Class Blog - AEP at AUA

Bad dog!

2012-01-31T18:42:00.000+07:00

Sunny asked an excellent question after class today. It was about the passage in Golding's novel where we first meet the twins. In this passage, Golding describes them with enough detail, and at sufficient length to tell us that they will play an important role in the story. The passage is:

The two boys, bullet-headed and with hair like tow, flung themselves down and lay grinning and panting at Ralph like dogs. They were twins, and the eye was shocked and incredulous at such cheery duplication. They breathed together, they grinned together, they were chunky and vital. They raised wet lips at Ralph, for they seemed provided with not quite enough skin, so that their profiles were blurred and their mouths pulled open. (p. 19)

I've quoted a fairly lengthy section because I think you need to read the everything here to make sense of it. And doing that also makes a good example of Golding's brilliance as a writer.

The last sentence is the challenging one, especially the clause: "they seemed provided with not quite enough skin".

First, what is Golding doing in this passage, these four sentences? What is his purpose?
What image forms in your mind as you read these sentences? What does it look like?
How does the last sentence fit into your mental image? Does it fit?
So, what does "they seemed provided with not quite enough skin" contribute to the picture in your mind? How does it fit in?

Once we are clear about the plain, literal meaning as a direct physical description, we can then worry about other possible meanings, such as the symbolic meanings that it might have.
What do you think? What might the fact that "they seemed provided with not quite enough skin" symbolically foreshadow?
How does this symbolism work?
There is also more symbolism going on in this short passage. What is the animal symbolism telling us?
And you might also like to analyse how Golding uses his words and symbolism to efficiently achieve several purposes at the same time.

Please feel welcome to share your ideas on the twins as introduced in the quoted passage. You can refer to other parts of the novel, but only to support an idea about the four sentences quoted above.

Finally, are they a bad dog?

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References

Golding, W. & Epstein, E. (1954). Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee.

Controversy about the Controversy.

2012-01-31T08:38:00.000+07:00

Vee is currently thinking about the euthanasia controversy, which is causing heated argument in several countries around the world as increasing numbers demand a legal right to be killed whilst opponents are equally insistent that the law absolutely forbid killing human beings who want to die.

In his reply to my comments on his initial clarification of terms, Vee made a comment that I thought was rather good:

Thank you for your comments. According to your comments, I think the controversial word is healing.
If that is right, I think healing in this term focus on mental conditions of patients, not physical condition.
But I still confuse some points: I think a form of healing is just a process in euthanasia, and euthanasia is more controversial than healing (bold added).
Euthanasia has turned out to be a most controversial issue for many conutries for a long time.

The text I've marked in bold seems to me to address an important issue, one that applies to all of these questions on controversial issues, and one that it might be very helpful to be clear about so as to avoid an answer that does not actually answer the question being asked. (This might be another good time to use the word not.)

What do you think? What is your response to the important point raised by Vee's thoughtful comment?

Why is matters
You can probably already see from the questions on the list that seemingly academic discussions on the meaning of words can have very practical consequences for people's lives. If you would like another example, from the generally not so exciting world of insurance, answer the following question:

When terrorists flew planes into the two towers of New York's World Trade Centre on 9/11, 2001, how many events occurred in that attack, or attacks?

Billions of dollars in insurance payouts hinged on the definition of the words event and occurrence. Like all of the other words that these essays ask you to define, we all use these common words all of the time, but can you give a solid definition of either term that will allow you to convincingly answer the insurance question?
How much would you pay out: $3.5 billion, or $7 billion? Both parties were sure that this difference was not a small matter.
For a bit more on this example of the importance of defining terms, see "What does it mean: II - a real and controversial example = 9/11 terrorism insurance" (Peter, 2011).

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References

Peter. (2011, March 14). What does it mean: II - a real and controversial example = 9/11 terrorism insurance. Class Blog - AEP at AUA. Retrieved January 31, 2011 from http://peteraep.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-does-it-mean-ii-real-and.html

Why children become obesity?

2012-01-29T23:08:00.012+07:00

Junk food is known that it is not good for people's health because it does not have enough and good nutrient because it is full with fat and carbohydrate which can make children and adult to be obese. Moreover, there are many disease that caused by junk food such as high blood pressure, heart disease and cholesterolemia etc. So we should concern about the food consumption for decreasing the risk to be fat.

According to "No Obesity Link to Junk Food in Schools" in The New York Times, the state try to find the method for solving obesity in childhood by banning the sale of sweets and salty snacks in public schools but the study shows that it is ineffective. Researchers compared children's weight in school where junk food was sold and in school where it was banned but they find that there are no correlation at all between obesity and attended schools where sweets and salty snacks were available.

When I studied in school, it did not sell any junk food because my principal worried about children's nutrition so the sweets and salty snacks were not sold. However, I agree with this article because I think selling junk food in school is not involve with children's weight. Some of my friend are fat even though they eat same food like other friends who have normal shape at school so I think the obesity in childhood is from the family who look after their kids by letting them eat good and delicious food without limiting.

From my point of view, the suitable method to solve obesity problem in children is parents should suggest and caution their children to choose the food which is good for health such as vegetables, fruits, low-fat food and avoid junk food. Besides this, children who are obese should exercise to lose and control their weight for reducing some diseases and living in the society with happiness.

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References

Bakalar, N. (2012, January 23). Nutrition: No Obesity Link to Junk Food in Schools. The New York Times. Retrieved January 29,2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/health/research/study-finds-no-childhood-obesity-link-to-school-junk-food.html?scp=1&sq=no%20obesity%20link%20to%20Junk%20food&st=cse

The Temples' Souls

2012-01-29T20:12:00.000+07:00

When I was young, I saw this temple for the first time in a magazine. Even though I didn't have any information about the temple, I was fascinated by its mysterious and charming look. After that, I got to add one more place to the list to visit when I grow up, which has always been in my mind as one of the precious things in the wrold. Today, this is the reason why this article about the ancient temple, Angkor Wat ,captured my eyes.

According to " Near Cambodia's Temple Ruins, a Devotion to Learning" in The New York Times, the ancient temple ruins of Angkor Wat, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, have contributed to something unpredictable, a devotion to learning of Cambodian youth. Even a decade ago, there was not any university,but now the city has firve private universities, which makes the city the second largest educational city, after the capital, PHnom Penh. The young people whose parents can not support them with enough money as to enter university gather here to work in many positions related to tour businesses at day and at night they study mostly finance, English, ans accounting. Hem Sophoan, a 31-year-old tour guide who is now studying says "I never imagined that I could go to university, There's been so much changes and opportunities for young people." The article also says that even though the the quality of the universities there is uneven and the shareholders still waste their money for the schools, many youth have dreams and their degrees made them have better prospects for managerial roles. Mr. Kong Soeun, the deputy of the local tourism office and having dreams of becoming a crusading lawyer, says "We should remember their souls," "These temples are a very great thing" about his forebears who built Angkor Wat.

Actually, I have a plan to go to this temple in February, so when I saw the title, I was interested in this article.While the articles about tourist places consist of mostly negative views of making the historic remains worse or advertisements about the places to gather people's attention, I like the reporter's social view of dealing with the historical ruins. Of course, thriving tourism has impacts on the whole nation and the people who live there in many positive ways. The case of Angkor Wat, however, seems to affect more importantly to their citizen.The tourism not simply makes the people earn money, but builds the basic human resources, who can contribute to developing their country. On someday in February, I am likely to remember this article again.

References

Fuller,T. (2012,January 24). Near Cambodia's Temple Ruins, a Devotion to Learning. The New York Times. Retrieved 2012, January 29 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/world/asia/cambodias-angkor-wat-temple-ruins-brings-tourists-and-higher-education-opportunites-for-tour-guides.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Near%20Cambodias%20temple%20ruins,%20a%20devotion%20to%20learing&st=csexxxxx

It is good to have ibook or not in your ipad?

2012-01-29T14:38:00.000+07:00

Education is very important for everyone in this world today. Parents are willing pay so much money in order for their children to enter the school that they think is excellent. Many workers are doing the same things. For example, they will take courses in the morning or in the everning after working hours. Parents like moms some times they will go to course like english or mandarin while their kids in the school. That is happening to me now in AEP 5. When I read the topic from Economist " Difference engine: Let the games begin", I am thinking other tools that can help us today to imporve our learning beside in the class.

The Economist reports that In USA now, Apple company provides new way for publishers, teachers and writers to produce interactive texbooks with video, audio and 3D graphics that we can read by touching in the sreen in your ipad. Before that the user must download ibook2 from ITunes, Apple online store. The students from primary and seciondary school who use it have higher score than the students only textbook in school. Students who can use this tool absolutely from middle class. "At the end of the year, 78% of pupils using the interactive text scored “proficient” or “advanced” on the California algebra test, compared with only 59% scoring likewise with the standard textbook."
Apple is improving not only in primary and secondary schools, but forall degree education as well. “That’s a rising tide that floats all boats,” notes Mr MacInnis. “The future of digital-learning content isn’t a book on a screen, but an engaging multimedia experience,” he says. In other words, the flat e-book is dead. Sorry, Amazon."

Although this is a good news for us as a user, other companies will have problem with their business in the future. I like to buy DVD from Amazon for my son who is 4 years old now. The things that I bought are concentrate for learning like phonics, math and science. Beside that I also bought puzzles, flash card or books that I can't have it in bangkok. After I understand the benefit from using smart phone, I bought Ipod and Iphone. They are become my partner in learning when I have to do my homework. My girl uses for dictionary. I am buying some games to improve James's skill for math, geography, phonics and mandarin.
To compare my spending in Amazon before and now, it is less. When I realized that Ipad can use for textbook in USA, I really want to buy ipad in the future. I hope I can buy textbooks that I need it for my girl. I bought used textbooks from Amazon now.

The are some reasons that I don't like from this tool. For example, before James uses Ipod or Iphone, he likes to do puzzles, flash card or other acitvities that use hand. He is attending Montessori that emphasize hands on. Children who do things like this can learn to be patient and concentrate. After using Ipod or iphone, he expect to get the result faster from coloring. If he touch blue spot, the picture turns to be blue. Whe he need to sit and do coloring, he need to color with his hand and the reult is not nice as in ipod. He is not patient and satified with this. NOw I only let him to use it when we need to wait in hospital or in the airplane and weekend.

What do you think do you think it is good for you to have ibook in Ipad or not?
I am so excited to hear from you in different angles.

References:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/01/future-teaching

Convenient to Find a Job

2012-01-26T21:13:00.006+07:00

Currently, there are many people who want to get the jobs, but most of them likely to be disappointed because they failed in the interview that may be the cause of the unemployment rate increased. Therefore, some companies have figured out how the interview was to provide facilities for the candidate.

According to "When the First Interview Is a Phone Call" on The New York Times website, in some companies have phone interview by the employer will call or e-mail you to set up an interview time, they usually use landline phone more than mobile phone because it's more reliable. Ms. Doyle said that the interview take about half an hour to an hour, and you will need to ensure that you have the personal profile and important informations in front of you because the interruption of the interview that it may make you lose your chance (¶4). The telephone interview enables the employer can save time and money, and the candidates will not have to worry about what to wear to the job interviews.

I think that this is a good choice as well because it provide benefits to both employers and job seekers, even they will tell you that landline phone interview will be more reliable than cell phone interview, but I think interview or talking about something which are important by the phone is not reliable anyway. Although their profile or evidence of their job are complete, during the interviews with them, we don't know that how are their personality or what do their face look like. I think these are also important to get people to work in our company; if they have an excellent track record, but have a bad personality that might make them work not efficient. Therefore, I still think the interview directly to be a good choice because we can know that they have a personality that suited to the job or not. What do you think? Do you agree with me or not?

References

Korkki, P. (2009, December 31). When the First Interview Is a Phone Call. The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/business/31searchweb.html

Tablets, The Most Popular Devices

2012-01-26T08:36:00.003+07:00

In the technology world these days, one of the mostinteresting devices is the tablet computers such as iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab. Withwider touching screen, it makes users convenient for using such devices. Also,E-reader devices are very popular because size is very small compared with realbooks. However, the devices cannot do some things that real papers or computerlaptops can do.

According to Tablet and E-Reader Sales Soar in The New York Times, tabletcomputers and e-readers are very popular gift for adults. Owners of tabletcomputers in adults is dramatically increasing especially in highly educatedpeople who have househole incomes more than $75,000 (2012, ¶ 6). Manyof tablet computer companies tried to push sale of tablet computers, but, AppleiPad, which have the highest price, is still popular among consumers (2012, ¶ 9).Publisher,app developers ,libraries and tech companies are improving the ways to getbenefit from increasing users (2012, ¶ 10)

I think tablet computers are very interesting devices forthis modern day because such devices are very convenient to use. The device cando exactly what smart phones do, but the size of tablets makes the users easilyto see contents in the tablets and press on the screen accurately. Unlike smartphones, users have to magnify every time to read contents or press on screen ina wrong position. Moreover, users can bring it with them anywhere. Size of thetablets is nearly the same as real books, so it can use as books withoutcarrying any thick books.

Last year, I decided not to buy iPad2, which I would use itas books, because I still loved to read in the real papers. I can write whateverI like or make any note on papers which I cannot do on the tablets. It is truethat there are some formats of document files that allow readers to highlightor add note on the document, but it is still slow and hard to use, and file format inPdf (users cannot edit) is still popular among the readers. Afterthat, I bought computer laptop instead of iPad2 because it was more necessaryfor me.

Anyway, although I don’t have any tablets or e-readers for now, in very nearfuture I am pretty sure that I will get one to help my life more convenient incommunication and education. I cannot stand the popular trendsof technology, so I will be another person who raises the sales.

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References

Julie Bosman(2012, January 22). Tablet and E-Reader Sales Soar. The New York Times.Retrieved January 23,2012 fromhttp://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/tablet-and-e-reader-sales-soar/?ref=technology

Too much High-tech Appliances

2012-01-26T00:54:00.002+07:00

The picture of the refrigerator with a LCD screen catches my eyes, so I start reading this piece of news and find it a bit strange. Do we want a refrigerator which allows us check a weather and listen to musics? Why not listen to a radio?

In "Not Quite Smart Enough", Martin says that because selling smartphone is very successful, many manufacturers try to apply the concept of smart electronics to another devices (2012). As a result, at the recent International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, customers saw a lot of high-tech but queer household appliances, such as "refrigerators that spew out recipes based on what’s inside, robotic vacuum cleaners with remote-controlled cameras, and washers and dryers you can monitor from your phone" (¶1). Undoubtedly, the efforts to sell these smart products mostly flopped because the "technological wizardry"(p.1) came together with far more expensive prices, and customers considered it pointless to buy smart appliances with extra functions they did not require.

I like those customers, refusing to buy smart electronics unnecessary for their life because they do the opposite thing I did. When I was about ten years old, I asked my mother to buy a digital watch as my birthday gift because that watch was a waterproof one with glow-in-the-dark display and a calculator and . After buying it, I never wore it while swimming, nor used the calculator function. I latter found that I want it just because it looked hi-tech, not because I needed a tool that help me calculate something.

Nowadays, I also have a couple of smart devices that are too smart to use them. I have a laptop, many bottoms of which make me confused because I don't know why they are here. In my living room, the cable television gives me more than two hundred channels to enjoy, but I spend less than hour a day watching TV. High technology may not be a problem. The problem is that people always don't know what they exactly need to use and end up finding things useless for them.

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References

Martin, A. (2012, January 12). Not Quite Smart Enough. The New York Times.Retrieved January 25, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/technology/not-quite-smart-enough.html?pagewanted=1&ref=technology

Please take care of your beloved parents

2012-01-24T17:45:00.007+07:00

The number of older people in the society is increasing so these people must be concerned about the illness which can occur by aging and the most popular illness is osteoporosis. So that why the state try to encourage these people prevent it by checking bone density.

According to "Patients with Normal Bone Density Can Delay Retests,Study Suggests" on The New York Times, experts try to find the suitable interval for people to receive bone density retests because it is unnecessary and waste money for checking it too frequent. So they set up an experiment by following 5000 women ages 67 and older for more than a decade; the researchers divide women into four groups: those with normal bone density, those with mild osteopenia, those with moderate osteopenia and severe osteopenia. The results show that people who have normal and mildly low bone density develop osteoporosis in the ensuing 15 years while moderate and advance osteopenia develop osteoporosis within 4.7 years and one year orderly. This study can predict when people have to get bone density test again after 65 years old.

I think this article is useful for every families who have old people in their house because from my direct experience, I have two grandmothers and one of my grandam has a problem with her knee. My grandmother is 82 years old now,she has operated on her left knee around 20 years ago and after that she has never checked her bone density until the last 2 months, her right knee was pained and cannot walk. My father took her to the hospital immediately and doctors told us that she had to receive an operation for changing her knee again. Moreover, doctor told us that my grandmother did not receive enough certain substances for her bones and I think that because of she does not like to drink milk or takes vitamins so these make she get osteoporosis easily; and the most important thing is she did not get a bone density retest for a long time so we cannot know the real physical state of her bones that are weak or not. This situation makes me start to concern about the health of our beloved relatives or parents and try to keep them healthy by taking them to the hospital for checkup duly.

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References

Gina Kolata (2012,January 18). Patients with Normal Bone Density Can Delay Retests,Study Suggests. The New York Times. Retrieved January 24,2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/health/bone-density-tests-for-osteoporosis-can-wait-study-says.html

Women' life!

2012-01-23T22:38:00.006+07:00

The wedding is the biggest ceremony for women’s life. Absolutely, all women want to have the perfect wedding. Also, the wedding dress is the most important for a bride. It shows the appearances or styles of hers.

According to “Wear a Denim Bridal Gown? Not Yet, but ...” on The New York Times, the first thing to do on bride’s checklist is shopping the bridal gown. Nowadays, the bridal gown has many choices and becomes more fashionable which can appear a bride’s personality. Last year, Kate Middleton’s wedding is the biggest moment of 2011. Her bridal gown is a lace sleeve, becomes popular which designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. Not only the royal, but also celebrities wore sleeves. Therefore, many designers have adopted this trend in their latest collections. On the other hand, some designers still believe that many brides still choose a strapless style which is the most widely beautiful. Although, the bridal dress is more fashionable than before, the color is not quite change, it is still white, ivory or not a lot of difference from skin tone. Another necessary thing for a bride is the headpieces. Ten years ago, wearing the veil and tiara were very popular but now many brides choose to wear some headpiece that is easy and good-looking for the ceremony such as boho halo(bohemian style), silk flower headbands, or feathered headbands instead of the veil but tiara is still popular in the royal.

I remember that when I was a child, I went to the wedding ceremony, I saw the bride dress and I though one day I must become a stylist. I like to look when people choose the clothes and wear it. Also, I always guess personality from their clothes. In my family, I am a stylist for them because they are very busy and they think I have a good style. So, my job is choosing and buying the clothes. I love to do it. Honestly, I am a lazy girl but after that I found out that thinking about style makes me more diligent than before. That's why, I want to study in master degree of fashion merchandising. Now, I register at Academy of Art university. I hope they will accept me and I wish I'll belong to this field.

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References

Tatiana Boncompagni (2012, January,20). Wear a Denim Bridal Gown? Not Yet, but ... . The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/fashion/weddings/wear-a-denim-bridal-gown-not-yet-but.html?_r=1&ref=fashion

Life or Death by Indirection

2012-01-20T16:03:00.000+07:00

I usually take note of news reports that might be relevant to essays I set, and "Dangerous abortions 'on the rise', says WHO" is worth noting because of the fact that it's not directly relevant.

According to this BBC News story, recent World Health Organization (WHO) statistics show that although the rate of abortions appears to have stabilised worldwide, the rate of unsafe abortions continues to increase, especially in developing and undeveled countries. According to Dr. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, who published the United Nations Organization (UN) report, the "cruel and failed strategies" of "condemning, stigmatising and criminalising abortion" are largely to blame for this rise in unsafe abortions (Maternal mortality sect., ¶ 11).

As I've already suggested, my main reason for blogging this news report is that it is not directly relevant to the abortion question on the set of argumentative essays from which you are now choosing to write an answer. However, it does show why such questions matter: they are of more than academic interest, with people literally dying or living as a result of decisions that are made by law makers and others, so that although only indirectly, such reports as this one might be a useful source for someone who chooses to write on that particular question.

I don't think my own answer to that question, nor my response to the BBC report, are especially needed here, so will abstain from giving them now. When you read my essay answering the question, you will likely be able to correctly infer my response to the WHO statistics as reported.

In the meantime, you might like to consider why this report is at best only indirectly relevant, why it cannot directly support an answer either way to the question as asked. I thought it might help you to clarify your ideas answering the questions on "Understanding the Question", as will arguing your case on the question of whether wearing blue jeans is Thai culture.

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References

Dangerous abortions 'on the rise', says WHO. (2012, January 19), BBC News. Retrieved January 20, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16618156

Them fruit

2012-01-20T10:15:00.001+07:00

There are several reasons for us reading Golding's very famous novel, which is, as Wikipedia suggests, read and studied by almost every British high school student, and by enough in the US that it continued to rate highly on the list of books people in the US want banned to the end of last century, as the American Library Association (ALA) records (2009), although I notice that it's been replaced this century by such evil and dangerous books as Harry Potter, which is the current number 1 (ALA, 2010).

First, it's a great novel, and not too long. I'm hoping we see why it's seen this way as we work our way through it.

Second, it provides excellent practice for a range of important reading skills, as we have already seen: using context to guess meaning; understanding how writers create connections that unify a piece of work, within and between sentences as well as across paragraphs and between chapters or larger sections; understanding organization; understanding a writer's purpose; and so on.

Third, as you will realize even more clearly after reading and answering the questions on "Symbolic Systems and Meanings" (Hartmann & Blass, 2007, p. 12 - 16), it fits very well with the ideas in our readings in cultural anthropology.

Finally, and following all of the above, it's a fruitful source to also practise academic writing on.

Even if you haven't already read up on it, you would already have realised, as Sunny did, that Lord of the Flies is full of symbols and symbolic meanings, containing examples of all three types of symbolism discussed in the reading Hartmann and Blass have adapted from Rosman and Rubel's university textbook on cultural anthropology (2007, p. 12 - 16). "Them fruit" pretty clearly fits into the symbolism of food type of symbol. But before worrying about the symbolic meanings, I suggest you get the concrete, non-symbolic meaning clear first. As Hartmann and Blass's explanation clarifies, symbols only work when the non-symbolic half of the symbolism is understood. So on page 9, the first thing we need to understand is that there is edible fruit on the island, that Piggy has been eating it, that he has a stomach ache and diarrhoea as a result of his indulgence, and has to hurry off to shit, not just once, but twice (Golding & Epstein, p. 9 - 12). Once this is understood, you can worry about what "Them fruit" and this whole passage, to which Golding devotes a lot of detail, might symbolize. And right from start, in "The Sound of the Shell", we can see examples of Golding using space symbolically (what?), as well as symbols of politics and authority (what?).

I hope you are enjoying the novel as you read "Fire on the Mountain" over the weekend. It's probably a good idea to read the whole chapter first, trying to get an idea of what's happening, and then read it again, section by section (not sentence by sentence), with that overall context in mind. Looking at single sentences out of context is unlikely to be a useful reading strategy.

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References

American Library Association (ALA), (2009, July 29). 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999. Retrieved January 20, 2012 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/1990_1999/

American Library Association (ALA), (2010. April 6). Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009. Retrieved January 20, 2012 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/2000_2009

Golding, W., & Epstein, E. (1954). Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee.
(Note: Why are there two authors listed here?)

Hartmann, P. & Blass, L. (2007). Quest 3 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill

Lord of the Flies. (2012, January 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:18, January 20, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lord_of_the_Flies&oldid=472129273

Note on Wikipedia: whenever you use Wikipedia as a source, always use the "Cite this page" tool in the right-hand column to create the References list entry. Do not write it yourself. We are using the APA style reference citation, so just copy and paste that one (it's first) from the Wikipedia page. And while you're there, you might like to read Wikipedia's "IMPORTANT NOTE" at the top of the page.

2012-01-20T00:15:00.089+07:00

Economic Issue__

There are many problems in the world today, such as political crisis, widespread famine in the some countries, pollution crisis. Every problem are linked to one main reason that is economic crisis. The affects of Economic crisis can impacts the living style, stabitlity and survival of each society and ethnic. Because of that, economic issue has already became a mian subject to every pepole and governments. Every government has to pay closed attention to internal and external economic situations in order to prevent themself from economic crisis.

According to "World Bank warns developing world to prepare for shocks" in BBC online news, World bank has warned that the developing countries should prepare for slow down of global economic growth in year 2012, altough it can relieve inflation that still higher in many developing countries. World bank has predicting economic growth rates in 2012 of developing country from previous 6.2% down to be 5.4%, and 2.7% down to be 1.4%. (2012, ¶ 8). European debt crisis is main reason to trigger low growth rates. The situation may continue for long-term. Developing countries are more affected than developed countries.

Economic low growth rate is a very dangerous signal to global economic system, it can turn out to be economic crisis. The weak growth rate is caused by many factors, such as low demand for product or low consumption, severe public debt,severe inflation, and high pirces of commodity. Each factor is linked together and influence each other. If the governments could not increase or maintain growth rate , Eventually, other problems would appear unpleasantly. The main problems are high unemployment rate, low domestic demand, and high criminal rate. All causes and effects like a vicious circle. Some people think that the main direct affect of low growth rate is low prices of products, and it may be a good for consumer and market. I don't agree this idea, even though product prices are reduced, but more people lose their jobs and the following question is that how can they purchase that products. Some governments invest lots of money in infrastructure in order to promote their domesitc demands, that can directly create many jobs. I think that is a effective measure to stimulate economic growth in the some countries, but not suitable for the other countries, because the situations of each country are different. Improving low carbon industry become a popular solution for many government recently. Because it uses clean and green energy to run its process and don't have to use high polluted fuel like oil or coal. This kind of industry can save the cost and creat lots of job.

References

Andrew, W. (2012, January 18). BBC News. Retrieved January 20,2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16602033

Dangerous solution

2012-01-19T03:28:00.000+07:00

People form cities and in turn, cities gather more people, which makes big cities. Even though people form big cities to live better and more conveniently, there are some inconvenient situations in big cities if the facilities for their people are not much enough to use. When I saw the article of BBC NEWS "Indonesia concrete balls combat train surfing" , it reminds me of terrible times when I was a student who commuted every day by subway which was called the Hell's train.

According to BBC NEWS, Indonesian Railway stuff have started setting up concrete balls like the picture above train tracks near a station outside Jakarta to prevent passengers who have ridden on trains' roofs during the rush hours. The official says that in 2008, at least 53 commuters died and last year, 11 people were killed by riding on trains' roofs. BBC says that " Most victims are electrocuted by overhead power cables, but some fall off train carriages while trains are moving". The officials say that they had tried other measures to stop the problem, but they didn't work, so they wish that the newest one will be successful, which makes them expand the project.

As I already said above, 20 years ago in Korea, the subways were called the Hell's train. Especially, rush hours in the morning and in the evening, there were too many people in trains. Passengers couldn't move only a little, so they had to stay in same position until they got off. Very often, I had to miss my station, because I couldn't go through the path stuck with too many people. After that, the government realized the seriousness of the subway problem and tried to solve the problem by devising other measures, such as building other subway lines, making public buses road for only themselves, and promoting companies to change the starting and finishing times.

Jakarta is one of the big cities in Asia like Seoul. Too many people move in rush hours. Usually in big cities, there is not any room for roads for cars, so there are subways in big cities. Trains are the best transportation which can carry many people at a time in Jakarta not subways. It is definitely because there are not enough transportation to move a multitude of people, many people ride on the train's roof even though they know the possibilities of accidents. Also, it is true that the behaviors people ride there are illegal. However, devising concrete balls seems to be a rather rough and primitive way. As they said, the officials already tried other dangerous methods,even putting rolls of barbed wire on train roofs- but nothing has worked.

As the roof surfers says, "They have tried everything to keep us from riding...but in the end we always win", I don't think that the newest method will work. It dose not make sense that more dangerous manner should be put to save people from the dangerous situation. I hope that the Indonesian government should make safer projects to solve the problems, looking into other big cities around it.

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References

Indonesia concrete balls combat 'train surfing'.(2012. January 19). BBC
NEWS. Retrieved January 19,2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16596181

The Blue Jeans Poll

2012-01-19T03:20:00.000+07:00

The voting on whether wearing blue jeans is Thai culture looks pretty one sided, with the "No" voters in a large majority so far.

Perhaps the lonely "Yes" voters would like to add a comment below presenting their reasons to persuade a few people to change sides.

Women with Painful Periods

2012-01-19T00:13:00.003+07:00

In "Women feel pain more than men", the study shows us that the women feel pain much sooner than the men and are able to endure it for far less time (2005). Unfortunately, the evolution of human has given women unavoidable pains every month. When women have periods, most of them suffer from dysmenorrhoea. However, I think this piece of news will make women more relaxed when they face the problem of period pains.

According to "The pill 'does ease period pain'", for some women, oral contraceptive pills may reduce their painful periods (2012, ¶1). After conducting a 30-year study, Dr. Ingela Lindh points out that more than half of young women have suffered from a condition of pain during menstruation. However, about thirty of those poor women consider this condition a "moderate" pain, not a "severe"one after using birth-control pills (¶8). The researcher also says that painful periods seriously harm our society because a lot of women cannot go to work when they have periods. Therefore, Dr. Lindh suggests that the European Medicines Agency should officially include oral contraceptives as a medical treatment of period pain.

I hope Dr. Lindth will be able to support his study so strongly that European Medicines Agency is convinced. Also, I hope he will continue doing his research and then find another kind of pill which is more effective. It may not just alleviate the pain, but can completely stop the painful periods. If it occurs, it will be a pretty good news for women around the word, especially my younger sister. When she has a period, she always has severe backache and wants to vomit all the time. Most importantly, she sometimes suffers from stomachache ,which makes her face look very pale. Besides my sister, I myself will be pleased with an improved version of Dr. Linfth's study because I find it difficult to deal with a woman having a period. My girlfriend, for example, gets angry more easily because of having menstruation. No matter what I do, it seems to go wrong. If I ask her how she feel, she will blame me on making her aware of her pain. In contrast, if I do not say anything, she will still blame me on my cool aloofness and heartlessness. Actually, she also feels annoyed about her emotional turbulence, but she cannot control it while having period.

Furthermore, I agree with Dr. Lindth that painful periods badly affect not only women themselves but also their society. Because of monthly pains, my mother being an enthusiastic teacher turns to be an unproductive one. She becomes easily fatigue and cannot give her exciting lecture to her students. If the pain increases, she sometimes has to take a break and heads to the medical room of her school. It seems the painful periods always interfere women's life and their working.

However, I think women can handle the problem of painful periods better than men. Although men have physical endurance greater than women, I think we cannot be tolerant towards severity every month. For me, many women have strongly mental endurance. Despite having painful period, my mom still goes to work.In contrast, if I have a bit headache, I will not hesitate to get up late and refuse going to work.

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References

The pill 'does ease period pain'. (2012, January 18). BBC News. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16597692

Women feel pain more than men. (2005, July 4). BBC News. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4641567.stm

Anti-privacy movement

2012-01-18T23:58:00.003+07:00

Have you ever illegally downloaded or bought softwares, musics or movies? Today, everything is easy to find on the Internet such as softwares, books, or whatever you want. You just search on the search engine and click them to download. What do you think is it right to do or not, if not what should we do to deal with piracy?

According to Wikipedia joins blackout protest at US anti-piracy moves in BBC online news, Wikipedia, online encyclopedia website, expresses opposition to the anti-piracy legislation, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act), of the US by being offline for 24 hours from midnight Eastern Standard Time (05:00 GMT) on Wednesday 18. The legislation would allow US department and content owners to require search engine not to show the results associated with piracy. Jimmy Wales, the site founder, says "the bill is so over broad and so badly written that it's going to impact all kinds of things that, you know, don't have anything to do with stopping piracy"

I think it is hardly possible to control the piracy or content on the Internet without violating freedom of expression and human right. For example in Germany, the law requires two years in prison for downloading illegal movies or mp3. In order to make this law effective, the government has servers to monitor illegal traffic in the country. That means whatever people in this country surf on, the government is watching them as well. In my view, I do not appreciate this approach much because it violate my privacy. I think there may be other ways to deal with piracy problem. I like the way Apple do in iTunes Music Store by selling 99 cents per song instead of whole album and making customers easy to use and purchase. With these approach, it makes iTunes Music Store the largest music retailer in the US today. Apple does not only in musics, but also in software as well. For me, I do not need to go to Pantip to buy illegal software or try to search for a crack anymore. I just sit in front of my computer and click to buy the one I really want for a few dollars. It will be better to cope with piracy by putting the burden on merchants to figure out the way, like what Apple do, instead of violating the right of customers.

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References

Wikipedia joins blackout protest at US anti-piracy moves (2012, January 18). BBC News. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16590585

The Women's Pain

2012-01-18T23:25:00.001+07:00

Normally, every young andmiddle-age woman has to deal with the menstrual period every month. Intensityof the pain is different which can be no pain to very severe pain ineach person. The pain may affect some women so much so that they cannot spend anormal life in the period. One who suffers from the pain generally takespain-killer medicines to relieve their pain. The person with the severe painmay take stronger pain-killer medicines than usual. Using oral contraceptiveto relieve the pain is not new, but in an article “The pill 'does ease period pain'” (2012) make us sure via the study that it mayhelp to relieve the pain in addition to prevent pregnancy. However, some peopleuse it in wrong indications because the drug is easily to get in Thailand.

According to “The pill 'does ease period pain'” (2012), oral contraceptive medicines may lessen thepain who suffer from menstrual period. Although the medicine have no indicationfor this case, the study of Dr Ingela shows us that severity of the pain issignificantly different between woman who take the drug and women who do nottake the drug. This is very significant because the pain leads to problems notonly to the individuals but also to the nations.

Normally, in menstrual period, womenmay be easily angry or feel uncomfortable with no pain to moderate pain. Inunusual cases of very severe pain, my girlfriend is a good example. In some ofher menstrual period that pain-killer drugs cannot help, when she is suffering fromthe pain, she cannot do anything even standing. I think women who likely tohave very severe pain in the period should prepare themselves to confront the emergencysituation by carrying the drugs all the time or finding a good man to take careof. Moreover, I have heard that after the first pregnancy this symptom will bebetter.

From my education andexperiences as a pharmacist student, women who have a pain in menstrual period willtake pain-killer medicines. In mind pain, they take simple drug, Paracetamol.In more pain patients, they take stronger NSAIDs (Non Steroidal Anti InflammationDrugs) such as Ibuprofen, Mefenamic acid, and Naproxen Sodium. In some severecases, the women additionally take oral contraceptive drugs, 21 tablets mixedEstrogen and Progesterone, every day for 4 courses and stop for 7 days to letmenstruation occur, which means that 84 days women will have menstruation only1 time. This will reduce the chance of severe pain. In case of my girlfriend,she had taken Dian^®-35(one of oral contraceptive drug) every month for 1 year.Throughout that year, she had no sign of severe pain.

Sometimespeople do not use oral contraceptive drug for medical purposes. This might be aproblem of people in Thailand since the medicine is easily to get at drugstores.Some men and women want to take the pills just because they want to have bigbreasts or good shape. Since public advertising of dangerous drugs is illegal,pharmaceutical companies try to avoid it by using some symbols and colors tolet people know that they are particular drugs. For example, in some advertisement,there is a woman who has a good shape telling audiences to fine “Y” symbol inorange color. Then, the ad displays telephone number for viewers to get moreinformation about a particular brand of medicine that they can get it atdrugstores. Everything is a business, isn’t it?

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References

The pill 'does ease period pain' (2012, January 18). BBC News. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16597692

Can legislation stop piracy?

2012-01-18T20:15:00.009+07:00

Nowadays, there are many useful websites that people have freedom to access for getting the knowledge and information especially most of students use it to do their homework or reports while other people use it for entertainment. However, US government try to stop the illegal website by legislation Stop online piracy act(Sopa) and Protect Intellectual Property Act(Pipa) which cause displeasure among some search engines such as Wikipedia, Google and Yahoo etc. and some users.

According to "Wikipedia joins blackout protest at US anti-piracy moves" on the BBC News website, Jimmy wales who is the Wikipedia site's founder disagree with the Sopa and Pipa because the purpose of the law is giving authority to the state and private individual to close and prosecute websites that involve both direct and indirect violation such as search engines or links which are relate to illegal sites etc. So, this law may become a tool of the state for charging of various website unfairly.

I think US want to promulgate the Sopa and Pipa to control some websites such as Torrent that allow people loading violative movies and musics but this law will affect the connection and right in using Internet widely. It not only make the online business lose their profit which are from the online advertising but also search engines that have to cancel the link which connect to illegal websites. So, these websites such as Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia will lose their efficiency in searching the information because some important data may be inserted in not allowance site.

As a student and user, I disagree with the legislation because I think this method cannot solve problem directly. Although US try to suppress the existent illegal sites, after this, other new websites will be created again and again so it is the cycle which not has the end. Moreover, if every sites turn to be legal sites, people who want to get into the websites for finding some information will have to pay for using it that I think it not fair. Since US should concern about the education in their country by supporting students to access the information without payment. The important and necessary thing for US government to do is try to find the suitable measures which benefit for both consumers and producers or encourage them to participate and solve the problem together

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References

Wikipedia joins blackout protest at US anti-piracy moves. (2012, January 18). BBC News. Retrieved January 18, 2012. from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16590585

Good health, good you

2012-01-18T20:02:00.009+07:00

Not only parent but also school always care about the health of their children. In school, we have to check on our health every year. Some schools have a vaccination program for students. And I am the one of them who have been receive vaccine from school.

According to "Meningitis jab 'protection hope'" on BBC News website, a Chilean study found out more evidence of the new vaccine against the meningitis B which is the most common disease of childhood in the UK. However, it is difficult to develop a single jab that can cover them all because the meningitis B is a group of thousands different bacteria. While vaccine developers can find vaccines which include four other major types, the danger of the meningitis B still remains.

Last year, I was sick. At First, I though I just got a cold but two days passed, the symptom was worst. So, I decided to go to hospital and I was admitted. My body temperature was very high but the result tested was not H1N1. The doctor sent me to ultrasound my stomach and the result was nothing happen. Day 4 in hospital, the blood test came out that I was Hepatitis. In that time, I scared because I know it is a serious disease. Fortunately, I have the vaccination of Hepatitis against the B from my school(also the vaccination of Meningitis against the B). The doctor assume two things why I was Hepatitis. The first is I ate unclean or not fresh food. Another thing is I told him that I took an acne pill and he though this is the reason of Hepatitis because liver will work hard when you take too much pills. After that, I avoid to take any pill as I can. I have an experience of careless of myself. At that time, I just think that I want to treat acnes on my face. I suggest that you have to be careful of choosing food or if it is unnecessary, you should avoid to take a pill.

I think healthy is the most important. If you have a good health, you can work, you can play and another good thing will come to you. Do you agree with me? I hope you all guys have a good health.

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References

Meningitis jab 'protection hope'. (2012, January 18). BBC News. Retrieved January 18,2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16613608

The Dangers of Cyberspace

2012-01-18T15:38:00.006+07:00

Currently, everyone needs to use a computer to work and sometimes need to communicate with other people, especially young people that Surf the Internet than any other age whether talking with friends or playing online games. However, in fact, letting the children Surf the Internet at a long time, it can affect their body as well.

According to "Web addicts have brain changes, research suggests" on the BBC News website, Web addicts can cause our brain changes similar to an addiction to drugs or drink alcohol. The symptoms of this disease is the lack of control to Surf the Internet which affects mood, decision-making and self-control. Moreover, These symptoms have appeared in people who addicted to playing video games as well. Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, consultant psychiatrist and honorary senior lecturer at Imperial College London, said the symptoms of addiction to the Internet must be studied in more patients to confirm the discovery of this disease.

I think Surfing the Internet or playing computer games at a long time is a bad thing. I admit that I'm the one of those people who likes to play computer for a long time as well. On average, I play the computer about five to six hours per day, but on the weekend, I play a computer more than seven hours per day. When I was young, my mom told me that you shouldn't sit in front of a computer at a long time because it sends a negative effect on the eyes spine and neck bones. At first, I didn't believe her, so now I have to wear glasses because I'm sit in front of computer for a long time (I'm not just Surf the Internet but I have to sit to work and write novels as well).

Therefore, after I read this article, I was very surprised that Surfing the Internet or playing computer games can affect our brain. I always wondered why it's difficult to control my own feeling such as, want to do something, angry, or sad. I think perhaps as a result of using computer for a long time but I still suspect that it also affects human's memory or not, for I always forget something, for example, when I opened the refrigerator, sometimes I forget what I want to pick. How about you? Have you ever had the symptoms like these? and In one day, how long do you Surf the Internet or use the computer?

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References

Briggs, H. (2012, January 12). Web addicts have brain changes, research suggests. BBC News. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16505521

Lessons from Loss

2012-01-18T12:40:00.108+07:00

One of my abiding interests is Darwin's theory of evolution, so the title "Lost Charles Darwin fossils rediscovered in cabinet" on the BBC News this morning caught my eye.

According to "Lost Charles Darwin fossils rediscovered in cabinet", no one even knew that the "hundreds of beautiful glass slides", prepared from fossils collected by Charles Darwin and other scientists, existed (2012, ¶ 6). The fossils were shipped to England in the 1830s to be prepared as slides to be examined under a microscope. However, after preparation, they were not recorded and were forgotten until their "remarkable discovery" by Dr Howard Falcon-Lang.

I don't think the slides are particularly important for science, but more so as history. In fact, their unimportance for science demonstrates one of the great strengths of science. It shows yet again why the modern Darwinian theory of evolution, which explains how every single living thing on this planet is related because it all came from a single ancestor, is greatly superior to every alternative explanation of the origin of the vast variety of life on Earth today, from carrots, to humans, to cats, to bacteria, to poison ivy: we all related, and the modern scientific theory that began with Darwin's publication of the The Origin Of Species in 1859 explains how it is so.

Intriguingly, Darwin was not the first to have this idea. I remember my amazement when at university I read a very similar idea in the long philosophical poem De Rerum Natura by the Roman poet Lucretius, in which he imagines mindless particles first bumping into each other, then sticking together in ever more complex arrangements until we get human beings. And then again, there are similar ideas in the 18th century philosopher David Hume. But Darwin is special because he did what no one else had done before: he turned a great idea into a great idea with a mass of solid, factual support. Darwin made the idea solid science. And since Darwin's day, the amount of evidence supporting the theory of evolution has grown enormously.

It amazes me that so many, especially in the US, hate and refuse to believe that the theory if true - they tend to be Christians and other religious types completely blinded by their strong faith in non-existent supernatural beings. (Sorry, but I can't think of a single good reason to believe that any of the thousands of gods, demons, ghosts, spirits, pixies, elves, santas, fairies and other supernatural beings that humans have believed in might actually be real). Of course, all they need do is present a single piece of evidence that conflicts with Darwin's theory, and that will be the end of it. But after more than 150 years of trying, no one has ever presented any solid evidence, or even a strong reason, against the Darwinian theory of evolution. And as is usual with scientific theories, this one has itself evolved as more research has suggested refinements and new developments.

Even without the fossils that Darwin collected, his ideas lasted because, provided the relevant conditions are met (you might, for example, need a billion dollar Large Hadron Collider to do the experiment or make the observation), every scientific theory can be tested anywhere at any time - experiments and facts have to be verifiable and repeatable, and they can always be proven false. The loss of Darwin's fossils for 165 years was unfortunate, but it was not a problem for science: this theory has not yet been proved wrong. Their recovery is lucky for history, especially the history of science and culture.

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References

Lost Charles Darwin fossils rediscovered in cabinet. (2012, January 16). BBC News. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16578330

Another helping of Korea

2012-01-15T19:12:00.001+07:00

On Sundays, I usually meet up with friends for lunch at one of the hotels near my home, so I do also browse the food section of the local papers, and sometimes something in The New York Times food section also catches my eye, even if it's only of academic interest.

A couple of days ago, Sam Sifton wrote about the joys of David Chang's version of bo ssam, a Korean pork dish, as served his Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York's Manhattan district (2011). In "The Bo Ssam Miracle", Sifton not only presents Chang's basic recipe, but also praises his magnanimity in including the recipe in a recently published cookbook, thereby making it possible for home cooks to make it at considerably less than the $200 price in Chang's restaurant, although as Sifton notes, you get enough for 6 to 10 people for your money. According to the article, the popularity of Chang's version of bo ssam is no longer limited to New York. The owner has recently opened a restaurant in Sydney, where the dish has also gone down extremely well.

I was very relieved when I read the last bit: that Chang has opened a restaurant in Sydney. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sifton's rough account of how to prepare bo ssam, but it seemed a bit time consuming and involved. I'll be perfectly happy to pay someone else to do it for me, and probably rather better than I'm likely to manage. Or perhaps I can give the book to my youngest brother as a gift: he loves cooking and has an extremely well equipped kitchen. $23 for the book at Amazon seems like good value for money.

But one of my traditions is to go back home for a week over Songkran, and my family has grown accustomed to us eating out at least three or four times during that week, and Korean would make a nice change to the French and Italian restaurants that are our custom, along with daily visits to coffee shops. As I was reading the recipe and description, it also reminded of one of my mum's traditional ways of cooking duck - long, slow cooking, so that the meat almost falls apart into a rich pool of juices. Every year when I'm back, we have a family dinner at her home, and she always cooks that dish, although these days, "cooking" really means "inviting the immediate family and a few extended members to a bit meal". My youngest sister and my brother end up doing the actual cooking. Mother and the rest of us enjoy watching and smelling as we wait.

And although I had a large lunch today, now I'm hungry again. Fortunately, I have another food custom: I visit Siam Paragon after class on Saturdays (too crowded on Sundays, but Saturdays are OK), where the supermarket has an excellent soup bar, amongst other things, so I have a couple of tubs of soup to enjoy with bread and butter.

And I'm looking forward to Songkran, when "The Bo Ssam Miracle" can become of more than academic interest.

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References

Sifton, S. (2012, January 12). The Bo Ssam Miracle. The New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/magazine/the-bo-ssam-miracle.html

Why is ignorance so popular?

2012-01-12T16:56:00.002+07:00

In his famous essay On Liberty, the philosopher John Stuart Mill explains very clearly in chapter 2 why free speech is a necessary condition for knowledge on a topic, how censorship necessarily guarantees ignorance, thereby debasing the worth of any opinion on the censored topic. Sadly, governments around the world continue to ignore this very practical consideration as they enforce ignorance on their own citizens. In Germany, it is illegal to say that the appalling official execution of millions of Jews did not occur in the Second World War, in England, it is illegal to protest that god hates British soldiers (the US does better: its Supreme Court last year affirmed that the First Amendment to the Constitution allows vile Christian groups to protest publicly, even at funerals, that god hates US soldiers because America treats gay and lesbian people as human persons). The latest example of wilful ignorance for dubious reasons which I've learnt about comes from South Korea.

Choe Sang-Hun reports in "South Korean Law Casts Wide Net, Snaring Satirists in a Hunt for Spies" (2012) that the National Security Law, which "makes it a crime to praise, sympathize or cooperate with North Korea if such acts threaten national security" (p. 2, ¶ 4), continues to be used in a seemingly arbitrary way, which the United Nations Human Rights Commission and other rights groups argue violates the rights of South Korean citizens. As Sang-Hun explains, the dangerously vague wording leads not only to injustice, but absurdity, for example in the case of Park Jung-geun, whose satirical work, obviously making a joke of North Korea, led to the seizure of his computer and repeated interrogations by police, for art work which he describes as "obviously harmless to anyone who’s not language-impaired" (p. 2, ¶ 11).

As I've already suggested, apart from the immorality of such laws, I can't understand why the South Korean government does not want it's citizens to be able to have any well-founded, well-balanced and well supported opinions about the situation in North Korea, which is so truly awful that solid, tested opinions would almost certainly be even more negative than most already are. On any objective evidence, North Korea is a disaster, and of course, it also shows the results of censorship and the denial of free speech. North Korea is an economic disaster because decisions are based not on evidence, reason or healthy argument and disagreement, but by ideology. North Korean law does not allow its citizens to access different opinions or to state different opinions; the certain result is that errors, mistakes and wrong opinions cannot possibly be corrected, and the results are obvious: disaster for the North Korean people, economically, socially and politically as they worshipped their "Dear Leader" until recently and now his son. I am sure that the opinions of North Korean's about their despotic leaders is sincere, but sincerity does not make any opinion true, or right. And the opinions of North Koreans about their legally protected leaders are largely false and worthless. And this worthlessness is a direct result of the censorship the protects them from any criticism: it also protects opinion about them from truth or reasonableness.

I think South Koreans can be trusted to realise these truths about the situation in North Korea, and if some disagree, surely it is better to have that opinion openly stated so that it can be addressed and rebutted. The same is true for the laws in Germany that prevent people saying that the Nazi government did not legally kill millions of Jews. Such opinions are very offensive, vile and generally disgusting, as well as being false, but it seems to me much better to let people say them, present their evidence, and be proved wrong, again, and again, and again. Just because an idea is insulting, offensive or vile is not a good reason to ban it. Those are very good reasons to argue against it, but if it can't be openly and peacefully stated, how can anyone argue against it, and thereby persuade people that it's wrong?

The opinions and actions of the Westboro Christian church in the US, who make anti-gay protests at the funerals of American soldiers killed fighting for their country ("Even Hurtful Speech", 2011; Liptak, 2011), are extremely offensive, I think they are a hateful group of religious people, but I also agree with the decision by the US Supreme Court last year that US law must allow them to preach their ugly message of hate, intolerance and unreason. And the historical evidence is clear: it's commitment to protecting the right to free speech of its citizens from government interference has not destroyed the United States of America: long the most powerful nation the world has ever known, and also pretty well off economically to the benefit of its residents.

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References

Even Hurtful Speech [Editorial]. (2011, March 2). The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/opinion/03thu2.html

Liptak, A. (2011, March 2). Justices Rule for Protesters at Military Funerals. The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/us/03scotus.html

Sang-Hun, C. (2012, January 7). South Korean Law Casts Wide Net, Snaring Satirists in a Hunt for Spies. The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/world/asia/south-korean-law-casts-wide-net-snaring-satirists-in-a-hunt-for-spies.html

The Relaxed Country

2012-01-10T21:05:00.006+07:00

We Aussies often think of our home as "the lucky country", where most have enjoyed a high standard of living for our short recorded history, since taking the country from its original inhabitants, who have not since been so lucky. But it appears that we might deserve the reputation for being a laid back country even more than is usually thought.

In "Marijuana Use Most Rampant in Australia, Study Finds", Matt Siegel (2012) reports that a recent paper in the prestigious Lancet reports that Australia and New Zealand are joint winners in the international marijuana use stakes, with a full 15% of those aged 15 to 64, having used the drug in 2009, although this high figure is actually lower than in previous years. The authors of the report explain that the high incidence of use of this illicit drug is caused by both geographical and social factors: it grows readily in the Australian climate, in remote areas that are hard to monitor effectively, and it is commonly seen, like alcohol, "as a drug just to use to have a good time" (¶ 7), so much so that it "is widely accepted if not openly condoned"(¶ 10), with some states legislating to make possession of small quantities legal.

I have to admit, the results in this report did not surprise me. It's well known by everyone in the area where my family lives that marijuana is grown all over the place, mainly for personal use, but also for profit, and since the foolish and unjust laws ensure high prices, it is very profitable. I think the report is interesting since it is further evidence that that the idea some people have against legalising drugs that legalisation will lead to an increase in use is wrong. It's already so readily available and common in Australia that making it legal is unlikely to lead to anyone else using it. It will be interesting to watch how the usage statistics vary over the next few years once it becomes legal in some states of Australia. My prediction is that the trend towards lower use will continue. As the experience of other countries, such as Portugal, show, there is no strong correlation at all between the legality of a drug and the rate of use amongst people, although making drugs illegal does encourage corruption, keep prices high and waste valuable police resources, whilst harming decent people, especially young people, by giving them criminal records. Consistent with this is that fact the amphetamine use is rising in Australia, again, with zero correlation to its legal status, but perhaps related to social perceptions about what is and is not trendy.

Unfortunately, alcohol has always been trendy in Australia, and remains the number one drug problem, as it is in most countries, although as the report also notes, whilst "barely 1 percent of deaths in Australia annually can be attributed to illegal drugs" (¶ 12), a much larger 12% of deaths are caused by cigarettes, a far more deadly and socially harmful drug than any of the currently illegal drugs. But again, both alcohol and cigarette smoking seem to be more related to social beliefs and acceptability than to any legal or government action. People smoke less because it's no longer socially acceptable as it was 30 years ago, but despite repeated government educational campaigns, alcohol is very commonly used in Australia. Indeed, my own young nieces and nephews seem incapable of going to a party and not drinking a lot, and then posting about it on Facebook, and I think they're pretty normal, healthy, responsible kids (they're actually in their early twenties now, but I still think of them as kids), it's just that the social perception of alcohol makes it a very common drug to use. Although there is one change over the past few decades: people have realised that it is immoral to drink and drive, and that is now very uncommon in Australia. People just don't do it any more, and the result has been a dramatic reduction in road deaths from when I was a child and they were in the paper every day. Again, I don't think was a result of any change in the law, but a change in cultural beliefs that occurred over a period of time. I think it's OK if people want to get blotto provided that they do not harm or put other people at risk when they do so.

__________

References

Siegel, M. (2012, January 6). Marijuana Use Most Rampant in Australia, Study Finds. The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/world/asia/marijuana-use-most-rampant-in-australia-study-finds.html

Welcome to AEP Reading and Writing 5 + Have Your Say

2012-01-08T19:11:00.000+07:00

Thank you for registering for the Reading and Writing level 5 class in AUA's Academic English Program (AEP).

Over the next six weeks we will be working through one or two chapters in Hartmann and Blass's Quest 3 Reading and Writing [Quest] (2007), which is probably already familiar to some of you from level 4 in a previous term, or perhaps even more familiar. As usual, we will be doing both a a bit more writing than Quest asks for and a bit more reading.

And this being 2012, we will be using the tools that are normal in modern academic institutions: email, the internet and so on; academics and students no longer submit their written work on scraps of paper, and we won't be doing that either.

I hope that you find the class both enjoyable and challenging so that our six weeks together will be productive and pleasant.

And if you ever have any question about anything, please feel welcome to ask us in class, email me, or write it up here on our class blog (Peter, 2011b).

Have Your Say

I have some overall plans for the term, and more specific class plans for the coming week and for each day, but since we can also be flexible, I have a couple of questions for discussion.

The first one follows up the poll on how many pages a student in an academic English course at this level should reasonably aim and be expected to read every day. After you cast your vote in the poll, please feel welcome to add a comment below supporting your answer, and if necessary, explaining why your classmates who favour a different number should change their minds.

You might like to follow up by reading "AEP, Academic English and TOEFL: common threads" (Peter, 2011a), skimming through TOEFL iBT Tips: How to Prepare for the TOEFL iBT (Educational Testing Services, 2008), and then adding another comment or two to share your ideas on what we should and should not do in this class, both in class and out of class.

__________
References
Educational Testing Services. (2008). TOEFL iBT Tips: How to Prepare for the TOEFL iBT. Retrieved January 8, 2012 from http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/TOEFL_Tips.pdf

Hartmann, P. & Blass, L. (2007). Quest 3 Reading and Writing, (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Peter. (2011a, February). AEP, Academic English and TOEFL: common threads.Class Blog - AEP at AUA. Retrieved January 8, 2012 from http://peteraep.blogspot.com/p/aep-academic-english-and-toefl-some.html

Peter. (2011b, February). AEP, Blogging our class. Class Blog - AEP at AUA. Retrieved January 8, 2012 from http://peteraep.blogspot.com/p/blogging-our-class.html

Social network sites and Brains

2011-10-24T21:49:00.006+07:00

Nowadays, internet is used for business, education, entertainment, and so on. It is very useful for human. Many people in the world use internet to connect with their friends. This way is very popular in society because it's easy and cheaper than phone and it has many functions, for example, sharing photo, face time, and so on. We know many benefit of internet, but we don't know what internet could be affect with our brains.

According to " Internet 'may be changing brains' " on BBC News, researchers told us social network sites might be changing human's brains, but they couldn't tell us it's good or bad. They have found that the number of Facebook friends linked to some interesting brain regions. In previous research show it linked to amygdala which is associated with memory and emotional response. In this research, Dr Heidi Johansen-Berg, reader in Clinical Neurology at the University of Oxford's Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, said this study found only a weak relationship. At least, he thought the number of Facebook friends may be depend on how much time to use Facebook or what mobile phone you have.

In my opinion, I agree with this research because I believe that internet could be affect to my brain and I also think it's a bad effect. When I used internet such as Facebook, I really spend many time to see it. I usually look at my Facebook, although it don't have anything. I know it's a bad habit and I want to get it out. I feel like my mind want to look on my Facebook. The big problem for me is when I want to my homework in my notebook, I often enter to my Facebook first for long times. That make me assure that Facebook has a bad effect to my brain, except some websites that have actually benefit, because I believe that it make my brain no active. This is just my opinion and what do you think with this? You agree or disagree with me and this research.

References

Helen Briggs., (2011, October 19). Internet 'may be changing brains'. BBC News.Retrieved October 24 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15353397

Is Stephen Law right? Is it (normally) morally wrong to eat meat?

2011-10-23T18:21:00.000+07:00

Now that you have had a chance to see his arguments, you might like to vote in the new poll, and add a comment below to support your answer, especially if you still think that Law is wrong. In the poll, I've added the word normally because Law's short essay is addressing the normal situation for most people, for people such as us (2003), not extreme or unusual situations, in some of which he would certainly allow that eating meat was not only morally acceptable, but that it was morally required to kill animals to be eaten.

If he is wrong, why? What argument has be missed? Where does he make a mistake in his persuasive essay?

If you agree with Law, you might like to come to his defence, since I am sure that at least some people in our class will continue to disagree with Law.

I like the essay because it demonstrates very neatly a couple of points in academic writing that are very relevant to the persuasive essay from Quest which you are also working on at the moment. However, I'm not trying to convert anyone to vegetarianism - I am not vegetarian, and I disagree with Law, but that is not a good reason for you to disagree with him; after all, I might be completely wrong. And it's a well written little essay.

__________

References

Law, S. (2003). Carving the roast beast. In The Xmas Files (p.124 – 140). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Pylon design competition

2011-10-19T00:11:00.010+07:00

How do you think about pylons? Is it beautiful or ugly? If you have an image about pylons as huge strange lattice structures damaging scenery around them, you will change your mind when you read this news.

According to Pylon design competition revealed in the BBC online news, Department of Energy and Climate Change and energy firm National Grid in the UK organized the pylon competition encouraged by increasing need of a number of pylon to connect new renewable energy plants such as wind, nuclear and hydroelectric power, resulting from trying to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. The winner is T-pylon designed by Bystrup, Danish engineering firm, and get a 5,000 pounds prize. T-pylon is much shorter and smaller than existing pylons. Most existing pylons are about 50m in height and 30 tones in weight whereas T-pylon is about 32m in height and 20 tones in weight. This means new designed T-pylon is less intrusive. Another five runners-up receive a 1,000 pounds prize each.

Actually, I do not like the winner's design, T-pylon. I think it seems very simple but it may be more practical than the others. There are also many interesting pylon designs in this competition and you can see all of them from this link http://www.ribapylondesign.com/gallery. In my view, it is a good idea to redesign something that blight scenery such as pylon to blend with its environment. It makes more value in addition to its functionality. For example, dams which function to irrigate land or crops can be tourist attractions if they have a beautiful design. In Thailand, I think there are many things are messy and blight scenery such as the disorder of wires on electric post. What do you think there are anything in Thailand that should be redesign most?

__________

References

Pylon design competition winner revealed (2011, October 14). BBC News. Retrieved October 19, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15293918

People on Shame

2011-10-18T04:30:00.000+07:00

Allan was left for dead after a vicious attact

I have a friend who cares about children very much so when an issue about children comes in a newspaper, he explodes his rage to the assaulter. Even when accidents including children victims happened, he did same thing to the absolute being in the heaven. The very friend called me yesterday to check internet news about children's terrible scene in Africa. While reading the news, suddenly, Peter's comment on our blog came up to my mind " The most violent societies are almost always traditional, primitive cultures."

According to BBC News "Where child sacrifice is a business", there are posters warning of the danger of abduction by witch doctors for the purpose of child sacrifice in Uganda's capital, Kampala. It is reported that from the 3 years ago, with a boom in the country's economy, the ritual that sacrifices children for the wealth and health has re-emerged. According to the police, they investigated 25 alleged ritual murders in 2008, and 29 children in 2009. However,Jubilee Campaign UK-based charity says in a report " The true number of cases is in the hundreds, and claims more than 900 cases have not been investigated by the police." Many people believe members of the country's elite including police are corrupted by the witch doctors, and police excuses that there is a lack of resources and there is no evidence to take the suspects to the court.

This is the Awali's words who boasted he had sacrificed children many times "We can bury the child alive on your construction site, or we cut them in different places and put their blood in a bottle of spiritual medicine." This was recorded by undercover reporter who approached to him disguising as a businessman who was looking for a child sacrifice to bring prosperity. After meeting him, the team handed out information to the police. However, It is said that he is still a free man.

There should be hope in children's eyes in any continents; the eyes of Afghan children who are smoking marijuana after hard working and the eyes of the girls who were raped by their school teachers and the eyes of Ugandan children who are gripped by fear. In Korea, there is a movie playing now titled "Dogani" which is dragging a whole nations attention. This was filmed based on the true story which happened a few years ago. Some school staff including the principal raped teenagers who are deaf in a disabled school, but the offenders just sentenced probation and got free and went back their same routine and the filthy incident seemed to disappear. However, a brave female author wrote a novel about the case and they shot the movie. Now, this movie is giving all nations huge shame. I think that the elites in Uganda and those in Korea are same, no difference; live in primitive cultures.

__________

References

Rogers, C. (2011, October 11). Where child sacrifice is a business. BBC News. Retrieved October 18 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15255357

How we know that we need supplements or not?

2011-10-17T20:24:00.000+07:00

Although it is the place for us to seek doctors and get medicine and treatment, in the hospital you still can find supplements store and you can buy. Sometime it's difficult to distinguish supplements or medicine from doctors when a person eats it after meal in front of you. When I read "Vitamins linked with higher death risk in older women" on the BBC News website, How we know that we need supplements or not? Not all doctors agreed with supplements.

The BBC reports that experts believe supplements is needed when a person is deficient in a nutrient and they can harm if a person takes more than enough. According to Drs Christian Gluud and Goran Bjelakovic, who review research for the Cochrane Database of System Reviews to evaluate best evidence said that supplements use from preventing deficiency now become promoting wellness and prevent diseases. They said:" We believe that for all micro nutrients, risks are associated with insufficient and too- large intake." According Helen of British Dietetic Association, people should get all the vitamins and minerals from balance diet. She said that too much vitamins and minerals can create toxic in the body.

I believe that supplements that we take can promote wellness and prevent diseases. If our diet is poor this can compromise our immune system and we become easy to get sick like cold and flu. We need all the vitamins and minerals to keep our immune system to work properly and protect us from infection and diseases. Supplements is needed when we don't eat balance diet every day. Now days, it is very difficult to get the balance foods unless you prepare it at home. People who are working have limited time too and sometime they just grab the frozen food from 711 near the house on the way home from work and put in microwave. How to cook the food is very important too. When you cook to long can destroy the nutrition in it.

When my family were sick and went to doctor in the hospital, they gave us medicine all the time. They almost never gave vitamins like vitamin C. They don't agree that vitamin c can help the body to be strong and it make the body get well faster. What do you think?

Too much supplements can create toxin in the body and harm in the body but I am not sure what they are because I don't study it. Please give your input or opinion about this.

References

Vitamins linked with higher death risk in older women. (2011, October 11). BBC News. Retrieved October 17, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15238610

Did Van Gogh not kill himself ?

2011-10-17T19:50:00.002+07:00

If we talk about a painting, nobody don't know the Starry Night or Cafe Terrace. It's a famous painting in the world. It was created in the impressionism period by Vincent van Gogh. He was well known as a Dutch post-Impressionist. In his biography, it indicated that he was sick in which a painful anxiety was a serious mental illness, and it also indicated that he was killed by himself, shoot into his chest. Recently, I saw the news told me that he wasn't suicidal.

According to "Van Gogh did not kill himself, authors claim" on BBC News, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith told the BBC that it was shot accidentally by two boys he knew who had a malfunctioning gun. They believed that he did not go into the wheat fields with the intention of shooting himself, but the assertion that the bullet passed his upper abdomen from an oblique angle, not straight, different from a suicide. They claimed he decide to protect two boys because that boy was his brother. They want to admire him as his achievement.

This is a surprising news when I saw it on BBC news. The most people thought him mad and suicidal because he was very hard core. He could cut his ear when he quarreled with his girlfriend. It's a abnormal behavior. If you have a normal mind, you can not decide to cut your ear. Even so when I saw this news, I have change my mind because he was actually a good man. He helped his brother from society's indictment. Finally, I'm very appreciate him and I also admire his paintings because it's very nice and beautiful. Although he was died, but his paintings were still admired from people around the world.

______

References:
Van Gogh did not kill himself, authors claim. (2011, October 17) BBC News. Retrieved October 17, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15328583

Who should pay for medical treatment of anorexia nervosa?

2011-10-17T08:25:00.000+07:00

The "Room for Debate" section of the New York Times invites several experts to share their ideas on a topical issue, and a few days ago it was on a topic closely related to one we have been looking at the past few weeks: the nature and treatment of psychological disorders.

In "Should Insurers Pay for Eating Disorders?", there is a brief introduction to the issue, giving relevant background, and then the discussion questions, on which the four debaters share their ideas.

What do you think?
Whose arguments do you agree with? Why?
Whose arguments do you disagree with? Why?
And what is your answer to these sorts of questions?

__________

References

Should Insurers Pay for Eating Disorders? (2011, October 15). The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/10/14/should-insurers-pay-for-eating-disorders

Something you thought you knew but is Wrong.

2011-10-14T09:46:00.000+07:00

There were a lot of things that I thought I clearly knew, but actually my understanding was wrong. For example, I thought the red color made bulls angry, but they are in fact colorblind and charge a cape because a matador is waving it. Besides, the Caesar Salad was not named after Julius Caesar but it was named after a chef named Caesar Cardini who invented such a menu at his restaurant in Tijuana. Today, I found another misunderstanding after reading a piece of news on BBC website. Interestingly, piranhas seem to bark more often than bite.

According to “Piranhas communicate with sound, say researcher”, Scientists have discovered that instead of attacking, piranhas use sounds to communicate and to threaten their rivals. Dr. Eric Parmentier, lead researcher from the University of Liege, Belgium, said that "For animals, it's less expensive to make a lot of noise and impress the other guys, rather than fight”. His team has also indicated that there were piranhas’ three different noises. To display themselves, piranhas make a distinct bark while confronting one another but not fighting. Moreover, piranhas produce a drum-like beat when they chase one another, and a softer croak is made while biting each other because of snatching food. Although he got a lot of useful information, Dr. Parmentier and his team hope to go on to study the fish in their Amazon River home to find out more about their acoustic repertoire.

Thankfully, this piece of news gets rid of my misconception about piranhas, which was given by Hollywood films that has always presented the Amazon fish as the nasty predator. This news also reminds me of common misunderstandings about Thailand. Many foreign people think that my developing country still uses elephants as public transportation. Additionally, some tourists regard Thailand as the land of smile because they think we are so happy all the time. In fact for Thai people, smiling is used for expressing various emotions, such as embarrassment, confusion, or even worry. However, I like these misunderstandings because they lead to the raise of income from travel business. Unfortunately, there is one wrong belief about Thai women which has often concerned us. It is said that the majority of Thai women are taking part in prostitution. Although it really exists in my country, prostitution is not the most popular occupation in Thailand. It is not fair for a number of women who are good mothers, competent teachers, or even the prime minister. Even if I do not clearly know how to change it, I hope someday we can correct this undesirable misunderstanding.

__________

References

Gill, V.(2011, October 13). Piranhas communicate with sound, say researchers. BBC News. Retrieved October 14, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15274875

A Party or a Funeral

2011-10-13T18:06:00.004+07:00

Have you ever wondered why often hear gunshots in the new year day? I have heard gunshots occurs in various celebrations. However, this incident is still not to find the reasons why it happen. Moreover, in Thailand, no one can find a way to solve this problem.

According to "Who, What, Why: How dangerous is firing a gun into the air?" on the BBC News website, there are many people who died from a gunshot which was fired into the air in celebration. For example, in Philippines, there are three people who died from a gunshot which fired into the air on New Year's Day. In addition, the most sad events is happen in Turkey, the bridegroom killed three relatives by gunfire celebrating in his wedding. Some countries have said that firing a gun into the air is forbidden, especially in Yugoslavia, the government has run a campaign poster with the slogan "Bullets Are Not Greeting Cards - Celebrate Without Weapons".(¶11)

I have heard the news about this accident. For instance, in Thailand, a child who swim in the indoor swimming pool had been shot by the bullet which through the ceiling. I think this action is wrong, even if they are fired into the air to celebrate or to anything because it can cause people to die from bullets, and even if no injuries or deaths from this event, but it was able to make others feel unwelcome. For example, I went to the mountains with my family on New Year's Day, while I was selpt, I heard the sound from a gun, everyone was shocked and felt angry. However, the staffs could not do anything about it, for they thought this action was to celebrate the New Year. Now I have wonder that the government cannot solve this problem or they can but do not do it.

What do you think? Is this action right or wrong?

__________

References

Who, What, Why: How dangerous is firing a gun into the air? (2011, August 22). BBC News. Retrieved October 13, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14616491

Carlson shoots Candy's dog - Right or Wrong?

2011-10-12T12:44:00.006+07:00

In chapter three of his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck presents the shooting of Candy's dog by the selfishly motivated Carlson as a humane and morally right act. It is true that Carlson's motives are largely selfish: he wants to get rid of the awful smell of the dog. However, Steinbeck goes to some trouble to make clear that there are very good reasons why killing the old dog is the right thing to do. First is the fact that it really is very old; as a result, it is in poor health, "suffers hisself all the time" (2006, p. 50), and can't even eat solid food. Everyone, even Candy, agrees that this is true, that the sick old dog no longer enjoys its life but is in constant pain and suffering. To candy's objection that "maybe it'd hurt him" (p. 51), Carlson points out that he would do it so that there would be no pain from the shooting to the back of the head. Again, all the workers, including Candy, accept this. In his last desperate effort to avoid his dog being shot, Candy appeals to Slim, whose answer finally ends the discussion. Slim says that even for humans, such as himself, it is better to die or even be killed when life has reached such a miserable state. Yet again, everyone agrees to this. Steinbeck's novel presents no disagreement to the idea that killing a dog, or even a person, can be the kind and decent thing to do under some circumstances. Finally, Candy himself immediately afterwards comes to realise that shooting his dog is the right thing to do, except that "[He] ought to of shot that dog [him]self," (p. 69) rather than passing that responsibility to his loyal and loved companion to the stranger Carlson, as he admits to George. Apart from Carlson's selfish initial motivation, everything in chapter three, the dog's condition, the men's responses and the consequences, show the shooting of Candy's dog as a kind and just action.

_________________________________

But do you agree with Steinbeck's presentation of the shooting?

Was Carlson really right to shoot the dog?
Should Slim have endorsed it as a humane and necessary act?
Was Candy right to agree to it?
Should Candy really have done it himself?

If you have looked at many internet sources, you probably already know that a lot of people have wanted Steinbeck's novel banned ever since Of Mice and Men was first published in 1937, making it the current number 5 entry on the American Library Association's list of most often challenged books of this century, more than 70 years after it was first published (2010)! (Those evil Harry Potter books currently top the list of books that people want banned.)
One reason for these challenges is the violence in the story, and there is plenty of violence in the action packed chapter 3. A second reason is that Steinbeck presents some things that some people dislike in a positive or at least neutral way. My question concerns the first act of physical violence there, the killing of Candy's dog (Steinbeck, 2006), which is a crucial event in the novel, one which we need to understand, and an act which is therefore worth discussing.

Add your ideas in response to anything here as a comment below, or if you prefer, make a new post to present and explain your ideas.

__________

References

American Library Association. (2010). Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009. Retrieved October 11, 2011 from http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/2000_2009/index.cfm

Steinbeck, J., (2006). Of Mice and Men. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

Flooding

2011-10-11T18:47:00.008+07:00

Are you prepare to protect your area from the flood?

No one want to face flooding. It is a normally caused by natural that can happened all the time and anywhere. Maybe from heavy rainfall, high tides, storm or thunder from another country, or dam broken. No matter what cause is, it damages in many areas. This year, Thailand has worst affected from flooding not only in countrysides, but also Bangkok Metropolis.

According to Thailand races to defend Bangkok from floods on BBC News website, At least 270 Thai people have died in floods since July. More than 700,000 homes have been destroyed and many people are homeless. In Ayutthaya province has worst affected areas. North of Thailand where are faraway from flooding are also floods. Moreover, high tides arrived in many areas of Bangkok now. Thai workers are hurry up to build flood walls of sandbags in Bangkok but it has a problem that sandbags are not enough for floods. However, the government is trying to fix a shortage of sandbags. Also, basic foods such as rice, noodle, water and food cans on supermarket shelves are empty now.

I can't remember flooding in 1995. Many people said flooding in 1995 had been worst affected but I heard prediction on news that flooding in this year will have worst affect more than in 1995. One of my friend has traditional house at Ayutthaya province has been damaged now. My father's office at Laoprao is also flood but it is just in front of the door. Although, my house is not risk areas, we prepare for flood by saving food and moving stuffs.

I heard announcement that who have a car can park at Don Muang Airport and they have helping zone at domestic terminal. Who have blackberry, iPhone, facebook, or anything that you can broadcast, please tell this announcement to your friends or people you know. We have to help each other.

"Thais do not leave Thais."

__________

References

Thailand races to defend Bangkok from floods. (2011, October 11). BBC News. Retrieved october 11, 2011. from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15255038

Dream of an African Fashion Designer

2011-10-11T17:36:00.006+07:00

How does a fashion designer get inspiration for his cloth collections? Several designed clothes are exhibited on fashion catwalk which new design. Some of those, people cannot put them on in daily life because they are very vivid color, conspicuous design ,and strange clothing. However, it plays a significant role in a fashion industry nowadays. Likely, Alexander McQueen, a British fashion designer, got the idea of comparing strength with fragility and adapted it for his collections.

According to "African Dream: Nigeria's Lisa Folawiyo" in the BBC news, Folawiyo L., the founder and creative director of Jewel by Lisa, has designed not only glamour clothes but also fully qualified clothes. She improved the fabric that originated from traditional Indonesian batik which are not bright enough, so "she decided to embellish them with beads, sequins and crystals, all sewn by hand, and the chic combination became an instant success." Now, she is a successful entrepreneur in the fashion industry that well know from Logos to Cape Town, London, Paris, New York and Hollywood, and she believe that "there is still room in the industry for new entrepreneurs."

I always appreciate many people that have creative thinking to develop useful things in order to become better ways. These new ideas has continually changed our world for a long time. Not only has fashion industry developed, but it also causes human life getting more convenient. Once, people had to contact via a PAPER letter, but now we can communicate via an Electronic Mail.

References

"African Dream: Nigeria's Lisa Folawiyo". (2011, October10), BBC News, Retrieved October 11, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15241865

"Alexander McQueen-Fashion Designer (1969-2010)"., Design Museum, Retrieved October 11, 2011 from http://designmuseum.org/design/alexander-mcqueen

Brain 'rejects negative thoughts'

2011-10-10T21:15:00.006+07:00

Do you know how to reduce a risk to be diseases? Anyone want to be a healthiness, without diseases. They tried to take care of ourselves and search for cause of a disease to avoid it. The most people think a food is a important factor and I think so. As this epigram "you are what you eat". However, exercise is also important. For this news, it make me recall to another factor that is important to increase a risk to be diseases.

According to " Brain 'rejects negative thoughts' " on BBC News, it's a study, published in Nature Neuroscience which suggests that the brain can work well when it processes good news about the future. From experiment, the scientists at University College London rated 14 people for level of optimism and tested them in a brain scanner. Its result found that the brain had more activity in the brain's frontal lobes when they received good news. Nevertheless, when they received bad news, the brain had least activity. For this reason, because the brain will reject negative thoughts, so it will work least. It shows that the brain choose and pick information to receive. however, the optimism seem to be good for our health.

For this news, I think it's useful to everybody because it help us to know how to be healthy. In my opinion, I think mood is important because I believe that if my mood is good, I feel happy and endophins was run. I think endophins can help me healthy. I have ever heard about research of mental that relate to health extremely. I think we should concentrate or practice our mind, avoid strains because it cause to be diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and so on. However, I agree with this news and I will give precedence to my mind more and more because I want to be healthy and don't want to see a doctor.

__________

References

James Gallagher. Brain 'rejects negative thoughts'. (2011, October 9) BBC News, Retrieved October 10,2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15214080

Tali Sharot, Christoph W Korn & Raymond J Dolan. How unrealistic optimism is maintained in the face of reality. (2011 October, 9) BBC News, Retrieved October 10,2011 from http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.2949.html

What is happening in Tibet?

2011-10-10T01:12:00.000+07:00

In August, I read an article about a Tibetan monk who set himself alight and died, shouting slogans " We Tibetan people want freedom" of protesting against Chinese rule, which was already the second self-immolation in this year. At that time, I was surprised, so I wrote the article on my journal. However, this story did not end. The same protests happened twice in early this month; 3rd and 7th, resulting in one person dead.

The BBC News reported that "Tibetan youths self-immolate in protest at China rule". According to the UK-based lobby group Free Tibet, two Tibetan teenagers who had been expelled from a monastery had set themselves on fire in the street in Aba, Sichuan province, China, where is a large ethnic Tibetan Community, on Friday October 7th, and one of them had died. The Kirti monastery has been the center of repeated protests against Chinese government's rule which requires the Tibetan monks to attend re-education programs. Three monks have been sentenced to prison for helping the previous self-immolation which occurred in August. China said that the monks have been engaged in acts aimed at disturbing social order whereas many Tibetans have complained about growing domination of ethnic Han Chinese in Tibet, and accuse the government of trying to dilute their culture. Free Tibet says dozens more monks appear to be ready to kill themselves soon.

When people are going to protest against the powerful authorities by sacrificing themselves, they may think that this is the last choice they can do. This practice that people commit suicides with the strong will has been conducted since ancient times. While I was reading this article, I wondered that why this extreme and tragic action should still exist in the modern world where people try to make people's life better. It seems that one of the possible answers is that even though human beings have achieved many physical benefits, we still have a long way to go when it comes to freedom. I don't know much about the history between China and Tibet. However, I believe that everyone in this world should be cared of equally regardless of the races or religions. Definitely, this Tibetan situation is not the problem between only two peoples concerned, but this is an impending homework for world to solve together.

__________

References

Tibetan monk burns himself to death in China. (2011, August 15). BBC News. Retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uknews/world-asia-pacific-14531538

Tibetan youths self-immolate in protest at China rule. (2011, October 7). BBC News. Retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15219298

What do you think about Apple after Steve Jobs?

2011-10-09T01:53:00.037+07:00

When I saw the news from TV last Wednesday morning, Steve Jobs has passed away after suffering from cancer. He was a man who has changed the world in my life time. I was wondering how the company will be without him. I am very sure that everybody will think the same after reading, "Apple Can stay ahead without Jobs at its core?" on the BBC News.

The BBC report that Steve Jobs has passed away after the company unveiled the iPhone 4S. It was presented by Tim Cook, the new CEO who replaced him last month, and the team. The style was completely different than Steve. "He's irreplaceable," said Tim Charlton, of Charlton Media Group. "There's nobody with his vision."(P10) The investors and fans of Apple have fear that the rivals will move faster than Apple. However, in his resignation letter, Mr Jobs said he believed "Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it".(P16) Many people aren't sure about this statement. "Product development is not just about getting the technological bit right - it's also also about the art of getting the look and feel and the timing of its launch right," Mr Bhat said.(P18) It is clear that Tim Cook has to come up with something soon to convince both costomers and investors that Apple can do well and Job's legacy continue live in Apple.

I am convinced that Apple will do well without him. Tim Cook can't replaced Steve Jobs. They are completely different from each other.We missed Steve, because he was special and very talented. He knew what he want and never give up, that why he has came this far. As I read, he has prepared an Apple University which is the place for Apple bosses to be more like Steve. It provides an executive training program with a team of experts. The idea is passing the DNA to future generations. So I believe he has planned before he passed away. People need time to adjust with Tim and if they love Apple, they will give a chance to Tim to prove it.

Apple have done well before without him, so this time they can do it too. His personality is in Apple.
Investors who are not sure maybe will leave them. However, for those who are in love Apple will stay.
I believe from his death, there will be people like me, new fan of Apple will come to join. What do you think? Do you have other reasons that Apple will stay or do you think Apple will be fail?

Please feel free to give your idea.

References

Can Apple stay ahead without Jobs at its core?( 2011, October 6). BBC News. Retrieved October 8, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15194356

Three Reasons Why Apple Will Survive Without Steve Jobs ( 2008, December 23). Cult of mac. Retrieved October 8, 2011 from http://www.cultofmac.com/6345/three-reasons-why-apple-will-survive-without-steve-jobs/

Steve Jobs Believes apple Will Be OK Without Him. (2011, May 8).Cult of mac.Retrieved October 8, 2011 from http://www.cultofmac.com/93945/steve-jobs-believes-apple-will-ok-without-him/

Steve Jobs Legacy Will live On In The Apple University.(2011, October 7). Cult of mac Retrieved October 8, 2011 from http://www.cultofmac.com/121798/steve-jobs-legacy-will-live-on-in-the-apple-university/

The Expense of Radical Development

2011-10-07T22:56:00.006+07:00

The deadly crash of two a high-speed trains left 40 people dead in China Wenzhou July 23. Two months later, two subway trains collided in Shanghai on Tuesday injuring more than 270 passengers, 20 critically. The two accidents quickly become the most talked in China. The alarm bells are ringing again, telling us that in economic development we cannot ignore safety.

According to "Shanghai subway crash 'was human error'" on BBC News, today chinese government announced the findings of Shanghai subway crash. "Three officials have been fired and nine penalised over the crash, which happened on 27 September". A subway rear-ended the other subway with 35km/h (22mph) speed. "Investigators said the accident was caused by a series of errors, starting with a signal failure". "The signal system failed after power was lost on a line undergoing repairs. Dispatchers then issued faulty instructions that caused the crash".

Tow similar accidents prompt public anger and renew concerns about China's aggressive rail building plans. they say that increasing speed should not come at a cost to public safety. Now China's cosmopolitan business hub is in the midst of an ambitious subway expansion plan. The Chinese government keen on if their rail speed is number one in the world, they care only that data. Their rapid development of railway traffic, but it misses the point that to people's lives at the expense of development is ridiculous. I have read some comments from forum, people say "what happened in Shanghai tells us that the government has not served its people whole-heartedly and can't even learn from mistakes"; "the Shanghai metro has rear-ended, look at how the lives of the ordinary people are a joke".

__________

References

(2011, October 7). Shanghai subway crash 'was human error'. BBC News. Retrieved October 7, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15211362

Lose weight by changing your mindset, is it enough?

2011-10-06T23:04:00.019+07:00

Do you know The Secret, which is a best-selling 2006 self-help book written by Rhonda Byrne?

I read this book 2 years ago. In The Secret, Rhonda Byrne tells us that this universe can be controlled by a natural law called the law of attraction, which teachs that you are what you believe. This law is worked by attracting people's life experiences, thought and feeling. Thus, positive thinking and feeling can create new positive changed results in your life such as better health, more happiness and increased wealth. Have you ever tried to loss your weight? I'm on diet to loss my weight now so I am interested in news about health.

According to Helen Briggs in Weight loss plan 'lacks evidence', a new behavioural approach to loss weight is changing mind set. This method is used to encourage people to improve health behaviour, it is successful in alcohol and drug addiction and smoking. Prof. Azeem Majeed and Dr.Nik Tuah of Imperial College London led this research about lossing weight by this technique in 1,834 overweight patients and 2,076 people with normal weight in the UK, US,Netherlands, Canada, and Australia. They found no convincing evidenceof significant weight loss. Prof Majeed told that "Chaging people's dietary patterns is very difficult - that's why we've got such a problem with obesity". In addition, a spokesperson for the charity, the British Nautritional Foundation, said "Chaging one's mindset is not enough. People need to eat less and excercise more to lose weight."

I was surprised about this news because I have my own direct experience about lossing weught by chaging my mindset. In 2009, I wanted to loss my weight 15 kg. After that, I told my friend and she suggested me that " First,you should change your mindset that you have a slender body already. Then you will act like a slender person such as eat less" I accepted to try this technique. In the beginning, I want my mindset know what I want to be clearly so I find a picture of slender woman with two piece swimsuits that show her a little abdominal muscle. Then, I did meditation to connect my thought and my mind and tell to my mind what I want to be peacefully. That might sound like I was crazy, but in fact, it was steps of chaging mindset. I looked at this picture I made and told what I want every morning. Finally, my dream didn't come true, I can't loss my weight. And I've learnt that the effective weight loss appoarch are diet and excercise with regularity.

What do you think about losing weight by changing your mindset?

_________

References

Helen Briggs. Weight loss plan 'lacks evidence'. ( 2011, October 6) BBC News. Retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15173639

Rhomda Byrne.(2006) The Secret. (2nd ed.). Atria Books Beyond Words Publishing.

Never Give up.

2011-10-06T17:43:00.000+07:00

When do you think that you are already successful? What is your milestone which you set to measure your achievement? For lazy childhood, they might felt successful when skipping class without getting caught. For a mother, success might be that her kid begins speaking only a few words. So, what is success that world-class scholars aim to gain? I think some scholars may regard the Nobel Prize as a good benchmark of achievement.

According to “Nobel win for crystal discovery” on BBC News, Daniel Shechtman, from Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, will gain the Noble Prize in chemistry for his discovery of the structure of quasicrystals. By quickly cooling molten metals, such as such as aluminum and manganese, Shectman could create quasicrystals. While observing through a microscopic, he found the structure of quasicrystals, sharps of which looked like irregular forms of the medieval Islamic mosaics of the Alhambra Palace in Spain. His first discovery had occurred in 1982; however, no scientist believed the results, and some said that Shectman was talking nonsense. So, Shectman had to spend a lot of time proving his theory. After working hard to verify the results, he could convince such scientists to accept his thought and was declared to win the 2011 Nobel Prize for chemistry.

I feel impressed with the Shectman’s achievement because not only did he find a structure which no one had ever seen, but also he did not give up to prove it. This is not a recent discovery because he has found the structure for about 29 years ago. That means it is a long time which he spend to fright for acceptance of those who rather looked down on him. "The head of my lab came to me smiling sheepishly, and put a book on my desk and said: 'Danny, why don't you read this and see that it is impossible what you are saying’”, said Shectman (¶13). Besides, his colleagues accused him of bringing a disgrace to the group and asked him to leave. Yet, he has never stopped proving his discovery until he reached the success at the end. For me, this is a good inspiring story. Intelligence helps you understand something, but perseverance helps other people understand you. I still cannot answer the question that what does success means? However, Shectman already tells us that if we want to be successful, we must not give in. The most successful people may not be the most intelligent, but he may be the one who tries to do something again and again.

__________

References

Carpenter, J. (2011, October 5). Nobel win for crystal discovery. BBC News. Retrieved October 6, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15181187

The Danger of Women

2011-10-06T15:34:00.003+07:00

There are many dangers that occur within our society, such as crime or theft. Women are often victims of these criminals, maybe it is because women are the weaker gender, so it makes them easy victims. Therefore, they should find a way to protect themselves.

According to "Woman raped in Plant Hill Park in Manchester" on the BBC News website, a woman aged 32 years was raped by being dragged into the bush while she walks through the Manchester park. The man who rape is higher than 6 feet, slim, unshaven and wearing a grey hooded top. From this incident, the police came out to announce to all women in this area walk home in groups and avoid walking in isolated places.

I think this problem is happens a lot in society today because each day I have heard the news of many women being raped, and most of them are teenagers. I agree that all women should be careful, but if they careful of themselves already why it still happens. For example, Thai teenager has been raped by being dragged to beneath the bridge when she was walking along the street during morning, and there are many cars on the road as well as she was dressed neatly, but why she still was raped. That is my doubt that this incidence happened because of women do not careful for yourself or criminals do not have ethics. In this reason, I think women should careful of themselves; moreover, the government should help to find a solution to this problem as well. Otherwise, the woman was a victim of society continual.

__________

References

Woman raped in Plant Hill Park in Manchester. (2011,October 6). BBC News. Retrieved October 6, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-15195192

Students' mental health 'at risk', psychiatrists warn

2011-10-05T02:06:00.004+07:00

In the past, we all have heard several depressing news about student's violence. For example, students commit a crime by killing their classmates or commit suicide. These problems may be originated from suppressing of anxiety and depression in the mind of the students continuously. There are many reasons causing of anxiety and depression such as stress from learning, friend relationship and pressure from the family. In this news, talks about student's mental health in university life.

According to "Students' mental health 'at risk', psychiatrists warn" in BBC News, today, the student has a greater risk of anxiety and depression than the student in the past. The Royal College of Psychiatrists says there are now many more students from less privileged backgrounds who are less prepared for university life. They are faced with rising debt and uncertain job prospects. Dr. John Callender said "Many are having to work long hours in paid work on top of full-time academic studies. Many are less well-supported by their families than was the case in years gone by". In addition, he adds that the reasons for this are results of increased rate of marital breakdown.

I agree with the statement that the current generation of students has a greater risk of anxiety and depression than previous ones. Today, children have to study a lot in tutorial schools at the low age instead of playing in the way of children in order to enter a good school. Parents who play an important role to discipline children should realize that only learning may make children lack of social skills and increase children's stress unnecessarily. Moreover, some families also use physical punishment to children. This makes the children have low self-esteem and have aggressive behaviors in the future.

__________

References

Students' mental health 'at risk', psychiatrists warn (2011, September 29). the BBC News, Retrieved October4, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15112980

Organ Donation

2011-10-04T20:48:00.008+07:00

Have you ever known about organ donation? I have known about it for a while and I used to ask myself if it is good for me to donate my organs for patients who really need them in order to keep their life. I think it is very useful because if I died, the organ I decided to donate would help someone’s life ,or, my body would become useless ash. However, my mother does not allow me to donate my organs because of her traditional and religious belief that if you donate your organ, the next life, you will be born with incompletely developed vital organs, less than thirty-two organs. Not only does my mom (Thai people) think about the belief, but also others people in Western countries.

As the news from the BBC news online, “Presumed consent plan: Wales supplies more organ donors,” it states about raising awareness of the issue in Wales can help increase organ donation rate. The research found that Wales consistently supplies more donors and donations than other UK nations. However, the Welsh government informed that family members should be firstly consulted to make the agreement.

Unexpectedly, the word “Body donation,” pops up in my head. Consequently, I am curious that between body donation and organ donation, which one is more useful.

In my view, I think it is the same importance depending on necessary need at that moment. If there was patient who needs a heart in order to implant in a rush to keep his life, so heart (organ) would be more useful. On the other hand, if there was not need organ, the body would be more useful because medical students can study anatomy from bodied called a professor. Those students will apply what they learned from the teacher to help other patients.

What do you think which one is more useful?

Anyway, my mom let me to donate my blood instead of donate organs and body.

__________

References

Presumed consent plan: Wales supplies more organ donors. (2011, October 4). the BBC News, Retrieved October4, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15154159

Because of Alcohol

2011-10-03T19:50:00.005+07:00

Have you ever drink some alcohol?

I remember I began drinking alcohol when I studied in university. I know is not good for me but I think I have to meeting and go to the party with friends and seniors in university society. Absolutely we had some alcohol in the party. When I went to the party, we had a lot of great time(Dance, drink and gossip) and bad time(Drunk). So, it made me close with friends and seniors. If I didn't go, I would not have known many people like this. But I drunk in limit because I don't want to lose my memory skills.

According to "What damage does alcohol do to our bodies?" on BBC News, drinking alcohol in average is good for some treats such as against heart disease and stop the formation of blood clots in the arteries. On the other hand, there are many disadvantage of people who drinking too much alcohol. As we know, it makes us feel headache and hangover in the morning. However, the research shows that a high alcohol is not only damage physical, but also mental heath. The risk of health conditions increase every year such as cancer, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver. Moreover, studied on fertility show drinking can make women less pregnant and men can lower sperm quality.

Dr Nick Sheron(who works the liver unit at Southampton General Hospital) said "People like having a drink, but they have to accept there's a risk-benefit ratio."

In my opinion, I think Dr Sheron said is right. People who like drinking an alcohol, they have to accept result of some diseases that will happen. Although, drinking alcohol has some benefits for treat some diseases, if we drink in limit. However, most people drink it in the wrong way. Some people drink alcohol because they have a problem ,or they are anxious. Nowadays, the number of alcoholism more increase everyday. As we can do is we have to remain people who we love and care.

So, let's start remain in our family, it will be good in our social life.

__________

References

Philippa Roxby. (2011, October 1). "What damage does alcohol do to our bodies?". BBC News. Retrieved October 3, 2011. from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15114325

Butter users and dealers - Monsters? Criminals? or what?

2011-10-03T19:10:00.000+07:00

Sometimes the lack of critical thinking in popular policy decisions made by governments is a bit scary. The alarming BBC News report "Denmark introduces world's first food fat tax" is a perfect example.

"Denmark introduces world's first food fat tax" reports that Denmark has passed laws to tax food that contain more than 2.3% of saturated fats in order to discourage Danish citizens from eating these foods, which include butter, pizza, meat and oils. In response, some citizens have begun hoarding the affected foods, whilst some scientists have suggested that it is not fat, but salty, sugary and processed carbohydrate foods that should be taxed to deter consumption.

What is wrong with this proposal? Why is it foolish? Perhaps more importantly, why don't the Danish scientists and politicians, and the BBC News, seem to realize how seriously flawed the reasoning is?

OK. We can let the BBC off the hook - there job is just to report, not give their opinion. Still, they could have requested an opinion to report that was not so defective. That would have provided some welcome balance against the unjust and irrational proposal.

Or am I wrong?
Is the Danish proposal both sensible and just? It is, after all, exactly the same line of reasoning that is typically used to justify such state interference as taxing cigarettes and alcohol, banning the smoking of cigarettes in restaurants, banning the sale of alcohol to mature adults, banning the sale and use of a range of drugs that many people enjoy, such as heroin, yaa baa and marijuana. If the fatty food tax is just and reasonable, then perhaps all those other things are, too, whilst if the fatty food tax is not just, then the same excuse will also fail for all of the other cases where it is used. A lot of government policy depends on whether this tax is fair and reasonable or not. So, in Thailand, should there be a high tax on fatty pork to discourage Thai citizens from eating such unhealthy things as khao kha muu (ข้าวขาหมู)? Does the Thai government have a duty to start taxing this tasty but unhealthy food along with durian, potato crisps, all deep fried food and so on?

What do you think? Is the tax on fatty foods, and the suggestion that sugary and salty foods also be taxed, a good idea or not? Why or why not? And remember, your arguments will also apply to taxes on tobacco and alcohol, and likely the legal status of many currently illegal substances.

Finally, this reminds me of the question I asked in response to Mur's post on whether rich Americans should be forced to pay higher taxes than they now do: since it means taking their property, what justifies any tax on citizens?

__________

References

Denmark introduces world's first food fat tax. (2011, October 1). BBC News. Retrieved October 2, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15137948

Saudi Women's driving Viewpoint.

2011-10-03T17:53:00.007+07:00

According to " Women's right in Saudi Arabia " on blog in last week, I've followed up about women's right in Saudi Arabia because it's interesting of alteration. In Saudi Arabia, there's different from many countries where people could accept innovations as globalization.

Strangely, in many countries, people try to adopt development such as technology to show that they've developed already, but in Saudi Arabia people try to conserve their religion, Islam, to show progress of their religion. For this reason, I think their attitude are absolutely different from people in other countries.

According to " Viewpoint: Saudi women should not drive " on BBC news, Saudi leader, King Abdullah, overturned a court decision about the ban on female drivers in the kingdom in this week. Nawwaf, a 25-years-old Saudi man, told BBC Radio why he does not want to see driving in Saudi Arabia. He thought women driving is the key to do a lot of thing which were different from they are now such as women attire, in Western countries, that are a little bit naked. He also thought driving is not about need like when women were watching Gossip Girls series, and they only want to be like that, dress like that. He feared women will be taking off the abaya (all-covering veil and gown). However, he thought it's a good idea to allow women vote because they will vote to improve heath, education, and job.

In my opinion, I think driving is customary. Everyone in the world can drive a car to go anywhere although sometime for entertainment, but sometime it's necessary if they have to go anywhere for urgent business and there are nobody can drive. I think everyone should have equal right in everything because if someone have right in something and no right in something, it will be a problem. I don't think driving and dressing are relate. In Thailand, there are many Muslims and they drive cars. I have never seen they want to put on a short skirt and they followed the religion strictly. I think development is pleasure, but think of human is dangerous because thing is no life, no feeling, and no conscious. It can't good or bad, but it depend on humans that make it's good or bad. For example, if you use a knife to cook, it's useful, but if you use it to kill someone, it's very wicked. Do you agree with me?

__________

References

( 2011, October 3). Viewpoint:Saudi women should not drive. BBC News. Retrieved October 3, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15123076

To Peter

2011-10-03T14:23:00.002+07:00

I'm not sure what the sentence "Do not put your cleverness in front of the communication" means.
Could you please help me?

Pet Mummification; Loving or Gruesome?

2011-09-30T22:14:00.000+07:00

When I saw a big mummified tiger that opened his mouth widely exposing his sharp teeth in a zoo, I was overwhelmed by his fear and panache. Several years after that when I visited my friend’s house, I happened to meet another innocent deer that was hung on the wall boosting spread her antlers, I could not watch her longer than 5 seconds because pitiful feeling waved in my heart. Yesterday, while surfing the internet, I read an article about mummification of pets by chance. The thing which interested me and made me frown was the word Pets not the word mummification.

The NYDaily News reports that “Queen Nefer-kitty: Expert makes dead pets into mummies, pyramids sold separately” A former forensic reconstructionist and embalmer named Cagliastro carries out her work all day which she makes mummies in her lab New York. She has mummified pets from small ones to big ones, such as frogs, birds, guinea pigs, cats, bunnies, and even armadillos, and so on. "To me, mummification is the ultimate honor because there is nothing that would keep your loved one around longer," she said. The price of the mummification is between $800 and $4,000 and a growing number of moaning owners want to seek for her. About 15 years ago, after five or so year's effort, she developed a complex salt formula which is a key secret to mummify pets. The mummies are put with a scrolled up piece of parchment inside, and then wrapped with linen and painted with semi-precious metals, and at last, decorated heirloom jewelry. Caglosastro who experimented on chicken wings at first also plans to mummify humans. She also opens classes at the Observatory in Gowanus, Briiklyn for those who want to learn how it works. "I'm fascinated by this thing called death," Cagliastro said. "It's sort of the only thing that everyone experiences.

While I was reading this article, I thought about what real love about pets is when they are dead. My result of this is that it is not definetely to mummify them. I also considered this question on the side of those who hope to mummify their pets. They will want to keep their dead pets at hand to remind them as Cagliastro said above. However, to leave dead ones at their side is just to show human's greed not to express love about pets. They just want to show how much they loved their pets before. I think that they are similar to the people who hung the deer' heads on the wall in the way that both of them are showing off themselves.

I called my sister who raises a dog and loves him very much like her children. I asked her if she want to mummify her pet after he dies. Her answer didn't deviate from my expectation. She said that to do so is that she Kills a dog after death and it is unnatural thing. She added to see the fixed eyes and to touch the hard body is eldritch and if she mummified her dog, she might want to forget her dog after time goes by. I strongly agree with her and also, I am courious about what my classmates think of this like.

References

Nelson, K. (2011, September 25). Queen Nefer-kitty: Expert makes dead pets into mummies, pyramids sold separately. NYDaily News. Retrieved September 30 from http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/09/25/2011-09-25_wrapped_up_in_death_shell_make_your_pet_into_a_mummy.html#ixzz1ZFWInEtd

Foreign Domestic Helpers' Suffering

2011-09-30T19:21:00.009+07:00

The amount of total foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong is 300,000. It is thought that around 120,000 have lived here for more than seven years. The work of foreign domestic helper includes housework, cooking and care for the elderly and children. They work hard so that their employers could focus more on their work and leisure. The foreign domestic helpers are a part of the prosperity of Hong Kong.

According to "Philippine immigrant maid wins landmark Hong Kong case" on the BBC News website, today Hong Kong's High Court has ruled that a domestic helper from the Philippines should be allowed to apply for permanent residency in the city. The case was brought by Evangeline Banao Vallejos, who has lived in Hong Kong since 1986. But before that, while other non-Chinese nationals can obtain residency after working in Hong Kong for seven years, immigration rules exclude domestic helpers from seeking permanent residency. Permanent residency means that a person can remain in Hong Kong indefinitely, vote and stand in elections. Without the right to permanent residency, if a maid is dismissed by her employer, she must find another job as a domestic helper or leave Hong Kong within two weeks. Human rights lawyers and many domestic helpers argue that this is a discriminatory policy, so they are very pleased by the ruling. But some politicians and commentators warn that it would allow foreign domestic helpers to bring their children and other relatives to the city, who would require education and housing.

As far as I know, permanent residency is just one of the problems which these foreign domestic helpers had to face. The more pressing concern is working conditions. Some of employers make the work rules and relevant regulations which are considered strict and relentless, such as they are required to sleep in the living room or kitchen. Some foreign domestic helpers suffer from homesickness, employers’ blame and rude requirements, they feel the brink of emotional collapse. But because of the contract, they just comply with and don’t dare to protest.

Nowadays With the uneven economic development, more and more people go abroad to be a domestic helper with their demand for better income and better life. They usually come from economically less developed areas and don’t have a good education. In addition to their physical labor, they don’t have real skills. They are difficult to integrate into the whole society. This is what we call vulnerable groups. I think the government should be more concerned about them. I have heard that Philippine government launches a blacklist plan especially for Filipino overseas workers, if a employer abuse his domestic helpers, he would have been recorded in blacklist, and then he will never be able to find other domestic helpers from Philippines.

On the other hand, Hong Kong government also has his problems to worry about. Hong Kong is considered to be a small place like a pill and the lack of resources. There are a number of foreign domestic helpers there, once the restrictions are canceled, then they would strain the native’s provision of health care, education and public housing. This is also a dilemma of choice to Hong Kong. __________

References

(2011, September 30).Katie Hunt.Philippine immigrant maid wins landmark Hong Kong case.BBC News.Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15090597

Effects of Business Failures

2011-09-29T21:10:00.023+07:00

Do you know Nokia mobile phone? Have you ever used Nokia mobile phone?

I used to use Nokia mobile phone, which was the most popular mobile phone brand at that time, when I was a high school student in 1994. But I change to use a smartphone now. When I read " Nokia to cut another 3,500 jobs and close a factory" on BBC online news, this news make me shock and recognized me how big of effects of business failure or mistake is.

According to " Nokia to cut another 3,500 jobs and close a factory" on BBC news website, Nokia , which is giant mobile phone company, planed to close a plant in Romania and cut 3,500 jobs in its location division by the end of 2011. The sales of the company fell and margins were squeezed in the second quarter, the firm made a net loss of 368m euros or $521m in three monthes to the end of June, 2011. And Nokia has lost competitors such as Apple's iPhone and phones using Google's Android operating system. Thus, new stategies of the firm are 1bn-euro cost-cutting program and new feature development of mobile phone by focusing on smartphones.

Nowadays, business world changes rapidly so if a company don't adapt something to meet changed customer needs , the firm will not be successful. Nokia Corporation is a Finish multinational communucations corporation and it used to be the leader of mobile phone market with a well-known slogan , Connecting People. In July 2010, Nokia reported a drop in profits by 40%, which turned into an operation loss of EUR 487 million in second quarter of 2011. In the global smartphone competition, Nokia held the third place in 2Q 2011, following Apple and Samsung. I think, one of key success factors of moblie phone business is a development of new innovation which response customer needs quickly. That is one of Nokia's mistakes

Business failures do not only affect directly to firm's net profit, but they also affect to the company stakeholder such as shareholders, employees, customers, members of company's supply chain which are supplier, distributors or members of marketing channels, and so on.

For example, when a company suffer from losses of revenues, the company will cut losses by laying off their emplyees, decreased production capacity, decreased unnecessary expenses and so on. Moreover, unseccessful business plans are causes of increased unemployment rate and decreased economy growth.

What do you think about business failures?

References

Nokia to cut another 3,500 jobs and close a factory. (2011, September 29.) BBC News. Retrieved September 29, 2011 from http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15104959

Nokia. (2011, september 29). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrived 21.00 September 29, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia

The Problem that Affects the Growth of Children

2011-09-29T15:52:00.007+07:00

There are many social problems that occur in every countries, especially is family problems. The cause is negligence of family. I think this problem should be considered strongly because the social foundation comes from a family that understands each other.

According to "Our children need time not stuff" on the BBC News website, the research suggests that parents in UK want to be good parents, but they do not have the time.Therefore, they often try to compensate for this by buying their children gadgets and clothes. The report argues that the pressure of the working environment and widespread materialism combine to damage the well-being of the children, most families give money to their children but sometimes they do not want. For this reason, UNICEF has a way to solve this problem. They want politicians to consider specific measures to support families. For example, reform of advertising laws, a living wage so that families earn enough to spend more time with each other, and protection of children's facilities so they have the opportunity to be active.

I think this is a serious problem and widespread in many countries. I absolutely agree that parents need more time with their children even though they do not have enough time, but they should find time to talk with them. In addition, the important thing is that parents should not assume that all goods which they buy can be able to replace the time that their children want. Moreover, I think this is the beginning to make children grow up lacking the warmth of family and can cause the crime problems in the future. For example, in Thailand, it has news about the controversy of teenagers, the reason comes from the fact that parents do not have time to teach their children what should be do and what shouldn't be do. Consequently, I agree with UNICEF's solutions, for I believe that this approach are able to create the close relationship of family even more and reduce the gap between family members.

__________

References

Our children need time not stuff. (2011, September 13). BBC News. Retrieved September 29, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14899148

Should the wealthy people in USA pay high taxes now?

2011-09-28T22:57:00.036+07:00

When I read Who, what, why: How can an American pay extra tax ? on the BBC News website tonight, I am impressed by this group of wealthy people. They really want to help the country in the difficult situation now by paying tax more. I believe this idea is very good.

The BBC news report that Mr Doug Edwards, wealthy former Google executive wants Washington to raise his taxes. If Americans want to pay more than the law is asking, what do you think? He urged Mr Obama to stay strong in pushing for tax increases. He joined billionaire Warren Buffett in a public call for the US Congress to raise income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.Very wealthy people are stepping up and saying they've been privileged to live in USA and they are willing to pay higher taxes.(P8) As you know that USA is facing budget deficit and national debt now. Mr Edward asked President Barack Obama, at a town hall-style meeting in Silicon Valley on Monday, "My question is, would you please raise my taxes? I would like very much to have the country to continue to invest in things like Pell Grants [an education programme] and infrastructure and job training programs that made it possible for me to get to where I am." In the other hand, Republican doesn't agree the proposal. If tax increase the people have to cut the spending. They believe if the rich people want to help, they can give donation.

In my opinion, the country is in trouble and need help. As a citizen who lives there have to help. This issue is not only solve by government but all. The country can't have loans anymore. You can imagine if you are using credit card and didn't pay finish. How can you start saving if you still have to pay your loans? If the situation getting worst, it will affect them soon. How the country get money ? Do you think they can get donation from other country around the world? USA is not poor country! Usually this country is the one who decide many issue in the world. USA is part of UN and have voice in it.

I believe this country is very strong in many things like education. You can see many international schools that have American curriculum or British. Parents are willing to pay much more because they believe that their children will have benefit from it. Many people from many background want to improve their language study in AUA

Honestly every time when they have to vote, I always in Republican side. But in this case I absolute in Obama side. if rich people want to pay more, they still rich and it's good for middle and lower people. This people need job! For example, worker can work if they have project to build. Many business give the opportunity for people to work. When they have money they can spend.

What is your input? do you agreed with me?

References
Who, what, why: How can an American pay extra tax ? ( 2011, September 28). BBC News.Retrieved September 28, 2011 from http://www.bbc.uk.news/magazine-15084671

How did the US debt get so bad (2011, September 2). BBC News. Retrieved October 2,2011 from http://www.bbc.uk/news/world-us-canada-14760684

Jobs act: Obama plan eyes taxes on rich (2011, September 12). BBC News. Retrieved October 2,2011 from http://www.bbc.uk/news/world-us-canada-14886689

US jobs plan: Barack Obama unveils $450bn package (2011, September 9 ). BBC News. Retrieved October 2, 2011 from http://www.bbc.uk/news/world-us-canada-14841746

US economy: New Obama plan to tax wealthiest (2011, September 18). BBC News Retrieved October 2, 2011 from http://www.bbc.uk/news/world-us-canada-14962769

Hundreds of occupy Wall Street protesters arrested (2011, October 2). BBC News Retrieved October 2, 2011 from http://www.bbc.uk/news/world-us-canada-15140671

Listen carefully.

2011-09-28T22:47:00.004+07:00

At the primary school, a game which I disliked most was Game-Ka- Sip (Ka-Sip means whisper). After all students stood in a line, the first student began whispering a sentence to the second, and then he quietly told the third the same sentence. The rest did so respectively until the last said the sentence. If it was not changed at all, we won the game. I disliked the game because the sentence was easily turned into another; as a result, we always lost. Yet, this game is a good example teaching me a problem of ineffective communication. Unclear communication sometimes causes an acceptable problem like failure in the game. But sometimes, it leads to a serious problem like the decline of call centre industry in India.

According to India's call centre growth stalls, India’s call center business has grown rapidly in the past decade. Today, however, many British and American companies are moving operations back home. Because of the unfamiliar sound of an India accent, the customer faces hardship to understand simple conversations. Customs also feel frustrated and annoyed with misunderstanding. Often, conversations become heated, irate or even abusive. Consequently, international companies trying to maintain customers decide to turn back their countries. It is estimated that the number of call center workers has fallen drastically.

How do we avoid a problem resulting from ambiguous communication? For me, one of solutions is that we learn to be a good listener. If we listen efficiently, the massage will be clear enough to understand. Good listening also helps us know what a question means or what speaker really want. This paves the way for replying with a right question and making a lucid conversation. There is an interesting exercise for listening practice that I studied while taking an acting course in the university. Students had to describe a story by saying numbers instead of words. To illustrate, I might say “one-six-five” when I meant “I love you”. The professor explained that she taught students to focus on meaning, not wording. Sometimes people say something but they refer to another. When you listen to a sentence, you can miss a few words but should get a whole meaning. I think this exercise help me more deeply understand the way to listen efficiently.

I have another example; when my mother says “I have seen a bit of dust on your bed”, she means “Make the room clean, now!” So, listen carefully.

__________
References

Vaidyanathan, R. (2011, September 27).India's call centre growth stalls.BBC News. Retrieved September 28, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15060641

Job's testing question

2011-09-28T17:05:00.001+07:00

Although I think we discussed it enough in class to resolve the confusion between delusions and perceptual disorders, I was not entirely happy with the way we had to leave Job's question, so thought you might like to continue that discussion here.

In describing Maria's symptoms, Hartmann writes that "she hears voices that command her to do things" (2007, p. 175). The three variations on the check question that came up were:

1. Does Maria think she hears voices?
2. Does Maria hear voices?
3. Does Maria really hear voices?

Are these the same or different questions?
If they are different, what is the important difference?
If they are all the same question, what is the one idea that they all mean?

As we saw, common words like see and hear can be very difficult to define exactly when we suddenly need a solid definition in order to answer a question, and the answers to the three questions about Maria depend on the exact meaning of the verb hear, just as a decision as to whether someone is abnormal or not depends very much the agreed definition of abnormal, which is why Hartmann spends three full paragraphs discussing that on page 173 (2007), as we saw this morning. We use these words all the time with little problem, but today, when it was necessary to actually specify a good definition, it was not at all easy to just give one.

Please feel welcome to continue any part of the discussion from class here.

__________

References

Hartmann, P. (2007, September, 28). Quest 2 Reading and Writing, (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Coffee may prevent depression

2011-09-28T01:31:00.002+07:00

Are you a coffee lover? There is a good news for coffee lovers that drinking coffee can make you feel good. In fact, it is not only coffee but also covers all kinds of caffeine products such as tea, cola and milk chocolate. So, now, Have you being depressed?, get a cup of coffee!

According to "Coffee may prevent depression, scientists say" on the BBC news, Women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day are less likely to get depressed. There is no a clear reason that why it might have this effect. The author believes that the caffeine in coffee may alter the brian's chemistry while decaffeinated coffee did not have the same effect. There is evidence that Caffeine blocks adenosine, which produces a similar effect to increasing dopamine production. And it's becoming increasingly clear that the dopamine-rich areas of the brain are much more important in depression that previously thought.

This research remind me of the saying that eating chocolate makes you feel good. It may be a result of caffeine too. Coffee is not only a fascinating drink but also has a role in health too. In addition, many years ago I have heard about the many medical advantages of coffee such as reducing risk of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and cancer. I think it is good for everyone to prevent many diseases by consuming what they like instead of taking medicines. However, although there many benefits from drinking coffee, consuming too much caffeine can also bring about increasing high blood pressure, disturbed sleep and anxiety. You should realize that everything has both pros and cons. It depend on how you use or consume it. For this reason, you should consume it in moderation.

__________

References

coffee may prevent depression, scientists say. (2011, September 26). BBC News. Retrieved September 27, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15059266

To Peter

2011-09-27T22:55:00.002+07:00

I have some problem with logging in my e-mail which I can't login to my hotmail account, so, I can't get Golf's paragraph that you sent me.

I've already contact hotmail, but seems no response yet.

Tattoos: A lifelong commitment

2011-09-27T22:16:00.007+07:00

What do you know about tattoos? Do you think people should get them or not? As you might know, tattoos are a kind of body decoration that made by inserting ink into the skin. Someone think tattoos are art and can be acceptable but someone not. However, no matter what people think about tattoos, nowadays, Tattoos are becoming very popular and more mainstream. Many people from Hollywood superstars to street beggars have already got at least 1 or 2 tattoos on their body, As tattooings are popular among modern society, they also cause the problem for both individual and society, especially teenagers and their parents since they are easy to get, but in terms of removing, it's just another story. So, the question is if people should test-drive tattoos first before their tattoos would cause them problems.

According to “Tattoos: Should people test-drive them first?” on BBC news online. Lucy Townsend gave a very interesting question of how people can ensure they don't end up getting one that they later feel they have to painfully remove. This question came after the popularity of tattoos, as for now, they are no longer the symbols of rockers, sailors, bikers, bohemians and criminals since they have gone mainstream. In the 7th International Tattoo Convention at London this year, around 20,000 people attended there- the world where ink equals art. However, not everyone is happy with their tattoos. For those who pick the wrong design, the wrong position or who get inked on impulse and regret it later, these become big problems and they want to fix by removing them. Nevertheless, tattoos remorse costs lots of money but its result is not so good as it should be. Tattoos can remove by laser, lasering costs between £50 and £150 a session, and between eight and 12 sessions are needed, but they won’t disappear completely and may become scars. Instead of suffering tattoos remorse if it would be better if they prevent the mistakes by test-driving tattoos. For Lucy, herself, has had the test-driving one, and she’s very happy of knowing feedbacks before to get the real one which she aren’t ready for now.

This article interest me so much because I like tattooings, and mistaken tattoos also really seem to be big problems even in Thailand. For me, tattoos are more than art, They're a lifestyle! I’ve owned 2 tattoos at my chest and my back, and used to have one but it was already covered up. Both of them are color tattoos in Neo-asian style which my chest’s tattoo represent Buddhist religious meaning and my back’s are Monju bosatsu and will be chinese sacred animals in the future. As I know, there are 2 ways for fixing mistaken tattoos, covered up by another design and lasering. Covering up will be the best way for tattoo lover because experienced tattoo artist may be able to transform the mistaken into the flashing one completely. However, most tattoo artists don’t like doing cover-up, and for the famous artists, they always refuse. By the way, some of my friends have done removing their tattoos by lasering, the results are very terrible which look like awful scars in the shape of their old tattoos, but they needed to pay 5 times more than they paid for getting tattoos! To prevent this, in my cases, I’d took over a month for considering before went to get an ink. First, I created the content that what my tattoos would represent for and what they are about, then I thought about design what they would be and what symbols that I could use. After that, I made pre-sketches and sent them to the tattoo artists for asking for making them into flashes (flash is a stereotypical tattoo design printed or drawn on paper), of course, I also had some pre-talk with the artist. Then the most important process would be stick that flashed on every mirrors that I use at least for 2 weeks, if I wasn’t bored with them, I would go to have tattoos, but if not, they would need to redesign. With this method, it can make me avoiding from regret them later. Therefore, I would suggest anyone who would like to get a new tattoo doing the same. In conclusion, I would say think more before you’re going to get some tattoos, tattoos are not fashion, they are a life-long commitment, you can’t change them to follow the trend. Instead, tattoos will be with you all your life.

What do you think about tattoos? Have you ever wanted to get some?

__________

References
Tattoos: Should people test-drive them first?
. (2011, September 26). BBC News. Retrieved September 27, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15060691

Tachyon. (2011, September 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:30, September 27, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo

Smart Phone not Simple Mobile Phone

2011-09-27T18:10:00.007+07:00

From a simple mobile in the past to a smartphone in the present, these changes drive communications among people over the world more closely and easily. The mobile phone recently does not only for the communications but also for entertainments like playing games, listening to music, checking e-mail and chatting via texting. Mobile developers have been continuing to improve the mobiles applications to meet people needs and suit for the era of globalization.

As "Smartphone to measure radiation" from the BBC news online states that a smartphone is being developed for measuring radiation levels. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, many people are worried about effects of leaking nuclear. Thus, the Japanese mobile phone NTT DoCoMo has researched and developed changeable jackets to measure radiation levels. In addition, the jackets will measure bad breath, body mass and monitor level of skin-damaging ultraviolet light as well.

Mobile phones are not used as a phone call anymore. In my views, people also use them on various purposes, such as sending e-mail, checking traffic situations or stock exchanges. Because it is convenient to people to spontaneously come up with any information which they want to know. The mobile become a part of our life, I do not know when, but now it is. When I am on BTS or Airport rail link to go home, I always see many people do with mobile phone, especially, iPhone and Blackberry. Sometime, many students go home together but they talk to each other via text on BB. I do not understand well why do not talk to their friends directly. Is it good? I do not think so. Is it harmful our life or not? It depends on the way we use it. We should make a good adjustment. One thing I know, mobile phone- smart phone is the most pop culture in Bangkok now.

References

Smartphone to measure radiation. (2011, September, 22). BBC News. Retrieved September 27, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15023061

Do we need only specialist allergy centre?

2011-09-26T22:46:00.003+07:00

When I read " The rise and rise of allergies" on the BBC News, It really make me to think why this disease is becoming more popular among adult and children. Do the people know they have allergy?
How to help them to understand more about this disease?

The BBC news report that the number of allergies in UK is increasing. It showed from the research published in 2007 and charity Allergy UK. These kinds of allergies occur when the immune system in the body mistakenly identifies harmless substances as if were a threat to the body. According to Dr.Adam Fox, from Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital, who helped write the guidelines on how to deal with allergies in children, says there is no answer: "There are a lots of theories, unfortunately lots of them have holes in them and we don't really know the answer." ( P8). After speaking to specialists, The house of the Lords Science and Technology Committee suggested that hygiene theory, mother's diet, allergen exposure and atmospheric pollution could contribute allergies, but whatever the reasons, the GP remains the first point as a suspected allergy.The new guidelines give the detailed advice how to recognise symptoms like hay fever, asthma, and eczema. Diagnosing an allergy can include elimating foods for a while to see the symstoms will be gone or not, or do the blood test and meet the specialist. But Allergy UK said that the guidelines is not enough, it want doctors to set up specialist allergy services so parents who concerned about alergy will have more understanding and get more explaination.

I totally agreed with Allergy UK, parents who have children with allergy specially with food allergy, need more information and explanation about this disease. As you know, we can't expect all parents go to internet and search in google to find the answer. Parents who have information from internet still need to consult with doctor. Parents allways go to GP if the child is sick. When the sickness is related with allergy, parents need more time and service from the GP or children department in hospital. The allergy service can give defination about allergy, see the symptoms from the child directly, and give the choices to parents to decide which treatments that they want to do. Parents need to know the cost to treat, how to prevent in the long term so the symptoms will not come back. For example, if the child have to stop eating wheat, parents need to know what kind of food can replace it in order to get the nutrition. The child can't eat bread, cake or cookies because of the ingredients has wheat.

When children have allergy, it's very difficult for them to eat outside or school. Parents have to inform the school about this. Children sometimes feel sad why they can't be like others. Not every school will help because of the budget and time. When the time that family have to eat in the mall, the child can't eat like ice cream or pizza. It really make the child look different that others. Food for allergic children usually is more expensive than normal.

What do you think? Do you have any input? How about people who are poor?

References:
Food allergy ( 2011, September 1). In Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:43, September 24, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_allergy

The rise and rise of allergies ( 2011, February 23). BBC News. Retrieved September 24, 2011 from http: bbc.co.uk/news/health-12550300

____

Criminal on Mobile

2011-09-26T17:27:00.006+07:00

What is a popular thing in this century?

The answer is the smartphones. In present, the smartphones have become a popular stuff in every age. The makers develop the smartphone to more advance in every year. There are more comfortable and high technology than before. And the most popular one is touch screen mobile phones such as iPhone, Samsung, Nokia and so on. Developing are not only a smartphone, but also application. There are many applications that support on the phones.

According to "Warning about cost of rogue apps" on BBC news website, when the users load application, they have to pay some application by credit card. They must put the credit card number on the phone. Sometime, they don't know about charging. Therefore, it is an easy way for hacker to cheat. However, the regulator has a plan to protect for consumers. The cost of application must be clear and have a password requirement and an explanation of it. These are protect when the children buy items that they don't understand too. As a result, this requirement make for growing economies and innovative in digital world.

I agree with this requirement because I am a user too. Some application that I want have a high cost. So, I have to decide before pay some application. I think the password is an important thing and very useful. For example, sometime, friends or other person that play another's phone, they have to get a permission for the phone owner before use it. Or when your phone is stolen by someone, maybe they will use your phone to pay applications and when they got the applications, they can sell it on the wrong way. So, we have to do anything that we can protect our rights and support creative. The creatives will have a power to continue their ideas. We will have some new good application ever.

__________

References

Warning about cost of rogue apps. (2011, September 25). BBC News. Retrieved September 26,2011. from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15038686

Women's right in Saudi Arabia.

2011-09-26T15:51:00.011+07:00

In past, the most people didn't accept women to work or vote. They thought women appropriated to take care children or housework, but it's not fair. Today, many countries inthe world give an opportunity for women to do anything like men. For example, women could be a prime minister, but it's difficult for countries where conservative clerics such as in Saudi Arabia.

According to " Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections " in BBC news, Women in Saudi Arabia were given the right to vote and run as candidates in municipal elections by King Abdullah. Although not everyone will welcome this decision. King Abdullah disagree with marginalisation of women in society. The king's announcement was great news for women, but it has been a big debate about the role of women in the kingdom, which enforces a strict version of isalamic law. It was interested by correspondents and campaigners. They though it was long time that they tried to remove other barriers, such as not allowing women to drive cars, and they want the authority to effectively carry out their role in the next municipal elections that are due in four years' time.

Although now there are many countries in the world that can accept women to work or vote like in Thailand or United states of America, but this topic's a new issue in Middle East countries such as Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. In this case, I think this's a good news for women in Saudi Arabia because they weren't important and didn't allow to travel, work, and operate that are without approvals from relatives who are men. This's a big reformation in Saudi Arabia since King Abdullah has been the king of the kingdom in 1995. I think it's difficult to accept for someone who are conservative Islams. They should pay more attention to be careful about violence that may be happen in this conflict. However, i think the next municipal elections are too long although it's finished time of council, but i worry about at that time something will vary by group of influential person.

__________

References

(2011, September 25) Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections. BBC News. Retrieved Semtepber 26, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15052030

What makes humans human (?)

2011-09-26T00:09:00.001+07:00

I know that this isn't a text, but it's so relevant to a few of the recent posts that I thought you might enjoy it as a listening exercise. In this short presentation, quantum physicist David Deutsch touches on global warming, the end of the world, or of human at least, the nature of human beings, physics, scientific theories and how we can reliably and not reliably know things - anything. And at 19 minutes, it isn't long.

Another thing I like about his presentation is the excellent absence of distracting and needless power point slides. Slides are OK if they serve a very definite purpose, but not otherwise. I think they tend to be over used.

And I like the way he begins with a couple of examples arguing that common knowledge, whilst often common, is rarely knowledge. I tend to agree with him that knowledge is something we should value a bit more than we do, which is why censorship, which necessarily makes knowledge of the censored topic impossible, is not a good thing except in those cases where ignorance is, for some very good reason, better than knowledge. And knowledge is something that tends to matter to academics, which is why it's no accident that definition 2.b. for the adjective academic in the OED refers specifically to academic freedom ("academic, a. and n.", 1989): censorship of academic discussion guarantees ignorance, and that is generally not what we want more of. And I can now relax because I've also cited a text source. My response has moved a fair bit from the topic of Deutsch's presentation, but that's not a problem in a response writing. And now it's time to retire.

If you would like to blog a relevant video, please feel welcome; however, a video does not count as your blogging a news article according to our schedule. But you can do it as something extra - I'm unlikely to complain about that, provided you explain its relevance to something here or that we have covered in our class.

__________

References

academic, a. and n. (1989) The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. OED Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50001026
(Unfortunately, this requires a subscription to access, but you already have it from day 1 of class.)

Deutsch, D. (2006, September). David Deutsch on our place in the cosmos [live presentation, recorded July 2005]. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. Retrieved September 25, 2011 from http://www.ted.com/talks/david_deutsch_on_our_place_in_the_cosmos.html