News #12

China offers wedding cash to boost birthrate

                After the 500+ project in Poland in order to encourage people to have children, we now see China of all places trying to do the same. I was quite surprised with this news as the previous policy of Chinese government allowed for only one child per family. Now officials have noticed the dramatic fall in the number of new citizens and so they decided to have them produced. Hence, all the couples planning a wedding can apply for financial support in order to pay for such things as: alcohol, cars, flats, bridal dresses, banquets and honeymoon travels.

                In my opinion it is ridiculous how our life plans get changed by the rulers of this world. I think that politics shouldn’t interfere in our daily life, not to mention family plans. I hate how those reforms make me think about people. We are treated as objects. The intentions might be good but the way they are put into action is callous.

Sources:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/world/china-offers-wedding-cash-to-boost-birthrate-slb6r5cgv

News #11

A Nation Answers a Sobbing Boy’s Plea: ‘Why Do They Bully?’

              Keaton goes to the local school outside Knoxville, Tennessee where he experienced bullying. One day when his mother had to collect him from school earlier as he was afraid to go to lunch they recorded a video and published it on social media. Keaton talks about what had happened to him, his fear and depression. The video is really heart-wrenching to watch. The boy cries in it and describes the situations that nobody would like to go through.

  A number of celebrities supported Keaton saying he was a real hero and offering help. Also some funds were collected for the boy. Unfortunately, somebody decided to dig into Keaton’s mother’s past activity on social media. They revealed some suspicious looking photos with the Confederate battle flag and some tweets that were supposed to be racist. In this way her credibility was questioned.

In my opinion, all the considerations about Keaton’s mother are beside the point. The real issue here is that this boy was afraid to go to school like so many others in our country as well. Keaton might have got support from celebrities inviting him to red carpet events but what about the problem of bullying? Does going to a baseball match or a movie premiere really solve it?

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/us/bullying-video-keaton-jones.html

News #10

Barbie comes out in support of same-sex marriage 

                Just after the same-sex marriage in Australia was legalized we hear some very uplifting news from Barbie. Mattel posted on Instagram an image of Barbie and a doll version of Aimee Song, a fashion designer, both wearing t-shirts with “Love wins” slogan. It was in support of Pride month for which the t-shirts were prepared. The money earned on them will go to support LGBTQ youth. The post on Instagram became very popular and collected mostly positive comments. A lot of people understood it that Barbie was shown as queer and that the whole action was in support Pride movement.

                As I see it, this is a little bit of an overstatement. Barbie was employed to promote a certain t-shirt: true. The t-shirt is a part of the LGTBQ campaign: true. But, I don’t think that a conclusion that Barbie is queer because of sitting next to another doll-girl wearing this t-shirt makes any sense. People like looking for conspiracy theories everywhere. The same happened a few years ago when a Polish MP had a problem with Tinky-Winky‘s gender.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/nov/29/barbie-comes-out-in-support-of-same-sex-marriage

News #9

Anorexia is narcissism, says Joan Bakewell

                I have just read an article which made me see red. The woman believes that anorexia is an outcome of having too much choice, too much time and being overindulgent. She cites situations in Syria and in Britain during the war as examples of times and places  when and where people don’t have this problem. As far as she is concerned, when there is a lack of food, you don’t suffer from anorexia. What is more, she believes that in the olden days people had different problems rather than preoccupation with body image and shape. She blames social media among others.

              To my mind, Ms Bakewell just doesn’t get the problem. First of all, she bases her point of view on tell-tale and not on serious research. No results are known as far as the number of people suffering from anorexia during the war and “we have never heard about it” is no proof that it didn’t exist. Also she doesn’t seem to understand the reason of the problem. I think it’s lack of acceptance and a need for control when you don’t have any rather than boredom and shallow need for looking nice. She is a flagship example of stereotypical thinking, indifference and the lack of need to understand.
 

Sources:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anorexia-is-narcissism-says-joan-bakewell-0bz5qrr6r

News #8

Android given Saudi citizenship has more rights than women

                The news of Sophia the robot being granted Saudi citizenship has appeared quite a time ago. Since then I have been thinking about it. It seems my doubts are quite similar to those who spoke out on the subject. Many Saudi women are upset because Sophia is the only “woman” who doesn’t have to wear a headscarf. She also doesn’t need any consent from her mahram to go out or travel. That’s a lot more than Saudi women are entitled to. The same goes for people who want Saudi citizenship. It is very difficult to obtain, and Sophia got it only because she is a very expensive piece of machinery.

                To me this situation is beyond my understanding. How can people out of their own free will consider a robot a person? What is more, give more rights to this “person” than any living woman has? This will definitely lead to some tragedy in the future. It might not be the same as in “Terminator” but the moral dilemma has already been born. Now we have to cope with it.

Sources:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/android-sophia-given-saudi-citizenship-has-more-rights-than-women-cc96f7tgk

News #7

 

Facebook asks users for nude photos in project to combat revenge porn

 

   I have recently come across a new kind of crime: revenge porn. Many people take nude pictures of themselves and share them with partners. However, partners are changeable- a person once loved might become your enemy later. They may decide to shame you by public sharing of the pictures you previously sent in good faith. A new technology has been developed in order to prevent this. It’s called PhotoDNA. And, it has recently been tested by Facebook in Australia. You have to send the picture you are concerned about to yourself on Messenger and let Facebook authorities hash it. In this way it is marked and will never be uploaded again.

   I think it is terrific that Facebook is taking some action against abuse. No one deserves to be publicly exposed and shamed. Especially if you take into account people who might lose their jobs because of this: teachers, politicians and civil servants. However, the whole process takes a little bit of trust to Facebook Administration. After all they can share your photos too. Therefore, the best option is not to take them at all- it’s kind of creepy.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/07/facebook-revenge-porn-nude-photos

News #6

Glow cat: fluorescent green felines could help study of HIV

Looking for something light to read I came across this article about an experiment on animals. This time the experiment was on cats. Apparently, the scientists were able to produce a glowing cat. As bizarre as it might seem, the experiment was not to produce a funny-looking animal but to help investigate HIV. The glowing cat is a genetically modified organism (GMO) and the ability to glow in the dark comes together with FIV. It is an equivalent of the HIV virus in humans. By the use of this technique the researchers will be able to make some developments in the HIV study.

                As far as I’m concerned, experiments on animals are cruel and in many cases pointless. In this case, I cannot say that the cat’s suffering is pointless. Its life will definitely benefit humans. On the other hand, I just feel sorry for it. What is more, there are other diseases, like malaria, killing enormous numbers of people in the third world countries. And nobody is doing anything about it.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/sep/11/genetically-modified-glowing-cats

News #5

Dogs have pet facial expressions to use on humans, study finds

 

I have just read an article in The Guardian that supports what I have always believed. Dogs are capable of making faces! The article describes a study of 24 dogs faced with either a human or another animal or food. Research has found that in the presence of a human dogs raised their eyebrows for their eyes to look bigger. They also pulled out their tongues. This facial expression is usually associated by people with cuteness. It is thus believed that dogs’ faces are a result of domestication.

                The result doesn’t really surprise me. I have made some observations for myself. My dog does at times look happy, sad or angry. I also believe that I have contact with her. As humans we greatly underestimate animals. We consider ourselves the smartest, only because we think that the world belongs to us.

 Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/19/dogs-have-pet-facial-expressions-to-use-on-humans-study-finds

News #4

Isis ‘White Widow’ Sally Jones is killed by US drone strike

I have just read an article which attracted my attention with the words “White Widow”. I wanted to know who has a nickname like that. It turns out that a former  punk-rocker, a mother and a wife to a 21-year old jihadist hacker was dubbed like that. Sally Jones was responsible for recruiting young girls to became jihadist brides and various threats against Britain on social media. Also, she allowed her 12-year old son to take part in executions.

Sally was killed in a drone attack. However heartless it may seem, the technology is truly amazing. They can be used for a really many purposes, not only killing. Drones are indeed fascinating. The next thing that got me flabbergasted is how can a woman of 50, brought up in the West become a Muslim, marry a guy who was a teenager a moment ago and go fight a war. The greatest victim is the woman’s son. He was a victim even before he died at his mother’s side.

Sources:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/isis-white-widow-sally-jones-is-killed-by-us-drone-strike-sdn3sgzj5

News #3

How attitudes to disabilities have changed



On the programme there were two journalists - Peter White who was born blind and Melanie Reid who got paralysed after a horse riding accident. They were exchanging views on the treatment of disabled people in Britain. Peter points out that for him it is different because he was born this way. Hence, he would like to be treated normally, without compassion, however nice it might be. Melanie’s view is different: she didn’t feel good when a family pushed in front of her at the entrance of the plane. They also consider some aspects of language drawing our attention to the fact that while being more politically correct we often talk nonsense.

From my observations, I must admit that I agree both with Peter and Melanie. On the one hand disabled people sometimes are very demanding, on the other they do need our assistance. Many of them will never be as fast, as clever, as fit as we are. However, it’s extremely thoughtless to give them all a label “weaker”.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05dp9h9#play

News #2

The Guardian News

           Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker is a book recently reviewed by Rachel Cooke. The book touches on the subject of the nature of sleep and effects of sleep deprivation. It seems that those effects are profound.  They range from Alzheimer’s disease to different types of cancer. It also affects our psyche. And, in a big way. Through lack of sleep we become more stressed, more anxious, more depressed, not to mention more hungry.

                It’s surprising that facts obvious to anybody are so gravely disregarded by doctors, employers, teachers and every single one of us  in turn. Sleep should be a prescribed medicine, yet nobody treats it seriously. I will never use lack a sleep as an excuse for not doing my homework just like no teacher would accept it. Still I will try Walker’s method for a week: I will set an alarm to go to bed.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/24/why-lack-of-sleep-health-worst-enemy-matthew-walker-why-we-sleep

Flash Fiction

Decisions, decisions

The ring was missing and she was worried indeed. She might pay for it with another black eye or a broken rib. This one was definitely not going to end with only some offensive comment. He won’t just call her a stupid cow and say he regrets proposing.

The carriage door slid open. “I was wondering if you lost something,” said a handsome stranger. “Yes, an engagement ring. Did you find it?” She looked at him hopefully. “Indeed, I have. I’m only sorry not to have given it to you first.”

Who lived happily ever after? 

News #1

The Times News

In the article AI can struggle to detect sarcasm the author discusses different aspects of understanding sarcasm. He writes about new software that has been developed in order to do it and various problems arising from this task. One of the ways to detect sarcasm is listen carefully to the tone of voice: then it is easy to spot the difference between “Yes, please wake me up at 8am again” and “Yes, please wake me up at 3am again”.

However in my opinion it’s not all so simple. I can easily understand the difference between waking someone at 8am and 3am but other sentences used in the article as examples are not so easy to comprehend. In order to spot sarcasm you need to share a person’s cultural and historical background. I believe that for AI with a huge database at its disposal it should be easier. 

Source: 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/ai-can-struggle-to-detect-sarcasm-vprkpdfxl

Flash Fiction

Politics

 The time of new presidential election were coming. There were just a few days until the voting day. And there were two strong opponent parties that were going head-to-head. Both of them had a very dedicated adherent which were blindly following their words and promises. Backers of party A were arguing with backers of party Ball time. Some fanatics of one side were ready to fight for their leader. They were even ready to kill or die for him. The nation were totally divided.

Leaders of those parties were candidates who ran for President. They were everywhere. You could see them in the front pages of Newspapers or TV Shows. It’s curious but they were always talking about one thing: their opponent. Why people shouldn’t vote for him. When they were having a common discussions the only thing they were doing was insulting and criticizing each other. But when the show was ended and cameras were off, they talked friendly and made future plans of going out for a drink after the election.

Global News 27 May

Few days ago a big match of famous Chinese board game called “Go” was held. The event was so unique because of the players that took part in it- the No.1 ranking player Ke Jie and an artificial-intelligence program designed by Google called Alpha Go. The match ended with computer victory. Ke Jie admitted that  there was a huge gap between their abilities and said that machine was much better than he.

 The developers of Alpha Go announced that their program will no longer be  use to play against humans. They also believed that machine might has a possibilities to find cures for diseases, reduce energy consumption and solve a lot of other problems that people can’t.

In my opinion this is great that something like Alpha Go exists. It seems to be a good invention not only for humans but also for environment- it may improves many aspects of our life and reinstates peace in nature. I only hope that nobody would try to use it in bad way.

Words:

-defeat= to win against someone in a fight, war, or competition

Alpha Go defeated world Go champion Ke Jie.

-consumption= the amount used/ the act of using

It’s possible that Alpha Go will reduce energy consumption.  

- high-profile= attracting a lot of attention and interest (e.g. from the public/newspapers/television)

He played three high-profile matches.

Global News 6 April

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that they are the only true religion helping people. But, the Ministry of Justice has a different point of view and wants to list them as extremists. This will result in a total ban on any religious celebration, habits and customs for Jehovah’s Witnesses. They will not even be allowed to meet in their Halls of Prayer. Many people remember Stalinist times when the same happened to all religions: there was a complete ban on worship.

I think that this action is not going to have any positive results: both for the country and for the people. It will probably provoke demonstrations and riots. Some people may die but it won’t kill a religion which is likely to go underground. In my opinion everyone should respect other’s differences of opinion and beliefs.

Words:

-worship= practice of showing respect for God, like saying prayers and singing

They all gathered in a Hall to worship.

-law-obedient= someone who respect law

We are very law-obedient people and don’t commit crimes.

-remote= far away

His spent a year in this remote village.

Global News 31 March

A group of teenagers from the Omsk region in Siberia have constructed their own bar. They would go there playing truant from school in order to spend time in a less stressful way. The construction materials have been scavenged from the local area but the pub looked very impressive. It even had wallpapers on the walls. They were drinking hard liquor, smoking tobacco and gambling. Everything ended when the police found out about the place.

Although, drinking, smoking and gambling are not worth promoting, I’m still impressed with initiative, hard work and creativity. In future they might be very successful businessmen. I hope that adults who handle this case will not concentrate on negativity but also see how industrious those young people were.

 

Words:

-errant= behaving wrongly

Errant children have been sent to the juvie institution.

-scavenge=to remove dirt or rubbish from an area (also by eating)

The pigeons are scavengers.

-get your hands on= get hold of

It is unclear how they got their hands on vodka and cigarettes.  

Global News 24 March

The Syrian government forces backed by Russian and Iranian allies have just recaptured again the city of Palmyra. The city is known for tourist attraction: the ancient, Roman theatre. It is part of global culture heritage. Last December, when the allies had it for the first time two concerts were organized there: Russian and Syrian. ISIS destroyed the centrepiece and staged executions there as an act of revenge. The nearby city is in ruins as well.

It’s really shocking how cruel people can be for each other. I can’t understand why ISIS is killing so many innocent victims and publicise it on services like YouTube. What is more, I cannot begin to understand why you should destroy building important for the history of the whole world. It is their history too.

Words:

 -grizzly= full of blood and violence

ISIS made a lot of grizzly executions.

-flee-fled-fled= run away

After the attack, the people fled their homes.

-evict= be forced to leave

The family with three children was evicted from their flat.

Global News 17 March

Dr. Nayantara Santhi has been investigating sleep. She subjected a woman, Sylvia to a series of experiments in order to prove how important sleep is and what happens to us if we don’t have enough of it. The research shows in how many different ways we are affected if we are sleep-deprived. The symptoms vary from genetic expression to mental functions. She warns to always get enough of sleep, for example by switching off your social media. 

This research is important for me as I need to be fully alert in school but also during the weekend. In the light of the above it makes sense to say that last minute cramming before a test at night doesn’t make sense whatsoever.

 

Words:

-mortality= the number of people who died in a given period of time (śmiertelność) 
Infant mortality in the Middle Ages was a lot higher than it is today.

-sleep deprivation=lack of sleep

Because of sleep deprivation we are less productive.

-cramped = small and cluttered

I don’t like sitting in cramped rooms as I feel claustrophobic.

Global News 10 March

After decades of allowing only one child per family, China agrees for two. The government is trying to encourage women to have children through providing nurseries in workplaces. However, it takes a lot more to raise a child: the costs of education and healthcare are huge. Day-care will not suffice. The reason for the change in policy is what the Chinese call 4-2-1. It means that one child has to support 2 parents and 4 grandparents, which seems difficult.

The above goes to show that governmental actions undertaken in order to change people’s traditional way of life, meddle with their privacy are counterproductive in the end.  The previous legislation allowing only one child brought about a lot of suffering. Changing what people got used to will not make them happy either.  

Words:

-cite= quote

She cited Hamlet’s words in her composition.

-stave off= keep away, put off

I tried to stave off the cold by wearing warm overcoat.

-concerns= something you worry about

Growing environmental concerns made a Minister change the law.