Topic # 12

The newly erupted volcano is located in Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland. This volcano has not just erupted once, put has multiple times. Iceland is one of the countries located between the United States and Europe. It is an Island and is found in the North Atlantic Ocean. Eyjafjallajökull is a city in Iceland that is located on a glacier. When this volcano erupted, the people living around it were forced to flee from their homes. while these people were directly linked to the eruption, it has hurt other people's lives as well. The ash has spread all across Europe and has delayed many flights.
This volcano has not only affected flights, but it has effected the climates of some places. Because of its location and impact, it has had the ability to effect weather in New Jersey with record amounts of snow and in Egypt, which experienced a horrible drought.
In accordance with the climate, it has also effected the economy of many places. I mentioned before that there were many flights being delayed. Because of this valcano, planes are forced to stay on the ground. This is hurting many companies in that their money makers are forced to stay on the ground. another thing that I was reading is about farming. This valcano has burned through many farms, which will have an impact on food trading. This as well will hurt the economy.



The geography of this valcano is very interesting. Iceland sits on two different tectonic plates. These plates are not running into each other like they normally do in other places. These plates are seperating from each other. This seperation allows magme to flow up from the earth through these valcanoes.
The main effect that the volcano has had on politics is through the no flights area. Because of the massive ash clouds, the planes are not able to fly. This leaves many people staranded at where they are. This volcano is said to maybe push back the British elections. It has also kept President Obama from attending Lech Kaczynski's funeral. Not only are political leaders stopped, but all other people are to. This can affect people's jobs and where they are able to travel.
This volcano has had a massive impact on our world today. This shows how important geography is and what kind of impact it can have. Not just one country has been effected, but half of the world is effected. This influence of geography will only get stronger.

Topic # 11

The link that I chose to look onto is the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. This is a massive organization that controls and leads all churches in the Lutheran district. Not only do they lead churches and seminary, but they also have vast missionary opportunities. This organization has Lutheran missionaries stationed all over the world. You can fill out a form and send it into the office. Here they will check out your form and history and get in touch with you. You have a say in where you get to go and they will aid you in being a missionary in whatever part of the world you want to go to.
Not only do they have missionary work, but they also have mission opportunities. These opportunities are done through local churches, or done through the organization. These o;portunities offer people the chance to go to certain places in the world and help out the people there. helping can mean caring for the sick, teaching bible classes, or teaching people the english language. These opportunities can be a week or two long, or they can be years long. The opportunity is there and it is up to you with what you want to do.
The one that may apply to my life is the opportunity to be a pastor at some overseas church. After I have graduauted from the seminary, I can request to be a pastor at an overseas church that needs help. I could also go somewhere and start my own church in a town that may need one.
All of these opportunities are achieving one thing. That one thing is bringing the global community closer together. We as a world have so many things that are different about one another. Cultures, food, geography, all of these thing are different. With these opportunities, we can all find some common ground. We can go around the world and spread God's love to everyone we encounter. That will give this huge world of diverse people some common ground and bring us all togther in Jesus our Saviour.

Topic # 10 German video link

Before you read this blog, check out the link that I have put up. This is a link to one of Andrew's bizzare foods video. This particular video is showing you how to cook some traditional German foods. I chose this video because the most bizzare food I have ever seen someone eat has to be rawhack.
I am from a small town named Concordia, Missouri. This community is considered to still be very German. We still have German church services for the elderly in the nursing home. Just like every small town, we have a fair every year. At our fair we have a famous beer garden. Heidelburg Gardens is very well known for the beer and the traditional German food they serve. The most interesting I have seen somebody eat there is raw hack. Raw hack is meat with no fat that is very finely ground. You add chopped celery, some onion, and an egg to the beef and eat it with crackers. This is not cooked so obviously that is where it got it's name for "raw" hack.
I think that continued globalization may change a lot of people's thoughts about eating this raw substance. It is not safe to eat plain raw meat in the first place. You also have raw egg in what you are eating. I see problems with this as the world continues to go on. We have already had disease outbreaks in both of these foods. This sure did not stop the Germans from eating raw hack. I beleive that as foods continue to be more and more processed, disease will be easier to get. This may stop those traditional Germans from eating thst traditional raw meal.

Topic # 9

The new Forbes billionare list has a new guy at the top. Carlos Slim Hulu is now at the top of the list. He is figured to be worth about $53.5 billion dollars. He has the biggest income with the company called Telecom. He moved from number three last year to number one this year.
The world has been in a economy defecit for the last year or two, the new list shows that the economy is back on the rise. Asia now has the most billionares which shows that they have recovered their economy the fastest. Slim has his hand in over 200 companies. Slim claims that has lots of money invested in the Latin American economy. He said, "In my opinion, Latin America is close to breaking the underdevelopment barrier with $12,000 dollars per capita. This is going to happen in the next ten years." Strong words coming from this powerful man. Putting more money in Latin America's economy will greatly help out the country. It will create more jobs and offer a broad ange of care to citizens.
There are 1,111 names on the list this year. This is more than last year, and the rise is due to the recovery of the global economy. The predictions is that there will be more billionares next year which means a better economy and more jobs for all people.

Topic # 8

The video that I selected for this blog is talking about wind turbines. I chose this topic because it is what I talked about in my previous blog. In this video, a family has bought wind turbines to generate electricity for their own household. These wind turbines produced enough energy for them, and had the potential to produce energy for seven other households. It seems to me that the wid turbines may be the way to go. These turbines cost about $2,000 U.S. It is a big price to pay, but I think it will pay off in the future.

Topic # 7

Wind is seen as an important component of future clean renewable technologies. Last year, wind energy capacity in the United States grew by 45%. Wind projects are in the midst of a huge growth spurt in many parts of the country, driven by government incentives to promote alternatives to fossil fuels. In 2007 alone, the U.S. wind industry installed 5,300 MW of new generating capacity more than one-third of all the new capacity added to the U.S. power grid. Wind energy seems to be the new answer to fossil fuels used as energy. Fossil fuels are still in full supply however, there will come a time they will run out. It is known by all reserves that fossil fuels can still last at least another 300 years. This is a long time considering we have not even been a country for that long. So, should there be such a huge push for alternative energy sources? Wind energy is expensive to get started. You have to build hundreds of those massive turbines throughout the country. They will be a blemish to the country as well. Wind is not always relaible as well. There will be days when the wind does not blow at all. It takes many wind turbines to produce the amount of energy that one coal refinery could. So is wing energy good or bad? That is a question American people will need to answer in the future.

topic #6

Water is a must have for any community or place to survive. Water is a scarce resource in the state of Israel. Many people struggle to get enough drink, let alone water their crops in the fields. In this clip, a man living in the West Bank is visited by the Israel military and has his water reservor broken up because he is not alowwed to own a tool such as this. Water is a shortage in Palestine, howerver it seems to prosper in Isreal. The Palenstine community is accusing Israel of holding water. Palestinienes beleive that Israel is using water as a weapon to drive them out in order to build more Israel settlements in the region. Israel government disagrees with this and says that they have supported the Palestinian Water Authority. Israel tries to get them all the water they need. This is an arguement for both sides.
This water issue is a major problem and fight amongst people in the state of Israel. Everybody wants the amount of water they need to live, but sometimes it can be hard to disperse water because of the lack of it. Israel is a Mediterranian Climate area. It is characterized by long dry summers and cool winters. Seventy percent of the regions rainfall come between November and March. These are times when the crops are not growing, so water needs to be saved up. The water that is being saved up cannot be done by average citizens because they do not have a liscense for it. This gives Israel government the power to control the water distribution. One side sees it as good because they get enough water to support themselves and their crops. The Palestinians see it as a slap in the face from the Israel government.
This problem is also linked to the wall being put up in Israel. The Israel and Palenstinian people are at constant fights with each other. Israel is trying to protect their people and give them all the means necessary to live on the land they have. Palestinian people think they are being cheated. These groups are constantly at each others neck. I do not think there will ever be peace in the Middle East in my lifetime.