blog#2

"Farmers prepare for coldest day of winter in South Florida". Sunbeam Television Corp. Feb 3 2009. 2009. http://www1.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI111798/.

South Florida will be expecting Wednesday night to be the coldest day of the winter that could cause a growing problem for farmers with plenty of crops. Farmers are worried that as the temperatures drop into Thursday, their crops could be in great danger and that they could be wiped out. Since its the peak of the harvest season, they are trying their best to do whatever they can to protect their crops. Algers had said that if they don't have a product then it will affect the prices in food stores. This is something we do not want to happen. This difficulty relates a lot to the book Nectar in a Sieve that we are reading in class. But the struggle in that book is that they are working their hardest to get food for survival. They have to go through every day hoping they will have food and hoping that their crops will survive. Also, they struggle with being poor while the people here in South Florida are just at a point in time where crops are not at the best with the weather. We should just be happy that we are able to fix the problems more quickly than in other societies.

blog #1

Alford, Roger. "KY guardsmen cut through trees downed by ice storm that's frozen state for nearly a week". Star Tribune. 1 Feb 2009.

The biggest natural disaster for the state of Kentucky hit early last week. It was the hardest hit by the ice storm that paralyzed wide areas. The ice shattered utility poles, toppled trees and put thousands of homes to shelters. It would also take up to weeks for the power to be restored. Recovery would be a long process. Now, national guard troops are making their way into communities checking on residents, distribute food and water, remove fallen trees and go door-to-door in hard hit areas providing security. At least the ice is disappearing with the temperature in the 40s. For me, this would be devastating because its hard to live without power in your home. Well at least for me it is. When a storm hit Edina a few years ago, I remember going without power in my home for three days. That was hard because I wasn't able to do all the things I was used to doing. But that was only three days, and these residents in Kentucky may go for weeks. I hope that the guardsmen will help all the residents and resolve all the problems. Hopefully the state will be prepared for another incident like this.

blog #15

This year brought devastation and and ruin to the Sichuan province of China. On May 12, 2008 a earthquake jolted this area of China and more than 70,000 people died. Many of the people that died were children that were trapped under poorly built school building. This brought outraged parents demanding officials and contractors be investigated and held accountable for these shortcomings. China's Government which is often slow and secretive was unusually quick and publicly acted to provide relief to the people. This also brought many private Chinese citizens to volunteer and raise money for relief like never before in Chinese History. Out of great tragedy the Chinese People grew closer as a force.
-people

blog #14

This year's election was one that caught the attention of all of us that had to listen to all the campaign promises and speeches and also brought amusement to many of us with the very colorful character, Sarah Palin.. For most of us she came out of nowhere. Not that Alaska is nowhere, but the name and face of Alsaka's Govoner was unknown to most of us until she was
picked by John McCain vice president running mate. She certainly provided the media with a personality all of her own. She took Saturday Night Live's, Tina Fey to the height of her career as she impersonated Sarah Palin and gave SNL record viewership. She definitely got our attention and put Alaska on the map. She even teased us all by saying, who knows in four years maybe you will see me again.
-people

blog #13

This year marks my fourth year on the Edina Swim Team. I myself can definitely see how I have improved and gained strength as well as improved in form as a swimmer. This past summer we all were witness to Michael Phelps as he caught the attention of the world by taking home 8 gold medals. Michael is 23 years old and stands 6'4" tall. His dedication to the sport as well as his discipline to train is outstanding. He has been quoted as saying "My goal is to change
the sport of swimming." I think this in his behalf is an understatement. His eight gold metals is a record for any Olympic athlete and in doing so make himself an overnight celebrity. Proud and exhausted after 17 races in eight events, he finished with a huge grin and a plan: "I'm going to sit on the beach and do nothing he said. "I'm sleeping in."
-people

blog #12

January 20, 2009 will no doubt go down in the American History Books as one of great proportion. Barack Obama became the first African-American to win the White House. This historic event certainly can erase the doubt in anyone's mind that, America is a place where all things are possible. President Obama will lead this country at a time in which we face the greatest economic challege of our lifetime. Not only is our country involved in an very unpopular war, we are also involved in an economic struggle that Americans of this generation are not familiar with. President Obama urges us all to get involved and to understand that we have tough challenging days ahead for all of us. He has promised that he will try his best to help unite the Democrats and Republicans in the cause of restoring the American Economy as well as our relations with the world. Watching the inaguaration and the seeing the huge crowd that gathered to view history in the making was an inspiration to all of us. As President Obama often states, YES WE CAN.
-people

blog #11

Even though it is hard to imagine at this point, eventually the snow will melt and summer will come back to Minnesota. As I think of summer , I start to anticipate heading to the lake and getting some serious time in wakeboarding. This summer will be my fifth year at wakeboarding and I try to do some serious reading on the sport during the long winter months. The pros are great sources of many tips and ways to improve your skills and the intensity of your tricks. I've learned that not only is there a correct way to do jumps and tricks there is also a correct way to fall. For instance, a busted knee can definitely be prevented if you learn to fall the right way. Your instinct is to extend your legs to connect your board to the water, which is OK, but as soon as the board hits, you need to relax your legs instead of still trying to stick the move. Your front knee bends nicely up to your chest, your speed is greatly reduced and sometimes you can even slide out onto your back as smooth as silk. No matter how good you are, everybody still falls.
-wakeboarder