Final project

US Property Crisis in 2008

A very important event in US recent history is the housing bubble (unrealistic boom in property market) which grew up in the 1990s. People who had increased their wealth with the extraordinary profits of stock prices started buying bigger and better houses as an investment.  They were happily buying more and more property, as an investment for the future, so they could sell it later at a much higher selling price. This increase in demand had a great effect on the housing bubble because such high demand for houses could not be met in a short time.

Therefore it led to a huge increase in prices in the housing market. In addition, the economy was very slow after  the 2001 recession. Many people were losing jobs right through 2002 and 2003, so they could not pay the monthly installments of their house loans (mortgages). This was becoming a major issue in almost every American’s life. The weakness of the recovery of loan money resulted in the decision of the Federal Reserve Board to cut interest rates, to ease the problem of paying loans with higher rates.

This step actually backfired as such extraordinarily low interest rates led people to borrow further loans to buy more houses.   Due to greater increase in demand for houses, the prices of houses increased. From 2002 to 2006, the house prices rose by 31.6 percent. This fueled even more construction, with housing numbers eventually reaching 2,070,000 in 2005, more than 50 percent more  houses than 5 years ago. More and more houses were being built and there was no one to control the builders and companies giving them loans.  This was in 2007, as the building boom led to so much over supply of houses that prices could no longer be controlled and there was a sharp decline in prices.    http://www.investmentu.com/2012/February/housing-market-crisis.html

Another reason for falling prices was that more people were becoming unemployed and there was a time when foreclosures (people leaving the houses empty with loans unpaid) became common. The foreclosures took place when people realized that they had to pay more than the value of their home and they were not able to pay any more due to loss of jobs.

By the middle of 2007, the prices kept on falling due to non-payment by homeowners and foreclosures. This process accelerated in 2008 and it became a major issue for the US people and government. Increased foreclosures   led to a crisis in August 2008 for the highest unpaid mortgage, credit and foreign bank markets. In the words of the US Treasury, the bursting housing bubble was the most significant risk to the US economy.

Any collapse of the U.S. housing bubble had a direct impact not only on home valuations, but the nation's mortgage markets, home builders, real estate, home supply businesses, Wall Street funds held by large investors and foreign banks, increasing the risk of a nationwide recession. Concerns about the impact of the collapsing housing and credit/loan markets on the U.S. economy caused President George W. Bush and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke to announce a limited bailout (financial help in cash) for homeowners who were unable to pay their mortgage loans. The US government wanted to help institutions and common people for payment of their loans, but the amounts were too huge so that even that seemed quite impossible.  The effects of US property bubble could be felt in other countries too. In many countries, prices of the property fell sharply.  Things seemed completely out of control and there were demands by the public for immediate government help. http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2008/02/27/us-real-estate-crisis-causing-record-economic-distress/

The following graph shows how the housing prices went up from 1990 till 2007. Then, suddenly a sharp downward slope from the year 2008.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Median_and_Average_Sales_Prices_of_New_Homes_Sold_in_United_States_1963-2008_annual.png

The government of the U.S looked into this big problem as they tried to help banks, which were not receiving loan money from people. They were paid huge amounts of money.

For example, in 2008, the US government put in over $900 billion to special loans and financial help with over half going to government sponsored institutions, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration (a US Government agency).  In  2009, the Treasury Department made an announcement that it would be supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unlimited for the next three years, which were already facing losses of more than $400 billion. The Treasury was also criticized for such a huge spending, which was not allowed by the US constitution, and for violating the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

The foreclosures problems continued in later years too, as gradually, people started paying back their loans. However, the main crisis period was over by the end of 2010. Still there are some effects felt as some foreclosure cases are going on, but the severity of the crisis is almost gone. 

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reference :

"File:Median and Average Sales Prices of New Homes Sold in United States 1963-2008 annual.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Median_and_Average_Sales_Prices_of_New_Homes_Sold_in_United_States_1963-2008_annual.png>.

"U.S. Housing Crisis: Facts About The Crash - Business Insider." Business Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.businessinsider.com/us-real-estate-crisis-facts-2011-3?op=1>.

Jenkins, Jason. "Understanding the 2008 Housing Market Crisis." Investment U - Investment Research with a Contrarian Point of View. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.investmentu.com/2012/February/housing-market-crisis.html>.

"Housing Finance and the 2008 Financial Crisis | Downsizing the Federal Government." Downsizing the Federal Government. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hud/housing-finance-2008-financial-crisis>.

"US Real Estate Crisis Causing Record Economic Distress." BiggerPockets Real Estate Investing Social Network: Connect & Learn. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2008/02/27/us-real-estate-crisis-causing-record-economic-distress/>.

"Real Estate Crisis - Housing Bubble - World Crisis webpage." Global Financial Crisis - World Ecomonic Crisis website. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.world-crisis.net/realestate-crisis.html>.

Individual Assignment

Berlin Wall

I always found the Berlin Wall very interesting.  This wall was a barrier constructed by the East Germany’s government to keep its people away from Western Europe.  The building of this wall started on 13 August 1961.  It completely cut off the city of West Berlin from East Berlin. There were guard towers placed along this large wall and many people tried to climb this wall and died.

Later in 1990, as people started demanding to tear down this wall, the East German government finally announced the opening of border crossings. It was a historical moment, when crowds on both sides waited for hours, and happily cheered when the pieces of the Berlin wall came down and both East and West Berlin were joined again.

The Berlin Wall was built by Eastern Germany’s government.

The Wall was a barrier to prevent the emigration of people to reach western Germany and other countries of Western Europe.

Its construction started on 13 August 1961, and it was built at the old borders of East & West Berlin, It started in 1961 and continued until 1990 and it took around one year to build it.

It cost 16,155,000 East German Marks or about 3,638,000 US Dollars.

It is not existing now, as the people of Germany have united. http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/mauer.htm

 

In the beginning, they used barbed wire, eventually replaced by a concrete structure topped with wire and studded with watchtowers. And these materials came from locally available concrete, cement and bricks; the materials transported to the site in army vehicles, lorries and carts; it was designed by Hagen Koch, who was a 21-year-old Stasi recruit whose background in technical draughtsmanship, mapped out the Berlin Wall. There were no changes made to the original design.  After the Berlin wall fell in 1989, Hagen Koch started talking openly about his part in creating this wall. He created an archive in his East Berlin flat where he welcomed visitors including the Queen of Sweden and the artist Christo. He was reported seriously ill in a Berlin care home having suffered a heart attack in 2011. He had lost the power of speech. The Guardian UK, newspaper, was unable to verify if he is still alive today.

However The Soviet Union (now Russia) built the Berlin Wall to control East Berlin from the US/French/British controlled West Berlin.
The construction of the wall was supervised by the East German (communist) leader Erich Hoeneker. And it was constructed by Communist labour battalions from East Berlin and the real problem was controlling the people trying to cross the border, as so many people died while escaping from East Berlin to the West Berlin. Army battalions had to be vigilant in supervision.  http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/

The Berlin Wall was important since it showed that people didn't want to live in East Germany and the government put the Berlin Wall to stop people from crossing into West Germany. It was a big image disaster for Russia at that time, especially when both Russia and the weat were claiming to be better than each other. This was a historic wall that divided East Germany and West Germany.

It was a symbol of the communist controlled economy and the destruction of it resulted in the reuniting of Germany as well as the spread of democracy.

The Berlin Wall was brought down because many world leaders from Russia, USA, and Europe jointly decided that it was useless to control people's freedom of travel and the way should be made open to all Germans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall

Reference:

SSR, elorussian. "Berlin Wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall>.

1950s, the late, they would pack up their bags, hundreds of thousands of others made it across the border. Once across, these refugees were housed in warehouses, East Germany was rapidly losing both its labor force, and its population.. "Berlin Wall - The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall." 20th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. http://history1900s.about.com/od/coldwa1/a/berlinwall.htm

"NEWSEUM: THE BERLIN WALL." Newseum | Newseum Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/>.

"Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer." Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/de/>.

"Berlin Wall." A View On Cities. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/mauer.htm>.

1990, end of, and as Communism. "Berlin Wall Online - Chronicle of the Berlin Wall history includes an archive of photographs and texts." Dailysoft: IT-Consulting, Photography, Berlin and Berlin Wall information. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/>

A daily struggle to fetch water

A daily struggle to fetch water

Millions of Yemenis are struggling to receive water and there is no regular access to water in their homes; it’s a difficult task to get water from public faucets. And a political uprising made Yemen’s water issue drop to the bottom of the top priorities for the reconciliation government, aid workers and government employees. This issue is more dangerous than any political one. As the depletion of Sana’a’s basin approaches, the government has adopted a string of procedures as preparation to face this danger. So a report released by the Ministry of Water and Environment found that random digging is a major factor threatening underground water; the number of wells dug randomly in Sana'a governorate amounted to 13,256 compared with 9,200 wells in 1990. And some said the scarcity and shortage of water in Yemen refers to the inadequacy of rainfall. Among the procedures taken are stoppage of random digging and the use of irrigation technology, in addition to taking advantage of sanitation water and rainwater. A specialist in Sana'a with the Community Livelihood Project, a program to improve water access funded by the US aid agency US Aid, warned that as water supply diminishes, tensions will rise: "Water is and will be the reason for powerful conflicts in the future. " Lack of access to improved water supply has been responsible for the spread of water-borne diseases on a scale not witnessed in decades, according to Unicef's Madieh. Water and sanitation are chronic problems in Yemen, where, on average, each Yemeni has access to only 140 cubic meters of water per year for all uses – the Middle East average is about 1,000m³ a person annually. In recent years, the government had taken strides to improve water access in Yemen, but the political turbulence that arose from last year's uprising has pushed water down the new government's list of priorities, according to aid workers and a government employee.

Release target for Asian Houbara exceeded

Release target for Asian Houbara exceeded

For the first time this year at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX), the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) announced it has exceeded yearly expectations of Asian Houbara release into the wild. “This year has been remarkable to us in terms of success”. As we know some hunters are killing Houbara using shotguns, giving the bird a zero survival chance in that case, as opposed to the slight chance of escape the houbara gets when being hunted by a falcon. A reason for this is the difference in mentality that modern hunters have as opposed to their forefathers who grew up in harsh conditions and were accustomed to giving back to nature as much as they took from it. Another reason, the Director General revealed, is that many trap these birds and take them from their habitats in order to train their falcons how to hunt. Many falconers have drifted away from traditional methods of hunting, by over-trapping houbara birds, which are not the falcon’s natural prey in the first place.

They are trying to increase the numbers of houbara by using hatching machine and specialized centers with experienced people; that’s why the survey will indicate how many wild birds are trapped and which areas require the reintroduction program. They believe that some people are overhunting in some places, that some people are not using the traditional method of hunting and they are using shotguns. They need to develop a strategy of how to work for these people so it's very important to know what they have in mind. The survey will give clues to past houbara behavior. This will hopefully mean houbara will not be taken from the wild to train falcons. Well actually, the hunting exhibition is the best place to help us be in contact as much as we can with falconers, and this gives us a very good indication of the hunting pressure and the problems these birds are facing. So as we can see it is a big leap from the 2,726 chicks bred last year, thanks to the transfer of 5,000 houbara, including 3,000 breeding birds, from the IFHC center in Morocco. Some people said that the houbara are inspiring them in many ways.

How do Gulf corals beat the heat?

How do Gulf corals beat the heat?

Because of the global worming and the weather changing it will affect the corals in the entire world, but in the Gulf the corals managing to beat and resist by developing themselves. The algae photosynthesise, producing sugars that provide up to 90 per cent of the coral's energy, and in return, the coral provides shelter, nutrients mostly nitrogen and phosphorus and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Therefore at the University of Southampton, Jorg Wiedenmann subjects them to a range of temperatures to see how well they stand up. "Accurate predictions of the fate of coral reefs require a profound knowledge of the adaptation capacity of the main reef builders”. As we can see in the Gulf, the water was hotter than 36°C for more than a month. There was a huge mass mortality that year. Many reefs have still not recovered and 2010 was hot, too, with water temperatures in the Gulf exceeding 37°C. An extreme case of this bleaching was seen in 1998, when the El Niño weather phenomenon subjected 80 per cent of the world's coral reefs to extreme temperatures. To get some answers, Prof Burt has taken samples of hump coral (Porites lobata), a common reef-builder, from Abu Dhabi and sent them to a lab in Britain.

New Pearl Museum opens in RAK

New Pearl Museum opens in RAK

The precious pearl according to two local legends has two mothers One says she is Bint Al Matar daughter of the rain and Bint Al Qamar

Its impact on the local culture and economy, and where it stands today in the modern world, can be found inside the new RAK Pearls Museum.

RAK was the capital of pearl trading as evident from old documents by European travellers and sailors, when you enter the museum, you are surrounded by a distinct interior design of thousands of shimmering empty oyster shells along the walls,

So it made sense to open a museum here.

Regardless of the pearling industry's fate, the influence of the pearl lived on,

On the first floor is a historical journey, including a detailed showcase of tools and gear worn by pearl divers, such as Al Khabt, or leather finger gloves; Al Fatam, a tortoise-shell flexible nose clip; and a thick, white cotton diving suit against jellyfish.

Many divers suffered from great illness later on in their life. They wore no protection for their eyes and ears, and suffered later on from blindness and deafness. It was really hard work and many suffered and even died on the job. The 40-metre-boat, called a jalbout, includes everything a pearl diver needed; they had a designated singer, and Al Narjeelah, an early form of shisha, to keep themselves entertained.

First Reflactive Statment

First reflective statement

What is this course about?

It is English course LSC 2103, an academic reading and writing course. We are going to live a new experience and absorb a new way; we’re going to get the 2 summaries exam first and then 2 projects later on and one vocabulary at the end or you can do it during the semester.

 What I learned so far?

I have learned to make a blogger in the site at which I learned from my teacher Hedley and we had the experience to make one summery about the Hajj so far.

What do I expect to get from this course?

I believe that I’ll have the chance to upgrade my writing and have more experience to skim the paragraph to have a unique way of summarizing and I’m looking forward to have the projects with this subject.

What do I know about Hedley?

Hedley is our English teacher in HCT Collage; he is from England and lives near Norwich city; he had a long life experience during his years traveling through the world, and he told us that he had some good tactics to run away from crocodiles and also he taught us that the snakes have ears.