Explores the way writers address the formation and fate of the contemporary American working class in an age of neoliberal globalization. Specifically, the essay examines Russell Banks's 1985 novel Continental Drift, which interweaves the stories of two characters who pull up stakes and head to Florida in search of a better life: an oil furnace repair man from New Hampshire and a young, single mother from Haiti.
It may take a while to determine if the region's tour de force at the U.S. capital during the June 19-21 "Conference on the Caribbean - A 20/20 Vision" - which also attracted non-CARICOM member representatives such as Haiti's President Rene Preval, Belize's Prime Minister Said Musa and top representatives of institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the Organization of American States (OAS) - was merely an extravagant "talk shop" or, in fact, laid the groundwork to achieve tangible benefits from Caribbean-U.S. relations on thorny matters, including trade, security, economic development and immigration. What the Caribbean publicly said it hoped to accomplish at the three-day conference was to tell the U.S. of its new-found evolution and plans to bond more closely as a region in pursuit of prosperity. At the end of the conference a joint US.-Caribbean communiqué acknowledged the region's requests and expressed "unequivocal commitment to a secure and prosperous region and future benefits for all our citizens." "I don't believe it will just be a 'talk shop'," said Dr. Basil K. Bryan, Jamaica's consul general to New York. "I think thing will happen, but at a policy level I think it will take a little time for things to germinate. But we're all looking forward, positively, for something to happen out of this conference."
Part of a special journal issue focusing on the role of the U.S. Foreign Service in Haiti., The work USAID and the State Department have done in Haiti after the January 12 earthquake shows why these organizations should take the lead in disaster relief.
Fortin,Henri (Author), Barros,Ana Cristina Hirata (Author), and Cutler,Kit (Author)
Format:
Book, Whole
Publication Date:
2010
Published:
Washington, DC: World Bank
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
164 p., Transparent and reliable corporate financial reporting underpins much of the Latin America and Caribbean development agenda, from private-sector-led growth to enhanced financial stability, facilitating access to finance for small and medium enterprises, and furthering economic integration.For nearly 10 years, the World Bank has prepared diagnostic Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSCs) on Accounting and Auditing (A and A) at the country level. In Latin America and the Caribbean, ROSC A and A reports have been completed for 17 countries. This book takes a step back and seeks to distill lessons from a regional perspective.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
4 p., This issue brief reviews a draft report [PDF] on Haiti's November 28, 2010 presidential elections from the Organization of American States' (OAS) "Expert" Mission - which recommends changing the result of the first round of the election. It finds the OAS Mission's report to be methodologically and statistically flawed, and its conclusions to be arbitrary. The brief notes that over 1,300 tally sheets, or about six times the amount thrown out by the OAS, were missing or quarantined; and that these tally sheets would very likely have given a different result from that of the OAS mission. Also, the OAS Mission's report is based on an analysis of just 919 vote tally sheets - without any reported statistical inference -- whereas CEPR counted and analyzed all 11,181 tally sheets from the first round of elections.
Argues that the bedrock of U.S. policy is an ideology of benevolent domination. Created at the time of the Spanish-American War, President Theodore Roosevelt captured this ideology perfectly in 1907 when he explained, "I am seeking the very minimum of interference necessary to make them good," and it is seen today in the 2004 report of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. Adapted from the source document.
A Congressional Black Caucus delegation, led by the CBC Chairwoman Carolyn C. KiIpatrick (D-Mich.), traveled to Haiti recently for a one-day visit as part of the group's ongoing effort to bring attention to the plight of starving Haitians.
