Blog 7

Something that has always caught my interest is the 7 wonders of the ancient world. In particular I love the Great Pyramid. It's located in Giza in Egypt and is the largest and oldest pyramid in the region. This ancient colossus stands just short of 490 feet, and truly is one of the greatest things man built in the ancient times. It has always been an interest of mine due to sheer amazement. I've wondered many times how man, with much similar technology, could have created something so large and amazing. This creation was the largest man made thing for almost 3,900 years and was only recently over taken with the rush of skyscrapers. It was created for Pharaoh Cheops as a tomb for his body when he died. He and his wife are believed to have been buried within with a large tomb of their belongings. This amazing building has been one of man's great accomplishments and has been a symbol for Egypt for thousands of years. Truly something great! I hope to visit it someday, along with the other standing 7 wonders of the world.

Blog 4

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290337,00.html?sPage=fnc/world/americas

This article is about Hugo Chavez, the "President" of Venezuela, and ever increasing authoritarianism as President. Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1998 by a vote and has in fact increased the citizen's rights since being elected. Yet he still holds a strong hold on the government and doesn't look to be letting go anytime soon. He was a known ally of Fidel Castro, the former leader of communist Cuba. According to this article Chavez leads with fierce Anti-American Propaganda. "'The CIA is everywhere,' said Chavez, who has repeatedly warned that U.S. President George W. Bush could order him killed." The article later states that the U.S. has banned assassinations since 1970.
The main focus of this article is the lack of freedom of speech. President Chavez has been forcing those who speak out against his views publically. This type of action is to be expected of such a controlling leader. He was quoted in the article as steering the country into a "21st century social government." This type of government is similar to the Communistic Government of Cuba which the U.S. Government has been fighting for decades.

Blog 3

I chose my first map to be a representation of the amount of armed troops in action from the time of 1945-2004. This immediately caught my eyes because war is such an influential part of society.



Some things in particular caught my eye. India having so many people at war caught my eye and a lot of southeast Asia being loaded with armed troops. I understand there were two wars during the period check but I never realized how many troops were in actions in those wars. Also a lot of Africa and South America are very skinny, and Australia is almost completely gone. It seems amazing to me that while the majority of the world seems to be in wars that three continents can be almost completely free of war for a 50+ year period. This thought process could be from the fact that I grew up in America, where we have had almost constant conflict and war due to the battle against communism.




The next map I chose has to do with another very important thing in society, religion. I also included a pie chart showing different religions from the world to help clarify which religion is what.
I think its very interesting how much the population effects the "bloating" of certain countries. For example, India is huge. Now some would say that is due to the massive population in India, but if that is the case then why would the number two and number three countries in population, China and USA, not even compare in size with India? This is of course due to the high amount of variety in the USA of religions and the emphasize on athiesm in China. Either way at first site it really makes you think. Also I'm curious what my two maps say for each other. How many "Holy wars" are still being carried out even in this modern age?