Title:When sadness is a good thing
Link:http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1653643,00.html
Date: August 16th,2007
Vocabulary
1-quaint: strange, peculiar, or unusual in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way: a quaint sense of humor.
2-tout:to describe or advertise boastfully; publicize or promote; praise extravagantly: a highly touted nightclub.
3-dejection:depression or lowness of spirits.
4-bereavement: state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one
5-prompt:to move or induce to action.
6-dean:the head of a faculty, school, or administrative division in a university or college: the dean of admissions.
7-trait:A genetically determined characteristic or condition: a recessive trait.
8-outpatient:a patient who receives treatment at a hospital, as in an emergency room or clinic, but is not hospitalized.
9-BlackBerry: a wireless handheld device with e-mail, telephone, text messaging, Internet faxing and browsing services, and PDA applications.
10-compendium:a brief treatment or account of a subject, esp. an extensive subject; concise treatise: a compendium of medicine.
Summary
In the 60´s there were ads that touted a tranquilizer for people who feel sad because of the normal vicissitudes of life.This ad was quickly stopped by the FDA because it was dangerous for people to take drugs whenever they feel blue and without a mediacl treatment.
Nowadays,comparing with the 60´s,there are more people taking antidepressants and traquilizers than ever before;there is a legal drug culture that is socially accepted and there is the idea that being sad is an illness.However,experts agree that this practise is dangerous,because people tens to confuse normal sadness,which appears after the lose of something important in someone´s life,and a depressive disorder.
In this era,there has been a change in the definition of the depressive disorders,and nowadays anytime a person feels blue for a time he or she is treated as he or she as a depressive disorder.It is necessary to make a broad definition of what is a mental and emotional disorder such as depression to prevent people who suffer for a normal melancholy to be treated as an illness.We have to know that this feeling of misery and sadness after something unwanted has happened is normal and we don´t need to take medicine to cope with it.
Personal Reaction
The topic dealt in this article reminds of the novel"Brave New World"where people take a drug similar to an antidepressant called Soma each time they feel slightly unhappy.I agree with the author of this article;I think that we are a society which is accustumed to legal drugs and to take them without responsability and a proper medical control.We always take drugs not only when we feel sad but also when we are suffering from any small pain.
We have to realize that this practice is very dangerous and also this make us reflect about the quality of the lifestyle we are leading.The increase in the abuse of legal drugs makes us think about the way our society is made and the way we behave when we have to face everyday problems.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
One In a Million-The Romantics
The 80´s are back!!!This video reminds me of my childhood.It´s very funny and a rather kitsch,hope you enjoy it.
An excellent joke
Yesterday I was scared to death due to a "strange" event that my friends and me had the chance to witness.Yesterday evening I went to my friend´s house to see them and to stay there to listen to some music and chat.When I knocked on the door, after a while my friend opened it and invited to come in.As we were walking to his room,he told me"are you ready to see something unbelievable?"I said"yes,of course,I am always ready"he laughed and said"you won´t believe this".When we got to the room,there were almost my entire group of friends,and they were astonished to see me coming."What happened"I said,and someone explained me what was going on."Look",Ramon said,"we have here a computer programme that can guess what is going on right here and can guess everything about anyone´s life".At that time I didn´t believe what they were saying.He also told me that this programme was able to communicate with "spirits" of dead people.I said"no,you are kidding me!!!",they said"ask her something,her name(the spirit´s name)is Liza","OK,ask her what´s the colour of the coat I´m wearing",I said,Ramon quickly typed and the answer came quickly,"black"(the answer was showed on the screen).I couldn´t believe what I was seeing."Ok",I said,"ask her what I am studying",Ramon typed again and the answer appeared on the screen inmediatly,"English",I began to feel afraid and my legs started shaking.Some said,"ask her what we are listening to at the moment",the programme answered,"Los Piojos"wow!!!this was amazing but at the same time so frightening.I asked my friends where they got it,and they told me that a friend of theirs gave it,but they didn´t know where he had taken it from.They also told me that the "spirit" had guessed other things such as their profesional future,what they did yesterday,etc.I was so confused that I couldn´t think clearly.Ok, it couldn´t be a joke because it was impossible to fake it,there was no way to do it.I stayed there some time and then I went quickly to my house.I told my mother what had happened and she was very astonished also.I told her that I was going to the cyber and I was going to look for it at the internet.There was something inside of me that told me that this wasn´t possible.I have always been a sceptic,and I don´t believe in those things about spirits and ghosts and all that,I have always though that that was a bunch of bullshit.So I got to the cyber,asked for a PC and look for it at the internet:IT WAS A JOKE.The programme is called Liza or "Pedro responde",which is the newest version.It was made for joking with your friends and made them believe that you are communicating with spirits.The person that is playing a joke is the one that types and asks the spirit questions;he has to make the other person say the answer to the question aloud and when he types"liza,favor de contestar esta pregunta"he is actually writing the answer thanks to a configuration made in the keyboard.when he writes the question and press F5,the right answer appears quickly.When the "medium" doesn´t know the answer or couldn´t steal it from the other,the programme is configurated to answer things like"me niego a responder a eso" and so on.It is a very good programme to play a joke to your friends and to scare them.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Incomprehensible violence
I have to say something: I don´t really like football. Yes, I know that there are times(especially during the world cups)when I get interested in football, maybe because of the magnitude of the events, because of the several countries that participate in it and the(hidden)"patriotism"(if you want to call it like that)that is reborn each time that our selection plays.I know that the fact that I don´t like football turns me into a kind of alien for other men of my age, but unfortunately it doesn´t call my attention(I say unfortunately,because the fact that I don´t like it prevents me from socializing a little bit more with other guys of my age). I have to say also that I went twice to see a football match, it was the matches played by my neighbourood´s team: Talleres. Being there, near the hooligans, I didn´t like this new experience at all.Of course that at the beginning of the match there was excitement, and people there seemed to enjoy what was about to take place;but then you realized that the "hinchas"are not so focus on watching what is happening in the field, but they are paying all their attention in insulting and provoking the other fanatics.You can percieve the violence even in the songs they sing to "support"their team.I had the feeling that a football match was only an excuse for starting a fight and for releasing their anger and disappointment.I know that some people say that the violent acts carry out in the football matches are a reflection of the violence that is part of our society, and that the fanatics go to a stadium to release their anger.This is not an excuse,because the vast mayority of the "barrabravas" are part of a kind of mafia that is protected by the same football clubs they are part of. I know that barrabravas are the average population, I mean, some people who are part of these "hinchadas"are common people, but it doesn´t mean that you have to behave in that way.We can also see the diference in other countries, especially in Europe. In these countries,not taking into account England and all the U.K,which have the same footballistic traditions as Argentina and other South American countries, you can see that there isn´t a high barrier that prevents people from entering the field. This shows the way people behave, and that they are able to enjoy a match without destroying the stadium or killing and hurting other people. It is sad that this vandalism happens in several countries(especially ours)and that people who really enjoy watching this game could not participate or go to the stadium because of some other people´s madness and savagery.Maybe the only way to solve this problem is the strict control from the federations and a little more of respect and education.I know that this is a very big problem, but we have to find a solution anyway.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Reading Log n23
Date:August 16th,2007
Title: The Worst Jobs In America
Link to the Article: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1648055,00.html
Date of Publication: July 30th,2007
Vocabulary
1-uptick:1. a rise or improvement in business activity, in mood, etc.
2-fringe:3. an outer edge; margin; periphery: on the fringe of the art world.
3-salon:a shop, business, or department of a store offering a specific product or service, esp. one catering to a fashionable clientele: a dress salon; a hair salon.
4-perilous:involving or full of grave risk or peril; hazardous; dangerous: a perilous voyage across the Atlantic in a small boat.
5-bio-hazard: A biological agent, such as a virus or a condition that constitutes a threat to humans, especially in biological research or experimentation.
6-stride:12. a step forward in development or progress: rapid strides in mastering algebra.
7-untoward:1. unfavorable or unfortunate: Untoward circumstances forced him into bankruptcy
8-axe:Informal A sudden termination of employment: My colleague got the ax yesterday.
9-tally:1. an account or reckoning; a record of debit and credit, of the score of a game, or the like.
10-lag:1. to fail to maintain a desired pace or to keep up; fall or stay behind: After five minutes of hard running, some of them began to lag.
11-onus:1. a difficult or disagreeable obligation, task, burden, etc.
Summary
People who works in jobs related to the industrial laundry, supermarket staff and others in the USA receive low wages and they have to work under poor conditions which risk their health. The worst jobs in America are related to these three industries: laudry services, supermarkets and nail salons. The problem is the bad conditions in which people have to work and that the domestic unions that protect them have not a very stromg presence.
Laundry and dry cleanind workers have to manipulate everyday bio-hazard substances that can be very harmful for their health, some of them are waste that comes from hospitals, where you can find needles,blood and body parts between other things.Dry-cleaning workers, too, are at risk from prolonged exposure to chemicals: the dry-cleaning chemicals used in this industry contain high concentrations of PCE.The prolonged exposure to this chemical can harm the central nervous system.
The supermarket staff have to be on their feet all day, repeatedly lifting loads as heavy as 80 lbs., which puts them at risk for musculoskeletal disorders. They also receive low wages because they are paid only in tips.However,the spokeperson for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union claim that this kind of job provides financial security and that they are stable enough to support a family.
In spite of this, there are institutions that control and prevent labor violations.Worker advocates argue that broader enforcement of existing regulations nationwide could help improve conditions for more than 2.5 million supermarket workers.
Personal Reaction
What this article shows is not new,because this problem has been here and in other parts of the world since a long time ago. It is sad and it is not fair that people who have to do these kind of jobsm which are not nice and very dangerous for their health,receive low wages and in the vast mayority of the cases they don´t have an insurance.
The ones who are blamed for the bad conditions in which these people work are the owner of these industries. They only care about improving their business and financial situation, while people who work for them do their jobs in poor conditions. I think that the only solution to this problem is that institutions and the government must control these industries and investigate the way in which workers do their job and their financial situation.
Title: The Worst Jobs In America
Link to the Article: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1648055,00.html
Date of Publication: July 30th,2007
Vocabulary
1-uptick:1. a rise or improvement in business activity, in mood, etc.
2-fringe:3. an outer edge; margin; periphery: on the fringe of the art world.
3-salon:a shop, business, or department of a store offering a specific product or service, esp. one catering to a fashionable clientele: a dress salon; a hair salon.
4-perilous:involving or full of grave risk or peril; hazardous; dangerous: a perilous voyage across the Atlantic in a small boat.
5-bio-hazard: A biological agent, such as a virus or a condition that constitutes a threat to humans, especially in biological research or experimentation.
6-stride:12. a step forward in development or progress: rapid strides in mastering algebra.
7-untoward:1. unfavorable or unfortunate: Untoward circumstances forced him into bankruptcy
8-axe:Informal A sudden termination of employment: My colleague got the ax yesterday.
9-tally:1. an account or reckoning; a record of debit and credit, of the score of a game, or the like.
10-lag:1. to fail to maintain a desired pace or to keep up; fall or stay behind: After five minutes of hard running, some of them began to lag.
11-onus:1. a difficult or disagreeable obligation, task, burden, etc.
Summary
People who works in jobs related to the industrial laundry, supermarket staff and others in the USA receive low wages and they have to work under poor conditions which risk their health. The worst jobs in America are related to these three industries: laudry services, supermarkets and nail salons. The problem is the bad conditions in which people have to work and that the domestic unions that protect them have not a very stromg presence.
Laundry and dry cleanind workers have to manipulate everyday bio-hazard substances that can be very harmful for their health, some of them are waste that comes from hospitals, where you can find needles,blood and body parts between other things.Dry-cleaning workers, too, are at risk from prolonged exposure to chemicals: the dry-cleaning chemicals used in this industry contain high concentrations of PCE.The prolonged exposure to this chemical can harm the central nervous system.
The supermarket staff have to be on their feet all day, repeatedly lifting loads as heavy as 80 lbs., which puts them at risk for musculoskeletal disorders. They also receive low wages because they are paid only in tips.However,the spokeperson for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union claim that this kind of job provides financial security and that they are stable enough to support a family.
In spite of this, there are institutions that control and prevent labor violations.Worker advocates argue that broader enforcement of existing regulations nationwide could help improve conditions for more than 2.5 million supermarket workers.
Personal Reaction
What this article shows is not new,because this problem has been here and in other parts of the world since a long time ago. It is sad and it is not fair that people who have to do these kind of jobsm which are not nice and very dangerous for their health,receive low wages and in the vast mayority of the cases they don´t have an insurance.
The ones who are blamed for the bad conditions in which these people work are the owner of these industries. They only care about improving their business and financial situation, while people who work for them do their jobs in poor conditions. I think that the only solution to this problem is that institutions and the government must control these industries and investigate the way in which workers do their job and their financial situation.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Injustice
Yesterday I pass a very bad moment due to something that happened a few months ago and I though it was forgotten.This is the story: some months ago I was doing my teaching practises at Colegio Nacional; I had finished to do the observations so I began doing my practises. Everything seemed to go ok.I had to practice on mondays and wednesdays;on this day I was allowed to start the class on my own;the teacher who lent her course to practise allowed me to do that because she usually get at school later that day and she didn´t want me to waste my time. On a wednesday I was about to start my class when one man(I didn´t know he was the headmaster)didn´t let me start the class and asked me to go out. He told me that he was the headmaster and that he hadn´t given me his authorization to give the class on my own.I told him that I had the teacher´s authorization and that I had previously spoken with the vice rectora.He didn´t understand this and "invited" me to go out of the class. After this incident I was told by the vice rectora to ask her permission to start the class each time the teacher was late. I tought that this was not necessary,that´s why I made the mistake of starting the class on my own;I tought that with the teacher´s permission was enough.I could finished my practises without problems,but when a classmate of mine wanted to do her practises in this institution, the headmaster told her that all practises had been suspended.Yesterday, my teaching practise teacher told us that she heard that the practises for any career in the Colegio Nacional had been suspended due to a problem they had with a practising teacher:myself. I don´t know what they think that happened, but I felt that I was accused for something that never happened(nothing happened really). What worries me most is that this gossiping is damaging the prestige of the institution where I study.I think that what happened was a lack of respect for my teaching practises teacher and me, and I don´t know what´s the matter with the headmaster.Some people say that he doesn´t get on well with the vice rectora, and I unfortunately was in the eye of the storm. I hope that all this ends up well, because I have just clarify what happened and I don´t want people to start saying things that are not true. I thank my teaching practises teacher for defending me and trying to clarify what really happened.I want you to know that it wasn´t my fault and I´m not the one to be blamed for the suspension of the practises in that institution.
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