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A controversial bill to legalize same-sex marriage has been introduced to the Australian parliament. The private member's bill comes amid heated debate among government MPs about whether to change the law or put the matter to a plebiscite. The government's official position is that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. This article depicts the theme of globalization. Back in June, the United States Supreme Court ruled the prohibition of gay marriage unconstitutional. The U.S. influenced Australia to now introduce it to their parliament. Since the passing of this law was such a big step in United States history, it made international news, spreading all over the world. When Australians saw this, it influenced them to bring the law to their land. What will the Australian parliament rule? What factors may decide against gay marriage?

Sunni extremists, who are supporting ISIS, have launched attacks against Shia Muslims in Australia to bring religious conflict from the Middle East. Why are they launching attacks on groups within the same religion as them? Why do Sunni extremists feel the need to get Australia involved in the religious conflicts from the Middle East after they've managed to avoid conflict for a long time?

The Shiites and Sunnis have been fighting ever since the death of Mohommad over who would be Mohommad's sucessor.

I think that Sunni extremists and Shia Muslims, even though they are both Islamic, have different beliefs, and they each believe that they are correct. The Sunni extremists, are exactly what they say they are...extremists; AKA people who will go to extreme measures to fight for what they believe. If something the Shia Muslims are saying or doing is counteracting what the Sunni extremists believe, they will quickly result to violent action to try to put an end to it. Also, if they can "take over" Australia and make it Islamic, more specifically Sunni, then they will have more money and power...which is the reason this is such a large territorial conflict.

This article discusses an event that took place this Sunday in Sydney, Australia in a coffee house where Man Haron Monis held people hostage of which two had been killed.  This relates to our unit of religion as this conflict most likely relates to religion as there have been many concerns the Muslim community in Australia as they are a minority. Because of this, Muslims are trying to gain more territory as that is the goal for most universalizing religions in hopes to get more followers and spread the religion.  In relation to AP Human Geography, what might have caused Muslims to migrate to Australia even though it is not located near the hearth of where the religion was born?

This article explains the changing jobs in the developed country, Australia.

First thought...interesting article Cameron. It encouraging to see a country like Australia developing and implementing services in its economy. I wonder how this will effect the prices of the minerals Australia exports to the majority of the world? With more people moving to the service sector there will be less in the mines, so my gut tells me that the world wide prices will go down due to the fact that companies will be able to make a bigger profit selling the same amount of material due to lower labor costs.

I feel like Australia has a lot going for it! Like you mentioned, it has a high HDI- this is no coincidence. As we know, it has access to important natural resources. It is fairly isolated, which can hurt its economy, but there is less competition for jobs. It is also a highly popular area for tourism. It doesn't get involved in a lot of matters occurring in the northern hemispheres, which keeps it out of costly wars.

In March of 2014, Malaysia Airlines' flight 370 disappeared without a trace on route from Malaysia to China. Just recently, debris was found on the French territory, Reunion Island, located off of the eastern coast of Africa. Despite searching for over a year, this discovery was the first clue of this airplane mystery. Many countries have collaborated in the search for the missing jet including France, Malaysia, Australia, and the United States. This relates to the globalization theme of geography because many countries are combining their resources and ideas towards the common goal of finding the plane and providing peace to the families affected. Due to modern technology and the ability to communicate almost instantly, countries that are thousands of miles apart are each able to offer something different to benefit the search and rescue effort. For example, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau led the actual search while the French conducted tests to confirm that the debris was in fact from the missing plane. What makes a country's government decide to help another country with a natural disaster or tragedy? How has technology improved connections between countries in times of crisis?

Thank you for sharing this article and providing an insightful post. Great questions, too. I do believe that countries (most) have a major duty to help humanity and struggling peoples. Citizens are for the most part supportive of their government spending money for these disaster relief. Some see the government as wasteful with taxpayer money. Flight safety and reliability is extremely important, too. Does anyone think that this event concerns any of the major world economic powers? How might it impact them?