European honey bee

Transfixed, I stared at the headlines on my monitor. Within hours of the 2016 Brussels bombings, media outlets and pundits declared Belgium a jihadist haven. Geographically distant, Belgium was—and is—easy for many Americans to view through the lens of terrorism. But as I delved deeper into Belgium’s history, my fascination with the country and the tension between its politically and linguistically distinct regions of French Wallonia and Dutch Flanders only grew. With a Fulbright English…

In America more than 4 million pounds of pastic each year. This is more than 10,000 pounds of plastic per person per year. There are many ways people could use this waste for other things Americans could use. In America we make up 30% of the worlds garbage. Even though America only makes up 5% of the world we produce 30% of the world’s garbage. In 2012 34.5% of the us discarded materials were recycled, but now out of all the materials discarded by the us only 21.4% is recycled. Many people just…

Immigration changed rapidly in the United States during the time periods of 1970s and 1980s. Two of the changes that occurred in this time period were different kinds of people started to come to United States and immigration went up really fast. Immigration has contributed to United States: economically, socially, and politically. The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 ended the quota system. The most important aspect of this change was the it opened the doors to immigrants from…

The United States was formed primarily through the settlement of immigrants from Europe, Asia, or Africa. These immigrants faced an arduous journey, a strange land they had to cultivate to survive, and more often than not, discrimination by other immigrants. Many circumstances in immigrants’ respective countries influenced their decisions to emigrate from their country. Ireland was established in 1922 after living under harsh rule from the United Kingdom, but before this time the Irish faced…

In the late 1800’s, many people around the world decided to leave their country and immigrate to the United States. Some came for the economic opportunities, while others came seeking freedom or relief from political and religious persecutions. As more people started coming in, borders became hectic, new ideas were produced, more jobs were created to support the growing population, and the population became more diverse. Depending on which side of the spectrum one falls into, immigration could…

In regards to wage and employment effects caused by immigration, four readings immediately come to mind: Immigration Equation by Roger Lowenstein; The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market by David Card; Dual Labor Markets: A Theory of Labor Market Segmentation by Michael Reich, David Gordon, and Richard Edwards; and Immigration, Inequality, and Policy Alternatives by Gregory DeFreitas On the one hand, The Immigration Equation is a summation of “Heaven’s Door: Immigration…

Four years ago, my family migrated to America with views of America as a land of opportunity and Americans as an intellectual society with a high regard for formality and knowledge. Based on four years of living in America, I now think extremely different as opposed to my pre-migration beliefs. For example people, specifically children and teenagers, live their lives daily without regard for the use of profanity or colloquial language. Although Americans do possess positive qualities, negative…

The Immigration Crisis in Europe "Leaving one's home country is never an easy to decision, but is especially hard when it is fraught with uncertainty and there is no guarantee of a successful outcome," according to Meera Dolasia of Dogo News. Many Syrians, Afghans, and Iraqis are leaving their homes for improved, more protected lives. Over 2,500 people have passed away trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea on unsafe boats to get to Greece and Italy, fleeing from countries with raging…

What factors helped you distinguish between core and periphery? Factors that helped me distinguish between core and periphery countries are political standing (Ex. Place in the United Nations, positions of power). I also used rates of life expectancy and infant mortality. This shows the quality of healthcare in these countries. Generally, the core countries have decent healthcare for their populous. The periphery countries tend to be poorer, not being able to afford adequate healthcare for their…

Shouldn't we focus on ourselves as Legal United States citizens of America, to hopefully get to that pursuit of happiness? The United States Government has been accepting refugees into the USA for years now, and with each year the intake amount of refugees increases more and more. We need some sort of way to make it easier on the legal americans of the united states of america by finding some sort of solution. Come the late start of 2016 we have our new oldest official president in office by the…