Gapminder

On Gapminder I did a graph displaying who emits more CO2 the United States or China. Per person United States emits 19 tones where as in China there is only 4.2 tones emitted per person. Seems almost as though china emits less CO2 than the U.S. well we cannot forget the population size of each, In the united states there is approximately 331 600 000 people, according to the Chinese government china’s population is 1 344 130 000. In total China has just over one billion more people than the U.S. if we are to multiply the tones per person by the population to find the total CO2 emissions per country we surprisingly we still see that china emits less carbon tones than the United states. China- 5 603 346 000 and the United States – 6 300 400 000. The U.S. emits over a trillion more tones of C02 into the atmosphere than china.

Link to graph - www.bit.ly/RChD4g

Connecticut School Shooting- What does it Teach Us About Violence in Society

The Connecticut school shooting is the last straw for America. It’s very sad that such an incident is finally what woke Americans up to the violence in society and their need for change. The need for change regards the gun laws and regulations in the United States. I believe that is the key factor in the recent acts of violence. There have been too many incidents in the United States involving a person wielding an easily accessible firearm and causing such a gruesome event similar to this. In my opinion the gun regulations and laws in the United States as a whole is way to lenient, yes some states have stricter gun laws than others but overall the laws aren’t strict enough. In the states according to the second amendment all Americans have the Right to Bare Arms. This amendment dates back to 1791, at that point in time it was felt to be necessary for all Americans to be armed and prepared to defend their country; it was a country of minutemen. In this day and age it is completely unnecessary for every citizen to be armed to protect their country, the US has one of the worlds best militaries. The debate can be made that the 2^nd amendment applies to security of person and defending ones home. I do not oppose the idea of protecting ones home and family within reasonable limits. Hypothetically if an aggressive perpetrator was to invade someone’s place of living and in this place of living there was a family (a wife or husband, possibly children) I don’t see a problem with protecting ones family within reason from the opposing danger if the danger is immanent. What I take issue with is the feeling that it is necessary to own military grade weapons. There is absolutely no need for an m16 to be possessed by the general public. Here in Canada you take a 10-hour course for non-restricted (long guns-shotguns and rifles) and another course for restricted (handguns). These courses teaches you safe handling, safe storage and some history of guns; after passing the test at the end with at least an 80% your paper work gets sent to the firearms office of your province, your name and some paper work then goes to an RCMP office and you undergo a background check once approved and licensed you are allowed to fire arms that fit the category of course you took. In the states it is much simpler to obtain a fire arm for example in some states you can walk into a Wal-Mart and simply purchase a firearm or in some cases you can simply get a rifle just by opening an account at a bank as featured in the documentary Bowling for Columbine. In my opinion the Connecticut school shooting was likely preventable just as a lot of violence in society relating to firearms is. With safe and proper storage of firearms, proper handling, and the allowance of reasonable firearms (not military equivalent) violent acts in society with firearms are preventable not by adding more guns to the situation like some people believe should be done (by this I mean the idea of armed guards in school or arming teachers), but by creating stricter policies and abiding by them.

Reflection On My Role And Experience At The WIC 2012

Overall I had a great experience at the WIC. The morning presentation was a great kick-start for the day. My Role for the day was to facilitate a presentation on the euro zone debt crisis presented by a grade eight HSC student named Elie. Elie was unbelievable he was very well versed in all aspects of the Debt crisis and brought up facts I hadn’t even found in the light research I did to prepare myself for the presentation. We did have some technical difficulties that hindered our first session’s presentation but Elie was able to pull through and finish in time to get everyone to their next event. The other responsibility I had on WIC day was to watch over the water walk, which went really well. WIC day was a great day and very educational. 

U.S. Election Who would I Vote for & Why

At the beginning of this election race I believed Obama was the best candidate for office. Recently I have changed my mind; in my politics class we had to debate on behalf of the Republicans and the Democrats. After completing my research to prepare for the debate I found that I preferred the republicans view on the issues as opposed to the democrats. Mitt Romney and the Republicans plan to fix the economy seems that it would be more effective than what Obama and the Democrats intend to do. That solely is why I would vote for Romney and the Republicans over Obama and the democrats.

Death of US Ambassador and Impact on the Arab Springs.

The Death of the US ambassador and attack on the embassy came as a shock to many; it was a common idea that after overthrowing Mummar Gaddafi the situation in Libya would be fine.  As dictator after dictator has been removed from power, either through force of arms or the overwhelming strength of popular discontent, Western leaders have universally given their support in this Arab springs cause, but what we don’t see happening is them supporting and helping these countries form proper and legitimate reformed governments. This attack on the embassy has shown the dangerous currents that are swirling beneath the reform movements. This attack on the Americans may result in them to be hesitant when it comes to the next country they consider helping in the Arab spring movement which is very negative for the area, as the U.S is a key ally in many of the rebel movements.