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Introduction to Media Literacy: Crash Course Media Literacy #1

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Summarize five why the Darien Gap is the most dangerous jungle on the planet.

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Economic insecurity, political upheaval, violence, and climate change are driving record numbers of migrants from their home countries, according to UN experts. At the same time, the lifting of COVID-19 border restrictions has reopened many travel routes across Latin America. Most migrants are ultimately headed for the southern U.S. border, where they hope the Joe Biden administration will grant them asylum. But many coming from the Caribbean and South America first have to cross the sixty-mile-wide Darién Gap, the only break in the Pan-American Highway that otherwise stretches uninterrupted from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina.

Experts say the number of people risking their lives to cross the gap is expected to increase as socioeconomic conditions continue to worsen across the region. Since a devastating earthquake rocked Haiti in 2010, for instance, tens of thousands of Haitians moved to South America, where they have faced discrimination and economic difficulties. In 2021, 61 percent of migrants traversing the Darién Gap were from Haiti. That number dropped to 9 percent in 2022, though the country continues to endure gang violence, political instability, and the repercussions of a recent earthquake. Meanwhile, the number of Venezuelans crossing the gap has sharply increased as the humanitarian situation in their home country grows more dire.

In 2023, the total number of migrants crossing the gap could soar to as many as four hundred thousand, a record high. As of July, over 251,000 migrants have already made the trek; this is more than the entirety of 2022.

Once in Acandí, migrants will head for the Darién Gap jungle, a dangerous hike that can take ten or more days. Many pay to be led by local guides, or "coyotes." Along the route are smugglers and criminal groups, including members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Gulf Clan, a paramilitary group and Colombia's largest drug cartel. These groups often extort and sexually assault migrants. "Deep in the jungle, robbery, rape, and human trafficking are as dangerous as wild animals, insects and the absolute lack of safe drinking water," Jean Gough, regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), said in an October 2021 news release. "Week after week, more children are dying, losing their parents, or getting separated from their relatives while on this perilous journey." UNICEF estimates that half of the children who crossed in 2022 were under five years old, and at least one thousand were unaccompanied or separated.

But to get to the United States, migrants have to cross half a dozen more borders, where they face the risk of being stopped or deported. Even if they reach the southern U.S. border-a journey of roughly 2,500 miles over Central America alone-many are expelled back to their home countries under Title 42, a policy that denies migrants asylum on pandemic-related grounds. Ahead of the scheduled termination of Title 42 in May 2023, however, U.S. officials announced they had struck a deal with Colombia and Panama to shut down the Darién Gap route. As part of the plan launched in June, Panama's government will dedicate some 1,200 immigration agents, border police, and naval air service members to combat transnational organized crime in the jungle.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of migrants continue to flee worsening poverty and unrest in the so-called Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. U.S. border authorities reported that they apprehended more than 2.3 million people along the border during fiscal year 2022, a record high

This Backgrounder examines how foreign intervention, political instability, and natural disasters have stymied Haiti's development.

This video by PBS NewsHour follows special correspondent Nadja Drost and videographer Bruno Federico as they travel through the Dari é n Gap in August 2020.

For Foreign Policy, former Panamanian Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes lays out several ways in which Western Hemisphere nations can address increased migration.

This brief by ACAPS looks at the increase in migrant traffic [PDF] through the Darién Gap.

At this CFR event, panelists discuss climate change's implications for mass migration.

This CFR InfoGuide examines the global migrant crisis and the strains it is placing on the international refugee system.

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Crossing the Darién Gap: Migrants Risk Death on the Journey to the U.S.

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Tens of thousands of migrants from Haiti, Venezuela, and elsewhere risk their lives each month to cross the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama. Images from along the journey show the dangers they face.

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Media Literacy: Influence And Persuasion

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Media Literacy: Influence And Persuasion

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Influence & Persuasion: Crash Course Media Literacy #6

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What can you do to generate more coins by next Monday?

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Rollercoaster Tycoon Touch - Official Atari Video Games

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Discover classic consoles and cartridges, modern titles and never-before-seen art and collectibles from Atari.

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Yesterday, we read about Disney's "The Jungle Cruise!"

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Yesterday, we read about Disney's "The Jungle Cruise!"

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Disney Will Remove Jungle Cruise Ride’s Colonialist Depictions of Indigenous Africans

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The entertainment conglomerate announced plans to revamp the attraction, which has drawn increased scrutiny in recent months

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Today, let's read about a LeBron James controversy!

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Today, let's read about a LeBron James controversy!

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Back From China, LeBron James Speaks Out On NBA Controversy

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James said he believed Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey “wasn’t educated on the situation at hand” when he expressed support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

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RAZO7110

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We will split into teams and earn points by accurately responding to or elaborating on the following questions:

1. The article states that the Jungle Cruise's original designers were influenced by media like the 1951 film The African Queen and Disney's own nature documentaries. How did the colonial-era stereotypes normalized by such media cause the inclusion of specific characters and scenes, like "Trader Sam" and the "spear-wielding African 'headhunters'", and what was the long-term effect of these creative choices on the ride's public perception?

2. The text suggests that criticism of the Jungle Cruise "ramped up" after Disney announced major changes to Splash Mountain. Analyze this cause-and-effect relationship: How did the specific announcement regarding Splash Mountain cause increased public scrutiny and social media attention to be focused on the Jungle Cruise, and what effect did this external pressure have on the timing and official reasoning for the Jungle Cruise overhaul?

3. Disney executives state that a primary cause for the ride's update is their "responsibility to ensure experiences we create and stories we share reflect the voices and perspectives of the world around us." What are the intended effects of removing the stereotypical depictions and adding a new narrative centered on a "wise-cracking 'skipper character'"? Discuss how these changes might affect the ride's comedic tone, storytelling, and cultural reception.

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Beginner's Guide to Composting | One Small Step | NowThis

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What is a World's Fair? A quick explainer.

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Why does the USA no longer participate in the World's Fair?

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Why does the USA no longer participate in the World's Fair?

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Find 5 reasons for the "fall" of the World's Fair in the United States.

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Sixty years ago, the " World of Tomorrow " was born.

On April 21, 1962, the city of Seattle opened its very own world's fair: the Century 21 Exposition. Spanning 74 acres in the urban heart of Washington, the celebration of human ingenuity arrived at a pivotal point in American history, at the height of the Cold War and the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Defined broadly as large, multicultural expositions showcasing the latest and greatest achievements of their host nation, "world's fairs are generally part of a reaction to social dislocation, political upheaval and deep anxiety about the future," says Robert W. Rydell, a cultural historian and the author of All the World's a Fair. "When they first began back in the middle of the 19th century, they were overwhelmingly perceived by both organizers and visitors almost as 'world's universities.'"

At a world's fair, visitors could find inventions testifying to the host nation's industrial progress alongside exhibitions of wonders from around the globe: a replica of a Viking ship from Norway, Māori carvings, artifacts excavated during archaeological digs in Latin America. In the words of President William McKinley, "Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. They record the world's advancement [and] open mighty storehouses of information."

By the time of Century 21, world's fairs had transformed into "sites of entertainment," says Rydell. Though entertainment, rather than education, was the main goal of later expositions, the fact remained that world's fairs were "where people [could] go to learn about ways the world [was] heading."

Also known as the Seattle World's Fair, Century 21 was in many ways no different from its predecessors. Its showcases-designed by architects, corporate leaders and cultural tastemakers-spotlighted a glorious, Cold War-era vision of what the U.S. (and the world) might look like after embracing Space Age technology and mass consumption. Collectively, these displays asserted the strength of the American way of life.

But the confidence of Century 21 belied a deep-seated national fear. The Soviet Union was ahead in the Space Race after successfully launching , the first artificial satellite, in 1957. America, says Rydell, needed the world's fair to reinstill its faith in itself.

"The purposes of the fair have been taken over by other mediums," says Lydia Mattice Brandt, an architectural historian at the University of South Carolina. "The way that [fairs] offered fantasy ... is today so easy to get in other ways, whether it's physical experiences like theme parks or movies [and the] internet."

Outside of the U.S., particularly in Europe and Asia, world's fairs remain popular. In cities like Milan, Dubai and Shanghai, host nations have used these grand expositions to express their guiding values and show off the very best of their countries to the rest of the world. Today, this mission is more vital than ever, argues Mina Chow, an architecture expert at the University of Southern California and the director of the documentary Face of a Nation: What Happened to the World's Fair?

"The world expo movement has always been about the best of human civilization," says Chow. "Right now, we're living through some of the worst of it. ... [The world's fair is] something that we need to celebrate why we belong together."

Generally speaking, world's fairs are split into three eras: industrialization (1851 to 1938), cultural exchange (1939 to 1987) and nation branding (1988 to the present). The first world's fair took place in London in 1851. Dubbed the Great Exhibition of the Works of All Nations, it was "an act of some hubris, ... an expression of confidence when so many people were deeply anxious about where industrialization was taking the world," says Rydell.

Held in the Crystal Palace, a massive cast iron and glass structure constructed especially for the occasion, the fair demonstrated the global reach and might of the British Empire through attractions such as a predecessor of the modern fax machine, the " Trophy Telescope" and what was then the world's largest known diamond. Similarly ambitious expositions in Paris, Chicago, New York City and other metropolises followed; at these fairs, the spoils of colonialism often took center stage, with " human zoos" featuring Indigenous residents of colonized countries reinforcing racist conceptions of Western and white supremacy.

"Diversity characterized the expositions, and this heterogeneity was part of their attraction," writes Rydell in All the World's a Fair. "[But it] was inseparable from the larger constellation of ideas about race, nationality and progress that molded the fairs into ideologically coherent 'symbolic universes' confirming and extending the authority of the country's ... leadership."

Like the Great Exhibition, Century 21 embodied a vision of imperial greatness: that of the U.S. at the height of the Cold War. Planning for the fair began in the mid-1950s, when Seattle civic leaders proposed a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (itself a world's fair) to boost the city's faltering economy.

The most striking-and lasting-aspect of this (and any other) world's fair was its architecture, which imprinted organizers' ideals and values onto the built environment. At Century 21, the fair's motto, "Living in the Space Age," was evident in its emblem: the 605-foot-tall Space Needle. "It was as if a spaceship from a friendly future had landed in our own backyard," recalled fair attendee Knute Berger in 2012.

Constructed by architectural firm John Graham & Company in just eight months, the tower's sleek design marked it as a monument to America's vision of a technologically advanced, capitalist future. With a dizzying height, narrow frame and flying saucer-shaped observation deck, the needle appeared poised to shoot into the stratosphere, visually assuring visitors that the U.S. would prevail in the Space Race. Other modern marvels, like the Seattle Center Monorail and the "Bubbleator" (a large, bubble-shaped hydraulic elevator), kept visitors impressed with the fair's futurism while transporting them throughout the exposition.

Century 21 showcased the forefront of American scientific achievement. The federal government's investment in the fair went primarily toward construction of a six-acre U.S. Science Pavilion. Dedicated to both educating and enthralling visitors, the pavilion boasted a planetarium that simulated a trip to outer space for up to 750 spectators four times an hour and a NASA exhibition featuring Friendship 7, the capsule that carried astronaut John Glenn on the U.S.' first orbital spaceflight in 1961.

Carnival rides, live shows and a wide range of entertainment options rounded out the fair's offerings. At the " Gayway," visitors chose from 20 rides, including a sideways roller coaster and the 95-foot-tall "Space Wheel." In between stomach-dropping trips to the Gayway, guests could catch performances by Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and the Ringling Brothers Circus, in addition to two live telecasts of "The Ed Sullivan Show."Other attractions included Backstage USA, a stage production featuring scantily clad showgirls, and a 25,000-pound cake that stood 23 feet tall.

Taken together, these features of Century 21 celebrated a particularly American understanding of the world, premised upon the mastery the U.S. (supposedly) enjoyed over all things architectural, technological, commercial and cultural. Above all, the fair was nationalistic in the same way previous world's fairs had been. It showcased a vision of America designed to reassure the country of its greatness and assert its vitality on the world stage. Century 21 was the built, experienced realization of postwar American ascendance.

In the decades since the Seattle World's Fair, theme parks and the Olympic Games have fulfilled many of the purposes of world's fairs, replicating the lived sensations and awe-inspiring architecture that made Century 21 exciting. The Disney World theme park Epcot, for instance, is practically a permanent world's fair, boasting a " World's Showcase" of 11 countries and a massive geodesic sphere modeled after the Biosphere designed by Buckminster Fuller for Expo 67 in Montreal. The park's name originally stood for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, clearly echoing the "World of Tomorrow" embodied by Century 21.

As scholar Steve Nelson wrote in 1986, Epcot is one of many "sophisticated entertainment complexes in which performance and theatrical techniques play vital roles in communicating cultural and political messages." In Nelson's view, the "performative attractions of Epcot ... are the descendants of traditional world's fair presentations."

Despite their diminishing popularity in the U.S., world's fairs continue to take place across the globe. They remain popular for the same reasons they were in 1851: Simply put, fairs act as powerful affirmations of national identity that reassure host countries and dazzle international audiences. In 2010, an expo in Shanghai welcomed over 73 million visitors to the largest world's fairgrounds ever, spanning a staggering 2.5 square miles. Delayed due to Covid-19, Expo 2020, in Dubai, concluded less than a month ago with a spectacular closing ceremony. The fair hosted more than 24 million visitors over its six-month run.

According to Chow, America hasn't hosted a world's fair since 1984 because it simply hasn't seen the medium as worthy of investment. Following the end of the Cold War, when the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower, it became difficult to justify the cost of hosting a grand exposition for the sake of national reassurance and public diplomacy. (Century 21 turned a profit, but a 1964 fair in New York lost a significant amount of money.) What more was there to prove to the public? The U.S. had already won.

Chow's documentary The Face of a Nation follows the decline of the American world's fair at the governmental level, exploring how the State Department has increasingly sold its pavilions-spaces representing the U.S. at other nations' expos-to the lowest corporate bidders. "The film asks what is the image Americans portray to the world," said Chow in a 2014 statement. "We've stopped participating in one of the biggest soft power exercises there is."

Adding to the financial risk of hosting a world's fair is the rise of mass media, which has replaced expositions as a way of showcasing new technologies and products. "[This was] the kind of thing that would've happened at a world's fair before," says Brandt.

The future of the world's fair in America remains uncertain. According to Rydell, however, the uncertainty of the era might actually make its return more likely. He asks:

Are Americans satisfied with their economy? Are they optimistic about the future? Do they have any anxieties about social justice, about climate change, about nuclear warfare? Or have all of those issues just disappeared? Are Americans basically happy in each other's company? If the answer is yes, then no, there will never be another fair in America. But if the answer is things are still unsettled, and people are still anxious to some large degree about where America and the world might be headed, then I would be positively shocked if there isn't another world's fair in America's future, probably sooner than a lot of people expect.

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Sixty years after Seattle's Century 21 Exposition, world's fairs have largely fallen out of fashion in the U.S.

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Before we read, what can paranoia do to a family? Should children have to prove themselves to there caregivers?

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The Dark(er) Side of Media: Crash Course Media Literacy #10

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Another popsicle stick diy #homedecor #wallhanging 

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Another popsicle stick diy #homedecor #wallhanging
♬ Cheap Thrills-Sia Sean Paul - Ellen's Betta

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200 Best Watercolor ideas | watercolor, watercolor art, watercolor paintings

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Dec 3, 2024 - Explore Lisa Bardot’s board “Watercolor” on Pinterest. See more ideas about watercolor, watercolor art, watercolor paintings.