Thinking Spatially - AP Human Geography and Current Issues

People have the right to religious liberty and the right to practice these religions without persecution. Unless, they threaten the people of the United States. At least, this is view of UKip’s Gerard Batten. He is a Interim leader in the United Kingdom Independence party. He said during a speech at an “emergency general meeting”, that the Muslim people need to renounce parts of the Quran that promote violence and discrimination. Many people know him as the leader of the “Brexit” movement, but he is now known as the Islamophobic member of the European Parliament. Though what he said was way out of line for a meeting involving the terroristic happenings in the UK, he made valid points. His quotes saying, “What I wrote there about Islam is factually and historically true, and anybody that cares to look at the history of Islam over the last 1,400 years will see that that is true” and that he “still supported the idea of British Muslims being asked to sign a text formally renouncing...

Honey is often called liquid gold, and for good reasons. It is rich in antioxidants, lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol, and soothes a sore throat. Local honey has trace amounts of pollen in it. Regular consumption of the pollen helps the body better protect itself against seasonal allergies. It’s obvious why anyone would want to eat honey, especially in a time of increasing health consciousness. In fact, in the U.S. honey consumption is on the rise “...with an average of nearly one pound (0.9 pound) of honey being consumed per person compared to 0.5 pounds consumed per person in 1990.” With more honey being eaten, there’s a greater demand for the product. The way it’s being met is often with greed, false advertisement, and little regulation. Because of this Americans are being sold not pure, but diluted honey. This leaves American consumers as a victim yet again to injustices of the food industry. A large problem is that honey importers take advantage of the ultra-filtration...

All around the world people have been noticing changes in their crops, wildlife, forests, oceans, freshwater and weather patterns. Hurricanes Irma, Maria and Harvey are examples of how devastating the changing weather patterns can be. As the world looks for solutions to the continuous weather diasters, and other effects of global warming, a group of scientists worked together on a website, showing ways to stop global warming. These different solutions were ranked from most to least effective, and all have a small piece written about them on this website and how they will stop global warming. Suprisingly enough, women's education was 6th, and family planning 7th. So how will women's education and family planning stop global warming, and what is the importance in that? On the subject of edcuation Project Drawdown says “ Education lays a foundation for vibrant lives for girls and women, their families, and their communities. It also is one of the most powerful levers availab...

When people are saying that GMOs are dangerous and not tested enough, they are not fully doing their research. But this is actually a wrong assumption. In fact they are more tested than non-GMO food. They go through voluntary testing, there has not been a case in which there has not been extensive testing on GMO products. There are hundreds of trials that these plants go through to see if they are saf, what conditions they can grow in,and to test the nutritional value. When the plants go through enough testing the numbers go to the FDA for approval and they are thoroughly looked over and test results are replicated before any GMO is approved for market. People spread the widely propagandized fact that GMOs are “dangerous.” In 2006 Dr. Cathie Martin split the genes of a snapdragon flower, and put two of its genes with the genes of a red tomato. This in turn created a black tomato both inside and out. The snapdragon tomato was tested thoroughly and proved that in mice, it treated an...

In April 2015, thirty year old Mohammed Bin Salman was named Crown Prince and heir to Saudi Arabia’s throne. The following year the Crown Prince would introduce a plan known as “Vision 2030.” The plan’s main goal is to make the state’s economy less dependent on oil, but also to make the religion of Islam in the state a more “moderate” version of Islam. While Saudi Arabia is the world’s leading exporter of oil, the Prince believes that with environmental protection standards changing, that oil will soon be surpassed by other energy sources. Salman’s strategy for making his nation less reliant on oil is to make his country more attractive to foreign investors. He hopes to achieve this goal through changing Saudi culture to be much more appealing to non-Muslims through social reforms. The plans proposed by the Crown Prince have brought to light many issues like religion and women’s rights. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman For many decades the religious police of Saudi Arabia hav...

A common question in agriculture today is what kind of antibiotics should be given to animals, and how much? More importantly, what is the spectrum of side effects for humans? Almost all accredited scientists agree that antibiotic use in agriculture has the potential to cause antibiotic resistance which could translate into humans developing the same antibiotic resistance. This could happen through direct contact between humans and animals, shared polluted environmental sources, such as contaminated water, and through consumption of plants/animals that have developed antibiotic resistance. According to a meta-analysis published in the medical research journal The Lancet , “Infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria result in increased mortality, morbidity, and social and economic costs.” This research synthesized evidence from 179 individual studies, showing that interventions that minimize antibiotic use in food-producing animals closely correspond with a decrease in pervasiveness ...