Happy New Year! As promised months and months ago, here are the electronic readings from U.S. Interventions in Latin America (summary of non-electronic reading here):
http://www.4shared.com/dir/864644/f5dc0c72/US_Interventions_in_Latin_America.html
Sorry for the free service. Don't want to get![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
telophase in trouble by putting copyrighted material on her webspace. This will not be the complete commentary I wanted it to be, but here are the highlights.
Stern - Remembering Pinochet's Chile
Okay, this is not actually a must-read, I just felt like copying out parts of my paper on it. ^^; Generally I dislike books like this, which do not allow the reader to form independent conclusions.( Read more... )
Marti - A Letter to Gonzalo Quesada
Jose Marti is like, really smart. ^^ reading through the articles on Puerto Rico, one of the things you wonder is how come no one on that island had the foresight to see that even when the U.S. says and/or believes it is doing good, the government acts in its own best interest -- which is not necessarily your best interest. Anyway I suppose I should refrain from fangirling Marti too much, but it's really hard, because he is so awesome.
Franqui - Diary of the Cuban Revolution
A collection of Castro's letters from when he was imprisoned. He talks about all the great books he's reading, classes he's running, uprisings he's organizing; you get the impression that being thrown in jail was the best thing that ever happened to him. ^^; There's also a section about working for the country even if all your family and four-fifths of your acquaintances disown you that I found pretty...telling. Ahaha.
Also this was the week I was supposed to present on the reading but because we were behind on last week's reading and also there was a movie (can't remember the title, but it was pretty good) to watch, I did not get to showcase even one of my awesome, carefully-thought out questions. ^^; therefore I am spamming this journal with the discussion-openers I prepared. (Hey, they double as commentary!) ( Spaaaaaaam )
Renda - Taking Haiti
Discussion of the psychology of individual marines in Haiti, as seen through letters. Attempt to understand institutional racism at an individual level.
Burnett - Foreign in a Domestic Senes
About the weird mental contortions the US engages in where Puerto Rico is concerned.
Klein - Baghdad Year Zero
From Harper's. One thing most of the other articles we read for this section failed to do was provide a reason beyond a vague dream of regional conquest for the White House's decision to invade Iraq -- generally the articles were concerned with the U.N., or with the spiraling effect of policy on intelligence, or with American under-planning, or with the Iraqi's natural urge to revolt against an occupying force. Naomi Klein takes a different route, and focuses on the economic realities of Iraq after the invasion.( Read more... )
***
In cases where there's a country for which I haven't given a favorite article, the electronic reading was probably optional, meaning I didn't do it. Exception: Philippines -_- I uh, had to much on my plate that week to really get into the reading. Mostly I skimmed it. To the Filipinos reading this, I'm sorry! To make up for it I am in a class this semester titled U.S. Occupation of the Philippines. ^^; Which actually, I wasn't going to mention at all because it is so incredibly embarrassing.
However I am saying it anyway because I figure the time has come to admit that livejournal has changed me in ways that go way beyond fandom. It's changed my interests, my opinions, my habits (IN WAYS THAT ARE TOO HORRIBLE TO CONTEMPLATE) and probably even my future. Though livejournal did not create, for instance, my tendency to be a spaz, I seriously believe that it has deepened problems that were already there. ^^; Also, my grades suffered a lot.
Overall, however, I do think that I am happier. More miserable too, at times, but I figure that this is part and parcel of having an actual emotional life. It's hard for me to overstate just how much of my life was lived through books before I found livejournal. Now, of course, significant portions of my life are lived through computers -- but with the internet, at least, there are actual people on the other end.
Wow, was that sappy or what?
Resolutions: Calisthenics twice a day. Aerobic exercise three hours a week. No all-nighters with nothing to show for it. And NO LATE PAPERS.
http://www.4shared.com/dir/864644/f5dc0c72/US_Interventions_in_Latin_America.html
Sorry for the free service. Don't want to get
telophase in trouble by putting copyrighted material on her webspace. This will not be the complete commentary I wanted it to be, but here are the highlights. Stern - Remembering Pinochet's Chile
Okay, this is not actually a must-read, I just felt like copying out parts of my paper on it. ^^; Generally I dislike books like this, which do not allow the reader to form independent conclusions.( Read more... )
Marti - A Letter to Gonzalo Quesada
Jose Marti is like, really smart. ^^ reading through the articles on Puerto Rico, one of the things you wonder is how come no one on that island had the foresight to see that even when the U.S. says and/or believes it is doing good, the government acts in its own best interest -- which is not necessarily your best interest. Anyway I suppose I should refrain from fangirling Marti too much, but it's really hard, because he is so awesome.
Franqui - Diary of the Cuban Revolution
A collection of Castro's letters from when he was imprisoned. He talks about all the great books he's reading, classes he's running, uprisings he's organizing; you get the impression that being thrown in jail was the best thing that ever happened to him. ^^; There's also a section about working for the country even if all your family and four-fifths of your acquaintances disown you that I found pretty...telling. Ahaha.
Also this was the week I was supposed to present on the reading but because we were behind on last week's reading and also there was a movie (can't remember the title, but it was pretty good) to watch, I did not get to showcase even one of my awesome, carefully-thought out questions. ^^; therefore I am spamming this journal with the discussion-openers I prepared. (Hey, they double as commentary!) ( Spaaaaaaam )
Renda - Taking Haiti
Discussion of the psychology of individual marines in Haiti, as seen through letters. Attempt to understand institutional racism at an individual level.
Burnett - Foreign in a Domestic Senes
About the weird mental contortions the US engages in where Puerto Rico is concerned.
Klein - Baghdad Year Zero
From Harper's. One thing most of the other articles we read for this section failed to do was provide a reason beyond a vague dream of regional conquest for the White House's decision to invade Iraq -- generally the articles were concerned with the U.N., or with the spiraling effect of policy on intelligence, or with American under-planning, or with the Iraqi's natural urge to revolt against an occupying force. Naomi Klein takes a different route, and focuses on the economic realities of Iraq after the invasion.( Read more... )
***
In cases where there's a country for which I haven't given a favorite article, the electronic reading was probably optional, meaning I didn't do it. Exception: Philippines -_- I uh, had to much on my plate that week to really get into the reading. Mostly I skimmed it. To the Filipinos reading this, I'm sorry! To make up for it I am in a class this semester titled U.S. Occupation of the Philippines. ^^; Which actually, I wasn't going to mention at all because it is so incredibly embarrassing.
However I am saying it anyway because I figure the time has come to admit that livejournal has changed me in ways that go way beyond fandom. It's changed my interests, my opinions, my habits (IN WAYS THAT ARE TOO HORRIBLE TO CONTEMPLATE) and probably even my future. Though livejournal did not create, for instance, my tendency to be a spaz, I seriously believe that it has deepened problems that were already there. ^^; Also, my grades suffered a lot.
Overall, however, I do think that I am happier. More miserable too, at times, but I figure that this is part and parcel of having an actual emotional life. It's hard for me to overstate just how much of my life was lived through books before I found livejournal. Now, of course, significant portions of my life are lived through computers -- but with the internet, at least, there are actual people on the other end.
Wow, was that sappy or what?
Resolutions: Calisthenics twice a day. Aerobic exercise three hours a week. No all-nighters with nothing to show for it. And NO LATE PAPERS.