My Last Blog!

As ridiculous as this may sound in our current internet friendly world, before this class I didn’t even know what the word “blogging” meant.  At first I was a little skeptical about blogging since I wasn’t really sure how to do it, however, with some practice and interest in different articles it became very interesting for me.  It seemed to become a non-stressed assignment where you could actually write about something and give it your personal opinion. Although my blogs may not have been the best, there are a few that I happened to like…

Most Effective Blogs:This blog about Cancer was definitely one of my more emotional blogs. In my opinion this was one of the most important blogs I wrote about because it was something that was so close to my heart.  It was very inspirational to read about someone battling cancer and the strives they were taking to overcome the disease and not let it overcome them. I think that this blog was one of the most relatable topics to people because with Cancer becoming such a widespread disease almost anyone could relate to this because they know someone who has battled this illness.

Another blog I was proud of was this blog about something that is definitely becoming more widespread throughout society, homosexuality.  I thought that this blog was interesting because it was about Tim Hardaway, a professionl basketball player, who said very hurtful things about a fellow gay basketball player.  I think this was important because in our current culture we should not be as racist and segregated as past generations were.  In my opinion, there is no reason why homosexual people should be treated badly, unfairly, or in any negative way just because of their personal choices. This blog brought an important issue to the table and showed how ridiculous some of our even most admired professional athletes can be.

The final blog that I think was very effective was this blog about the importance of honeybees.  I had no previous knowledge of the significance of honeybees before reading this article, however, after I read it I had a completely different understanding of how important they are in our entire foodchain.  I think this blog brought to light how we as human beings need to be protective of nature and value everything because the majority of things, even a tiny little bee, can have major effects on the rest of our lives.

Ineffective Blog: Even though no one really likes to admit their faults, I think that my first blog about the New York Yankees player Bernie Williams was too much of a personal discussion, rather than an important topic.  Besides it being my first ever blog, and how short it was, it didn’t really prove any importance to another reader.  Although the link provides a reader with a fun website for yankee fans, it didn’t do much other than that.  I guess I got the bad one out of the way on the first try

Comments: I think that the ability to comment other people’s blogs was definitely an interesting and fun thing to do.  It was a good eye opener to be able to read about what other people found interesing and learn a little bit about our classmates personal tastes.  I also think that it was helpful to have others leave comments on my blogs.  One comment that seemed significant to what I took from the experience of blogging was this:

“Very important topic. I too went through a very close family member going through breast cancer, before she was 40! She found it herself and went for her mamogram 3 months early because she found a lump. After having both breasts removed they told her if she was to wait for her appointment(only 3 months difference), the cancer would’ve spread through out her body and would’ve killed her within the year! So what i am trying to get to is, check yourself and give monthly exams, if you find something-get to the doctor! Early detection is the best thing you can do for yourself!”Comment by Shannon — February 22, 2007 @ 10:56 am

 I think that this blog seemed rather significant because it showed how effective this blog was in relating to people on the most personal level.  It also touched on another topic that I didn’s even write about — early detection and getting tested.

Overall, I think that this blogging experience was a positive one because I was able to try something new and get my thoughts out there.  Although I don’t if this is something I will continue to do in the future it certainly is something that I have learned from.

The Importance Of Honeybees

I decided to write my blog about the importance of honeybees  and the increased rate in which they are dying that could completely devastate our human food meals.  Honeybees are so important in our food process because they “don’t just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops we have.” 

“In fact, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination, according to the U.S  Department of Agriculture.” Even cattle, which feed on alfalfa, depend on bees.  This is something that is completely astonishing to me because it’s something that I didn’t know.  Who ever knew that a tiny little thing like honeybees could be so important in a larger effect of so many foods?

Kevin Hackett, the national program leader for USDA’s bee and pollination program said that the honeybee problem is ” the biggest general threat to our food supply.”

Scientists are struggling to figure out what is killing the honeybees, and early results of a key study this week point to some kind of disease or parasite.  Scientists stated that, “Even before this disorder struck, America’s honeybees were in trouble. Their numbers were steadily shrinking, because their genes do not equip them to fight poisons and disease very well, and because their gregarious nature exposes them to ailments that afflict thousands of their close cousins.”

In a study of honeybees and beekeeping, “University of Montana bee expert Jerry Bromenshenk has surveyed more than 500 beekeepers and found that 38 percent of them had losses of 75 percent or more.”  This is a very significant loss and one that the general public should be worried about because it eventually will have a major impact on our daily food intake.  Scientists believe that this will not be a simple answer to find for the honeybee probelm however they are continuously working on it to develop a solution.