(Outside Reading #8) Australian Culture

I thought it would be interesting to learn about Australia and some of it's culture. Australia culture is a blend between many different cultures with a broadminded liberal and comprehensive society. Most people in Australia are in fact Europeans which I thought was really interesting. Australian culture has become one of the most diverse cultures in the world. Australia came to be inhabited by the English people soon after England claimed it their land. After, the country's culture became "anglo Celtic". With each passing year the country grew more americanized and still does today. I was very surprised when I read this article because I never knew that Australia was a country filled with people from over 200 different cultures. That's amazing! I think Australia seems very interesting and always has for me. I think I would really enjoy visiting Australia one day and seeing all of the different cultures that make it what it is. 

"Australia Culture." Mapsoftheworld.com. 25 February 2009. <http://www.mapsofworld.com/australia/australia-culture/>.

(Outside Reading #7) Change

For the topic change, I read an article on people's opinions about the food supply in the U.S. Due to the deadly salmonella outbreak tied to peanut butter, just one in five Americans now believe the food supply is safer than it was a year ago. Consumer confidence also dipped last year when there was a salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes and peppers. The salmonella linked to the peanut butter outbreak hit americans hard. It sickened at least 500 and killed 8 people, three of whom were from Minnesota. I believe this is a huge change because there has never been much concern on food in the United States. Many American's minds have changed about trusting the food industry and now are way more cautious. 

"Editorial: Confidence erodes in U.S. food supply." Star Tribune. 22 February 2008. 22 February 2008. <http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/40003407.html?page=1&c=y>.

(Outside Reading #6) hope

The article I read with the though of hope in mind is about "green" jobs. The task force wants to renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient, establish loan programs for renewable energy projects, and create incentives for water recycling by the industrial sector. If everything is passed there may be up to 20,000 new jobs created over the next 9 years. I think people don't need to worry so much about not finding a job in the future because there are many more to be invented. i believe there is hope for the younger generation and even people in the work force right now. An example for a job going green is Pepsi. They have began making bottles that have 40% more efficient products and they transport their product in trucks that use bio-fuels. Both of those ideas are helping the environment. I think this is a great idea, the whole "going green"  idea. There is hope for the future and our planet becoming a better place for everyone.

O'Donnell, Christine. "Task force announces plan to create 'Green Jobs.' " KARE 11 NEWS. 17 February 2009. Kare 11 multimedia Holdings Corporation. 18 February 2009. <http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=539736>.

(Outside Reading #5) Religion: Taoism

For our outside reading we were supposed to find an article about a religion/spirituality and I chose to research Taoism. Taoism refers to a power which envelops, surrounds, and flows through all things in life, living and non-living. The tao also is known to balance the universe. The founder of Taoism is believed to be a contemporary of Confucius named Lao-Tse. The way Taoism started is his want to avoid the constant feudal warfare and other conflicts that disrupted society during his lifetime. Before it was a religion, Taoism was a combination of psychology and philosophy. After time, Taoism became one of the three main religions in china. Taoism was destroyed after the end of the Ch'ing dynasty in 1911. Today 20 million followers still believe in Taoism and follow it's cultural beliefs. I think this was an interesting religion because I've never actually heard of it. I think it would have been fun to learn more about this religion in history class along with the unit of confucianism and see the difference between the two. The article also said that about 30,000 taoists live in North America so hopefully one day I will be able to meet one!

Robinson, B.A. "Taoism." Religious Tolerance Inc. 29 February 2008 <http://www.religioustolerance.org/taoism.htm>. 15 February 2009.

(Outside Reading #4) Gender Roles

I read an article about women gender roles and learned that they have changed a lot in the last couple years. Women can no longer be discriminated against in a workplace, women are by law are able to obtain any job. Even though that is true, many women do not hold high paying job positions which is called "glass-ceiling". Women seem to only rise so far in management positions and no further. Even though the workplace jobs for women has changed a lot, the jobs of women at home are relatively the same. Women still cook, clean, do the laundry, and take care of the children like it has always been since a generation ago. Pretty much said, Women do most of the work, and the husbands earn most of the money. I like the way things are now a days. I feel if I lived a generation ago life would be a lot harder. I would basically only work at home and not be able to hold any management or ownership positions. Today, women can hold any position in the workplace as they desire, they just have to compete with the men.

"Gender Roles." Netindustries, LLC. February 10,2009. <http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/8/Gender-roles.html>.

(Outside Reading #3) culture

I read an article about african culture. I learned that much of Africa's culture activity centers on family and the ethnic group. 3 main aspects of their culture have to do with art, music, and oral literature. African governments foster national dance and music groups, museums, artists, and writers. The people that populate africa speak many different languages, practice hundreds of distinct religions, live in different types of houses/ shelters, and have many different economic activities. I think I would enjoy traveling to Africa one day to learn more about their culture. I feel like africans really focus on dance and art which would be cool to learn about. I know also that life is harder for them there and that there is much more poverty which also would also be interesting to learn about and experience if I traveled there. 

"African People & Culture" Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2003. February 3, 2009. http://www.africaguide.com/culture/index.htm 

(Outside Reading #2) Suffering

Since this post had to be about suffering, I found an article about passengers on a cruise ship that are suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. At least 340 people have been sickened on the Swiss-owned ship, now docked in Salvador, Bahia. Most passengers have been doing okay but people still don't know where this illness came from or what it even is. The agency said later that it could have been because the drinking water had problems with the amount of chlorine in it. If I was one of the sick passengers I probably wouldn't trust that cruise company again so this could potentially hurt the company. That would also suck for the passengers because one usually goes on a cruise ship to have a great time but obviously that wouldn't be the case if you were sick. And if the illness hadn't spread to you yet, you wouldn't want to go out in case of catching it. That's a bummer. It wouldn't be my favorite vacation.

Brooks, Bradley. "Brazil:340 People on Cruise Ship Suffer Vomiting, Diarrhea; Cause Unknown." January 8, 2009. startribune.com. February 3, 2009. http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/37276304.html