South Korean river turns to the blood color.

Introduction and summary

In  "South Korean river turns red after being polluted with pigs blood," we learn that

A tributary of the Imjin River in South Korea becomes red. Due to the 47000 pigs had been eliminated by the South Korean authorities for controlling the spread of African swine fever (ASF). While the slaughter was carried out on a weekend and the carcasses had been left in the trucks at a burial side near the inter-Korean border. Because of heavy rain, the water blows blood from the pig carcasses into the river. ASF was recorded first time in North Korea. It's a severe contagious disease with no chance to survive in the infected pigs however, it isn't impact to the people. 

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Response: What is your opinion?

African swine fever is a serious communicable disease although it is not dangerous for human but it can spread widely in short time. I think this event isn’t the first time that they culling a lot of pigs for halting the spreading of ASF. I think it’s true that culling is an effective method and save time but on the other hand it has a lot of environmental impact as you can see from the above news. When the river becomes polluted or contaminated with the pig’s blood, living creatures like fishes, aquatic plant in the water may be affected or the other animal that drink water in the river like birds and finally it can lead to health problems in human.

I think it would be better if we have other method to stop the outbreak instead of culling example give them the vaccine to help the immune system develop protection before infection, develop medicine for treatment. However, when the problem had occurred Korean government should have some measures to remedy this problem and develop quality of the water immediately such as adding oxygen to the water etc.

According from the news the event took place at the Korea border, so I think it would be great and effective if both North Korea and South Korea cooperate to prevent the disease from spreading.


 

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Question for your classmates

Do you agree that culling the pigs is the most effective method to halt the spread of ASF?

Introduction and summary

In "Why being kind could help you live longer"we learn that the positive impact of kindness on life and health.

according to "Why being kind could help you live longer" reports if being kind to others, considering how to be kind to others can lower blood pressure, help the immune system, help people live longer and live better, and have many benefits for treating depression and anxiety. Getting along with good people can get a lot of positive energy and also  pass this energy to others.and Physical and mental health are all closely linked. If you are too stressed, you may not be able to face challenges. Stress can make people unable to do anything in a challenging situation. If we with mindfulness training, such as a smile every day, These are will help us reduce stress and gain a positive attitude. This is the secret of longevity.the thoughts, feelings and beliefs associated with actions intending to benefit others, where benefiting others is an end in itself, not a means to an end.

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Response: What is your opinion?

    I think kindness has many benefits including increased happiness and a healthy heart. It slows down the aging process and improves relationships and connections, which indirectly boosts our health.Kindness is not something that demands hard work. It originates from the simple act of doing no harm to others.
    Kindness is not just a habit that is good for others, it also has important benefits for us.Good thoughts are great happiness boosters. Stopping complaints and anger makes our life so easy, because no one or thing would irritate us at that time. Of course, when things that are not good for us happen, we will be angry and hope that people will succumb to our wishes. At this time we need to know our emotions and change it. Of course, this is not easy to do, so we need to remind ourselves every day like eating.In fact, each of us knows what is good and evil. It is no means a new thing.
     However, the interesting point is that the more people are anonymous, the easier it is to show aggressiveness and not care about others' feelings.But why we should choose kindness, because it is a path that can lead to happiness and inner peace. Love, wisdom, and kindness are important factors in life. When we embody love, kindness, and forgiveness, happiness and health will follow.
In Dalai Lama XIV's words: “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” kindness brings life while anger and hate convey sickness and death.
      When you shift your thoughts from negative to positive, from hate to love, from war to peace, you achieve the same results in your life. You will go to sleep with a clear heart and mind, awaken feeling rested and energized, and will be happier and more productive. Others will be drawn to you and you will have the capacity to change the world.
      To be kind, this is what I want to say.

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jean's bbc article

Introduction and summary

In "Pakistan pollution: Teens fight to save Lahore from toxic air",it reports that teenagers in Paskistan come and speak out for their rights,they should able to live with the fresh air in their home becase in Paskistan have a problem of air pollution.Pakistan being ranked second worst for air quality in the world back in 2018.However Pakistan's goverment still blamed India for Lahore's pollution.But in the other hand the teenagers believe that Pakistan's transportation, poor fuel quality, industrial emissions and agriculture have placed they in a state of smog emergency.

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Response: What is your opinion?

This article remind me to the news for WHO that said air pollution is causing more deaths.Many people still think that only industrial factories are cause of air pollution but in fact there are more than industrail factoies that make air pollution such as private cars,waste incinerations.What should we do next ? the answer for this question it is simple but it takes much time to see what we do it like for every people,we should care about enviroment more than we do now-exsamples if private cars are season,we can use public transport such as bus and metro.

Caring envoriment,is it enough for better air,No it isn't,the government should do something too because it is their job for make their people live in better place.If the government can't then why we vote them to be ours government ?What should the government do? they can pass new environmental legislation-exsample not allow to use old cars(10years up) or use rationing system.

How ever the important thing the government should do for better air is tell people about bad things that come with air pollution because many people don't know about it,such as in contryside sitll have waste incineration,the goverment have to tell them that waste incineration make pollution and air pollution has serious effects on human health.

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Question for your classmates

Write one (not two) question for your classmates to comment on in response to your blog post. Write a question that needs more than a single sentence for a strong answer. Delete these instructions. 

Can AQ guarantee your bright future?

Introduction and summary

According to, "Is 'AQ' more important than intelligence?", it was believed that IQ is used to estimate a possibility to succeed in career path, and use EQ to see a chance of being successful in many parts of life. And now, AQ is considered as another important ability that might be able to guarantee your successful future. The writer said it is being searched from candidates more and more now in the hiring process to estimate their ability and capacity to learn new things, to be adaptable and to do troubleshooting because nowadays technology has changed processes in many jobs rapidly and if we aren't willing to learn what algorithm can't do, we will lose jobs to automation.

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Response: What is your opinion?

I think this article is very interesting, despite how hard to summarize it within 120 words, and I am very thankful to the writer of BBC for publishing this article that gave me an answer to my curiosity about a promotion after the evaluation period in my company, and this is enough for me to nod my head to agree with. In the article, it said Adaptability Quotient or AQ is not only an ability to absorb new information but also included a willingness to learn, to change, to challenge and get through the hard time of solving many problems, which is hard to see in some people even though they are adult to is working to live. 

The reason why I am thinking like that is, every time, when my boss gives the staff an order to change process in their works, some of them will ask back directly "Can't we do with the same process as we did before?", it is not "Why did you decide to change the process to this one?". Some of you might disagree with me and think that they are not that different because it gave an impression of disagreement with the order. In my opinion, these two questions are not the same question, because one indirectly shows that they show that they don't want to know what is the reason behind the change, there is none of the curiosity, no sign of the will to learn new things and change. But another one shows that they might not want to change, but they are still opening their mind to consider the reason behind the new process was chosen, which mean there is a possibility to change their mind and try. And of course, their evaluation's result which was reflected from their performance is totally different even though we are working in the same office. Because they consider how you questioning and how you state your opinion too, and if your opinion or your question did not show your ability of adaptation to increase your knowledge, it can give negative-impression which affect the result of the evaluation, and close the door from getting promotion to a higher level too.

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Question for your classmates

Which quotient do you think is more important to assure you that your career future will be successful, IQ or AQ?

A path to a more sunny future?

Introduction and summary

Working within five years?
One of the private enterprise efforts

According to "Nuclear fusion is 'a question of when, not if'," scientists remain optimistic that efforts by international and national government groups, along with those of innovative private companies, are making progress towards solving the substantial technical difficulties that have previously prevented the development of cost effective fusion energy. Although great progress has been made in renewable energy sources, it is reported that fusion, which combines hydrogen atoms in the type of atomic reaction that powers the sun, would still play a role in reducing human reliance on polluting fuels that contribute to global warming while at the same time avoiding the radiation and other dangers of nuclear energy that works by splitting uranium atoms.

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Response: What is your opinion?

Fusion - bringing solar
power to Earth

In my own lifetime, science has made enourmous progress in not only understanding the world around us, but in giving us the tools to control it. Of course, this has led to problems, since it is such things as our growing knowledge of how to turn oil into useful energy since the industrial revolution that has created the global warming that now poses a serious threat to human life as we known it, although it won't harm the planet, which will carry on happily whether human beings exist or not. Also contributing to global warming are the scientific advances that have boosted the population of the planet to almost seven billion, more than three times what it was only a century ago. All those scientific advances in medicine, in food production, and so on are also now adding to the pressure on our planet, not least because we love to kill animals for their tasty muscles, which is also disastrous for the environment. 

I remember when I was in high school reading about nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. By then nuclear fission was already a reality, with atomic bombs having been used to bring peace to the world, but the excitment was that fusion could solve our energy problems forever. Sadly, that never happened. But the scientists and engineers have continued to work on it, and if the article is right, it might be a reality within the next five to ten years, which I think is exciting. Atomic bombs stopped  lot o wars because they were such an extreme threat to human existence, and if we can make fusion work, there would be so much energy available, so much clean energy, that we would be able to do pretty much anything we wanted to without any harm to the environment. In fact, I think we would have the energy to fix a lot of the harm we have already done. 

Because it offers so much, I think that the money spent on it should be greatly increased. If I were a national leader, I would pour not mere hundred of millions of dollars into it, but billions of dollars to get it working as soon as possible. It would light the way to a brighter future for humanity, where we did not have to go to war over oil or other resources because there would be an abundance of clean energy available for everyone, everywhere, at every time. 

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Question for your classmates

How do you think that world might change if effectively limitless energy became available through successful nuclear fusion?  

Next's BBC article

Introduction and summary

In '' Pro-Beijing lawmaker stabbed by 'fake supporter' in Hong Kong" Junius Ho the pro-Beijing lawmaker was born in 4 June 2505, now he is 57 years old. There are no any bodyguards or protectors just only him and one women. In footage posted online, a man is seen approaching
Junius Ho with flowers before reaching into his bag-saying he wants picture-but instead lunging at Mr. Ho with knife.Mr. Ho who was wounded, and others then wrestle him to the ground. Now stabbing is the latest in a series of attacks people on either side of the Hong Kong protests. Afterwards, Mr.Ho reportedly said the attackers were "defending their home and people",but denied any involvement.

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Response: What is your opinion?

 I think that the protests in Hong Kong is deadly dangerous. Some of the protesters have adopted the motto:" Five demands, not one less!"these are for the protests not to be characterised as a "riot", amnesty for arrested protesters, an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality, implementation of complete universal suffrage and the fifth demand, the withdrawal of the bill, has already been met. There are a lot of citizens and police that got hurt during the protests in Hong Kong. Many people try to attacks famous lawmaker or politician and also police that protecting them. People are not only attacks but they also trying to kill them such as Mr.Ho got stabbed by fake supporter this is the case of a solo killer and the another case is the 5 protesters with hammer attacked Jimmy Sham in the last month. Now the protests in Hong Kong is getting more serious and more deadly so police decided to use a gun and tear gases to stop the people from attacking them. But people wouldn't stop they still attacking them and there's is noway to stop those crazy people who don't scare to die. They also closed the transportation way such as road, MRT , BTS, and train and airlines. 


All of these come from a small problem by a couple from Hong Kong traveled to Taiwan then he killed his girlfriend and then traveled back to Hong Kong but it made very big problem to the government. This shouldn't happens if he didn't killed his girlfriend. This case teach us that very small problem can cause a very huge problem. 

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Question for your classmates

Write one (not two) question for your classmates to comment on in response to your blog post. Write a question that needs more than a single sentence for a strong answer. Delete these instructions. 

jean's BBC news article

Introduction and summary

According to " Who was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? " Baghdadi real name is Ibrahim al-Bari,he was born in 1971 in central city of Samarra. He gained bachelor's,master's degrees and PhD at Islamic University. In early 2004 baghdadi was detained by US army while in detention he taught religious classes and sometimes asked to mediate in disputes by the prison's US administrator. He was released after 10 months.In 2010 he becomes leader of ISI after the old leader Abu Umar al-Baghadadi was died.He believe that he going to lose but with help from Saddam-era military,he gradually rebuilt ISI and continue the war. 

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Response: What is your opinion?

What is Abu Bakr al Baghdadi feels after his command kill thousand of life? Is he follow the real doctrine? This questions come to my mind.Killing people who not believe in the same religion it is very unreasonable.I used to believe everybody have their own reason but now maybe I was wrong,he doesn't have reason for all the things he did.Perhaps it is true like Mr. Trump said "the world is now a much safer place" when he died.

"Unbeliever" looks like this word make people destroy peace in this world, people hate other just what they believe not because what they do.In my opinion religions teach everybody to be a good man and forgiveness.But now a day people might not understand the same way or change doctrine of religion for their own benefit and when it comes to about religion it will be untouchable because if someone tell or advice,it mean unbeliever and make it more hard to communicate each other with reason.

War always took much more than it gives and why people don't learn from the past? I think because we want more and more never enough,people always want something that not belong to-example ISI they want land for muslim and they want to use Islam law and why they have to do this? Possible they think doctrine teach them to make the world have only muslim,how ever I hope one day they realize this world is beautiful because we respect other thoughts and we learn to live with different faith,it make people better then animals.After the war between ISI and Unbeliever(in ISI opinion) begin,Iran and Syria were beautiful cites full of great architecture and now those cities become memory and it very hard to bring it back to the way their were.Not just cities that the war take from ours but also the happiness and life too.

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Question for your classmates

How can we live with people who believe in other faith?

Yings BBC Article

In the article "UFC 244: Nate Diaz cleared over dopingtest" we are informed that despite testing positive for small quantities of LGD-4033 he has been cleared and the main event fight of UFC 244 will go ahead as planned. LGD-4033 is a substance which can be used to increase testosterone however the UFC said that the sample was "roughly 10,000 times lower than one LGD-4033 therapeutic dose. USADA proceeded to confirm that no sanction or provisional suspension will be handed down.

The events of Nate Diaz’s blood test results and everything that followed is an interesting thing to look at in the broad terms of illicit substances in sports. One aspect to look at is that USADA (who ran the tests) were able to detect trace amounts of the illicit substance LGD-4033 and in turn clear the fighter due to tainted supplements. This shows us that the drug detection in sports is getting better and results are achieved faster. This is important for providing a fair playing field in all sports.

Another interesting way to look at this is to consider the amount of pressure that is placed upon athletes not only in MMA but in all sports. That they would be willing to risk everything to gain an edge in competition speaks very much about what they go through, the pressure and the mindset that they might have in their chosen sport. As technology grows it is important we continue to grow the drug testing technology to meet the latest in performance enhancing substances and make all sports a fair competition.

One of the important things to take from this article is that it is always important for professional athletes to be careful with supplements and what they put into their body. Mistakes can be made, particularly as Nate Diaz learnt when he was flagged for illicit substances despite an all natural, vegan diet and supplements.

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Fire destroyed Shuri Castle: the world heritage

Introduction and summary

"Shuri Castle: Fire destroys 500-year-old world heritage site in Japan" reports that a fire has destroyed all the main structure of Shuri Castle, which is on Japan's southern island of Okinawa. Firefighters had struggled to extinguish the fire for more than 10 hours due to strong winds. Cause of them is still unclear. Fortunately, No injuries have been reported. The castle burned down three times during the Ryukyu Dynasty and was almost completely destroyed during World War two. The current structure is a reconstruction. The castle was a campus for Okinawa's largest public university until the 1970s. It has been a tourist attraction since. Moreover, The castle had been schedule as a stop on the 2020 Olympic torch relay route.

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Response: What is your opinion?

After I read this article I feel very sorry for the incident. Thinking of the Unesco world heritage had been destroyed was tragic. Japanese's sorrow is beyond imagination. The incident not only impact Japanese's emotion but also people in other nationalities all over the world. Many tourist, both local and foreigner, who used to visit the castle have expressed their condolence for the loss on their twitter.

Shuri Castle, which was the palace of Ryukyu kingdom, is a symbol of identity for Okinawa people. It is currently the largest building in Okinawa. It had architectural influences from China and Japan. It is rich with history and culture. It has been there through everything from war to peace. After the war, it had been reconstructed based on history records, photographs, memory. Because the castle is a tourist attraction, I think this loss may cause a decreasing of tourists in Okinawa until the reconstruction has been finished. The governor said it will be rebuilt again. However, i don't know it will be the same as the old one or not. If it is not, it will cause negative effect in tourism. Nevertheless, I think there will be some people who still want to visit the castle to see how the Unesco world heritage of Japan is.

Fire is the most terrifying thing in the world that can destroy everything to ashes in a short time. It can damage the construction remaining its structure, change forest into charred wood and kill innumerable people. The fire incidents happened several times and damage many important places in the world this year, for instance, Amazon rainforest, Notre-Dame de Paris, and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. It is always hard to find the actual cause of fire. In addition, it is much more difficult to prevent.

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Question for your classmates

How can we prevent fire incidents? 

Stand up for Netflix: Roll the variable-speed playback out!

Introduction and summary

According to "Netflix angers film-makers with 'insulting' speed-up function", film-makers are angered because they think that a new feature on Netflix, which allows users to watch movies and TV series at various speeds, are destroying their works even though it is still in the testing period. Netflix argues that such a feature has been long available already in DVD player or YouTube and has been frequently requested from members. Although they may be planning to launch this function, they have been concerned about creators and says that it depends on the feedback they receive. 

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Response: What is your opinion?

As a Netflix member, I have been waiting for this feature for age. Some of the efficiency experts even advise us to watch videos at a faster speed to make the most of our time wisely. For me, I found that the function that can adjust the speed is quite useful because it makes my life more efficient. I have a habit of watching videos and films at a faster speed. I started doing this two years ago and discovered that acceleration makes viewing more pleasurable. The faster pace makes it easier to enjoy the flow of the plot and the scene. 

As I consume all the videos on my computer or my phone, I’ve developed other habits too. Sometimes I speed-up. Sometimes I slow down. I don’t watch them at normal speed anymore. I accepted that these viewing techniques have done something strange to me, but that is because I was trying to understand the structure of the story and pay attention to where I needed.

One of the most common thoughts which go against this function is that it ruins the cinematic experience. They said that this kind of feature is destroying filmmakers' works. However, I think that technology nowadays allows us to appreciate the contents in new ways while using our time manipulatively. Although not everybody may do the “speed-watching” as I do, they have the right to watch all content in their own ways.

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Question for your classmates

What do you think about Netflix adding adjustable playback speed? Do you think it wastes the contents or not? 

Mod's BBC article

Introduction and summary

According to "How protests pushed Hong Kong to the recession brink, " After the protests in Hong Kong as a result of the extradition law, Hong Kong's GDP decreased by 3.2% and causing damages in various areas including tourism, such as the number of tourists travelling to Hong Kong decreased by 50% from last year. In terms of economic uncertainty in the business, whether it is the aviation business such as the Cathay Pacific airline business or many retail stores in Hong Kong ,as well as the lack of confidence investment in Hong Kong, which is a long-term impact. The government has resolved the economic slowdown by compressing over 20 billion Hong Kong dollars into the Hong Kong economic system.

Response: What is your opinion?

For me, the protest in Hong Kong is an event that shouldn't have happened because there are many people who are seriously injured in this event and what follows from this protest is the economic downturn and the lack of  Believe in the safety of many countries, which takes a long time to resolve. So we can see that protests are not the most way to solve the problem. In this event, I think it should be discussions and compromises of both government and citizens to finding conclusions.

   And In my opinion, there are 3 main reasons that make this protest happen are 1.the Chinese people who have moved to Hong Kong are Afraid that they would be charged by the Chinese government and taken to prosecute  2. Hong Kong just gaining independence from China in 1997, therefore Hong Kong is considered a new country that has not experienced to solve any major problems before 3. Hong Kong people do not have confidence in the leadership that chosen by some Hong Kong people and this selection was interfered by the Chinese government as well. therefore, this extradition bill may have benefit for China to interfere with Hong Kong, in some way so it causing Hong Kong citizens to worry.

As a result of the protest in Hong Kong, it is a case study for countries around the world to be cautious in drafting laws that may not be accepted by the people. For me, this event can be a case study in political science, in the fields of law and political details.

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Question for your classmates

Do you think the extradition law should happen in Hong Kong?

The effects of wildfire on koala

Introduction and summary

According to "Australian Wildfire: Hundreds of koalas feared dead",  many people are afraid that a very large bushfire that burnt through 20 square kilometers of genetically diverse koalas breeding ground near Port Macquarie in New South Wales might kill many koalas there. The koala rescuers also said this blaze might make the koala population decrease, which is a tragedy because there are only around 43,000 koalas left in the wild and listed as "vulnerable species". But the staff from Port Macquire Koala Hospital said that there is a possibility of koalas to survive if the wildfire passes through the tree fast enough to not kill but only leave a burnt on their fur. 

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Response: What is your opinion?

I felt unpleasantly surprised that koala was listed as "Vulnerable" by Australia's Environment Ministry and wildfire is pushing them to decrease more than a hundred each time it happens. The reason why I thought this way maybe because there is not much bushfire happens in Thailand, at least not as much as in Australia, so when I read that there were hundreds of bushfires in the past months, it sounded terrifying. 

In the article, they said that they blamed for habitat loss, disease, dog attacks, and climate change that is pushing koala to be declined, but I think most of those reasons are somehow related to bushfire. It is because, even though the blaze didn't make koalas permanently lose the forest they stayed, they are forced to seek new forests to live, and this makes koala has to survive from being killed by dogs or by cars. Also, we can't deny that the wildfire effect on the ecosystem since it burns all both adult trees and undergrowths, and when the ecosystem is ruined, it can affect climate change to worsen indirectly. And the climate change in the present is bad enough to kill koalas, especially in Australia's Summer when heat waves and dehydration can kill both humans and wildlife. 

As far as I knew, the female koala will generally have only one offspring per year and not all female koala breeds every year which might be a main reason why it's hard to increase the koala's population. And this made me started thinking that it will be very difficult for those people who want to breed and taking care of all species of koalas in order to protect them from listed as "endangered species" in the future.

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Question for your classmates

What do you think about the effects of bushfire on wildlife? 

It's complicated: Where our ancestors came from

Introduction and summary

The area in Botswana today -
definitely not fertile

In "Origin of modern humans 'traced to Botswana'," researchers claim to have determined where we modern humans first evolved in Africa 200,000 years ago before spreading to the rest of Africa and then to the rest of the world starting around 130,000 years ago. They argue that analyses of the distribution in modern Africa of a type of DNA passed only from mothers to children shows that the original home of our species was an area in modern Botswana, which would then have been very fertile, unlike the barren salt pan area it is today. However, other scientists remain unsure that the DNA analyses is enough to support this claim about our complex evolution.

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Response: What is your opinion?

Modern science continually amazes me. Today, we know more about our origins than any other humans in history have ever known, and unlike the stories told by religions, the creation stories of physics, chemistry, biology and other sciences are solidly founded on verifiable facts and sound reasoning. I had already known that Mitochondrial Eve, the last common female ancestor of every human being alive today, lived around 150,000 years ago, and I had already been amazed that anthropoligists had been able to narrow the area down to Africa after decades of careful work. If we look at other sciences, we now know more about the universe around us, including that it's almost 14 billion years old, than anyone would have imagined possible when I was born last century, and the rate of new discoveries keeps accelerating, as my ever smarter smart phones demonstrate. What might we know tomorrow?

But as I read and thought about the article, I was also reminded how the mathematical tools used to recreate evolutionary histories from modern DNA can be applied in very different areas. Last term in one of my classes we read an article about how these statitical analyses can be used to trace fairy tales back through evolving human languages for thousands of years as groups split like species do to create new languages and new cultures, a process that is still going on in every living language and the culture it encodes. 

In fact, if I had to pick just one scientific discovery, I might choose Darwin's theory of evolution, which he published in 1859, as the most important ever. Evolution is not so deep as the theories of modern physics, or so Earth shattering as the Copernican revolution that moved us humans from the centre of the universe, but by connecting us to every other living thing through the mindless operation of perfectly blind natural processes, it showed us our place in nature and finally helped us get over the need for stories of gods and other supernatural things to explain the living wonder of the world we inhabit. 

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Question for your classmates

Why do scientists and others want to understand where we humans began?  

The taste of good morals

Introduction and summary

Foie gras: delicacy or cruelty?

According to "Foie gras ban: New York restaurateurs enraged by 'unjust and unfair' measure," a vote to ban foie gras, which is traditionally made by force feeding ducks or geese to enlarge their livers, has opposed animal rights activists, who are happy that a tradition they see as "cruel and inhumane" will end, and those working in the farms and restaurants that produce and serve the delicacy. If the ban, which was passed 42 votes to six, is signed into law by New York's mayor, the city will join other states and countries where foie gras is illegal, but the affected industries say they will take legal action to overturn the ban before it begins in 2022.

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Response: What is your opinion?

Duck lunch by my brother –
I got the liver! 

Food is important to most of us: it's something we socialize over, talk about, and share on Facebook. And first off, I have to confess that I'm a foie gras lover. I grew up on a farm, and among other animals, we raised ducks both for sale and for ourselves. Our ducks led very happy, free range lives until they were killed; and they were never force fed, merely provided with as much grain, fresh grass, organic worms and other yummy foods as they could eat. They certainly grew plump and delicious, and their livers, while not recognized as foie gras by the snobby French, were a favourite at the dinner table. In fact, on my annual visits to see my family, the livers are still very popular at the duck dinners my brother now produces from his free range ducks. 

The article suggests the foie gras can be created without cruelty to animals, but does not say how this is done. It merely quotes the New York duck farmers as saying this, so I'm not sure whether it is true or not. My own experience of our ducks is that although they are easily tempted to eat a lot and get deliciously fat as they enjoy stuffing themselves, the resulting livers are deliciously rich, but not the same as foie gras produced by force feeding. 

But the issue that really interested me is whether, and when, it is OK to make non-human animals suffer or be killed so that we can enjoy eating them. And is force feeding a duck any worse than keeping them in cramped pens like to so many chickens and pigs are for their entire miserable lives are cut short when they are killed? The meat industries seem to me to not only kill a lot of animals every day, but they do cause a lot of suffering. It also seems to me that the animal rights activists are right to point out that when we buy meat in a shop or order it in a restaurant, we are effectively paying someone else to kill and torture for us, which makes us like a mafia godfather who does not kill himself, but is still responsible for the killing and suffering that comes from his orders to paid servants. 

I think that there is also a much deeper set of moral issues raised by the way we human animals treat our non-human relatives, but this is enough for now. 

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Question for your classmates

Is it morally acceptable to pay other people to kill animals and cause them suffering for no better reason than to enjoy the taste of their killed bodies? 

Introducing Sofia

Hello!

My name is Sofia Domashenkina. I was born in the Far East of Russia and my parents still live there. However, I love traveling and want to improve the condition of my life so I moved to the bigger city Novosibirsk after graduating of my university and later moved to Thailand. I have been living in Bangkok for 2,5 years with my husband and cat. We moved here because my husband Denis got a job offer from the Siemens Company. Actually, this was not sudden event because we wanted to move to some warm country near a sea so we were looking for a such place.

I am a housewife and a student of AUA school now. Before the moving I had worked for 3 years in an office in a sales sphere. During my basic work I started to teach women pole dance, strip plastic and stretching. Pole dance became my main job from the hobby and I have not stopped doing this activity in Bangkok. If you do not know what pole dance is you can watch the video:

"Pole Art" is the most famous world championship of pole dance in the artistic style. I am not so professional like this girl but watching such videos inspire me. Also I can dance and teach an exotic pole dance (this style includes less tricks and more sexy movements in high heels).

Generally, I listen to music as a complement during driving a car, doing a housework or like songs for my dancing. My favorite song is "Radioactive" by the band "Imagine Dragons". I like this music band and especially their front man Daniel Reynolds. He is talented and handsome guy. "Radioactive" is special and memorable for me because my first dance public performance was shown to this song.

Introducing Oil

Good morning, my name is Ekamanee. You can call me Oil. My birthday is 4 July 1996. I'm 23 years old. I just graduated Bachelor Degrees from Thammasart university in last year. My major is Law.

I was born in Bangkok. I've lived with my family. There are 6 people in my family; my mother , my father and three older brothers. So, I'm the youngest daughter in my family. Now I'm studying Law program at Netibundit Thai. As I told you that I want to be a Judge. I think it is a big dream that almost all of people who studying Law are want to be. That's why I must take a lot of time for reading books . However, in my free time I like to bake and cook. I think baking and cooking can make me feel relaxed and when I saw the others enjoyed what I cooked it make me feel proud and very happy. Mostly I like to bake cookies and cakes because I love the sweet things especially everything about chocolates. Have you ever heard that the woman and dessert are like a couple?   

  

Moreover, one of my favorite activities in my free time is watching the movie and listening to music. Normally, I always listen thai pop music. But recently I just listened this song and then it becoming my favorite song. The song name is 'let her go' from the band ‘Passenger’. Obviously it quit old song and popular music but I like the meaning in the lyric. The lyric told that ‘you will never know the value of something until it's gone’ and I think so too.

Introducing mod

Hello, my name is Phornaphat Thampasato my nickname is mod. I was born on April 27th 2004 so 15 years. Now I am living in Bangkok, Thailand my family that contains my parents my brother my sister and me and right now I studying in grade 10 at Saint Joseph Convent school. My personality is friendly with everybody that I think they are kind and give honour to me but in contrast, the kind of person that I don't like at all is the person who not respect me and people who see me like a toy that they can do anything to me by ignoring my feeling.                                                               

The hobbies that I spend in free time are listening to the ASMR on YouTube because it makes relaxing and the ASMR channel that I want to present is "ASMR Sita Sofia" that I watching her every single day before going to the bed. Sita is half -Thai,half-Fin now she living in Finland but she can speak Thai very well and her pronunciation in Thai quite clearly but the main reason that I supporting her is she has a beautiful voice that makes me sleep easily. And sometimes I will watch the horror and thriller movies and the movie I guarantee that is the best horror movie is "texas chainsaw" that you want to prove by yourself.

My favourite song is "Boyfriend" by Ariana Grande, Social House. The reason that I like this song is because of the sound(at the beginning) in this song so different from another song so it makes this song so interesting and I think the lyric so modern.But the best thing that makes me like this song is the artist "Ariana Grande" she is the most influential woman and the most beautiful woman in the world that makes me ecstatic in her. 

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introducing Peter (2)

I've already introduced myself just below for the weekend IELTS class I'm teaching, so I don't want to repeat what's there. I didn't talk about my daily life now in the previous blog post, so that might be a useful topic for this one.

My daily life is fairly simple and regular, and I like that. When I was younger, I liked a bit more excitement, but these days, something that might seem a bit boring suits me well. It's comfortable. I'm woken every morning by my phone at 5:55 AM. This means I need to go to bed by 11:00 PM. Actually, I aim to go to bed at 10:00 PM, with another reminder from my phone, but I usually read a bit or watch something silly on NetFlix to relax before sleep, which usually makes it 11:00 or later before I actually go to sleep. I always start the day with a large, black coffee. This has been my habit for more than 40 years, which gives you some indication of my minimum age. While I'm having my morning coffee, I read a couple of newspapers and magazines on my computer, and perhaps write a few quick responses to things there. If it's a workday, which is every day except Friday, I then start preparing for my classes that day. I've usually prepared before because I like to be prepared, but often I get a new idea and revise my lesson plans or materials. And then off to work, or to lunch or something with friends if it's my day off.

One of my favourite pieces of music is Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 1 (K. 313). I had to change it from "my favourite" to "one of my favourites" because I realised after the fourth revision that I could not pick one. Although I also like a lot of songs, I had no trouble picking Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" as my favourite. My first thought in class was Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which was the first piece of classical music I studied, but it's not really my favourite. Then I thought of Mozart's masses, symphonies and operas. I finally settled on this one because it's so cheerful. I used to play the flute a long time ago, and the performances of this work by people like James Galway inspired me. This performance on YouTube is one I didn't know before. In contrast with a recording of Galway, this one is a video of the life performance. I hope you enjoy it. I think it makes a nice contrast to the operatic rock song by Queen in my post below.

Introducing Mook

My name is Jiraporn Thongkliang. So you can call me Mook. I'm 24 year old and I just graduated from Chiang Mai University in degree of Business Administration. By the way, I had to graduate last year but I got the scholarship to be a Exchange student at Malaysia for 5 monts that why it make me graduate late more than another person in the same level.

In the last year before I graduated, I got to know the program name is "Work and Travel" that take the student who would like to exchange culture, work and travel in the same time at USA before graduate. That makes me want to get more experience for my life. Although it will makes me late with my friend in the same level in work life but I thought I will get another experience that will make me get to learn more the real world. Luckily, I lived at New York which is the best place for me to learn culture from people who came from different country. I got a lot friends and we can exchange culture each other. It's a great opportunity and great time for me to joined this program. And This is a video in my YouTube channel that I would like to show how is my life when I stayed there for "Work and Travel Program at New York with J1 VISA"

And the last thing, This is my favorite song "Senorita" by Shawn Mendes and Camila. I knew this song when I stayed at New York. The people at there mostly can speak Spanish and I remember one time had someone called me Senorita. It means Miss in Spanish and my work place always open this song that make me remember this song. Moreover, 2 years ago, I heard the voice of him from TV show when I knew this song by him that make me more like this song.

 

Introducing Aom

My name is Aom. In my free time, I like to read novels or watching TV series, animations, and movies on Netflix. It helps me to practice both English and Japanese, especially by watching Japanese animations in Japanese soundtrack with English subtitles. I like to watch western TV Series such as SHERLOCK, Stranger Things, or The Haunting of Hill House, to help me not forgetting English since I have less opportunity to use it after I graduated from university. My favorite genres are investigation, horror, and thriller, Especially investigation movies, I like to do brainstorming, pick up the clue, guess about the end of the story, and see if I can guess it right.  I always feel excited even if it didn't end as I thought it would be. But this feeling never happens to me when I watch romance movies. I always fall asleep even before I can finish it.

Besides reading books and watching the series, my other hobby is playing games. I am currently playing Final Fantasy XIV. This game is an online game but the system and the playstyle are not as same as the other online games. Since it's not a "Pay to Win" game, all you can do to be able to get an upper hand is paying on your own afford. If you want to have high-grade items, you have to pass End Game Contents or craft it yourself. The other thing I like about this game is, the social in the game. You can't be rude to other people or you will get reported to the game-master, and there will be a helper for you to finish old content which is nice and convenient. Also, the background music is good. It comes together with deep stories and great graphic design which made the game is more enjoyable.

My favorite song is "Mic Drop (Steve Aoki Remix)" by Korean boyband called BTS. They are not my favorite artist, but I do like some of their songs. is an energetic hype song that got inspiration from former US president Barack Obama's mic drop at his final White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2016. The reason why I like this song is the instrumental's tempo that started with slow progresses and then changed into a fast speed that rouses you to feel excited. Some people might think it sounds so cheesy slow hip-hop with many types of beat from the synthesizers and a snare drum. But to me, it doesn't sound that cheesy. Also, the choreography and the rhythm of their rapping got along so well with the instrumental became a main factor for me to enjoy the video. Another reason why I like this song is the lyrics telling you that you no need to pursue talking to someone who dislikes you, just let your achievements say it out loud for you instead.

(There is another version which is "Mic Drop (featuring Desiigner) (Steve Aoki Remix)" but it is not an official video so I switched it with an official one. But if you want to give it a try, you can also go to try it out.)

Introducing Non

My name is Kritratt Worakuntadatison and my nickname is Non, you can call me that. I have 2 older bothers and 1 older sister. I'm currently studying Economics at Thammasat University. I choose to study this subject because it is what happens in real life and it tells what triggers this and that event and so on. About my hobbies I like playing game with my friends and sometimes we go out to play board game and lisnten to musics. My favorite sport is Badminton. When i was studying in a high school, Satit Chula, I used to play it with one of my close friend after class like 3-4 days a week but after my entrance exam I haven't played it since then.

Next, talking about reading. My favorite book is a Psychology book called "Mind Set"  by Carol S. Dweck. It's mainly explain how thought affects us. Why people think differently for example some people may ok with lose but for some people lose is unacceptable. At first I don't really interested in this book I was forced to read this book by my teacher as it will be in the test. But after I read for a bit it, I find this book is nice and I really enjoyed it. One of the main reasons is  this  book help me understand people's action and some of the cases inside are what I had faced before.

As I mentioned above one of my hobbies is listen to musics. So let's talk about music for a bit.  My favorite song is "Fool Again" by the pop band Westlife. I know this song from my friend, Ohm. He recommended me this song when I was 14 or maybe 15 I'm not so sure. When i first serched for this song, I hadn't heard Westlife before and I didn't even know they are well-known. And after i listened, I felt really like this song and it have become my favorite song since then