Whatever happened to the break in Spring Break?

This last week has been fairly exhausting for me. No it wasn't finals week, it was my Spring Break! The Friday before the holiday was supposed to start, I helped to load a tour bus with 46 other members of the Concordia Wind Ensemble and we left at 8 a.m. for our 10 day tour. Every day went something like this....load the bus, ride to the next stop, unload, set-up, practice, eat, change into concert attire, play, break down, go to our host families for the night, wake up at 6 a.m., and repeat.

Some points of the trip were rather fun, such as spending a lot of time getting to know everyone who I was touring with and meeting the lovely people who would open their homes to us. I met a lot of lovely people who sacrificed their time and sometimes money for us simply out of a common love for Christ. One night we went to San Antonio and we were given some free time to enjoy the Riverwalk. I went with a few people to see the Alamo for the first time and met an interesting person who was one of the Alamo Rangers. That night we got to stay at a nice hotel and sleep on wonderful soft beds. That was a very neat night, but of course it had to be the one day that it was cold and rainy, but whatever.

The Alamo (not my picture)

I have to admit that the entire tour was pretty awesome and I enjoyed the fun times that I had, but it also meant that I didn't get to do anything else, I didn't get hardly any homework done and I was exhausted when we returned the day before classes were supposed to start.

That is how I spent my Spring Break '09. PARTY IT UP!!!

Woes in Africa

The economic and political turmoil of Africa has combined to create an unstable environment for many African countries. Over several decades, groups around the world have given large amounts of aid to African countries in the hopes of supporting their economies, only to see the money either misspent or placed directly into the pockets of politicians or elite members of the population. Education, health care, defense, housing, and many other necessities have been largely neglected. Some of the money sent to Africa is reinvested outside of the country further weakening the economies. New plans are in the works to provide even more monetary relief for struggling African economies and governments. So many of the countries are near to collapse and total anarchy that we feel that something must be done. However, if we are to learn anything at all from history (or even common sense) we cannot expect to hand millions (or billions) of dollars to a government that has previously failed to create any lasting sort of financial stability and see any different results.

Corruption has led to governments being completely unreliable and untrustworthy. Seemingly under our noses, millions of dollars have been pocketed or spent somewhere other than intended. This may not be a popular or even feasible solution, but it may be time to simply replace or support the incumbent governments with task forces that are intended to supply a long-lasting government and economy free from corruption that will actually do some good for the common citizens. I cannot see how at the present state of things, giving any more money will help matters. It too will simply disappear.

Human Development Indices

In this blog I looked at the United Nation's HDI list which is a compilation of countries that are ranked according to their life expectancy, knowledge(literacy level) and wealth(based on many factors besides GDP). This method for rating countries differs from others because it takes into account the distribution of wealth and whether the money is being spent on adequate schooling, health care and other facilities. As we look at the list it is obvious that some of the more developed countries are higher on the HDI list, but it is not a perfect match. Some of the more highly developed countries are ranked lower on the list than others. This is because according to the data used to calculate the HDI, some of the less developed countries have better facilities that enable their citizens to have more fulfilled lives. All of the countries that are at the bottom of the HDI list are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. This can probably be traced back to political and financial corruption that keeps the power, wealth and knowledge among a select few, while keeping the vast majority of the population deprived of basic needs. Many of these countries have dictatorships or a history of corruption, war, drought, etc... All of these factors play a role in the Human Development of a particular country.

Excitement and Explosions! :)

While this may look like a particularly extravagant pyrotechnical display it is in fact a volcanic eruption. Flashes of lightning add to the drama as Tavurvur Volcano spews lava in the Rabaul Caldera in Papua New Guinea. I like this picture because some of the most fascinating things (as well as the most devastating) on Earth are volcanoes. The eruptions can vary from slow and relatively unexciting to amazingly fast and terrifying. It is interesting to me to think about how God is in control of these marvelous displays while we are sent running for cover under the nearest rock. Just a small example of the tremendous power of our God. Enjoy the show.

Cuba Through the Years

From reading about the Cuban revolution 50 years ago I can see how the Castro regime was seen as the saving grace of the Cuban people, but instead it has meant another 50 years of corruption, with the population living like peasants. Countless citizens have either been forced into exile or fled in the hopes of finding a better life. For the last half century, the United States has dealt with the problem with a resounding silence...something akin to "Talk to the Hand". The government has steadfastly denied travel and trade between the United States and Cuba in the supposed hopes of driving Communism from the soil of our island neighbor. In the last few years the long term dictator Fidel Castro has fallen ill (being 82 years old it's to be expected) and has given power over to his younger brother Raul. Recently, American citizens have come to hope that the travel and trade restrictions would be lessened or dropped completely. There are several opinions about this, most of them controversial. Those in favor of the embargo state that the Communist government has nearly been driven out and to open trade with Cuba would infuse the country with American tourist dollars, reinforcing it. Those who oppose the embargo seem to think that by helping the average Cuban citizens we have a greater chance of appealing to them and like the Castros before them, revolutionize their way of thinking beyond Communism. Also, most Americans today feel that the Cuban embargo is some sort of fuddy-duddy oldtimer superstitious treatment for Communist governments. Their is a growing group of Americans who weren't even born when the embargo went into effect and they want some say in the matter. Regardless, this particular issue is bound to drag out far beyond the point where it is interesting or applicable. I myself am in favor of dropping the embargo in an attempt to appeal directly to the Cuban people. If at all possible I would bypass the corrupt government and infuse money directly into support programs and jobs for the Cubans instead of supplying the government with cash or even worse, using Cuba as a resort destination and sending all that money directly back to the U.S. which will undoubtedly cause even greater dislike for America among the Cuban people.

Blog Topic #4

Right across the border from El Paso, Texas in Juarez, Mexico a war is raging. This war is ongoing between drug cartels and government officials. The main cause for fighting is over control of a lucrative drug route into the United States. The casualties from this war totaled over 1600 last year and already exceed 400 in the two months since the beginning of 2009. No one is safe from the drug cartels, innocent civilians have been shot just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mexican officials have received death threats, policemen have been killed and the city's chief of police was forced to step down by continued threats. At the moment the Mexican federal government seems to be at a loss to decide what to do. No real military aid is coming into the city, partly due to the distance from the capital and its proximity to the United States. Meanwhile, the city has become a ghosttown. Once a place for American tourists to enjoy a night across the border, now it is not safe to venture there for any reason, and worse the violence is spreading across the border, making it the United State's problem as well. Perhaps we ought to consider shutting down the border completely, and securing that section of the border against all further drug trade. Surely if the casualties begin to spill over into the U.S. our government will have to step in and perhaps take drastic measures to insure the safety of American citizens.



Here is a link to this article.

http://xrl.us/behx2f

World Mapper

World Population Map










Biocapacity World Map

These two maps were created to show the surface of the world in such a way that they are proportionate to the population of the world and the country's ability to support its population respectively. "Biocapacity measures how biologically productive land is. Biologically productive land includes cropland, pasture, forests and fisheries. 16% of the world’s biocapacity is in Brazil. The biocapicity of a territory is affected by physical conditions and people’s actions. A pertinent example of this is Iraq, the Mesopotamian marshes were once part of the fertile crescent. Much of this marshland has been drained and become desert. Trade sanctions and social upheavals also reduce people’s ability to use land productively. Iraq’s land is now estimated to be the least productive in the world."It is interesting to note that there is actually a large correlation between the biocapacity of a country and it's population as can be seen when the two maps are compared. In fact I'm not entirely sure that this information is accurate simply because it seems to match so well. If it does in fact correlate so strongly then this gives a remarkable new insight to the so called "population pressure" in some countries. According to these maps, the population is spread evenly with the biocapacity. If there are any population pressures, it must be because we as humans misuse the resources that we have.