' Tribes".  This film dealt with the different implications and viewpoints that go along with Indian gaming.  Several times during the film, the people being interviewed mentioned the American Dream and how the revenue brought in by the casinos helped the local tribes to achieve that.  It made me think about how many, many times throughout American history, the American Dream has been racialized and not accessible or achievable to everybody, as it claims to be.

Higher and Higher Technology

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/04/united-787-diversion-idUSL1E8N4CZP20121204

Since De la Pena's lecture, we have been making connections to America's drive to use technology and constantly beat the current standards. The transportation industry has been one of the most effected by electricity and technology. From the automobile to the plane, we now have the ability to see our entire "exceptional America" within a single life time. With the rapid desire to improve, however, mistakes are more common as well. A new plane, the 787, took flight after being approved for fly time and had to make an emergency landing. Luckily, it was able to land safely in a New Orleans airport, but this goes to show we are constantly trying to improve ourselves and our advances, and sometimes errors occur. We need to be cautious with the rate of progression to ensure that our health isn't compromised by our ambition.

Decreased Immigrant Birthrate

http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/category/immigration/

This article discusses how America's birthrate is currently at its lowest point in history.  This trend seems to be especially applicable to foreign born women not originally from the US; their birthrates have been on the decline for nearly 20 years.  In terms of our class topics, I feel that this topic relates to the concept of failing to achieve the American Dream.  As this article explains, there is a correlation between this drop in birthrate and the decreased wages given to immigrant families as compared to white families in America.  As seen with the Chang family in Typical American, this idea demonstrates that not everyone in America is rewarded equally for for their contributions to society.  In short, the smaller immigrant family sizes reflects the consequences of decreased wages, which in turn demonstrates the idea that some people receive more benefits from the same amount of work than others.