TEXTOS PARA O 3º COL PEDERNEIRAS  – CAD 04

ECONOMIC WOES SHRINK SPAIN’S POPULATION

Spain's increasing economic problems have led to a shrinking population. The country's National Statistics Institute stated that in the year to February 1st, Spain's total registered population fell by 205,788. Analysts attribute much of this decline to immigrants fleeing the country amid high unemployment and the explosion of the property bubble. There was also a sharp rise in the number of Spaniards leaving the country in search of work abroad. This brain drain represents a fall in the number of qualified and skilled workers in the event of the economy picking up pace again. Albert Esteve, a demographics expert, explained why people are leaving, saying: “Spain is less attractive because there are no jobs.”

Spain's economic woes are putting a huge social cost on all sectors of society. The middle class in particular is suffering badly. The capital, Madrid, is seeing increasing numbers of universityeducated and professional people sleeping rough. Samur, a charity for the homeless, said 25 per cent of those sleeping on the streets completed some kind of higher education. It also revealed that over 40 per cent of them are homeless as a result of losing their job. The charity also reports that homelessness has not dented enterprise. Many of those who lost their regular work are trying to make ends meet by collecting and selling scrap metal, becoming street artists or putting their musical skills to good use by busking.

(BBC)

    The Modern Matchmakers

Sex and love

Internet dating sites claim to have brought science to

the age-old question of how to pair off successfully. But

___________ they?

            FOR as long as humans have romanced each other, others have wanted to meddle. Whether those others were parents, priests, friends or bureaucrats, their motive was largely the same: they thought they knew what it took to pair people off better than those people knew themselves.

            Today, though, there is a new matchmaker in the village: the internet. It differs from the old ones in two ways. First, its motive is purely profit. Second, single wannabe lovers are queuing up to use it, rather than resenting its adverse criticism. For internet dating sites promise two things that neither traditional matchmakers nor chance encounters at bars, bus-stops and bar mitzvahs offer. One is a vastly greater choice of potential partners. The other is a scientifically proven way of matching suitable people together, enhancing the chance of “happily ever after”.

            The greater choice is unarguable. But does it lead to better outcomes? And do the “scientifically tested algorithms” actually work, and deliver the goods in ways that traditional courtship (or, at least, flirtation) cannot manage? These are the questions asked by a team of psychologists led by Eli Finkel of Northwestern University, in Illinois, in a paper released—probably not coincidentally—a few days before St Valentine’s Day. This paper, published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, reviews studies carried out by many groups of psychologists since the earliest internet dating site, Match.com, opened for business in 1995. In it, Dr Finkel and his colleagues cast a sceptical eye over the whole multi-billion-dollar online dating industry, and they are deeply unconvinced.

                                                                       (The Economist – adapted)

MY WAY

“My Way” is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song “Comme d’habitude” composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. “Comme d’habitude” had in turn originally been written in English, titled “For me”. Anka’s English lyrics are unrelated to the original French song or the earlier English version. “My Way” is often quoted as the most covered song in history, including covers by Sex Pistols and Elvis Presley. Lyrics may vary a bit from version to version, though. (adapted from Wikipedia.org)

My Way

Songwriters: Jacques Revaux, Claude François,

Gilles Thibaut, Paul Anka

And now, the end is near

And so I face the final curtain

My friend, I’ll say it clear

I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain

I’ve lived a life that’s full

I traveled each and every highway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets, I’ve had a few

But then again, too few to mention

I did what I had to do and saw it through

without exemption

I planned each charted course, each careful step along

the byway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all, when there was doubt

I ate it up and spit it out

I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried

I’ve had my fill, my share of losing

And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that

And may I say, not in a shy way,

“Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way”

For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught

To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one

who kneels

The record shows I took the blows and did it my way

Yes, it was my way

TEXTOS PARA O 2º COL NOT – CAD 04

The Financial District

The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle Manhattan. To project themselves from attacks, they built a strong wooden wall. Although it’s now long gone, this wall gave its name to a street in Lower Manhattan and the street, in turn, became synonymous with American capitalism. The street, of course, is Wall Street.

It is easy to see why “Wall Street” means capitalism. The New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange are both in the Wall Street area. So are many stockbrokers, investment banks and other banks, and headquarters of many large corporations. There is also the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a branch of the national bank of the United States – and the only branch that buys and sells government securities.

On any weekday you can visit the New York Stock Exchange, which began with several merchants meeting under a tree on Wall Street, now has over 1,350 members. From the visitor is gallery you can watch as trading goes on at a frantic pace below you.

Outside on the street, the pace is just as frantic (but only during working hours – the city is nightlife is elsewhere). The area is narrow streets and tall buildings can feel confining and can make the crowds seem scared.

To escape the commotion of Wall Street, you can visit the nearby South Street Seaport. The seaport is an open area of low buildings on the East River. In addition to many shops and restaurants, the seaport has a museum. You can tour old houses, ships, and shipyards – reminders of the days when New Yourk was above all a port. At the seaport, you can also tour the Fulton Fish Market, Where city restaurants buy their fish – if you can be there at five in the morning!

Appropriately, the very first business deal in Manhattan was made in what became the financial district. As every American schoolchild knows, the Dutch bought Manhattan from the Indians, for the ridiculously low price of 24 dollars worth of beads and trinkets.

Standing Room On Airplanes a Possibility

The latest cost-cutting idea from inexpensive airlines is for passengers to stand. Michael Ryan, the CEO of Ryanair, is seriously considering this option. Ryanair is one of Europe is biggest airlines. It carried 5.84 million passengers in June, which is 13% more than a year earlier. Mr. Ryan says his airline is so popular because it is so cheap. Most of Ryanair is flights are short trips to Europe. This makes the idea of standing for an hour or so on an airplane a possible one. Ryan said that many people stand for over an hour on a train, so it should be no problem on an airplane. He told reporters he would even be prepared to offer flights for free to passengers who stood. He said he could squeeze in 50 per cent more people and cut costs by 20 per cent.

Michael Ryan has changed the way many people think about air travel. His focus is on cutting out unnecessary services and so reducing fares. One idea he is still thinking about is to ask passengers to pay one euro (around a dollar) to use the toilet. He said he could remove two toilets on board the airplane and put in extra seats. The extra revenue would reduce costs and therefore the price of airline tickets. He said asking passengers to pay would encourage them to use the toilets at the airports. Ryan has also talked about a “fat tax” on overweight travelers. His standing room idea, however, might no take off. All airlines must stick to strict international safety standards. Everybody over the age of two must have a seat.

The 21 Club

Underage drinking and deaths have prompted a movement for change

NEARLY 5,000 people below the age of 21 die because of excessive alcohol consumption. Each year. Oddly, this has triggered a new movement to lower the drinking age. In America, young people can vote, drive, marry, divorce, hunt and go to war before alcohol is legally allowed to touch their lips. Many states once set their minimum drinking-age at 18. But in 1984 Ronald Reagan oversaw the passage of the “21 law”, which requires states to set 21 as the minimum drinking-age or risk losing 10% of their highway funds. Now campaigners want to move it back.

In the past, states have been too fiscally timid to challenge the 21 law. But calls for change are growing louder.

Supporters of the status quo, including the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving, say that the law has averted thousands of fatalities. But skeptics point out that other countries, like Canada, have seen similar declines, even though their drinking-age is 18. They also argue that barring young people from drinking does not stop the from consuming alcohol: it just makes them drink more quickly.

John Mc Cardell, former president of Middlebury College in Vermont, is part of the Amethyst Initiative, a group of educators who are pushing for 18-year-olds to be allowed to drink. Those who have graduated from high school, have a clean record and completed an alcohol-education programme should qualify for a drinking licence, he says, in the same way that people who go to driving school receive a licence to operate a vehicle.

                                                                                               (The Economist)

Letter

Dear Sir,

I am writing to inform you of the kind of services rendered by some of your employees of your company, the Kopeh Omnibus Company.

Firstly, the drivers of some of the buses often do not stop buses directly in front of the bus-stop, as one would expect, but twenty or thirty meters before or after them. This results in the people having to run to catch the bus. I use the word ‘run’ because, after stopping for only about two minutes, the bus starts off again. The bus-driver and conductor seem to be unable to see that people who are walking towards the bus might also be interested in catching it. I know this for certain because, having a heart condition, I try to make it a practice not to run. As a result, I have been left behind by your buses six times.

Secondly, your conductors seem to feel that they are in charge of educating the public. Once, I was rudely told “You are a man. Why do not you stand up for this lady?” by a conductor half my years in age. It was very embarrassing. Let us leave aside the point that, having a heart condition, it was inadvisable for me to stand up for the whole journey. Do you think that the conductor has the right to speak like that to the passengers? Are they not on the buses to serve us rather than insult us?

The Kopeh Omnibus Company has the monopoly of bus services in Kopeh. Thus, perhaps, the question of competition has never occurred to spur your employees on to better service. However, as it manager, I am sure that you will wish the public to have a good impression of the company.

PRISON – VS. – WORK

There is something seriously wrong here

@ PRISON	@ WORK
You spend most of your time in a 10 x 10 cell	You spend most of your time in a 6x6 cubicle
You get three free meals a day	You get a break for one meal, and you have to pay for it
For good behavior, you get time off	For good behavior, you get more work
The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you	You must carry a security card and open all the doors yourself
You can watch TV and play games	You could get fired for watching TV and playing games
You get your own toilet	You have to share the toilet with people who pee on the seat
They allow your family and friends to visit	You are not even supposed to speak to your family
All expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required on your part	You must pay all your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners
You spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out	You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars
You must deal with sadistic wardens	They are called ‘managers’

WHO ARE THESE ALIENS?

A spaceship lands on Earth. Inside we find several ugly, fat, hairless beings with no legs. What are these amorphous extraterrestrials? Jabba the Hutt? No, returning human astronauts, according to Dr Lewis Dartnell of University College London. Ease of movement in low or zero gravity will cause muscle wastage, while at the same time causing fluids to gather in their heads, which would make their faces puff up. The benevolent artificial environment inside a spacecraft would result in hair loss. Dr Dartnell even suggested that future astronauts would choose to have their legs amputated as ones lower limbs only get in the way in zero gravity. And if the astronauts had had children during their years in space travelling to other planets they would probably be stunted as well as bald and fat. A study from NASAs Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California has found that when newts tails are amputated to re-grow in space, the new tails are only half as long as they would be on Earth. Researchers affirm that gravity plays a role in cell division. Do you still want to grow up to be an astronaut?

                                                   (Think in English)

*newts: small semiaquatic salamanders of North America and Europe and northern Asia.

NEW LAW TARGETS FAST-FOOD TOYS

            San Francisco has passed a law banning fast-food restaurants from giving away toys with some children's meals. Supporters say many fast food meals are very unhealthy, but McDonald's called the legislation misguided.

            It could mean the end of the Happy Meal, the fast-food snack that's a hit with children at McDonald's, because it comes with a free toy. City leaders in San Francisco argued the same meals also come with too many calories and they say that has added to a situation where nearly 20% of American children are obese.

            Now San Francisco has become the first major US city to ban fast-food restaurants from giving away toys with meals that don't meet nutritional recommendations. In future, you'll only get the toy if you buy a healthy snack.

            The burger giant McDonald's sent senior executives to the city to oppose the measure. In a statement, the company said: ''Parents tell us it's their right and responsibility, not the government's, to make their own decisions and to choose what's right for their children.''

            McDonald's, Burger King and 15 other food companies have accepted to self-regulate how they advertise

food to youngsters.

                                                           (Rajesh Mirchandani, BBC News)

SANTA CLAUS IS TOO UNHEALTHY

An Australian scientist writing in the British Medical Journal thinks Father Christmas is a bad role model for children because he is very fat and drinks too much alcohol.

Father Christmas should get off his sleigh and walk, lay off the mince pies and go easy on the beer and brandy, says research from the University of Monash in Melbourne. Santa Claus, it says, is one of the most widely recognised figures in the world, and it’s about time he started looking after his health, because he’s a terrible role model.

The traditional image of him as a jolly little man with a fat belly promotes the view that obese people are happy. The research isn’t intended entirely seriously, says Nathan Grills, the scientist behind it, but there’s still a good point to make about public health.

Equally worrying, he says, is the vast amount of alcohol Santa consumes on his rounds. All the beer, brandy and sherry left out for him in a billion homes worldwide, it says, must mean he’s in no fit state to drive his sleigh. In fact, says the research, he should abandon it altogether and find a healthier way to deliver presents - like jogging. If that wasn’t bad enough, the study says, Santa’s habits warrant closer scrutiny. More research is needed, it says, before it pronounces him a true public health menace.

(Janet Barrie)

A WAVE OF ANGER IS SWEEPING THE CITIES OF THE WORLD

The protests have many different origins. In Brazil people rose up against bus fares, in Turkey against a building project. Indonesians have rejected higher fuel prices. In the euro zone they march against austerity, and the Arab spring has become a perma-protest against pretty much everything.

Yet just as in 1848, 1968 and 1989, when people also found a collective voice, the demonstrators have much in common. In one country after another, protesters have risen up with bewildering speed. They tend to be ordinary, middle-class people, not lobbies with lists of demands. Their mix of revelry and rage condemns the corruption, inefficiency and arrogance of the folk in charge.

Nobody can know how 2013 will change the world – if at all. In 1989 the Soviet empire teetered and fell. But Marx’s belief that 1848 was the first wave of a proletarian revolution was confounded by decades of flourishing capitalism and 1968 did more to change sex than politics. Even now, though, the inchoate significance of 2013 is discernible. And for politicians who want to peddle the same old stuff, news is not good.

(The Economist, FUVEST)

ARTIST DETAINED IN GROWING CRACKDOWN BEIJING

Ai Weiwei, China’s most prominent dissident after imprisoned Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, was detained April 3 at the Beijing airport as he tried to board a flight to Hong Kong. Perhaps best known for codesigning the 2008 Beijing Olympic stadium known as the Bird’s Nest. Ai is an outspoken critic of the government and has been detained several times. During one period in custody, he was allegedly beaten so badly that he required brain surgery. This arrest comes amid a widespread crackdown touched off by online calls for a Tunisian-style “jasmine revolution.” Over the past several weeks, at least 26 activists have been detained, 200 have been put under house arrest, and more than 30 have disappeared.

                         (ITA)

TEXTOS PARA O 3º COL NOT – CAD 04

                                                  BRAZIL´S POOR SCHOOLS

                                                    STILL A LOT TO LEARN

Brazil´s woeful schools, more than perhaps anything else, are what hold it back. They are improving – but too slowly.

            GOD may be Brazilian, as citizens of South America´s largest country like to say, but he surely played no part in designing its education system. Brazil has much going for it these days – stable politics, an open and fairly harmonious society, na economy that has remembered how to grow after decades of stagnation – but when it comes to the quality of schools, it falls far short even of many other developing countries despite heavy public spending on education.

            In the OECD´s worldwide tests of pupils´ abilities in reading, maths and science, Brazil is near the bottom of the class. Until the 1970s South Korea was about as prosperous as Brazil but, helped by its superior school system, it has leapt ahead and now has around four times the national income per head. World domination, even the friendly and non-confrontational sort Brazil seeks, will not come to a place where 45% of the heads of poor families have less than a year´s schooling.

            Moisés Zacarias, who is 14, goes to school in Diadema, a poor suburb of São Paulo that sprang up when millions of people migrated from the countryside to the country´s biggest metropolis, starting in the 1960s. At his school, which has 2,000 pupils, there are three separate shifts of students every day to get the most out of the buildings and teachers. Last year some pupils beat up others during a lesson and posted a video of the attack on the internet. Teachers often fail to show up for work. But Moisés´s school is better than it was five years ago.

                                                                       (The Economist – adapted)

    The Modern Matchmakers

Sex and love

Internet dating sites claim to have brought science to

the age-old question of how to pair off successfully. But

___________ they?

            FOR as long as humans have romanced each other, others have wanted to meddle. Whether those others were parents, priests, friends or bureaucrats, their motive was largely the same: they thought they knew what it took to pair people off better than those people knew themselves.

            Today, though, there is a new matchmaker in the village: the internet. It differs from the old ones in two ways. First, its motive is purely profit. Second, single wannabe lovers are queuing up to use it, rather than resenting its adverse criticism. For internet dating sites promise two things that neither traditional matchmakers nor chance encounters at bars, bus-stops and bar mitzvahs offer. One is a vastly greater choice of potential partners. The other is a scientifically proven way of matching suitable people together, enhancing the chance of “happily ever after”.

            The greater choice is unarguable. But does it lead to better outcomes? And do the “scientifically tested algorithms” actually work, and deliver the goods in ways that traditional courtship (or, at least, flirtation) cannot manage? These are the questions asked by a team of psychologists led by Eli Finkel of Northwestern University, in Illinois, in a paper released—probably not coincidentally—a few days before St Valentine’s Day. This paper, published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, reviews studies carried out by many groups of psychologists since the earliest internet dating site, Match.com, opened for business in 1995. In it, Dr Finkel and his colleagues cast a sceptical eye over the whole multi-billion-dollar online dating industry, and they are deeply unconvinced.

                                                                       (The Economist – adapted)

The Truth About India

Four stupid misconceptions the West needs to shake.

            India is now both rich and poor, and this is the way it is likely to stay. The world’s largest economies in the future — India, China, Brazil — will contain large numbers of poor people, as India does today. It also has many super-rich, like Sunil Mittal, who in the 1970s was running a little factory in Punjab making bicycle parts. In 1995 Mittal launched a telecom company, Airtel, which now has 223 million subscribers across 19 countries, giving him an estimated net worth of $8 billion.

            India’s economic rise is not eating American jobs, as I learned while researching my book. Trade happens in many directions, and the attraction of cheap labor overseas is only part of the story. When Airtel needed to expand fast during the early years of the cell-phone revolution, Mittal realized he would not be able to build infrastructure fast enough to

keep up with demand. So he reverse-outsourced, giving work to foreign companies like Nokia, IBM, and Ericsson. India’s contradictions are less confusing to Indians than they are to foreigners. New technology is not really regarded as alien or “Western,” and tends to quickly become indigenous since India is a flexible and adaptive society.

            Women in India are usually portrayed as oppressed — and often they are — but in some circumstances can have opportunities that they would not have elsewhere. Leading financial institutions in India, like HSBC, RBS, JPMorgan Chase, ICICI, and UBS, are all run by women. Big political names like Sonia Gandhi are not alone. Mayawati Kumari, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was one of nine children, and was raised on the edge of Delhi in a poor family. She now rules a state with a population nearly equal to that of Brazil.

                                                                       (Newsweek – adapted)

TEXTOS PARA O 1º COLEGIAL – CAD.04

NAPPLES PIZZA PROTECTED BY EU

            Pizza makers in Naples are celebrating after gaining official European Union recognition. It’s the end of a battle that began 25 years ago and is aimed at protecting Neapolitan pizzas from imitations.

            For 25 years pizza makers in Naples have been trying to get their product protected, and now it is, being granted a TSG, or Traditional Speciality Guaranteed label by EU. The head of the pizza makers’ association said the trademark was a great honour. The EU’s agriculture commissioner said Neapolitan pizza was now part of Europe’s food heritage.

            It means that all pizzerias aspiring to supply the real thing are, in future, supposed to be vetted by a special commission that will check standards. They include using only San Marzano tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese.

The Italian farmers’ association says that half of Italy’s 25.000 pizzerias currently use wrong ingredients, like East European cheese or Ukrainian flour.

            Italy now tops the EU chart for products that are protected. It has 180, more than Spain or France. Protected status enables producers to not only boast about their exclusivity but also charge a premium. And now pizza makers from Naples will get their slice of the action. 

                                                          

                                                                       (Duncan kennedy – BBC News, Italy)

GOOGLE TESTING SELF-DRIVING CAR

            Google is testing a car it believes is the future of motoring. The Internet giant has been testing the car that drives itself for several months. It has driven along thousands of miles of public roads in California. The car is guided by sensors, lasers and video cameras. A Google spokesperson explained to concerned motorists that the car has never been driven “unmanned,” and had test drivers, just in case things went wrong. The tech company says its vehicles are still “very much at the experimental stage”. Google’s interest in artificial intelligence is a sign that it wants to branch out beyond the web. It is an extension of its Street View project, in which millions of streets have been photographed and put online.

            Google’s blog said the company’s entry into the world of automotive technology is part of its plans to make the world a better place. “Larry [Page] and Sergey [Brin] founded Google because they wanted to help solve really big problems using technology,” it wrote. The blog continued: “One of the big problems we’re working on today is car safety and efficiency. Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use.” Google “CEO” “(Chief Executive Officer = OFICIAL CHEFE EXECUTIVO = PRESIDENTE)” Eric Schmidt said last month that it was unfortunate that cars were invented before computers: “Your car should drive itself; it’s amazing to me that we let humans drive cars,” he told reporters.

                                                                                  (breakingnewsenglish)

HOMELESS MAN IN CREDIT CARD HONESTY

            A homeless man in New York has repaid the trust paid in him by a woman who gave him her credit card. Jay Valentine, 32, was standing on a Manhattan street asking for small change when Merrie Harris, 45, lent him

her Platinum AmEx card. Onlookers were shocked to see the woman hand it over and walk off. Valentine said he bought deodorant, body wash, a pack of cigarettes and bottled water, all costing about $25. A short time later, he went back to the restaurant where Ms Harris was eating to return the card to her. For his efforts, he was awarded the title of Most Honest Homeless Man in the City. Valentine also received an offer from a New York-based airline to apply to be a flight attendant and $5,000 from an anonymous Texan.

            Ms Harris, an advertising executive, was also applauded for her act of generosity and trust. She told reporters she never doubted Mr Valentine would do anything dishonest with her card, saying: "What he did was no surprise to me.” She asked: “Are we only supposed to trust people we know?” Valentine said he never thought about abusing Harris’ trust in him: "I wasn't tempted at all. She trusted me, and I didn't want to violate that trust," he said. He added: "It sets a good example that people in need – like me - can and should be trusted." What is now in question is the security procedures of the store Valentine shopped in. Staff obviously did not check his signature or look at the photo id on the AmEx card.

                                                                                  (breakingnewsenglish

CANINE SUICIDE PUZZLE

             Can dogs commit suicide? That is the puzzling question being asked by dog lovers and animal behaviourists today in a small town in Scotland. At least five dogs are known to have leaped 13 metres to their deaths from a bridge in the town of Dumbarton. The bridge is now known as Rover’s Leap and is next to a  supposedly  haunted mansion  built in  1863, which was used as the location for a BBC TV series called Tales from the Madhouse. The latest suicidal canine completely distressed its owner by suddenly making a beeline for the bridge and jumping to its death. Animal psychologists are baffled at this abnormal behaviour and are keen to understand what is triggering it. Dogs are not like lemmings, which jump to their deaths in thousands, but are fully able to understand heights, just as humans are. Dogs would also have no reason to take their own lives  –  something unheard  of in the canine world, especially happy pet dogs from good families. All dog owners in the area have been advised to keep their dogs on a leash when they approach the bridge in future, until this mystery has been cleared up.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               (braklinglishnewsenglish)

                                                            Sunbeds

            In the UK, a country known for its bad weather and lack of sunshine, therre appears to be na ever increasing number of very tanned young people. So just how are they achieving their golden tans? Some are opting for the sun-free otion and are getting their tan from a bottle. However, it appears that others are turning to tanning salons, of which there are thousands in the UK.

            So why do the British prefer to be bronzed? Often, they are trying to emulate their favorite celebrities, footballers, or footballers´ wives. Research from the British Sunbed Association suggets that many people believe a tan makes them feel and look healthier.

            This is a belief that is most definitely not shared by Cancer Research UK. They firmly state that being tanned is not a sign of health. In fact, they are strongly against young people using sunbeds. On their website, they state that people who use sunbeds before the age of 35 have a higher six of melonoma.

            The dangers of tanning did not appear to concern ten-year-old Kelly Thompson who hit headlines in April after receiving severe burns from spending 16 minutes on a sunbed. Kelly´s mother was horrified that her daughter had been allowed to use the sunbeds and that the tanning salon was unmanned. She noted that: “There was no one to give advice on using these potentially dangerous machines.”

            Whether THE British government has been taking heed of such recent tanning tragedies is not clear. What is clear however is that self-regulation in the sunbed industry looks unlikely to continue. Just after Kelly´s story was reported in the news, the government issued a statement advising that people under 18 should not use sunbeds and that all salons should be supervised by trained staff.

                                                                                  (News about Britain – BBC)  

THE RIGHT OF RETURN

            Recently, Nebraska introduced a low that allows parents to abandon their unwanted children in designated hospitals - no questions asked. The law was designed to help young women who had got pregnant by mistake to be able to give up their babies without fear of prosecution. However, the law was so vaguely defined that it effectively allows any parent to abandon any child up to the age of 18 at one of the hospitals. Numerous teenagers have already been dumped. For instance, one single father handed over nine of his ten children - aged between 20 months and 17 years old. Now people from out of state are taking advantage of the law. In October 2008 a 14-year-old girl from lowa was dumped in an Omaha hospital by her grandparents. That girl was eventually returned home but a week later a woman from Michigan drove for 12 hours in order to get rid of her 13-year-old son.

                                                                                  (THINKIN ENGLISH)

Technology

LIKE A CHILD WITH SENSE

BY KAY ITOI

Are you lonely? Do you have trouble getting up on time?

If you live in Japan, help is on the way. Starting this week, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will begin taking orders for Wakamaru, the world’s first communicative home-use robot. Those willing to pay $14,300 will get a one-meter-tall bright yellow companion who will follow them around, keep them on schedule, chatter idly and even worry if they get stuck in traffic.

Life with Wakamaru will be a lot like having a precocious child who likes to house-sit and never throws tantrums. In the morning, the robot will come to your bed to wake you at a preprogrammed hour. While you dress, he’ll recite the day’s headlines and advise if you should take an umbrella. He moves about smoothly on a wheeled pedestal, and will even see you off at the door. (cont.)

Technology

LIKE A CHILD WITH SENSE (CONT.)

Wakamaru’s enormous round eyes and childlike gestures are what first attract people, says Junji Suzuki, a Mitsubishi Heavy manager. The robot can recognize up to 10,000 words – and respond with phrases from “I love you” to “The typhoon season is here!” When he can’t make

sense of what you say, he beeps and inclines his head. The way he looks up at you ‘just melts you,” says Suzuki.

The robot goes wherever you go, following sound and movement. When you are relaxing on the sofa, he’ll come near and start talking nonsense – just like a real kid. But he’s less self-absorbed than most children; Wakamaru panics if you don’t get home by the promised time, and will send a message to your mobile. If you fail to respond, he’ll start contacting your family and friends. Wakamaru can also remember 10 faces and emits a warning when an unfamiliar figure enters.

Mitsubishi Heavy will ship just 100 units by the year-end, and depending on the response – which GOOD LIFE predicts will be enthusiastic – it will decide how much to expand production in the future.

Wakamaru will soon have some robotic friends – or rivals. Several Japanese high-tech giants, including Sony and Fujitsu, formed a consortium last year to develop domestic robots. Now, if only they could make one that does the laundry.

(Newsweek)