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