Maria’s space

~Reflection~

Thinking back on all the blogging that I have done this semester makes me think about how much I have grown.  At the beginning I was not looking forward to it but I really found it a great opporunity to write about anything I wanted.  I enjoyed looking for articles that sparked my intrest.  I also liked the freeedom of being able to write whatever.  It really did make me a better write because it allowed me to hae freedom of expression, which I often have trouble with.  It is hard for me to just write abut anything, getting a topic from the teacher I find easier but in blogging I discovered I could be creative and think of things to write. 

My three favorite blogs are:

1. Lethal Injection I liked this article because whenI read it I thought, WOW, what a great topic.  I think someone could write a really good essay on this and so in blogging about it, I was able to start some ideas as well as get responses from my classmates. It’s really cool when you pick a topic that gets some responses.  What I like about picking topics is that I can choose ones that I could be creative on if I had to write a lot about.

2. When I wrote about Global Warming I thought that this was one of my stronger blogs because this is something that I am passionate about, as you well know, It’s one of my favorites because I did some extra research to find an article that said something tat I really liked.  That’s what I like about blogging, you expand your noweledge on topics of intrest just by looking up some interesting facts.  It’s GREAT!!!

3. My last blog that I think is very good is the one about the Endangered Species.  I liked this one because I found it particularly easy to pose the question at the end, “What do you think”.  It’s a topic that you don’t need a lot of background information on to have an opinion and the article is an easy read.  I also like that it really let’s readers know the serious threat to these animals and ways to help, or things that need to be stoped in order to help these animals survive. 

There was a post that I, now looking back on, do not find a good job.  It was my post on Slam Poetry.  There are two things that I could have done to make this better post.  One is writing more in depth, it’s very short and I don’t know if I gave good enough background or information to let readers know about it.  The second thing that I should have done is an example.  That would have been really good.  If I could redo that post this is what I would change to make it stronger. 

In conclusion, I find that the blogosphere is a great place.  Here you can explore what others write, in our class, I found it great to be able to respond or just read what my classmates write about.  It’s cool to me that they sometimes write the same way as I do and sometimes they have totally different opinions which is good because it lets me see the issues in a different way and sometimes opens my eyes to facts that I had no idea about.  Salon.com was the best site to visit because you could look at articles or blogs.  You could easily search around and find out information on just about anything and I really liked this.

I probably won’t kep blogging after this but I have to say it was a good expierence and I am glad that it was a part of our class. Goodbye to everyone!! Have a great summer!!

Ciao,

Maria Furforo

In summer the living is easy

Since summer vacation is less than a week away I thought that I would write my last blog on vacations.  I searched for recent articles on google and found vacation spot that I will be sure to visit soon.  There were so many neat facts in the article about tourism as a huge money maker.  Did you know Costa Ricans, or Ticos, have embraced eco-tourism as a major source of income. So many opportunities for adventure and cozy quarters are offered throughout the country it is impossible to explore them all in less than two weeks. Active South America gives you a sampler of the best the country has to offer at a price that could not be duplicated by the independent traveler. More than 25% of national land is protected in 27 national parks and 8 biological reserves, as well as 63 wildlife refuges. There are 27 private refuges that serve as biological corridors for wildlife. The country itself is a land bridge linking North and South America. Although Costa Rica covers only .03% of the earth’s surface, it provides habitat for 4% of the world’s estimated 13-14 million species of flora and fauna. Multiple changes in altitude and temperature create micro-climates that are responsible for the country’s renowned bio-diversity.  Each day brought fresh discoveries and new challenges.    A nice warm climate can do amazing things for a country.

This was the information on my favorite spot, one that I will be sure to visit.  At La Fortuna, the adventure capital of Costa Rica, nestled at the base of Arenal Volcano, we split up. The stalwart embarked on a six hour hike through the cloud forest along the Rio Celeste River topped by a swim in a frosty crater lake. Others went for a chest-thumping eight-run zip line glide through the lime-green tree canopy. I did a bit of birding on an intermediate hike to a lava flow that took place in 1992. One of the beauties of this trip is that people with disparate interests and different energy levels can find the perfect option for any given day. We reunited in the afternoon for a plunge at the base of a staggeringly beautiful waterfall, capped off with a soak in an elaborate labyrinth of pools ranging from polar plunge to 102 degree melting pot at Baldi Hot Springs. By all accounts by those who made the big hike, it was daunting, but worth it to spend the day immersed in green. 

Hopefully this summer everyone goes to their own little vacation spot, it may be to your favorite spot in your hometown but I hope we all find peace and adventure this summer!

Lethal Injection

I came across an article that was about lethal injection.  The article said that lethal injections may cause suffocation.  Now I do not believe in the death sentence and thi makes me feel even moer against it.  “Some prisoners executed by lethal injection in the United States may die of suffocation while they are still conscious and in pain, University of Miami researchers said yesterday in a study that concluded the drugs do not work as intended…They said the potassium chloride, which causes an intense burning sensation, did not reliably hasten death, finding prisoners given it died no faster than those who got only the other two drugs.They concluded that the pancuronium was the only reliably fatal part of the cocktail, meaning the executed may actually have died of suffocation as it paralyzed their lungs.”

This really upsets me, how did they not figure this out before.  Does anyone know if they have to do autopsies on the prisoners after they are killed?  If they do then they must hae known for years that this is the real cause of death not just leathal inejction.  I feel that when someone is sentenced to death the courts say it is a painless injection and they die peacfully, well this obviously is not the case and something needs to change.  We have no right to make these people suffer, it’s not our duty.  Yes put them in jail but you cant make them suffer.

Virginia Tech Massacre

Inspired by our class comment, I thought that I could write about the wikkispace entry about it.  There seems to be all the upto-date information,  the article says, “[t]he perpetrator of at least 30 of the 32 killings^[9] has been identified by authorities as Cho Seung-hui a South Korean national and 4th year English major at Virginia Tech.^“

^{Here are some disturbing facts about the shooter, “The shooter has been identified as 23-year old Cho Seung-hui, a South Korean living in the US as a residnt alien. He was an undergraduate student in his senior year, majoring in English. Law enforcement reported that he killed himself inside Norris Hall by a shot to the head. Officials believe he used a 9 mm glock and a 22 caliber walther p-22 handgun. One of the guns was used in both incidents. An official added that Cho was “heavily armed and wearing a vest.” Cho was a student at the school and lived in one of the dormitories. Sources also state that Cho was carrying a “disturbing note.” A student speaking to Times Now said that the first gunshots were heard when classes were in progress. “We heard about thirty gunshots in the morning. The gunman appeared to be Asian and was looking for his girlfriend,” the student said.However, a relationship between any of the victims and the shooter has not yet been established. According to the official announcement from Virginia Tech, Cho Seung-hui was “South Korean native in the U.S. as a resident alien with a residence established in Centreville, Virginia, was living on campus in Harper Residence Hall”“}

All of these facts are very interesting and if you check now I am sure they will have even more information.  We all can just be thanful that this did not happen in our college ommunity.

Global Warming and National Security

The headline of the article read, “Will Global Warming threaten national security” and I knew that this was an article for me.  The article tells readers that there is going to be an investigation into Global Warming and see if it will affect our National Security.  An excerpt reads; “The bill’s debut is well timed. First, it comes just before the release of a big report on the expected impacts of global warming from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Officially unveiled on April 6, the report paints a sobering picture of the increased famine, drought, heat waves, fires, storms and infectious-disease outbreaks that we can expect to riddle the globe, particularly in the world’s poorest nations, if current warming trends aren’t reversed. Second, it comes just as Britain has scheduled an April 17 meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss potential security threats posed by climate change — the first time that body will consider the issue. “

 I feel if the bill is passed it will really push efforts to help stop global warming because sceintists are reporting that pretty soon it’s going to be too late to turn around our world’s health.  I feel confident that we will discover that global warming will have a negative affect on national security but this may be just what we need to start actions towards a healthier world.

I think this is a good idea, what do you think?

Slam Poetry

Inspired by today’s class reading I wanted to research more about Slam Poetry.  I really liked it and I think it’s a fun new twist on a dying out writing phase.  Wikkipedia defines Slam Poetry as “a postmodern performance poetry, a form of spoken word performed at a competitive poetry event, called a “slam”, at which poets perform their own poems (or, in rare cases, those of others) that are “judged” on a numeric scale by randomly picked members of the audience.  Something else that I enjoyes about wikkipedia’s definition is that “One of the goals of slam poetry is to challenge the authority of anyone who claims to know absolutely what literary quality is.”  This is what I like about it so much.  The satire tone throughout it all.  I have this new obsession with searching the web to find all slam poetry on all different topics of issues.

Endangered Species

Endangered species are species of animals that face a very close risk of becoming extinct.  There is an Act that protects these animals to allow them a fighting chance for survival but apparently there now are some people hoping to change that.

Read this quote carefully: “The proposed changes fundamentally gut the intent of the Endangered Species Act,” says Jan Hasselman, a Seattle attorney with Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, who helped Salon interpret the proposal. “This is a no-holds-barred end run around one of America’s most popular environmental protections. If these regulations stand up, the act will no longer provide a safety net for animals and plants on the brink of extinction.”

Why would we purposely want to kill of an entire species of plants or animals.  We should be saving what we have here on earth. 

How do you feel about this?

Gonzales

Will Gonzales really get kicked out soon?  I have been hearing this EVERYWHERE.  So I decided to get the facts.  I get the impression that the White House doesn’t really care, President Bush supports Gonzales.  So what is the deal with him firing 8 U.S. Attorneys?  Gonzles has said that he needed to remind the government officials of their special obligation to protect America against future acts of terrorism.  The article says, “No useful purpose? Wouldn’t members of Congress like to know — aren’t they entitled to know? — the extent to which White House officials may have helped Justice Department officials mislead Congress about the circumstances surrounding the firing of federal prosecutors?”

It really sounds like there is this whole mess surounding Gonzales and I feel that the White House is more responsible than they want us to know about.  You can’t just fire federal prosecuters for no reason, so why are they  hiding information and misleading Congress?  Isn’t that against the law?

.ru with love

As I logged onto wordpress today the blog of the minute caught my eye.  It’s title was from .ru with love.  I had no idea what .ru was so I clicked and I am glad I did.  This article really opened my eyes to what one can expect from overseas web travel to Russia, also known as .ru.

“The two riskiest large country domains to visit are Romania (.ro) and Russia (.ru), while the two safest are Finland (.fi) and Ireland (.ie).” Nice to see Ireland in the headlines for being peaceful.”  I currently have a professor from Finland and if everyone there acts like her, they are probably the most kind and sensative people on the planet.  So why are there differences on whats appropriate from country to country.

 There are always lots of stories about surfing the web, my family and I travel a lot, and we like to do a lot of internet searching before hand so I thought that it was interesting for me to find out about the friendliest places to visit on the web, after all I don’t really want to go to a country’s website and end up looking at something that I don’t really want to see.

At the end of the article it writes about how McAfee, and site that stated .ru as an agressive country also found that “On the bright side, it’s nice to learn that the “only frequently tested domain for which McAfee SiteAdvisor found no risky sites is ‘.gov’ which is only available to U.S. government agencies”

I for one certainly would hope that there would not be any risky sites in .gov because it is run by our government.  It kind of makes you think though, shouldn’t there be more safe areas for people to surf the web without worrying about finding porn and other obsecenities?  I certainly think so.

Rules for sleeping

I thought for a change of pace, I would respond to an interesting yet not earth impacting blog article.  I found a blog that wrote about 5 things that a person should not do when they are sleeping.   The rules are as follows:DON’T SLEEP WITH A WATCH ON OR NEAR YOUR HEAD
Apparently watched emit radioactivity, well honestly I don’t know if I ever want to wear a watch again now, it’s not like radioactivity only affects you when you are sleeping.

DON’T SLEEP WITH A BRA ON (boys this obviously doesn’t pretain to you, go to the next rule)
Scientists in America have discovered that wearing bras for more than 12 hours have a higher risk of getting breast cancer. So go to bed without it.  Hmmm very interesting to know.

DON’T SLEEP WITH A PHONE, cell or regular
Putting the phone beside your bed or anywhere near you is not encouraged.  Interesting enough because I know when I am home along my cell or the house phone are right next to me. Scientists have proved that electrical items including mobile phones and television sets emit magnetic waves when used. These waves can cause disruptions to our nervous system.  Why would you ever put it next to you again, it’s just so dangerous.

DON’T SLEEP WITH MAKE UP ( again boys continue reading)
People who sleep with make up might have skin problems in the long run and problem in perspiring. You will also need a much longer time to go into deep sleep.  How on earth does wearing makeup affect your sleep?  I understand the whole skin issues but sleeping?  There might have to  be another blog entry on that.

DON’T SLEEP WITH OTHERS’ WIFE
You may never wake up again. This is no joke. Its been researched before.  Okay, I think this is sort of common sense. 

Overall I think that these rules have humor to them yet they are very insightful and truthful.  It has made me aware of a few facts that I did not know before, and I will be sure to spread them on.