Is Texas really that big?

I know a lot of people from Texas and they always talk about how great everything is there.  If someone has an interesting story, on of my friends from Texas always seems to have a bigger and better story.  I instantly thought of this when I saw this map.  Also most of my friends from Texas have to be the life of the part and the center of attention.  But another reason why i chose this map was because on a family vacation a few years back my family and I drove from our home in Tucson, AZ to Atlanta, GA.  When we drove through Texas it literally felt like Texas was as big as it is on this map.  It took us about 2 to 3 days to actually drive across the width of the state.  But we all know that they say, "Everything is bigger in Texas." 

More Money, More Problems

Many people have very different opinions on what should be done in Africa to countries that do not have a good economy and government.  Just like everyone else, I also have an opinion about this topic.  The United States and other countries that give a lot of money to African countries to help their economy.  I feel as though this needs to stop because all of that money that is given to those countries is going to corrupt leaders.  I don't understand how the US gives millions of dollars and nothing changes over there, and yet the US still continues to give money.  Instead the US and other countries need to stop giving money, and go in and set up an effective economy and in some cases government.  This all should not be put on the US but on other countries as well because obviously all the money that is going over there isn't changing anything except keeping the corrupt wealthy.

Egyptian Protests

Picture above is of the riots in Egypt.

The protest in Egypt are against the President Hosni Mubarak.  The Citizens want political reform so that they have more say in what is in the best interests of the country.  Mubarak has not said whether or not he will run for another 6 year term in the up coming Presidential elections.  The White House said that this is a good time for Mubarak to show his willingness to listen to the citizens and make a political reform.

Picture above is another of the riots in Egypt.

Distances on a map can be misleading

Much like a lot of United States people, I also thought that Hawaii is just a hour or so off the coast of California. However, this is not the case Maui, Hawaii is actually about 5 hours away from Los Angeles, California.  As we can see in the picture I have taken from Google Earth, Hawaii is out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  This changed the way I think about the world because I thought Hawaii was much closer to California than it really is.  I then realized that this world is so much bigger than I thought originally.  This image was very eye opening for me and maybe for others that see this same image.

The True Story of War That People May Never See

Restrepo, is a movie and documentary, about a platoon of United States Soldiers that fought in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan.  The outpost named Restrepo after a soldier that fought and died in action is the focus of the movie.  Restrepo was home to 13 soldiers.

I am a very big movie fan, I will watch most movies and get lost in them as if to be sucked into that world for however long the film is.  However, war movies tend to be very different from what a real war is like for entertainment purposes.  Even though a lot of war movies are based on true stories there tends to be a lot of factual inconstancies.  However, Restrepo is a film that puts those that watch the film into a real battle field with real soldiers.  The only thing hollywood about this movie is that the director cut down the material to make it into an hour and a half movie and also some music in the background for dramatic effect.  The director himself said that the sole purpose of this movie is to show what war really is.

This movie really taught me a lot about what real war is like and how war in the movies in not exactly how it happens in real life.  War is a lot of waiting around and boredom, and living in constant fear that when you are sleeping something will happen.  This movie really shows how stressful war is, unlike in the rest of the movies that make it seem like once the fighting is over or when the characters go to sleep nothing will happen until they are ready again.

The Great Firewall

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2006/tc20060112_434051.htm

The link posted above is a link about how China censors what it's people can view on the internet.  What I found interesting was that China's censorship is even censoring text messaging, Skype and even blogs.  The article also talks about how the agencies in China that watch over the internet employs more than 30,000 people to view various sites.  The article then contrasted that number to the 16,000 people that the entire CIA employs.  This article was very interesting to read, especially when the article talked about if I google Tiananmen Massacre in China the top 90 of 100 sites are blocked.  In the United States our censorship is very minimal, because of the right that the Constitution lays out for us.  However, in China some of these rights do not exist and that is why they have the censorship laws that they do.

Ol' McDonald Changed the World

This is a map of the amount of McDonalds around the world.  This map shows that North America, specifically the United States loves to eat fast food.  With the abundance of Mcdonalds around the world, we can only infer that people around the world are getting more and more unhealthy everyday.  Since this blog is about geography and the topic of this posting is supposed to be about globalization, your probably wondering how this has anything to do with globalization.  The expansion of McDonalds has a lot to do with globalization because it helps the economy of all those countries that have McDonalds.  For those countries that do not have a lot of McDonalds it allows for tourism.  For example if Seward, Nebraska did not have a McDonalds, the citizens of Seward would have to travel to such near by places as York or Lincoln, Nebraska.  However, this is not just about money.  McDonalds has become an icon for fast food across the world, almost like unifying the world all because just about everyone likes to eat at McDonalds.

Slumdog Child Stars May Lose Their Trust

The child stars from the hit movie, Slumdog Millionaire, seen in the bottom right of the picture above, are in danger of losing the trust fund that the director Danny Boyle set up for them. Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, and Rubina Ali, were found in the slums of India.  Slums are a huge part of a town where everyone is dirt poor and basically made their home out of whatever material available to them at the time.  The reason that these child stars are in danger of losing the trust that was set up is because the actors and their families are not adhering to the terms of the trust.  Azharuddin is only attending school 37% of the time and Rubina is attending only 27% of the time.  The trust says that the two actors must attend school at least 70% of the time.   The families claim that family tragedies is what caused the missing of school, however evidence shows that the families are going on vacations to Pairs, and various other locations.  The trust administrator told the family it is fine that they take vacations but the families need to do it on weekends and not allow the children to miss school.  Azharuddin did however lose his father, and Rubina lost her home, and was cut by a shard of glass, but the families did take a vow to keep the kids in school.  This will allow the families to keep their $120 monthly stipend.  

http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2009/10/slumdog-millionaire-child-actors-could-lose-trust-funds.html

Comparing Geographical Regions.

I chose this video because it gives many panoramic views of the lay of the land throughout the country of Bangladesh.  There is shots of the plains and farm land to the rivers and deltas that the country has.  This video also shows the mountains and high hills in the country.  The video also shows some of the city life and the culture that Bangladesh has to offer.
I feel as though this video gives a overall good idea of the geography of the country and even depicts some culture in the country.  Being from the United States we have a very different geography and culture compared to those of other countries is very different.  I feel as though anyone from the United States or any other country for that matter can find it interesting to compare where they live to the images in this video, which is the main reason why I picked this video.

I come from the land down under... No I don't it's just a song.

In our text book on page 640, the book explains that, Australia Day celebrates when the first fleet came to Australia with 750 prisoners.  These prisoners arrived on January 26, 1788, in Botany Bay.  There are many activities that happen on this present day holiday.  Some of these activities will include the racing of the Dunny, horse racing, swimming and cockroaches.  A dunny race is when a team of four people pull an outhouse, aka the dunny, across a 250 meter track.  People will also try to set a world record for the number of people simultaneously floats on huge inflatable thongs.  Which literally are like the thongs you wear on your feet, they are just huge and inflatable.  Every city in Australia has this huge celebration however, Perth is always the last one to end the holiday celebrations with their huge firework display.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/australia-day-to-showcase-national-spirit-20110125-1a404.html

Immigration is a big issue in Australia, there is a lot of racism throughout the country.  There is an abundance of Asian migration into Australia according to the article and the textbook on page 646.  There is an average of 1 out of every 10 people in Australia are racist against the different cultures coming into Australia such as the Asian and Indian people.  Because of this racism there is a lot of alcohol consumption and there is also a lot of violent behavior.  There are parts of the country where only 40% of the people that live in heavily immigrated areas that they feel safe walking in the dark.  Australia is currently experiencing their largest amount of incoming migration in the history of Australia.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/wrongfooted-by-rapid-migration-change-20100122-mqus.html

Globalization

 
These days people all throughout the world are being connected through sports, whether its the World Cup, the World Baseball Classic, or just a regular season sporting event.  Throughout the world everyone on the planet has their own customs and cultures, these cultures are where these sports originate.  Every sport has a home where the sport was founded.  For example, baseball, it was founded in the United States in the 1800's and now days the game is played all around the world like, Japan, Mexico, and The Dominican Republic.  Baseball is such a big sport around the world now that it has even been a Summer Olympic sport, where many countries, both large and small compete.  We can even look at the MLB (Major League Baseball), where there are players from all over the world playing baseball.  People come to America from all over the world to watch baseball be played by some of the best athletes in the world.  Through this sport many people find relationships with people they never thought imaginable, just for the simple reason that they may cheer on the same team.
Baseball is not the only sport that connects the world, but it is a good example of how something so simple as a game of baseball can connect people all over the world.  When I see the World Baseball Classic logo or a sport logo in general, I feel that the logos themselves captures the essence of globalization and connecting the world for a common reason.