Blog Project 1: South America

Article # 1 (Bolivia): Bolivian man dies in Andes 'aged 123'

A native man in Bolivia whose reported age was 123 years old, who could have been the oldest person lived, has passed away and the article highlights three major points: longevity, unconfirmed document and Guinness Book of Records. First of all, this man claims that he was able to live a long life because of consuming quinoa seeds, riverside mushrooms, and constant chewing of coca leaves. Since Bolivia only started issuing official birth certificate in 1940, the authorities cannot validate his age based on an unofficial baptism certificate illustrating that he was born on July 16, 1890. Therefore, the man was not able to gain the official title of the oldest person from the Guinness Book of Records and this remained to Frenchwoman named Jeanne Calment, with age of 122. In conclusion, Bolivian man said to be 123 years old has died but was not able to break the previous Guinness Book of Records due to his invalidated document.

This article caught my attention because my grandfather from mother’s side has just passed away last year, who was always monitoring his health and he was not able to do birth registration right after he was born. My grandfather died at the age of 98 years old, according to the birth certificate, by natural causes in the fall of 2013 in Taiwan which I could not make it to the funeral because of my school. From what I remember, he was passionate in taking care of his own health condition by wondering around the house which for him was exercising, so we all expected that he will live longer than 100 years. Well, he actually did because unlike these days where birth registration has to be done within given period of days, at his time there was no such restrictive policy and due to poverty lifestyle everyone was just too busy, hence he did his birth registration at age four. To sum up, I was able to somehow relate to this article based on death of my grandfather, who was very healthy, at age 98 in the birth certificate, but 102 years old in reality. 

Sources:
"Bolivian Man Dies in Andes 'aged 123'" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 11 June 2014. Web. 26 June 2014.


For more details, please visit the following URL

<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/bolivia/10892257/Bolivian-man-dies-in-Andes-aged-123.html>.




Article # 2 (Peru): Drunken assistant causes chaos at Peru bullfight

Every once a year, there is a bullfight taking place in rural Peru but this year chaos broke out during the event because the assistant was so drunk, which caused at least 10 people to be injured and thus the drunken assistant eventually got punished by the crowds. The entire event broke into chaos when a drunken ring assistant released the rope that helps defend participants from the bull. Hence, a few amateur bullfighters got hurt and lost control of the bull, which it eventually went towards the crowd causing more injured people. Meanwhile, some members in the crowd were publicly punishing the drunken assistant who was responsible for this turmoil. In conclusion, 2014 bullfight turned into chaotic event in Peru due to intoxicated assistant, damages done to people and assistant’s punishment from the crowd.

Personally, I enjoy drinking but I hate to see people, including myself, get drunk because drunken people loses their mental, behavioral and social abilities. First of all, almost always poor judgments are made while people are drunk and the most common example will be unwanted pregnancies. In addition, drunken people can get extremely violent and aggressive which leads to frequent arguments with others or in extreme cases aggressiveness along with poor judgments might possibly lead to murdering. Finally, if one gets drunk it is always people who are around is responsible to take care until drunken individual arrives home. In conclusion, do not let alcohols to overtake yourself by affecting intellectually, physically and socially.

Sources:
"Drunk Assistant Causes Chaos at Peru Bullfight." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 18 June 2014. Web. 26 June 2014.

For more details, please visit the following URL
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/peru/10908236/Drunk-assistant-causes-chaos-at-Peru-bullfight.html>.

Article # 3 (Chile): Mountain peak blown up to make room for huge telescope

The world’s largest telescope of its specific type will be built by destroying the mountain in the Chilean Andes for greater advancement in the field of astronomy. Here, the mountain peak of 3000 meters high will be blown off to provide a plateau base large enough for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). This E-ELT will be finished in 2022 and it will provide 16 times sharper and capture 15 times more light than any telescope built in the world. Finally, this accomplishment will let astronomers to go deeper into space and more precisely into the workings of the Universe. In conclusion, when E-ELT telescope is completely set up on the mountain in the Chilean Andes this will make a huge technological leap in astronomy.

I chose this article because unavoidable sacrifices, such as destroying our natural environment, animal testing and human lives from wars, should be made in any fields in order for further developments. First of all, Smartphone, computers and many other more technically advanced products will not be able to manufacture so effectively without releasing the pollutants to the atmosphere. Next, global food crisis has been postponed through the creation of genetically modified organisms and foods by performing various animal testing. Sometimes, wars from the past that had killed tens of thousands of people kick started the economy because armies spent large amounts of money on goods and services. In conclusion, without the necessary scarifications like destructing the natural environment, animal testing and human lives from wars, the world we live in today will not be as developed as it is right now.

Sources:
Knapton, Sarah. "Mountain Peak Blown up to Make Room for Huge Telescope."The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 17 June 2014. Web. 26 June 2014.


For more details, please visit the following URL <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10906346/Mountain-peak-blown-up-to-make-room-for-huge-telescope.html>.

Article # 4 (Peru): Anti-gay religious group faces legal action over billboard

Evangelical group Movimiento Mundial Bethel is facing legal action because they publicly discriminated gay people on university billboards, which led to filing a complaint from one of the gay student at school along with issuing an official request for forgiveness to the LGBT community From the article, the photo that proposes a same-sex union was posted on the billboard of one of a leading university in Lima, along with the Bible verse Leviticus 18:22, which says “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” When one of a student who was gay saw the content on the billboard he decided to take legal action towards Bethel by filing a complaint to the Commission for Consumer Protection. In addition, this student also claimed that Bethel owes an apology to the LGBT community and has to retract all the postings. In conclusion, due to Bethel’s carless actions it is currently undergoing officially authorized action.

I chose this article because in my opinion people should have open mind, respect the equality and rights given to everyone in order to make a better place to live in. Now, we are living in a world where globalization is happening and that unless people have open mind, cultural exchanges from different countries will not be able to take place. Next, equality is granted to everyone and no one should ever be discriminated by others just because some individuals are special and this uniqueness must be respected as diversity in the community. Finally, right is also granted to every individual for making decisions totally based on their own beliefs and needs, hence same-sex marriage is not wrong so gay people should never feel guilty or anything. In conclusion, I believed as long as we are equipped with open mind, respectable attitude towards equality and rights of people then we will be living in a better world with less disagreement.

Sources:
Chase, Rachel. "Peru: Anti-gay Religious Group Faces Legal Action over Billboard." Peru This Week. N.p., 16 June 2014. Web. 27 June 2014.

For more details, please visit the following URL <http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-peru-anti-gay-group-faces-legal-action-over-billboard-103255>.