This will cost you...

In a area in the Middle East called Dubai, engineers are building man-made islands and selling them to the highest bidder, going for more than 6 million US dollars. These islands are shaped into various figures like palm trees and a map of the world. These islands, however are made of hundreds of tons of sand and rocks, which some experts say may not be able to hold up against hurricanes and tsunamis(underwater earthquakes that produce HUGE tidal waves). This is not stopping those who can afford it, where there are people on a waiting list until more island are built. If given the opportunity to own one of these islands, would you move there even with the warnings of hurricanes and tsunamis? Is this a good idea anyways, building "man-made" islands in this area? What do you think?

For more information, click here: http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/living/dubai/the_world_islands.php

OR

http://www.theworld.ae/

Are you going to eat that?

In China, the government has for a long time imposed a law stating families are encouraged to have one child per household, or a number of children equal to their annual(yearly) income. This law was put in place due to the fact that China's "population of 65 years olds was only 66 million in 1990, and now is expected to grow 90 million by 2000, and 167 million by 2020. The population has put a tension on the limited resources of China. Many people are moving to the cities, leaving less people to farm the land, thus having less food in total for China's people." Some experts say that the United States is heading in that direction and a "population law" would help, in especially unplanned pregnancies. What do you think? Should there be a limit in how many children a couple can have, provided they have the means to take care of them? Or is this a violation of someone's right to bear children?

info provided by: http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/kane98/kanep2/chinas1kid/dcva2.html

Green Peace

A recent scientific study is stating that in urban areas where the presence of "greenspaces" (like parks, playgrounds, fields, etc) is lacking; there are more cases of violent crimes, poverty, and a overall "bad mood" of the people living in these areas. These experts say that with more "greenspaces" available, statistics like crime and vandalism will decrease. What do you think? Do you think planting trees around neighborhoods in Boston can help, or hurt?