5 Interesting Things

1) Madonna adopted a child from Malawi 3 years prior to today and she able to adopt the baby with no "adoption requirements." I thought it was interesting how now she has to go by the requirements, as if she was a normal person trying to adopt from Malawi.

2) I also found it interesting how the people of Malawi didn't want to give their baby to Madonna even though the baby would have an easier and better time growing up in the United States.

3) Another thing I found interesting was how Madonna was really stuck on getting a baby from Malawi and not any other African country.

4) Madonna as a multi-millionaire is building a $15 million dollar academy for girls and boys in Malawi. I found it interesting and sincere that Madonna would start an organization that costs her millions of dollars, to give these young kids education.

5) Madonna knew she was going to beat the adoption agency in Malawi because she is "white" which is why she followed through with the trial.

5 interesting facts

In the past 5  years Opium production has gone up 50% in many places of Afghanistan

In 2001 the opium production in Afghanistan was about 100 tons, and from that point it started to skyrocket.

Afghanistan produces more than 90% of the worlds Opium.

Now Opium addiction is estimated at an astonishing 1.4 million people.

A lot of the farmers that are producing the opium are not actually affiliated with the Taliban or other terrorist organizations. They are just ordinary people that have to plant this in order to survive.

McDonald's Points

McDonald's has changed culture in Asia. It has changed the appetite of young people who normally only eat main meals, now go to McDonald's as a snack meal and increase their meat intake.

McDonald's is also changing the way people in Asia order food. Normally, one person would order for the entire group. Now, each individual orders their own meal.

McDonald's has also played a huge role in people'd health in the United States. It and other fast food restaurants have been a hue contributor to obesity. 60% of Americans are now overweight or obese.

The New York Times reported that 3 new Mcdonald's come up every day.

McDonald's spends $2 Billion a year in advertising.

The Killing of Dolphins and Whales Citations

Information Website about the Killing of Dolphins - Earth Island Institute. Save Japan's Dolphins. 2010. http://www.savejapandolphins.org/index.php (May 6th, 2010)

Information Website about the Killing of Whales - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. WCDS North America. http://www.wdcs-na.org/ (May 6th, 2010)

Article by BBC News about Killing of Dolphins - Michael Nelson. BBC News. April 22, 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8599723.stm (May 6th, 2010)

Article by Times Online about Killing of Whales - The Sunday Times. Time Online. April 18, 2010. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article7100851.ece (May 6th, 2010)

A timeline of the history of whaling - Japan Whaling Association. Whaling Chronology. http://www.whaling.jp/english/history.html (May 6th, 2010)

Current Event #2

On CNN.com, I found an article about Picasso selling his art for a record price of $106.5 million dollars. For one piece of art, it costs more than to buy a humongous mansion. Art nowadays are more expensive especially from famous artists because they are not alive anymore to make such marvelous art. This connects to the lack of art ambition in the 1900s in the United States. During the 1900s, the United States went through wars, the Great Depression, and assassinations of presidents. People at the time did not have the money to buy expensive art from around the world. Today, the economy is finally getting better than before, and more people are spending money on items that want rather than they need.


CNN. "Record price puts Picasso firmly into his Green Period." May 4, 2010. < http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/04/record-price-puts-picasso-firmly-into-his-green-period/?hpt=T3 > (accessed May 4, 2010)

Research Sources

Bibliography

An article about Madonna fights to Adopt a kid from Malawi

Fisher. "Madonna fights Malawi to Adopt Mercy". April 3, 2009. < http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=7249278&page=1 > (accessed April 29, 2010).

The poem about the White Man's Burden

Wikipedia. "The White Man's Burden". < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Man's_Burden > (accessed April 29, 2010).

Angelina Jolie gets involved in Madonna's personal life

Mail Online. "Angelina Jolie attacks Madonna for "ilegal" adoption". January 7, 2007. < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-427057/Angelina-Jolie-attacks-Madonna-illegal-adoption-baby-David.html > (accessed May 2, 2010).

Eliza Fabillar. "Analysis of White Man's Burden". March 31, 2006. < http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6609/ > (accessed May 2, 2010).

As a thank you, Madonna has given a lot of money to the people in Malawi

Raphael Tenthani. "Madonna BACK in Malawi". May 4, 2010. < http://www.huffingtonpost.c/2010/04/05/madonna-back-in-malawi_0_n_525063.html > (accessed May 3, 2010).

Sources

Werdigier, Julia. "To Woo Europeans, McDonald's Goes Upscale." May 2010. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/25/business/worldbusiness/25restaurant.html?_r=1 (Accessed May 2, 2010).

Mickelson, David."Ware's the Beef." May 2010. Snopes. http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/mcdbeef.asp (accessed May 1, 2010).

"McDonald's." May 2010. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's (Accessed May 2, 2010).

"Is McDonald's Social and Animal Friendly or Just Concerned With Their Image?" May 2010. Animal Freedom. http://www.animalfreedom.org/english/opinion/mcdonalds.html (Accessed May 3, 2010).

Grandin, Temple. "The McDonald's Effect." May 2010. Beef Magazine. http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_mcdonalds_effect/ (Accessed May 3, 2010).

Research Bibliography

Doherty, Joseph."From West to East: Sport's Emerging Superstars Are Not Americans" Bleacher Report April 29, 2010 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/386098-from-west-to-east-sports-new-superstars-are-not-americans (Accessed April 29, 2010)
This article shows the pride of the Japanese when they see their star performing at an elite level of play.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Japan
This site gives a lot of background to the meaning of baseball in Japan.

http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=2&thread=32681
This online discussion shows how important baseball is to the thousands of kids who play it at a very young age.

http://learnjapanese.elanguageschool.net/japanese-baseball-and-its-importance
This site gives a detailed description of the history of baseball in Japan.

Williams, Ingrid. "Japanese Baseball: Root, Root, Root and Buy Me Some Eel." New York Times July 5, 2009 http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/travel/05journeys.html?scp=1&sq=baseball%20in%20japan&st=cse (Accessed April 29, 2010)
This article displays the intensity that fans will show when they are watching their favorite baseball teams play in the game.