"The recent Gulf Coast Oil Spill is the issue I have decided to investigate."

For my topic to investigate I decided to investigate and learn about the recent oil spill in the Gulf Coast. Located 48 miles off the shore of Louisiana, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20th, killing 11 workers. The drilling rig was owned by the Transocean Ltd. and leased by BP PLC. However, Bp is responsible for cleanup and containment of the spilling oil. Since April 20, oil has been spilling into the gulf at about 210,000 gallons a day. (information found here)



( picture from here)

Right now it is said that the state of Louisiana has spend 5 million dollars towards the clean up of the spilling oil. However, that number is expected to quadruple next month at 20 million dollars. ( find here) You may be wondering "What has been done to fix the problem of the spilling oil?". Well, the spill hasn't been completely stopped however, there has been some progress in reducing the amount of oil reaching the sea. On May 18th the BP company inserted a siphon pipe into the leaking pipe. This act has allowed about 40% of the oil to be stopped from reaching the oil. ( found here) Unfortunately though, there is still major work to be done in order to completely eliminate the leaking oil.
(picture found here)

Not only have the worlds of the BP company been turned upside down, but the fishermen and residents of the affected states of the oil spill. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has sealed off 19% of the Gulf Coasts' fishing grounds as un-fishable. ( found here) However, BP is expected to cover financial losses of fisherman, economic losses, etc. ( found here)






( fishermen waiting for contract with BP : here)


"Could the oil spill affect gas prices?" As of right now the current oil spill has not affected the gas prices and is not expected to unless the port stays closed for a long period of time. With the U.S. economy being so weak right now, the refining companies have a surplus of gas therefore, allowing the current oil spill not to currently affect gas prices. Peter Beutel, an analyst with Cameron Hanover in New Canaan, Conn, says that " Even if this were to increase gas prices by a nickel, it wouldn't be for more than a couple of days." ( info found here) In reality though, it's probably best just to wait and see what happens, since the countries economy is so up and down right now.
( oil spill here)
(question mark here)

"How does this topic relate on the International level?" Well, while the oil spill in the Gulf may not be affecting countries such as China, Japan, etc: it is affecting the U.S., which is known as a world power. And with the U.S.' economy already being in a crisis it really didn't need another major event take place. So, although it may not be a big impact on other countries and world powers the way the oil spill has affected the U.S. is likely to cause some effects in other countries, however big or small. This incident also serves as a great example to other countries that dig for oil in oceans. Particularly in how not to act, and how to act. So, one could look at this incident as a big learning experience for everyone, but that doesn't really make anybody fell better.

"I understand how our knowledge of the past is consturcted through analysis of primary sources of many kinds."

A primary source is a piece of evidence (for example diaries, biographies, letters, etc.) that was produced during the time your looking into. Primary sources are vital when it comes to looking up information for a paper, book, etc. Plus their pretty dang cool, I mean when you look at something that came from the 1800's you can't help but be amazed. Most primary sources can probably be found in libraries, museums, archives, etc. When you are looking at or investigating a primary source you can learn emotions people were having at that time, which is really cool. Or maybe how the place they lived looked geographically. Their are so many things we can learn from primary sources, so it's important that we keep them preserved and in a safe place.

This is a picture of some bottles that came from the age of New Imperialism. We can see the New Imperialism from these bottles because in the article following the picture it tells us that one of the bottles won an award at the World's Fair in 1904. This image came from a website were they are selling reprints of old paper for various purposes. This website seems credible in that they give information about their product, they are actually selling this exact artifact so, in order to be credible they would have to do some research and give the truth about their products otherwise they would loose their credibility as a company and their customers.

This is a picture of an advertisement for Pears' Soap in 1900. The advertisement explains that it is the perfect soap for cleaning all corners of the world. During which the people were conquering all corners of the world, trying to make them alike and western. I found this picture on this website. This website was created by a man with an undergraduate degree in history, who expresses great concern for history. This picture however is from this website because I couldn't download the image from the original website and see it well.

This is a picture of a piece of art created in 1913 It is an image of a Eucalyptus branch/flower. I couldn't find who the exact artist is, but the picture is part of the Milwaukee Art Museum. The reason that I picked this piece of art is because the Eucalyptus tree is mainly found in Australia with only a very few number of plants in other regions. While it's true that the artist could have been from Australia, it's highly unlikely beings that the piece of art has ended up in the U.S.. Then one would probably assume that the artist was somewhere from Europe or more likely America. Therefore in order to make this print the artist would have had to study subjects and plants from afar, flowing into the ideas of New Imperialism as people were learning and observing new cultures and countries. I believe the source I found this picture and information on the artwork reliable because it came from the website of the Milwaukee Art Museum in their catalog of artwork.

This is an image of a Kaiser receiving submission from a Chinese envoy. Although the date of this picture isn't certain. One of the gentlemen in the picture is Kaiser Wilhelm II and since Wilhelm lived from 1859-1941, around the time of the New Imperialism. We can assume that this picture is during the time of the New Imperialism. It shows the themes of New Imperialism because you can see gentlemen coming together for an event from several different nationalities including: German, Japanese, and Chinese.

I got this image from this website. I believe this website to be credible because many of the articles are created by World History scholars, and is sponsored by the college board. I also found the picture on a German website.

"I've learned that in many nations of the world face complex problems that they fell cannot be solved w/o international action or cooperation."

( too much pollution)

Just recently, as in like within the last month, I have learned that most countries have problems that they fell they cannot face without help. Some of these problems include pollution, trafficking, or an overflow of tourism. For instance, France is having a problem with too many tourist and illegal immigrants coming into their country. I think when looking at this problem it's easy to see why they would ask for international help. Both of these problems are directly related to the intervention of other countries help, by controlling borders and limiting the flow of travel etc. But what about a problem like pollution, most people would say that pollution is an individual countries problem, I mean it's not like China is helping pollute Costa Rica. Maybe the plea is more along the lines of "Let's find a solution and problem together, to help our country and yours." Maybe a country is having a hard time reducing their pollution because of the products they have to buy (gasoline, cars, etc.) or because of economic situations in which they cannot invest the money to improve the transportation or construction systems. So, sometimes it's not always that a country is asking for the other countries to fix their problem or make it better, but aid in ideas or financial help. ( we are tourists)

"I have become more knowledgable about the World."

( I was abducted from my home by the L.R.A. read this article)

I am definitely more knowledgeable about current issues now than what i was at the beginning of this year. For instance, before this year I had no idea what was happening in Uganda with the L.R.A. and how it was affecting children's lives. I also didn't how a lot of countries each have problems that they feel they can't take care of themselves. I understood that nations would come together with a situation that was related to human dignity etc, but as far as like a problem that an individual country might be having; I didn't ever think that they would reach out to other nations for help.

( "Oh! Those bloody trenches!" check this out)

There have been many events that have shaped the twentieth century. One of the main being the 1st World War which took place in the early twentieth century. At the turn of the century technology was starting to advance far beyond what people had ever imagined, but something else happened that people had never imagined too. World War 1 was something the people of Europe could never have imagined and it definitely put things into perspective for the modern world. World War 1 was one of the longest most difficult wars known to mankind, and it greatly effected the way the countries of Europe as well as others have grown as countries.

("What color are you?" buy these)

Today "race" is a topic/issue that many of us run into and encounter, whether it be somebody making fun of a race or people discriminating against a race. Unfortunately, many of us when thinking about race become uncomfortable and squeamish. It's not supposed to be that way, we aren't supposed to become that way, it shouldn't even be something we are uncomfortable to talk about, but that's the it is. I'm not going to lie, I don't like talking about race or racial issues either, but I think part of that is societies blame. I've grown up in a world where people are judged and looked upon by their skin color and chemical make up, but that doesn't make it right. Just because someone is different than yourself doesn't make that person inferior or less special it just makes them different.

("I am a turtle!" here's my pic)

There are many diverse places on the earth, places created by nature and places created by man. I myself have always been fascinated on the natural places; one of my favorite TV shows is the series Planet Earth. This amazing series ,which took several years to create, focuses on what amazing places are on the earth such as waterfalls, caves, canyons, etc. One particular geographic feature that I myself have always admired is the ocean. Even though there are several major oceans in the world all in different locations, their all kind of the same. They all bare life, and they all provide resources for humans. At the same time each ocean is different, each ocean is a home to different animals, each ocean has it own climate, and each ocean has something the other doesn't. Oceans are beautiful.

( What better example of different cultures coming together than the Olympics.)

Every country has it's own personality, every country has their own flag, every country has it's own favorite foods, places, and stars (the famous kind, not the sparkly firefly like kind). How cool is that? Every country has cultures that their known for. Look at Egypt- known for the ancient pyramids and hieroglyphics that were part of their ancient civilizations culture. Think of Japan and the samurai's that used to practically be royal. I also think that there are different opinions on what exactly culture is. To me culture is something that a country has that makes it stand out from the others, something that is unique to that country's history or way of life, or maybe even a religion. So, culture is everywhere in all parts of the world every where you look.

Reflection on Article

Before the last class period I knew nothing aboutthis situation happening in Africa. It still seemsreally hard to believe that such things acutally happen and exist. However, it seems that the Ugandan goverment is trying very hard to stop and put an end to the violence and abuse. While it was stated that their were several people with objections to the idea of using former soldiers of Kony, I thought it was a brillant idea! Who better would be able to track this man down than someone who had been trained in his ways? And it seems that the Ugandan soldiers are making good progress and are coming closer and closer to finding this terrible man. I hope they do!