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Pictures and History of Mission San Diego de Alcala

Mission San Diego de Alcala is the first mission in San Diego and has a long history of local influence. It is now a National Landmark due to its 1769 start that has molded the city. Thousands of visitors come to the landmark to see the early beginnings of Western influence in the area. Prior to this, Native Americans lived in the region and maintained natural lives unseen by outsiders. The mission was an attempt to colonize and convert these locals while maintaining ownership of the land.  The European story starts with the arrival in 1542 of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. There was no interest in colonizing the area until 1768 when King Carlos III of Spain became aware that Russians were fishing off of California. The push to build settlements became a heightened need to ensure that the land was controlled by Spain.  The first mission was established in On July 16, 1769 by Father Serra. It overlooked the bay but only lasted five years because of a lack of water and ability to m

Is Europe One Big DNA Strand? How Related Are We?

Recent research indicates that Europeans may actually hold similar genetic traits that make most people related to everyone else on the continent. So do you have a great cousin in France or Turkey? The research helps to highlight how a similar ancestry made its genetic line throughout the continent retaining DNA similarity. This same phenomenon may actually exist in other areas of the world as well but has not yet been tested.  Professor Graham Coop from the University of California recently published on May 7 th , 2013 in the journal P LO S biology that nearly all Europeans are related to each other. “ What’s remarkable about this is how closely everyone is related to each other. On a genealogical level, everyone in Europe traces back to nearly the same set of ancestors only a thousand years ago, ” (UC Davis, 2013).  Coop along with his co partner Peter Ralph set out to study DNA samples to trace back family origin to 3000 years ago. What they found through 2,000 samples

Book Review- Grand Strategies: Literature, Statecraft and World Order

Grand Strategies by Charles Hill offers some interesting insights into the building of nations and their relations to each other. The understanding of current states requires delving into the historical past. Without this knowledge one suffers from an improper perspective due to a lack of international context. Through the development of this philosophical perspective readers better understand how thoughts led to the development of a nation and modern forms of existence.  The work uses philosophy and history to create an interesting read that will maintain your interest from cover to cover. Filled with philosophical ramblings, poetry and historical tidbits the book appears to be well researched and thought out. The state of diplomacy between nations is rift with drama and intrigue ranging from the odd to the downright ludicrous.  In many ways the fear of government and its very purpose is the protection of people. This protection might come from foreign nations but might a

Book Review: The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley

The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley brings the readers through a series of events in history in order to show a pattern of economic development in society. According to the author innovation in society helps develop wealth through new products and services. His optimism is that the economy and peoples lives will continue to develop into the future as they overcome challenges. The book discusses everything from tool specialization to the collective mind. Society is getting better and people should be optimistic about the future. According to the book, the development of society is economic fact and there is no reason to expect things to ever get worse. Whether this is the price of fuel or the next challenge, society will innovate to overcome the problem. According to Newsweek, " Ridley eloquently weaves together economics, archaeology, history, and evolutionary theory to take the argument (that we are living through the most prosperous, peaceful times

Book Review: The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner

Have you ever wondered how the world's economic system developed? If you have then you are not alone. Between the covers of The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers you can quench your thirst for the knowledge of how both society and the economy developed hand-in-hand. Today's economic decisions rest on ideas of the economic thinkers like Adam Smith, Parson Malthus, John Maynard Keynes, Carl Marx, Joseph Schumpter and J.S. Mills. The book moves through the historical development of society and the economic system. Each concept provides further understanding of the nature of society and the development of modern commerce. The economists chosen as subjects have created larger influences on world development and understanding. It is through this understanding that we can see why the U.S., the European Union, and China have different currencies and different spheres of economic influence. Business owners, investors, and decision mak