1) In your opinion, what was the purpose of this blogging activity? (Why did Ms. Rumford decide to spend so much time on blogging instead of more traditional writing activities?)
In my opinion, the purpose of writing a blog was to connect us form the rest of the world. People from all different places in the world visited our blogs and left comments which made me improve my mistakes and be a better writer. I also think that Ms. Rumford chose us to write blogs so that we can think and write as Global Citizens. She also chose this activity of writing the blog as writing something on a paper is no fun and that it is only read by some people whereas in a blog, you enjoy writing and the whole world sees your work and gives you feedback.
2) What have you accomplished during your blogging and give specifics to support your ?
I understood that art of research in my work. Choosing a topic and doing critical research on it and finding facts that maybe one body ever knew. I learned to perform more than my comfort zone and learned to be a better writer. For my first blog, the requirements were that of 300-400 words. Now, the first thing Ms.Rumford taught me was to make a plan about what I was going to do and use my time wisely. After doing enough research on a certain topic, I would sit down and think how to organise my work. The main thing I learned was that if I added my opinion in the start or at the end of a post it made more sense and I gave my own opinion at the same time.
3) What key concepts have you learned while blogging?
Distinguishing sentences is the main concept I learned while blogging. I learned to write a tiny piece of information in 400-500 words. Research is also a major art that I learned while blogging. Researching a topic and writing about it in your own opinion, organizing the information you have and presenting it are the main things I Learned.
4) How did the weekly requirements (different sentences, word count, word choice, voice, research, linking, embedding, intro-body-conclusion, concise writing, etc.) help you become a better writer? For example, identifying and highlighting your sentences, knowing when to use a comma, semi-colon, phrases and clauses, etc.
Weekly, every blog requirement changed and something new came. Some requirements were word choice which improved my vocabulary as when I was writing the draft for the blog with word choice, I had to think really hard about the words I chose and then had to find the meaning in the dictionary to make sure that the words I chose were valid ones. Another requirement was to highlight Simple, Compound and Complex sentences. In this activity, I learned how to highlight words and interpret which words should be highlighted. One more example is that of the task when we were to write a new topic in only about a paragraph. At first, I found it very difficult to stay on topic without mentioning other things. Then, as time passed by, I realised that I had to do more research on the topic to not go off it.
5. Based on the skills (writing, technology, perspective) you learned while blogging, how will this benefit you in the future? This maybe inside or outside of school.
This will be a great help in the future as we are going to have seminars and have to speak to a large public. This will also help me in my professional education where I have to do critical research on some unknown topics. The use of technology will also play a great part in my education because as the world develops, technology will also develop and if I don’t know how to use today’s technology, then I cannot use tomorrow’s technology.
Officials of Somaliland, a self-declared independent state of Somalia are concerned over a rise of Human Trafficking in the region. Children are the main victim of this trafficking which is done because of the lacking government in centrel-Somalia“Human trafficking is increasing in Somaliland. Before, no one believed that human/child trafficking existed in Somaliland but such kinds of crimes occur here…” said minister of Family and Social Affairs Fadumo Sudi on a ceremony to reunite the girl with her family. She had been trafficked to an autonomous region of puntland,Qardho to Hargesia.“One day, my sister went to school as usual, but she disappeared. We searched for her everywhere but we didn’t find her. Finally, we heard from the media that she had been trafficked to Somaliland and by Allah’s mercy she was saved. We are happy to have her back,” The girls brother,Najib Jama Abdi, said.Children of north-Kenya Also travel to somaliland in search of work without their parents knowing it. A majority of these children end up in a subordinate trade or a street children. They are also used as beggers by the older people, who claim to be their parents.In January, the immigration office of somaliland, in the area of Loyada, in accordance with the border of Djibouti, sent more than 60 minors of a company of about 200 illegal immigrants home who were hoping to go in Europe through Eritrea, Sudan and Libya.”The children are used in different ways … and are exploited for child labour in Somaliland,” Said Director of child protection in Somalilands National Human Rights Commision, Lul Hassan Matan to IRIN.”Whenever you see a child in the street crying and ask him or her why, they respond they are not with their parents, but have been brought in to work.”According to Khadar Qorane Yusuf, the children are initially lured with false promises are are told not to tell anyone only later to be violated.”With the collaboration of the International Office for Migration (IOM), we are raising awareness by holding forums to discuss the issue of trafficking, as well as debates and seminars,” added Qorane. To spread this issue far off, information posters are strategically placed along the borders and airports.According to Mayumi Ueno,the counter-trafficking project manager at IOM’s Somalia Support Office, the scale of human trafficking in Somalia is not known. “But [a] rapid assessment conducted by IOM indicated [the] existence of international trafficking of Somali women to Djibouti, Kenya, and the Gulf States, mainly the United Arab Emirates, for sexual and labour exploitation. Moreover, further investigations confirmed the widespread practice of domestic human trafficking of Somali women and children [who are] lured into forced prostitution in some areas of Somalia [Somaliland and Puntland],” In 2009, IOM launched a Conter trafficking for the somalian cities of Somaliland and Puntland. These activities include awareness-raising campaigns targeting the local population to inform them of the dangers and risks of being trafficked.It has also helped Somaliland and Puntland in setting up National Counter Trafficking Taskforces. Challenges, however remain, with the public and authorities not knowing much about human trafficking and its consiquences. Mayumi said. “Furthermore, the general lack of social services and issues of culture and social stigma make victims’ reintegration extremely difficult.”
“Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes … known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” -James Madison, Political Observations, 1795
In our everyday life, we hear many forms of news. This includes bulletins like ” The U.S government is helping other countries fight against terrorism” etc. But did you ever think how much the military forces around the world spend to fight against terrorism? If not, read his post to find out!
Global military spendings have gone over 1.46 trillion annually for 2008. The world military spendings in 2008 is estimated to reach $1.464 trillion (just over $1.2 trillion in 2005). This represents a 4% increase compared to that of 2007 and about 45% of that in 1995.”This corresponds to 2.4 per cent of world gross domestic product (GDP), or $217 for each person in the world” according to global issues.org. In the earlier 2006 report, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Russia and Saudi Arabia have been able to spend money on military bases because of increased oil and gas reveuses. Also China and India, The worlds two economic powers are showing a sustained increase in their military expenditure and are contributing to the growing military spendings of the world. Although their spendings is only a fraction of what the U.S spends, their increases are largely proportionate with their economic growth.
According to the authors of the Stockholm International Peace Research institue”“There is a large gap between what countries are prepared to allocate for military means to provide security and maintain their global and regional power status, on the one hand, and to alleviate poverty and promote economic development, on the other.”Now, lets compare the military spendings with the entire budget of the United Nations:”The United Nations and all its agencies and funds spend about $27 billion each year, or about $4 for each of the world’s inhabitants. This is a very small sum compared to most government budgets and it is just a tiny fraction of the world’s military spending. Yet for nearly two decades, the UN has faced a financial difficulties and it has been forced to cut back on important programs in all areas. Many member states have not paid their full dues and have cut their donations to the UN’s voluntary funds. As of May 31, 2009, members’ arrears to the Regular Budget topped $1282 million, of which the United States alone owed $857 million (67% of the regular budget arrears).” –Global Policy Forum (accessed September 13, 2009)
The U.N was created after the World War 2 with laedign efforts of the United States and key allies yet, the the U.Ns entire budget is just a tiny fraction of the world military expenditure, approximately 1.8%.
With the United Nations budget just the fraction of what the world military spendings, dont you guys think that if we save our resources like water, electricty etc. we can make a difference? Thus, to conclude, I will say that lets try and live in harmony, Lets listen to each other discuss the problem and the work out the solution as fighting never is the solution. It ony helps other to fight.Lets be polite and make the world a better place to live in.
Obesity is a rapidly growing issue. Obesity is when someone is so overweight which causes threat to their health.Obesity is the leading cause of deaths in America and other developing nations. Obesity is typically caused by over eating or eating food with only certain nutrients and/or lack of exercise.In the modern world, we are offered cheap, high calorie food (Fast food, junk food) which has a high amount of fat, sugar etc. which ultimately leads to obesity.According to the World Health Organization:
1) About 1.6 Adults (15+) are overweight.
2) At least 400 million adults are obese
3) At least 20 million children under the age of 5 years are overweight globally in 2005.
The WHO has also projected that by 2015, approx. 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese. Obesity also causes diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Diabetes, Musculoskeletal disorders, endometrial, breast, or colon cancer.The WHO also states that it is not widely know that the risk to health problems starts when a person is slightly overweight, and that the likelihood of problems increases when someone becomes more and more over weight. A report also states that the costs of coronary heart disease alone costs around £10 billion a year (approximately 14 billion in U.S. dollars).These costs are made up of £1.6 billion in direct costs (primarily to the tax payer through the costs of treatment by the British National Health Service) and£8.4 billion in indirect costs (to industry and to society as a whole, though loss of productivity due to death and disability).So what do you think now readers? Are you going to spend all of your money on junk food? Think! Think! Think!
Despite major development in the Health Department of the world, there are still some challenges that the world faces today.Some of these diseases are Malnutrition, Malaria etc. Let’s talk about these issues.
Malnutrition.
Malnutrition is caused when the body does not get sufficient amount of vitamins, minearls and other nutrients the body needs to maintain its self, in other words, it does not get enough food to maintain it’s self.The most basic reason of malnutrition is poverty because if people were rich, they would get enough food to maintain their self. Lack of nutrition not only affects the body’s internal organs but it also affects the physical condition of the body causing dieses such as marasmus etc.According to modern researches, malnutrition also includes something called “over nutrition”. It is not a healthy habit to go and eat food with only particular nutrients as this practice can lead to obesity.Researches have proved that plant foods are the best source of nutrients needed by the human body.Many Non-Governmental Organizations are working hard, day and night to address the problem of malnutrition.Many of the malnutrition cases are found in several third world countries where children suffer from malnutrition. Did you know, about 11 million children under the age of 5 die of malnutrition.
Malaria
Malaria is caused when a female mosquito bites a person. Malaria is cause by protozoan of the genus Plasmodium. When a mosquito bites a person, the parasite passes through the blood of the person bitten by the mosquito. The parasite leaves the leaver and goes in the blood stream affecting the RBCs (Red Blood Cells).The parasite then reduces the red blood cells which destroy the cells, increasing the parasites in the blood stream.
The climate is changing. The earth is warminig up and the scientists are getting crazy about what to do to stop the warming.With Global Warming increasing rapidly,many species have dissapeard and many are on a verge of dissaperaing.There is also an unusual chnage in the weather conditions all around the planet.Just like in Qatar,At this time of the year,Qatar is a warmer place,but we can see that its still winter/monsoon.And did you know,Qatar produces the largest carbon emmisions per capita in the world.So,after reading all this,what do you think should be done to stop this global warming?
Befour we can do something to stop it,we must first find what Global Warming means.Global Warming means that there is a sudden increase in the worlds temprature.This is primarily caused by “greenhouse”gases such as Carbondioxide (CO2)
So now, What causes Global warming?
The cause of global warming is that we etensively use coal which is a non-renewable source of energy.Burning coal for energy causes smoke which goes in to the atmosphere and causes air pollution and also maybe the reason of the Ozone depletion.Not only coal,Other fossil fuels such as petroleum,natural gas etc also cause the same.Now the question is “Can we stop this and move to renewable sources such as wind,hydro,solar etc?”.The answer to this is very simple.We can switch to these sourecs but these sources are very Expensive to setup.For example if we setup a dam to generate hydro electricity, We would have to destroy the surroundings of the dam.This again causes an issue because we dont want to destory trees or plants, thats why we are switching.And even if we destory the surroundings for the dam we would still need a lot of money to set it up.And even if we arrange those million and billion dollars,We would still be able to generate electricity for only 275 home in a city.So in my opinion,We should not think of a dam right now because of three reasons:
1)Threatens the environment.
2)Very expensive to setup.
3)Does not generate enough electricity.
Now what about Solar energy?.Can we use it?Is it harmful in any way?
Solar energy has no harm whatsoever.But in directly it has because we would still be burning fossil fuels to setup the panels,transportation etc.Solar panels are again very expensive.According to solar panel info”The current best deals on solar cells is about $4.30 per watt. For a 50 watt solar panel, your total cost will be about $215″ So I this it would be a bit expensive to set a solarpanel in your house and remember that it does not contain a battery bank and setup charges so it doubles the price.
Wind Energy is also a renewable source but it is alos expensive and does not create enough energy for a city.So,scientists are working on how to minimise the effect and how to maximize the advantages of these renewable sources.
What do you think should be done?Do you have any idea?share it wih us and you are always welcome to comment.
But in my opinion Globla Issues is not only about the Natural issuses of the world, For me its the issue all over the world.Let the issue be corruption of government,poverty,racism,sexism,terrorism etc.
Now Lets discuss a bit about all the mentioned issues.Where in the world do we find government corruption?Well, While I listen to the news with my Dad, when the Bulliten stating news from Pakistan cames I always feel that there indeed is Government corruption and it is ture because the government promises the people of pakistan tat they will provide them with sugar, get rid of loadshedding , prove that their government is better tha any other government etc… But all the government did was the opposite.Now in pakistan we have a higher ammount of loadshedding, for example lets say that the government befour the present government said that we will stop the flow of electricity from 2 in the noon till 4 in the evening but this government does not state the time when they are going to stop the flow of electricity and if they start loadshedding form 2 in the noon then it continues till 12 midnight.when the opposition ask them the question in the assembly they just say that they are going to stop it for real good and they are promising this from 2009.No one is to question them, How can anybody question them when all of them gave money in any case or other just to be in the government.
Pakistans Finacial Crises
Now about SUGAR. The government of pakistan stated that in the early weeks of january 2010 they will provide good quality sugar for low prices but if we go back in the early week of january we will find many cases in which innocent prople died or got injured because of the high prices of sugar.Now just because of the government a middle class person has a very limited hand on sugar.
Terrorism consists in many parts of the world but its on its peak on Pakistan.There have been many missions in the rural areas of pakistan by the pakistan army and many of them have succeded but still tpday pakistan is the center of terrorism.The people that cause terrorism are called terrorists.Terrorism also englues Afganistan. For the Afganis Terrorism is now in their lives. There are military operations going on and some countries have shared their forces to fight terrorism in afganistan bit from 2001 till now its of no use.Topping the list of terrorist in U.S.A is Osama bin-Laden form Saudia Arabia.He is also convicted for the 9/11 attacks in U.S.A.According to the Unitedstates he runs a group named Al-Qaeda and is on the FBI top list.Osama Bin-Laden stayed on the top of the FBI list from 2001 and has still not come in leash of the FBI
Financial Crises…. A Global Issue?
What are Financial crises?How did it Happen?Who are to blame?…….. These are the question frequently asked by those concerned.But really,What are Financial crises?
Finanacial Crises are the times when some financial institutions suddenly have a huge loss.But the financial crises of 2007-present are because of the sudden fall of the United States banking system.The result of the sudden downfall is that it has caused a huge down fall in most of the worlds financial institutions.This is the Second biggest financial crise after the great depression of 1930.This crise has caused millions and billions of losses around the world and many uprisisng companies,factories,businesses etc. have subsequently gone dark.Because if this the large part of the economy has also gone poor and the middle class has just been able to survive.This is because when the denominations fell,the people who own business like petroleum suddenly raised their rates which were just in reach of the middle class people.
Now, if we comapre the Global Financial Crises with Qatar, we can say that it had a huge Impact on the world economy because if a country like Qatar,the world richest country stop its construction sites because of the crises then think what would have happend in poor countries like India,Pakistan,Bangladesh etc.If you say that these countries are not poor then what do you think about the African continent??.I dont know any country on the continent that is RICH.I am not offending any country but this is the fact.Not a single country on the African continenet is Middle classed.With very little food and water supplies,clothing etc..Think what would have happend to them.They might be living the Hells life on earth.
Now I ask that who are the people behind all this? where did the world 3 TRILLION DOLLORS go?.According to the Guniess Book Of World Records 2009 the Worlds Largest Bank Fraud was in the major Bank of France Societe Generale by a bank trader Jerome Karveil whose fraud had resulted a loss of 7.16 BILLION DOLLORS.So where did the remaining monyey go.Some people say that the money was taken by secert agencies.Some say that the government has the money.
Well i dont know but I would like to know so anybody who has any kind of information can comment.!!
e of Somalia are concerned over a rise of Human Trafficking in the region. Children are the main victim of this trafficking which is done because of the lacking government in centrel-Somalia“Human trafficking is increasing in Somaliland. Before, no one believed that human/child trafficking existed in Somaliland but such kinds of crimes occur here…” said minister of Family and Social Affairs Fadumo Sudi on a ceremony to reunite the girl with her family. She had been trafficked to an autonomous region of puntland,Qardho to Hargesia.“One day, my sister went to school as usual, but she disappeared. We searched for her everywhere but we didn’t find her. Finally, we heard from the media that she had been trafficked to Somaliland and by Allah’s mercy she was saved. We are happy to have her back,” The girls brother,Najib Jama Abdi, said.Children of north-Kenya Also travel to somaliland in search of work without their parents knowing it. A majority of these children end up in a subordinate trade or a street children. They are also used as beggers by the older people, who claim to be their parents.In January, the immigration office of somaliland, in the area of Loyada, in accordance with the border of Djibouti, sent more than 60 minors of a company of about 200 illegal immigrants home who were hoping to go in Europe through Eritrea, Sudan and Libya.”The children are used in different ways … and are exploited for child labour in Somaliland,” Said Director of child protection in Somalilands National Human Rights Commision, Lul Hassan Matan to IRIN.”Whenever you see a child in the street crying and ask him or her why, they respond they are not with their parents, but have been brought in to work.”According to Khadar Qorane Yusuf, the children are initially lured with false promises are are told not to tell anyone only later to be violated.”With the collaboration of the International Office for Migration (IOM), we are raising awareness by holding forums to discuss the issue of trafficking, as well as debates and seminars,” added Qorane. To spread this issue far off, information posters are strategically placed along the borders and airports.According to Mayumi Ueno,the counter-trafficking project manager at IOM’s Somalia Support Office, the scale of human trafficking in Somalia is not known. “But [a] rapid assessment conducted by IOM indicated [the] existence of international trafficking of Somali women to Djibouti, Kenya, and the Gulf States, mainly the United Arab Emirates, for sexual and labour exploitation. Moreover, further investigations confirmed the widespread practice of domestic human trafficking of Somali women and children [who are] lured into forced prostitution in some areas of Somalia [Somaliland and Puntland],” In 2009, IOM launched a Conter trafficking for the somalian cities of Somaliland and Puntland. These activities include awareness-raising campaigns targeting the local population to inform them of the dangers and risks of being trafficked.It has also helped Somaliland and Puntland in setting up National Counter Trafficking Taskforces. Challenges, however remain, with the public and authorities not knowing much about human trafficking and its consiquences. Mayumi said. “Furthermore, the general lack of social services and issues of culture and social stigma make victims’ reintegration extremely difficult.”
