The Study of Spanish

So this final term of my Junior year at GCE actually had me (or rather, I chose) a Spanish class. Throughout the term, we learned a multitude of verbs and how certain words change based on pronouns. Certain challenges for me definitely revolved around how I speak, as my slight accent gives me a rough time with thick "R" sounds, so of course, there were some words the were just plain hard to say. Another thing that, without a doubt got me mixed up, is the fact that I've studied Italian before also here at GCE. Add that with my basic Portuguese knowledge (since my parents are Brazilian), and I had a jumble of different words butting heads as all three of those Latin based languages have many similarities. The Action Project for the class though had us create some sort of writing essay with a visual, and 20 sentences of Spanish, so trying my best and using past notes, I decided to choose a topic on Spanglish since that was already something studied during class, and it's more common than you think in poetry. Just below you can see the product, and I hope you enjoy!

Was the Bay of Pigs Invasion Justified?

Hello everyone once again, with another Action Project for the class called Policy. In the second project for this history and literature course, we've been tasked to refer to a war/conflict that the US has participated in and then broadcast our stand on whether or not we believe it was justified or not. The second unit itself revolved around the Executive branch of the government and how certain policies affected wars that the US may or may not have justly participated in. It was a challenge to single out a single conflict as the topic of war is very negative from my standpoint, but to only look at one side is without a doubt singling out a lot I can truly criticize. Anyway, without further ado, just below the picture you will find a written essay of my views regarding the Bay of Pigs Invasion, which happened in Cuba.

JFK picture; presidential library museum, 1962

1961, Cuba. 1500 exiles opposed the infamous Fidel Castro with an invasion that was supported via financial support from the U.S. government. However it was a few years before the incident occurred that is truly noteworthy, as Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista's reign of dictatorship. As of that start of 1959, relations between Cuba and the United States began to become a trifling matter. With Castro in charge, he claimed as much private property as possible, and much of that territory was owned by North American interests. Castro provided many hostile comments and claims such as the U.S. attempting to sabotage the newly establish government and time went on. It was a conflict from the start. President, serving the term of 1956-1960, Dwight Eisenhower was allowed to commit acts of retaliation as legislation passed such laws as of June in 1960. As America was cutting off purchases of sugar, soon following up with an embargo, only allowing the export of food and medicine to Cuban soil. As of January 1961, one of Eisenhower's final acts was to cut diplomatic ties with Cuba. There was great hostility between the 2 countries.

However every since May 1960, a great invasion was planned by the United State's CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and heavily debated with newly appointed president (at the time) John F. Kennedy. Eventually, succumbing to the proposition, the plan to invade was finally approved. 3 US-made airplanes bombed Cuban air bases, and then soon after, only a couple days, several Cubans trained by the US landed upon the "Bay of Pigs" on Cuba's South-Central coast. This series of events, albeit something Kennedy initially wished to condone against, forced him to issue out an "air-umbrella" as a plan of attack as Castro reacted with over 20,000 troops heading towards the beach, greatly overshadowing the 1100 men ordered out by the CIA's plans. Probably due to an altered time zone, the air umbrella attack plan arrives an hour late and is shot down... There were many prisoners, and plenty of casualties too.

The policy allowing the Invasion to happen was quite the large risk on Kennedy's part. With the CIA organizing such a hostile plan early on only made the act all the more questionable. However Castro was ready as his aggressive behavior did intimidate the United States, more specifically Eisenhower. This conflict really branched through 2 presidents, and Kennedy was truly thrown into the middle of things. Initially, I'd still personally say that for the size it grew into, the Bay of Pigs Invasion was far from justified. The United States went through a lot during that time, and Eisenhower essentially was making a new enemy hastily. JFK really seemed to have limited options, either wait for Castro's assault, or do what he can to prevent that by attacking first. The CIA's plan was disputed against several times, but Kennedy final saw no other option. If he were to be here today, there's no doubt that he too would say the conflict was unjustified. Now that's not to say Castro did nothing wrong, as confiscating the land was provoking a response from North America since it was privately owned as their's. Consequences of the Bay of Pigs Invasion resulted in hundreds of casualties, and the long term consequence was increased support for Castro, allowing him to continue what the CIA wished to stop.

Overall, the Bay of Pigs Invasion did not seem righteous in the slightest as the first issue was the seizing of already owned territory. Embargo and trade restrictions were made in response to Castro's actions, yet the escalation to violence the CIA decided upon was concerning even to Kennedy. It's possible that even Eisenhower had no clue of the CIA's intent. Honestly, it's even debatable as to whether or not the conception of such a plan was even legal for the CIA to create. The act of Castro taking land he didn't may have provoked the US, however regarding that issue, Eisenhower had an embargo set in place, so at that moment, it was still being taken care of. The act of violence was simply an escalation that did not seem to benefit the Untied States as much as it should have. It was as if America only had a hunch because there was known and obvious tension.

Citations:

• Bay of Pigs invasion, Encyclopedia Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, NA
• The Bay of Pigs, JFK Library, NA
• The Bay of Pigs Invasion, History Today, Micheal Dunne, NA
• Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Foreign Policy Journal, Karthik Gopalan, 2010

Electrifying Efficiency

The second Action Project arose for the class Urban Planning, and so after designing a bridge, we're going to revolutionize the electrical grid! Well... At least make a circuit. After studying current, voltage, ohms (resistance), types of circuits, and switches along with a multitude of other terminology and circuit design, our Action Project was to create a function parallel circuit (one where if one thing stops working, the electrons still have a path to flow through), featuring at least 5 resistors (light bulbs, motors, etc. Something that takes some electricity but allows some of it to flow), and 2 switches (one controlling everything, and the other cutting off only a single function). Initially, some challenges including creating a circuit that actually had flow to all resistors. Some circuit designs cut off flow from branches as there's not enough demand for the electrons to pass, thus taking the shorter path of wires instead. Overall, this challenge was overcome with the help of my partner in this project, where you can see her slideshow on the same build here. Without further ado, you may check out the full presentation just below.