Post #11 - Final Post!

Aww, man. This one was good.

I had to choose this map.

I'm a huge baseball fan. I've been playing ball since I was 5, and it's always been my most glamorous dream to play baseball for life in the big leagues. Every kid's dream...
I chose this map because it's actually accurate! After being a fan of the game for all these years, watching and listening to games, noticing which teams my friends root for, etc., I begin to notice exactly what this map shows! Concordia especially is a place where fans of different teams are assembled. I ask a lot of people what teams they root for and where they're from. Sometimes, they come from a place that's farther from the home city of the team and sometimes even out of that state, too. But for whatever the reason - whether it be regional or social circumstances, fans of these teams are usually arranged in such boundaries.
I think it just goes to show once again how people can be connected in almost any (usually unexplainable) way.
Oh, and go Cardinals!

Here's the link to the map since some of the team's names are hard to read:
http://chicagoist.com/attachments/chicagoist_chuck/2007_08_baseball_map.jpg

Blog #10 - Africa

I thought that the article from CATO on aid dependency was really thoughtful. I assume that the majority of the world's citizens, (myself included prior to reading this article), thinks that any kind of financial aid can only mean positive outcomes and progress. Sub-Saharan Africa is probably the most financially needy region of the planet. Living conditions and health are ranked among the world's lowest here. There is, without a doubt, an extreme need for development in these countries. So, it can only mean good outcomes if millions of dollars are delivered to these countries in order to provoke drastic improvement. After reading the CATO article, though, I thought about some different ideas. The authors of the article mention how the United States and United Nations have been sending millions upon millions of dollars to Africa since the 1960's in hope of its development. After almost half a century, development and improvement of human conditions in these areas have not drastically or noticeably improved. Could this mean that foreign financial aid does less than originally thought? Maybe.
Come to think of it, can money really solve any of our real problems? Development and catching up with the rest of civilization has to be among the toughest challenges we can face. How could such an issue be solved with currency? Without the right hands to which the money is given, the assistance may just turn out to be worthless. Like the article mentions, these funds can be used for corrupt and inappropriate purposes. Money corrupts, right?
I propose something else, though.
In Environmental Science class this semester, we had a rather interesting class on the Guinea Worm, a parasitical illness that thrives in the less-developed and less-educated countries in Africa. This parasite had been plaguing these countries for decades. But recently, Guinea Worm has been on a steady decline. Money exchanges could never solve this problem. Rather, it was a group of people in foreign countries working together to educate the plagued communities and eliminate the parasite.
It was people.
We can solve the problems of the world. Money, not so much.

Post #9 - Unrest In The Middle East

For post 9, I chose to research the unrest occurring in Libya, primarily because I have little knowledge on the events there. Upon researching the topic, I came across the video above. It shows a group of Libyan rebels in celebration after they had captured a government-controlled office structure. Government snipers had allegedly using the building to shoot at civilians in protest.
According to the Tehran Times, protests in Libya are due to an effort to remove an extended 'iron fist' rule by Muammar Gaddafi, which has lasted over 40 years. The efforts to remove the Libyan ruler are to attempt a push for democratic revolution, of which similar events have been taking place in the region.

Post #8 - Google Earth

For Blog Post #8, we were asked to explore Google Earth to find an interesting and unique view or perspective of the Earth. I downloaded Google Earth, did some exploring, and here's the view that I liked.
Why hello there, Antarctica! I had no idea that the tips of South America and Antarctica were so close to one another! If I was ever in Chile, I might think about taking a boat out there. : )
It's so interesting to be able to flip the Earth anyway we want with the Google Earth program. There are already tons of ways in which I've never seen the Earth when our teacher uses it in class. I think that geography teachers of every level need to stop showing the Earth from the same old distorted, stretched-out views and show how countries really relate to one another! I wonder if you can see Antarctica from the tip of South America...

Post #7 - Restrepo

For Post #7, I decided to look a little further into the Restrepo film.  After being directed to the film website, I chose a video to watch that was posted there. The video, (which is embedded above), is a short compilation of reactions to the movie. The video included a variety of different types of people that expressed their views. Upon noticing this, I thought that it was good that the video producers selected this variety of people because it provides a 'universal' reaction of sorts. Everyone that commented during the video expressed positive stances on 'Restrepo,' but it's interesting to see why these different people liked it. I noticed that the interviewees ranged from elderly war veterans to young women, from recent war veterans to people just like us. A majority of the people interviewed expressed the significance of ordinary people knowing the burdens of being a soldier. I, too, think it's important for us to know just how sacrificial the life of a soldier is. It helps us to appreciate them in full, and I think we lack that as a whole nation. It seems as if a lot of America routinely glorifies the portrait of an American soldier in wrong ways. For instance, I'm taking breaks between writing segments of this post to play Call of Duty, Black Ops. All of the publicity surrounding warfare creates this heroic image of soldiers. I'm not saying that soldiers aren't heroes, but Restrepo taught me that a lot of soldiers don't necessarily appreciate being given that title.  Above everything else, being a soldier is about serving one's country - the people he's fighting for and the people he's fighting with. I think that if everyone in America saw 'Restrepo,' there would be a massive change in the way that we all perceive war.

Post #6 - The Great Firewall

One of the most prevalent demonstrations of the remnants of communism in China is the 'Great Firewall.' The 'Great Firewall' refers to Chinese government control of what is available to its citizens on the internet. Most recently, another business-type social network was banned for a short while as discussions about democracy took place on the site.
In the following article, another internet site is reported to have been banned by Chinese officials.

To go to the article, click here.

Boxun.com, a United States-based Chinese-written website was accused by government officials to have also encouraged a democratic revolution in China. The message for this revolution was welcomed by close to a dozen Chinese cities and had spurred small protests in few locations. Police arrested 5 political activists for the 'subversion of state power.'
The article concludes with a few more statistics on how the nation is more active lately in the prevention of these types of uprisings and political discussions.

Post #5 - Cartography

For post 5, I selected a cartogram that would be unique and easily discussed in terms of globalization. This particular cartogram represents comparisons of underweight children in the world.
There are many aspects of this map that are notable. The first thing that is usually noticed is which nations/continents are displayed as significantly larger than normal. I expected African nations to be over-sized, so that there wasn't much surprise there. However, I did not expect India to be larger than the African countries. As I considered how population affects statistics, I then made the connection with India's enormous population and its size on this cartogram. I think it's also interesting to look at the nations that are drawn way smaller than normal. The United States' size didn't surprise me obviously. But I didn't expect for Mexico and South America to be similarly sized. I think that this cartogram can be connected to globalization - or rather - the absence of such.
When I think of 'globalization', no matter what the professional definition is, I always think about 'sharing.' I think about how the world is interconnected due to the sharing of technology, money, ideas... the list could go on. But the thing about hunger that sometimes confuses me is why globalization can't solve it. To me, it just seems like the wealthy nations are reaping the benefits of this 'sharing' idea, and the countries yet to be developed are left out of the loop. Is there a way to incorporate this globalization idea to even out this map a little? Maybe.
But sharing has never been an easy thing to do.

Post #4 - Slumdog Millionaire/South Asia

In response to Blog Topic 4, I decided to look into the slums of Dharavi a little more. I looked at a few sites that describe the slums of the city just as Professor Helmer had in class. Photographs looked the same; people were doing the things that you'd expect them to be doing and their shelters looked just as you'd expect. But then I came across a different tourism website. At this site, a couple had documented their experiences visiting the slums of Dharavi. Before going on the tour of the area, the author of the article, (click here to open the article), talks about how the two of them prepared themselves to see things that they didn't really want to see. They expected to come into contact with miserable people in a poverty-stricken environment, which any of us could potentially expect. But upon their first interaction with residents of the slum, the couple was surprised with the happiness level there. They said that almost everyone they encountered was happy to see them and happy to be doing whatever they were doing. Although happiness is so simple, the authors were confused as to why it would exist in a place of extreme poverty like the slums of Dharavi. Does this surprise you?

I think, geographically speaking, that it's cool to read this article about the unexpected. As generally middle-class Americans, we aren't accustomed to a world where happiness and poverty possess a direct relationship... Most often, we see them as inverse variables. So what makes the residents of this slum so happy, as observed by our authors? We can't really say. But if I had to try to put a finger on it, I'd go with both factors of satisfaction and simplicity. These residents aren't exposed to much of the opportunity of the outside as Americans are, nor are they coaxed into thinking they need anything more than the necessities. Wouldn't that be a cool life to live, though? Not wanting anything more than you do need and have? Think about how much smoother life would flow! And personally, I believe that simplicity can cause a great deal of happiness. I think there's a reason why they're ALL happy!

Maybe I'll try living simpler today...

Post #3 - Southeast Asia

Here I have included a video showcasing an example of funeral customs of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Of course, the idea of a funeral is universally observed throughout the world, but the ways in which the event is conducted can drastically differ from place to place. I selected this video because of the fact that we are indeed familiar with our own funeral customs, but it's always fun to explore how another group of people do things.
There are both similarities and differences with the funerals of the United States and that of Sulawesi. The general moods and ideas are similar; the people of Sulawesi gather in large groups and mourn the deceased, as Americans also do. But there are a few things that I especially find interesting about the customs of this small island across the Pacific. If the deceased individual was of higher social class, then more people were likely to attend, even those who did not have a personal relationship with them. The people of Sulawesi are known to make the ceremony an all-day affair, with food, music and singing among other various festivities. Combined with Christianity and historical background of the land, a funeral in Sulawesi can seem a little bizarre on the outside, but it's nothing new for the people across the Pacific. I think one of the main differences is that these Indonesians do not focus all of the energy on the mourning, but moreso on the desire to honor the dead. A lot of physical labor and preparation are needed for the funeral shown in this video.
Hope you learned something new today!

Post #2 - Australia & Oceania

New medal to recognise efforts in disasters


Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia is reported to have requested to the Queen that a new medal be included in the honors system of Australia. This new medal would honor those individuals that showed outstanding heroism or effort during periods of natural disasters. Gillard, who is waiting for approval for the inclusion of the honor, plans to have these people honored by Australia Day next year. Gillard had visited the flood-damaged regions of the east the day before and feels that the timing is right to incorporate this new idea. ''I thought this was the right place in the nation to make a very special announcement about how we will honour in the future those who have done such courageous things, such selfless things during these dark and difficult days," says Gillard. Seemingly enough, recent events in eastern Australia are the primary fire for the change. 


I think that the section on population and settlement beginning on page 637 is a relating topic to the article geographically. As the article mentions, the idea for the award or honor exists because of the recent flooding events on the East coast of the country. This section of the text focuses on why the majority of settlers populated these areas from it's first settling. If settlers hadn't clustered toward the coast as much, this flooding issues wouldn't have affected so many of Australia's residents.


 How Souths snared one of game's best forwards for a mere $1million 


The article above describes how an English athlete immigrated to Australia to play an unmentioned sport for less money than he would have in England. Most notably, Sam Burgess is being paid less money than other Australian players, although he is described as the best existing player at his position. The article describes a lot of the monetary issues involving this new player in depth, as well as even some of the residential benefits that he'll be receiving with his contract. The main idea, however, is that this English immigrant will be pain only 1 million dollars during the contract. So if Sam Burgess is being paid less than other players that he's better than, why is he coming to Australia to play? The answer is simple: he likes Australia and wanted to live here! Apparently there are other incentives to the change of team and country besides the money. 


This article relates to the section entitled 'Multicultural Australia' on pages 645 to 647 and 'European Colonization' on page 640. In this section, it talks about the cultural diversity in the region and the specific groups that make up the majority. European immigrants have established themselves as the dominant group to date. Because of the rich history of European immigration to Australia, it should be no surprise or irregularity that an English athlete chooses to move to Australia. It's almost like an American moving states. The cultural differences aren't so much different, rather there's a renewal of a cultural and physical experience. 

Post #1 - Globalization

If it weren't for the funky lettering on the McDonald's, you'd think it was just any old (or new) American city. McDonald's fast food chains were begun in the United States, and ever since it's launch decades ago, has expanded as fast as any other corporation worldwide. In 2011, McDonald's restaurants seem to be a popular place for just about anyone in any region of the world.
I think this photograph is a simple example of globalization up to now. The simplicity and cost-efficiency of what McDonald's and other fast-food chains have to offer is an idea that nearly everyone has incorporated into their lifestyles. It's cool to see how a simple idea of a hamburger, fries and a shake can evolve so slow, yet so fast on this little place we call our Earth.
If I ever get hungry in Tokyo and I'm short on time and money, I think I know where to go.
-am-