Out of the Ruins

China's recent earthquake has no doubt changed them in many ways. In many ways it has made them weaker. But in some ways it has made them stronger. The government has been a factor of how it is changing them. In both ways. Making them feel stronger and weaker. Reasons it has made them stronger is they see the gov. helping and all the assistance its giving to help find survivors. But a way to look at the gov. weakening the people is the fact they weren't protected by this. But I'm sure its probably pretty hard to avoid an earthquake. But some of the victims family probably look at it differently. They probably feel something else shouldve been done to save their loved ones. Even though the gov. is doing all they can to help save their people.

DNA

Recently the supreme court voted on DNA discrimination. The outcome was 414 to 1. The winning decision was that companies looking at someones DNA to determine if they will get a job or not is not right. I agree with this. Similar to skin color your DNA is something about yourself you have no control over unless your name is Peter Parker and your bitten by a mutant spider.But ANYWAY, just because someones DNA says they may be more liable to get a certain disease more than someone else isn't a reason to cut them off, they deserve the job just as much as the next person. But then again it may be good for companies, because it gives them an opportunity to hire the healthier worker and make more money. But its still inhumane.

Happy 60th Birthday Israel!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Israel. Happy birthday to you. This year is Israels 60th anniversary. As you can see... But many of the citizens have been a little reluctant, or shady about the future of Israel. Mainly because it is a place with a bad past. One event being the Holocaust. I think that the citizens should try to look positively into the future as much as possible. It may be hard but they should do their best at staying stable ans strong. Preparing the country for a marvelous future. They have already proven themselves as an outstanding place. Rising out of the ashes of the past and whatnot. Israel should just keep on keepin' on. And make their future better than their past. Happy Birthday Israel.

$128 a pound

Food prices have been increasing rapidly worldwide. According to the newest TIME Magazine there are four main reasons for this. In no specific order the first problem is poor harvest and restrictive trade policies. This is a problem because obviously we will lose supply if half of it isn't used because it wasn't taken care of. And also if trade was a little more less restricted some countries could obtain more goods for certain demands. The second problem is increasing price of oil. We all know it is ridiculous, I'm not going to talk about it. Diversion of crops for biofuels. Which isn't bad but we should split the uses of our crops evenly. The last but not least important problem is increasing demand. We all need to realize there are problems in the food world today and stop demanding so much.

Cyclone Hits Burma

Recently, a cyclone hit Burma. Also known as Myanmar. The cyclone has been one of the biggest disasters to ever hit Burma. It is a poor country so it is extremely difficult for them to rebuild and come back from this tragedy. Of course every country has problems coming back from a disaster such as this, but Burma will be having an extra hard time. Many of the people in Burma take signs or omens seriously and predicted this would happen. The government seemed to believe them somewhat because they had moved the capital, Naypyidaw in 2005. It was one place not hit by the cyclone. Keeping all of the people in high authority safe. It is a sad thing the cyclone hit, and it is also sad the government didn't help the people that much. They only helped themselves.

iSteve

Steve Jobs. The head of Apple has recently been featured in the recent TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Our sociology teacher has asked us to post a blog about who we think is the most influential person out of the 100. I would have to go with Steve Jobs. Although it is an extremely tough decision and plus it depends on what you are talking about. Be it, media, leadership, acting, etc. One of the reasons I have come to this conclusion is because I am a huge fan of all the i's. I love iPods, I love the iPhone. I personally don't have an iPhone but I would love to have one. I have messed around with my friend Cody's and they are awesome. ANYWAY, he, to me, would be the most influential. Jobs has moved up so much in the industry he works in. With iTunes and what not, he has started some very successful projects. Plus he is the one who made it possible to have 1,000 songs' in your pocket.

Let's Compare $

This is yet another response to an article in the latest TIME Magazine. The article is titled "Show US Our Money". It is talking about the difference between your salary and your co-workers salary. Some people think we should see what our co-workers make others think it is no ones business and our amount of pay should be kept to our self. I agree that it is personal and should be kept a secret but I still think people should make the same amount for doing the same job and working the same hours. No, granted, if someone work 4,234,567,876,587,432,345,678,987,654 hours a week and someone else works 15. The first persons check will be bigger. But ANYWAY, I feel the company should put some effort into having people make the same or at least close to it. The only benefit to seeing someone Else's salary is to see if your getting cheated. Other than that I see no other reason other than nosy-ness(not a word?). So what I think is the company should take responsibility to make sure everyone gets treated equal.

Rules of Disengagement

This is a response to a TIME Magazine article titled "Rules of Disengagement". The article is about a proposition Joseph Lieberman will introduce to legislation to give alll TSP the option to operate or work in countries that have somwthing to do with terrorist actions. I believe the TSP reffers to federal employees. I think it is the right thing to do. I belive that people shouildn't have to operate with or deal with a counrty that is pro-terrorist. Even if it is for your job. I think having our federal workers and companies such as Pepsi and Little Debbie away from places such as North Korea, Syria, Iran, and Sudan it will greatly raise the protection against terrorism. Terrorism is the biggest threat we are facing.

Debswana

This, like many of my post is yet another response to a TIME Magazine article. The article is titled "Gem of an Idea". The reason it is titled this is for good reasons. It is a pun. It is referring to the production of diamonds and the merging of De Beers and Botswana(Debswana). Botswana is the worlds largest producer of diamonds. De Beers is the worlds largest diamond mining company. They are thinking about moving to the capital of Botswana, Gaborone. I think this is an amazing idea. This could be just the thing Gaborone needs to boost the economy and to give people jobs. The article also said it could serve as a model for African miners. This coiuld also have anb amazing impact on Africas economy. It's good to see a company moving for reasons other than just making money.

Soldiers in Iraq

This is a post based on a TIME magazine article in the latest issue. The TIME 100 isuue. It is titled "When will they be ready?". The they in that title is reffering to the Iraqi soldiers. The good ones. It is questioning when they will be ready to protect Iraq alone, without U.S. military help. It's not a bad thing we help them, it's good. But it would be a lot better to leave them alone to protect their country from terrorist. There are a few reasons showing that they are not ready. The biggest probably being that on many occasions we have had to run to their aid when they are in need of help during a battle. Training for them has been going on for a while now, and hopefully they will be ready in the near future.

Blacks with Power

To me this does not seem like an important issue. What is important is that it is an issue at all. Many Americans today do not seem to understand patriotism. All these rednecks are too focused on how Obama is black rather than that changes he is capable of making. People don't like the idea of power being in the hands of blacks for some reason. Black patriotism is about change for the better. Too many people think that patriotism is keeping things the same and loving your country. That is not what patriotism is. Patriotism is loving your country and wanting it to be the best that it can be even if that means change. Any change made to the country will be made for the better. And to me that isn't necessarily a black point of view but a true patriot point of view. Many white people probably have this view as well. It's not a matter of color, but a matter of love for your country.

Food Crisis

Finally it seems we have finally ran into a problem we saw coming for years now. World hunger. Well, not really WORLD hunger but many countries hunger. Many third world countries have been struggling recently for food. As i said we have seen this coming for years but we have decided not to do much about it. But I think since it is finally taking affect we need to act NOW. TIME magazine has given us three ways to help this growing problem. Step 1. Give farmers in poor countries access to high-yield seeds and fertilizer. 2. Stop the biofuel nonsense. And 3. help farmers protect crops from drought and other disasters. And if none of these solutions work I have another. Ramen. They are like 15 cents each.

China is Mad

Recently there has been a great deal of media from many countries talking about China. And all of the problems that they have been having with the Olympics. As I previously posted on my blog there has been protest at every single stop of the Olympic torch. And I think that this all is being put on China. So far they have tried to ignore it but now many Chinese are speaking out through things such as websites and blogs. The reason it is probably making them so angry is simply because they don't want to be having this trouble when they are is close to the Olympics. I'm sure like every other country they want to run a problem free fun Olympics.

DDA

Raid of a Polygamist Sect

Recently in a town in Texas a polygamist sect was raided. I'm sure you have heard of this. During the raid there were over 400 children taken by the law enforcement. Recently the polygamist have been speaking out about the removal of the children, they don't feel it was fair they were taken. I personally don't agree with the multiple wife idea. I think it is sick and not right. But when it comes to the children being taken away it was something the law had to do. The parents broke the law practicing polygamy and the children were taken. It is legitimate. Though I'm sure it has caused the children and the parents a great deal of heartache.

The Democrats Rule the Web

This is a post based on an article in the recent TIME magazine. It is primarily about how the Democratic party rules the web. I believe it is like this because of Obama. He has gathered many young voters to join his side and I think they have made the huge impact on the web for the Dems. I believe that the Democratic party has more "new-age" members who are up to date with the web and technology in general. To me it just seems like the reason that makes the most sense. I believe that this technology lead will help the Democrats a great deal. Because the candidates sites are primarily about raising money for the race. And if enough people donate online, it will help the candidates a great deal. I'm sure they get millions of visits from supporters a day. But then again the Republican party is using the web in a similar-money raising-way. Maybe they will take the lead in the technology race. I doubt it.

G. Brown

G standing for Gordon. Gordon Brown is the current Prime minister of Britain. But recently his approval ratings have been going down. Apparently citizens of Britain feel that mister Brown lacks "vision". I don't understand why they think that though. He has obviously shown interest in moving forward. April 17th he met with President Bush and the three delegates hoping to take his spot. To me that seems like Gordon is trying to see other parts of the world, and trying to understand better ways to run his country. Also he comes to America occasionally for vacations.

Canada, Wants to Leave

This is yet another post based on a TIME magazine article. The magazine article is called "Woe, Canada!" and it is primarily about how many Canadians are wanting to pull out of Afghanistan. In a recent poll, information was gathered showing that 47% of Canadians want their soldiers pulled out of Afghanistan A.S.A.P. and only 17% thought they should stay.I personally believe they should stay as long as we do. I think this because if Canada leaves it will obviously hurt the rebuilding of the country of Afghanistan, it will slow it down. It would just be better in general if Canada would stay.

Postcard: Inner Mongolia

This post is my response to an article in the latest TIME magazine. The article is called "Postcard: Inner Mongolia". It is mainly about a group of people in China's society known as the Oroqen. The Oroqen are a group that live in the woods, alone and away from society. There whole existence relies on their hunting. The Oroqen are major hunters. It has been a part of society ever since the group formed. In 1996 the Chinese government outlawed hunting. Now hunting is only allowed in certain parts of the year. This has made a major impact on the Oroqen society. As I have previously mentioned, hunting is a huge part of the Oroqen way. I believe the hunting should be aloud for the Oroqen year round. But then again it could be a good thing for them. It could bring them closer to civilization.

Leave the GDP Alone

This is a article that is featured in the recent Time magazine. It is written about the GDP. Or the Gross Domestic Product. Currently the government is going to revise the GDP which will prove if the USA has slipped into a recession. But the problem is there are still revisions that will be done after this one. So there is no reason to revise the GDP. If we do and it seems we have slipped into recession, everyone will be freaking out. But the truth could be we haven't and we wouldn't know that until the next revision. So in my opinion there is no reason to review the GDP to see if or if not the USA has went into a rescission.