Crisis in the Gulf

This summer, BP created a problem that would and will affect us far into the future. What turned from being a routine oil rig installation went from good to bad. The oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded due to a blowout, and sank to the bottom of the sea. The oil well that the rig was supporting was also destroyed by the rig when it sank (domino effect). The result of the catastrophe would set off a bigger problem for BP and the Gulf States.
The oil spill accident started when the well was detached from the sea floor. The Deepwater Horizon incident was merely a catalyst to the oil spill. The well was already a concern due to problems with its foundation. BP tried to save money by bypassing some of the protocols set in place to monitor construction of off shore drilling platforms. The concrete used to hold the well wasn’t up to code. The well was resettled many times before BP decided it was good enough. When the rig moved the well, the foundation came undone and let out tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil a day.
BP was found to be the main contributor to the oil extracting process and was blamed directly for the spill. The company would spend only a fraction of what it was making. BP didn’t start working on cleanup harder until the oil found its way to the Gulf coast. The mass of oil in the Gulf of Mexico was threatening the lives of many species of fish and also affecting many companies that rely on the waters as its main source of commerce. When asked, Brandon McGee, a senior at Mayo High School said that, “BP made some really dumb decisions. What they did upset the balance of jobs but most importantly, the ecosystem.”
Many weeks went by with the well pumping oil nonstop. BP made few efforts to contain the flow but was unsuccessful at stopping the flow. The company said that it will start a 20 billion dollar fund to help with efforts on the containment of oil in the water. Many were still outraged by the responses BP made to help clean up its mess. Brandon was one of the people who believe BP should be punished. He stated, “I believe that BP should receive a greater penalty and should give more to the clean-up effort.”
To this day much of the oil has been cleaned up, but still a lot remains. The impact this will have on the ecosystem and the economy of the Gulf coast will be scarred long after the oil is cleaned up. The Gulf States served as one of the best vacationing areas, but many will have to rethink their plans.


http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/gulf-oil-spill/bourne-text/1

Disaster Heard Around the World

In September 2010 a major flood spilled over the country of Pakistan,killing many and making lives of people more difficult than they were before. It was the region’s worst flood in years since a long time. A blanket of brown disease infested water surrounds the country and has people panicking. A country that was stable has now become a disaster site. People pushing their vehicles out of the dirty, flood water and farmers worrying about their future, with no crops and land there was is no hope on the faces of farmers in Pakistan. Farmers move their cattle with their belongings on their heads and waist high water covers them. The cities and towns faced with a crisis, businesses and shop owners supplies destroyed. People’s way of getting money and keeping a living has gone away all of a sudden because of this disastrous flood. The people in cities huddling together on cars and in towns to find ways to survive, because some people’s lives have changed. With kids sitting on the wet, muddy ground crying for food as their parents wonder what they are going to do. With hot weather, poverty, and hard times ahead how did people cope with this and continuing to deal with this major disaster?

The Indus River in Pakistan caused major water rises and a huge area of Pakistan to be covered in water. Within 48 hours of the flooding, over a million of the people in Pakistan had been killed and displaced throughout the country. Later on in the North part of Pakistan when the flood started to recede, people could see the damage done. Homes, farms, and shelter were destroyed for people and for some people that were the only thing they had. Over 14 million people affected from this flood. The Army and Navy were sent out to evacuate the city of Karachi (a major/large city in Pakistan) because of the floods impact. The Flood destroyed homes and covered the whole city with 6 feet and higher waters. Not only was it during the flood, but now after the flood the risk of catching a disease and the shortage of food and water was a huge concern for the people of Pakistan. The death toll rose after the flooding went down, but many people can help and are helping by donating money and making causes. With millions of dollars worth of damage done will the country of Pakistan ever recover from this tragic event.

Locally people have been affected. The news of this disaster was heard around the world. The Pakistani community in Rochester and people relating to similar floods locally has been impacted by this. The recent flooding in Pine Island and across Minnesota has also left people in the same kind of distress.In Mayo High School people react differently from the flood, ways of helping and their opinions on it as seen in the interview.(See Interview)

With this disaster in Pakistan leaves people wondering how can we help? With millions of dollars worth of damage done in one of the most populated countries, millions of people living from day to day wondering what do I do? This is surely a flood heard around the world and now people wonder what’s in store for this country as the people and communities recover from this tragic flood.

image fromhttp://paperforgood.files.wordpress.com/2010/08\

Step Brothers

“You have the voice of an angel, your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus.” That is one of the most famous quotes from the hilarious Adam McKay 2008 production of Step Brothers. Will Farrell and John C. Riley are an unbeatable team when it comes to making the best comedy movie of the year. No one else can play immature childlike characters better than this duo. Step brothers will leave your stomachs hurting from laughter and you wanting more.
In the movie stepbrothers Will Farrell plays the character Brennan Huff and John C. Riley plays the character Dale Doback, both men are in the 40s and still living with their divorced parents. The boys are living the good life, no jobs, no responsibilities, nothing, just watching TV and playing video games. That all soon changes when Brennan's mom, Nancy (Mary Steenburgen), and Dale's dad, Robert (Richard Jenkins), meet at a medical convention and fall in love and later wed. Both Dale and Brennan couldn’t be more upset when they all live under the same roof and have to share the same bedroom considering they hate each other’s guts. Robert and Nancy both decide that it is not ideal to have two of their grown children living with them anymore. Both of their parents insist that the boys get jobs and soon live on their own. After the boys figure out they have more in common they ever thought imaginable, the two start scheming up plans and knowing them it won’t be good.
The movie stepbrothers is definitely a must see for all ages over the age of 17. It will leave your stomachs hurting and quotes in your head that you will repeat for days.

How about 'em apples?

An apple a year keeps the doctor away, this year the apples come in the form of the new lineup of iPods that the tech gods at apple have graced us with Sept 1, 2010.  

The new iPods won’t make everyone happy and its nothing that apple hasn’t already shown us, the new iPod Touch is just an iPad that fits in your pocket and doesn’t have an option for 3G data service. The new iPod Shuffle brings a small touch screen but also removes the ability to record and watch videos & pictures (not that anyone would want to on that tiny screen). Finally the new fourth generation shuffle is just a second generation model with voice controls. Big woop.

 

1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd iPod Shuffles                                                            Brand Spankin’ New 4^th generation iPods

       (Top to bottom)                                                                      (Shuffle, Nano, iTouch)

Roman times...

Gladiator, which was made in 2000, is a movie that people just won’t see every year. Directed by Ridley Scott, Gladiator is about a young farmer, Maximus, (Russell Crow) who was a former general in the Roman army and is condemned to die because of a trap. As he escapes death, he finds out his family has been murdered and from that point on he becomes a slave and becomes one of the greatest gladiators to fight in the arena. The Roman Empire is then controlled by Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Even though the plot and the actors provide one of the most entertaining movies of the year, the music and soundtrack to the movie is the most important part of Gladiator, because it expresses the plot that the audience sees very carefully.

From the intro of the movie, there is a song called Duduk of the North, which portrays Maximus (Crow) who is a general in the beginning of the movie as he controls one side of the roman Cavalry to lead against the enemy. Once he wins the battle, the song is heard throughout the victory and while Maximus is meeting up with the head general to be congratulated. This music that portrays this victory and introduction to the movie is quite important, because it shows to the audience how important Maximus is as a general in the Roman army. The biggest thing is that most people notice that this all happens before he is condemned to death and his family is killed which changes the movie completely.

Another intriguing song to the movie that is quite supportive to the soundtrack is called Homecoming, which portrays how Maximus and Caesar, the ruler of Rome (Phoenix) meet in the coliseum after Caesar had condemned him to die. After Maximus had just won a mighty battle in the coliseum with other gladiators, Caesar comes out of his spectator box and onto the fighting ground so that he can meet the gladiator. And while Caesar doesn’t realize that he’s talking to a man he once condemned to death, he becomes frustrated as Maximus turns his back to him and then he hear that this once a Roman general who fought on the same side as Caesar. All in all, this song portrays the hardships that Maximus has suffered and how he reacts to Caesar in the end really depicts there negative relationship as the movie progresses which creates such a dramatic movie ending.

Gladiator is a mix of adventure and romance along with history of course when it comes to gladiators fighting in the Roman Empire. The most important aspect of the movie is definitely the music, because it portrays important scenes and shows the audience the true plot without the action and minimal special effects of the fighting. I definitely recommend Gladiator to any person who is open minded to a mix of action and history as an interest. Not only is there good acting as well as an interesting plot, but the soundtrack is the clear summary of the movie and it shows its true plot.

The Other Guys

“I’m a peacock you gotta let me fly” is a quote that was used in this movie numerous of times by Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg). This quote also refers to Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) the best actor in this movie. The plot of this movie is fantastic and its all thanks to the director and producer of the movie, Adam Mckay. The quote is said many times in the movie because of how other officials were restricting Terry and Allen from their full capability as detectives as they waited in the shadows of 2 other cops that are like heroes to people in the city.

Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz just want their chance in the spotlight and be recognized by others. They get their chance when a small case falls into their lap which ends up being a big case instead. When detectives Christopher Danson (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and P.K Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) lose a criminal, their pride takes over and commit suicide since they nerve lose. After this, Allen and Terry take over and fill in the empty spots with a case. The case is about a multi-billionaire David Eshron (Steve Coogan) trying to recover his company’s financial losses.

As things get worse during their case, they are highly being watched and under surveillance from both the “bad guys” and officials. They are stripped from the case re-assigned to different jobs when they mess up during the case. As terry enjoys his new job as a traffic cop, Allen decides to take the case on his own and finds credential evidence. He asks Terry to rejoin him then they later find out that Eshron is not getting money from the New York Lottery Office as they thought earlier, but he is getting it from the retirement funds of the New York Police Department.

My final thought on this movie is that Adam Mckay did a great job with it and if you are looking for a laugh this movie is good for you. I personally rate this movie 4 out of 5 stars, i think its a great movie and its worth the 1 hour and 47 minutes.

image from tribute.ca

War is a Drug

Chris Hedges, an American journalist, wrote “The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, war is a drug.” (movies.nytimes.com). This quote was used in The Hurt Lockerbecause of its representation throughout the movie. The quote represented how U.S. soldiers have reacted to the traumatizing events that war commonly presents.

The Hurt Locker is an American war movie that reveals what Explosive Ordinance Disposal, also known as EOD’s, specialists are confronted with in the war in Iraq. The movie was written by Mark Boal and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Mark Boal is an American journalist who traveled with an American bomb squad during the war in Iraq in 2004.

Claudia Puig accurately described the movie, saying “It captures the complexities of the war in Iraq with visceral suspense as well as explosive battle sequences and powerful performances.” (usatoday.com). Kathryn Bigelow directed the film to capture the mental and physical pain U.S. soldiers endure during war. This perspective was a progressive alteration compared to other war movies because it focused on the soldiers instead of the politics.

In The Hurt Locker, Staff Sgt. William James joins the U.S. Army’s Bravo Company and replaces Staff Sgt. Matt Thompson (Guy Pearce) after he is killed by an IED. Improvised Explosive Devices, also known as IED’s, have been responsible for almost 60% of U.S. casualties in Iraq and 50% of U.S. casualties in Afghanistan, both killed and wounded (fas.org). Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are also members of the Bravo Company and were close to Staff Sgt. Thompson. Staff Sgt. James and Staff Sgt Thompson were both EOD specialists. Sgt. Sanborn and Specialist Eldridge communicate with their Staff Sgt. when he is disabling IED’s. When Staff Sgt. James joins the Bravo Company, Sgt. Sanborn and Specialist Eldrige immediately disapprove of his arrogance and apathy for protocol.

With two days left in Iraq, Sgt. Sanborn confesses to Staff Sgt. James that he can’t handle the pressure of serving in the army, and wants to return home and start a family. The following scene begins with Sgt. Sanborn at home, unenthusiastic with the lifestyle, with his wife and son. He then realizes that the army is what he knows and loves. This is where the quote “war is a drug” describes the addictiveness of war.

The movie was ingeniously designed to capture the mental and physical pain U.S. soldiers endure during war without discussing the politics. I would give this movie an 8 out of 10 because of the dramatic effects and the realism it presented.
Written by Jake