Monday, February 1, 2016
Research Book Post #4- The Future of Oil- Sanjay Patel- Pages 100-130
In the beginning of this section, Patel writes about if one should worry about higher GHG emissions from oil sands. He goes on to show that GHG emissions have in fact doubled since the beginning of oil sand production. Later in this section Patel shows what strides are being made to reduce GHG emissions in our world today. Oil sand production uses lots of energy which is one of the reasons GHG emissions went up when oil sand production started, so with scientists developing more renewable forms of energy the production of oil sands will not raise GHG emissions as high. The tail end of this section is chapter 6 which talks about the threats oil production poses to biodiversity including the changing of the earths surface.
Research Book Post #3- The Future of Oil- Sanjay Patel- Pages 80-100
This section of the book consists of chapter 3, 4, and 5. Chapter 3 and 4 are more back-round chapters on Canadian oil sands. Patel stresses that the base knowledge of this topic is critical to understanding the more complicated aspects of it. The second half of chapter 3 talks about the first commercial oil sand plant and the history behind how it came to be. Chapter 4 covers what oil sands are and where they are located. The end of chapter 4 also covered how oil sand are produced. Chapter 5 begins talking about the toll oil takes on the environment. This includes Green House Gas emissions (GHG) and climate change. Patel gives a good amount of information on climate change because it plays such a big role in this topic.
Research Book Post #2- The Future of Oil- Sanjay Patel- Pages 50-80
In the first few pages of this section of the book, Patel explains what oil sands are and how they can help solve the oil problem in the world today. He explains the pros and cons of the "extra heavy" Venezuelan oil sands. One of the big upsides is that Venezuela has lots of oil sands, but the downside is that it takes extra refining which is why its called "extra heavy oil sand". Patel also talks about the Canadian oil sands and how that is a better solution because they have almost as much oil as Venezuela and it does not need as much refinement. Towards the end of this section of the book chapter 3 begins, Chapter 3 is, "The History of Canadian Oil Sands" which gives one a deeper look into who discovered them, early attempts to utilize the sands, and how they came to be so important. The primary info in the first few pages was about the first explores and pioneers to discover the Canadian Oil Sands.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Research Book Post #1- The Future of Oil- Sanjay Patel- Pages 20-50
In the first 30 pages of my book, The Future of Oil, Sanjay Patel builds a good foundation of knowledge one should know about the oil crisis in order to understand what is happening in the events he touches on. Patel talks about how the price of oil has never been that high in the past so now that they are extremely high it has taken time for people to adjust their lifestyles to it. He shows the effects that rising oil prices have on everyday people and how big of an effect it can have on their lifestyles. Patel acknowledges that oil is not a reliable source of energy for the worlds future and there are some short term alternatives to this problem, but as of now we do not have any long term solutions for this problem. Patel says that the only true way that we can make the switch from oil to a different source is if we reduce the demand for oil. This means that our world needs to become much more environmentally friendly and people need to start realizing the effects their actions have on the earth.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 7: Religion and Who Owns Jerusalem, Israel Arab Conflict, Religious Conflict in the Middle East?
Jack Shams
AP Human Geography
1/6/16
Who Owns Jerusalem
Israel Arab Conflict
Religious Conflict in the Middle East
Chapter 7: Religion
Thoughts and Ruminations
Essay Question: How do the terms religion, Judaism, and Islam used in the Chapter 7 relate to Who Owns Jerusalem, Israel Arab Conflict, Religious Conflict in the Middle East?
Religion is debatably the most discussed topic in the world today. While religion has given many people hope, happiness, and direction in their lives it has also caused wars, death, and corruption. People become so affiliated and close with their religion that they believe it should be the only religion. This creates religious based conflicts. For example the conflict between Judaism and Islam. The Jewish and Muslim religions have lots of historical connections, their values are quite different. In the article Arab-Israeli Conflict in the Israel Science and Technology Directory, some of the differences between the two religions are shared. The article reads, “In contrast to Islam, the Jewish beliefs and traditions are associated specifically with the Jewish People. Judaism strongly opposes forced conversions of other nations…The use of Islamic religion to encourage suicide bombers with the promise of heavenly life with virgins, illustrates the great gap between Islam and Jewish beliefs. The Hebrew Bible prohibits killing in the Ten Commandments and completely rejects and deplores suicide.” Differences in values and beliefs such as these lead opposing religions to engage in conflict causing tragedies such as war.
The constant fight against Jews and Muslims can be attributed to many things, but the controversy over Jerusalem continues to be a large point of disagreement and argument. this is because before the war of Israeli Independence in 1948, the UN decided to divide the land that is now Israel and Palestine so that Jews and Arabs could both live there while technically still in two separate countries. With the division of the land the holy city of Jerusalem was located on the Arab side of the border. This land is so important to both religions because the city of Jerusalem lies there. Jerusalem is a holy place for both Jews and Muslims alike. According to the article Who Owns Jerusalem by Ehab Zahriyeh The Arabs of the Jerusalem-Bethlehem area controlled the majority of the land there and the people of Jews did not like that. Israel declared its independence from the Arabs of Palestine which was not taken well by the Arabs. This was followed by the Arabs going to war with the Israelis in 1948. During the war Israeli forces fought their way to Jerusalem and pushed out the Palestinian Muslims. This resulted in the Israelis taking control of Jerusalem along with 78% of the land. This has lead to the controversy of who truly and rightfully owns Jerusalem.
Jews and Muslims have never had a great relationship with one another as history shows. After the war of 1948 thousands of Jews were forced to leave Arab countries or face death. The same happened for to Muslims on Jewish countries. In the article Hotspots in the Middle East from the Center for Reduction of Religious-Based Conflict, the losses suffered by both sides are explained. The article reads, “After the 1948 War, more than 700,000 Jews in 8 Arab countries were forced flee for their lives, their property ransacked, and their schools, hospitals, synagogues and cemeteries expropriated or destroyed. On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were either forced from their lands after the UN founding of the state of Israel, or tragically, have remained quarantined in squalid camps sustained by UN and Arab countries’ aid.” The constant feud between the Jews and Muslims have cost them both very much over time yet they continue to fight. This is due to the sheer power that religion holds over man.
The hostility between Jews and Muslims still very present to this day along with many other religious conflicts. Two of the biggest points of the conflict between the two religions are the difference in values and the controversy of who owns Jerusalem. Religious conflicts will always be happening as long as religion is still around as history has shown.
Muslim women wanted there to be equality within the Muslim community but men contiuned to shut them down and reject their ideas so they created the Musawah Organization which then
began raising awareness and ideas on how this problem needs to be dealt with.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6J6k6k4pSY
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Introduction & Chapter 1 for The Future of Oil
Jack S.
AP Human Geography
12/18/15
The Future of Oil
Per. 6
Monday, December 7, 2015
Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 6: Language and Where Languages Go to Die, Where English Words Come From, and How Americas Wars Have Changed the English Language
Jack S.
AP Human Geography
12/7/15
Where Languages Go to Die
Where English Words Come From
How Americas Wars Have Changed the English Language
Thoughts and Ruminations
Essay Question: How do the terms Dialect, Language Families, and Sub Families used in chapter 6 relate to Where Languages Go to Die, Where English Words Come From, and How Americas Wars Have Changed the English Language?
In today's world, language is one of the most diverse parts of human culture. According to BBC News there are over 7,000 languages spoken all around the world. At first glance language might seem like a quite simple topic, but in reality it is quite complicated. To break it down, there are 15 Language Families in the world which include, Indo-European, Uro-Altaic, and Basque to name a few. Within the language families there are Sub Families. For example, within the Indo-European Language Family there are Sub Families which include Germanic, Romantic, and Baltic. There are more Sub Families, but Germanic is the family for today's Lingua Franca, English.
English is a spoken world wide in many countries. Because of that it is spoken in different dialects. This means that the way phrases are pieced together and the sound of certain words will be slightly different than in a place where English is the main language such as the U.S. English also got many of its words from other languages. According to the article English Words From Around the World, by Brittany Ross, English gets words from folklore of Haiti and the West Indies. Ross writes, "We can thank the folklore of Haiti and the West Indies for contributing one of the most terrifying and popular creatures in the modern horror genre: the zombie. But the origins of zombie may not have been so scary. The word can be traced back to West Africa, and possibly derives from a Kongo word meaning 'god.'" This is a prime example of how languages from all over the world have been intertwined and connected throughout time.
Over the years, new words have been added and altered in the English language. There are many ways that this can happen, but a surprisingly large way this happens is through war. Many terms have been created in war, but their meanings have also been changed from war to war. In the article How America's Wars Have Changed the English Language, by Sara Sicard, there are multiple examples of this. Sicard writes, "Through wars, some words have changed or garnered new meanings while others were newly coined for specific places and things. During the Civil War, “skedaddle” became “skeet” or “scoot.” In World War I, the word “lousy,” which was intended to describe lice infestations, came to mean weary." Sicard gives great examples of how new words can be created in war and then have there meaning altered in a completely different place. While this process can be seen on the battlefield it can also be seen in our everyday lives. Many new words are introduced to us every day whether it's from music, movies, social media, or just random people we talk. People take new words that they hear and use them in their everyday life of even give them a whole new meaning. This is very similar in what Sicard writes about in her article.
While history shows that languages rise and fall over time, some believe that English will be around and stay popular for a much longer time than any other language. In the article Where Languages Go to Die, by John McWhorter, some of the reasons why English will be around longer than any other language are given. McWhorter writes, "I suspect that English will hold on harder and longer than any language in history. It happened to rise to its current position at a time when three things had happened, profoundly transformative enough to stop the music, as it were: print, widespread literacy, and an omnipresent media." The overall point being made is that English will be around for longer than any other language because it has been documented and distributed the most of any other language in history. This is due to music, literature, and things like social media which are all areas that McWhorter touches on.
English is a language rich in history and it continues to grow everyday. While it might not be the Lingua Franca forever, it will always be one of the most popular and wide spoken languages in the world.
Projects Abroad wanted to give teachers a chance to teach children in other countries with subjects such as English but it is hard to seek out and find people willing and capable of teaching especially overseas so they created a website where teachers looking for that type of work can go for opportunities and then they sent over 50 teachers to South Africa to teach English to children there.
This is a map of Australia where a certain dialect of English is spoken. It is called Australian English. It is noticeably different from American English due to the pronunciation of the words and the addition of new words to their dialect.
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