Mount Hua

As one of my favorite things to do on vacation is to hike, an article about the Mount Hua climb caught my eye. I’ve climbed Harney Peak, which is the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains, twice in my life. It seems sort of unlikely since I’m so terrified of heights that I literally need to sit down if I feel too threatened by a place I’m standing because of its height. It’s not that I’m faint or dizzy, it’s an instinct for my body to be lower to the ground so I can’t fall over the edge. So when seeing the climb some people take in China, I know how scary it is and I definitely see that it has the potential to be dangerous. The first picture they show is a person’s foot on 3 boards that look like they’re maybe 4 inches wide, each, at the most.  Then they say that if you were to fall, it’d be a mile long drop.

After that picture they show one of woman on a latter. This latter looks very old and probably fragile but people are still allowed to climb it. I can’t even imagine how id deal with the view if I looked down.

Another picture shows a man on the narrow boards. This view looks kind of scary, showing the only thing things keeping them from an awful drop. There is some kind of rope, a chain, and the boards.

From the angle of this hike up the side of the mountain, it looks like a long, and very difficult climb.

This picture of locks is just one of the places couples stop to show their commitment in their relationship. Closing the lock around places like this and then throwing the key off the side of the mountain, they show their eternal love for each other.

Seeing these pictures gave me some perspective, I’ve been to cave dwellings that Indians used to live in, I’ve been to the Grand Canyon, Hiked Harney Peak, and so many other significant places with heights and views like the ones on Mount Hua but Mount Hua is definitely and respectively a place that is way too dangerous for my liking but would be so awesome to climb.

Drunk Driving

In 2007, Faith’s life changed forever in a drunk driving accident. Faith’s mother was banned from driving after a DUI and was driving a new BMW that Faith’s father (divorced from her mother) provided even after he knew of the DUI’s. Faith, her friend, her sister, and brother were all in the car when it crashed. Faith’s sister and friend died while her mother, brother, and she escaped with injuries. Faith was 7 years old at the time of the accident and now, at the age of 12, has filed a lawsuit to sue her parents both through her grandfather. She is suing for physical and psychological damage.

This is happening in Ireland which I am assuming is much the same as America in this case. DUI’s happen, sadly, a lot all around the world resulting most times in at least injuries if not also death. It’s sad that anyone could have such poor judgment to drive after drinking. But a parent should know better. Knowing better is the least of it. Maybe a better way to put it is that parents would normally be more protective of their kids than to even consider anything of the sort. Sorry, I can rant without a sentence that even comes close to my thoughts.

In different cultures, parents favor the boy over the girl for income or honor. They have different techniques of raising their kids, tough love or spoiling them. Maybe both. But under any style or circumstances, no parent would ever be able to let their child walk into harm’s way if they could help it. And drunk driving is one of the most certain ways to get someone hurt no matter what circumstance.

I know no one is a perfect parent no matter where in the world they live, and I will never be perfect either. I just wish people made better calls of judgment than the calls the mother made to drive or the father made to purchase the car even with her suspended license.

Troubled Jumpers

I saw an article on Yahoo that explained the job of one particular man who lives in San Francisco. His job is to do highway parole which covers the Golden Gate Bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge is super popular for a vacationing site to see and it is so well known as a major man made structure. Kevin has had this patrol job for many years and he is particularly fit for the job because of how he does with it. That might be a bit confusing. Kevin has talked to many people who he found there, on the Bridge, and has helped almost every single one who was looking at the water, debating the jump. Kevin talks to the troubled people to talk them out of committing suicide. He says that in order to get them to start talking he asks their name, if they have family, their families names.. then he goes into what has troubled this person so much that they think they want to jump. He says the thing that gets them to come back to him is usually their children. He asks about their kids and they usually decide their kids are too important to abandon.

Kevin stayed on the bridge for hours with one person and the reason they decided not to jump was because Kevin was there, being so caring and wouldn’t give up. Kevin only ever lost one guy who shaked Kevin’s hand and said it was time for him to leave.

I know that this event wasn’t something that happened in the rest of the world but when I think about it, things like this probably happen all the time all over the world. The Golden Gate Bridge hasn’t been the only place someone has jumped in order to commit suicide. Its sad but true. And im not sure what the numbers are for suicides in other countries but even if its lower than the U.S., caring people like Kevin help Troubled people like the ones he has helped on the famous bridge.

Hotel Rwanda

My sophomore year, in world history, we watched a movie named Hotel Rwanda. I’ve now just watched it again in World Humanities. In the 1990’s there was a massive Genocide in the country of Rwanda. Rebels killed around a million people. Their reasoning is still baffling to me because I don’t understand harming another human at all, let alone because of how they look or their race. I don’t understand violence like the murders that happened at all.

Hutus and Tutsis are two categories of races. The categories were established for a reason I can’t remember. It has something to do with minorities and who would do what to contribute to society and work. Whoever organized the boundaries that distinguished the fine line of Hutus and Tutsis gave some odd requirements. Factors like height made a difference. In order to be Tutsi, you had to be over a certain height. Also things like skin color (lighter or darker), nose width, head shape, etc. were considered. Tutsis were favored and after the distinguishments were made, tended to be more beautiful.

In the movie Hotel Rwanda, it follows a man and his family along with the upkeep and sanctuary that his hotel brought to many refugees. This was based off of a true story during the genocide. This man lives through many days in fear along with others of being attacked by the Hutu rebels. This man is Hutu and is offered to join in by one of the Hutu rebel leaders. But he is a good man and his wife is Tutsi making his loved ones targets. He keeps his hotel and survives only with supplies like fancy cigars and good whiskey to bribe the connections he has to help guard his hotel or call off attacks by rebels. Money is of no use to his connections at a certain point. In the end, his hotel is up kept to the best of his and his staffs ability with over the maximum capacity. The hotel came under attack near the end but most make it out on UN trucks.

This man was a hero for housing refugees at a great risk and with little help for such a length of time. He made smart decisions and did all he could to keep others safe.

Dickins Medal

We know that men and women give their lives overseas, fighting for our country. We receive news of their heroic stories and are so proud of our troops. But these humans are not the only ones serving our country. Some dogs help out in combat or other forms of war from sniffing out bombs to rescuing survivors of disasters or attacks. Other animals also help out in important missions and duties. Some of these special animals are awarded something called the Dickins Medal, named after Maria Dickin.

Recently, a dog named Theo worked with Lance sniffing out roadside bombs. One day, Lance died in a firefight. Only hours after, Theo had a seizure which caused his passing. Lance’s mother is still convinced that Theo died of a broken heart.

Theo was the 28^th dog to have been awarded the medal. Around 32 pigeons have been awarded the medal for carrying information from the frontline, one of which carried valuable information to stop bombing that would have taken the lives of over 100 allied soldiers in a different country. Three horses have been awarded with the medal, and only one cat has received the medal for keeping up its duties of killing rats on a ship even after being injured while the ship was trapped in Chinese waters.

Its really amazing how humans and animals can communicate to such an extent that a pigeon is able to get important messages to the exact location it needed to deliver it to. I have no idea how they trained pigeons to do that. I’m not judging but, I’m not sure how the cat got this medal. I love cats, I do, but I’m not sure how much of an impact rats could make on a ship. Maybe I am just out of some big loop that obviously states that rats were a danger to the people in some big way.

Fallen Grace

I read the book Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper. This book takes place sometime in the early 1900’s and is set in London. Grace, at the beginning of the story, is pregnant and desperately trying to accommodate. Grace is 16 years old. Her sister, Lilly, is 17 but is simple minded because she is mentally disabled. People around this time don’t take to simple minded people all that well. Their mother died some 10 years earlier and Grace takes care of Lilly. They had been in a workhouse about 9 months ago when Grace became a “fallen” woman and they left.

The girls try their best to survive by selling watercress at the market but suddenly winter comes and the market no longer exists and on top of that, they are kicked out of their living spaces due to renovation. Grace resorts to living with the Unwin family and working for their funeral business. Grace has a beautiful solemn face and is a mute for the Unwins. Lilly just barely was accepted, being simple minded, and cleans boots and silver wear.

Just recently, there had been an article in the paper about a man who had died and made a fortune in the Americas and the fortune was left to his wife and now 17 year old daughter. The Unwins only took the girls in knowing this information was about Lilly and the man never knew he had a second daughter. Now, at the point I am at, the Unwins are trying to adopt Lilly and convince them she has been living with them for 10 years.

Artistic culture plays a definite role in this book. What is a common theme in the book is clothing, clothing, clothing. Every society has classes and judgments due to clothes but at this time, clothes were one of the most important things any one could imagine. The girls used to dress fair when their mother was alive but they became poor and wore old clothes. They were fortunate enough to have shoes, though. Grace deemed having shoes as one of the most important items they owned at one point in the book while considering what to pawn.

When the girls started to live with the Unwins, they needed good clothes which was taken out of their pay. Grace, as a mute, wore black veils and dresses to the funerals. The Unwins wore the latest, trendiest clothes they could get. Miss Charolette, the daughter of the Unwins being 16 could wear what she pleased. When the King died, Miss Charolette and Mrs. Unwin decided to wear full mourning clothes for 6 months and then half mourning for 3 after that and then quarter after that. Their expression in clothes is valued in society. They were fortunate to wear what they pleased.

Other forms of artistic expression showed in the book were also when the king died. The Unwins, like other rich people decorated their homes with black ribbons on wreaths that hung on their doors, and other black drapings on their bushes. This was important because it showed deep mourning for the king’s passing.

Continued: Animals When We're Not Looking

Not that I’m quite that desperate for more blog ideas but I’m really interested in these pictures that photographers all over the world were lucky enough to get so this will be a continued post from the one titled: Animals When We’re Not Looking.

We’ve all seen that cute movie Happy Feet, right? Well it shows some pretty accurate things like how penguins aren’t quite the top of the food chain and need to be cautious when fishing. What Happy Feet didn’t inform me of was that the way penguins move so fast through the water and shoot up onto the ice is they squeeze their little feathers together, close to their body and the trapped air bubbles in their feathers are released, reducing friction and almost “rocket” the penguin wherever they want to go. This penguin is done fishing and doesn’t see any predators but wants to get out of the water fast.

This lion just woke up from a nap in a tree and was listening to a female calling in the distance. That’s when the photographer got his shot. Another person held a spotlight on the lion while the photographer got a 5 second window where the lion looked at them. This is so cool. I’ve never seen a lion in a tree like this on animal planet or in the zoo. I bet they don’t hang out in trees all too often.

 



Okay, really don’t have much to say about this picture but the cheetah in the background just made me laugh. I mean, look at its face! And the cheetah that is the main subject… well, I still can’t tell what is going on or where body parts are but there is apparently a wildebeest that the cheetah just attacked.

 

This is just amazing. I can’t imagine how a bear gets so desperate that it climbs down a cliff just to steal some eggs. Really, I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.



This is my favorite. Out of all the pictures I have ever seen this one is among my favorites. The only words I can come up with for this is pretty much beautiful or peaceful. It looks like Buda or something. The Japanese macaque is in a hot spring to keep warm in the cold weather. The monkeys also socialize in springs like this. This particular macaque is asleep.

 

Animals When We're Not Looking

I feel like Yahoo to me, is like Pintrest to most girls (although I do like Pintrest too). I’m just kind of addicted to looking at every article (except for the sports related ones unless it’s a super cool video about a play) and learning about all the things in the world that just happen to be unless pieces of information (most of the time). Anyhoo, every once in a while, Yahoo will have things posted like really cool pictures from all over the world or even just some persons back yard. I’m really interested in photography though and love to look at these. The most recent article/slideshow of pictures are of wildlife in their natural habitats. Most people never get to see these things occur unless a lucky photographer captures it for us. Here are some pictures that I really liked and learned from:

You don’t usually see humans and tigers so close, but at the Tiger Temple, this tame tiger walks alongside tourists all the time. I assumed that this was the mother of the cubs trotting behind but really, its the father. This was a rare day that the cubs got to tag along with their dad.

I’ve watched countless animal planet shows about how mothers teach their babies how to hunt. But mostly, id only seen killer whales in action, trapping seals on blocks of ice and creating waves to push them off but they would just play with the seal and let it go if they were training. Well, same here. These cheetah cubs are learning how to hunt. This poor gazelle happens to be the bait. A photographer watched as a grown female captured but didn’t kill the little gazelle and he knew what was up. She brought the game back to her cubs and released it, letting them chase it down together. When the gazelle was still, the cheetahs didn’t care, but when the gazelle tried to run, instinct took over and the cubs tried to get it.

Earthquake in Italy

Italy, in 2009, experienced a devastating earthquake that killed over 300 people and left many homeless. They had to sleep in tent camps for months afterwards. In 2011, about scientists were accused of not fully or accurately warning the people nearby of the danger of the potential earthquake. Residents and people who lost their loved ones in the mess claim that the scientists should go to jail for “taking their job lightly”. Scientists around the world and other seismologists say that it is totally unfair what they are being accused of. The tremors that the scientists picked up were warning signs that an earthquake COULD happen but in this area, nothing is exact. Even the best scientists can’t predict exactly how devastating an earthquake will be if or when it comes. Scientists claim “the trial is ridiculous.” If they had released all of the information they knew and told people there was a possibility of an earthquake, it would have created panic. If they released information about every tremor, there would be chaos.

 I understand where residents and people who have lost loved ones would feel that someone is to blame because they clearly had some warning signs that they failed to inform people about. But, first of all, I would believe the scientists. Maybe not so much if just the scientists accused were saying there was no definite way to know but really, other seismologists agree. Second, I’m in geology right now and we just got done with a unit about earthquakes and volcanoes. I agree with the scientists on their position that they really didn’t know. Tremors happen more often than not. the earth is always shifting and changing. Yes, some signs give more information about future quakes than others but scientists can’t predict everything that’s going to happen, they only get ideas because history may or may not repeat it’s-self.

Baby Calf is Rescued

Elephant conservationists learned of a baby elephant stuckin a well in Kenya and conducted a rescue. The team starts out in a video by pushing the mother of the calf away from the well that the baby had fallen into. These were of course safety measures the team was forced to make. After the mother was out of sight or at least a fair distance away, the team of about 3 got to work. They assessed which side of the well would be easiest to get the elephant out of and tried to coax the baby to face that way. The calf didn’t respond though because her mother was calling her from the opposite direction. After trying and trying to get some rope hooked on to her they tried to pull the calf and didn’t succeed. After a second time though they drug the baby up the less steep side and got her out. The team then jumped into their jeep and “herded” the calf back to its mother who let out a cry as her baby came closer. At the end of the video, the mother is seen somewhat wrapping her trunk around the calf for an embrace.

Its really cool that this team was able to get the baby out of the well by themselves. Also, I think its awesome that there was a team who could come to this calf’s rescue. Im sure that if there wasn’t a team, some locals would figure out a way to help but who knows how long that would have taken. Im not sure if elephants give up that easily but im sure most mothers after a while would accept that their baby wasn’t getting out. Elephants I know are more connected so im not sure. But the baby would have exhausted its self trying so hard to get out that by the time a local team came, it wouldn’t be much help to them if it couldn’t move or lift its legs to get rope around its body.

World's Oldest Father... Again

Everyone matures and moves through life at their own speed which is only natural, but some make decisions that affect their life in different ways. Now days, there’s bound to be one or two teenaged girls at almost every high school that is pregnant or already a mother. Sure, that was the norm a hundred or more years ago but now, we need educations to get us “desirable” lifestyles and jobs. The better your schooling, the better the job you will probably get. But having a kid makes that difficult so it’s now more acceptable to have a child or start your family later in life. After college and finding a house you can afford. Different cultures have their own beliefs though and in some, girls don’t need to be educated and have a house with a husband. They start early just as most Americans did a while ago.

Im not totally sure what cultures are like in India, but a 96 year old male farmer just set the world record. What for? Becoming the world’soldest new father…. Again. So, to me, this is a little strange. Not even just strange, unfortunate. I mean, even though it was planned between him and his 52 year old wife, he will probably die too soon for the child to learn and grow up with his dad. He won’t be able to learn customs and traditions and stories. His mother who is still quite a bit older than her husband will have to raise two kids on her own.

To give this couple some credit in my mind, they did meet later in their lives and as any couple would, decided they would love to have children together. And yes, this man claims he’s healthy, but I really think they should consider the well-being of their children and their lives before their own happiness. I wouldn’t want to be orphaned early in life because my parents didn’t plan any better.

Breaking the Sound Barrier

     Felix Baumgartner became the first person to break the sound barrier when he jumped from a height of 24 miles above the earth. Felix was about to jump and says all he could hope was “to come back alive.” There were more than 30 cameras capturing the whole thing. People watched live all over the world on the internet and on TV. The Discovery Channel showed it live.
    
     Kittinger, a man who tried to break the sound barrier in 1960, jumped from 19.5 miles above the Earth. He was there at mission control the day Felix jumped. Kittinger didn’t succeed in breaking the sound barrier. He did reach speeds of around 614 miles per hour though which is very impressive. Although Felix had farther to fall, he didn’t break the world’s longest free-fall record which was actually set by Kittinger when he jumped in 1960. Felix missed it by 16 seconds but he has the excuse that he didn’t know exactly when to pull the shot because his mask was fogging up.
    
     Felix spun uncontrollably for a while after jumping. He “felt pressure building in his head but wasn’t close to passing out.” He stated, “Of course it was terrifying. I was fighting all the way down because I knew that there must be a moment where I can handle it.”
    
     This jump was the last of many high altitude dives for Felix. He plans on flying helicopters for fire and rescue missions in the U.S. and Austria.
   
     It’s so awesome that Felix had the courage to attempt something like this. I’m not sure I could even try skydiving id be so terrified. I’m surprised that I didn’t hear more about this event before it happened. It sounds like it was a really big deal in some countries and everyone tried to watch it.

Alien Planet

A link on Yahoo brought me to a really cool article about an alien planet. This planet has two suns apparently just like something from star wars. I’m not really sure what the star wars version is but that’s how the article compared it. This planet is the first known of its kind and is a bit larger than Neptune in size. They call it PH1. PH1 was discovered by a couple of amateur astronomers.

The alien planet spends about 138 days orbiting once around its suns. The suns or stars themselves orbit around each other once every 20 days. PH1 is really hot and reaches temperatures over 600 degrees. It also has two other stars near it that aren’t even its main suns. Astronomers have been studying this planet and gaining so much information just “by studying light from one of its parent stars.”

I have always been interested in astronomy and think it’s really cool that amateur astronomers were the ones to discover this. I wish I could spend more time looking at stars and planets especially with a telescope that is really powerful. The planet and its suns are really cool too. I want to learn more about why this is the only one known of its kind. Why doesn’t this happen more often that we can tell? It is hard to believe that we can even see stuff like this thousands of light years away. That’s so hard for me to comprehend how far away that is. I really wish we knew more about what is out there. I bet there are tons of planets like PH1 that we don’t know about and many others that are even more surprising than having 4 stars near it. I am really glad that we have the technology we do to know about what is out there even as far as the moon. I don’t even know what I would think if we didn’t scientifically know all this stuff.

Dog Stress Levels

       In an article I found on Yahoo, they conducted a study and researched dog stress levels in Japan. The dogs in the study were rescued from the earthquake in 2011 and other dogs not from the disaster that were abandoned.
       Dogs and humans are both obviously very stressed in disaster situations. Dogs that had lived through a disaster such as the earthquake that occurred in Japan were five to ten times more stressed than other dogs that were abandoned in Japan. Stress hormones found in the dogs urine are what gave researchers these findings.
       Fukushima dogs were ultimately found to be less aggressive to strangers than other dogs but they were also found to be less attached to the people who cared for them and training them was more difficult.
       Numbers for the research were very minimal and not extensive by any means which leaves many more variables and possibilities to not be presented. Age of the dogs may also be a factor in the study because the dogs from the disaster tended to be younger than the others who were rescued in 2009 and ’10. Age didn’t seem to have much effect though on abandonment. Stress was linked to less ability to retain and learn in all ages of dogs.
       I think this is an interesting area to research. I haven’t heard of people researching dog stress levels before in disaster and non-disaster areas. I am not exactly sure what this information will do for us because it seems sort of unsurprising to me that stress has a large impact on dog’s lives such as learning ability, attachment, and aggressiveness toward strangers or familiar handlers and caregivers. I suppose someone has to scientifically do it otherwise its unofficial.
       I hope that they can use the information though to create awareness about abandonment even though during the disasters people are sometimes forced to abandon pets.

A Gain in Ice?

     I’m not the most up to date on global warming or all the theories out there about the climate but when I came across this article I thought it was sort of different from what I have heard. We have all known for a while that the Arctic has been losing ice every year for whatever reasons they say but what I hadn’t known or maybe heard or paid attention about was that the ice in the Antarctic has been increasing.
     The increase in ice may be due to the ozone hole over the Antarctic. This increase may not be a good thing though. The reason for the difference in ice because of the ozone hole is ultimately because of humans. The ozone gap or hole is bigger than the size of North America.
     The cause of the ice increase, they believe, is because of the different patterns and strength of winds. The winds push the ice outward creating more of it.
     The research that has been done is not very extensive and little is really known. This scientific work is dangerous and of course extremely cold and difficult. The work isn’t top priority for most scientists studying these conditions. Also as the article puts it, “scientists are ignoring the southern continent because it's not convenient.” So there is much to learn.
     The article mentions how eerie and empty the landscape is sometimes, how cold it is, and even how the other day, a team of researchers were stranded because of the ever changing ice. It broke and left a gap the team couldn’t cross until they were rescued by an inflatable bridge.
     I will be the first to volunteer that I am a baby when it comes to the cold and I sincerely give props to the people who risk their lives in freezing weather to learn and educate others about that part of the world.

Running For President

I read an article that was linked on the World Humanities page about a man who is originally from Sierra Leone and now lives in Cedar Rapids. He moved to Cedar Rapids 38 years ago and has started a family and worked here in that time. Now, he plans on moving back to Sierra Leone to become president.

 Josh Carew realized about three years ago that he saw injustice in his home country and wants to “shift power to the people”. He believes that “everyone has a special skill and should use it”.

Carew wants to fix the system that he believes is responsible for the death of his sister during Sierra Leone’s civil war. Their civil war was fought by many child soldiers and was especially gruesome. Families lost everything including their neighbors, homes, valuables, and each other. The country is referred to as “the poorest of the poor”, which he doesn’t think is right.

 Winning the presidency is a long shot according to Carew and Momodu Kamaram, who is a friend of his. There are two other people running for the presidency and are expected to come out on top.

Carew cashed his 401(k) to support his campaign which is focused on education for the youth in Sierra Leone. Carew wants to adjust his ideas to the peoples’, to give them what they want.

 I think it is a great example that this man is putting his thoughts into actions and trying to set things right with the Sierra Leone system and people. He is doing exactly what he believes in. This is probably something he isn’t very experienced on but it is such a brave step for him and his family. And even if he doesn’t become president, he will be satisfied with the effort he gave.

Panda Research

     I became more interested in Giant Pandas after reading an article about a baby panda that died in a zoo of an unknown cause. As I was writing a blog about this article, I realized how little I actually knew about pandas like why they are declining in population, and where they are located around the world.
     After researching I have found some answers to some of my questions. Pandas live naturally in high in forests in western china. Their diet consists of mainly bamboo in which they need to consume about 26-84 pounds per day. Pandas can grow from the size of a stick of butter when born to 330 pounds after they’ve grown up.
     Pandas contribute to the environment by spreading seeds around the forest. In doing so, forests flourish more easily. Also, they bring ecotourism which is great for the economy. But as human populations grow and need for transportation of goods increases, more railways and roads are built through parts of forests where pandas live. Because of new roads and railways, it is harder for pandas to mate. The populations are separated and isolated from each other. More than 50 panda reserves have been established but only 61% of the population is protected by these areas.
     A main effort in helping pandas is breeding. In select places around the world like zoos and special breeding facilities are trying to breed pandas to boost the population. Of course the jobs of these places wouldn’t be as necessary if roads and railways wouldn’t have been built through major panda habitats.
     As with any species, it would be tragic to lose such a beautiful creature. It’s great that there are so many efforts to help pandas like WWF (http://worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda) where I got most of this information from. Pandas are in the middle of a chart that shows stages of extinction. They are endangered meaning they are “facing a high risk of becoming extinct in the wild”.  There is such a stage as being totally extinct meaning there are no known animals of that species living. Then one up in the chart is extinct in the wild which means the only living ones are held in captivity. I hope there will be even more reservations established in the future and less roads blocking populations which seems like a simple resolution in my mind.

A Long Way Gone

            For World humanities, I am reading a book called A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. This book is the author’s experiences as a child before, during, and after the war in Sierra Leone. He tries to educate readers as well as help them feel close to the war he was involved in.

Ishmael tells the reader everything unimaginable and more, holding nothing back. He and his brother are at first separated from each other and walk from village to village with other boys their age. As the story progresses, his situation worsens. He and his brother are separated and he goes off alone for days trying to find food and safety. He comes near to the village his parents and brother are believed to be staying but never sees them before they die in a sudden attack. Ishmael describes what rebels force innocent people to do. Killing babies and watching as family is raped and shot, things we would never dream of unfolds in front of these people’s eyes.

I think this is absolutely horrible. I don’t know who would think it isn’t. I am sure though that I can’t come near to being able to relate even at all with the things I read in this book. I feel disgust, anger, sadness, and sorry for the things I now know went on but there is no way I can fully comprehend what happened. I don’t understand how people could even start such a gruesome act let alone carry it on. I am learning though, that people will do things they are otherwise not capable of if they are put into the situations Ismael is telling the reader about. Good people will do bad things sometimes weather they are trying to get revenge or they are forced to in order to keep themselves or their families alive.

            I am sure that even though I would never have to go through something even similar, I would probably do almost anything to keep myself and/or family alive.

Ban on Gay March

     On Wednesday in Serbia, police banned a gay pride march in fear that another attack, such as the one in 2010, would occur again. It is also mentioned that the police were “complying with a request from Serbia's Christian Orthodox church”. The previous attack in Belgrade was on a similar gathering and was strung out for a day. It left about 100 people injured.

      I don’t know the laws or policies in Serbia but from the article, it sounded as though they have similar rules to the U.S. where freedom of speech is not against the law but I am not sure if it’s a given right. As much as I was opposed to hear that the police wouldn’t let them march, I somewhat understand the reasoning. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt either. But that doesn’t make it right for the police to “comply with a request” especially if the group who requested such a thing doesn’t agree with the gay pride march in the first place.

     I think that freedom of speech is a very important right that should be given to every person in the world. I would very much like to hear every ones opinion even if I don’t agree. In the case of this gay march, I am not trying to write about such a touchy subject but, I am not at all against gay people and I would support anyone I know who happened to feel that way. I believe that churches that don’t believe in it should mind their own business because they, after all, believe things that may be ridiculous or unsettling to others too. This is somewhat beside the point since I didn’t intend to write this about religions or gay pride.

 Basically, I feel like no matter the march’s purpose, no one should feel so opposed as to attack anyone who wants to show their feelings. And the police should have maybe just banned all who posed a threat from the area instead of the march its self.

http://news.yahoo.com/police-ban-gay-pride-march-serbia-christian-orthodox-164308344.html

Pandas

     I’m sure about everyone in the world knows that panda bears are an endangered species. But I did not realize how many we actually can account for. In a recent news article by CNN, they reported that a panda cub in Washington D.C., just barely a week old, died of unknown causes Sunday morning. In that same article, they stated that there are about 1,900 pandas left in the world.
     In another article by Yahoo about this same cub, they said that the first panda couple was given to the United States after Nixon’s trip to China in 1972. China has been sending their “National Treasure” to other countries as a symbol of gratitude since the Tang dynasty.
     Pandas are one of my favorite animals. Of course I love all baby animals, but bear cubs are some of my favorite. Both of the articles caught my attention and I really wish I had more time to research pandas and China’s history of how they care for pandas and how they decide to breed and relocate pandas as they have only given a few to select zoos in America and to other countries in the world. I also want to know why there are so few pandas in the first place.
     I think it is probably a good thing that we are making great efforts to breed pandas and bring their population up. I’m not sure, though again, how many pandas they have in the wild, in zoos, breeding places, etc. so I’m not sure if I can give my input on how I wouldn’t like if all the pandas were in enclosures.
     I wish that we would treat more endangered species like pandas and put more effort into bringing their populations up. I feel that it is really important that we do our best to keep species alive not only to show how amazing they are to generations after us but so that we don’t lose them as an important part of our ecosystem.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/23/us/national-zoo-panda/index.html?npt=NP1

http://news.yahoo.com/1-week-old-panda-cub-dies-national-zoo-163740820--abc-news-topstories.html

Kate Middleton

     The invention of the camera has made it so much easier to document special things like events and memories and people around the world. Recently though, it seems to me that more and people all over the world, especially paparazzi and teens/ young adults, have been abusing the invention. A picture is said to be worth a thousand words and I believe that is pretty true. I mean, people can talk and tell stories all they want but without a picture, they can’t actually prove it.

     Paparazzi all over the world seek new scandalous stories about famous people as a career because that’s what people will pay to see. Most of us would love to know how the famous live and what their up to because we sort of want to be like them. In the case of Kate Middleton, she has it all and almost every girl dreams of being in her position. Last week, Kate went sunbathing, topless, in a private area. Now, after finding paparazzi was taking pictures from hundreds of meters away, the Palace is taking this to court against an Italian media group.

     Some comments about the article I read on Yahoo support the paparazzi. They say that it was Kate’s fault and she knew there would be people taking pictures. They add that Kate has plenty of access to all the tanning supplies and beds she needs that are perfectly private. Most comments though are on Kate’s side stating that the paparazzo was “creeping”. She was obviously in a private area and the photographer had a very large lens to invade her privacy. Kate had every right like you and me to be in a private area without being photographed.

     My view is the same as most others’. Kate’s privacy was obviously invaded and she had every right to be sunbathing in that area. My reaction to the ones who think she has plenty of access to tanning beds is that maybe she prefers a more natural tan. Not everyone wants to “fake-bake”. Also, she should be very aware that she doesn’t get much privacy, but that doesn’t make it okay to be peeping with a camera and then publicizing the photos. I would hate being so famous and not getting a break to do whatever I want when someone isn’t looking.

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/palace-lawyers-seek-injunction-over-topless-pics-115843811.html?_esi=1

Child Care

     A woman named Lenore is participating in a new movement where parents let their kids play by themselves or with others free of parent or even adult supervision. She has set play dates where parents pay $350 to let their children play together free of supervision. These play dates take place in New York City’s Central Park where she argues is “the safest precinct in New York.” Another supporter of this movement expands and explains that unlike the suburbs, New York City is always busy and there are always people around- referring to the fact that in case there were to be a dangerous or harmful situation, witnesses would be everywhere.
    Parents who are interviewed in this video give their opinions on the subject; most saying they would never let their child roam unsupervised, let alone pay someone for an experience like that.

     My view is that children need freedom. They need to experience the world on their own and learn on their own terms but not all the time and not without an adult close by. Lenore mentions that she let her child play in the park while she sat in a coffee shop nearby. I would be all for letting my child roam around and playing with others without much supervision but I would be worried about sudden emergencies. What if my child somehow broke their leg and obviously couldn’t come find me for help? I would much rather be on a bench nearby than in a coffee shop out of sight. Sure, at a certain age like 12 the child might be independent enough to handle me being at a coffee shop nearby but younger than that would very much depend on the child’s maturity level and if they have a sibling or friend who would know where to find me in case they need assistance.

     In the movie Babies, one of the children, Bayar, who lives in from Mongolia, is seldom watched over by his parents or any other adult. Granted the child lives in the middle of nowhere and is unable to walk or crawl part of the film, how much trouble can he get into? His brother, not much older than him, is a toddler and manages to stroll him outside and then walks back into their house. When Bayar learns to walk, he almost gets trampled by a cow. Things like this worry people but it’s a way of life in that area. The parents just cannot be there to supervise their children all the time. Most families in America have access to child care whether its school, daycare, a family member, or friend.

     Part of the free roaming movement makes sense to me in the way that a kid has to grow up and learn some things on their own, but the way I interpret this mother’s style, it’s only the complete opposite of a parent who hovers. There needs to be some kind of balance.

http://gma.yahoo.com/nyc-mom-charging-parents-350-let-kids-play-183149182--abc-news-topstories.html

Desperate Mother

Living in the United States and being raised by two parents who have a rather large and steady income is something I am grateful for. Cedar Rapids, my house, my schools, my friends, and my family are all I have ever really known. Even vacationing and learning about cultures in school, it cannot quite bring me close enough to some stories I hear about around the world. Usually I try and look at things from others' perspectives and in this story about the mother who had to give up her daughters, I am not exactly how I would handle their situation if I was made to decide.

Being a parent isn’t exactly something I have any clue about. I know what it’s like to have a parent and the bond I have with them. And not to say that I am comparing cats to human babies or children but the closest feeling I can think of to having a child of my own is the responsibility of taking care of my cats. I’ve had both since they were kittens, one of them just old enough to be torn from her mother. I know the feeling of attachment I have for my cats and the feeling of being scared after one of my cats didn’t return home for three days. Then of course the relief and anger at it for being gone so long. Conciously giving them up though? I’m not sure how I would handle that. My pets in the past were short term or I knew the person I had given them away to so I could visit.

The knowledge or thoughts of a mother who comes to the conclusion to give away or sell her children is uncomprehendable to me and as I am assuming it is to most mothers around the world. Who would be able to face the unknown like that? To give up something they have worked so hard to keep safe and close to them for years. Not only are those girls family, but friends, support, and company. The very things that keep her going every day and that remind her she can’t give up on for any reason.

I’m still not sure what I would do in this mother’s situation. If I made the decision to keep supporting them, I would need to face the fact that their life might not be as good with me as it could be somewhere else. And if I chose to give them up, I would do my very best to find a decent family who can care for them and where I could visit often. And if I couldn’t make that work, I’m not sure how I would deal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-19486173

Intrests

 

    I'm not really sure exactly how to write a blog or who I’m talking to or anything like that. I’m just going to write about my interests now.

     I love music and art. i like almost every kind of music. I don’t enjoy looking at art in museums or anything of that sort but I love creating my own stuff. Drawing, coloring, painting, photography, and ceramics are some of my favorites. I enjoy taking pictures of plants and animals mainly but people are cool too.

     I’m involved in color guard which I find really fun. When I’m writing a solo it allows me to be creative and I get to listen to music over and over again. Practices and competitions are my favorite part of guard because I get to hang out with friends and travel.

     I love to travel and ive been in over 38 states in the US. Ive also traveled to Canada and places in the Carribian. whenever my family and i go on trips we always find time to stop at historical places and learn everything we can.