Whats up Doc

This is a special blog post, aimed toward Dr Taylor.  I just want to start it off by saying this week has been excellent because State beat unc over the weekend.  It was an excellent game.  I especially liked it when the unc quarterback threw multiple picks and got rocked a few times for large yardage losses.  Moving on, lets focus on today.  Today is the day that I have to wake up early.  I hate waking up at 8.  Back in high school when I had to wake up at 7 I would have loved waking up at 8, but now it just sucks.  Fortunately the class is only 50 minutes and then I went and got a delicious muffin and orange juice.  Little did I know, my later meals were going to be better by far.  I'll get back to that later, first I have to talk about the bad stuff.  I had a chem test today and even though I studied for like 3 hours, boy did I bomb that thing.  I wouldn't mind never seeing that grade for the rest of my life.  Fortunately something amazing happened and I forgot all about it.  The dining hall was having an amazing feast for dinner.  It was there Thanksgiving feast, which is kinda stupid cause Thanksgiving isnt for 2 weeks, but whatever.  Anyway, they had turkey, ham, delicious corn, mashed potatoes with some awesome gravy, and some green bean casserole, but I thought that wasnt that good because it had onions and I cant stand onions.  Unfortunately they had no apple pie, just pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and carrot cake.  I dont really like any of those, but they had some peach ice cream so I gave that a shot, and it was delicious.  I even brought it back to your class to finish because I didnt have time to finish it at the dining hall.  Im pretty sure I saw you eye-balling it, looked delicious huh.  Well that pretty much sums up my day so far, overall its been pretty good.  Luckily the delicious feast made me forget all about chem and I don't really even care about it now.  Next comes English class.

Mapping Everyday

"Given a current environment where urban spaces and subjects are increasingly positioned as sites of struggle and conjecture (and almost always without their voices participating), society has a mandate to be seriously concerned with the functioning of ideology articulated by conceived spaces as it relates to identity."  This was the original quote that I did not understand from the passage.  After some discussion in class I came to realize it is talking about how many people will not associate themselves with certain areas just because of things they hear.  This happens a lot in the southeastern part of D.C.  People hear bad things about the area because that is where the media goes when they need a story about crime or murder.  Because of these bad stories coming from this part of D.C., people assume the area is bad and they choose not to go there.  It is quite natural for people to do this.  If you have never been to an area of this country or even of the world, but you hear about bad stuff going on there, you are not going to go there to see if it is true.  You are just going to stay away.  People don't like to associate themselves with troubling or dangerous situations, so they try to avoid them as much as possible.  If the media only portrays bad things about an area, even if there are some good things about it, the average person is just going to assume it is a bad area and nothing good would come of going there.

180 South

180 South follows Jeff Johnson as he tries to repeat the journey made by Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.  Jeff Johnson was an avid climber and adventurer who had traveled to many places all over the world, and he heard of some beautiful scenery and excellent climbing in Patagonia, so he decided to make the journey.  On his way down he learned many new things.  First, the mast on his boat broke so they had to stop on Easter Island for repairs.  He saw this completely secluded civilization and he liked it.  There were no signs of big cities or industrialization.  It was just a small simple community.  While there he met a girl named Makohe and she finishes the journey with them.  As they continue to Patagonia they stop in multiple places in Chile.  He sees how industrialization has taken over many areas.  Industrialization is continuing to spread and destroying many small communities.  He finally reaches Patagonia and is amazed by the simple beauty.  The land is almost untouched and there is plain and simple wildlife all around him, and he finds it spectacular.  The whole reason he wanted to go down there in the first place was to climb one of the mountains there.  He puts a lot of time into climbing it, but he is not able to reach the top.  He is disappointed at first, but then he realizes all the amazing things he has experienced on the way and all stuff he has learned.  He then learns that dams are scheduled to be put up on the rivers in the areas and he helps the locals resist the large companies.  He has fallen in love with the simple beauty of Patagonia and he does not ever want to see it destroyed. 

Indigenous Resistance

This article talks about all the troubles the coastal Salish people have had to go through in order to preserve their traditions.  The villages are split among two different countries and the village people are constantly crossing the border to perform different ceremonies and such.  The government was trying to remove the culture and abolish their old ways.  The main way they would try and do this was with the use of the public schools.  Salish languages were prohibited in public schools.  The Salish people got around this by having elders mentor a couple students at a time, or through the use of boarding schools.  Spirit dancing was often outlawed, so they would keep it secret.  Many measures were taken in an effort do abolish the culture of these aboriginal people.  The native people who have been divided by a border and faced many challenges have resisted and have successfully, so far, been able to preserve their culture.

Butterfly Lessons in Class Post

Kolber makes many observations about how human caused climate change is affecting species worldwide.  She talks about how butterflies in Europe are moving north, a species of frogs in New York are mating ten days earlier because of average temperatures increasing, plants moving further up mountains to areas where it is cooler, etc.  She believes all these changes are happening too quick and is trying to send a message to humans.   She wants human caused climate change to drastically slow down.  This relates very closely to my project.  Levels of water in the Colorado River are dropping very quickly.  Part of this is because of overharvesting water from it, but another part can be blamed on climate change.  Due to warmer temperatures, snow on the Rocky Mountains is melting much earlier than it usually does.  This is reducing the amount of run off; therefore less water is actually making it to the Colorado River.   Some researchers have found that climate change has caused a 10% reduction in flow of the Colorado River, and there is a 25% chance that reservoir storage will be completely depleted by 2057.  

Butterfly Lessons

Kolber talks about how human actions are having a huge affect on the the environment and the species that live in it.  She claims that humans are causing climate change and this is disrupting the life of many species around the world.  She does not believe these changes should be happening this quickly and believes that humans deserve all the blame.  At one point Kolber writes, "Darwin never imagined that the effects of climate change could be observed in a human lifetime, yet, almost anywhere you go in the world today, it is possible to observe changes".  These changes are being observed rapidly.  At one point she talks about how some toads are beginning to mate ten days earlier and how some species are moving further up mountains where it is cooler.  The article gets its name because she explains how butterflies are shifting north in Europe to areas where it is cooler.  Bottom line, Kolber is trying to say that humans are causing climate change and this is affecting the environment all over the world.

Water Crisis Solutions and Their Economic Barriers

      There is no denying that when referring to the access of fresh water, this planet is in a state of crisis.  Millions of people worldwide lack access to fresh water, and in the future, that number can easily start to grow.  Inhabitants of this planet are using up the fresh water made available by this planet at an alarming pace.  Better distribution methods and the advancement in water supply technologies can help deter this crisis, but economically, these changes are not easy.  While water supply technologies, such as desalination, are decreasing in price, the cost is still way out of reach for most undeveloped countries.  In most cases, these undeveloped countries are the ones that lack water in the first place, so the water crisis will still be a very prominent issue.  Water distribution can also be a very costly process.  Undeveloped countries are not going to be able to build dams or provide plumbing to cities overnight.  These processes take time, and most undeveloped countries will lack the funds.  Economic barriers certainly play a large negative roll in solving the water crisis, but through the utilization of resources on hand, more affordable and efficient desalination technologies, and better money management, the water crisis can be brought to a close.       

What is Denial?

Denial is rejecting the legitimacy of a claim, even if there is overwhelming evidence that the statement is true.  Often someone will deny something that seems very unpleasant to them.  They know there is a strong possibility that whatever is claimed is true, but if it is something they do not want to hear they will deny it.  There are many things that someone can be in denial about, but you will realize they are always bad things.  You are never gonna find someone who is told they are smart, funny, helpful, etc. and be like, oh no that can't be true, I'm an idiot.  It is only when bad things happen in life that people go into denial.  For example, if someone is doing bad in school they might deny the fact that it is there own fault and blame it on the teacher or say that they are too busy with sports so they do not have time to finish their work and study.  To be in denial simply means to refuse to believe something, usually negative but occasionally positive, because you just don't like the idea of it.

Luther Standing Bear and Chief Seattle in-class writing

In the first part of the Luther Standing Bear piece, he talks about the connection he and his people feel with the land on which they live as well as the creatures that live that.  He talks of a brotherly feeling between that two worlds that keeps them both connected.  This tie between the two led to respect for each other and the animals had rights that were protected.  They could live in piece with man.  The general theme of the second part is simply how the "white man" does not understand the "Indian" way of living.  Their worlds are so different and the way they were brought up is different.  He explains how Indians have a connection to their forefathers and the land and they are dead only when they forget those ties.

In the Chief Seattle piece, Chief Seattle speaks of a great time when Native Americans covered the land and the white influence was not upon them.  He goes on to say that his has clearly changed and his opinion ultimately changed for the worse.  He says that the white man does not look out for the Native Americans and more specifically the white god does not look out for Native Americans.  The white god only cares about his people and is only making life better for the white man.  He also says that his own god has forgotten his people because life is getting worse and he is not doing anything to make it better.  In general, the major theme is that Chief Seattle is not happy with what is happening to his people and how their way of life is being destroyed.

Part 2
Chief Seattle's speech is surrounded with a lot of controversy. For one, it was published 33 years after Chief Seattle supposedly gave it and the man who published it did not even speak Salish, which is the language Chief Seattle would have given the speech in.  Also, Dr. Smith was a poet and some people think the speech is very similar to some of Dr. Smith's other poetry.  To add to the suspicion, Dr. Smith openly admitted that he was not even present when Chief Seattle first gave his speech.  What proof is there then that the version he wrote down is accurate at all.  There could have been many details changed in the version that was told to him and there could be very few similarities to the original speech given by Chief Seattle.  There are many other versions of the speech and there are other fake speeches that were supposedly given by Chief Seattle.  All these factors raise suspicion about the piece and cause a lot of authorship controversy.   

Controversial Authorship

There is a lot of controversy over who actually wrote Chief Seattle's speech.  Obviously, some people believe that the speech was actually written by Chief Seattle.  On the other hand, there are some people who believe that the speech was written by a man named Dr. Henry A. Smith instead.  There is actually some legitimate arguments behind the issue of who actually wrote the speech.  For one, the article was published in a small journal in 1887 which is 33 years after Chief Seattle supposedly gave the speech in 1854.  Also, if Chief Seattle gave the speech it would have been in his native language which was Salish.  Dr. Smith did not speak Salish.  He spoke English and Chinook which means in order for Dr. Smith to understand the speech, there would have to be someone at the speech translating it from Salish to Chinook.  Furthermore, Dr. Smith was a poet, and the speech sounds very similar to his poetry.  There have been other faked Chief Seattle speeches and this makes people believe that this one could possibly be fake as well. 

http://www.chiefseattle.com/history/chiefseattle/speech/speech.htm

Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethics is a major debate among environmentalists and other political figures.  One major subtopic of environmental ethics is clear cutting forests.  Clear cutting has become a major topic of debate and their are opposing viewpoints on it.  Trees provide many things for humans including paper, but forests are sometimes clear cut for other reasons as well.  One of these reasons is expansion and development.  Anyone who has lived in the RDU area for many years knows that the entire area has changed significantly over the past few decades.  Cary used to be huge masses of forests and mostly dirt roads, and now it is an extremely populated suburban area.  Things everywhere are changing, and builders need to take some responsibility for their actions.  There are other ways to build and expand other and clear cutting everything in your way.  It is important that some trees are left behind and new trees be planted.  Clear cutting is an issue and needs to be stopped.  When it comes to clear cutting for resources there are better ways to go about it like patch cutting, strip cutting, and clear cutting with reserves.  These are methods that need to be implemented everywhere in order to slow the effects of clear cutting.

Christians and the Environment

By no means would I ever call myself a hardcore Christian and I'm not gonna act like what I'm stating is fact and the view of most Christians.  I am simply stating my opinion on Christian views and the environment, more specifically the Ten Commandments.  In my opinion when the Ten Commandments were written I would say they referred to actions against other humans.  I do not believe the environment was greatly considered upon writing the Commandments.  Therefore when it is written in the Commandments that thou shalt not kill, I believe it refers to not killing other people.  I don't think it means if somebody kills a small amount of nature that they are going to go to Hell.  On the other hand, I do believe there is definitely a since of destroying nature in moderation.  After all, during those days individual people would often destroy some nature to build a house and survive; However, if someone was to go out and destroy large amounts of nature for no particular reason, I think this is something that would be looked down upon. 

First Green Reverse Osmosis System

IDE Technologies recently released their IDE ProGreen, which is the industry's first green reverse osmosis desalination plant.  IDE ProGreen reduces the impact desalination has on the environment because it eliminates the need for chemicals in pretreatment.  The elimination of chemicals as well as increased energy efficiency greatly reduces the cost of desalination at this particular plant.  IDE claims that their ProGreen system offers low maintenance cost and will reduce long-term energy consumption.  The system is estimated to produce 500 to 10,000 cubic meters per day per unit depending on the water type, and it is expected to be available by late 2011.

http://www.pacetoday.com.au/news/ide-introduces-worlds-first-green-reverse-osmosis