Rice Farming

In Senegal, rice in one of the most consumed products. Their population of thirteen million people consumed over 600,000 tons of rice each year. Some people there have based their whole lives off of the rice crop that they grow. They base their whole year and the coming years off of growing the rice. Another thing they base their lives off is how much the rice is selling for. The price has steadily dropped since its peal last year, which was thirty dollars for a one hundred ten pound sack of rice. In order for farmers to make a profit, they must sell their sacks of rice for twenty dollars or more. At the end of last year, the price was right around twenty two dollars a sack. Last year, when the price of rice rose, many bad things happened. There were riots over the high prices. The anger between people was so great that the Prime Minister of Haiti has to resign. Even though these high prices were bad, this let millions of farmers compete for rice selling. This competition led many people help make more money, which helped people a great amount. The rice crisis is a big problem that will hopefully one day be resolved.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/world/africa/26senegal.html

Polgreen, Lydia "West African Villagers Stake Their Fortunes On The Future Price Of Rice." New York Times. 25 January2009,12 February 2009.

History Project Websites

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Castel_Del_Monte_Throne_Room.jpg

http://www.trullo-bello.com/it/immagini/castel_delmonte.jpg

http://www.liebreich.com/LDC/Images/HallOfFame/Frederick/Castelmonte4.jpg

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/casteldelmonte.html

http://www.sitiunesco.it/index.phtml?id=638

http://worldheritage.heindorffhus.dk/frame-ItalyCastelDelMonte.htm

http://www.topcastles.com/kastelen.php

Struggles In Alaska

People in the state of Alaska are pretty much like People in other states. Nothing is really different about the state, except for one part. The city of Aklachak is still waiting for one of three parts to be connect to running water or a sewage system. People use water from a river just to bathe themselves. They also collect rain with tin cans. When people go into one of the two connivence stores they will see normal products that you would see at a normal store, except for one thing. One twelve ounce bag of Lays Potato Chips costs seven dollars and thirty nice cents. One nineteen ounce can of Progresso Soup costs four dollars and twenty nice cents. It also states that one twenty ounce box of Cheerios costs eight dollars and twenty cents. People are also moving away from the city of where there ancestors lived because it is two economically bad, and they are moving the the city of Anchorage. But, there are also many people still living in the city of Aklachak, trying to make the best out of things. 

Barry, Dan. "Remote and Struggling but Still a Bit of America." New York Times. 5 October
2008. 2 February 2009. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/us/06land.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

A Destructive Earth Quake

Tonight, I read the article Mrs. Jarret poster to her blog. On monday, there was a massive earthquake in China. It starts off by posing the question can an earthquake be predicted? It states that most scientists would insist that there is no possible way of predicting or preventing these deadly natural disasters. It then goes on to say that Chinese bloggers are starting to say, that in fact, the extremely high numbers of casualties could have been lowered by a significant amount. They go on to say that alerts that were reported seismology bureau were ledgy brushed off and not taking into account. Even though it says that the claim was debunked, many rumors have still been spread around. The rumors have come up numerous times, including at a live press conference. When a question was asked about the rumors, the television quickly switched to a clip of rescue footage. This just goes to show that even though rumors, most of the time are not true, they still get many peoples' attention. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/world/asia/16rumors.html?_r=1&fta=y

Jacobs, Andrew, "Superstitions About Quake Meet The Web, Irritating The Chinese Authorities" New York Times. 16 May.

Coincidence In Chaska?...... I THINK NOT!

It was reported that in the Chaska high school, some potentially dangerous things happened. For one, a gas line was left on in a science room. Many fumes had filled the room and made it a very dangerous place to be. One of the janitors found that is was on when cleaning up after school. If the janitor had not found it, many people could have been harmed and the school would have defiantly been shut down for a couple days. A teacher said that is could have been very possibly an accident, but many faculty were concerned because a battery charger was found hooked up on both ends to a heated drum of waste oil. The school reported these two incidents to the police because they thought it was more than just a coincidence. The school reported it a few days after being found. This might have made a few problems in the investigation. Both of these incidents are under great investigation, and i am sure that they will find an answer soon.

Back Up For Backstrom

Niklas Backstrom is a great goalie that the wild will always remember. But I am going to talk about the back up goalie, Josh Harding. Josh Harding was supposed to be the future goalie of the Minnesota Wild, but as long as Backstrom is hear, Josh Harding will just be sitting on the bench watching. "I have no control over it. All I can control is how I come to work every day and how I prepare for games." said Harding, "When I do get the chance to play, I have to play good." They're a few things that will happen to Harding in the near future. Backstrom is going to be listed as a free agent after this season, and the Wild want to resign him. If Backstrom does get resigned, Harding will be some great trading bate. On the other hand, if Backstrom does not get resigned, Harding will be the new face of the Minnesota Wild's goalie.

Peanut butter: Good Spread With Celery Or Harmful Food?

Peanut butter can be put with anything: toast, jelly, celery. I have even seen some one eat peanut butter with scrambled eggs. Every one loves peanut butter, it doesn't matter who you are. You can be big small, little or tall, you will love peanut butter. Unless you are one of the thirty victims that got salmonella from the tasty snack. The sick people have said that they think it came from eating King Nut Creamy Peanut Butter. This report of Salmonella poisoning came two years after there was a report of Salmonella poisoning in another peanut butter brand, Peter Pan Peanut Butter. Some signs of Salmonella poisoning are abdominal cramping, diarrhea, and a fever. Anyone who thinks that they might have been infected with the disease should contact a doctor immediately and go to the hospital. Salmonella can be a deadly disease when not taken care of, so people should stop the disease, before it stops them.