Japan- Whats really going on.....

Japans earthquakes and tsunamis were devastating to the area in which it was in. Homes were torn down, buildings distorted, lives flipped upside down. Then on top of it all they have to worry about a nuclear power plant destroying everything.  Now after being in this colloquium class for this semester I have began to look at things differently. So instead of looking at all the physical damages I began to look at the damages that no one sees and is not displayed. What has this Nuclear leak done to the food, animals, or people. Nuclear waste is very toxic and if ingested is fatal. Thinking about how the wind moves and how so many contributing factors of how this nuclear waste could become transported really scares me. Think about it we already have a nuclear plume over the ocean coming our way. What if it comes and all the food and water in Washington and all the other western states gets contaminated? What would we do? Or what if the food from Japan that gets shipped here was contaminated and someone misses something and people die from it. Granted only 4 percent of food import comes from Japan. But still lives are at risk. Think about in Japan they are an island. All that toxic fumes will eventually end up in the ocean water or evaporated to them come down and contaminate all the plants. This is a very scary situation.  Japan might not be able to get rid of these toxic fumes for a while and all that leaking is getting evaporated and absorbed in the air. That will come down and affect us some way somehow. I know they can’t go and put a huge bubble over Japan. But I feel like more things should be done besides scanning things to see if there dial goes up for radiation or not. Also I have learned that America has learned from Japans mistakes. We in the states have thought about if something like this has happened what we would do. After September 11 they made sure there nuclear plants could handle a situation like this also to make sure not to put Nuclear power plants near populated cities. So that makes me think why didn’t Japan think about this and why didn’t Japans backup generators work. I feel people don’t think about situations like this until they happen which is not the way to go. Millions of people’s lives are at risk for something that could have been prevented. No matter what the government says I feel like a lot more things have been contaminated than what is being told. Japan along with a lot of other countries including the United States will be dealing with this issue for a long time. If it is with people dying from radiation, or plants from acidic rain, or animals from eating contaminated plants a lot of things are going to go wrong before they get better.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42184945

Food Inc. Who knew?

Would You Rather Have this?

                                                                     Or This?

Before watching Food Inc. I never really thought about how our food becomes food. Like I know they had to kill cows or chickens but I never really put a sense of meaning behind it. But once seeing this movie I can’t stop thinking about all the horrible things that people do to animals to get there meat.  I know I could never become a vegetarian but after that movie I defiantly went a different route when eating my chicken. Seeing how those chickens were kept was disgusting. All of them running around in their own fesses and not being able to move was horrible. Seeing thoes chickens locked up in thoes cages will stay with me forever. Seeing that when they had to go to the bathroom they would have to go right there and the chicken underneath them would then have their remains on thier feathers.It was such a distrubing sight. The same thing was happening to the cows they weren’t allowed to move and stayed in one spot most of the day. How they killed them was ten times worse. Still to this day I couldn’t figure out if the cows got squeezed to death or what. But no matter what that’s no way to kill an animal. After seeing all these dreadful things that are supposedly legal they showed us another way of treating animals. On one side you have the commercial side which is full of pesticides and cruelty but on the other side you have that country farmer down the street that’s letting his animals eat the right things, letting them roam around, and just plain out letting them live their lives. Commercialized farming for Tyson or any other chicken brand is like being there slave. You have to go by their rules and make sure you are doing what they want you to do. If that means being brutal to chickens so be, if that means killing cows in harmful ways then do it. However on the other hand this farmer lets his chickens and cows have a place to play and walk. He feeds his animals what they should eat not what’s cheap. He might not kill them in the most sympathetic way (slicing chickens necks) but it gets the job done and done right. It is not the nicest thing but He is someone with morals. Nevertheless, he is the one who is facing problems with the law. The law tries to make everything go one way and if someone tries to change that they will put it into a legal battle till the little man can’t afford going on. It is a bully type of situation that needs to be stopped. After watching this it really made me think what I was putting into my body. All these pesticides and fesses and just nasty stuff are just not healthy or smart to put into your body. It really opened my eyes to how natural preservatives are a really big thing and how hormones in the animal’s body are really bad for them. Ever since that movie I have looked at the chicken and meat in a totally different way. I make sure where meat comes from and see what exactly it has in it before I buy it.

Estero Bay

Thinking about how the earth can change in a day really doesn’t sound like much. But once you hear about how a certain place has changed over hundreds of years it defiantly starts to make you think. Fort Myers Beach has gone through so much stuff from hurricanes to different people in office a lot of stuff has happened. But one thing that has stayed the same is that little house off the beaten road. This is where we got to learn so much information about Fort Myers that usually you wouldn’t know. It got me thinking what if Fort Myers didn’t have the hurricanes or anything that it had happen to it would it be the same? Probably not! After we got a sight to what Fort Myers went through we went on a hike. This is where it really got me thinking on how people can make a difference and create something new. You look at something every day and you really can’t see the differences and changes but if you see something and then come back ten years later you will defiantly see something new. This is what I thought when going to the Estero Bay. I thought about this when I was hearing about how you (Professor Wilkinson) had grown up and done so much for this area. Creating the bridge way making the maps it really made me think about how people really cherish this land. When taking the hike I kept thinking back on how was this land 10, 15, 20 years ago? Was that tree there? Was that birds nest there? Was that pond there? There are so many great things that live in an area where you usually wouldn’t have thought to look. I never thought I would be able to see a waterfront view from the little house where we started off in, but sure enough a little bit into the mangrove trees and you could see the water. I think that’s amazing how in such an industrialized area you can still find a piece of serenity and really look and see something from a new perspective. Looking around and seeing all the different types of plants, trees, and animals really made me think how blind I have been. I go the same route to work every day but not once have I ever just looked outside my window and see what’s actually going on in the environment. Well after taking this trip I differently got a sense of reality put back into me. Did you know that there are three different types of mangroves all different but similar all in the same ways? It is crazy how we take mangroves and just our environment for granted. But wait until it’s all gone and then we will be missing it. What if instead of those gorgeous mangrove trees there were high rises and condos. Not so serine anymore. This field trip had an impact on me that I defiantly didn’t think it would have. I would love to go back 5 or even 3 years from now and see all the different things that have changed.

The Last child in the woods

When reading the last child in the woods it really got me thinking. Has our day-in-age surpassed being outside and enjoying the fresh air? The way I look at it and this section backs me up is yes, in fact we have. Kids are worried about what video game is out or what TV show is on they could care less if there is a big adventures waiting for them right on the other side of the door. The last child in the woods explains when the author was a little boy he would run around and build forts and climb orange trees. He could care less what Pokémon was out or what ninja was killing who. He was free and so was his mind. It really puts it in to perspective. More and more kids are becoming obese and being diagnosed with ADHD. And we wonder why? The answer to that is fairly simple kids don’t go outside. Children have energy in them that they need to burn off but if they are inside all day watching TV on the computer or on the game boy that energy is staying within them. They aren’t running around and expelling that energy which causes them to get ADHD. Obviously this is just my mind set but I think it can be backed up by the studies that the author has made. The children don’t go outside and they get diagnosed with a mental disease and become obese. If they would just go outside and see how much fun it could be maybe then they would realize electronics aren’t everything. Now I can’t be a hypocrite because I was one of those kids that sat inside and rather eat or watch TV than go outside and play. But now I am paying for it. I am over weight and have learning problems and getting tested for ADD. Now what does that tell you? My two sisters who did like to go outside and play and liked to play spots and adventure off are now in shape and with no learning disabilities. I defiantly think there is a lot of truth to what the author is saying in the last kid in the woods. But let me tell you now when I go outside I enjoy every minute. If it is just a walk around the neighborhood or going to get the mail. Those walks really help me out. Whenever I am stress I always take a walk around my neighborhood and once I get back inside it’s like I have started with a blank slate. Fresh and ready to go again! Kids need to be outside enjoying the weather getting their knees scratched up from falling out of tree, building forts. Plain in simple KIDS NEED TO BE KIDS not little electronical robots. I am afraid after our generation the outside world to kids will be a strange and unfamiliar place.