The russian people have begun protesting the results of the last russian election. The results showed that Putin retained the senate majority but suffered major loses. The Russians believe the elections were rigged due to Russias shady political past. The president of Russia announced via facebook that a thorough investigation would be done. The protests have resulted in hundreds of aressts. The Russian government has claimed the protests were unlawful and disorderely.

Is Russia corrupt?
Are the demonstrations going to expose fruad

Empire lost

the symbol I chose for the week is the SPQR that appears everywhere in rome. It appears not only in the streets and main squares but also in the main government building. The SPQR is short for the latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus meaning the senate and people pf Rome. Along with the symbol I found many reminants of the old roman empire such as phrases and pictures from the old empire. The Italians in Rome have great pride in the ancient roman empire and have pride in the old empire. The economy swing in italy may also have equated for such apride and a look back into the greater days of the peninsula. It is generally equated with th republic of Rome and the new foundation of the oung republic sparked te rebirth of the symbol.

Tergiversate

Dictionary.com selects one word of the year each year. They recently announced that the word of 2011 is: "Tergiversate. Pronounced "ter-JIV-er-sate", it means “to change repeatedly one's attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject;etc.; equivocate.” A committee of lexicographers (people who study words and compile dictionaries) choose the annual word not based on the number of times it has been used that year, but on which word best encapsulates the events of the yearI think it's very interesting that the year 2011 is defined by constantly changing states and opinions. The lexicographers explained that the word tergiversate relates to events like the occupy movements and stock markets.(note: this blog does not have the word tergiversate in its database)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/30/word-of-the-year-2011-tergiversate_n_1119524.html?ref=culture&ir=Culture

I have to admit I've never really known which symbol went to which gender until now. I felt like by the time I was 21 it was just embarrassing to ask, so whenever the symbols come up I pretend I know which is which. Finally, as I'm reaching the ripe old age of 22 I've decided the time has come for me to learn. I remember Julia saying she always gets them mixed up too, so here's to the 22 year olds!

These symbolos are astrological symbols that stand for the planets Mars for males and Venus for females. Their first use was to distinguish different gender of plants. I couldn't find that much more information on them, but something else I noticed in this picture is that I knew which was female because it was pink and blue was for the male. I wonder if boys actually inherently prefer blue and girls pink, or if this color genderization is and environmental influence beginning from the moment they're born.