Bibliography Nepal and Uzbekistan

"2012 Index of Economic Freedom." Nepal Economy: Facts, Data, & Analysis on Economic Freedom. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012

 "About Uzbekistan / People." About Uzbekistan / People. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.

"Central Intelligence Agency." CIA. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.

 "Human Rights Report Alleges Torture, Abuse in Uzbekistan." The Washingtion Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012

 "In Report on Nepal Conflict, UN Human Rights Chief Voices Concern over pace and Extent of Justice Efforts." UN News Center. UN, 08 Oct. 2012. Web. 21 Dec. 2012

Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.

"Nepalese Culture." Nepalese Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.

 "News from Uzbekistan - UzNews.net." News from Uzbekistan - UzNews.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.

"The Tip of the Iceberg- Stopping Child Labor in Uzbek Cotton Fields – Media Voices for Children." Media Voices for Children RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.

 "Uzbekistan - Uzbek Culture, Customs and Traditions." Uzbekistan - Uzbek Culture, Customs and Traditions. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.

 "Vertical News - Nepal News : Nepal Tourism News: Nepal Travel News : Nepal Trekking and Mountaineering News :Nepal News Updates." Vertical News - Nepal News : Nepal Tourism News: Nepal Travel News : Nepal Trekking and Mountaineering News :Nepal News Updates. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.

Bibliography on Japan and Thailand

Works Cited

"Central Intelligence Agency: Japan." CIA. N.p., 5 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

EyeZFoTo. "Bangkok Docks - Thailand." Flickr. Yahoo!, 05 Aug. 2009. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

"JAPANESE CULTURE." - CULTURE OF JAPAN. GoJapanGo, 2011. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

Japan's Economy & Global Economic Crisis. Perf. Max Keiser. YouTube. YouTube, 17 May 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

Japenesepod101. "Japanese Culture - How to Visit a Shrine in Japan." .Japanese Culture - How to Visit a Shrine in Japan . YouTube, 02 Jan. 2009. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

"Laundry Thai Style." YouTube. YouTube, 6 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

Marshall, Andrew. "Is Thailand Losing the Battle Against Human Traffickers." Time World, 08 July 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2012.

N.d. Photograph. Astro Boy. Cartoon Excellence, 6 Nov. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

N.d. Photograph. Go! Phuket. Go Travel. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

N.d. Photograph. From The Shadows. Debito, 2 Oct. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

N.d. Photograph. Japan Abductions. 07 Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Dec. 2012

N.d. Photograph. Posts Tagges Temples in Japan. Mojo Travel. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

"News." AirAsia Rallies to Thai Tourism Players to Welcome Chinese Travellers in 2013. Travel Daily News, 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

Saunders, Dr. Peter. "LifeNews.com." Japan Proposes Robots to Help Elderly as Population Implodes. Life News, 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

"Stop Japan Abductions." NEW WEBSITE EXPOSES JAPAN'S HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS :. World Press, 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

"Thai Culture." Thai Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

"Thailand." CIA. N.p., 5 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

"Thailand Remains Major Centre for Human Trafficking." The Nation. N.p., 28 June 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

"Thailand Vows to Tackle Human Trafficking - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English." Thailand Vows to Tackle Human Trafficking - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera, 23 June 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

Uzbekistan's got the goods....

The Uzbekistan economy actually has a lot going for them. I was surprised to learn this considering I had never heard of the country prior to my trip. Turns out they export about five times the amount that they import and they possess many natural resources that are needed around the world. I took a trip through the Fergana Valley- a region famous for its cotton, silk, wine and oil fields. Along the way, I enjoyed many of the wineries and beautiful scenery. Here is a picture I took:

After World War II, industrialization increased drastically and many of the main industries now include food processing, machine building, metallurgy, and the manufacture of textiles. Some of their main exports are automobiles and machinery, on top of their rich resources. 

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/uzbekistan-economy.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uz.html

Uzbekistan, why you gotta be so mean?

Article 5 of the UDHR states that everyone has the right to freedom from torture and degrading treatment, but that just isn't the case in Uzbekistan these days, especially when it comes to Uzbekistan's prisons. Prisoners often have had to endure electric shocks, beatings with rubber batons, and sexual violence. Now, I don't know about you but I don't think anyone should have to be tortured, even if they are criminals who deserve a life in prison. I spoke to one man who was accused of stealing at a young age and sentenced to 5 years in prison. His experiences were nothing less than disturbing and you could still see the effects of the prison beatings in his appearance. "I was forced to do hard labor," he said, "and it wasn't uncommon for me to have multiple severe burns after a days work. The worst part was that I had to write letters to my family saying I was fine and that everyone was treating me well. I think that hurt more than all the physical pain."

The causes of these Human Rights violations are most closely related to power and political systems. There is an absence of laws protecting the inmates and as prisoners who are supposed to be submissive to the officials, they are powerless to change their situation.

The best solution in this case would be to integrate officials for the Human Rights Watch committee into the prisons and to gain support from the Western nations that are currently ignoring the issue altogether.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/16/human-rights-report-torture-abuse-uzbekistan/?page=all

http://www.uznews.net/news_single.php?lng=en&cid=3&nid=8377

If only it were a game of hide and seek in Nepal....

While there are many great things I can say about Nepal, there is one unceasing conflict going on in the Nepali Region, and that is the rising number of "unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, and sexual violences." At least that's what the headlines of the newspapers read. Especially in the large cities, I would see the posters families put up- the ones that say MISSING: Please call with any info. It broke my heart to see the sad faces of the people taping the posters to poles and trees and anywhere else they could.

The reason for these offenses is most likely due to the fact that, again, Nepal lacks a stable central government and therefore an absence of enforcement and laws that protect Human Rights. The higher poverty levels may also play a role in the high amounts of crime in Nepal.

To prevent these crimes in the future, Nepal ultimately needs to educate more people to be police enforcement instead of farmers and agriculturalists and there needs to be raised awareness about these issues so help can be given to those in need.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43231#.UNJVGG_LRio

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/NP/OHCHR_Nepal_Conflict_Report_Q_A2012.pdf

Nepal is poor is assets but rich in spirit

According to the CIA World Factbook, Nepal is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world...which I witnessed and confirmed from my travels there. Their main source of income comes from Agriculture, which employs 75% of their total population. Farms can be seen for miles on end! However, unlike farmland that you would picture in the United States, there are farms in Nepal that are tucked deep into the mountains! This is a picture I took while I was there:

While flipping through channels on the Nepalese TV stations, I stopped on the news channel and as I was watching I learned a little about their economy. It seems that they have had a very unstable central government and have made little efforts to "engage in world markets", as the newscaster put it. In addition, they, like us, have a trade deficit. They are importing $5 billion worth of goods per year while only exporting around $1 billion worth of goods.

I talked to some locals during my travels about their jobs and the economic situation in Nepal and almost all of them said they were underemployed, or overqualified for their jobs and that ever since leader Madhav Kumar resigned in 2010 in order to break away from the Maoist Party, government stability just hasn't been the same. People in Nepal aren't as free as they would like to be. And since the Maoist party in Nepal resents Indian influence within their country, they have recently called for a ban on Bollywood movies in this region. This movie goes into more detail about the current situation.

http://www.heritage.org/index/country/nepal

Sell It, Buy It From Thailand

While travelling through the blissful docks of Thailand I noticed a lot of the exports that were going on ships. Some of the main exports were mostly machinery, electronics, agricultural components and jewelry. With Thailand being a hot spot for tourism it was interesting to see that their economy is not just focused on that but other exports also.

Even with all these different exports their economy is not doing so well. When I talked to locals, they say what hit them hard was all the flooding in 2011 affecting Bangkok damaging most of the manufacturing sector. Lots of merchandise was lost and put a lot of pressure on companies and the economy. Thailand is slowly trying to recover but it takes time but their is a lot of pressure. Hopefully something can be done to bring Thailand back to track from all the natural disasters and other factors that have prevented them from doing so.

 

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/th.html