<file:///J:/Word/Handy%20Dandy%20Guide.doc>\
As you can tell, Queensland is an area filled with lots of hope if they are still standing today. Like I mentioned in the beginning, it is beautiful but it is also filled with disaster, death, and lots of water. I recommend it as a vacation spot but maybe sometime in the winter. The ocean doesn't have to be viewed as a scary thing, and rain is still a sign of joy to some people. If you focus on the people, animals and plants you will find a great community in Brisbane, and all of Queensland.
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials. We have all heard of them and Salem was really where the whole idea of witches started. But could the witches of this small town have been more than witches? Or maybe less? They might have just been young girls tired of following the puritan laws and beliefs. Tired of being seen and not heard. Tired of others ruining their fun. Okay, enough of the scary stuff, ironically, the "haunted" theme of the trials has nothing to do with the people who started them, the puritans.
Puritanism is a strict but simple religion. Their main belief is still followed today, everything happens for a reason. This theory has changed in thought, however, since the 16th century. Today, the phrase is used when we get picked to do a project with someone we don't really like, we find a twenty dollar bill on the ground, or we get a bad test grade. Back then it was used when a farmer's crops wouldn't grow or when someone was ill. The puritan's believed that it was their own fault and if they were to die of a sickness, they deserved it. God was trying to send them a message and they would do anything they could to live a safe simple life that lead them to heaven when it was over.
The Puritans were not crazy people, but they did think some crazy thoughts. For example, not all of them believed in doctors, because as I mentioned before, they thought that if people were sick they were supposed to be that way. They also were very strict about children. Puritan children attended school most of the day and then came home to work on chores. Something that you might recognize is the phrase, "Children should be seen and not heard". They would also attend church without any questions. This was because the puritan way of life was sculpted around the bible. So when two girls, Abigail WIlliams who was eleven and Ann Putnam, who was twelve, started behaving strange, the only conclusion was that they were possessed by Satan. Since they all shared the same rules, laws, and beliefs, no one doubted that this was true.
The one person in the town who was "different" was Abigail's house keeping slave, Tituba. She was purchased by Reverend Parris, Abigail's father, in Barbados. Tituba wasn't exactly noticed for her strange behavior until now. She would always tell the girls stories and tell them their future. After the girls accused her as being a witch, these fun little games were seen as demonic practices. Tituba was almost instantly claimed guilty because of her skin color and accent, but she confessed when Reverend Parris beat her and forced her to admit what she was. Tituba was taken to jail with the two people she claimed to be her "accomplices", Sara Osbourne and Sara Good.
After Tituba, accusations just kept coming. The two girls who started it became more and more famous. Some villagers were jealous of the attention and claimed that they, themselves, were witches too. If you were said to be a witch you could either confirm or deny yourself being possessed by the devil. If you agreed, you would most likely be used for information on who else was helping you with your witchcraft. The more confidence you had, they more valuable you were to the judges. Unless, of course, you denied your accusation. In this case, you would have been asked to recite the Our Father in front of a crowd. One simple mistake, one nervous breath, or one sign of fear, and you would be taken to jail or killed on the spot.
So many people were supposed witches, that the jails started filling up. If you were one of the few innocent villagers, you were worried sick that you would be accused. Eventually,someone noticed that the girls were pointing their fingers at more then the beggars. The rich and poor were both fed up and thought that someone should probably stop this nonsense before it got out of hand. Then, Reverend Mather stepped in. He held a few sermons and spoke the famous phrase "It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that one Innocent Person should be Condemned." This and the selfish behavior of those being accused eventually ended the Salem Witch Trials.
You can still visit Salem today, although just breathing the air might scare some people. The Salem witch trials made a big impact on our country, on our people, and on our state of mind. For example, Whitewater, Wisconsin is said to be a second Salem, filled with haunted graveyards and in depth stories on the history of the college. That was just one example, but the trials inspired many more. I'm sure that if you do some research, you can still find a believer around today.
Japan Tsunami
Author's Note: This is a piece about my opinion on why we, as a country, should be helping out Japan after its recent earthquake. I believe that if they can't support themselves then it is critical that we help support them, no matter how much we pay.
I'm sure you've heard about the recent earthquake in Japan and how many people have been washed away by the 30 foot wall of water. I'm sure you've heard how men have made 6 hour walking trips just to get to the store to find fresh bread and milk for their families. I'm sure you've imagined how it would feel to go 3 hours with electricity and running water, and then 3 hours without. My mother works with people in the country and comes home everyday with new stories about their hardships. If this isn't enough to convince you that these people need help, then I can tell you a story that will be.
Two days after the earthquake news reporters went searching for people and their hardships to film and show the world. In a severely destroyed area which now looks like a landfill, they found two spaniels, one hurt. While one of them couldn't move and was stuck on the ground, the other stood next to its side and had been doing so for the past day. It did not go out to look for food for itself or run away, it sat right next to the injured dog, occasionally poking it with its nose to encourage it. Eventually the dogs were taken into veterinary care but the point is that if Japan can barely fend for itself, the country definitely needs our help, at least our financial help.
The video is blocked at school but here is the link
The conversation of the news reporters is below.
> We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog. There is a dog. He looks tired and dirty. He must have been caught in the tsunami. He looks very dirty.
> He has a collar. He must be someone’s pet. He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid.
> Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead.
> Where?
> Right there. There is another dog right next to the one sitting down. He is not moving. I wonder. I wonder if he is alright.
> The dog is protecting him.
> Yes. He is protecting the dog. That is why he did not want us to approach them. He was trying to keep us at bay.
> I can’t watch this. This is a very difficult to watch.
> Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive.
> Yes! Yes! He is alive.
> He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon. We really want them rescued soon.
> Oh good. He’s getting up.
> It is amazing how they survived the tremendous earthquake and tsunami. It’s just amazing that they survived through this all.
Country Comparison
Author's Note: Using the country comparison website I decided to compare the US to the Bahamas and to the UK. What I've found is pretty unexpected but good to know if I ever want to live there.
In the country comparison experiments I've done, I have found that some places aren't as nice as they seem. For example, a favorite vacation spot for almost all americans is The Bahamas. One bad thing about the Bahama's that I find pretty scary is that in the US the life expectancy at birth is 78.24% while in the Bahama's it is only 70.84%. It doesn't sound like much, but that little 7.4% means that if you lived there you would die about 7 and a half years eariler. Think about all the things you can do in 7 years! That is currently more than half my life, which is why I think that dying earilier is so scary.
Another thing I found in while comparing countries, is that the UK is a pretty nice place to be-especially compared to the US. Have you ever seen your parents stressing out and saying things like, they don't have enough time, or they feel rushed? Imagine what it would be like to have 8.85% more free time? Okay, I know that it is a small number but Americans of average work 1797 hours a year, and that is a big number. People native to the UK work 1638 hours. Making the move to the UK would give your overtired parents 159 hours of extra sleep.
I am content with the US-- although maybe not Wisconsin-- but after learning about different countries and the pros and cons of living in them, I will always have an idea of a place for another home.
Prince Edward Island
If there's one place in Canada I would like to visit it would be Prince Edward Island, Canada. It's conveniently close to the US compared to the rest of Canada. PEI is located North of Maine and Nova Scotia, so you can find it right above the Northeastern part of our country. It is a province of Canada as of 1873, and it is one of the elder provinces. As well as a province, Prince Edward Island is also its own island. You may be wondering why I am telling you all of this, but all these facts lead up to why its location is so significant and why I would enjoy visiting it so much.
Canada's stereotype is cold and dreary, but Prince Edward Island is actually surrounded by beaches! This makes the location significant because in summer it surprises tourists, with temperatures rising up to 90 degrees in the summer. It also surprised me because, never being to Canada I assumed it was terribly cold, like Wisconsin. But with the supervised beaches all along the coast of the island, the stereotype is easily broken.
If I was to take a vacation to PEI I would love to visit the Anne of Green Gables house in Cavendish. My Grandmother would always show me the Anne series of movies, which were based on the book written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This is the house she wrote the book about because the scenery was so beautiful. From looking at pictures it is easy to tell why. There is a barn in the back of the house and a trail leading out into the "Haunted Woods". It is a historical site open to the public and is now a huge tourist attraction.
Taking a trip like this wouldn't be too costly. For a flight from Milwaukee to Charlottetown, the capital, would cost about $1020 round trip. From there you would have to rent a car and to rent a car that holds 5, would be about $263. After that, you would have to get to a hotel room and staying at the Best Western in Charlottetown would cost about $510 for a five night stay. Seems like I have everything covered, right? Well actually there's still more I want to do on this cute little island! I decided to give myself an extra $200 for fun things to do and food of course, and another $200-300 for gas to fuel my car around the island.
Prince Edward Island sounds like an excellent vacation spot and I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling to the area. If you visit PEI in Summer you absolutely must visit the beautiful beaches and fans of the Anne of Green Gables series should really stop at the famous house.
The Pacific Coast
Five Themes
The five themes of geography are more than what they may seem to be. The five main themes are Location, Region, Place, Human Environment Interaction, and Movement. After you have figured out the meanings of these themes, you have to figure out the sub-themes. For example, when you are researching location, you are not just looking at where a place is located. You are studying its absolute location, relative location, the latitude, the longitude, which hemispheres, and the altitude. Once you finish the five themes of a country, city, region, or continent-- and hundreds of subthemes-- you will be able to walk the area backward, even if you have never been there before.
Human Environment interaction, and place are very similar. You were probably wondering why I knew so much about the five themes. My latest project featured the five themes, although the ones I am most familiar with are human environment interaction and place. They both have to do with what the humans have done to the area, the climate of the area, and the area's economy. For example, when I was researching the climate of the gulf region, I found out that it is a subtropical region, which means the summers are usually 70 to 80 degrees and the winter is always over 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The gulf also has yearly hurricanes, floods, and many thunderstorms.
The people of the gulf are effected by rainfall too. The people who live in the gulf region get 55 inches as an average of rainfall each year. In the last ten years they have got 20 to 30% more rainfall. I think this may be because of global warming, but I found little proof to back up my theory. However, I did find that the sea level of the gulf has risen five inches in the last hundred years, and is predicted to continue increasing. This is probably why they get so many floods.
While rainfall is an issue to worry about, people of the gulf can get pretty distracted by the recreation. Recreation is a pastime, a hobby, or an exercise that you do for the fun of it. In the area by the Gulf of Mexico, there are many state parks for people to enjoy. Such as Saint Bernard State Park in Louisiana, or Garner State Park in Texas. A lot of swimming and fishing also takes place, but because of the spill most people today find that disgusting.
The gulf region has a large population, so it was pretty tragic in the job fields when the spill happened. More than 620,000 jobs in the gulf are in the tourist and recreation fields, so when swimming and fishing were pretty much banned, many jobs were lost. For example, Louisiana alone has, or had, a multimillion dollar seafood industry. The population has jumped by 150% since 1960, but I predict that because of the spill it may drop up to 10%. I think this because much of the population comes from immigration, but now, it will not be many people's desired place to live anymore.
Each theme of geography isn't too hard and you will learn a lot. These examples were all parts of human environment interaction. See, the five themes aren't that bad! At least not this one, I would highly suggest incorporating the five themes of geography into your next project, all you have to do it talk to Ms. Colque. You can see how much I learned, and this is only half! The five themes of geography only require research, work, and determination, easy right?
Place
You can learn lots about the gulf oil spill by researching the place part of the five themes. I learned about the animals, people, land, landforms, water, and even agriculture. There is lots to learn about the gulf region and countries around the Gulf of Mexico, but ever since the spill happened, they have become more interesting. The animals' habitats have been destroyed, the people's food sources have been damaged, and their jobs taken. The gulf oil spill really made a difference in the gulf's surrounding areas.
When birds feed their young oil contaminated fish, it stunts their growth. The fish are sticking around the gulf because the spill took place during their nesting time. Some of the fish that live in the gulf are the Bluefin North Atlantic tuna, which is used for sushi. Some more animals are the 5 species of sea turtles , whale sharks, and Menhaden fish which are tiny animals which are very important in making cosmetics. The fish aren't the only ones annoyed by the spill, the birds and mammals are too. For example, the dolphins and whales have to come up and breath sometime, and when they do they will intake a breath of toxic air, which will surely hurt them in the long run. Also, the birds eat the fish and wash off in the dirty water. The whole food system has changed and NOT in a good way.
The oil is scheduled to leak into the Mississippi delta, which could affect anything trying to travel through the Mississippi, which controls shipping, fishing, boating, and other important activities. This is only one of the gulf region's issues. Louisiana gets its drinking water by purifying the water that soaks into a bank in the ground of a nearby desert, called an Aquifier. The workers were already having trouble with having the salt water soaking in, now, if the oil was to soak in, purifying that would be ten times harder. The oil harms the water of Louisiana, and may leave them thirsty.
The gulf includes many more landforms than just the American coast. The bordering US states are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama. I suppose you could include Puerto Rico, but there are many islands that are not American. Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, The Dominican Republic, and Haiti. All these islands lay in the bordering bodies of water, like the Caribbean sea. There are countries along the gulf that are not islands, such as Mexico. Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama lay in the Caribbean sea or the oceans surrounding the area.
Agriculture was damaged when the spill hit. It is a lot harder to transport your products without a clean body of water for boats to travel along. They can still sell what goods they have locally, but this doesn't make as much money. Without money, farmers can't afford water to grow their animals or plants. The cities use purified seawater but this is expensive. Their only option is water from the Aquifiers in nearby deserts, which are slowly running out and have salt and possibly oil leaking into them. This could be dangerous for farmer's products, and to people who buy them.
Although I learned pages of facts, what stood out the most was how much you could probably tell that life is getting harder for the people who live near the gulf. Even if they don’t live on a boat or go swimming every day, their living style can still be damaged. This is the place where these people live, and it isn't easy to pack up and move. These people did make a big impact on the area, and you can look at my Human Environment Interaction essay to see that, but the spill may have made a bigger impact on the people than they did on the land.
Gold Rush
As valuable and precious as gold is, you would never have believed it was the cause of many deaths, hardships, and what seemed like impossible dreams. When you picture gold in your head you think about the pretty necklaces, or earring you got your mom for her birthday. Well, gold starts out looking like rocks. Little pea-sized powerful rocks that created the state of California, and made more miners poor, than rich.
John Sutter started what is known today as the gold rush. He moved to California from Russia, planning to be a successful farmer. One day, one of his workers, James Marshall, was out with Sutter attempting to build a sawmill. A sawmill is the mechanic part of a farm, usually made to chop up wood. Then, something on the ground caught Marshall's eye. He picked it up and showed it to Sutter. It was gold. Neither of them were bothered. They had a sawmill to build and they didn't need greedy miners getting in their way. But somehow, as secrets always do, their information leaked out.
When word got out about gold, it spread. While most believed, others needed proof, or even just reassurance. That is exactly what president James K Polk set out to do. He delivered a speech with famous words in it, "The accounts of the abundance of gold in that territory are of such extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by authentic reports of officers in the public service." This cleared things up for the hesitant miners. Young men immediately left and set out to find their fortune.
Miners came from all over to get some gold. In these few years, hundreds of thousands of men left their wives and children, to go look for the tiny rocks. For those who lived in places closer to California, their only option was a 2000 mile walk across hot, sandy America. They would take wagons with them, led by horses or other large animals who traveled a few miles per hour. By the time they reached California, about six months later, they were almost dead. Smart home owners on the border would sell water for up to a hundred dollars, and they would make a profit too. Without water--which none of these travelers had much of-- your tongue would blacken and you would simply drop dead.
Option two to make it to California, was just as bad, if not worse. It was a sea route. A boat took miners around South America, which took more than six months. Seasickness came and went, the food was rotten and full of bugs, and there was barely any drinkable water. Eventually, a route was made that cut across Panama. This trip was shorter, but there was a problem. Miners would be dropped off in Central America, which was filled with diseases at the time. Such as Cholera, which is like a sever stomach infection caused by dehydration, or Malaria, a flu like disease caused by parasites.
Gold not only brought people to California, it brought people from all over the world to America. The country was filled with different religions, ethnicities, shapes, and sizes. When the gold ran out, the gold era continued, in fact California is still called the golden state to this day. Eventually, even John Sutter left the state. California was too big for him; it was a place for risk takers, a place for people with big imaginations. Some people are said to have started here, people that we still know today. A man created a pair of mining pants that became popular. His name was Levi Strauss. rsTwo men gave mine stable money, Wells and Fargo. The people who came for gold, or the people who came for those people, may not have known it, but they helped shape the country that we live in now.
Queensland Flood
Queensland is a beautiful place near the eastern border of Australia. It is located in the Eastern hemisphere and it's below the equator. It has a populations of about 4.5 million people and gets a new one every 5 minutes and 47 seconds. it is filled with people doing stereotypical Australian things like rugby, cricket, basketball, and a hugely popular activity is biking. There are 27 bike trails in Brisbane alone! In fact, if there is any place in Queensland with recreation, it's Brisbane. Besides its large population, this may be the reason Brisbane is the capitol.
You may be wondering why I am talking more about Brisbane then Queensland, but this is because Brisbane is where the mess started. Queensland's usual precipitation level is average, (about 1200mm a year) and since it borders the Pacific Ocean, all of the rivers drain out eventually. Everything works out so that the water level is never too high and always has been, with a few exceptions. Like, for example in 1983 the Brisbane River overflowed due to a tropical cyclone. This is known as the Black February flood. Also, there were two major floods in 1887 and 1890 due to high summer rainfall. The level of water, and people's panic has been average until now, when the water level has reached as high as 16 ft. This January, the residents claim that the rain just kept coming. At points there were houses along the Fitzroy and Burnett rivers were up to their second stories in water. Lots of items were lost, including nine lives.
The wildlife has suffered as well. Animals native to the area like wallabies, lizards, geckos and kangaroos do not swim and were "washed away" along with their homes and young. Even the crocodiles and turtles and were swimming- in the streets alongside cars. Like humans, they can only stay afloat for so long, and like humans, eventually they will drown. Another problem that the swimming animals ran into was the sewage. A summer ago, you may remember how Pewaukee was flooded and the main problem was that the sewage from under ground was being washed up and the fish could not breath it in. A similar problem happened in Queensland and everyone suffered.
The animals and people were not the only ones who suffered. Since Australia is filled with gorgeous plants, they need worrying about as well. When the rain first started plants on farms like beans, potatoes, melons, grapes, and avocados could easily soak up the water. A little extra liquid never hurt anyone, right? But gallons and gallons of rain later, the plants would be washed up and taken with the current, their roots dragging slowly beneath them. Even some of the young native trees like the eucalyptus and acacia trees were uprooted.
Queensland Flood
Queensland is a beautiful place near the eastern border of Australia. It is located in the Eastern hemisphere and it's below the equator. It has a populations of about 4.5 million people and gets a new one every 5 minutes and 47 seconds. it is filled with people doing stereotypical Australian things like rugby, cricket, basketball, and a hugely popular activity is biking. There are 27 bike trails in Brisbane alone! In fact, if there is any place in Queensland with recreation, it's Brisbane. Besides its large population, this may be the reason Brisbane is the capitol.
You may be wondering why I am talking more about Brisbane then Queensland, but this is because Brisbane is where the mess started. Queensland's usual precipitation level is average, (about 1200mm a year) and since it borders the Pacific Ocean, all of the rivers drain out eventually. Everything works out so that the water level is never too high and always has been, with a few exceptions. Like, for example in 1983 the Brisbane River overflowed due to a tropical cyclone. This is known as the Black February flood. Also, there were two major floods in 1887 and 1890 due to high summer rainfall. The level of water, and people's panic has been average until now, when the water level has reached as high as 16 ft. This January, the residents claim that the rain just kept coming. At points there were houses along the Fitzroy and Burnett rivers were up to their second stories in water. Lots of items were lost, including nine lives.
The wildlife has suffered as well. Animals native to the area like wallabies, lizards, geckos and kangaroos do not swim and were "washed away" along with their homes and young. Even the crocodiles and turtles and were swimming- in the streets alongside cars. Like humans, they can only stay afloat for so long, and like humans, eventually they will drown. Another problem that the swimming animals ran into was the sewage. A summer ago, you may remember how Pewaukee was flooded and the main problem was that the sewage from under ground was being washed up and the fish could not breath it in. A similar problem happened in Queensland and everyone suffered.
The animals and people were not the only ones who suffered. Since Australia is filled with gorgeous plants, they need worrying about as well. When the rain first started plants on farms like beans, potatoes, melons, grapes, and avocados could easily soak up the water. A little extra liquid never hurt anyone, right? But gallons and gallons of rain later, the plants would be washed up and taken with the current, their roots dragging slowly beneath them. Even some of the young native trees like the eucalyptus and acacia trees were uprooted.
As you can tell, Queensland is an area filled with lots of hope if they are still standing today. Like I mentioned in the beginning, it is beautiful but it is also filled with disaster, death, and lots of water. I recommend it as a vacation spot but maybe sometime in the winter. The ocean doesn't have to be viewed as a scary thing, and rain is still a sign of joy to some people. If you focus on the people, animals and plants you will find a great community in Brisbane, and all of Queensland.
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials. We have all heard of them and Salem was really where the whole idea of witches started. But could the witches of this small town have been more than witches? Or maybe less? They might have just been young girls tired of following the puritan laws and beliefs. Tired of being seen and not heard. Tired of others ruining their fun. Okay, enough of the scary stuff, ironically, the "haunted" theme of the trials has nothing to do with the people who started them, the puritans.
Puritanism is a strict but simple religion. Their main belief is still followed today, everything happens for a reason. This theory has changed in thought, however, since the 16th century. Today, the phrase is used when we get picked to do a project with someone we don't really like, we find a twenty dollar bill on the ground, or we get a bad test grade. Back then it was used when a farmer's crops wouldn't grow or when someone was ill. The puritan's believed that it was their own fault and if they were to die of a sickness, they deserved it. God was trying to send them a message and they would do anything they could to live a safe simple life that lead them to heaven when it was over.
The Puritans were not crazy people, but they did think some crazy thoughts. For example, not all of them believed in doctors, because as I mentioned before, they thought that if people were sick they were supposed to be that way. They also were very strict about children. Puritan children attended school most of the day and then came home to work on chores. Something that you might recognize is the phrase, "Children should be seen and not heard". They would also attend church without any questions. This was because the puritan way of life was sculpted around the bible. So when two girls, Abigail WIlliams who was eleven and Ann Putnam, who was twelve, started behaving strange, the only conclusion was that they were possessed by Satan. Since they all shared the same rules, laws, and beliefs, no one doubted that this was true.
The one person in the town who was "different" was Abigail's house keeping slave, Tituba. She was purchased by Reverend Parris, Abigail's father, in Barbados. Tituba wasn't exactly noticed for her strange behavior until now. She would always tell the girls stories and tell them their future. After the girls accused her as being a witch, these fun little games were seen as demonic practices. Tituba was almost instantly claimed guilty because of her skin color and accent, but she confessed when Reverend Parris beat her and forced her to admit what she was. Tituba was taken to jail with the two people she claimed to be her "accomplices", Sara Osbourne and Sara Good.
After Tituba, accusations just kept coming. The two girls who started it became more and more famous. Some villagers were jealous of the attention and claimed that they, themselves, were witches too. If you were said to be a witch you could either confirm or deny yourself being possessed by the devil. If you agreed, you would most likely be used for information on who else was helping you with your witchcraft. The more confidence you had, they more valuable you were to the judges. Unless, of course, you denied your accusation. In this case, you would have been asked to recite the Our Father in front of a crowd. One simple mistake, one nervous breath, or one sign of fear, and you would be taken to jail or killed on the spot.
So many people were supposed witches, that the jails started filling up. If you were one of the few innocent villagers, you were worried sick that you would be accused. Eventually,someone noticed that the girls were pointing their fingers at more then the beggars. The rich and poor were both fed up and thought that someone should probably stop this nonsense before it got out of hand. Then, Reverend Mather stepped in. He held a few sermons and spoke the famous phrase "It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that one Innocent Person should be Condemned." This and the selfish behavior of those being accused eventually ended the Salem Witch Trials.
You can still visit Salem today, although just breathing the air might scare some people. The Salem witch trials made a big impact on our country, on our people, and on our state of mind. For example, Whitewater, Wisconsin is said to be a second Salem, filled with haunted graveyards and in depth stories on the history of the college. That was just one example, but the trials inspired many more. I'm sure that if you do some research, you can still find a believer around today.
Japan Tsunami
Author's Note: This is a piece about my opinion on why we, as a country, should be helping out Japan after its recent earthquake. I believe that if they can't support themselves then it is critical that we help support them, no matter how much we pay.
I'm sure you've heard about the recent earthquake in Japan and how many people have been washed away by the 30 foot wall of water. I'm sure you've heard how men have made 6 hour walking trips just to get to the store to find fresh bread and milk for their families. I'm sure you've imagined how it would feel to go 3 hours with electricity and running water, and then 3 hours without. My mother works with people in the country and comes home everyday with new stories about their hardships. If this isn't enough to convince you that these people need help, then I can tell you a story that will be.
Two days after the earthquake news reporters went searching for people and their hardships to film and show the world. In a severely destroyed area which now looks like a landfill, they found two spaniels, one hurt. While one of them couldn't move and was stuck on the ground, the other stood next to its side and had been doing so for the past day. It did not go out to look for food for itself or run away, it sat right next to the injured dog, occasionally poking it with its nose to encourage it. Eventually the dogs were taken into veterinary care but the point is that if Japan can barely fend for itself, the country definitely needs our help, at least our financial help.
The video is blocked at school but here is the link
The conversation of the news reporters is below.
> We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog. There is a dog. He looks tired and dirty. He must have been caught in the tsunami. He looks very dirty.
> He has a collar. He must be someone’s pet. He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid.
> Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead.
> Where?
> Right there. There is another dog right next to the one sitting down. He is not moving. I wonder. I wonder if he is alright.
> The dog is protecting him.
> Yes. He is protecting the dog. That is why he did not want us to approach them. He was trying to keep us at bay.
> I can’t watch this. This is a very difficult to watch.
> Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive.
> Yes! Yes! He is alive.
> He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon. We really want them rescued soon.
> Oh good. He’s getting up.
> It is amazing how they survived the tremendous earthquake and tsunami. It’s just amazing that they survived through this all.
Country Comparison
Author's Note: Using the country comparison website I decided to compare the US to the Bahamas and to the UK. What I've found is pretty unexpected but good to know if I ever want to live there.
In the country comparison experiments I've done, I have found that some places aren't as nice as they seem. For example, a favorite vacation spot for almost all americans is The Bahamas. One bad thing about the Bahama's that I find pretty scary is that in the US the life expectancy at birth is 78.24% while in the Bahama's it is only 70.84%. It doesn't sound like much, but that little 7.4% means that if you lived there you would die about 7 and a half years eariler. Think about all the things you can do in 7 years! That is currently more than half my life, which is why I think that dying earilier is so scary.
Another thing I found in while comparing countries, is that the UK is a pretty nice place to be-especially compared to the US. Have you ever seen your parents stressing out and saying things like, they don't have enough time, or they feel rushed? Imagine what it would be like to have 8.85% more free time? Okay, I know that it is a small number but Americans of average work 1797 hours a year, and that is a big number. People native to the UK work 1638 hours. Making the move to the UK would give your overtired parents 159 hours of extra sleep.
I am content with the US-- although maybe not Wisconsin-- but after learning about different countries and the pros and cons of living in them, I will always have an idea of a place for another home.
Prince Edward Island
If there's one place in Canada I would like to visit it would be Prince Edward Island, Canada. It's conveniently close to the US compared to the rest of Canada. PEI is located North of Maine and Nova Scotia, so you can find it right above the Northeastern part of our country. It is a province of Canada as of 1873, and it is one of the elder provinces. As well as a province, Prince Edward Island is also its own island. You may be wondering why I am telling you all of this, but all these facts lead up to why its location is so significant and why I would enjoy visiting it so much.
Canada's stereotype is cold and dreary, but Prince Edward Island is actually surrounded by beaches! This makes the location significant because in summer it surprises tourists, with temperatures rising up to 90 degrees in the summer. It also surprised me because, never being to Canada I assumed it was terribly cold, like Wisconsin. But with the supervised beaches all along the coast of the island, the stereotype is easily broken.
If I was to take a vacation to PEI I would love to visit the Anne of Green Gables house in Cavendish. My Grandmother would always show me the Anne series of movies, which were based on the book written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This is the house she wrote the book about because the scenery was so beautiful. From looking at pictures it is easy to tell why. There is a barn in the back of the house and a trail leading out into the "Haunted Woods". It is a historical site open to the public and is now a huge tourist attraction.
Taking a trip like this wouldn't be too costly. For a flight from Milwaukee to Charlottetown, the capital, would cost about $1020 round trip. From there you would have to rent a car and to rent a car that holds 5, would be about $263. After that, you would have to get to a hotel room and staying at the Best Western in Charlottetown would cost about $510 for a five night stay. Seems like I have everything covered, right? Well actually there's still more I want to do on this cute little island! I decided to give myself an extra $200 for fun things to do and food of course, and another $200-300 for gas to fuel my car around the island.
Prince Edward Island sounds like an excellent vacation spot and I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling to the area. If you visit PEI in Summer you absolutely must visit the beautiful beaches and fans of the Anne of Green Gables series should really stop at the famous house.
The Pacific Coast
The Pacific Coast is a highly populated, warm temperature, perfect vacation spot. Not only does it border the beautiful Pacific Ocean, but it borders mountain ranges as well. People from all over come to the Western states of the US to vacation, or even to live. Billionaires, immigrants, and tourists love it here and there are many reasons why they should.
The main reason why people choose to live near the ocean because of its climate. The average high temperature is 72 degrees Fahrenheit and there's a breeze all along the ocean because of the waves pushing toward the shore. Areas a bit farther away from the ocean aren't as populated and mountain climates with their cold weather, being so high above sea level, have less people living among them.
Precipitation is supposed to rise about 4% and average temperature by 5 degrees in the north pacific region in the next 40 years because of global warming. Also, snow melting is predicted to happen earlier in the spring. Will this affect the settlement patterns of the region? Who knows if we will even notice it happening. The pacific area is a high populated area simply because of its climate. So if its climate were to change there would most likely be a slight population decrease.
Just like people around the world, the people in this specific area aren't necessarily bothered by the ocean pollution. The animals are affected and the plants are in danger, but the people live it out and don't pay attention to the dying creatures around them. In the ocean for every plankton in the, there are six pieces of trash. You may be visioning all of this trash on the shore, affecting people, but there is actually a big area of "Plastic Soup" about the size of Australia somewhere in the Pacific. It may not interact with humans right now, but say a huge hurricane started in the soup bowl and washed up on the beaches? Also, because of the burning of fossil fuels, more carbon dioxide is released into the air and will eventually be absorbed by the ocean. An increase in ocean acidity could result is defective animal and plant growth in the ocean or less creatures as a whole. It would also eventually affect the humans swimming, fishing, and boating in the water. These are just some things to think about for our future, but for now the area is a fun place to take a hike to the beach and try your best to surf, boat, or jet ski.
The Pacific Coast area has a very big problem with illegal immigrants damaging their economy. Illegal Immigrants cost California 10.5 billion dollars annually and not to mention a pretty big chunk of time. Another 1.4 billion dollars of CA taxpayers money goes to paying for immigrants healthcare and children's education. You wouldn't expect to see so many immigrants coming into California, but when I traveled there I saw police on every big highway checking cars and licenses. One in ten children in schools in the Pacific region are immigrants, so its not just adults causing the area so many economic struggles. Fortunately, a large portion of America's billionaires live in the California area, most likely because of the warm weather. Some examples are, Roy Disney, William Hilton, and George Lucas from Star Wars. There are many more and with the taxes they have no choice in paying, they build the Coast's economy to a safe point.
The pacific coast is both a prospering and successful environment to live in. I recommend it as a vacation spot to anyone, but not as a home. The ocean is beautiful when given the right care and the people are as friendly as any area. Although there are immigrants, pollution, and global warming affects, but there are warm temperatures and palm trees to balance it out. The pacific coast is waiting to be devoured by tourists and now is the perfect time of year to go and explore it.
