All Good Things Must Come To An End

At the current moment I am weeping aloud about the ending and last post of the Geography blog. The time went so fast. But my momma always said that time flys when your having fun. I suppose that is a good thing then. I really enjoyed the class because it was more than just book knowledge. Having people actually coming in and talking about thier own real experiences in areas that we were studying and discussing in class. Real perspectives are always better than facts that are just read about in a book. Also, the professor was not afraid to expand the material as long as it some how related back to the topic at hand.

Unfortunatley, in the class we only had time to skim the surface of the different regions of the world. I found out alot of different things, and realized just how interesting the world is when I step outside my bubble of the United States perfect society that I live in. The U.S. is veiwed to be the best place in the world because of the freedom and government that run it. Yet other cultures around the world have so much to offer as well. It may not come in the form of money, but beauty of the landscape, personality and culture of the people, and the oppertunity of travel are all very incentive things. Also, as a Christian, it gave me a good look to see where the dominant world religions are found, and what countries predominatley focus on as thier national religion. There are so many places that one can go to mission the good news of Jesus Christ.

Geography has been a very succesful class. Unfortunatley for me I have struggled on the tests and now find myself in a ver clutch situation. It is time to buck up and do what I have to do to cut the grade I need. So at the current moment I have to go study. Hope you enjoyed my blogging skills this semester. I'm out!

Not So American After All

I used world profiler to find out where exactly my name was from, and possibly my ancestors. To get a real view of this, I looked up my last name (Griedl), but also my moms maiden name (Griffith). The results I found is that my last name is found mostly in Germany and Sweeden. There is a little scattering of the name throughout the United States. The most heavily populated area of the name is found in Austria. Looking closer at the name in the United States alway to the specific counties, I found that my name is truely a single family name. The counties the name were located were all the counties of where I have relatives.

With the Giffith name, I found that it is mostly used in Ireland, U.K, Australia, Canada, and the United States. It was found the highest in the United States, Australia, and Ireland.

So when it comes down to me, I guess I'm a little bit of German, Irish, and American. The reason I say German and Irish is because that is what my parents always have told me. When it truley comes down to it though, the only thing I really know I am is TEXAN!

Taiwan Geography

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1ale5QlqDI

This is a quick video on Taipei in Taiwan, and it is a little travel visual. As learning in Geography, China believes they own Taiwan, yet Taiwan says it's an independant country. Watching the video, I realized that it is very visual that Taiwan has alot of Chinese culture. Now this may be obvious to some, but I would think that if I wanted to break away from a country claiming they own me, I would want to get rid of anything that reminds me of them. Also, being a small little land (Island), there are not very many luxurious beaches. There are alot of natural rock forms on the coast land that are caused because of where the land sits compared to the plate techtonics.

Also, Taiwan has a strong economy of its own. Many people in Taiwan live in the cities which is where most of the population live. The cities are well advanced, and it is a booming group of people in the worlds economy.

Yogurt? Sure, I'll try some

This summer I had the privledge to work i a very diverse atmosphere at HP building computers on an assembly line. This one lady named Mira Gupta was an immigrant to the states from India. One day at or lunch break, Mira was eating this crazy smelling yogurt. This came to no surprise because she always was eating something that almost made me sick to my stomach just by the smell. Unfortunately, Mira did not speak very well english. I asked her if what she was eating was a type of yogurt. She said, "yes, very delicous, you try?" After her offering, I did not want to be rude, so I gladly took my spoon and dived on in. You know that feeling you get when you realize that you just did something that may change your life forever? I got it, except it wouldnot change my life, just give me a really tough day in the bathroom. It was hotter than a red pepper. It had the texture of glue, and had a very strong taste of sour milk mixed with like a green peas taste. I hope you can not even imagine that taste because it is one that will possibly make you vomit. So I have learned my lessson. When I do not know what it is, who cares, don't ask.

I believe that people have such drastic difference in food selections because of basic evolution. Not like monkey into human evolution, but change on a smaller level. When someone is young, thier taste buds are not developed. Then when they do start eating they start developing, and adapt to what is being eaten. Cultures use what is available to them. This is where all the different types of foods come from. Globalization has a huge influence on food across the globe. Just look at McDonalds. It's every where.

G-20 Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

No this picture is not the biggest game of Black Jack, instead it is an overhead picture of the g-20 summit in london this year. This year the G-20 organized in London. The reason I like this picture is because it is almost portraying imagery as well. The leaders involved in the conference are all sitting down around the global picture of the earth. It is almost an analogy figure of the 20 countries working as one to control the world economy, which is what they do. It is like the round table we see in the super hero videos were the super heros sit around the round table and solve the problems of the world. The imagery in this photo jumps out at me as the same idea.

The 20 countries involved in the G-20 are:
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

In this blog, I wanted to show the relationship from Hawaii to Japan. Many people think that Hawaii is only a United States resort state, however, when I was down there last spring break I was surprised by all the Japanese people there. I soon found out that many Japanese people travel to Hawaii two to three times a year to shop. Shopping is much cheaper in Hawaii then it is in Japan. Also, this surprised me because the brutal attacks half a decade ago on Pearl Harbor. Again I was shocked to see the amount of Japanese people at the monument of the USS Arizona. We seem to live in a bubble in the U.S, but what we don't realize is that place we go are very interesting to others across the world as well.

Slumdog Millionaire

In this movie, Jamal is living in the slums of Mumbai as an orphan. The movie does a good job of showing the struggles that are faced by orphans in a poor country like Mumbai. Day to day life is alot different then here in the United States. As Jamal starts reaching his success on the game show, we see stereotyping occur. There is no way a kid with Jamal's background could be doing so well, or thats what the producers think.
Jamal gets beat by authorities. He has no type of outside support that he was not cheating. Here in the U.S. there is the right to a attorney. However, in poor countries with a poor individual, there are no rights. The rights they have are the rights that are not taking away already from authorities.
The life style and events we see happen are in line with what is learned in geography. When there is a poor country with many poor individuals, there is very rarely a fair government in place. Jamal is accused for something he has not done, yet he has no way to prove it.

Spring Break

I went back home to Houston. It is nice to be back in the city life. I can stand Seward, but I'm a city boy. Houston has 4.5 million people. That means that my home town is 3 times the size of the entire state of Nebraska. There is actually diversity there. We have beaches, and alot more things that this state has never heard of. Although Seward is a great place for college because it is quiet, and small. There are not many distractions, and you meet people from all over the country.
All I did at home was basically relax. I went to the rodeo and saw Josh Turner live in concert. When I came home, I realized that my other car had been broken into in my drive way. When I pulled up closer, I realized that the man who broke in was still inside. It was pretty sweet little beat down. Anyway, nothing was taken, except the mans ego. But thats Houston for you. There is never a dull moment.

Should the Money Still Flow?

I think that the aid given to Africa has clearly shown to do not much for the countries. Governments over there are very corrupt, and waste money on ill advised things, instead of what they are suppose to be intended for. Unfortunately, countries across the world have aided these African countries for so long, that it is not helping thier own development, because they have come dependant on the help of others.
I think the funding needs to stop. This may seem like a cruel thing to do, but if they do not make strides to get up on thier own feet, and other countries continue to give them piggy back rides, then they will never learn how to run, or even walk. The countries over there could use development within them. This would need a job force, generate money, and also boost the economy. This way, these HDI countries could get development for bigger buisness, medical centers, and many other things needed to have a developed country.

HDI "Whats the Deal?"

HDI has been recently taken, and clearly shows that Africa is far behind. Reasons because of this is because the poverty rate that is in Africa. Also, Africa is a very tough land to live in. Its geographical features make it hard to farm in certain areas, and also to travel. The African population as a continent have a very short life expectancy, and therefore, causes them to be low on the HDI charts. Children too are dying at young ages which then make the older population thinner and thinner. Disease strikes millions and millions of people in Africa every year. One of the strong diseases that takes its toll on the population is HIV.
In well developed countries, we see HDI at high levels. Developed countries are on the top half of the HDI list. This is because these countries have the tools necessary to maintain population, grow in population, and keep the growth coming. The corrupt governments in Africa cause aided money to not do much aid at all.

Picture with Words

This picture was taken near Candlemas Island in the South Sandwich Islands.

The word I think of when I see this is "unreal". This looks absolutley crazy, and almost fake. The little settlement of penguins are finding safety on a glacier during a storm that is causing large waves and currents. The color display between the water and then the glacier is extreme, yet the same. You can really see the different tints of blue, and how they can compliment each other.

Banned Lifted for Travel to Cuba?

I believe that at this specific time, the United States should not lift the ban on traveling to the Country of Cuba. I believe this because there is so much insecurity still, and with a new form of government possibly about to take reign over the past years of communism there are too many unanswered questions. Cuba needs time to redevelope from the country they are now. Until this happens, it is too dangerous to visit there. Also, with the economic crisis hitting the world wide spectrum, money for travel is not needing to be spent in foreign countries, and rather should be spent in our own country to help boost the economy foward in the right direction.

Drugs Run Communities

Drug Cartels in Latin America, specifically on the border directly below the U.S. border, have been running the economy, community, and doing it with no one in thier way. Drug trafficing into the United States from Mexico is a huge inustry that is illegal, yet on the rise. Different drug sellers, produces, and cartels are at war with one another and also the governments of Mexico and the U.S. The reason drug trafficing can be so succesful is the because the faulty areas in the border patrol that cross from Mexico into the U.S. Border Patrol is at its highest demand not only with illegal immigrants, but also with drug trafficing. The geography of the two countries allows there to be quick exchanges and crosses into opposite territories.

http://xrl.us/bekd8b

The map i chose to use was a Nuclear power plant. With Nuclear power rising as possibly of an alternative source of energy, it is a hot topic. The united states clearly is shown to have the most possible nuclear power in the world. Yet in some middle east countries, the idea of nucler power is a scary thought for Americans because we automatically believe they could be producing this energy for nuclear weapons. Nuclear power is a great source of energy, but also holds a high danger. We also see the European nations also booming in nuclear power.

we see in the australian area that nuclear power is almost not productive, and has hardly any production. We see the same trend through the central and south american countries as well. Africa is almost not even recognizable.

The two displays I chose were Gaza Strip, and Germany. The reason i chose the Gaza Strip was just because all the recent conflicts occuring with the area of land right now. Also, i chose Germany because they are a well developed country that has a good balance.

You can see in comparison that the Gaza Strip is in much more of a deficit then the country of Germany is, as Germany continues to grow and continue its strong stature as a nation. All the conflict in Gaza is really begining to take its toll on the population growth.

My Favorite Place

My most favorite place i had ever been is to the the island of hawaii. My favorite place there was the beach at Wakii. Wakii has alot of people cramed into a little spot, but then it all stops. There is about a 100 yard barrior between civilization and the most incredible beaches you could ever see. The water is so clear you can see the dirt in your toe nails. Its incredible. I had the priviledge to climb Diamond Head (a mountain overlooking the coast). Back in the 40's navy men would climb this mountain on saturdays and watch the sumbarine races take place off the coast. (Yes, you can see the sumbarines with great ease, thats how clear the water is). Looking of the south side of the mountain you see house after house packed in as close as possible. When you get closer to the water you get away from private housing to vacation housing and Hotels, and entertainment. Then there is the break right before the coast. It is incredible.