Saving our planet ! Blog Homework 3

        Before we solve the problems of the world we need to save our planet first. This should interest every single person living on this planet. It not only affects those of us living here today but also our children and their children who will be living here tomorrow. Why should we protect the environment? We need it for shelter, food, livelihood, recreation, air and water. The destruction of the environment is not a local problem, it is an international problem, it has no frontiers or boundaries. The whole world is one single ecosystem connected in many ways. Its destruction affects us all, this is our home.

            Every day we harm our planet in many different ways, every action that we take against this environment has a strong consequence in the future. If we continue to kill all the plants and the animals we are eventually killing ourselves. Every action that humans take against the environment transforms the entire biosphere, it causes either global warming or the reduction of bio diversity. We must be conscious that the Earth's resources are limited, what we exploit today for gain is irreplaceable in the future and lost forever.

            When we pollute the air we produce acid rain that harms plants, crops, animals and humans. We produce the greenhouse effect that causes global warming when we destroy the ozone layer. We increase the amount of respiratory diseases. When we pollute the water in our rivers or oceans we are killing millions of animal life and simultaneously ruining the water that we use. When we destroy our forests we destroy the home of animals and plants that we also use for food or even medicine. The forests also produce clean oxygen for us and their roots prevent erosion

            If we take care of the environment we are taking care of ourselves. If we destroy it then we are also destroying ourselves. This is where we live, this environment gives us everything we have and need. We cannot afford to destroy it.

            We must make a universal effort to take care of our planet. Every one of us along with scientists, businesses, governments must contribute. Governments need to tax pollution and encourage clean energy. Businesses should control how they pollute and change to greener practices. We should encourage the use of biodiesels instead of petroleum, changing food into energy. Every home should save energy and water by consuming less. From little efforts like using a clothes line instead of a dryer to paying your bills online and reducing the amount of paper that is used. We should teach every person since they a re a child to reduce and recycle. We all need to take care of the environment before it is too late.

“Consume Less, Share More, Live Simply”

http://www.countercurrents.org/cc-rees180107.htm
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment/
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Blog 2-Captivity Narrative

 Louis Timberlife, a young boy being held captive.

 Group of guerrillas holding main character captive.

It was a dangerous day in Colombia, it was Election Day. In Colombia, the days surrounding elections are always dangerous because of a revolutionary guerilla group called FARC. Kidnappings or attempts at kidnapping always increased during the election period.

            It was a normal day for Louis Timberlife, a ten year old American boy who had lived in Colombia for the last three years. Louis fit the rich gringo profile perfectly. He was very white and had blonde hair. He came from a very wealthy family and was extremely spoiled, he had everything he wanted and still wanted more. He never paid any attention to his family and believed he didn’t need any of them now that he was older.

            He left for school just like he did every day, always accompanied by his bodyguards. The bodyguards were mandatory due to his father’s political position. His father was the American ambassador in Colombia and he wanted the government to make reforms that would get rid of the guerillas.

            Louis was coming out of class when a friend invited him to come to his house afterschool. He said “Great, I’ll just have to wait for my car to come and I’ll meet you at your house”. Louis’s friend told him to forget about his car and the bodyguards and to just be cool and come with him in his own non armored car. Louis thought of it for a second, he was just a young boy so he did not understand how dangerous what he was doing was. He just accepted. As they were approaching his friend’s house, a gray van intersected them.  Out of it jumped about ten armed men screaming “Todos afuera! Todos afuera!”, they all went out and the armed men took Louis into the van and sped of with him inside their trunk.

            After several hours of driving, the van finally stopped. The guerrillas pulled Louis out of the car and threw him into a cold puddle of water and mud. They then threw him into a cave with a blindfold so that he couldn’t see who pushed him in, or where he was being held. He remained underground for 2 weeks without ever seeing any sunlight. All he had was a little hole on top of the cage through which he could listen to everything the men who had captured him said. He was fed only once a day. He wanted to clean himself desperately. He missed everything about his home, even the basics that he had taken for granted. He missed his bed, his pillow, the light in his room. Most of all he missed his family. He had never been so alone in his life. One day he finally heard his name mentioned through the hole in his cage. His father had delivered the money and he would be returned home next week.

            A week later he was pulled out from his underground cage. After two weeks of living in the dark, he finally saw sunlight. He was put into a helicopter and flown into the city. He landed on the roof of the tallest building in all of Bogota. It was the embassy of the United States of America. Louis was left there and saw the helicopter fly away. When the helicopter had taken off, a lot of agents started to run towards him to make sure he was ok. Behind them came his father whom he hugged like never before. He told his dad about his horrible experience, he told him he realized how blessed he was to have all that he did in his home. From that day on Louis learned to appreciate all that he had, there was nothing left of a spoiled young man that he used to be.

Pictures from:
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Blog 1 assignment

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/world/asia/24pstan.html?_r=1&ref=world

1-The article deals with the ongoing floods in Pakistan.
2-Those involved include 5 million Pakistani residents and country officials such as President Asif Ali Zardari.
3-The article does not offer an opinion from the writer. It summarizes events that have occurred. It also quotes some victims who have been interviewed. It does lack the opinion or interview of some government officials.
4-I sympathize with the people who have been affected. They are poor people and are waiting for government to respond. After so much time they feel they have been abandoned by their government.