Indian woman pretend to be a Man for dowry

What I listened to / read

 While I was surfing on the internet on Sunday night ,  I found an surprising topic on BBC News . It's "India woman held for posing as groom for a dowry" . Then , I think I should publish this on our IELTS  blog . 

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What it says

In India , Krishna Sen was arrested for demanding dowry because she has been masquerading as a men since 2014 when she first married. Then ,she separated from her first and married another in 2017. She also borrowed around 850,000 rupee from her second bride and had not return the money.

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My response 

This was surprising when I first read this news because their marriage's culture is different from Thai marriage. In Thailand ,  paying and accepting dowry is one of normal tradition that the groom's family give cash ,gold or house to the bride's family . But, in India , The bride have to give dowry to groom's family for raising her child and allowing him to marry her.

Ms. Sen can live like  a man , and no one noticed that she isn't male. According to the news , she spoke in a different tone of voice , used man's toilets and mostly had male friend. It's mean that she had to pretend to be a man all the time. These make me really confused about her purpose because she has to spent time at least a year to make someone fell in love with her . Then , she can get her dowry. It's take long time and effort.

I searched on the internet for more information and found that mostly man pretend to be woman on online dating site because women usually trust the same gender . In addition , they can learn how do women think and do . These let them understand their girlfriend. It's also help them to philander when they crush on someone.

Racism, sexism and ... speciesism: A tasty bite

What I read

As soon as I saw the title "Offended by Koreans eating dog? I trust you’ve never had a bacon butty", I guessed what Chas Newkey-Burden would argue in his article in The Guardian. I wasn't disappointed. But he doesn't go as far as he could have. 

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What it says

Newkey-Burden argues that Western people are irrational when they criticise South Koreans for killing and eating dogs while they themselves are treating equally intelligent animals in the same brutal way before turning them into tasty meals. 

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My response 

Although Newkey-Burden hints at it, he does not directly state what seems to me a much more serious argument here. We think that racism is morally wrong; that is, it's not OK to say that black people, or Chinese people or Isaan people should be discriminated against because they are black, Chinese or Isaan. We also think that sexism is wrong. For example, it would be wrong to say that a woman can't study engineering because ... she is a woman. Or that she can't vote because she is a woman. In contrast, we discriminate between children and adults for good reasons: four year old children do not get driver's licences because they are not physically or mentally able to control a car – that is a morally relevant reason, so the discrimination is not prejudice.

But what about discriminating between animal species? It can't be right to treat human animals differently to other animals merely because they are humans. That would be exactly the same sort of unjustified prejudice as sexism and racism. We need a good reason to treat animals like dogs, pigs, ducks, cows and other tasty animals differently to human animals. And it is is not at all obvious that there is any such criteria that justifies the common discrimination that humans indulge in.

Newkey-Burden points out in his article that pigs are as intelligent as dogs, so that intelligence cannot be a criteria that justifies treating dogs differently to pigs when it comes to eating them. But although he does not explicitly make the connection, he also cites research from Cambridge University which shows that a pig is as intelligent as, or more intelligent than, a human baby at least in the first years of a human baby's life. So, not only can intelligence not justify treating dogs differently to pigs, neither can it justify treating human babies differently to pigs.

So, is there any significant difference that makes it morally acceptable to treat pigs and dogs, and ducks, and cows, differently to at least some human beings? Can you suggest one?

In case your wondering, I enjoy meat every day: duck, pork, beef, lamb, lobster and others are some of my favourite things. But that's not a good reason to think that my discrimination is not speciesism, the same sort of unjust prejudice as sexism and racism. Do I and my fellow human beings  have a good reason for our discrimination against non-human animals?

Save the Children!

What I listened to

A couple of days ago I read the BBC News story "Is social media causing childhood depression?" and almost decided to blog that (I still might) because I got so angry at the author's uncritical silliness. Happily, a TED Talk appeared on my Facebook homepage the next day. "3 fears about screen time for kids — and why they're not true" was an antidote to that latest silly story about how screens are destroying childhood or even adulthood. 

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What it says

In her 11:30 minute talk, children's media expert Sara DeWitt presents and opposes with solid evidence from research three common fears that parents have about children, especially very young children, using smartphones and tablets: 1) that they make children passive, suppressing physical activity; 2) that they interfere with learning; and 3) that they disrupt social relationships with parents and others. 

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My response 

From the start, I liked DeWitt's presentation: she tells us that most American adults check their phones within five minutes of waking up, and that already had me hooked. When she went on to say that they think smartphones are necessities, I was definitely in the group of "they". I realised this a couple of years ago when I was in Australia for my annual visit to family and friends there. Naturally, I had my smartphone with me, and I thought I could get by with the wifi that abounds throughout Sydney and my family members' homes, but it wasn't enough! I needed full connectivity all the time, so within a couple of hours of landing in Sydney, I ran into a store and bought a SIM card that gave me 4G access for the next ten days. Relief! And if smartphones are essential for adults, why would we think that they are not also important for children, who do live in the same world that we adults do?

I can understand the fears of parents and others, as can DeWitt, who sensibly takes those fears seriously before showing them to be greatly exaggerated. When I'm on the BTS, I often do a quick count, and it's usual that about 60 to 80% of people are staring at their smartphones. But then I remember back forty years or so when the workers on my school bus had their heads buried in newspapers or stared blankly out of the window. I can't see how focussing on a phone screen is any less sociable than either of the other two behaviours, and just as people used to make conversation about what was in the newspaper on paper, they now do the same about the news in the online newspaper. The difference is that the smartphone version is much more convenient than carrying around a great pile of dead trees.

Of course, any technology can be used in helpful or harmful ways, but trying to stop kids using smartphones because it might interfere with exercise, with socialising or with learning is like opposing the use of paper and pens because some kids will use them to draw cartoons instead of listening to a boring teacher lecture instead of engaging the kids in active learning. Paper and pens were a great technology last century, but one of the things that struck me when I watched Michael Sandel's lectures on justice at Harvard University was the large number of students taking notes not on paper but on screens, and that was some years ago now.

Yes, children do need to be saved – especially from well-meaning adults who are wrong.

What I listened to / read

After class, I thought about last week. It was a very busy week and it had many problems. Sometimes, I wonder why somebody can do many things in the same time but they still have time to gym or travel and whatever they want. I just heard a speech that it would be an answer. "How to gain control of your free time | Laura Vanderkam" 

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What it says

In the clip, Laura Vanderkam talks about time management and how to do that. She says we don’t build lives we want by saving time but we build lives we want then time will save itself. The key point to manage time is the way we treat our priorities as the equivalent of emergency situation and she also guides us to make a three-category priority list: career, relationships, ourselves, it is very helpful.

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My response 

Well, I am a person who always say I have not time to go to the gym or to do something. I did not realize what is a problem but after listening to this clip, I know the reason immediately because I did not set it into the piority list and I think I am a mobile addict too. Sometimes, I think I just see little things in facebook but the truth is I lose more  than one hour for nothing.

Actually, I always make a priority list but just for work. I have never made a list for relationships or myself before because I think they are unimportant but I may try it next time. The speaker tried to tell us about how to saving time to do something by compare the priority list with the broken water heater. (I think it means an emergency situation.)  So, if you want to do something, you just put it in your list and do it.

Took selfie and died

What I listened to / read

        I chose to read  " Bangkok woman killed taking selfie on train tracks " because this topic was really shocked me. I've never heard about anyone died from try to take selfies . Then , I read this news to find what did it happen and how.  

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What it says

      Early on Thursday morning at Samsen train station , BKK woman died later at hospital after taking photos with an approaching train. Her male friend sustained severed injured . Look back to January 2018 , a man died after trying to film a video of himself and incoming train in India.

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My response 

         In 1685 , the first camera was designed but the first photograph was clicked in 1814. Then , the camera have been improved continuously . At the present , this device is popular in every ages of people. We use this device without realizing of it's main purposes . For my opinion , the main purpose of cameras is preservation of history but nowadays we use it for showing our luxury or chic lifestyle .
We try to get greater selfie photos without noticing that selfies can be dangerous and fatal.

        After reading this news , I searched on the internet and found a lot of related news . Since we have mobile phones that come up with a camera , the number of died people from take selfies has risen. The reason of dead by accident is not a modern device but it's because of our cautiousness.

In addition , we do passionate by amount of likes on Facebook or hearts of Instagram . It's lead us to be in harm situation by ourselves. 

         I didn't count this situation as accident because we all know the apparent cause. So, we can avoid and stay away from it. I feel regret to died and injured person and I'm also hope that it'll not happen again.

     

Why we accept fake easier than truth

What I listened to / read

I am the one who always challenges my own ability especially language. This time, I compete myself with the more difficult reading article form Businessinsider.com. I select one mini-article of Dr. Michael Shermer titled "4 reasons why people ignore facts and believe fake news".

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What it says

In this article, Michael gave the reasons why people believe the fake news easily and have a strong confident on those news rather than the real one. he told us that, in fact, there are four main reasons including cognitive simplicity- the quick and natural way of the fake news accession similar to the beliefs, cognitive dissonance-the truth can make us a lot of tension leading to leave it out, backfire effect - the effect of emphasizing on their own belief caused by news, and tribal unity- constantly agreement to the group or society.

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My response 

Once the reading is concluded, I have no doubts why we are always lied from fake news or even certified-free advertisement. our brains were designed to absorb the simply, without understandable, information since the brain use only one step which is absorption. it is unnecessary to analyze the fake because they allure us via stimulating the rewarding program in brain leading to comfortably accept information, On the other hand, the truth utilizing the different brain system called pain and disgusting system which is directly associated with the false and uncertain statements, and data analysis. This system has been found to use a multiplex process which is not only unfavorable, but creates a lot of stress, for brain leading to data rejection which is consistent to the second factor of  Shermers.

In term of mind state, we will have more and more confident on their own beliefs, if we receive the data which familiar to the beliefs again and again. Those data strengthen your thought which is a peculiar phenomena which I may say that it could be an extraordinary theory of the classical repeating data memory program theory. Even they play in the different ways and approaches, but the result comes up with the same deepest beliefs.

Focusing to the social issue, as human, all of us has their own expectations to have a position in the society because of loneliness fear. One way to be there is to agree with the majority of the group or society so we need to make their own mind to be consistent with the core group thoughts. it seem like you do a self-hypnosis.

As my point of view, I think that we could try to overcoming with the pain and disgusting system to make a precise analysis of each data we receive, and try to be neutral- do not make a rush decision. These ways will help you to a precise and accurate information. Let's live in the reality.     

Roads to good laws

What I listened to 

I chose to listen to (to watch, really) "Why do the British drive on the left?" for a couple of reasons: it was on the BBC News front page, so I saw it, and the title immediately brought a response to mind. 

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What it says

The narrator explains that the tradition of driving on the left might date from Roman times, when riding your horse on the left meant your right hand could hold a weapon towards passing strangers. Two explanations are suggested for the common modern habit of driving on the right: French nobility in the late 18th century wanted to blend in with people in the middle, while in the US, the larger carriages were drawn by teams of horses with a rider sitting on the back, left horse, making it safer for passing to drive on the right. 

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My response 

First, I didn't find the first suggested explanation for driving on the right very convincing. If the French nobles wanted to blend in a bit more with ordinary people, I don't see how riding their horses or carriages in the middle of the street would help that: having a carriage or expensive horses was already a sure sign of being of the increasingly hated nobility, and where you rode on the road does not seem to me likely to change that, so the explanation for the French habit of driving on the right doesn't make much sense. On the other hand, the explanation from the New World makes a lot of sense. Those inventive new people in the recently formed United States of America, freed of their colonial masters in the Old World, were doing things differently and already starting to lead the world with radical new thinking, including larger carriages and more of them, so since these made it safer for the leading riders to pass on each other's left side, they drove on the right side of the road.

But my first idea idea on seeing the title was about the rule of law, which sort of also connects with those radical Americans making the world new from the mid-18th century on. Some laws are purely matters of convention, with no particular moral foundation: there is no obvious moral reason, nothing to do with justice, for making up a law that everyone must drive on the left not the right, or vice versa. All that matters for safety is that there is a law dictating one way or the other. Traffic laws are not based on good morals, just on choosing from the options and then making it a law.

In contrast, marriage laws, for example, should follow good morals. This is why many nations have been changing their marriage laws in recent years: the old laws inherited from traditions based on religion, custom or whatever, were seen to be morally wrong, so they were changed to make them more just. My own country, Australia, was very slow to do this, but after defeating the religiously inspired bad morals of people who wanted to keep the bad old traditional laws, even Australia finally legalised same-sex marriage just before Christmas last year, so that all Australians are now legally able to marry the person they love without regard to sex.

This is a sign of moral progress. We see the same moral progress in laws that made slavery illegal, in laws that allowed women to vote and in laws that protect the basic human right to free speech, where the excellent US Constitution has again set a good moral example to other countries since 1789 – the same year the French had their revolution.

Making it up, again

What I listened to

I found two fun things on the BBC News this morning, one to read one to listen to. The video story I watched and listened to is "Male make-up: Korean men have started a beauty revolution".

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What it says

The video is mainly a young Korean man explaining why he makes how-to videos for young men who aspire to look like K-pop idols, with some comments on Korean society's traditional disapproval of men wearing makeup in public. 

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My response 

This wasn't really listening practice for English, because the speaking is all in Korean, with English subtitles, which makes it reading practice. But it was fun.

The closest I come to makeup these days is my chap stick, and that's colourless. Occasionally I think of getting a tinted one, but for years have stuck with the boring colourless one that does its job of protecting my lips. When I was younger, much younger, I used to be a bit more adventurous, adding the odd touch of subtle colour, and sometimes something more outrageous for a special night out. I sometimes even went to the extremes of rock stars like David Bowie or Queen. Sadly, I don't have any photographs of myself from those days of my youth.

As the video came to an end, the comments about traditional attitudes to men wearing makeup, and the obvious suspicion that only gay men would do that, made me think a bit. I'm not sure how true that is for my own society. Of course, men in Australia in the 1970s did not normally wear blush, mascara, or cheerful lipstick, but they certainly dyed their hair and I suspect used other beauty aids. Then I remembered scenes from historical movies and paintings: the men in these were often heavily made up, with powdered faces and painted lips. Perhaps it has always been common, and socially acceptable for hi-so type men to wear makeup?

My final thought just came to me: the wonderfully full on makeup of drag queens was an inspiration long before I was even born. I remember reading, for example, Quentin Crisp's autobiography The Naked Civil Servant (sadly,  not available for Kindle!), when I was in high school, and he was writing about his adventures in lipstick in London during the Second World War! And then there are the stunning examples in that great Aussie film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
The opening scenes in the film, such as in this YouTube clip, were shot on location at one of the Sydney pubs I used to go to back in my days at university. I suspect that they might not be so glamorous these days, but I haven't been to check them out for decades.  Unlike the BBC's video, this one does practice listening in English.

Should Thailand have death cleanup firm?

What I listened to / read

It was a busy day with a lot of appointments throughout the day, Once I had a free time, I then suddenly thought that I am so lonely and do not have any lover now. I then search for something to let me out of this negative. During listening the radio, I then starred at the news in The Washington Post titled "Cleaning up after the Dead" by Anna Fifield. I think it is good for everyone to raise up for taking care yourself.

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What it says

Anna shared the situation of solitary man had been died for long time without anyone kept eye on him. Once the landlord noticed his dead. he/she asked for "the lonely-death-cleanup-industry" which had been set up ubiquitously country. Anna described how do they work and the cost that the apartment owner need to pay including a purifying ritual. She also shared that it was the influence of social change of Japanese society from whole family life to isolated living, and thee effect of aging society because of too interested career in the young generation.

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My response 

Recently, the way that parents and school teach children have been changed a lot. they teaches to be more attentive into career and be success in working life more than caring about fulfillment of basic social structure such as family. Frankly speaking, human have the roles to widespread their species and races, and also establishment and maintenance the social complexity. However, those roles has shifted into working life rather than basic function of society.

As mentioned in news, I agree with the post of Anna and also thought Japan does not only the country confronting with aging society, but Thai also faced with this occurrence as well. Ministry of public health together with the office of statistics announced that Thai population pyramid was altered into the contracting stage of pyramid. In other words, it indicates that birth rate is lower than death rate and the ratio between older and younger is higher meaning The aging society in Thai.

We can see that Thai new generation are worried about their work such as finding a high profit job, position promotion and so on. they have a little time to take care of the other part of life. These issue can be predicted that Thai will live alone without any family and offspring together with them. they then will pass away solitary and the task after dead will be held by landlord and owner. Hence, establishment of death cleanup industry should be done to help these problem and ensure that next tenant could live comfortably.

SHINee singer Jonghyun: K-pop boy band superstar dies

What I read

I found a shocking news on BBC News. The topic is "SHINee singer Jonghyun: K-POP boy band superstar dies" So I decided to share with my teacher and classmates.

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What it says

Jonghyun, a K-POP singer and accomplished dancer in SHINee band, committed suicide because of Major depressive disorder (MDD). 

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My response 

I was shocked with this news because he has been so famous since I was young and I have seen his many fans. Thus, I do understand the feeling of Jonghyun's fanclub. Their hearts have broken down. They have lost their idol. This news is so regretful.

Ghost of boy 'seen at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire'

What I read

I found the interesting news on BBC News. Its topic is "Ghost of boy'seen at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire".

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What it says

It says about the castles voted for the spooky place in UK. People said they had felt something spooky such as feeling like being pushed, having cold sensations, hearing muffed voices, seeing unexplained light from the castle, hearing a scream but found no one there, encountering ghostly figures, hearing children's laugh.

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My response 

In my view, I think ghosts can be everywhere not just in UK. And ghosts in each country may be different because of their cultures such as in Thailand, the ghosts are like Thai classical dancer.
I think I have seen the ghost just once, I think It's a ghost but I'm not so sure, it is a girl's black shadow passing through the window, at that time, I was getting an insomnia while being on the bed. But when I saw that shadow, I tried hard to sleep and told myself I must sleep now! It's the only one choice!

Fake new make real harm

What I listened to / read

      I have found a very remarkable topic "How fake news make the real harm". It's really interest me because it's a one of our world's problem. Everyone use social media to contract friends and families , we're also share news or stories but we've no suspecting or doubt about its truth. 

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What it says

       Stephanie Busari met one of the Chibok kidnapped girls who escaped from Boko Haram terrorists successfully.  While the official government of Nigeria and influential persons told her that it's hoax crime .Theses leaded to confusing and delaying efforts to rescue the kidnapped girls.  Stephanie try to explain our social role and responsibilities to verify before sharing information.

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My response 

     We let the influence of social media impact to our life ,  but we have never realized the effect of it. Last week , I saw a video on Youtube. This video showed me how people judged others. The story is about the old rich lady who own the market. She has 2 bodyguards and they always wear in black. This make people think she's heartless and cruel. Even though we don't know the truth , we decide from her outside .

     The kidnapped girls was ignored from their government and some who believe that it's a hoax.

Even if Boko Haram sent the girls' clip ,many people think it's not real. It make me feel disappointed . When we go on our Twitter , Facebook or others social media , we have to ask ourselves  "Is it true? " and "What benefit 'll they get from that ? " . I strongly agree with Stephanie's opinion because this can stop cyberbullying.  

    There're some basic suggestion to self-check before sharing news or information . Firstly, you have to read the domain and URL and make sure that's believable . Next , Look at the comment , Most of Stories's headline often will be written with the intention of being misleading . But if a lot of comments call out the article for being fake , it probably. Lastly, You have to check who said them. Then you can verify a quick Google searching to make sure that the author is creditable. 

No more Michelin's stars for Bra's eatery

What I listened to / read

   While I'm watching "Brunt" , a movie about Chef who attempt to get Michelin's three- star , I just though of some Thai street food cuisine has just got this award. Then , I went on BBC News , searched about the Michelin's star and found an interesting topic named "French chef Bras gives up Michelin stars"

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What it says

   "ํEvery meal that goes out could be inspected" Mr. Bras said.  Mr. Bras is a French chef of Sebastien Bra's Le Suquet restaurant who held Michelin's three - star rating for 18 years . He decided to give up his top's rating after getting a huge pressure of being inspected every year.  He is not the first luxury restaurant chef who bow out his eatery of the stars.

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My response 

      A few week ago, I heard about some Thai eateries received the Michelin's stars . One of interesting cuisine is "Jay-Fai cuisine" which is Thai - street food restaurant. Even though , there no any luxury seats , graven teak tables or air conditioners , the prices of food in is very high.  Jay-Fai , owner and chef ,served her customer with premium grade of seafood and materials. "The price is reasonable and her food is great and that's why my cuisine got this award", she said. 

      At first , I thought Michelin's star is great.There're many benefits to our tourism and economy because this award can persuade foreigners to travel and try Thai food.  Moreover, This award can indicate the skill and deftness of the chef. 

      After reading Mr. Bra's feeling ,  My mind was change. I've never thought about the huge pressure and serious inspection those chef has to face. I imagined myself as an owner of big well-known bakery . Every piece of bread could be evaluated and I don't know when. This lead me feel uncomfortable and unhappy with my work. I prefer the small bakery where I can design and bake my bread freely.

        Working under pressure is good  , this make people more patient and forceful . But, it can lead people feel stressed and then give up .As I'm a senior in university , pressure from studying drives me work harder but it's also make me feel dispirited many times.  The best way to apply pressure to your work is balancing it. Let pressure drives you focus on work but don't let it ruins your feeling.

         

      

Is it time to deep-sleep?

What I listened to / read

It is a day of us to use a lot of brain power and strengthen, but do you really confirm that you got a good sleep last night? the clip named "The brain benefits of deep sleep-- and how to get more of it" by Dan Gartenburg from TED.com will tell you why do we care about it?

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What it says

Dan told us that human need a good sleep to improve brain performances ,in term of long-term memory and personalities, biological marker of youth and reduce the risk from Alzheimer's, cardiovascular diseases, stroke and diabetes. However, there are a research showed that human had slept less than the past for a half and sleep signal also found to be similar to light sleep, rapid eye movement and waking time which have a low frequency and amplitude than deep sleep. So Dan and colleagues tried to develop the deep-sleep stimulation technology by adding delta sound into accessory to improve sleep quality.

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My response 

Throughout life time of human, we use one-third of time to sleep to relax and recover the body and mind from daytime. However, new generations and workers reduce sleep time to do overtime time job or party and hanging-out. Once they go to the bed, they also sleep as light sleep or only rapid eye movement during close their eyelids which are equal to still awake. Naturally, the body could recover and repair itself once you are sleep into deep-sleep stage only. if not, the body will still awake and work leading to reduce brain performance since it worked overload and increase the risk of  pathogenesis of earlier mentioned diseases from cellular stresses during body working. So, we need to go into that stage, but how?

As a scientist, there are a lot of research showing that high quality of sleep consisted of signal with high frequency and amplitude and also the movement like a dynamic of delta wave. This wave characteristic is different from the other three brain waves including waking time light sleep and rapid eye movement of REM. those brain waves displayed the low frequency and amplitude which are correlated the sensitive stage which sensitized to pain, exhausted and other negative feeling. if  those signals appear for long time, there are a research suggesting that it would increase the risk of those diseases and play an important role to increase aging rate of human. it sound like a shock story for adolescence and worker especially woman.

Fortunately, there a lot of way to take us into deep-sleep, but the important key is change your behaviors. Looking on the meal, light diet in evening are important for body to reduce metabolism and let the brain prepare to generate delta wave. Drinking some beverages is a good choice to improve delta wave regeneration like almond milk, hot chocolate or even diluted hot free-sugar green tea since they are had been proved to improve sleep quality. Exercise is also good way to improve dynamic of brain wave. In youtube or any social media, you can find a lot of clip recording the delta waves which can stimulate brain to release the similar characteristic wave to prepare you to deep-sleep. Nevertheless, you are still facing up with sleep apnea, you should to visit the doctor to use the signal clearance technology to clear short sound wave which interrupt your sleep time, and amplify the delta wave. In my thought, those tips can easily make you have a high-quality sleep time enough to fight the next morning. Have a nice deep sleep. 

An unhealthy correlation

What I listened to / read

When I came across "Irish abortion referendum: Vote to be held in May", in the Health section of the BBC News, my immediate reactions suggested it was worth blogging. 

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What it says

The article says that a referendum will be held in May on whether Ireland should end its its almost total constitutional ban on abortion, which results in thousands of Irish women travelling to England and Wales to get the safe, legal abortions that they are denied by the laws of their own country. 

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My response 

The reason for Ireland's near total ban on abortion is perhaps understandable, but it is also wrong. The reason is that people think a foetus is in fact a human being. It is certainly alive, but that cannot be a good reason to kill it, since the pigs and ducks we eat are also alive until we kill them to turn them into tasty pork or cassoulet. As daily eating habits prove, very few human beings actually believe that there is anything sacred about life. But perhaps there is something sacred about human life?

That sounds a bit more plausible, but it's too vague to be helpful, being in need of clarification. The useful question to ask is: What makes human life so special? To avoid charges of prejudice, this question needs to be widened a little to: What makes any life so special that it would be wrong to kill it?

I can think of no answer to this question that would not apply as strongly to a foetus as it does to a pig about to be turned into bacon. A human foetus is not intelligent. It has no more emotional life, social ties or any other quality than a pig has, so any reason given for not killing the foetus must also demand strict vegetarianism.

Actually, I think the clue to the reason some nations still have antiquated abortion laws in 2017 can be seen in the map, which can be read like a graph to show the strong correlation between religion and morally bad law. The most religious nations have the worst abortion laws, supporting the idea enshrined in the excellent US Constitution that religion should be kept out of politics. While they might have good teaching for individual believers, religions cannot be trusted as a foundation for morally good laws for nations, as we see in Ireland, where the Catholic religion has long interfered in public policy to the great harm of women in that country.

Notes on blogging for IELTS

What I read

I read all of your blog posts from the past week. In fact, I read everything you post on our class blog, both the posts and comments on them. 

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What it says

The body of written work is great, and as I read it, a couple of things came several times to mind, which is what prompted me to write this blog post. These things vary from minor formatting details to more important points that are highly relevant to an IELTS test. 

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My response

1. Keeping up with the discussions 

New blog posts

At the top of the right-hand column, there is a box to "Follow the IELTS class blog by email". I suggest you enter your aualc.net email there and submit it. You have to pass a capcha test and confirm your email address, but it means you will get an update on new blog posts by classmates.

Discussion on a post

When you first comment on a post that interests you, you want to follow the subsequent discussion, so it's a good idea to check the "Notify me" box. When  your classmates subsequently add to the discussion, you will get an email advice, which allows to check whether you want reply to the new comment.

• Short slide show on turning on "Notify me"
   

2. Formatting 

First, a couple of notes on format, that is, on what things look like. 

It is easier for readers if each post has the same appearance, if the fonts are the same type, size and colour, and if the same headings divide each post, which also reminds writers of our purposes. The most important suggestion following from this is that you: 

• write in the blog. Don't write in MS Word or some other program and then copy and paste your work into the blog. Do your blogging in your new blog post. 
• You can close and reopen as many times as like until you are happy with your work and ready to click the orange "Publish" button. 
• This avoids the problem of strange fonts and other things that distract readers. 

Another minor formatting point relates to paragraph formatting. 

• In academic and other formal writing, it is usual indent the first line of each paragraph. Whilst this is easy to do in sophisticated word processing programs such as MS Word and Google Docs, it is not easy to do in blogs. Consequently, blogs and similar writing do not normally indent the first lines of paragraphs. And we don't want to. 
• It is enough to press the "Enter" key twice to leave a space between paragraphs. 
• It is not a good idea to get into the bad habit of using space-space-space to move text around. Don't do this.
   
• Academic and similar work is normally left aligned. That is, the lines of a paragraph are even on the left side only, as you can see in this blog post. 

There are a couple of times when you will want to copy and paste from your chosen source, which bring me to the next, and more important, point.
 

3. Rules for copy and paste 

When we write, we do sometimes want to copy and paste something. I  suggest, for example, that you copy and paste in the title of the reading or  listening you have chosen to blog on. And it would be dangerous to try to write in a link rather than to copy and paste it. This sort of copying and pasting is not a problem, although it is good style to write the title of an article in "quotation marks," and as I suggest, also make it a bold link to your chosen source. 

However,  the purpose of writing the summary part of your blog post is to check your own understanding of the ideas by writing them in your own words, so you are unlikely to want to copy and paste the exact words from your source. Further, since your response is what you think, not what someone else thinks, there is normally no need to do more research than the reading or listening you are responding to. 

The danger with copying and pasting is plagiarism. This means "taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own" (Oxford Dictionaries). In other words, plagiarism is stealing, and thieves are punished. One reason for a zero band being given in an IELTS writing test, for example, is when the test taker "writes a totally memorized response" to either writing task 1 or 2 (Writing Task 1 & Writing Task 2). This is because the totally memorized response is not the test taker's own ideas and words answering the question but those of someone else, which is a form of plagiarism. Every good university in the world strictly follows the same policy: the best result of plagiarism is a zero grade. 

But we do want to copy and paste sometimes, and there is a correct way to do this in our writing. The non-negotiable rules are: 

• always put copied and pasted words in "quotation marks." You must tell readers when you quote someone else's words from a source. Every single time. 
• always tell readers where you copied from. Every single time. If you copy someone else's words, honesty requires that you tell your readers where those words came from. 
• To sum up, it is perfectly alright to copy and paste from a source, but you must always put copied and pasted words in quotation marks and your readers must always know from where those copied and pasted words came.
   
• For us, it is generally better not to copy and paste, but to express ideas in your own words. This shows that you have understood the words you read, and can use the idea in a summary or analysis. However, if you really like the way someone else said something, you can copy a short group of words - that is often done in academic work, and is acceptable provided it follows the above rules. 
• A useful strategy here is to write your summary looking only at short notes, not at your original reading or listening. 

4. Time, fluency, playing around 

Our blogging is to practice fluency. It's an opportunity to try out new language, both vocabulary and grammar, in a relaxed way. Fluency is important in the IELTS test, where you have limited time to turn your ideas into smooth, well-organized sentences and paragraphs. I suggest you limit the summary part, which is probably the most challenging part to write well in 100 words or less, to a maximum of 20 minutes. The response part of your blog post is very flexible. I suggest you start writing and keep writing for about 20 minutes, or a little longer if you like. 

And try out the blog tools. If you make an awful mess, you can always delete and start again. 

To reduce plastic bottles

What I listened to / read
In every major city in England, peple can drink free water in stead of buying water in a plastic bottle.
To reduce the wastes of plastic bottles is impotant in England.

Source;BBC news
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-42808302_____________________________________________ 

What it says
Shops, cafes and businesses will offer free water refill points in every major city and town in England by 2021 to reduce the water bottle.Environmental concerns are growing due to plastic wastes.Refill campaign has more than 1,600 refill stations across the UK and operates in 13 towns and cities in England.
Water companies already taking part in local schemes, for example, Bristol adopted the campaign and the city now has more than 200 refill points.
According to Water UK’s chief executive, industry want to tackle the problem caused by plastic bottle and UK has some of the best drinking water in the world. So they want everyone to benefit from this initiative.

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My response 

In Japan, people usually buy beverage in a plastic bottle or a can at a convenience store or a vending machine though Japanese tap water are so clean that everyone can drink everywhere in Japan.

I think water in a plastic bottle tastes better than tap water, so many Japanese people don’t drink tap water.

Considering the problem of plastic wastes, drinking tap water is admirable like UK new initiative. But I don’t think so, because in Japan, recycle system for plastic bottles has been developed greatly and Japanese people are more concerned about environmental problems. For example, after drinking water in a plastic bottle, they can throw it away into a designated trash box in order to recycle it. Plastic bottles are recycled into nwe plastic bottles again, the material for clothes, pellet for power generator materials, and so on.

Not only recycling plastic bottles, but also using eco-bag is helpful to solve the environmental problems. Eco-bag is used as a bag when they bring products their home after shopping. At a shop, they are sometimes given plastic bags, but when they bring eco-bag to a shop, they don’t need to get a plastic bag from a shop.
It is helpful preserving environment.Though the effort of one people is small, the the effects by many people is so huge.
I want more countries to be concerned about recycling.

The luxurious ghost airport in one of the world's poorest countries

What I read

I chose to read "The luxurious ghost airport in one of the world's poorest countries" on BBC News due to its interesting topic.

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What it says

The $200 million airport in Mozambique, one of the world's poorest countries, named as Nacala International Airport which was hoped to benefit the region now lied empty among no departures, no security, no one at baggage and no one waiting. It was built by Brazillian company Odebrecht which has been caught up in a corruption scandal. The company was responsible for the airport's construction, and admitted to having paid bribes to high level officials. But Mozambique and Brazil were hit by economic turmoil.

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My response 

It has surprised me a lot! I haven't thought that such a luxurious and expensive airport is in one of the world's poorest countries and can be lain among the emptiness and insecurity. After I had read this news, I searched for the airport's pictures to see how it is then and now. In my view, it looks like regular beautiful airports which we haven't had an idea about dereliction.

The country that brought yoghurt to the world

What I read

After I finished my class on Friday, I started looking for an interesting article to share with everyone then I saw the topic “the countrythat brought yoghurt to the world” By Madhvi Ramani  on www.bbc.com. I am interested in this topic because I am a fan of dairy product because they are delicious. 

What it says

On this article, the writer shows a long history of yoghurt. Many Bulgarians claim it was accidentally discovered here around 4,000 years ago when nomadic tribes roamed the land. However, Bulgaria played a vital role in introducing yoghurt to the West and turning it into the popular, commercial product we know today. Yoghurt is an intimate product linked to the land, the animals and the particular taste of the family. If we eating yoghurt that made from the different villages, the taste will different. 

My response 

Yoghurt has been consumed for many years. This article makes me know about history of yoghurt and the process of making yoghurt. Moreover, it makes me interested in its health benefits because I think many people still don’t realize about its benefits.

When I searched on the internet, I found many interesting reasons to love yoghurt. Firstly, yoghurt is rich in essential nutrients that our body need such as calcium, minerals and vitamin B. Secondly, some yoghurt contains probiotics which are healthy bacteria . Probiotics can boost the immune system, regulate digestive system and reduce the risk of cancer. Furthermore, it can help us lose  weight or keep the weight off. There are studies have found that eating yoghurt may reduce obesity.  Finally, yoghurt is brain food because it contains the amino acid tyrosine. Brain food helps our brain function effectively.

However,yoghurt may not good for everyone because it can cause negative effects for example, in the person who has milk allergy or lactose intolerance. Moreover, we should not having too much yoghurt per day as it may increase the level of sugar and cause kidney stones. In my opinion , eating yoghurt 2 cups per day is enough.

Ambition is not a dirty word.

What I listened to 

           After all day long, I hardly have the time to log into my Facebook account then I found something interesting and very powerful. It is an old viral from 2015 : Reese Witherspoon woman of the year full speech - Ambition is not a dirty word! (It would be  more convenient if you play from Youtube.) 

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What it says

           What  Was Reese wants to tell us? She wants to tell us especially all girls and women to believe in themselves and trust in their abilities to do something no matter what people say or laugh with it and she left a question : What would happen if  we were all brave enough to be a little bit more ambitious?  

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My response 

           For me, I always think ambition is a dirty word but after I listened to Reese's speech I have to change my mind. Everybody has a dream but what would they do to make their dreams come true. Since I was young I usually heard "You should do that" or "You should not do that" and if you think different from most people, they may look at you like you are an insane that makes you fear and you might throw your dream away because you want everyone accept you so you do not want be a weirdo. Sometimes Ambition is good if you use it in the right way. It could help you create something new and fabulous or it would be a motive to do what you never thought you have abilities to do that.
          We do not deny that there is not equality between men and women although in the land of equality,the USA. Does it has a chance to change? It needs more time but the most important thing is you are brave enough to show your abilities and make it happen.
         

Do men and women find different films funny?

What I read

I found an interesting article on the BBC News so I would like to share it with my teacher and my classmates! This article is "Do men and women find different films funny?"

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What it says

This article shows answers from the surveys about "Do men and women find different films funny?". There are 3 surveys. The first one is US Study which found that opting for the genres of film partly depends on gender, female college students tended to enjoy romantic film while male opted for dark comedies. The second one is BBC Culture which polled to find out the top 10 comedy films of all time, and the comedies more popular with male and female critics. The last one is German research which found that gender differences in preferences for film genres do exist.

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My response 

There are plenty of film's types, as you know, horror film, funny film, action film, adventure film, whimsical film, drama film, fantasy film, historical film, romance film, science fiction film, thriller film, political film, philosophical film etc. Everyone has his favorite film style. Mine is funny film.

Actually, We cannot refuse to enjoy the funny film! But there are many genres of the funny film such as romantic comedy, dark comedy etc. According to this article, girls prefer romantic comedy but boys prefer dark comedy. For me, I enjoy all genres of the funny film as the funny film makes watchers be happy and laugh out loud!