British vs Spanish.

It is true the fact that British and Spanish kids have very similar prolems becuase they both have the same way of life.

First of all,British and Spanish kids live in the same society,western society,so they both are affected by the western way of life.

Western society is getting more and more competitive and violent,and that affects seriously those people who have to take part in it.

Of course,there has to be a reason which causes violence in our society, and in my opinion it has to be stress. We are very stressed becuase we have a lot of responsibilities as we get older, and this change affect kids enormously.

So, kids have to accept this change and try to do their best,but not everybody achieves it and then they feel frustrated,they feel angry with the adults,and they become violent becuase it is the only way to take out their frustration. It is clear that it is not the only reason which explains why kids are violents.

There are other important factors like cinema,all the movies contain violence,sex and drugs; wars,we can see wars everywhere on Tv; and maybe the most important factor: video games.

Video games have a great influence on kids,and we can easily see that all the video games which are coming out contain games about guns,crimes,wars,etc. So, I belive that video games play a big role in that.

Finally,I think that parents should care more about their children's upbringing and the government should also worry a bit about young population and not only about terrorism or crisis.

Traditions

Today trditions are hardly maintained. That doesn't mean that we don't celebrate any special celebration which is part of our culture or religion, and it doesn't mean even that we don't know about the origin of any celebration we do. It is just that we forgot the meaning of it.

Every culture has its traditions,but lets talk about western culture, and lets choose Spain to talk about it.

In Spain,like in many other Christian countries,they celebrate Christmas,a tradition which is part of Christian religion.

People who celebrate it don't really think about the meaning of it. They don't link it with religion. They link it with a period of expenses.

Now lets choose another another example which concerns Spain,specifically Castellón. In Castellón there is one tradition which is called Magdalena.

People of Castellón keep waiting all the year for it,although not with the intention to celebrate it like a tradition event of Castellón, but because there is a week of holidays,where people can relax spending a lot of money.

And finally,the msot popular tradition which is celebrated all over the world, is Halloween, a Celtic celebration. On 31st of October,all the countries,all the people,kids and adults spend a lot of money buying curious costums and other stuffs to celebrate it.

But they don not see this festival like what it is, a new year of the Celts,they just mind having parties and going out to celebrate it,telling scary stories like if it was a monsters' day.

Finally, the main reason of all this is marketing,which doesn't care about maintaining traditions as an important part of any culture,they only mind making money.

Superstar

It is clear that all film stars are very rich,popular and they are loved by too many people, because they are famous, of course.

In fact, we can easily think that being a film star is the most great thing that could ever happens to us.

However there is one objection,in my opinion,which makes my desire to become a film star disappear,and this is to have to be famous.

Being famous means a lot of things. It means that you have to appear in the media,like televisions,radio,magazines,etc.

And once you appear in the media,you can be sure that your life is over. Because it would be impossible to do things which normal people do,like going shopping,meeting friends,inrestaurants or just going on a walk,without being surveyed by paparazzi.

And surely you can never have a private life. Anything you do will appear in the media. You can never have a relaxing romantic dinner with your partner in a luxurious restaurant,or just in the beach,for example,without appearing the next day in the internet and the other media. It seems like all the people know what you do and what you are going to do.

So, becuase of that,many film stars flee from thier country as many times as they can,just to have an easy and normal life like a normal person.

Then, I definitely think that being a film star would be a very bothering thing,no matter if it means to get a lot of money and have a luxurious life,if I cannot be happy with it.

Barak Obama.

Barak Obama has become a very popular president of all the times.
The reason is clear and simple: for the first time in USA's history a black man has become the president.
During all the past months he was making discourses,trying to convince people to vote for him in the elections and not for his opponent J. McCane.
Being a black man is the most important reason which made him won the past presidential elections,because for the American people that meant an important change in their society and in their politics. That meant a more tolerable and open-minded America,and of course,economic crisis helped a lot to discredit their current political system. So, Obama managed to take an advantage of this situation and used the word `change´ as a slogan in profit of his electoral campaign.
Another reason,which is the most important too,is advertisements. He made a lot of propaganda in USA, and around the world,so people could think that he was the best president which America could ever have.
The reason is that he had more money than his opponent.That showed the world that who has a lot of money can win in any field.
In resume, even if almost everybody is convincd that Obama can bring positive changes to the world, I don't think so. I think he is just another president of the United States, without minding about his skin colour,who can do right or wrong things,or be best or worse than the past president. But we have to wait to see if he really can do somethinf in benefit of the entire world.

Ten things to do

Want to do something to help stop global warming?

Here are ten simple things you can do and how much carbon dioxide you will save doing them.

1. Change a light: replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.


2. Drive less: walk,bike,carpoolor take mass transit more often. You will save one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don't drive!


3. Recycle more: you can save 2400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year just by recycling half of your household waste.


4. Check your tires: keeping your tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage by more than 3%. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere!


5. Use less hot water: it takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use less hot water by installing a low flow shower-head(350 pounds of CO2 saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water(500 pounds saved per year).


6. Avoid products with a lot of packaging: you can save 1200 pounds of carbon dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10%


7. Adjust your thermostat: moving your thermostat just 2 degrees in minter and up 2 degrees in summer you could save about 2000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.


8. Plant a tree: a single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.


9. Turn off electronic devices: simply turning off your TV,DVD player,stereo and computer when you are not using them will save you thousends of pounds of carbon dioxide a year.


10. Precycling.

PRECYCLING: WHAT IF WE COULD PREVENT WASTE BEFORE IT HAPPENS?

Things we could do:

• Remove from junk mail lists and read paper-based media online.


• Avoid products with over-sized packaging and try to buy loose fruit.


• Buy products that will last.


• Buy large containers of yoghurt and juice.


• Buy items that you need.


• Buy second-hand products.


• Borrow books, CDs,DVDs from local libraries.

Global Warming-Copenhagen

Certainly the global warming has become not only an unquestionable matter but a serious threat to our environment, ourselves and to every living.
The latest research has demonstrated that the global warming is a consequence and a direct result of years of excessive pollution which has dominated several areas of the modern life style.
The implication of such paradigm has become more and more obvious starting with the earth climate changing, decline certain marine species, deforestations, and for the last few years the human race has witnessed the fierst hurricanes ever.
Although many scientists are still questioning the extent of this paradigm, many governments are putting in place several programs and plans in order to reduce the impact of years of recklessness.
For instance, for the first time, we see global compaigns targeting fuel emissions to reduce pollution; awareness campaigns on recycling and the preservation of the green zones.
At a diferent level, the topic of global warming has been introduced to some schools curriculum,for example in the UK, and under the new government plan,teachers will include global warming in the formations of their lessons.
Nevertheless,as citizens and students,global warming is no longer an uncontentious issue,but an evidence that requires a pro active approach.
It is very easy and simply to realize that we are one of the important reasons which provokes animal extinction.
At first it is clear that humans don't worry about animals' life too much because we are too busy making plans and challenges we want to achieve, and that takes a big time in our life so we don't have too much time to spend worrying about problems in animals' life.
Another reason and the most important,which affects animal extinction is hunting. Hunting is a great business which provides great benefits for a lot of industries which produce clothes, cosmetics or food.
So it is easy to see that we prefer making money and having a comfortable life rather than worrying about animals, which are important too because they have always been a necessary part of our life. so after that we can realize that this is the most important reason which causes animal extinction.
But there is still another reason which is not caused by us totally, and this reason is the environment.
A long time ago,comets caused dinosaurs disappearance. Nowadays some natural disasters like deforestation, earthquake or floods provoke animals extinction too. But if natural disasters provoke animal extinction,some natural disasters are provoked by humans, who don't mind about the environment either.
Finally, after all this, it is easy to see that all the reasons,which cause animal extinction,are caused by us,and it is really necessary to control that making rules that punish people who do not respect them.

Self-Service

Self-Service is a modern way to serve oureselves in many shops without having to ask a shop assistant.

There are many kinds of self-service, such as serving oureselves food in restaurants or petrol to fill up cars' tanks in a petrol station. But the most common is `online self-service´.

Now we can buy and purchase everything we want without going out of home. It is as simple as doing a click and we can serve oureselves everything we want.

But it hasn't always been so easy as that. Before the Internet, customers used to go shopping to supermarkets and had to ask the shop assistant for the products they wanted to buy, and the same happened in restaurants, petrol stations or banks.

Until the self-service arrived as a new way to buy or get things and it was a very succesful way.

The advantages of this kind of service is that you don't have to ask anybody to get whatever you want. You can choose everything you want, without wasting too much time on it, so people who are always in the rush find it a comfortable and useful way to do their shopping.

The disadventages of this service may be the danger that could be for the seller. The possibility that people could serve themeselves bring with it the possibility to steal the products.

But fortunately, nowadays there are many technologies that keep the shops safe from thieves and so, in the future the self-service will only rest as a way to serve costumers everywhere.

The popularity of the energy drinks

Nowadays food factories seem to have found a way to persuade customers to consume different and new products, and one of these products are energy drinks.

Energy drinks are the latest drink that came out, at first, to be consumed by sportsman, but it is easy to see that the consumption of this kind of products has risen a high level, and this is thanks to `normal pepole´, people who drink energy drinks and aren't sportsmen or sportswomen.

But this fact is completely normal if we see the advertisments. The advertising compaigns show the products as a way of salvation for all of those who are stressed and need something which gives them an incentive to do their ordinary tasks.

These drinks, it seems, can give some kind of power that helps a lot. If we were sportsman it would be normal to have these drinks, because we'd make an extra effort, and so we'd need an extra power. But I can't understand how people feel that they need to have these drinks, because it's unnecessary.

People have this feeling because of the advertisments, and most of these viewers are young people. This is because young people, most of them students, are very stressed because of their jobs or exams, so they waste a lot of energy.

But this energy is called a mental energy or effort, and not a physical effort, like sportsmen waste.

Some people think that it should be a law which establishes a rule about the minimum age for purchasing energy drinks, but I think it's pretty ridiculous to do so, although I really think that, students and young people, wouldn't need to have these drinks if they had healthy rules to carry on for a better performance.

Rewarding students=better education?

Rewarding students to study is a new way to encourage them to do something they don't really want to.
First of all, the idea that students should be given a prize seems an effective way to avoid absences. Students are atractted by the fact they can have a reward if they go to school. But, that doesn't mean they can pass their exams. It's very possible that, perhaps they go to class only in order to have rewards. And this is another problem:rewards.
Teacher have to think what kind of prizes do attract their students. Because if they don't, students will continue without going to the school. For this reason, the school has to earn money to buy prizes.
So in the end, the idea of rewarding students wouldn't be so great as it seemed at the begining.
Many people think it's a good way to avoid students missing class and others do not think the same, and they believe that students who skip classes do that because they want to, and if someone does really want to study, there would be no need to give any prize.

Love And Other Disasters

It is a universal truth that, in matters of love, there are many types of tastes and many ways to love.
However, once a couple start their romance, sharing interests is a really important thing for each partner. It's very common to hear that a couple have broken up because, in the end, after few years of being together, they didn't get on well.
Many times this happens because each partner has his own interests or hobbies, which cannot share with the other.
At first, when a couple begin a relationship, every one of the components tries- with a very good intention- to understand and share the interests of his or her partner. There are actually several couples who manage to be together a long time because they respect and can understand the interests of their partner, but that doesn't happen very often.
We are getting used to hearing on TV or reading in the news that, almost 3/4 of couples break up in their first year of being together, and this is due to the inability to have cammon interests, so in one way it is important to share interests in order to get on well with your partner.
But, we don't have to give it too much importance, because if we get obsessed with the idea that we have to share ALL our partner's interests, we can hardly enjoy and see what do we really aim to do in a realtionship.
It is hard, indeed, to have the same interests as our partner, and I strongly believe that if we want to have a long and serious relationship, we have to be conscious that it's important to share our interests with our partner, but not too much, because in the end, if both had the same hobbies, we could get bored and this is, after all, a way to end up a relationship.