Do Thai Governments Help Thai Farmers?

Although the unjust policy of making the sale and use of some recreational drugs illegal is popular, the obvious facts, which we see in the news every day, prove that after more than 40 years it is and always has been a total failure.

Similarly, their constantly poor and powerless condition after decades of government control of their economic decision making seems to be strong evidence that Thai governments do not help Thai farmers.

• What do you think? Do Thai governments help Thai farmers? 

As discussed in class, this question arose out of the desire of several people to discuss such issues in their essays answering Hartmann's question on page 60 of Quest: "What is the economic system in one country you know?" (2007)

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Comparing works of art. Quest 2, p. 90 - 91

These are the works of art on pages 90 - 91 of Quest 2 (Hartmann, 2007).

The Lamentation,
by Master of the Codex of Saint George, c. 1340 - 45.

The Death of General Wolfe, by Benjamin West, 1770.

Cooling Off by the Riverbank,
by Kitagawa Utamaro, late 18th century.

In the Omnibus, by Mary Cassatt, 1891.

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New Yok: McGraw-Hill.

Art as the Mirror of Everyday Life. Quest 2, p. 85 - 87.

These are colour images of the works of art discussed in "Art as the Mirror of Everyday Life" (Hartmann, 2007, pp. 85 - 87)

Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk, by Zhao Ji, China, 12th century

Février des Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Illumination by the Limbourg Brothers, France, early 15th century.

Count of the Cattle, Tomb of Meketre, circa 2000 B.C.E.

John Brown Going to His Hanging, by Horace Pippin, 1942.

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New York: NcGraw-Hill.

What's the Story? The Sacred Realm of Art. Quest 2, p. 72 & p. 78 - 79.

These are colour images of the works of art discussed in "Looking at Art: What's the Story" (Hartmann, 2007, p. 73) and "The Sacred Realm of Art" (pp. 78 - 79)

"Cult" Stand, Statue Anthropomorphic, Painted
800 - 600 B.C.E.

For more information see "Cult" Stand, Statue Anthropomorphic, Painted at http://www.antiquities.org.il/t/Item_en.aspx?pic_id=1&CurrentPageKey=106

____________________________________ 

Standing Figure Holding a Baby,
Olmec, 800 - 500 B.C.E.

For more information, see Standing Figure Holding a Baby at http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5073/Standing_Figure_Holding_a__Baby/right_tab/posse/

Bwa tribal mask and costume. Burkina Faso.

Bwa tribal mask. Burkina Faso.

Tathagatas Ratnasambhava,
Central Tibet, ca. 1200-1250

This is a different version of the work discussed in Quest, which I was unable to find. I think it's similar enough not to matter. I'm not sure that the reference information given in Quest is correct (p. 270). For more information, see Three Tathagatas at http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/svision/i23.html 

Madonna Enthroned
by Cimabue. c. 1285.

For more information, see "Santa Trinita Maestà" at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Trinita_Maest%C3%A0&oldid=485139381

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Art: Themes and Purposes. Quest 2, p. 71 - 75.

For the rest of the term in Quest, we will be reading about and discussing art.

Painting Van Gogh by T. F. Chen, 1991

An obvious first question might be: What is art?
However, Hartmann limits her discussion to a much narrower set of art: the visual arts, starting with the image above on the opening page of chapter 3, and we too can probably ignore the difficult question of what art is, even if we do not limit ourselves here to the traditional visual forms of art that are the subject of chapter 3 of Quest (2007, p. 71 - 104).

The questions to respond to in your initial comments are:

• What is your favourite work of art? Why do you like it? (p. 71) You need not limit yourself to visual art in responding to this question. 
• Look over the pictures on pages 74 - 75. Which one do you like the most? Why? Do you know something about any of these pieces of art? (p. 72)
  I've been able to find better copies online, as below. Click on the picture to open a larger version of the image. 

There is no need to do any research or reading to respond to these questions. Just write down your ideas. You might prefer to write two separate comments, and you are of course welcome to also reply to earlier comments.

The Art Critic by Norman Rockwell, 1955 

Aquila degli Abruzi
by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1952.

Street Scene, Haiti, by Laetitia. 20th C.

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Food Customs: Bitter or Sweet?

We started class on day one looking at the first paragraphs of an article about eating horse meat, according to which eating horse is a traditional custom in some cultures, although many Americans find it distasteful and do not approve (Burnham, 2012; Peter F AUA, 2012). Similarly, over recent months, there have been reports about the arrest by police of groups smuggling dogs from Thailand for the dining tables of Vietnam, which suggest that at least some Thai people are not happy with the idea of eating dogs ("700 Dogs", 2012), although killing, cooking and eating dogs is also a traditional custom in Thai culture, a custom which continues in some regions of Thailand today, at least in the north around Chiangrai and Chiangmai ("Dog Meat", 2012). I believe that the provinces of Sakhon Nakhon and Nakhon Phanom are also known to continue this Thai tradition.

More generally and controversially, there is disagreement about whether meat should be eaten at all, especially in Buddhist cultures. According to the First Precept of Buddhism, followers of Buddha agree "to abstain from taking life" ("Five Precepts", 2012). Some Buddhists, including groups in Thailand, interpret this as meaning that they must not or should not normally eat meat, since that must cause animals to be killed; however, other Buddhist groups, including most in Thailand, interpret this precept to allow most sorts of meat to be eaten by Buddhists ("Buddhist Vegetarianism", 2012). In the case of Jews and Christians the dietary rules in the Bible are perfectly clear: most animals can be killed and eaten, but some, including pork, prawns and other shellfish, and few other animals may not be eaten (Lev. 11). The Qu'ranic injunction against pork for Moslems is well known (Surah 2:173).

Please share your responses in a comment below.

• Is it OK to eat every kind of animal? If some but not others, why not? 
• Is it OK to eat any kind of animal? Why? What makes it OK? 
• Is it wrong to eat every kind of animal? Why is it wrong? 
• Should the government make laws about what animals may and may not be killed for human food? 
• Or should people be allowed to eat any animal they want to? (And which is their own property).
• ? These are just some suggested questions you might like to respond to, but this is a response writing activity, so feel free to write down whatever ideas come into  your head in response to this post, to the sources I've cited, or to your classmates' earlier comments. 

__________

References

700 dogs rescued from smugglers. (2012, July 29). The Nation. Retrieved August 20, 2012 from http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/700-dogs-rescued-from-smugglers-30187191.html

Buddhist vegetarianism. (2012, August 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:28, August 20, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Buddhist_vegetarianism&oldid=505576088

Burnham, T. (2012, April 18). Plan To Slaughter Horses For Human Consumption Is Met With Distaste. The Salt. Retrieved August 20, 2012 from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/17/150833468/plan-to-slaughter-horses-for-human-consumption-is-met-with-distaste

Dog Meat Still on the Menu in Northern Thailand. (2012, January 22). Chiangrai Times. Retrieved August 20, 2012 from http://www.chiangraitimes.com/news/5387.html

Five Precepts. (2012, July 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:22, August 20, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Five_Precepts&oldid=503126179

Peter F AUA. (2012, August 2). Something Tasty to Chew on. Class Blog - AEP at AUA. Retrieved August 20, 2012 from http://peteraep.blogspot.com/2012/08/something-tasty-to-chew-on.html

The sound of snoring

What do you think about the sound of snoring? Do you believe the sound of snoring can tell something about your health?

In “Can the snoring can reveal an illness?” Phillip Ball write about the sound of snoring that can reveal an illness of the snorer. The sound of snoring is not the new knowledge which can reveal an illness of the snorer. Nowadays, the scientists found the new way that cheap and easy of recording people sleeping it can help the detecting about health problem and disease of snorer are clearer.

When I was born I felt a joke when I heard the snoring from the adult it included a man and a woman. I felt annoyed and bored when I had to sleep close to the snorer. In the past, I used to observe why some of adult were snore and some adult did not snore when they asleep. At that time, my observe could conclude that the snorers who drank an alcohol until felt drunk that were the cause of their snoring. One day, I just got the truth of the thing that I used to knew when I was a child was wrong. The snoring happened from an abnormal of the muscle in the top of the throat. It is not a joke for the other people who heard the sleeper is going to snore. We should suggest some people who we care about their health it included a father, mother or any old people in your family. Right now, Doctor can checking up the sound of snoring that can tell about the beginning of health problems such as the condition of lung, heartbeat, respiratory problems etc. I think that the new technology can help us to prevent and protect many deceases. The research and development of the new technology will have more important role with any people lives in the future. Do you snore while you asleep?

_________

Reference

Phillip Ball, Can the snoring can reveal an illness? BBC News.
Retrieved August 17,2012. from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120816-can-snoring-reveal-an-illness

Caffeine in fevourite beverage - How much you need it?

Most people prefer to drink coffee every morning before they start working because of the caffeine in coffee makes them more activate. But, how much caffeine should they take daily?

Caffeine in coffee

In 'How much coffee is safe?', Philippa Roxby write about what caffeine effect to people and how much is enough for daily needed of caffeine of everyone and pregnant women. Roxby suggested that caffeine has both advantage and disadvantage, but the daily recommended maximun caffeine for pregnant women is 200mg. and 400mg for everyone else.

I agree with Roxby, everything has both pros and cons, it depends on how do people use it and how much they use. Some researsh said caffeine reduce risk of many kinds of cancer. But this writing also said that too much caffeine is not good for everyone and importantly for pregnant women. Anyway, caffeine is needed for most people. For example, Austin said he have to drink coffee in every morning to get some caffeine,if he doesn't drink coffee, he will lack of energy to concentrate on what is he doing. But for me is not much effective, i feel nothing different after drink coffee. Thus, this means people are affected by caffeine differant ways. People should know their limit and take only they can. For instant, Mo can drink only 2 cups of coffee per days, My mom can get only one. How about you? I think it would better to consider about our limit of caffeine, this will make us more healthy, isn't it?

__________

Reference

Roxby, P. (2011, December 1) How much coffee is safe?. BBC News. Retrieved August 17, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15982904

A Problem With Murder

When a man in a business dispute decides to end it quickly and easily by shooting the disagreeing person, an evil act has been performed and the murderer should be imprisoned or executed. But what if someone deliberately acts to kill another person who has asked them to do the act and who has very good reasons for wanting to die but is unable to kill themselves?

In Tony Nicklinson Loses High Court Right-to-die Case, James Gallagher writes about the recent UK Hight Court decision against Tony Nicklinson's request to allow his doctors to kill him and not be charged with murder. Gallagher say that although the judges agreed with Nicklinson, who is in good health but suffers from locked-in syndrome, that his situation is awful, they unanimously argued that such a major change in law should be made by politicians in parliament, not by a court.

Although some progress has been made in the UK and other countries on right-to-die cases, this "deeply moving" case, as Lord Justice Toulson describes it (¶ 10), shows that much greater changes are needed before UK law delivers justice to some of its citizens who most desperately need it. At the moment, the laws relating to murder are causing massive injustice to people like Tony Nicklinson. He, like others in his situation, is in very good health, and likely to live for many years, but he has been unable to control any of his body below the head since a stroke in 2005. He is, as the name locked-in syndrome suggests, a fully conscious, intelligent and sane man whose mind is locked in a body over which it has absolutely no control. He is dependent on other people to do everything, from feeding him to going to the toilet. It is not surprising that he finds this a "living nightmare" (¶ 1) from which he wishes to escape. He cannot kill himself to end his miserable life.

I agree with the judges reasoning. They could not have made any other decision without making a major change in UK law relating to murder. It is the responsibility of parliaments and politicians, acting to best represent citizens, who should make such fundamental changes to law. Sadly, it doesn't look like the politicians will do the right and just thing soon, even though a majority of UK and US citizens do now feel that laws should be changed to allow the merciful act for which Tony Nicklinson has begged. Politicians listen too much to the barbaric superstitions and irrational ideas of religious groups whose primitive texts blind them to reality and to moral right.

The law relating to murder is, in this case, wholly unjust. The legal definition of murder needs to be changed so that any act which kills at the at the freely made and well-reasoned request of a sane person does not count as murder and is not subject to any legal punishment. This change would allow Tony's doctors to kill him in a dignified and humane way, to the benefit of all and the harm of none.

__________

Reference

Gallagher, J. (2012, August 16). Tony Nicklinson loses High Court right-to-die case. BBC News. Retrieved August 17, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19249680

Let's eat dark chocolate!

If the concern about health makes you stop eating your favourite chocolate, the benefits from chocolate in this news may make you change your mind.


In "Daily Dose Of Dark Chocolate May Help Lower Blood Pressure", by Allison Aubrey, reports a new review from the Cochrane Collaboration, a science-based group in the U.K,that the compounds in cocoa called flavanols may help to reduce blood pressure. There are many research that support this,however, only modest amounts of dark chocolate with high cocoa content (70 percent) is recommended.

Chocolate is a popular dessert around the world. However, many people avoid eating it since it contains fat and sugars,moreover, some claimed that eating too much chocolate can cause acnes. By the way, this news is a very good news for a chocolate lover like me. I love all kinds of chocolate and I can eat it all day long. I also like to bake chocolate chip cookies and brownies.I actually have heard about the benefits of chocolate before but I didn't know that only dark chocolate is
recommended. Although, chocolate has the benefits to the health, consuming large quantities of chocolate can cause more harm than good so the best way to gain the benefits from chocolate is to consume only  proper amount daily which I hope that there will be the reserch about the proper dose of chocolate that suit us in the future.

Reference

Aubrey, A. (2012, August 15). Daily Dose Of Dark Chocolate May Help Lower Blood Pressure.Health. NPR. Retrieved August 17, 2012
from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/08/14/158761362/daily-dose-of-dark-chocolate-may-help-lower-blood-pressure

It's not just listen to music

How much do you know yourself through your favorite songs? If you read this article and then you try doing a short survey, you might be surprised of the result.

According to You are what you hear: what your favorite music says about you, the new article in the Guardian about the project "Six songs of me" by Eric clarke, the musicologist who created a survey and adapted Oxford professor's theories to conduct a study in order to map out personal playlists as much as possible. This project still running now online which contains just six questions in total with simply questions like "What was the first song you ever bought?" or " What is your perfect love song?"

                                             Adele, a British singer

I think it is a good start to collect this survey because only six questions which are available in the Guardian website, people maybe interested to join the survey. I've clicked on the survey and found that each question link to the database of musical lists. The survey website is ease to use, because you can either type the title of songs or the name of singers. Unfortunately, songs which in the survey website cann't be turned on in Thailand. It would be better if this survey would be translated into different languages and different local songs such as Thai and Japanese, because some countries do not use English as a first or official language. Also, some people may not listen to just only English songs. I've tried answer once and then I found it's a hard choice to make up my mind, because I have to select the most favorite one per question.

__________
References

Clarke E., Six Songs of Me: Just why music matters so much to us ...(2012, August 2). The guardian. Retrieved August 16, 2012 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/aug/02/1

Huizenga T., You are what you hear: what your favorite music says about you. (2012, August 9). NPR Music. Retrieved August 13, 2012 from http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/08/08/158442642/you-are-what-you-hear-what-your-favorite-music-says-about-you

Accept Me Please !!!!

As our societies have been changing over the ages, people's perspectives have also been changing. Many unusual things in the past are now accepted such as transgender, cross-dressers and bisexual. Have you ever think that how their lives are when they are not accepted from their societies.

                                 

According from BBC News World: China's 'oldest transexual': a life of silent denial, John reports that 83-year-Yi Ling is recorded as the oldest transsexual in china after she lived as a man for 81 years in her life and she also had  a wife and children. It is because Chinese culture in the past did not accept any kinds of transgender.

In my opinion, I think that there are many people who knew what they were or who they were, but they just cannot revealed it because they afraid not to be accepted from their societies. For example, Yi Ling knew since she was three year old that she loved to be a girl. However, her society forced her not to say that. What she was was definitely wrong to their culture so she had to live like that for 80 years.

As you can see, nowadays, more people are saying that they are not in the gender that they were born with. Some people say that if the societies open more about transgender, it might become fashion such as in girl school. In my opinion, I disagree with this state. I believe that it comes from the inner side of their mind or of their body. From my experience, I studied in girl school named Rajini school for my whole study life. Of course, everyone think that there are tomboys and lesbians in my society and I could not refuse. But it is quite a few compare to the whole students. Some of my friends were also tomboys but when they left school and went into society that had many men came into their lives and asked them to be their boyfriends. And they still are tomboys and have girlfriends. My best friend is also the one but her mother has not been accepted what she is. She suffer with her life very much. She has girlfriend but could not tell her mom until now. I can say that this has happened with her for 7 years. This is the reason why I think that even how societies has changed or how the societies are, they still know what they are. So if the society do not accept this, they of course have to live with suffer in their whole life.      

__________

Reference
Sudworth, J. (2012, July 12). China's 'oldest transexual': a life of silent denial
BBC News. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18802355

Breastfeeding or Shame for using formula?

What was the type of milk for feeding to you as a baby?  What do you prefer between breastfeeding and formula milk? Why?

"Formula v breastfeeding: Should the state step in?" in BBC news magazine, Kate Dailey writes about ongoing battle between breastfeeding and formula milk. The announcement of New York City Mayor, that strictly access discharge formula bag in hospital for promoting breastfeeding, is leading to value that put mother under pressure without helping to set in good nursing habit for breastfeeding.

This is very interested news for me, because there is same campaign in Thailand, breastfeedingthai. I believe that breastfeeding is best for baby, but it's nothing wrong to use formula milk replacing. Now mother have many task for family, such as, doing chore, working and surely bringing up child.   Sometimes it's so hard to take care themselves with nutritionally balance for milk production. Then they lack of milk to feed their baby for choose to use formula, don't they? I don't want the society tend to judge that is failed mother. In freedom country, people have right to choose anything that they want under the laws. So I totally disagree with New York City Mayor's declaration. I think that the better way for promoting breastfeeding is well educate to mother about nursing during hospital and the advantage of breastfeeding and formula. My mom gave me breastfeeding  for 1 months only but didn't gave it to my brother, because her health wasn't good enough. Nowadays I and brother are still healthy from good food and good parenting. This is the outcome for mother,isn't it? 

Mom enough??

__________

Reference

Dailey, K. (2012, August 7). Formula v breastfeeding: Should the state step in?. Magazine. BBC News. Retrieved August 15, 2012
from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19054045

Tiny living things in our guts

There are million of them in our intestines. Do you know that these bacteria are benefits for us?

 

According to BBC Health "what is E coli" by Dr. Gill Jenkins said that our gastrointestinal tract, particularly the colon, is full of many billions of bacteria, with over 500 different species living within us, causing no harm and possibly protecting us from the growth of colonies of other pathogenic bacteria. Escherichia coli (also known as E. coli) is one of these 'commensal' bacteria types and we don't usually know it's there. 

 

When we think about bacteria we always think about little living things that are very disgusting, always separating their cells all the time and cause us diseases. But there are some bacteria that are useful for our bodies such as E. coli that are located in our intestine. They prevent us from infections that caused by another bacteria, so  we don't need to get rid of all of bacteria from our bodies. We should avoid using anti-biotic drugs that may kill good bacteria in our bodies. However we don't need to find out more E. coli for our body because excessive good bacteria can also cause us diseases. __

Reference

Dr. Gill J (2012 August, 14) E. coli infection BBC News. Retrieved August 15,2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/ecoli.shtml

Hawaiian-themed dance on flight

Have you ever felt bored during sitting on a plane for a long time? Do you want to see something exciting?

According to Vietnam fines airline for dancers in bikini-tops, by Tuoi Tre newspaper said that VietJetAir wanted to capture a holiday atmosphere, so VietJetAir gave flight attendants dressing in beach holiday and performed a sexy Hawaii dance. As a result, VietJetAir was fined 20m dong ($956; £611).

I think that it is not proper that flight attendants will dress sexually. If the airline likes to attract passengers, it has various ways that get better than this way. That flight attendants dress sexually and perform a sexy dance on the plane may make passengers look down on flight attendants and the airplane. 

Reference
Tre, T. ( 2012, August 9). Vietnam fines airline for dancers in bikini-tops. BBC NEWS
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19195690.  

Extra calcium better or worse ??

Everyone knows a main benefit from drinking milk consistently which provide us a calcium in order to strengthen our bones. But if you still think that the more you drink the milk, the healthier you get, maybe you want to change your mind.

According to “Not Milk! Too Much Calcium Does The Body Bad, Researchers Say” by Patti Neighmond, Dr. Ethel C. Siris suggests that there is no need for extra calcium more than recommended calcium intakesin usual day, for it can cause a kidney stone since extra calcium are excreted through kidney in form of urine. And it may also calcify in arteries leads to precipitate heart attack.

Although more researches are required to determine another drawback from extra calcium in a body, but it helps raise awareness about the risks from drinking milk or eating calcium rich foods too much. I usually drink milk everyday and someday I drink it a lot, at least 1 liter per day. I am also the one who always believe that drink milk a lot will help me have a good health. But after I finish reading this article, I was surprised that I have always misunderstood. However, calcium is still necessary for all people at every age, but especially for old people and women after menopause which bone loss is one of their troubles. Not only the calcium which affects our health when consumed exceeds the recommended limit, there are many things that we should be aware of such as instant noodle, sugar or soybean. And if you have a well management for your eating, you will absolutely have a good health.


Reference

Neighmond, P. (2012, August 13). Not Milk! Too Much Calcium Does The Body Bad, Researchers Say. NPR from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/08/13/158506960/too-much-calcium-could-cause-kidney-heart-problems-researchers-say

The Value of Argument: Why We Need Criticism

We often read in the local papers about the need for "reconciliation" as though there was something wrong with disagreeing and arguing, and sometimes laws are even used to suppress criticism on a topic. Are these opinions sensible and helpful?

"Organic Change", in The Economist, is about a recent example of how scientific knowledge grows and corrects mistaken beliefs (2012). The article reports that after a surprising result in biology was published in the prestigious journal Science by NASA, the resulting critical arguments and reports of contradictory results led to discrediting in the same journal of a the report that a new species of bacteria which lived on arsenic rather than phosphorus had been discovered.

NASA, the United States National Aeronautic and Space Administration, is a major government research organization, the same one that has recently landed the one-tonne Curiosity on Mars, and it is full of brilliant and honest scientists. But in the report about arsenic based life forms, they seem to have got it wrong. I don't think this is surprising, and no one thinks the NASA scientists are fools as a result: they just made a mistake, which anyone who is working to discover new knowledge must surely sometimes do. One of the great strengths of science, compared with every non-scientific way of acquiring knowledge about the world we live in, is that when science makes mistakes, they can be corrected, and they are usually corrected by scientists fairly quickly, although sometimes a theory can last for a long time before a better one comes along. This seems to me not only a very successful way to useful knowledge and understanding of our world, but to be honest and modest as well. Scientists always know that their ideas might be proved wrong - and that's not a problem.

Just imagine what would have happened if argument, negative comments and disagreement were not allowed: the mistaken belief could never have been corrected! This is a valuable lesson that science teaches us for every area of life, private and social: if we do not allow and accept criticism, disagreement and argument, then knowledge is impossible. So why do so many people seem to prefer and try to enforce ignorance by suppressing free speech and discouraging disagreement? Isn't knowledge better than ignorance?

Of course, this is also why academic freedom is necessary for a strong and healthy education system.

__________

Reference

Organic change. (2012, July 19). The Economist. Retrieved August 12, 2012 from http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/07/conduct-science

Pre-marital Sex: Tradition or Justice?

I often read worried comments from local politicians and officials, especially the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education, or from conservative American political leaders and Christian preachers, all of whom believe that society is falling apart because young people are having sex outside of marriage. But as  Morocco: Should pre-marital sex be legal? shows, the situation is much worse in other countries.

This BBC News report by Nora Fakim is about death a sentence imposed on a newspaper editor by an Islamic cleric for supporting an end to a Moroccan law that makes sex between unmarried people illegal (2012). Fakim says that this fatwa is an example of the tension in modern Morocco between socially progressive people and conservative traditionalists.

Some of the other details in this report are shocking, although perhaps not surprising. For example, Fakim quotes Morocco's Justice Minister Mustapha Ramid, who has said that "legalising sex outside marriage is an initiative to promote debauchery" (2012). I heard the same sort of alarmed warnings and predictions in my country 30 and 40 years ago when the laws about divorce, abortion, and homosexual sex were being debated. Such fears, although perfectly sincere, are also perfectly unfounded. Australian society did not become debauched because more people started having sex with more people at a younger age, nor has American society become worse because abortion has been legalized since 1973 along with gay marriage in more recent years. In fact, the statistics plainly show that crime levels in these countries, especially violent crime, are decreasing as basic human rights are being protected instead of violated by unjust laws. If Morocco's Justice Minister looked at some relevant facts, he would see that the younger generation is right not only about those but also about the moral issues involved in unjust laws that make consenting sex outside of marriage illegal.

__________

Reference

Fakim, N. (2012, August 9). Morocco: Should pre-marital sex be legal? BBC News. Retrieved August 12, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19049000

Talking about death

What would you do if your loved one had been diagnosed with a terminal disease? Would you tell him the truth that he would die or would it be better not to tell him?

In "Why we should talk more about death", by Prof Mayur Lakhani, Chair of the Dying Matters Coalition, claims that many patients died witout being identified that they were at risk of dying and not assessed for end of life care, therefore, it is important for every person who is coming to the end of their life is spotted early enough and supported to make a good advance care plan. The suggestion is that everyone ,including doctors, should talk more openly about dying so that patients and their families will have opportunities to prepare about their end of life.

 Death is a serious issue which most people,especially patients,avoid talking about.The reason might be that we fear to separate from something or someone we love. Besides, talking about death may upset the patients and make them worse so people prefer to think positive and to encourage them that they would be fine and finally recover from the illness. However, this news gives the information that people should change their attitude toward death,which I absolutely agree. Death is a certain thing that we cannot avoid so the dying patients and their families should be informed about their situations so that the dying patients can plan what to do as their final wishes and learn the right way to treat themselves.Moreover, the families of dying patients will prepare themselves for the loss.

In my view,to avoid talking about death means to avoid facing the truth.Many people can stay longer than the doctors said because they know their situations and try their best to heal them.Knowing when to die can be the benefit as it make us appreciate the present and do our best so that we won't regret. On the other hand,people who are healthy and don't concern about death might accidental die anytime without thinking about final wishes.

References

Lakhani, M. (2012, May 18). Why we should talk more about death.Health. BBC News. Retrieved August 11, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18101418

Usain Bolt wins 200m to make Olympic athletics history

How many sport people can retain both Olympic champions in Olympic Game?  Who can make it?  After the Olympic Game started in London, there are many sports people from around the world who join in it and almost of them wish to get gold medal in their sport but there are a few of them want to retain the champion that they used to make it in last Olympic Game.

According to Tom Fordyce, Chief sports writer, BBC Sport reports that Usain Bolt who is the athletics from Jamaica able to retain the second times champion of Olympic sprint in the 200m.  He could succeed his mission by match the world record time that made by Michael Johnson from the Atlanta Games of 19.32 secs while his training partner from the same nation Yohan Blake’s 19.44 secs was the second in silver and Warren Weir’s 19.84 secs was the third in bronze, before Olympic Games in London he used to lose Blake at the Jamaica, after a rough season, he fixed a target to make the world record in London although he still worried about his back strain and hamstrings that make a problem to him.    

This is a great successful of Usain Bolt that he can make it.  I do believe that he is always sport practice.  He now is twenty five years old with a big body and taller than the other that is an advantage for him.  I am an Olympic Fan, I usually follow it in every times and I think that he is the best of athletics because he won not only 200m but also 100m.  He can make a good famous in sport to Jamaica.  Furthermore, there are now two big countries that going to do everything for the number one of the world in sport.  I’m sure that are China and U.S.A, I used to see the news on TV that China try to develop sports people by identify them to be a group such as a group of children, teenager, and adult.  Next, they have any tight sport practicing schedule to practice in each group to meet the standard that fixed by sport school.  Until now, the U.S.A got the gold medal to be number one and China is the number two it is not important thing for me because it obvious to know these two countries are the big famous in sport of the world.  The important thing for me that I want to know the next Olympic Game 2016 at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Will Usain Bolt able to retain the champion of Olympic sprint in 200m for the third time?  What should he do?     

    

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Reference

Fordyce, T. (2012, August 8), Usain Bolt wins 200m to make Olympic athletics history. BBC Sport News. Retrieved August 9, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18914449

How do hair important?

Heve you ever donated anything? Do you know that we can give the others with out spending money.

According to "East Yorkshire women cut hair to help cancer patients", reports about many women in East Yorkshire cut their hair for cancer patients. They are growing their hair for 18 months to be cut to make wigs for the patients who have lost their hair through chemotherapy.

Real hair wigs

Human's hair grows up everyday so that most of people cut their hair at least once a year. Cut hair was threw away as waste, although hair has more value than it is. Some people unexpected to lose their hair because they ran into cancer. In fact, cancer isn't cause of making hair fall but patient's hair start falling after people got chemotherapy which is the treatment of cancer. Chemotherapy is act as killing cancer cell but it kill healty cell either. To illastrate, you want to get rig of weeds in your garden then you use herbicide, it will destroy not only unwanted plants but also your needed gress. These are same. How do you feel if you wake up in the morning and see that lot of your hair fell around on your pillow? For me, I might be shock, lose confidence and don't want to go out anywhere. However, one way to help cancer patients who lost their hair is using wigs. Although, there are many meterials thoes use to making wigs but the best choice is real hair wig which is very expensive so that some group of long hair women design to grow their hair to donated for one whe need. I think, this is a very nice idea, is it better if someone who is healthy can help the others? 

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References

East Yorkshire women cut hair to help cancer patients. (2011, October 30). BBC News. Retrieved August 8, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-15506042

The surprised statistics of the UK birth babies

Do you think before that the first world countries like the United Kingdom, which may have by far the most advance medical technologies, are struggling to the problem in particular the birthrate? The recent report in 2012 reveals the unexpected high birth rate of dead babies in Britain, while this cause is yet to be answered.

Why stillbirth remains a mystery (2012) reports the tragic event of the British singer, songwriter and the former member of Take That, Gary Barlow that he has just got lost his forth child on last Saturday due to stillbirth. It adds that among the rich nations Britain have a higher number of dead born babies or around 4,000 per year, or 11 per day, whereas the stillbirth rate of France and Austria, are the worst ones.

                                         Gary Barlow and his wife Dawn

According to Anna-Marie Lever, the writer of this article reports exactly cause of this phenomenon is myth, because there is no scientific proof yet. To my mind, it should not be like this way, because I can’t believe the great developed country, the UK is confronting with the high stillbirth rate problems. I agree with some assumptions that smoking, drinking alcohol and obesity can give rise to the stillborn risk. My English friend told such British people have a lot of alcohol and smoking, especially in women. Conversely, many other European people might have the same amount of consuming alcohol as well as smoking. But the high number of babies’ born dead has been happened in a few European countries only.


Moreover, I also disagree about previous caesarean sections might lead to more risk, because this method is widely adopted and popular around the world, including in Thailand. I suppose there could be because of the UK health system problem such as the shortage of medical staffs, nurses and physicians. That’s way many pregnant women in Britain might not have enough health checking before delivering birth. My Philippine friend has  settled down in England around 6 years as a nurse said her career is in high demand. Therefore, now a large number of Asian nurses, in particular from Philippine working in the UK. In addition, the hospital system there is quite complicate. People can see a doctor soon just in case of emergency, unless they have made an appointment to the hospital in advance. If ones have never registered to the local hospital, they cannot meet a doctor anyway.

To sum up, it is surprising about the large number stillbirth rate in the UK. The research is needed to find and deal with the problem urgently. For the case of Gary's wife, it could be happen because of the age of her 42-year-old, which might impact to heatlh of the foetus. I feel I’m lucky living in Thailand which the health system is much cheaper and more convenience than many developed countries.



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References
Why stillbirth remains a mystery. (2012, July 7). BBC News. Retrieved August 7, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19163712

The image of IT with the girl

Have you ever known any women who expert in technology? Do you think they are geek?

ln "Women And Tech : Why Don't Girls Want To Be Geeks?", Jane Wakefield writes about the girl attitude of  IT. She says that the girl don't want to work in the field of IT because they thought that the person who work about technology is boring and not fashionable.                                                               

When I thinking of  the person who wrok as a IT technician I imagine that they will wear big glasses,  talking something that I don't understant. I think girls don't want to be good at technology because it is not easy. They have to be smart and work hard sometime they have their own world to creat a new thing while many girls spend time to make themself to be accept. Technology is just one thing to show that they are fashionable and make them feel more self confident. How can we change their though that charming woman should have brain not just only good looking.

References

Wakefield, J. (2012,August 3). Women And Tech : Why Don't Girls Want To Be Geeks?. BBC News. Retrieved August 9,2012
from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18687247

The more cooking skill you have, the healthier you get

Do you prefer homemade or take home food? Have you ever cooking by yourself?

In "Why cooking skills are the key to healthy eating", by Philippa Roxby, researcher recommend that parents who want their children are healthier should let them cooking. This is a positive impact to children's eating behavior and more likely to grow up to be healthy adults by knowing about cooking which is important life skill.

Nowadays, our lifestyle changes to be modern than the past. We have to rush to go to the office or school so early because of traffic jam. Mothers have to go to work instead to be housewife. I think that people in big city, like Bangkok, have less time to spend in the kitchen and select instant food or take home instead, such as pizza, hamburger, fried-chicken and snacks. That is impact to our health which is tend to be obese easier.  In my view, this is very serious problem, because I heard news that young boys or girls were death because of overweight. At the present, Thai people was encouraged in this, then now we can see about the decrease weight campaign, konthairaipoong, from many mass medias. Absolutely Thai nutritionist said the same way with researcher from A study in Liverpool that home-made cooking is good for your health.

Is he cute?

Or is she more cute?

In my life as I can remembered, we are always have home made food than eating in the outside. My mother was the nutritionist and my brother was graduated from Food Science, so cooking is my family's hobby absolutely. Every weekend, we have been spending tome together for cooking and create new dishes. I think that homemade food is more hygienic, healthy and delicious. In each recipe or meal, we try to make it nutritionally balance. But now I have gain more weight after I stay at home for 6 months replace my hall at workplace. Maybe because I eat too much. Finally, if you have enough free time, you will try to cook for making yourself healthier.

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References

Roxby, P. ( 2012, February 5). Why cooking skills are the key to healthy eating. Health. BBC News. Retrieved August 8,2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16854572

The Disabled or the Superhuman

Technology has been developed very fast these days. It creates many incredible things. One is the placement of part of human body with artificial one. Have you ever imagined that bionic body like in movies about superhuman has become real?

According from BBC News 'Day in life with my bionic body', it seems to be that bionic body can be applied to Teenager Patrick kane who lost his left arm and right leg since he was 9 month old as a result of serious strain of meningitis -serious disease in which the tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord become infected and swollen. He now uses one kind of bionic leg and arm which has two movements when opening and closing a fist. This arm still has no sense of touch so it can exist in hot environment.

In my point of view, this kind of technology is very useful and necessary. Many people suffer from losting their parts of body as a result of diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Patient may have to cut them off to save their life but this technology can help them live in this world more easily. They wont take much time to decide whether they should cut them off or not. Soldiers and polices who sacrifice themselves to their nations in war or in any riots and finally lost their parts of body. This bionic technology can compensate their lost. Moreover, it will be useful if this has been developed further so patient can live and do things exactly the same like normal people. Have you ever think that if this bionic arm can be used like the real one and but can exist the hot environment, what job you suggest them to do?  

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References

Lever, A. (2012, March 9). 'Day in the life with my bionic body'
BBC News. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
From:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17251690

Reading Material

Technology has been developing very fast. Nowadays, you can read books from many different sources. What is the best way for you to read a book?

In "Amazon selling more Kindle ebooks than print books", Jonathan Ruppin writes about ebooks sells more than hardbacks and paperbacks in the United Kingdom. He said that Kindle ebooks will continue to increase on sell, two million ebooks of the title selling in four months, and book industry in the United Kingdom much adapt to deal with the trend.

I though that Jonathan Ruppin article was interesting. Nowadays, I believe that people read article, news, story or newspaper from kindle ebooks more then print books because it is convenient and sophisticated way of reading. You don't have to go to the book shop to buy book to read. When you want to read book you just go online and buy book and save it in your library such as in Apple's iBooks when you buy book you can keep you books in ibooks application. When you want to read you just click on ibook application then select the article or book that you buy form Amazon. Kindle is available in Thailand now many people own it, but I don't have one. I sometime read book or news on smart phone or go to AUA library. In 1997, I study Information Technology at UTS, Sydney, but I not good at IT and I don't know how to use Kindle and I never use once. I am an old fashion. AUA library is ideal place for me to read.

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References

Ruppin, J. (2012,August 6). Amazon selling more Kindle ebooks than print books, BBC News. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
From: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19148146