last class of Human Geo

Today in Human Geo, we went over the Cultural Geography test. This test I actually did pretty well on. It is actually our last class of 2014 because I don’t have Human Geo on monday’s. The exam is going to be pretty easy now that I know that this is going to be on it. When I was looking at the questions I got wrong, they were actually really easy. I should be able to get those right on the exam. I just have to study a lot for every exam to do well. I hope I can. get at least a C on every exam because then it won’t bring my semester grade down that much. There was a question about what Benjamin Netanyahu that I got wrong which I should’ve got right. My Human Geo exam is on Tuesday, so it I will have enough time to study,a dn still do well.

we got the test back

Today in Human Geo, we got our tests back. I got an alright grade, but was hoping higher. This always happens to me on Human Geo tests. I hope I can do better next time because I knew a lot of this information. I now have to start studying for the exam because I need to do well on it. It will be one of my easier exams because the other classes are going ot be very very hard. I actually didn’t study one of the powerpoint that Mr. Schick told us to, so it messed me up. I didn’t study it because I didn’t know we were supposed to. I bet if I did study that powerpoint, I would’ve done better on the test if I studied that powerpoint. Mr. Schick is a fun teacher, and hope I can have him in the future so I can do well on tests. His test are easy, and not confusing like others.

test today

Today in Human Geo, we had a test. It was way easier than I thought it was going to be.The only trouble I had on it was the Cultural Geography, and some parts of the religion. I mixed up the Five Pillars. I thought that the Five Pillars belonged to Hinduism, but when I checked when I was done, it belongs to Islam. I’m thinking I got at least a B. The Slumdog Millionaire questions were very easy because I studied that very hard last night. The religion questions were pretty easy, and knew most of them. One of the questions I didn’t know was about the two religions fighting in Northern Ireland. I put Islam because it said the two groups. When it said the two groups I thought it was talking about the Suns, and the Shiites. I’m hoping I can do pretty well on this test to boost my grade up.

test tomorrow

Today in Human Geo, we reviewed for the test tomorrow. Mr. Schick told us what was important to know about the test. He said the religion, the founder, the location, what we call the people in the religion. Some other things we have to know is the denomination for Islam, and the five pillars of Islam. The only book we have to know is the Vedus. The Vedus is in the religion of Hinduism. Also, Buddhism has the eightfold path. Israel is the only country with majority country with majority Jewish. We also need to know questions about “Slumdog Millionaire”. Some questions about it are what president is on the Hundred dollar bill? Benjamin Franklin is the president on the Hundred dollar bill. Another question he wants us to know is who is the 3rd musketeer. The third musketeer is Artemis. Also, he wants us to know who invented the revolver. Samuel Colt invented the revolver. All these questions are very important, and I hope I can do well on the test.

A test is coming up

Today in Human Geo, we reviewed for our test next Wednesday. I was surprised that we had a test because every time he said this will be on your test, I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the exam. We reviewed the religions of the world and just reviewed over facts about it. About 95% of India’s population is Hindu. There are about 2.2 billion christians in the world today. It is mainly in Europe, the Americas, and southern Africa. There are many types of christianity, but the main ones are Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians. Also, the religion of Islam is very interesting. The Sunnis, and Shiites fought each other about who’s going to be in power after Muhammad dies. The holy book in Islam is the Qur’an. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world behind Christianity, and Islamic. There are many amazing facts about these, and hope to learn more.

Mr. Schick plays guitar

Today in Human Geo, Mr. Schick played his guitar. He said this song would help on the test. When Mr. Schick says it’s going to be on the test, I’m not quite sure on what he means. He played us a song that him and his daughter sung. It was a song from the movie slumdog millionaire. We then talked about a student that used to go to John Carroll is now going to be in a movie. He was actually one of Mr. Schicks students. His name is Stephen J. Douglas. He is actually going to be working with Angelina Jolie, and Brad Pitt. We then got back into Cultural Geography. We talked about how Jews, Christians, and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their religions holy site, and they are constantly fighting over land. Also, spatial divisions are how we divide the livable space found on the earth by establishing social, economic, and political control. It was very interesting.

good story Mr. Schick

In today’s Human Geography class, we talked about religion, and how it starts many conflicts in many countries. I thought it was interesting because this is the main reason for wars. I agree with this a lot because it’s so true. Mr. Schick started explaining the rest of the powerpoint. The Hindus and Muslims fight in India over religion. They have millions of followers all believing the same thing. I liked the story that Mr. Schick told us. It was about how one time he was leaving to go to his work, and it was early in the morning. He said he was really tired, and saw the green light to go, so he started to go and felt someone grab his shoulder. He thought that it was his friend, but when he looked back no one was there. When he looked forward, and just noticed what happen, a big truck ran right through the red light. If Mr. Schick went through that red light, I probably wouldn’t be writing this right now. It was crazy.

Cultural Geography

Today in Human Geo, we talked about Cultural Geography. It was very interesting to learn because it was all new to me. I liked the fact that language, religion, and ethnic heritage is the main part of Cultural Geography. Also, Brazil is the only South American country that speaks Portuguese. English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world. Another cool fact is that, some countries are divided over a map. This usually causes conflict between the countries. Africa is mainly affected by this. There are a lot of facts about these countries and hope we can learn more. I was actually very interested in all these facts because they were all brand new facts. Korea and Japan have primarily one ethnic group, but there are low percentages of other ethnic groups. Maybe tomorrow we will learn this, and it will probably be on the exam.

end of movie

Today in Human Geo, we finished watching the movie. I was in a good mood because I was leaving early to go on vacation. We watched the movie in the TV Production room. I liked that room better because it had couches. The rest of the movie was very fun to watch. I was very into it, it kept wanting more. I couldn’t nelieve that he won the 20 million rupes. I actually didn’t think he knew any of the last two, but guessed, and go it right. I also can’t believe that they suspected him of cheating. Maybe some people just have a lot of knowledge like he did. It was a biyt confusing but i caught on super quick. I hope we can watch more of these types of movies in the future. As I’m sitting here in the airport while my flight is being delayed, I just keep remembering how good that movie was.

almost done the movie

Today in Human Geography, we watched a little more of the movie. It is getting very good. Many parts of it all lead up to how well constructed it is. I like when Jamal is about to be killed, but his brother saves him by splashing fluid in the guy the guy’s face. I also like how Salim keeps getting every question on the show. It’s cool how he flashes back to his childhood to when he remembers all answers from everyday life. It seems like a really rough life they had as young children. I also, liked how they had to find the girl. They found her, and then the guys that were going to kill them showed up again. Luckily one of the boys was holding a gun for protection. The men seemed fine at first when he pulled it out, but later seemed very nervous. I can’t wait to watch more of this on monday.

Push & Pull forces on the US

Pull Forces:

Bruce Springsteen, "Born In The U.S.A."

Simon and Garfunkel - "America"

Tom Petty - "American Girl"

Madonna - "American Life"

Lenny Kravitz - "American Woman"

Push Forces:

Green Day- "American Idiot" 

Grand Funk Railroad- "We're An American Band"

Toby Keith- "American Soldier"

Bad Religion- "The Streets of America"

Bad Company:Rock Of America

“Slumdog Millionaire”

Today in Human Geo, we watched a movie. It was called, “Slumdog Millionaire”. It is a very entertaining movie. I was thinking it wouldn’t be good, but is very good so far. We are watching the rest of it for the next two days because we didn’t finish it today. It is about a Hindu guy who is getting most of the questions on a show. It is supposedly very hard to answer all of them right, so they always ask if you want to go home. They always ask you if you want to stop because they know it’s very hard to win, but this Indian was very good at it. Since it’s hard to win at this game, they thought he was cheating. The Police are very corrupt so if they arrest someone they torture them. Also, most of the movie so far was the guy who is winning the game’s childhood in India. The town where he lives is very poor, and we are lucky that we don’t live like that. I can’t wait to watch the movie some more for the next couple days.

Cultural geography

Today in Human Geography, we talked about Cultural Geography. It was very interesting, and we looked at a map about the names of carbonated drinks in County’s in the U.S. We also learned about the characteristics, and they are parts of group’s everyday life. They are the ideas and themes which group will TEACH to all members. These same characteristics can also link or divide a region. Some examples of Cultural Characteristics are language, religion, and ethnic heritage. We also, talked about our religion, and whose baptized in our class. I liked talking about this topic because it has interesting points. I thought it was funny how some parts of the US call carbonated drinks pop, or coke. It probably seems weird to them that we call it soda. It was a new topic that we have never learned about, and everyone seemed excited. Learning about this makes every day better.

French National Anthem

Lyrics in French:                                                                              I think the French National anthem was 
Allons enfants de la patrie,                                                              unique. I thought it was unique because it
Le jour de gloire est arrive                                                              sounds like something that would be
Contre nous de la tyrannie                                                              sung at christmas time with the chorus in
L'étendard sanglant est levé                                                            the back round. In the US National
Entendez vous dans les campagnes,                                                Anthem, it only has a few instruments,
Mugir ces féroces soldats?                                                               whereas the French National Anthem
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras                                                    has a lot of instruments. The French 
Egorger nos fils, nos compagnes!                                                     National Anthem is very 
Refrain                                                                                                unique in many ways
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons!                                                               
Marchons! Marchons!                                                                      
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!
Amour sacré de la patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs!
Liberté, Liberté cherie,
Combats avec tes defenseurs!
Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire
Accoure à tes males accents!
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!
Refrain
Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos ainés n'y seront plus;
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus.
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre!
Refrain
Lyrics in English:
Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny's
Bloody standard is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming into our midst
To cut the throats of your sons and consorts
To arms citizens
Form you battalions
March, march
Let impure blood
Water our furrows
What do they want this horde of slaves
Of traitors and conspiratorial kings?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons?
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
What methods must be taken?
It is we they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!
What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our courts!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our warrior sons
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would have themselves be
The masters of destiny
Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward
Against you we are all soldiers
If they fall, our young heros
France will bear new ones
Ready to join the fight against you
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors
Bear or hold back your blows
Spare these sad victims
Who with regret are taking up arms against us
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers who pitilessly
Are ripping open their mothers' breasts
We shall enter into the pit
When our elders will no longer be there
There we shall find their ashes
And the mark of their virtues
We are much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins
We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or joining them
Sacred Love for the Fatherland
Lead and support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty
Join the struggle with your defenders
Under our flags, let victory
hasten to you virile (or manly) force
So that in death your enemies
See your triumph and our glory!

test today on Political Geography

We had a test today in Human Geography. It was on Political Geography in the world. It was a a little bit hard, but not to bad. I wasn’t sure if Netanyahu was for Israel or Syria. There was a lot for questions about that and I guessed that Netanyahu was with Israel, and I guessed right. I usually guess, and guess wrong, but this time I got it right. I was nervous about this the whole test, but when I was done, I immediately checked, and I was right. I got confused on the pictures, but second guessed myself, and got the question right. I was glad that I guessed right because than I would’ve got an even worse grade. I was pretty happy that I knew a lot of the material. I hope I can get a pretty good grade, but there’s always a chance that I didn’t do well.

Postponed

Today in Human Geo, we reviewed over the test again because it was postponed. It was postponed because students including me couldn’t view any of the blogs on the study guide Mr. Schick made because they were all private. I was pretty happy because that gives us another night to study. He told us the there are 30 questions and a one essay. I think the essay will be on how the Conservative Party because he winked his eye at me when I asked about it. The Conservative Party is the major right-wing party, which developed from the Tories in the 1830s. It advocates a mixed economy, and encourages property owning and free enterprise. This party works in the UK and Canada. The conservative party won in UK over the Labour Party and the Liberal Democratic Party. David Cameron was part of the Conservative party, so therefore he won the spot as the Prime Minister.

One more day until test

Today In Human Geo, we finished up the final blogs. The test is going to be tomorrow, and  I think it is going to be very difficult. I hope I can do way better than last time. I think it’s going to be very difficult because Mr. Schick told us that we need all these other countries today which is the day before the test. The other country we need to know is Canada. Stephen Harper is the Prime Minister of Canada, a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, and Queen Elizabeth is the Monarch, but she has limited power. We also need to know about the U.S. The U.S’s leader is Barack Obama who is the president. He has been in power since 2008 and is on his 2nd term. The last 3 new countries we had to learn were India, Mexico, and Israel. Mexico’s leader is Enrique Pena Nieto. Israel Leader is Reuven Rivlin. Lastly, India’s leader is Pranab Mukherjee

friday is over

Today in Human Geo, we did more of the presentations. Karson and Cody presented about Russia. They talked about the government, Putin, and main facts about it.  Russia has a federal semi presidential constitutional republic since December 12, 1993. Vladimir Putin changed the constitution during his second term to changed each term from 4 to 6 years. The next group to go was Ryan and Megan. Ryan did as really well job on explaining everything because he is from China. China is a communist state which is a state with form of government characterized by single-party rule and dominant part system. Also in China, there is no impeachment in china under a communist state. At the end of the class, we watched a video about this guy standing in front of tanks in this town in China when people were protesting. It was really funny and hope we can watch more things like that.

thursday

Today in class, we did the presentations again. John and Parker’s group went first today. They talked about Germany. They did a good job on it. John was good at explaining, but was having trouble with his english. Germany has a federal Republic government, and they vote for their own leaders. It was established on May 23, 1949.  A fact that is interesting about Germany is that the Soviet Germany was in charge of east Germany and they were communist. It was taken over by other countries until they could do everything themselves. East Germany you could not go into if you were not from there, or you went to another country. The Berlin Wall had arm guards that prevented East and West Germany. The power between US and Soviet Germany on east side all about government. After they went, Adam and Kendall went. They talked about Japan. Shinzo Abe is there president. Japan is a constitutional monarchy which is a form of government where a monarch is restricted within the boundaries of a constitution. Shinzo Abe is there president. They did a good job as well.

WE did it

Human Geography today was a little different than the rest. Zach and I had to present our presentation about France. I struggled a little bit because we had to make it like we are the teacher teaching the class about our country. Our group and another group were the only ones that did our presentations today. These presentations are very important because we will be tested on this information next week. On the test, we have to know how the people could overthrow that government. The other group had the United Kingdom. The only way to do that would be to impeach the government. We also have to know the leader names. The U.K’s leaders are David Cameron as the Prime Minister and Queen Elizabeth II as the Chief of state. Queen Elizabeth has been in power for 63 years. I hope I can learn more about these countries and do very well on the test.

the last day

Today in Human Geo, everyone had to finish their presentations. Zach and I were basically just summarizing each slide because we wanted to have each slide to its best. We adjusted the pictures, corrected grammar, added a little more information, and then talked about which one of us would say which part. I thought it was interesting that the French president was raised Catholic, but is now an atheist which could cause some people against him when they vote. This could make people vote against him because he has different beliefs than the people. Also, when France gets a president, the president selects who the prime minister will be. This would be interesting because if the people didn’t like the president, but liked the prime minister, they could change their minds. Also, if people like the president, but hate the prime minister, they could change their minds. This is all very interesting.

almost finished

Human Geo was very fun today because we worked on our presentations about Countries. I was finding a little more facts then the day before, but still wish I could find more. I did make a page on the presentations just about the sites because they are also very important. I found out that Francois Hollande’s father was a doctor whose politics were "far right;" while his mother was a liberal social worker. I also found other facts related to that, and they were all interesting. Zach and I eventually got to a point where we just had to find out one more thing about France, and we would be finished. I hope we are far enough, but other groups could be ahead of us by a lot more. I don’t know where we are compared to other groups. I liked this class so much today, and wish I could drop a class to have more of these.

making progress

In class today, we yet again worked on our group presentation about leaders. I liked the past two days in Human Geography because we get to work on these. I was struggling today with getting more facts because we answered most of the topics that Mr. Schick wanted us to talk about on his blog. I kept asking him what I should write about and he’d always come up with an answer. When I had the type of government, he said, “Look up how long they’ve had that type.” I did that and helped a lot. He also said, “Look up how long each term is for the Prime Minister and President is for France.” I looked that up and found out that when a new President is selected, they choose a Prime Minister to join them. This is very interesting information, and I hope to keep working on this.

3 more days to Halloween

In class today in Human Geography, we started group projects. There are 3 more days until halloween. Mr. Schick started out by putting us into groups by random groups. I wanted to get into a group with one of the exchange students, but got into a group with Zach. I still liked my group because Zach knows a lot in Human Geography. When we got into our groups were started researching right away. I used some of the facts from my blog. We were having trouble getting the France flag on the background of our presentation, but we eventually figured it out. In the whole class we only got about 5 facts, but Mr. Schick said we had a couple days to work on this, so Zach and I didn’t rush. As the class was about to end, I gathered up my books because I knew the bell was about to ring.

pop quiz

It wasn’t a very fun class in Human Geography on friday. We had to take a pop quiz on the political leaders. I had knew about it before the class because I heard people talking about it. It was kind of hard, and I didn’t do so great. I mainly just mixed up the leaders with other leaders. After we finished the test, Mr. Schick took our tests down to the scantron machine, and it scored the tests for us. Our average of the percentages were the highest out of the three sections. He also showed us what the shadows got on the test without even knowing what was gonna be on it. I thought that was pretty sad because some of them never even learned the material and still did better than a lot of people., including me. As we got it back, Mr. Schick once again did the bell procedure to anyone who got an A or A+.

Ding-a-Ling

Today’s class in Human Geo, we talked about the leaders again. I like talking about these leaders because they are all unique in many ways. I liked a lot of the facts about Vladimir Putin, and like the facted the her served in the KGB as an intelligence officer before becoming involved in politic. Many of these things are very interesting. I also thought it was interesting how Dilma Rousseff had to overcome from being beaten as a child to becoming president. Most of the leaders had something unique, but these two were my favorite because overcoming things, or just doing things that are hard to get is just majestic. We then talked a lot about Other leaders, and if Mr. Schick liked it he gave you a ding. Some people have got a ding, but some didn’t. I never have gotten a ding, but I hope I do in the future.

new edit to leaders

Enrique Peña Nieto:  Becomes a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Begins working for his cousin, Arturo Montiel Rojas, governor of the State of Mexico. He then worked his way up through many spots, until he got to be President. His first wife died, and had kids with another women when he was married to another. http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/04/world/americas/enrique-pea-nieto-fast-facts/index.html

Xi Jinping: When Xi was 10, his father was purged and sent to work in a factory in Luoyang, Henan.Xi was 15 when his father was jailed in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution. Xi studied chemical engineering at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University. From 1998 to 2002, he studied Marxist philosophy and ideological education. Xi joined the Communist Youth League in 1971 and the Communist Party of China in 1974. Following the dismissal of Shanghai Party Chief Chen Liangyu in September 2006 due to a social security fund scandal, Xi was transferred to Shanghai in March 2007 to become the new Party Chief of Shanghai. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping

Pranab Mukherjee: He was born in the village of Mirati in Birbhum district in the Bengal province of British India. His father, Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee, was active in the Indian independence movement. He attended the Suri Vidyasagar College in Suri, then affiliated with the University of Calcutta.He worked for the congress of India, and started working his way up. Mukherjee ended his affiliation with the Indian National Congress and retired from active political life following his election as President in 2012. He was a tchaiwallah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranab_Mukherjee

Vladimir Putin: He studied at Leningrad State University for law in 1975. He is an Orthodox Christian. Enjoys working out and has a black belt in judo. Grew up in a communal apartment shared by three families. Served in the KGB as an intelligence officer before becoming involved in politic. Chief of the Federal Security Service. Acting Prime Minister of Russia. Just two hours after Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in, new Russian president Medvedev names Putin as his prime minister.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/03/world/europe/vladimir-putin---fast-facts/

Angela Merkel: Married twice. She was a physicist, and has a PHD in quantum chemistry. Research associate at Zentralinstitut fur physikalische Chemie in Berlin. She becomes the first female chairperson of the CDU.  In 2005 she is sworn in as the first women Chancellor of Germany. She then is re-elected chancellor of Germany in 2009.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/30/world/europe/angela-merkel---fast-facts/

David Cameron- Cameron was officially declared winner of the Leader of the Conservative Party election in December 2005. His win was due in large part to his vow to inspire a new generation; he wanted people to "feel good about being Conservatives again,"
http://www.biography.com/people/david-cameron-39203#synopsis

 François Hollande- He was nick-named the “pizza delivery boy”. Hollande demonstrated an early interest in politics and volunteered for François Mitterrand's second unsuccessful presidential campaign while he was still a student. 

http://www.biography.com/people/françois-hollande-20849813#synopsis

 Dilma Rousseff- She was abused as a little girl and still managed to become who she is. This is very impressive because it would be hard to overcome.

Bashar al-Assad- With much of the military composed of fellow Alawite associates, he was able to integrate the military into his political regime, and ruled Syria with an iron fist for three decades.

Stephen Harper- As Prime Minister, he has pushed for the recognition of Quebec as a nation and sought to secure control over Arctic waters for petroleum resources.

Shinzo Abe- Abe was a member of a prominent political family. His grandfather Kishi Nobusuke served as Japan’s prime minister from 1957 to 1960, and his great-uncle Sato Eisaku held the same post from 1964 to 1972. 

Benjamin Netanyahu-  He spent most of his teen years living in the Philadelphia area, where his father, noted Jewish historian Benzion Netanyahu, worked as a professor.

Enrique Peña Nieto:  Becomes a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Begins working for his cousin, Arturo Montiel Rojas, governor of the State of Mexico. He then worked his way up through many spots, until he got to be President. His first wife died, and had kids with another women when he was married to another. http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/04/world/americas/enrique-pea-nieto-fast-facts/index.html

Xi Jinping: When Xi was 10, his father was purged and sent to work in a factory in Luoyang, Henan.Xi was 15 when his father was jailed in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution. Xi studied chemical engineering at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University. From 1998 to 2002, he studied Marxist philosophy and ideological education. Xi joined the Communist Youth League in 1971 and the Communist Party of China in 1974. Following the dismissal of Shanghai Party Chief Chen Liangyu in September 2006 due to a social security fund scandal, Xi was transferred to Shanghai in March 2007 to become the new Party Chief of Shanghai. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping

Pranab Mukherjee: He was born in the village of Mirati in Birbhum district in the Bengal province of British India. His father, Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee, was active in the Indian independence movement. He attended the Suri Vidyasagar College in Suri, then affiliated with the University of Calcutta.He worked for the congress of India, and started working his way up. Mukherjee ended his affiliation with the Indian National Congress and retired from active political life following his election as President in 2012.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranab_Mukherjee

Vladimir Putin: He studied at Leningrad State University for law in 1975. He is an Orthodox Christian. Enjoys working out and has a black belt in judo. Grew up in a communal apartment shared by three families. Served in the KGB as an intelligence officer before becoming involved in politic. Chief of the Federal Security Service. Acting Prime Minister of Russia. Just two hours after Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in, new Russian president Medvedev names Putin as his prime minister.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/03/world/europe/vladimir-putin---fast-facts/

Angela Merkel: Married twice. She was a physicist, and has a PHD in quantum chemistry. Research associate at Zentralinstitut fur physikalische Chemie in Berlin. She becomes the first female chairperson of the CDU.  In 2005 she is sworn in as the first women Chancellor of Germany. She then is re-elected chancellor of Germany in 2009.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/30/world/europe/angela-merkel---fast-facts/

David Cameron- Cameron was officially declared winner of the Leader of the Conservative Party election in December 2005. His win was due in large part to his vow to inspire a new generation; he wanted people to "feel good about being Conservatives again,"
http://www.biography.com/people/david-cameron-39203#synopsis

 François Hollande- He was nick-named the “pizza delivery boy”. Hollande demonstrated an early interest in politics and volunteered for François Mitterrand's second unsuccessful presidential campaign while he was still a student. 

http://www.biography.com/people/françois-hollande-20849813#synopsis

 Dilma Rousseff- She was abused as a little girl and still managed to become who she is. This is very impressive because it would be hard to overcome.

Bashar al-Assad- With much of the military composed of fellow Alawite associates, he was able to integrate the military into his political regime, and ruled Syria with an iron fist for three decades.

Stephen Harper- As Prime Minister, he has pushed for the recognition of Quebec as a nation and sought to secure control over Arctic waters for petroleum resources.

Shinzo Abe- Abe was a member of a prominent political family. His grandfather Kishi Nobusuke served as Japan’s prime minister from 1957 to 1960, and his great-uncle Sato Eisaku held the same post from 1964 to 1972. 

Benjamin Netanyahu-  He spent most of his teen years living in the Philadelphia area, where his father, noted Jewish historian Benzion Netanyahu, worked as a professor.

Political Geography

Country: Mexico

Form of gov't: Presidential system, Federal republic, Constitutional republic

Title: President

Leader: Enrique Peña Nieto

Country: China

Form of gov't: Communist state, Socialist state, Single-party state

Title: President

Leader: Xi Jinping

                                           

Country: India

Form of gov't: Federal republic, Constitutional republic, Parliamentary system

Title: President

Leader: Pranab Mukherjee

Country: Russia

Form of gov't: Federal republic, Semi-presidential system, Constitutional republic

Title: President

Leader: Vladimir Putin

Country: Germany

Form of gov't: Federal republic, Constitutional republic, Representative democracy, Parliamentary republic

Title: President, Chancellor

Leader: Joachim Gauck, Angela Merkel 

Country: United Kingdom

Form of gov't: Unitary state, Constitutional monarchy, Parliamentary system

Title: Prime Minister 

Leader: David Cameron

Country: France

Form of gov't: Unitary state, Semi-presidential system, Constitutional republic

Title: President

Leader: François Hollande

Country: Brazil

Form of gov't: Presidential system, Federal republic, Constitutional republic

Title: President

Leader: Dilma Rousseff 

Country: Syria

Form of gov't: Unitary state, Semi-presidential system

Title: President

Leader: Bashar al-Assad 

Country: Canada

Form of gov't: Federal monarchy, Constitutional monarchy, Parliamentary system

Title: Prime Minister

Leader: Stephen Harper

Country: Japan

Form of gov't: Unitary state, Constitutional monarchy, Parliamentary system

Title: Prime Minister

Leader: Shinzo Abe

Country: Israel

Form of gov't: Parliamentary system

Title: Prime Minister

Leader: Benjamin Netanyahu