Blog Topic #11

    After spending a good amount of time looking at maps, I found this one. I realized it is pretty hilarious. It makes fun of how ignorant or "dumb" people are. I will admit that I used to not know enough about other countries before my geography class. I think this map is actually pretty recent because Japan is marked as a radioactive area. You know, the earthquake just happened. Otherwise, the countries are only labeled to how important we think they are. South America: Cocaine & Coffee. Okay, Cocaine is not important to everyone, but coffee is very common. Middle East: Oil. We definitely need oil. I would also like to point out how Australia is labeled as "Big Island." I used to think Australia was just the Outback where Crocodile Dundee came from. They have so much more to offer. So do the other shapes that represent little compared to what they actually are I am glad I know much more about the world than I did four months ago because I might not make have to make a stupid assumption. I respect places that some people may know nothing about.

Blog Topic #10

According to the CATO institute, the United States is giving billions of dollars to poor countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Should we give them money or should we teach them how to develop?

I think we need to a little of both. I do not think immediately cutting funds will help them in any way. We need to slowly decline in what we give them while teaching them how to grow in trade, industry, and infrastructure. If we are providing for their every need, why would they ever need to learn to supply for themselves? If they are reliant on the aid of others, they will never learn to accomplish anything independently. They are in an area that needs globalization to take over. With their land, they are not able to farm sufficient amounts of food to feed their nations. They need to begin to trade. Countries who are currently reliant may not be very respected. They have not started the process of globalization to accelerate their economy. We need to eventually stop giving aid. I say eventually because an immediate cut could result in chaos. As we teach these countries to be involved in globalization, we need to lower the amount of funds they are receiving.  

  This is a photo I saw a while ago while reading Cracked.com's article, The 8 Most Ridiculously Badass Protesters Ever Photographed  The article goes through different protest pictures and giving a comedic but somewhat informative description of it. 3 of the 8 were photos of Anti-Mubarak protesters in Egypt.
   The Anti-Mubarak protests may also be referred to as an Egyptian Revolution. They began January 25th, 2011. President Hosni Mubarak resigned on February 11th, but protests continue today to remove Hosni Mubarak's regime.
    What was the regime that caused Egypt to spring into such revolt? Hosni Mubarak was an authoritarian; he was often compared to an Egyptian pharaoh. Rumors were spreading of an inheritance of power. His son, Gamal Mubarak, was being groomed to be an heir to the presidency. Police brutality was too common in Egyptian life. Tortures were documented during Mubarak's presidency over 500 times. Police brutality arose during the protests. (#3 in the article)  Government officials were known to be corrupt. They limited the use of free speech and press. (The photo in #5 is a man bombing a police vehicle because of the restriction of internet)  The elections were unfair. Mubarak was the only candidate on ballots until 2005. Ultimately, the Egyptian population faces far too many economic and demographic challenges. 

Blog Topic #8

    From my Google Earth calculations, Russia is only 60 miles from the United States. Imagine that; it is almost like a drive from Seward to Omaha (If you can drive on water). I should note that Alaska is not part of mainland USA and the part of Russia that comes close to Alaska is Siberia, the less populated part of Russia. Not only is it close, but it is amazing to view Russia from the above viewpoint. You can see European Russia off to the right; China is also pretty evident on the left. Siberian Russia really needs to open up trade. It would be great if Alaska was more of a trading state, and we could help them out. It never really occurred to me that we are close to a country we used to consider a great enemy.

    The article, The Good and Bad News about Afghan Opium, is written by George Gavrilis and posted on the Council on Foreign Relation's website. Gavrilis discusses what things are being done to improve the opium situation in Afghanistan. The U.S. and Britain are pushing forward to eliminate many poppy fields and turning them to alternative crops. In 2009, twenty provinces no longer had poppy fields that produced opium. The writer also mentions the continuing negatives of poppy production. Twenty of Afghanistan's provinces no longer produce opium, but some of them are still heavily involved in trafficking it. The poppy free provinces do little to stand against the production of opium in the state. The Taliban greatly influences the production of opium. They hold between $3 and $4 billion of Afghanistan's opium production. With millions of dollars of opium income, they Taliban buys weapons and supplies. Although we are pursuing the elimination of poppy fields in Afghanistan, prevalent forces supporting opium still exist.
    This article taught me about  opium in Afghanistan which I really did not know much about. I always that the leading opium suppliers in the world were in the Golden Triangle area. However, it does make sense that Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of opium. The state is in a very mountainous area. They are not able to farm many crops. What else could they farm that would make as much money as opium? The Taliban would probably be most concerned with making money. They are a landlocked country. They need to produce cash crops if they want to trade for other necessities. They have pulled in large numbers selling opium. Why would they want to give that up? I do not think supplying drugs is right, but I can see why they are doing it. It is very understandable that they are the world leader in opium production.
  

Blog Topic #6

http://www.smh.com.au/world/chinas-security-apparatus-is-as-orwellian-as-ever-20101010-16dzm.html?from=smh_sb

The above link takes you to a news article about Liu Xiaobo, another topic restricted by the Great Firewall of China. Liu Xiaobo is currently serving a prison sentence in China. He is a human rights activist and was arrested for "inciting subversion of state power." On October 8th, 2010, Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." Although being awarded the prize, he is still serving his term in prison. China did not want anyone to find out he had won it, so they immediately put blocks on the news on the day he won it.

Blog Topic #5

The above map shows which people watch the most films at commercial screenings.

South Asia, and particularly India, dominate the area on this map. Most people would think that America would be the biggest country on this map because of Hollywood. It is large, but the amount of movies produced by Bollywood and viewed by the South Asian population is much larger. Western Europe is also a notable region on this list. Their countries are a little bit larger than usual, but they do not expand their sizes like America or India.

But how does this apply to globalization?
Many know Hollywood as the best film producer of all time. Hollywood started making films before the 1900's. Hollywood could be considered the origin of movie-making. The film industry did not begin consistently making movies until the 1930's. The name "Bollywood" was not dubbed until the 1970's, when Bombay had passed Hollywood in movie production. The movies in America inspired India to become the largest movie producer in the world.
One may also wonder why Europe does not have a large expansion in size from films watched. I think the language barrier of countries in Europe prevent them from watching as many movies. Nobody wants to watch movies that they cannot understand.
Other, more underdeveloped countries would be expected to have less area because those countries do not have movie producers. Film producers like Bollywood and Hollywood are able to export films to other countries for them to watch.
Globalization helps countries to spread the magic of their movie cinema.

Blog Topic #4

I am currently watching the movie, Slumdog Millionaire. The movie focuses on how a uneducated "slumdog" is able to answer the most difficult questions on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" When I was about 8 years old, I thought "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" was one of the coolest shows ever and really wanted to be on it. It never occurred to me that it was a popular game show in many countries. It started in the UK which is not really that interesting. Still, it is a huge surprise for me that India has a variant of the show, considering that 80% of India lives on less than $2 a day. This inspired me to find out what countries have a variation of "Millionaire" with a focus on South Asia.

 The previous image is the Logo for the Sri Lankan version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_variants_in_Who_Wants_to_Be_a_Millionaire%3F
The previous link is a Wikipedia page that shows what countries have/had a variation of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" It also shows the title of the show, the amount of prize money, and years aired. The list has over eighty variations of "Millionaire" on it, but I would like to focus on South Asia. Pakistan had a run of the show from 2003-2004. India has aired the show since 2000, and Sri Lanka recently started one this past September. Bangladesh is beginning to air the show this month.
The amount of money given by each show really stands out to me. The Pakistani show gave 10,000,000 Pakistani rupees. One US dollar exchanges for 85.5 Pakistani rupees. Winning on this show would earn you about $117,000 in America. Sri Lankan "Millionaire" gives 2,000,000 Sri Lankan rupees which translates to about $18,000. Now finally, the variation of the game from the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" which is a real game offers 20,000,000 rupees which is $440,000 in America.
 The amount of money given away by show variations previously mentioned give a great idea of what life is like in South Asia. A lot of money for people in those countries barely compares to a lot of money here in America. They live in slums and are able to survive on much less than we could ever imagine. It is great that they are able to have the chance to win a fortune. However, a movie like "Slumdog Millionaire" makes you wonder if all citizens get that opportunity.

Blog Topic #3

Of all the countries in Southeast Asia. I consider Singapore to be the most interesting. I wanted to write about it for many reasons. It is not only one of the smallest countries in the world, but it is one of the most unique countries. They keep laws on cleanliness. They are located very close to the equator. They are very diverse, containing British, Chinese, Indian, Malay, and many more immigrants. These are just a few reasons explaining the uniqueness of Singapore.

The above video from the Discovery Channel should be a great reference for people who do not know much about Singapore. Singapore is a tiny island located in Southeast Asia. It is very dense with four million people on the island. It is culturally diverse, and the people are rich. It is considered to be one of the most modern places in the world. The island has made astronomical advances through the last generation. The video mainly emphasizes how Singapore went from a developing country to where it is now. The advances this country has made put it where it is today.

Blog Topic #2

http://www.smh.com.au/business/immigration-not-a-sure-path-to-higher-incomes-20101219-191vz.html

    The above link connects you to the article, "Immigration not a sure path to higher incomes." The article argues whether bringing more skilled immigrants to Australia would raise income or not. Calculations made in 2006 found that increasing the intake of skilled immigrants by 50% only raised the real gross domestic product by 4%. After giving these statistics, the article shows other ideas to increase income with immigration. All of the ideas have flaws. The author of the article, Ross Gittins, finishes with saying,''population growth and immigration can magnify existing policy problems and amplify pressures on 'unpriced' entities, such as the environment, and urban and social amenity''. Australia's net migration from 2000-2005 was 5.1 thousand, according to p. 638 of Diversity and Globalization. Australia is a very diverse country, taking in families from Africa, China, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines. 25% of Australia's population are immigrants. (p. 646) I think this gives Australia a great uniqueness like we have here in America. They may not be receiving great benefits from their immigrants, but it is worth it when you think of other ways your country is benefiting from diversity.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/sharnee-rawson-what-does-australia-day-really-mean/story-fn6ck8la-1225993763698

Sharnee Rawson wrote, "What Dos Australia Day Really Mean?" after being asked by her immigrated housemates. She comments that the original traditions were not just beer, beach, and barbeque (sounds like Independence Day) like they are today. It started as Foundation Day in New South Wales. It  resembled the colonization of the white society in Australia. In the 1970's, Australia Day helped to remove White Australia Policy with celebrations of multiculturalism and citizenship. Rawson continues to mention traditions of Australia Day until she mentions how it may be celebrated differently. Flooding in Queensland has caused the cancellation of the multi-faith ceremony at Brisbane's South Bank. No matter what, Aussies will celebrate what they have. White Australia Policy were guidelines that promoted European and North American immigration at the expense of other groups until 1973. Because of Australia's immigration, they have accepted more people following Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. (p. 646) Australia is very diverse, and I find it very healthy of their country to celebrate this diversity. I wish America did something like this. I think we focus too much on the practices of other ethnic groups instead of looking at the positives. We really need a time to just celebrate others ways of life.

Blog Topic #1

This cartoon points out possible disappointments of globalization. It also can help to explain what globalization is for someone who does not know.

"Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology." www.globalization101.org

Globalization has a minor negative effect on tourism. The image illustrates a family who has traveled to some of the most unique cities around the world. They have returned with souvenirs they could buy here in America. Realistically, not everyone is like that. If I went to Paris or London or Rome, the last place I would want to go to is McDonald's. I would want to eat things I have never eaten or visit places I may never get to see again. For this, globalization could make a visit to a foreign country less exciting.

Globalization of major franchises involves more positive effects than negative effects. Although it is not the most healthy place to eat, McDonald's may be the most convenient place to buy food. Any person, no matter where they live, may need a quick fix for their need of food. Their are many other examples of  globalization. Anyone can buy cheap furniture from IKEA, and unlimited choices exist among vehicles made by Honda, Ford, Toyota, and GM. Globalization allows countries to not only benefit from their products but also to share those with the rest of the world.