What do you remain?

If you find something precious in the usual life, could you imagine how your life turn into being exciting? I had dreamed finding secret treasures or ancient relics which could be recorded in the real history. This world still is full of mystical unknown things which are waiting their findings.

The BBC News article “Indonesian shell has ‘earliest human engraving’” reports that the zig-zag patterns found on a fossilized shell may be engraved by Homo erectus, although it is not clear whether the patterns were art or symbolic expression for special purpose.

When I first saw Paleolithic stone tools in a prehistoric museum, I wondered how people could find these were tools because it seemed to be difficult to identify tools amongst many regular stones, especially comparing with rubbles. Before they were categorized as tools, they seemed to be just stones.  In this article’s case, the finder is a person who prepared his PhD research and found the pattern after taking digital photos of the shells. The shells already excavated and collected in Java in the 1890s. Nobody noticed the patterns with naked eyes, so it would be a fortune to find a historical evidence if it is confirmed.

The patterns remind me the prehistoric engraved wall cliff which was submerged by building artificial dam in Korea. The engravings were estimated the Bronze Age’s works, which had some patterns of lines and circles. In some case, we see the ideas that developing overrides other priorities for the more economic merits. And also, there are some cases that people intentionally destroy the sites when the sites are found under construction working since if the place have value to research, the construction should hold until finishing excavation. It’s so sad to bury history under the developing purpose putting aside finding new things.

If our species remain some relics 10,000 years later, how many things the future species know about us?

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Reference

Indonesian shell has 'earliest human engraving'.(2014, December 4). BBC News Australia. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-30324599

End of an era

Although I've studied calligraphy, and can write very well when beautiful writing is my aim, my usual handwriting ever since primary school has been awful, as I suspect students agree when they see my scribbles on the whiteboards at AUA.

According to the article "Finland: Typing takes over as handwriting lessons end" (2014), despite concerns such as a possible "disadvantage [to] children who don't have a computer at home" and an adverse impact on the development of "fine motor skills and brain function" in children, Finland's National Board of Education has decided to replace compulsory cursive writing with typing from 2016.

Although I've never studied palaeography, I've always enjoyed looking on and trying to read our most ancient copies of texts from the past, painstakingly written on papyrus, lambskin, paper or other material by scribes working away to reproduce the ideas of Homer, of Plato, of Lucretius, of Confucius, of Mengtzu and so on for later generations. Not being a palaeographer, my ability to decipher even very old English texts isn't that great, but the texts are often as beautiful to look as their ideas are foundational to the cultures they are a part of.

Despite agreeing that handwriting is a skill of rapidly decreasing value in today's world, I felt a twinge of regret that something that has been taught as a basic skill for students for more than 2,000 years in cultures from China to Rome might now be on the way out. But then I thought about my own habits: apart from scribbling on whiteboards at AUA, I almost never write by hand these days - except to fill out forms at banks and for Thai Immigration. In fact, my annual visa and work permit renewal is almost the only time I ever sign my name these past ten years or so! This worries our personnel officer, because my ability to reproduce my own signature as on my passport (written once every ten years) gets a bit rusty between the annual splurge when I sign it about a hundred times at once - an effort that also puts a strain on the muscles involved, which are clearly a different set to those used when I type, as I'm doing now.

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Reference

Finland: Typing takes over as handwriting lessons end. (2014, November 21). BBC News News from Elsewhere. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30146160

We are all same

Most children want to be treated as adults as they grow up. My daughter is no exception. She doesn't want to listen to me anymore. She insists that she can manage to do anything by herself. She always says " I am 14 years old now. I am grown up.  Just leave me alone!"

The BBC News article"We’re adults, not children, says learning disabled girl band " reports that the gril group whose members all have learning difficluties wants the world to see them as an artist above all. Through their performance, they want to prove everyone that they are capable of a lot more than people think.

I have just finished watching one Korean drama called " Good Doctor"   This drama taught me a lot of things and made me think about human potential.  It is the story about a young man with a developmental disability who struggles to become a good doctor.  Even though he has an exceptional memory and keen spatial skills, his colleagues or patients' parents look down on him because he has the mentality of a ten-year-old boy.  They believed that he was not suitable to become a doctor and tried to ged rid of him.  Two people, his boss and senior, supported  him and encouraged him to keep fighting and never give up.  He made a lot of efforts and was able to overcome his disablity, and in the end, he succeeded in becoming a certified doctor.  This is a ficiton story, but similar things happens in the real world.  All the members in the girl band group always felt they were treated as disabled people rather than just people.  School teachers kept telling them that they could not learn anything and treated them as a child even they reached to the age of 18.  Their parents always believed their potential and there was one more person who was confident enough to invite them to form a group. The name of the band is"The Sisters of Invention" and  those girls want to make a revolution to change pople's view of disabled people.

 I used to have some kind of prejudice towards disabled people just because they were different  from me.  We are all different in the first place.  Everyone has a potencial.  No one has the right to say one is better than the other.  In the last episode of the drama, the young man asked his boss about the definition of a good doctor. He replied that a person who keeps pursuing this question is a good doctor.  As a human, I think I am resposible to keep asking myself to become a better person. What do you think?

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Reference

Tracey, E.  (2014, December 1).  We’re adults, not children, says learning disabled girl band. BBC News Ouch. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-ouch-30245435

Why banana smuggling is profitable in Tunsia

Banana are the most popluar edible fruit and the cheapest type of fruit in the world. In fact, the banana is not tree but a high herb that grows up 15 metres. They hve various nutrients and are one of the healthiest foods which you can eat. this food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Fiber, Vitamin C, Potassiam, Manganese and so on. Banana could help ypu to feel happier and it can also prevent some disease such as blood-pressure. Banana are grown in more than 150 countries, they are huge economic and important-export for many countries who rely on the revenue. They are grown for local consumption and the price is very cheap but not in Tunisia. In Thailand, bananas are one kind of fruit eaten by poor people, why? because they are affordable and are available all year road. Thailand doesn't have the same tax issues as Tunisia because the banana are grown inside Thailand and selling, therefore operated within a free market.

According to "Why banana smuggling in profitable in Tunisia" The World Bank said that banana in Tunisia are more expensive than UK about 30% and they were in the top of 10 smuggled goods entering the country from either Algeria or Libya. Algeria, Libya and Tunisia are not grown banana so they are import from across the border and Tunisia has collected 36% the duty on imported banana. Otherwise, government gave a handful of imported-licence to businessmen. It made some businessmen circumvented the tax on banana and also government losing tax revenue and the market has been flooded by smuggled banana. Finally, it becime monopoly trade and expand to the black-marcket.

I think, Tunisians may be not buy bananas and noneed to eat it. Although, banana is the healthiest foods and various nutrition, I will buy other fruits are cheaper than banana and the same nutrition.

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Reference

Kottoor, N. (2014, December 3). Why banana smuggling is profitable in Tunisia. BBC News Business. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30277009

"Physical Anthropology" - something you learned about Palaeolithic or Mesolithic cultures

This is one of the Hartmann and Blass's response writing prompts in exercise G. on page 72 of Quest (2014). Write down your ideas. Do not stop writing to refer to the text, to use a dictionary or anything else. Write for ten minutes on the following topic:

• something you learned about Palaeolithic or Mesolithic cultures.

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Reference

Hartmann, P. & Blass, L. (2007). Quest 3 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Palaeolithic stone knives

Venus of Willendorf - 28,000 - 25,000 BC.

"Physical Anthropology" - different motives for producing art

This is one of the Hartmann and Blass's response writing prompts in exercise G. on page 72 of Quest (2014). Write down your ideas. Do not stop writing to refer to the text, to use a dictionary or anything else. Write for ten minutes on the following topic:

• your ideas on the different motives for creating art. 

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Reference

Hartmann, P. & Blass, L. (2007). Quest 3 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Lascaux - c. 30,000 BC

Picasso, 1939

"Physical Anthropology" - something you learned about similarities between humans and other primates

This is one of the Hartmann and Blass's response writing prompts in exercise G. on page 72 of Quest (2014). Write down your ideas. Do not stop writing to refer to the text, to use a dictionary or anything else. Write for ten minutes on the following topic:

• something you learned about similarities between humans and other primates.

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. & Blass, L. (2007). Quest 3 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

"Physical Anthropology" - animals in captivity producing art

This is one of the Hartmann and Blass's response writing prompts in exercise G. on page 72 of Quest (2014). Write down your ideas. Do not stop writing to refer to the text, to use a dictionary or anything else. Write for ten minutes on the following topic:

• your opinion about animals in captivity producing art. 

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. & Blass, L. (2007). Quest 3 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Growth slows but sustainable wealth

The China's Manufacturing activity is a one of indicators of the Chinese economy; whereas, in November manufacturing sector expansion in china is the lowest in 6 months. This reflects adjustment policies delay of the Chinese government, government should change economical policies from maintain inflation rates to stimulate the economy.

According to “China's manufacturing growth slows again in November” Chinese The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) decrease that indicate the economic growth is still weak therefore the China's central bank cut interest rates down to 2.75% for first time since 2012 in an attempt to revive the economy.

The economic slowdown in China seem worried; that is the lowest growth rate since 2012; however, the economic slowdown is a good chance to reform, restructuring in economy sustainable growth. Throughout 30 years of growth in the Chinese economy has been encouraged by financial subsidizing, China has not think rapid growth will leads to long-term economical affect from economy, environment, social gap to inequality of income to the government debt to public health problems, which are all connected up like dominoes.
Cutting interest rates down cause of many loan low return benefit, create overproduction that is drawback to pollution, resources devastating and long term trading- less consumer less than product.-So if China wants to restrain problems in the future, government should use market price and market mechanisms instead of subsidize that create huge debt - low returns to the government, cutting labor wage down against market prices.

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Reference

China's manufacturing growth slows again in November. (2014, December 1). BBC News  Business. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30272091

What will our choice be?

How wonderful it is if I could know before what will happen! So, I can understand why some people like to visit fortune tellers before deciding someting important. Maybe people want to receive certain excuses or reasons for what they are going to do.

In "Controversial DNA test comes to UK", Michelle Roberts and Paul Rincon report that the personal DNA test, which was banned in the US, has been approved for use in the UK, although it still has worries about the reliability for the health decisions's base and company's using personal infomation (2014).

It may be awesome to know that we will have what kinds of diseases in the future. It reminds me of the famous actress Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy. After knwoing her high probability of breast cancer, she removed her breasts. In her case, her faulty gene, BRCA1, sharply increases her risk of developing breast cancer, but her decision might be difficult as a actress. Acording to Michelle Roberts and Paul rincon, BRCA 1and 2 genes have more strong implication of breast cacer. If the information doesn't have high accuracy of predicting diseases, nobody ignore the results of test based on DNA. The using of not perfect high technology could be a double edged knife. It might create more dangerous hastly decision about our health or might be helpful to prevent genetic diseases. Even if there are problems about whether this method is good or not, current flowing of this technology seems not to be changed.

Someday we might have full information about ourselves which could explain our expected diseases, expected physical chracteristics, expected life spans, and so on. I'm not sure that future world would be good. It seems that people would have more determined life, but we could find a way to adapt to that kind of world, I hope.

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Reference

Roberts, M. & Rincon, P. (2014, December 2). Controversial DNA test comes to UK. BBC News Science and Enviroment. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30285581

What next? Banning selfies?

When I saw the headline title "Selfie-stick sellers face fines in South Korea" over my morning coffee this morning, I thought it must be another example of government regulating out of control. Happily, I was wrong.

"Selfie-stick sellers face fines in South Korea" reports that, since they are devices using radio technology, Bluetooth enabled selfie sticks sold in South Korea require an official certification to be sold legally (2014).

As quickly became clear when I read the story, the South Korean government isn't actually acting to protect the innocent public from the threat of being poked in the eye or any similar risk of injury by banning the use of selfie sticks in public. In fact, the story is much less exciting than the promising title.

Experimental selfie -
 not so flattering.

Meanwhile, it's clear that selfies are a big thing - I've even taken the odd one myself. But when I look at them, they do often look very odd, with rather distorted facial features. Perhaps what I need is one of those selfie sticks that I now see on sale even in such upmarket places as Paragon. Consider the supporting evidence in the two photographs here: even allowing for the boring context, the selfie is not flattering. Having another friend take a photograph worked much better when I was at an ordination ceremony a couple of days ago.

I think on the whole it's better to follow my habit of leaving the selfies to the younger generation. Or perhaps I should invest in a high tech selfie stick: I can just see myself first fiddling to attach the phone and then waving the stick around in front of me. That does sound hazardous to innocent passers by.

That looks much better. 

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Reference

Selfie-stick sellers face fines in South Korea. (2014, December 1). BBC News Technology. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30274974