Digital Nativity

How would the story go if Jesus had been born around now instead of 2000 years ago? Well, here you have your answer! And, of course, it involves mobile phones, Google Maps, Amazon, Twitter and Facebook!

Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg has been all over the news in Spain these last few days because of what he said when he was interviewed by Conan O'Brien. If you look for the videos on youtube you'll find a lot of angry people writing comments, either because they hate the Spanish show or because they hate the actor. I actually think that both groups are partially right: the host of the show (Pablo Motos) has an ego the size of Jack Nicholson's, and he normally uses his guests to make himself look good. However, Jesse Eisenberg was completely wrong when he thought that Spain carries a grudge towards the USA because of WWII. First: Spain was not involved in World War II (that's not entirely true, Spain was having enough problems after its own civil war, so it was officially neutral, even if it somehow tried to help the Germans) Secondly: because it was a dictatorship, it did not receive any American help, so, my dear friend, no American "ships and planes full of help" arrived in Spain. Get your facts straight before speaking.
And finally, because this blog is for a language class (an English class): don't be so proud about being linguistically incompetent! Learning is always a positive thing, even if it is learning foreign languages!

Who wants to steal a million?

This is the documentary that is mentioned in your textbook. Here we hear how a contestant in Who Wants to be a Millionaire cheated, and was caught months later:

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries to remember the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. This day, or alternative dates, is also recognised as a special day for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries

Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November (11-11) to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918, as the major hostilities of World War I were formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice. (Note that "at the 11th hour", refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am.)

The red poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem “In Flanders Fields”. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilt in the war.

For some more information, I suggest the following pages:

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Remembrance.html

http://www.calendar-updates.com/info/holidays/canada/remembrance.aspx

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/remembrance/

Accents

Hello, again!
How was the summer? After a looooong pause to recharge batteries, we're finally back.
As foreign language students/teachers/users we usually have problems with the different accents we can find of the same language, but we are not the only ones, just check:

Israel

Anywhere I look this week I read the same: Israel attacks a ship which was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, in Palestine. However, depending on the media I choose to read, the incident looks completely different.

For some, Israel, the Chosen People, the Jews, have defended themselves against a group of communists disguised as charity workers, who were trying to carry guns into Gaza, and who were the first to attack.

For others, Israel, the terrorist state, has proven, once again, that they don't respect international law and has killed some people who were just trying to help the oppressed people of Palestine.

As usual, mass media are biased, and none of them tells the whole truth, while both sides tell part of the truth.

The first mistake most people usually make while discussing Israel is identifying a state with a religion. It is true that Israel is the only officially Jewish state, but that doesn't mean that all Israelis are Jewish (even if it's a wide majority, 16% of the population is Muslim, and there are Christian and other religious minorities. Moreover, not all Jews are Israeli and not all Israeli Jews follow the exact same precepts. Actually, some of the Christian population in Israel define themselves as “messianic Jews”.

So, the origins of this problem are in the very origins of the State of Israel. We are used to having politicians solve our problems, and it is becoming commonplace that they never really solve anything. Well, this was not an exception: while solving the Zionist problem and giving the Jewish people an official state, the didn't do the same with the Palestinians. And while some countries (the USA was the first, closely followed by the Soviet Union) quickly recognised Israel as a State, the surrounding countries (most of them officially Muslim) were more hesitant. Actually, the day after Israel was officially declared an independent state, 5 neighbouring countries declared war and tried to invade it, with the UN sitting back watching. The result of the continuing wars was that Israel gained an additional 26% of surrounding territory, and an estimated 726 thousand Arab and Palestinian refugees (according to UN only 1/3 are really refugees, since the other 2/3 are displaced inside the same territory) This is the main problem, and the one which has not been solved yet. On the other hand, a number of Jews were also expelled from the Palestinian and other Arab neighbouring regions.

So, is this a religious problem? I don't think so. There are Muslims living in Israel, just as Jews living in Arab countries. It is basically a political problem, and a badly solved political situation in the first place.

Now, speaking about the particular incident that took place this week, who's to blame? In my opinion, the Israeli army (as usual) responds with an excess of violence. And (also as usual) the UN does absolutely nothing. The UN should have boats in the area, and it should be an international patrol who check what goes into and out of Palestine, never an Israeli patrol in international waters.

Criminals

Well, this may very well be the last entry for the school year, so I'll leave something funny for you to enjoy before your exams. Two guys are trying to rob some kind of store. One of the thieves is watching the street to make sure nobody is coming and the other one uses a stone to try and break the glass. Can you imagine what's going to happen?

Enjoy and very good luck next week!!

Water

Today is World Water Day, and to mark the occasion I'm joining with some of North America's leading environmental groups to release the latest Story of Stuff Project short film: The Story of Bottled Water.

Like The Story of Stuff, this new film uses simple words and images to explain a complex problem, in this case manufactured demand: how you get people to think they need to spend money on something they don't actually need or already have.

Over the last two decades, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and other big beverage companies have spent untold millions of dollars making us afraid of tap water. They've told us that if we want to be sure what we drink is pure and clean-not to mention hip and fashionable-we should buy bottled water.

Unfortunately, it worked.

In the United States alone, we consume approximately 500,000,000 bottles of water each week. Imagine that: while 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water worldwide, other people spend billions of dollars on a bottled product that's no cleaner, harms people and the environment and costs up to 2,000 times the price of tap water.

But there's good news: Last year, for the first time in a long time, bottled water sales fell-not that much, but they went down. Consumers who want economy, portability and convenience are switching to refillable metal bottles. Restaurants are proudly serving tap water. And cities, states, companies and schools around the world are ditching the bottle to save money and do their part for the environment.

Still, we've got a ways to go.

So please, take a minute today to watch The Story of Bottled Water. Then pass it along to your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers-anyone you think might be interested.

You are The Story of Stuff Project's strongest allies: You made the original Story of Stuff an Internet phenomenon, with nearly 9 million views total. Last December, you pushed The Story of Cap & Trade past half a million views in just under six weeks. And in the last ten days, you've helped our new book, The Story of Stuff, enter the New York Times extended bestseller list at #35. Thank you a million times over.

After you've forwarded The Story of Bottled Water to your networks, I encourage you to join a campaign for investment in clean tap water for everyone, like those sponsored by our partners at Corporate Accountability International, Food & Water Watch, Polaris Institute, Environmental Working Group, and Pacific Institute. Visit these fantastic groups' websites to learn more, sign-up and get involved.

Together, we can send Coke, Pepsi, Nestle and the rest of the industry a message as clear as a glass of tap water: We're not buying into your manufactured demand anymore. We'll choose our own demands, thank you very much, and we're demanding clean safe water for all!

Feng Shui

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics believed to use the laws of both Heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive qi. Historically, feng shui was widely used to orient buildings – often spiritually significant structures such as tombs, but also dwellings and other structures – in an auspicious manner. Depending on the particular style of feng shui being used, an auspicious site could be determined by reference to local features such as bodies of water, stars, or a compass. Feng shui was suppressed in China during the cultural revolution in the 1960s, but has since seen an increase in popularity, particularly in the United States.
Today, feng shui is practiced not only by the Chinese, but also by Westerners. However, with the passage of time and feng shui's popularization in the West, much of the knowledge behind it has been lost in translation, not paid proper attention to, frowned upon, or scorned.
Robert T. Carroll sums up what feng shui has become in some cases:
"... feng shui has become an aspect of interior decorating in the Western world and alleged masters of feng shui now hire themselves out for hefty sums to tell people such as Donald Trump which way his doors and other things should hang. Feng shui has also become another New Age "energy" scam with arrays of metaphysical products ... offered for sale to help you improve your health, maximize your potential, and guarantee fulfillment of some fortune cookie philosophy."
Others have noted how, when feng shui is not applied properly, or rather, without common sense, it can even harm the environment, such as was the case of people planting "lucky bamboo" in ecosystems that could not handle them.
Adapted from wikipedia

Saint Patrick's Day

This Wednesday we celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

In 1848, several New York Irish Aid societies decided to unite their parades to form one New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. Today, that parade is the world 's oldest civilian parade and the largest in the United States, with over 150,000 participants. Each year, nearly three million people line the 1.5-mile parade route to watch the procession, which takes more than five hours.

But, who was Saint Patrick?

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling.

It is known that St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century. He is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. Although his father was a Christian deacon, it has been suggested that he probably took on the role because of tax incentives and there is no evidence that Patrick came from a particularly religious family. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family's estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity. During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people. Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace, becoming a devout Christian.

After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick escaped. According to his writing, a voice-which he believed to be God's-spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland.

To do so, Patrick walked nearly 200 miles from County Mayo, where it is believed he was held, to the Irish coast. After escaping to Britain, Patrick reported that he experienced a second revelation-an angel in a dream tells him to return to Ireland as a missionary

Clothes

This time I'll just leave you a link where you can practise (or revise) all the vocabulary we saw in class last week and learn a few more words. There are also some games that you can use as a revision. Enjoy it!

Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine's Day (commonly shortened to Valentine's Day) is an annual holiday held on February 14. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The holiday first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine. The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni. Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who was martyred about AD 269 and was buried on the Via Flaminia.

Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian. He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than Valentine of Rome.

The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.

No romantic elements are present in the original early medieval biographies of either of these martyrs. By the time a Saint Valentine became linked to romance in the fourteenth century, distinctions between Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were utterly lost
From http://en.wikipedia.org/

Divorced, Beheaded, Died...

Here's a clip telling you the story of Henry VIII's wives:

I Have a Dream

A bit late (Martin Luther King day was last Monday), I'll leave you here arguably the most important speech ever made. It's a bit long, but I strongly recommend to listen to it, as it's a clinic on speaking in public.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Cars

Since we've just started the topic of "cars", I thought I'd leave you the plot of a film with the exact same name that we might or might not watch next week:

The last race of the Piston Cup stock car racing season ends in a three-way dead heat between retiring veteran Strip "The King" Weathers, perennial runner-up and dirty fighter Chick Hicks, and the self-centered rookie Lightning McQueen. A tiebreaker race is scheduled for one week later at the Los Angeles International Speedway. Lightning is desperate to win the race, as it would allow him to leave the sponsorship of Rust-Eze, a rust treatment for old cars, and allow him to become the sponsored car of the lucrative Dinoco team in The King's place. Eager to start practice in California as soon as possible, Lightning pushes his big rig, Mack, to travel all night long.

Mack tries to avoid falling asleep, but becomes the victim of a gang of reckless street racers, subsequently causing the sleeping Lightning to roll out of the back of the trailer unnoticed. Waking up in traffic, Lightning speeds off to find Mack, but mistakes a waste disposal tractor-trailer, a Peterbilt 362, for Mack (In the process, he outruns a train named, Trev Diesel, number A113), and becomes lost and ends up in the run-down town of Radiator Springs. A mishap with the local sheriff causes Lightning to inadvertently tear up the town's main road. Lightning is promptly arrested, then tried the next day by the town's judge and doctor, Doc Hudson, who at first wants him to leave Radiator Springs immediately; but at the insistence of local lawyer Sally Carrera, Doc instead sentences him to repave the road as community service.

Encouraged by his new friends and a countryside cruise with Sally, McQueen successfully completes the road and spends an extra day in town, visiting the local shops to outfit him with new tires and equipment. That night, Mack and the media converge on the town, having been tipped off by Doc as to Lightning's whereabouts, and Lightning reluctantly sets off for California. Sally is upset with Doc for thinking only of himself, and the other townsfolk are saddened to see McQueen go. As they retire to their homes, the town's neon is turned off, and as the town returns to its previous quietness, Doc realizes just how much McQueen meant to them.

I won't tell you how it ends, just in case.
From en.wikipedia.org