South America

South America

Don’t cry for South America. Where there once were dictators, there now are many elected leaders publicly accountable to the voting masses. Inefficient, state-run autocracies have transformed themselves into free-market democracies. It’s been a remarkable transformation in a short amount of time. Furthermore, the Yankees have, more or less, gone home. Historically, the United States has been the policeman – and sometimes the bully – in its own backyard, aiding governments it considered friendly to its interests and occasionally playing a hand in toppling those it opposed. These days, the United States is less in evidence.

1970 – 73 – Allende falls in a coup: Three years after winning the Chilean presidency, Salvador Allende dies during a successful coup led by General Augusto Pinochet in 1973. Allende, a Marxist, had nationalized industries – including U.S. – owned copper companies – and improved conditions for the poor. During the last year of Allende’s regime, strikes paralyze many sectors of the economy and inflation soars to over 300 percent.

1973 – The return of Juan Peron: Peron is elected president of Argentina. He had been ousted by a military coup in 1955, after ruling the country with an iron hand for nine years. Peron dies 10 months after his election and is succeeded by the wife Isabel who had been elected vice president and who became the first woman head of state in the Western hemisphere. In 1976, amid charges of corruption, Mrs. Peron is ousted by a military junta. A state of siege is imposed as the army battles leftists and guerrillas, killing and torturing thousands. In 1985, after a five-month trial, five former junta members are found guilty of murder and human rights abuses.

Alem Avenue, Buenos Aires, Argentine. Photo by Elena

1978 – Mass suicide at Jonestown: At the urging of their leader, the Reverend Jim Jones, 1,930 people commit suicide at their Guyana commune. Children are poisoned first, then adults drink a cyanide solution. Those who resist are reportedly injected with cyanide or shot to death. Jones had ordered the mass suicide after suspecting that authorities might soon break up the commune. He dies from a seemingly selfinflicted gunshot wound.

1982 – 83 – War in the Falkland Islands: British forces invade and successfully recapture the Falkland Islands, 250 miles off Argentina’s coast, after Argentina briefly takes them over. Both countries had claimed sovereignty over the islands since 1833.

1985 – The Cocaine connection: Drug trafficking and related violence in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador increase dramatically as the demand for cocaine in the United States rises. In 1989, the presidential candidate of Colombia’s ruling party is assassinated in apparent retaliation for increased government activity against drug traffickers.

A year later, two other presidential candidates are murdered as the drug lords carry on a campaign of intimidation to stop the presidential election. The election proceeds and a strong advocate of the government’s war against the drug cartel is elected. To try to stem the drug trade and bring the dealers to justice, the United States begins using an extradition treaty with Colombia, causing many dealers to go into hiding.

1989 – Save the Amazon: Brazil unveils a comprehensive environmental plan for the Amazon reign amid an international outcry from environmentalists and others about the ongoing destruction of the Amazonian ecosystem. The Amazon rain forest is considered a global resource because of its impact on world weather patterns.

1992 – Peru: Since his 1992 “self-coup,” President Alberto Fujimori has reinforced the structure that allowed human rights abuses in the 1980s. Security forces raid houses indiscriminately, raping, torturing, and carrying out extrajudicial executions in a purported crackdown on Shining Path guerrillas, but victims are often unrelated to Shining Path.

1994 – Brazil: People are watching anxiously to see how President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, elected by an absolute majority, will change the human rights climate. Among the abuses to be rectified are the violent attacks and murders of children who live on the streets.

1994 – Colombia: President Ernest Samper, elected in August 1994, emphasizes human rights but is haunted by his predecessor’s powerful military. Elite counterinsurgency troops routinely carry out extrajudicial executions and torture.

1994 – Dissatisfaction with the Castro regime deepened in 1994 in the face of continuing repression and economic hardship. In the last 30 years, thousands have been jailed for violating “illegal exit” laws, which forbid them to leave the country without government permission.

1994 – Guatemala: The government and the guerrillas made important human rights commitments with a 1994 – and then proceeded to flagrantly disregard it. In the last 30 years, tens of thousands of people have disappeared.

Largest lake Lake Titicaca – Bolivia, Peru. 3,220 square miles.

Longest River – Amazon.

Highest Point – Cerro Aconcagua.

Lowest Point – Peninsula Valdez, Argentina, 22,833 feet.

Largest City – Sao Paolo. Brazil.

Africa in 1970s – 1990s: a continent in crisis

Africa in 1970s – 1990s: a continent in crisis

Colonialism is a relic of the past, but plenty of troubles remain

“Seek ye first the political kingdom”, advised Kwame Nkrumah, who followed his own advice and became the first leader of an independent Ghana. Indeed, most of Africa followed his counsel. As Gavin Williams, a professor at Oxford University, has noted, the period from World War II to the present in Africa has been dominated by two related themes: political nationalism and economic development. With the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 and the election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa in April 1994, the African struggle for national independence reached its successful culmination.

The quest for economic development is another story altogether. At the outset of the 1990s, most African states were bankrupt. Things haven’t measurably improved since. African rulers – whether military officers or civilian politicians – lost credibility, largely as a result of arbitrary or corrupt government. (Mandela remains a notable exception). Disasters – some natural, like droughts or famines, some manmade, such as the spread of AIDS and the genocide in Rwanda – further impeded the prospects for economic progress. In the last quarter-century, Africa has changed dramatically, but it still remains a continent in crisis. Some key historical highlights.

1970 – The final days of Nigeria’s bloody civil war: A civil war, which lasted over four years, ends when the Nigerian government defeats the secessionist state of Biafra. Relations improve between the Ibo, the main ethnic group in the former Biafra state, and other Nigerians. But within Ibo ranks, conflict continues between those who did and did not support secession. The year marks Nigeria’s tenth anniversary of independence from Britain.

Sign of new life. Photo by Elena

1971 – Idi Amin seizes power in Uganda: Amin launches a reign of terror against Ugandan opponents, torturing and killing tens of thousands – Amnesty International estimates that 300,000 may have died under his rule. Amin declares himself President for Life in 1976. He is ousted in 1979.

1974 – A coup crushes Ethiopia’s Feudal System: A revolt against Ethiopia’s feudal order begins with strikes and protests by students, taxi drivers and trade unions and ends with a bloodless coup against Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I (1892 – 1975) , who has ruled black Africa’s oldest state since 1930. The new military regime summarily executes aristocrats and former officials and creates a nominal socialist government and nationalized economy.

1974 — 75 – The fall of Portugal’s African Empire. Antonio Oliveira Salazar rules Portugal – and its African colonies, Angola and Mozambique among others – with an iron hand from 1926 until he dies in 1970. His successor, Marcello Caetano, clings to power for four more years before being ousted by a revolution on April 25, 1974 – brought down, in part, by the escalating guerilla activity in Angola and Mozambique. In 1973, Portugal is forced to dispatch 40,000 troops to Mozambique to fight the rebels. The revolution not only liberates Portugal, a ceased-fire is signed in Mozambique in September 1974, when Portugal agrees to grant its independence. Angola becomes independent in 1975.

1979 — Rhodesia is dead, long live Zimbabwe: Rhodesia is renamed Zimbabwe after a new constitution transfers control of the country to the black majority – in the aftermath of a seven-year civil war between the Rhodesian government and Patriotic Front guerilla forces. Bishop Abel Muzorewa becomes the country’s first black prime minister after the new nation’s first all-race election. In 1980, Zimbabwe becomes fully independent of Great Britain.

1983 – 1985 – The drought of the century: The region’s worst drought in 150 years threatens sub Saharan Africa with a famine even worse than the 1973-74 disaster. Estimates put the number of people facing food shortages at 200 million. Tens of thousands are said to die from starvation.

Insect damage of Cassaba Belt (from Senegal to Mozambique) crops, outbreaks of infectious diseases in cattle, bush fires, war and civil unrest add to the food shortage problem. Musicians around the world join for a Live Aid benefit, the proceeds of which go to help famine victims.

1986 – South Africa – Cry, the beloved country: Like a scene from the famous Alan Paton novel, black protests escalate and the government imposes a state of emergency. The African National Congress (ANC) stages school and consumer boycotts, rent strikes, and localized general strikes. In response, the South African government raids alleged ANC terrorist camps in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

1990 – Nelson Mandela is free at last: ANC leader Nelson Mandela, the world’s best known political prisoner, is freed by South African President F.W. De Klerk after 27 years in prison. A few days before his release, the government removes the ban on the ANC, the South African Communist Party, and 33 other organizations, freeing them to organize openly and recruit members.

Both the government and the ANC begin setting the stage for a new constitution and a new order. After years of dedicate negotiations, South Africa holds its all-race election in April 1994. Mandela is elected president – in a landslide.

1991 – 93 – The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Algeria: he Algerian army deposes president Chadli Bendjedid after the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front party wins the first round of elections in December 1991. The military then cancels the second round of elections and declares a state of emergency. Government forces crack down on Islamic groups, immediately arresting 9,000 militants and interning them in Sahara camps. By October 1993, about 1,000 Islamists sympathizers are dead, 3,800 await trial by special security courts, and 240 are condemned to death.

1992-93 – The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt: Islamic fundamentalist extremists, in an attempt to oust Egypt’s secular, military-backed government, kill several Europeans traveling by cruise ship down the Nile River. Their goal is to hobble tourism, a major source of government revenues. They are successful; tourism plummets 40 percent in 1992 and another 30 percent in the first eight months of 1993. The government condemns 38 of the terrorists to death and eventually hangs 29 of them. It is the largest number of political executions at once in Egypt’s recent history.

In June 1995, 14 years after his predecessor, Anwar al-Sadat, was gunned down, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak escapes unharmed from an assassination attempt in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Sudanese Islamic fundamentalists are blamed for the attack.

1994 – Genocide in Rwanda: Between 500,000 and 1 million Rwandans die in genocide instigated by Hut extremists against the Tutsi minority. The Rwandan Patriotic Front, a mainly Tutsi exile force, defeats Hutu forces responsible for the massacre, resulting in a mass exodus of Hutus afraid of retaliation into Zaire, Burundi, and Tanzania. Thousands more Hutus die in refugee camps from disease.

Don River Valley and Crothers Woods

Don River Valley and Crothers Woods in Toronto

Don River

The Don River is formed from two rivers, the West and the East branches. These branches meet about 4 miles north of Lake Ontario. The river is joined then by a third branch, Taylor-Massey Creek. The area below the confluence is known as the lower Don. The Don River then empties into Lake Ontario, at Toronto Bay. Its total length is of about 38 km.

After the founding of York (Toronto) in 1793, several mills were constructed along the lower Don. One of the first was at Todmorden Mills. By the 1850s, the Lower Don was becoming an industrial setting. Petroleum storage facilities, poultry and pork processing plants were constructed along the banks of the Don. In 1879, the Don Valley Brick Works opened.

Crothers Woods

Crothers Woods is an ecologically sensitive beech and maple forest. These lands have been subject to over use through unregulated and high impact activities, including mountain biking. Efforts are underway to protect this ecologically sensitive area through the construction of natural barriers and development of an education program.

Crothers Woods is a unique ecosystem providing significant wildlife habitat in the heart of Toronto. Restoration efforts allowed to preserve and enhance Crothers Woods for native flora and fauna and all trail users.

Please do your part to reduce the impact on the forest ecosystem so that all trail users can enjoy the forest for years to come.

Get involved: Contact City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation to get involved in trail maintenance and habitat restoration projects. Encourage others to be responsible trail users.

Thank you for helping to preserve the Don Valley and the Crothers Woods for everyone to enjoy. 

All the pictures have been taken by Elena.

Bridge over Mud Creek.

A flower pixie. A tiny mythical being inside a flower. Don River Forest.

Don River stones.

Don River trees.

Stones in water.

Parc of the Don River Valley.

Crothers Woods is an ecologically sensitive climax beech and maple forest. These lands have been subject to over use through unregulated and high impact activities, including mountain biking. Efforts are underway to protect this ecologically sensitive area through the construction of natural barriers and development of an education program.

Mud Creek.

A pond in the Don River Valley.

The Don River Valley forest in Autumn.

Flowers in the valley.

Don Valley Lake.

The meadow.

Please do your part to reduce the impact on the forest ecosystem so that all trail users can enjoy the forest for years to come.

Thank you for helping to preserve the Crothers Woods and Don Valley for everyone to enjoy.

If You're Canned

What to Do If You're Canned?

Relax, our expert says, this could be the biggest opportunity of your life

It's going to happen, you cannot avoid it – at some point in your career you will likely be fired or laid off. With many studies showing that most average American stays in a job for only five years, job loss has become a fact of life. Luckily, there is a lot you can do. We consulted a psychologist at Drake Beam and Morrin, an outplacement firm in New York City, and found some reassuring advice.

What can one do to avoid getting canned?

In this period of downsizing or to put it nicely, rightsizing, one always has to be prepared for the ax. However, there are two important things one can do: 1) Keep up with all the developments in your field by reading journals and taking continuing education courses; 2) The best techniques for avoiding “jobsolescence” is to initiate change instead of waiting for it.

What should you do if you hear that a firing or downsizing is imminent?

If you feel that your job is on the line, you should work out a severance plan – people fair better if they negotiate a severance package rather than wait for one to be presented to them. Also, always make sure that a lawyers reviews any papers and that you fully understand what you're agreeing to before you sign. In addition, while most people don't, you should keep a record of your evaluations and reports in case you think that you are being unfairly discharged. Keeping will also be helpful in preparing your résumé.

Many managerial positions and some professions are becoming overly crowded or obsolete. What should you do if you're faced with one of these possibilities?

There are two types of job skills – work content skills, such as teaching history, and work transferable skills but they have to become aware of them and cultivate them to roll with the punches of today's changing workplace. Getting fired also provides a perfect opportunity to brush up on important computer and technical skills that will be important for all jobs in the future.

How does one cope with getting fired?

Don't take it personally. Most of the time it was something that was bound to happen. Getting fired can be an important time of renewal – a time to get your act together. This means that one should not call everybody one knows helter-skelter asking for a job.

In our work we've run across so many people who have never sat down and figured what they wanted to do when they grew up. People who take the time to evaluate and plan their lives are better able to mesh and jobs they choose with their dreams of what they want to do.

Down and out and looking for a new job? You're red meat for headhunters. To find them check out  websites with directories of executive recruiters, which provide information on search firms. Photo by Elena.

Are You a Workaholic?

Are You a Workaholic?

As many as one in five Americans may suffer from work addiction

Everybody knows that spending too many hours on the job can lead to a stress, bad nerves, ticks – even strokes and heart attacks. What is not so well known is that work, like alcohol, can actually be an addiction. Experts say up to 20 percent of the working population may be addicted to work. Here your psychologist who has spent years helping people conquer their work addiction, discusses what can be done about workaholism.

How is woraholisme manifested?

In workaholism the person is usually functioning pretty well, but what happens is he reaches a point where he breaks down. The body is like any other machine – if you push it at 120 instead of 100, eventually you're going to have a problem.

What jobs and income levels are most affected by this?

At middle management and above you tend to see more workaholism. But in a compulsive society you can find “isms” anywhere. I feel there is a predisposition to it in a family, and children may be open to it in different ways. For example, in some families alcoholism skips a generation. Whatever say about alcoholism is true of the other “isms”. The effects of a workaholic parent are definitely in the children.

A workaholic lady behind the glass. Photo by Elena.

Are most workaholic men?

It's traditionally been more men. Men have been conditioned not to cry, to be deprived of a certain rich emotionality that comes with being human.

Is there any direct link between the number of hours works and workaholism?

No. It's how you use your work that matters. You could have people who work 9 to 5, but then at home all they talk about is work. They have nothing else in their lives.

So is workaholism treatable?

Yes. Like alcoholism, workaholism is a self-diagnosed disease. With alcoholism, you must get people to say that it's not how much they drink, but how they use drink. Likewise, it's how you use work that matters. It should have a natural structure, a beginning, middle, and end. When people come in here, for treatment, they have no structure. I give them structure. You start by reducing the number of hours, controlling at least the mechanism of the disease. You have to help people curtail the number of hours and deal with the attendant emotions. A straight-forward work problem takes about 12 weeks to resolve. Half the people I counsel do not leave; the other half I move, mainly because they're in a dysfunctional environment.

Could people go cold turkey?

No. I operate on the little steps theory. You slowly move them away from the negative behavior while you're detoxing their emotions.

Four telltale signs:

Four questions that you can ask yourself if you thins you may be a workaholic:

• Do you use work life to avoid social commitments?
• Does work life interfere with your family life?
• Do you spend more than 50 hours a week at work?
• Has working kept you from having interests and hobbies?