America and its feuds

Feuds are not unique to America, of course -- they're the basis of, for example, the plot of Romeo & Juliet, set in Italy by an English writer -- but this one has some uniquely American features. It involves an "Elvis impersonator," i.e. someone whose job includes dressing up like and imitating Elvis Presley. (I used to run into one of these every so often at my local drugstore in Los Angeles. In full costume, he was kind of hard to miss.) Anyway, this particular Elvis was arrested and charged with sending letters laced with the "ricin" toxin to public officials, including President Obama and an obscure local judge. Fortunately, nobody was injured. (It is, by the way, completely ridiculous to send poisoned letters to the president. Guess what, Mr. Criminal Mastermind? He doesn't open his own mail.)

It soon came out, though, that the guy under arrest was innocent and was apparently being "framed." By whom? The FBI now thinks the real perpetrator was a different guy who was having a feud of some kind with the first guy. And, although this wasn't the reason for the feud, the second guy is a Wayne Newton impersonator. Wayne Newton is less world-famous than Elvis, but appeared quite a bit on America TV in the '60s and is still performing in Las Vegas, apparently with the help of fairly intensive plastic surgery. (What was the suspect's motive for manufacturing home-made ricin and trying to kill people with it? Not entirely clear, although the local judge who got one of the letters is the mother of a third guy who once defeated the suspect in a local political campaign.) And just to round out the absurdity, the new accused guy has a lawyer named George Lucas, which you might recognize as the name of the creator/producer of Star Wars.

Other ridiculous feuds include one currently underway in upstate New York between vendors of children's ice cream. Seriously. Already this one, too, has led to criminal charges, although thankfully no attempted murders. I would blame it on the hyper-competitive capitalist culture of the US, except the situation resembles the genuinely deadly "Glasgow Ice Cream Wars" of the 1980s, as well as the premise of a Scottish comedy from that era called Comfort and Joy. Maybe it's best in general just to watch out for ice-cream vendors no matter what country you're in -- those guys don't mess around.

Further notes on the ever-changing English language

Here are a few interesting and/or amusing items I've been collecting that relate to English. First, the good news that the redundant and usually pretentious word "whom" is dying out. Unfortunately, as with most changes in language, this is probably going to take a few more decades. Meanwhile, new forms and usages are developing through slang and social media. One writer recently described how the punctuation mark "slash" has become a word people use in conversation. Another defended "texting" against critics who say it's dumbing down the language. Another discussed the origins of emoticons, offering the (to me) surprising news that not only is the "smiley-face" older than I thought, but there were suggestions already back in the 19th century for developing some way of punctuating text to express subtle emotions and effects, particularly irony. And here we have the news that "Like," the button one uses to respond to posts on Facebook and some other sites, was originally going to be called "Awesome." This writer, contrary to the one linked to above, does think that there's some kind of dumbing-down at work here.

Finally, words you can’t use legally use to name a child in New Zealand. (Contrast this with these jokes from the American comedian Louis CK, who imagines some names that Americans might give their kids because there's no such legal restriction.) And for those of you who like to sing along to pop/rock tunes in English, here's the invaluable Aarchive of Misheard Song Lyrics. Get it right! :-)

NBA player comes out

I don't know whether any of you like basketball but I think this is great news for other players and fans. NBA player Jason Collins came out today in Sports Illustrated. I thought you might be interested in the article he wrote
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/#ixzz2RrizK55r
The whole article is well written, I think he makes some good points about stereotypes.

Big Brother, crime fighter

CCTV surveillance in the US is on the rise, as BBC News report. The attitude of Americans towards security systems has been slowly changing because of undeniable importance of security cameras in the fight against crime, especially taking into consideration the recent events in Boston.

CCTV systems are typical of the UK, where there is reportedly one CCTV for every 32 people. In London, the average person is caught on one of these cameras 300 times a day! This is why the opponents of CCTV claim that such measures violate the privacy of people, and thus deprive them of their civil liberties.

What do you think about these security systems? Would you agree to be "constantly" watched  if it helped to lower the crime rate or would you consider it to be a big intervention in your privacy? 

I found quite an interesting article about cosmetic procedures. I'm not really against it but I'm surprised and frankly even shocked by how she talked about the whole procedure, like it's a trivial thing, something to be done between having a lunch and going back to work.
What do you think, would you ever consider having something like that done to you? There is also a short video for those of you who are not squeamish.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22277890

FAKE ARTICLE: The Former Governor of Alaska Calls for Invasion of Czech Republic

Yesterday, I came across an article posted by The Daily Currant which described an interview for Fox News, where Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, spoke openly about how the US should invade Czech Republic, which is, according to her, a Muslim country and also a part of Russia.

She was repeatedly corrected by the hosts of the show:

"Yes there were Muslim and they were ethnic Chechens," Doocy started, "but they grew up mostly in Kyrgyzstan and the United States. And more importantly, Chechens don't come from the Czech Republic, they come from Chechnya, which is part of Russia. "

...but she kept on going...

"What's the difference?" Palin responded. "Isn't Russia part of the Czech Republic?"

... But then I realized it is FAKE! But I believed it for a while, and I was not alone because a lot of people shared it on Facebook etc. Well who can blame us, due to the events of the past few days, right? It was pretty believable :)

You can find the whole article here. What do you think about the Daily Currant? Their articles are pretty inventive... :)

The explanatory pic

I found another pic relating to Czech and Chechen topic...

Men can't read women's emotions

"It's a cliché that men just don't understand women. "

Now, there is a scintific proof!! It's obvious for centuries that sometimes men aren't able to understand women as well as women face to the fact that they can't read men's emotions properly :P   On the other hand, this misunderstanding between two genders could lead to reciprocal attraction. For instance, a woman could be winking at man for ages and he takes no notice of this gesture. However, a man who catches this sign is supposing incorrectly that a woman has a problem with her eyes. At this moment some of men are completely discouraged from an attempt to make a conversation but some of them ask what's wrongat least, and there is a possibility to start an interesting talk. Surely, there are men who are familiar with the right reading of this particular expresion and they are't interested in making a contact too. Moreover, it also depends on a certain gesture and many other things... Finally, I don't want to insult anyone. Personally, I have to agree with the statement that men are worse than women in reading emotions but from my experience it's a challenge to understand man's mind :)

The whole article you can read here:
http://bodyodd.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/14/17748017-its-true-men-cant-read-womens-emotions-study-confirms?lite

Geographical enlightenment in the US: Czech is not Chechen

As you have already noticed the issue of the Boston Marathon bombing has got a new dimention: Some Americans confuse Chechnya with the Czech Republic. During yesterday determined statements appeared on Twitter, including those of declaring war on us. This provoked some of the Czech users to fight for their country’s name and started explaining the difference between the Czech Republic and Chechnya.

Yesterday it seemed that only Czech media are interested in this topic, today the news touched even some American websites. The Czech Ambassador in Washington has also made a statement explaining the difference betweeen the two countries. Has a geographical enlightenment in America been started?

Gun control blocked

Fifty-four senators supported the gun bill (a ban on assault weapons and a ban on high-capacity gun magazines) but they did not manage to overcome the 60-vote treshold. Opponents of this bill argued that it would violate the right to bear arms and “that passions (especially the Newtown massacre) had no place in the making of momentous policy.“

Here are several interesting comments:

President Obama : “a pretty shameful day for Washington.” (abou Wednesday when the bill was blocked) "Most of these senators could not offer any good reason why we wouldn't want to make it harder for criminals and those with severe mental illnesses to buy a gun."

Gabrielle Giffords, former Arizona congresswoman : "These senators made their decision based on political fear and on cold calculations about the money of special interests like the National Rifle Association, which in the last election cycle spent around $25 million on contributions, lobbying and outside spending"

Patricia Maisch, a survivor of the mass shooting in Arizona: “Shame on you.”(she shouted from the Senate gallery after the bill was blocked)

Terror at Boston Marathon

I was shocked to see the news about the Boston bombings. Due to explosions during the Boston Marathon, 3 people are dead and more than 140 people are injured. "As authorities try to figure out who triggered the deadly bombings Monday at the Boston Marathon, which killed an 8-year-old boy and two others, many are at a loss to explain why anyone would target the annual event that celebrates thousands of runners from around the world."

Read the article, there are also some videos, e.g. the scene from the attack and the response of Obama, who said: "We still do not know who did this or why. But make no mistake - we will get to the bottom of this... Any responsible individuals or any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice".

It is sad. You really never know what can happen...

Banned Books Vs. Guns

In case you do not have Facebook, Ms Bilanová shared this article on our department page. I find it really interesting because I must say that America won't stop surprising me. After you get over the initial reaction to the picture because you're kinda getting used to the American's skewed view of what is right and wrong, especially when we're talking about the safety of children, then you find out the reason why this fairytale - Little Red Riding Hood - was banned. Not because of the potential violence (both the grandma and the little girl are eaten by the wolf) but because “one of the refreshments for her grandmother that Little Red Riding Hood carried in her basket was wine.” It's the same thing with movies - children can see blood, gore, etc...but there are strict policies, and very specific ones, on what part of body can/cannot be seen in a PG13 movie (even if it is shown in an artistic way). Now this - children mustn't read about wine because it's alcohol? I think that maybe they need to sort out their priorities.

"Explain why Jews are evil"

"You need to pretend that I am a member of the government in Nazi Germany, and you are being challenged to consider that you are loyal to the Nazis by writing an essay convincing me that Jews are evil and the source of our problems." Such instructions were students of a New York state high school asked to follow while writing their essay. The teacher responsible for this now faces the threat of reprimand or dismissal.

What do you think about this issue? Do you think a possible reprimand would be enough?

"One-third of the students refused to complete the task." What would you do if you were one of the students?

A striking look at (some) American university students

I had not heard about "SWUGs" before reading this, but if you're interested in "how the other half lives" -- i.e. the elite and, some would say, overly pampered (and perhaps a wee bit self-pitying) students at famous "Ivy League" universities like Yale -- well, this story gives you an insight. Doesn't sound like such a very happy existence, all in all.

New "studio schools" to be set up in England

It has been announced that thirteen new "studio schools" are to be set up in England from September next year. Schools of this kind mix academic studies with work-based training and thus enable their students to gain not only theoretical knowledge but also practical experience. Moreover, national and local employers are involved in this project, so the students should have better opportunity to find job in the future.

As a future teacher I like the idea of mixing theoretical and practical education. Especially nowadays when it seems that academic titles are more popular than practical skills, this kind of school appears to be very effective. I wonder how long it will take the Czech education system to adopt this idea as well. I know we have various vocational schools, but these are being less and less prestigious. Maybe at least a new name "studio schools" would help them.

The death of Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, has died. There's lots and lots of coverage and commentary about this in the British press right now, and a fair amount in the American press too, with various retrospectives on her eventful political career. For the occasion, I looked up the video above, of her final "Question Time" as Prime Minister, after she'd been forced to resign -- over relations with Europe and a controversial "poll tax" -- but before her successor, John Major, had taken over. Various members of the House of Commons pay tribute to her, but typically for the Commons, the opposition still doesn't go easy on her, and she hits right back with her usual scorn for their "socialism."

Also Thatcher-related: This recent item on Thatcher's and Ronald Reagan's iconic status as the "household gods" of contemporary conservatives in their respective parties and countries. As the commentator says, it's a problematic situation for conservatives -- good to have images of leaders you find inspiring, but not necessarily helpful in recognizing today's problems and formulating policies that will appeal to today's voters, especially younger ones.

"March Madness" and divine intervention

"March Madness" is the annual tournament for the championship of U.S. "college basketball," i.e. a big competition among basketball teams representing universities. (There is also professional basketball, the "NBA" or "National Basketball Association," but the "college game" is about equally popular. The same is true with American football.) This is an elimination tournament in which fans fill out "brackets" like this one, trying to guess (or bet on) who will win each round and which teams will end up playing which other teams. President Obama, who plays basketball himself, is a big fan and always prepares a bracket, although apparently his bracket this year didn't do so well

As I write this, the "Sweet Sixteen" (a quarter-final round among 16 teams), the "Elite Eight" (a semifinal round among the 8 winners of those games), and the "Final Four" (a final round among the winners of those), have already been played, and the championship game among the last two remaining teams is due to begin at about 3:30 a.m. our time. I don't plan to be watching and wouldn't expect you to be, but here's why I bring this up: the reaction of one coach whose team lost in an earlier round. It was very typical of America's "Bible Belt," and also indicative of the almost religious devotion that sports inspire in some (large) parts of America, including Indiana (the state I was born in and where I attended university myself, as it happens). So far, there's no word on whether the winning team was somehow getting help from Satan or not.

Barack Obama forced to apologize after calling California Attorney General ‘good looking’

President Barack Obama apologized to California Attorney General Kamala Harris “for the distraction created” when he remarked on her appearance at a San Francisco- area fundraiser. Obama called Harris following his return to Washington and after his remarks generated criticism on social media and from political opponents. “He did not want in any way to diminish the attorney general’s professional accomplishments and her capabilities,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said yesterday. At the last stop of a fundraising swing in California on April 4, Obama singled out Harris at the home of Levi Strauss heir John Goldman, praising her brilliance and dedication. “She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country,” the president said, prompting laughter from the crowd. “It’s true, come on.” In his call to Harris, Obama “apologized for creating this distraction,” Carney said, adding that the president “believes very strongly that Attorney General Harris is an excellent attorney general and that she’s done great work, and she’s dedicated and tough and brilliant.”

Groundhog charged with delaying spring

Here's an item relevant to our snowy April: a prosecutor in the US has charged Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who "officially" predicts the coming of spring (or not) every 2 February, "Groundhog Day," with getting it wrong this year. Apparently Phil came out, did not see his shadow, and therefore led everyone to think that spring would arrive soon. (Here is an explanation of this tradition.) The joke is that the prosecutor in question went to the trouble of drawing up a bill of indictment in formal legal language, just like you would in charging a criminal. There's also a bit of friendly interstate rivalry here, since "Phil" is a famous attraction in his town in Pennsylvania -- in fact, that's all this town with the unpronounceable name is known for -- while the prosecutor is across the state line in Ohio. (And apparently in a county where there's little enough real crime that he has time to indict groundhogs!)

A movie that came out 20 years ago, Groundhog Day, turned this odd tradition into a romantic comedy. The story is set in Punxsutawney, where an arrogant TV weatherman who is sent there to report on the groundhog's appearance finds that he is repeating the day over and over. The movie then tells the story of his various ways of dealing with this and trying to get himself out of his peculiar time warp. It's a clever film, a pretty good comedy and, I would say, a "minor classic" in that it's still well-remembered and well-regarded two decades later. There are sites where it can be watched online, for instance here.

Living on British-made goods

The Bradshaw family are on a mission to see whether they can survive for a year buying only British-made goods. Initially they struggled to find everyday items, like nappies, batteries and even British-made clothes. But after extensive research online and help from thousands of followers on social media James and Emily Bradshaw have been genuinely surprised by how much is still made in Britain. The one thing that has really disappointed them concerns their son Lucan. There just isn't much of a British toy industry.

British manufacturing has been in long-term decline for decades. Even though the cost of producing goods in developing countries is on the rise, it is still, in most cases, far cheaper to make things abroad.

"If we can come back to manufacturing things here and we put more value on to what it is that has been manufactured, then there is a message there - that it's not just how much it costs to make but what it's actually worth." It may sound idealistic, but this is the start of the Bradshaws' plan to get more people to follow their lead and buy British.

It's not just about Britain, is it? I'd say it's a global or at least european problem. What do you think?

Can Google intervene in the language use?

According to the latest news, objections from Google have forced the removal of the word "ungoogleable" from a list of new Swedish words. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21944834)

More precisely, the objections were aimed against its definition - the language watchdog defines "ungoogleable" (or "ogooglebar" in Swedish) as something that cannot be found with any search engine.
But Google wanted the meaning to relate only to Google searches.

A statement on the Language Council of Sweden's website, asks: "Who decides language? We do, language users. We decide together which words should be and how they are defined, used and spelled."
In response, a Google spokesperson told the BBC: "While Google, like many businesses, takes routine steps to protect our trademark, we are pleased that users connect the Google name with great search results."

So be carefull when using the word "ungoogleable" or to "google" something (espccially those who use different search engine).

New revolution in airline business?

It seems that a new revolution is starting in the field of flying. Small airline company Samoa Air has started to charge passangers by weight (http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/04/02/small-island-airline-starts-charging-fliers-by-weight/2045571/). It means that they will no longer pay for a seat, but they will be charged a fixed price per kilogram, which will vary according to the length of the route.
The company says that this way of charging is especially advantageous for families who travel with small children because they will no longer have to pay the same price as the adult.
Some people claim that it will also draw attention to obesity problem (by the way Samoa has quite large obesity level).
What do you think? Would you prefer this way of charging for your flight? Or do you think that it is a discrimination towards overweight people? Maybe America will also proceed to this system soon as there are also some problems with obesity...

Happy April Fool's Day !!

Do you like playing tricks on friends or relatives? Do it today! Surely, you know the feeling of being surprised or shocked by an unbelievable story. Personally, I love playing tricks on people especially on Fool's Day and watching the reactions and the expressions on people's faces. Here you can see the best April Fool's Day jokes from the press and the web. Some of them are interesting at least :)http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2013/apr/01/april-fools-jokes-2013-the-best-on-the-web

London is burning

About 100 firefighters and the crews of 20 fire engines are fighting a large fire at a library in Southwark, London. The cause of the fire is unknown, but there are no casualties or injured reported so far. The building also houses a museum of Southwark's history so vast damages to the collection are expected.

You can read the whole article here: London firefighters tackle large blaze at Southwark library

Buy cheap, sell expensive.

Would you believe that this bowl is worth $2.2m? Well neither did the person who sold it for just $3 in a garage sale just a few years ago. Nevertheless that's what it sold for at auction at Sotheby's yesterday. Apparently it is unbelievably old and rare. Although Song dynasty, it was certainly bought for a song, however did not go for a song.

I think I am going to have a look in our attic. You never know what you can find there. It's going to be a dead cat most likely with my luck :-D

True story. Or is it?

Ben Affleck's new Oscar winning film Argo has sparked a wave of comments which are far from positive.

First there is the question of how true the allegedly "true story" is. The Syrians certainly do not feel like the film is showing a true picture of their country.

Then there are the Iranians who find the film really hard to watch.  Iran is even thinking of suing the film over unrealistic portrayal of the hostage crisis.

And last but not least there are the British diplomats who helped the Americans in their time of need, however in the film they are portrayed as turning them away. Clearly in that respect Argo just follows the long Hollywood tradition of British villains and American heroes.

"Harlem Shake" in Oxford (UK)

 Have you ever heard of the Harlem Shake? Well, the first time I have ever heard about it was actually this morning. Unfortunately it was in connection with a poor Oxford librarian who got sacked, because she allowed some students to make a video of it while she was on duty. You can read all about it here.
I do hope she gets reinstated.
Nevertheless, it looks really fun and I think it would be great if someone organized something like that at our university :-D
BTW there are a lot more videos on YouTube. Some of my favorite ones are here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTEtbuR0VZ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pl5d4JNXxE

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Sunday is St. Patrick's Day, a holiday with an interesting history in terms of Anglo-American relations. The English don't celebrate it, or at least didn't when I was living in the UK; they didn't seem to be aware of it. It's an Irish holiday, and therefore has functioned at times as a statement of defiance against England's historical domination and colonizing of Ireland. But because immense numbers of Irish emigrated to the US, and particularly to America's northern cities, St. Patrick's Day became a big deal, almost an unofficial national holiday, in America. There are big parades marking it in Boston, New York, and Chicago. The Chicago River is dyed green for the occasion, as in the photo here, and tradition calls for wearing green items of clothing and drinking green-colored beer, and lots of it. (If green beer isn't readily available, tradition permits drinking beer of any color at all. Irish whiskey is also encouraged, as is "Irish coffee." The Irish, as you probably know, are stereotyped as big drinkers.)

Like every other American holiday, St. Pat's is also the occasion for big sales and (alleged) discounts in most of the stores, including those whose business has nothing to do with Ireland. Here, though, is an example from one business that does.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

Why don't the French speak better English?

That's the question discussed in this article, which cites statistics showing how relatively poorly the French do on tests of English. Various theories are then proposed to explain this, ranging from the way French children are raised to the way languages are taught in French schools to the fact that most English TV and movies in France are dubbed rather than subtitled. I would be interested in knowing how the factors described here are different in the Czech Republic. The students and others I deal with at the university here (luckily for me) speak fine English, as do a surprising number of waiters, store clerks, ticket agents and train conductors. What are Czechs doing to teach and learn English that the French aren't?

America - Land of Free

Free something but if Bloomberg has his way not a free choice. The mayor of New York, Bloomberg, prepared another ban. After banning smoking in public, he decided to ban the sale of large soda drinks. Apparently Americans are getting too fat and are not fit to choose for themselves what to eat and drink.
Fortunately, not all common sense is dead and his ban was turned down on the grounds that there are too many loop holes.

The Falklands Referendum

Islanders will go to the polls on March 10-11 to vote on a simple yes or no question: "Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?"

The Government of the Falkland Islands has arranged for outside observers to monitor the referendum in order to prove it is free and fair.

Argentina claims British forces stole the territory from them 180 years ago and have ruled it as a colony ever since.

Islanders have predicted an overwhelming vote for "yes."

The authorities in the Falklands hope the vote will send a firm message to Argentina that islanders want to remain British.

In the 80s there was a war between the Argentina and Britain over the  Falkland Islands. It finished then with a great victory for Britain and Margaret Thatcher's government.   

Ten years since the Iraq war

The tenth anniversary of America's invasion of Iraq has generated some commentary about who was "right" about that proposal back when it was being debated. Many people who supported the war at the time now agree that it was somewhere been a mistake and a disaster. A few of them, though, have been been writing lately that they were misled by the war's opponents, who looked to them like far-left radical extremists. They figured that if those people were against the invasion, then it must not be such a bad idea, although they now grudgingly agree that they should have taken the criticisms more seriously.

In response to this, Conor Friedersdorf writes that opposition to the war ten years ago, although a minority view, was actually widespread and mainstream, not limited to pacifists or "radicals." I thought his item was particularly interesting because he quotes some of the pro-war arguments of the time. His point is that those were really the extremist arguments. Whether you agree with that or not, the quotes are a useful window into American public opinion on foreign policy, or one influential element of it. In the terms of our last class discussion, they reflect the "neoconservative" orientation (the Iraq war was basically a neoconservative project), but also the "populist" idea that the right way to solve international problems is to stomp in with overwhelming force, kill some people and set a warning example for others, but otherwise not spend a lot of time thinking about the world's real complexities. That approach didn't work too well in this case.

And if you don't want to read about war, how about dogs? George W. Bush, the president who ordered the invasion, is spending his retirement learning to paint, and recently painted a couple of dogs. Some critics are claiming that one of these looks a lot like him.

North Korea threatens USA with nuclear strike

North Korea threatened a pre-amptive nuclear strike on the United States after UN unanimously approved sanctions against Pyongyang because of its recent nucelar test. North Korea justifies this threat by the statement that US is pushing to start a war and that they have right to take pre-amptive measures:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21701020

White House responded with assurance that the US is able to protect itself against any North Korean nucelar attack:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/07/north-korea-nuclear-threat/1969965/

Kereru birds have their own local pubs

Many kereru (birds living in New Zealand) endanger their lives by gorging themselves with summer fruit. More you can read here.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10866998 There is a question if is it possible to protect kereru from waking up with a hangover?

Batman is alive!

I am sorry but I couldn't not share this piece of news. It seems that Batman does really exist and apparently his Gotham City is Bradford, UK. To see the whole coverage please click here. I think we need more superheroes, don't you? :-)

The Nobel Prize

There is a record number (it comes up to 259) of candidates for the Nobel Prize this year. No list of official nominees exists, however it is known that one of them is Bill Clinton, the ex-prezident of the USA. The prize will be awarded in October.

Last year's "winner" was the EU which was criticized. Barack Obama, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2009, also wasn't accepted easily. We will see whether the prize will go to the USA this year as well... Personally, my favourite is Malalaj Júsuvzáí, a Pakistani girl. She tries to change the situation of girls in her country.

Will Britain be "lost"?

The big political story in Britain in the past few days was the result of the "byelection" in Eastleigh, a special election in one district to fill a vacant seat in the House of Commons. The Liberal Democratic candidate won, which was predicted, since the Liberal Democrats had held the seat before it was vacated (by a member who resigned in a scandal). But the "headline news" was the fact that the UK Independence Party or UKIP, a tiny party whose agenda is based on hostility to the EU, came in second, ahead of both the Conservatives and Labour (the two largest parties nationally).

That startling result is aggravating a crisis that was that was already developing within the ruling Conservative Party, which cannot afford to lose conservative voters to the more right-wing UKIP. Prime Minister Cameron is now under pressure to find a response to UKIP that will prevent this. One move the Tories promptly made is to promise to repeal the Human Rights Act if they win the next general election. That Act is one of the requirements that EU membership imposed on the UK.

Commentator Andrew Rawnsley points out that in desperation, "In the last gasps of the campaign, the Conservatives resorted to putting out their leaflets in Ukip colours." But attempts like this to imitate UKIP aren't working:: "The result of apeing Ukip while attacking their more centrist coalition partners? The Tories were beaten by both of them. ...Nigel Farage's outfit now attracts the plague-on-all-your houses, two-fingers-to-the-lot-of-you vote that used to go to the Lib Dems before they became a party of government." (Nigel Farage is the leader of UKIP. "Two fingers" is a rude hand gesture in the UK.)

How big is this event? It's "a crisis of capitalism and of democracy, as acute in Britain as anywhere else in Europe," according to another editorial in the Guarian newspaper. The Guardian links UKIP's victory to the surprising success of the "anti-politics Five Star Movement" in the Italian elections. European voters may be  rejecting mainstream political parties in general, in a way that could be very dangerous: "The time has come for the best to engage with the political system. If that fails, then Britain really will be lost." Conservatives normally don't agree with the Guardian, but the paper's views are echoed in this case by a former Conservative Pary vice-chairman, who says, "This is not a crisis for a government: it is a crisis of governance. Politicians talk about fixing things like immigration, like over-regulation, like high taxation, but they seem powerless to deal with it."

What is so special about the Super Bowl?

I know it's been weeks since the last Super Bowl game but this topic has always been some kind of a mystery to me. I've seen this sport event portrayed in many TV shows (e.g. How I Met Your Mother, Friends...) and many people were discussing it on talk shows and social networks and let me say that they seemed quite obsessed with this game. It looked like EVERYONE watched it and they were even discussing things like commercials and songs which were played throughout the game. So I was wondering - why is it such a big deal and why this particular sport? What do you think about that? Have you ever been to the US during this time? Or have you ever discussed this topic with anyone from the USA? (Maybe Professor Smith has something interesting to say about that ;) )

And what about the Czech Republic? Do you think there is a sport (e.g. Ice hockey) which we can enjoy as much as Americans do their Super Bowl or even more?

Religion in the USA

Following our discussion on religion, here is a little bit different take on that subject. The Book of Mormon is a musical by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of a popular cartoon South Park, has taken Broadway by storm last year and is planning to do the same with London this year. If you want to read more about it, click here :-)

Should America get involved in Syria?

According to this article in The Economist (http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21572193-syria-disintegrates-it-threatens-entire-middle-east-outside-world-needs-act) President Barack Obama has suggested that saving lives alone is not a sufficient ground for military action, however it seems that such a superpower as America is likely to be dragged into the conflict eventually and Obama's reluctance to help and save hundreds or maybe thousands of lives infuriated local moderate non-jihadist people.
What do you think? Should Obama take control over the situation in Syria and try to gain allies there or should he just sit back and wait for Assads' capitulation while hundreds of people are being killed, arrested and starved out?

Guilty

Final Verdict is Rendered in First Common Law Court Case against the Vatican and Canada for Genocide

Pope, Queen and Canadian Prime Minister found Guilty of Crimes against Humanity and Sentenced to Twenty Five Year Prison Terms

Court Orders them to Surrender by March 4 or face Citizens' Arrests

 Here is the verdict: http://itccs.org/2013/02/25/guilty/

Oskars 2013

Something for the movie buffs.
The academy awards are here! And this year's winners are ...See here.
 For more information and videos see here.

Should English be the EU's official language?

That's what the president of Germany is suggesting, probably as a way of trying to reduce opposition to the EU in the United Kingdom. (Notice the president's many flattering remarks about the "poetry" of English, about Britain as Europe's oldest democracy with much to teach the others, about how it made modern Europe possible by winning World War II, etc.) I'm not sure what the practical effect would be of making English "the" official EU language, since it's already one of the official languages, although the president seems to think that one "common language" would be helpful and is an ultimately feasible goal. Of course, it would be convenient for American tourists like myself! I'm not sure that's the best argument for it, though.  ;-)

Women are under-represented in UK public life

A new report details the situation and says it may be getting worse. If you followed the earlier thread here about women in media, you might find this of interest too.

Time to Change your Career?

The internet giants including Facebook's Zuckerberg and Google's Brin decided to award 11 researchers $3mil each for their contributions to science, more precisely for getting closer to finding cure for the most dangerous diseases.
And the winners are...

Should U.K. Apologize for Its Imperial Past?

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron became on Wednesday the first serving British Premier to visit the Jallianwala Bagh memorial in the northern India which marks the 1919 massacre of scores of unarmed Indian protesters by British colonial troops.Although he talked about a shameful act, the British as well as the Indian media noticed that he failed to apologize.

A very interesting discussion followed on the national radio whether he was right not to apologize. What are your views?

You can also read here how he defended himself.

A lawsuit in Michigan

A hospital in Michigan is facing a lawsuit after it allegedly fulfilled father's wish that no African American nurse should be treating his son. 
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/no-black-nurses-request-draws-lawsuit-173026275--abc-news-health.html

After 147 years, slavery abolished in the U.S.!

BIZARRE!

The state of Mississippi ratifited 13th amendment abolishing slavery, only 147 later! Originally the amendment was supposed to be valid from December 6, 1865 and gradually all of the 50 states were to sign it. Mississippi rejected it but later on, in 1995 they approved of it. So why wasn't it valid from 1995?It is more than easy, until February 7, 2013, they had never submitted the required documentation to ratify the 13th Amendment, which means it never officially had abolished slavery. That is more than bizarre I would say.

 

American "exceptionalism"

An American left-wing commentator, Glenn Greenwald, writes in the British Guardian newspaper on an important topic, "American exceptionalism." This term gets used various ways; it refers to America being different from other countries (an "exception") and was used in the past in attempts to explain why Marxist, Communist and explicitly socialistic political parties had not formed in the US the way they did in Europe and in Latin America. (There have been such parties, but they have been small "third" and "fourth" parties and have rarely been serious competitors with the Democrats and Republicans.) Greenwald wonders whether the idea has gotten out of control, citing American commentators -- especially conservatives -- who talk about America as the greatest country in the world, or even the greatest in human history. I'd be particularly interested in the comments that Europeans like yourselves might have on this question.

Women in Media

The 4th Estate, an American research group, released a study about media which shows that in the reports on issues concerning women, such as abortion or birth control, men tend to be quoted five times more than women. 

In the stories about abortion written in the national newspapers, such as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, about 81% quotes come from men, but only 12% from women and 7% from organizations. 

When concerning the stories about birth control, men had 75% of the quotes, whereas women had 19% and organizations 6%. 

As for the women’s rights topics, women got about 31% of the quotes, men 52% and organizations 17%. 

Men are also dominant when it comes to the elections, economy and foreign policy. When considering broadcasting, men had about 80% of quotes during the election shows on national television. 

Another study, so called The OpEd Project, demonstrates that the majority of opinion columns are written by men as well.

The whole article can be found here. 

And here is info about a four week study of nine national British newspapers, carried out by an organization called Women in Journalism: it showed that 78% of articles on the front pages have men authors and about 84% of those quoted or mentioned are men. Only 16% belonged to women, who were mostly victims or celebrities. 

As far as photographs are concerned – if there was a photo of a powerful woman, e.g. a politician, it was not a flattering one. 

Harriet Hartman, the deputy leader of the Labour party, says that media should be unbiased, and she asks a question how British journalism can be objective, when most of the reports about men in parliament are written by men. 

There have been issues concerning how BBC treats women – how ageism and sexism is reflected on TV screens. There is also a problem with the shortage of women in broadcasting, especially news. 

As a woman, I find this situation very unsatisfying. I think women should be represented in media more.