News of the world...

Charity?

In this short RSA Animate, renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek investigates the surprising ethical implications of charitable giving.

Revealed: British government's plan to play down Fukushima

Internal emails seen by Guardian show PR campaign was launched to protect UK nuclear plans after tsunami in Japan
After reading this headline, you may well want to read the whole article here:.

http://tinyurl.com/6dtjb4f

The haves and the have-nots

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2011/06/24-8

NO KIDDING !!!

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110627p2a00m0na004000c.html

Rest In Peace

Peter Falk visited Reims.He went to "Le Palais" where a plaque reminds us of his having a drink there.When I was a kid and had a TV, Columbo was one of my favourite series.

They knew but they tried to put a happy face on it

Another Nuclear problem? Unclear?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/us-flooding-nuclear-idUSTRE75G4Z120110617
And meanwhile in Fukushima:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/18/fukushima-halts-water-decontamination
PS: I quote Reuters:
The highly radioactive water -- officials say 110,000 tonnes, the equivalent of 40 Olympic swimming pools -- is stored in the buildings of the Fukushima Power Plant.

Thanks for Supporting Whistleblowers and Transparent Government | War Is A Crime .org

Thanks for Supporting Whistleblowers and Transparent Government | War Is A Crime .org

Ad brought to you by NASA (2)

War is not about Truth

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=74&jumival=736

Bassem Tamimi

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=6910

FREE GARY!

RESPONSIBLE GENTLEMEN AND WOMEN

A MUST SEE

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/31/japan.nuclear.suicide/

Patriot Act Extended

WASHINGTON — Minutes before a midnight deadline, President Barack Obama signed into law a four-year extension of post-Sept. 11 powers to search records and conduct roving wiretaps in pursuit of terrorists...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-moves-patriot-act-toward-4-year-extension-before-thursday-midnight-deadline/2011/05/25/AGnYjXBH_story.html

Heard of BRICS?

Declaration rules out use of force to solve international disputes.

http://chinawatch.washingtonpost.com/2011/05/for-peace-and-prosperity.php

Cores Damaged at Three Reactors

It's official.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509104576325110776621604.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_News_BlogsModule

Damage Worse Than Feared

Wall Street Journal about Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576318470827245128.html#project%3Djnuke0512_pg%26articleTabs%3Dcomments

'A Ticking Time Bomb'

This professor, Michio Kaku, also says: 'The nightmare is not over yet.'
And: 'You get this image of Homer Simpson operating the power plant.'


or here: http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/05/13/exp.arena.japan.nuclear.kaku.cnn?iref=videosearch

We care for you Japan

Unfortunately, the Fukushima power plant doesn't make the headlines. Not even a word in "Le Monde" ? Oh yes, today's article deals with the fact that Tepco is expecting to lose $ 9 billion dollars.
http://www.lemonde.fr/japon/article/2011/05/11/fukushima-tepco-annoncerait-une-perte-nette-de-9-milliards-d-euros_1519964_1492975.html
and not a word on the huge radioactivity on the site? That's just outrageous.
(See previous post.)

Two months after the HUGE earthquake and the following tsunami.
The plant, its six reactors in a whole load of mess and such a lousy coverage? Weird.
Let it be known that we care for Japan and all the tsunami victims.
And let it be known that we care about the situation in Fukushima nuclear power plant. We want more info, daily complete coverage about FNPP because we care for the Japanese, because we care for our planet and because we can handle the truth.

The Japanese Emperor and his wife show they care here:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_25.html

A Figure: 700 in Fukushima NPP

700 millisieverts per hour...
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/09_23.html
"In Japan, 100 millisieverts is seen as the annual maximum permissible dose for those engaged in emergency repair work. But the current emergency situation has prompted raising the limit to 250 millisieverts."

What it means? Well, for now, it is impossible to work in the plantwithout being in great danger.
Or not totally impossible?
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110509x2.html
70 millisieverts per hour is safe... with less than four hours a year per worker... Workers needed.

To be continued...

A blog about football

and the current crisis at the FFF
http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/

Safety concerns unheeded

Where were safety concerns ignored? In Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.
When? In June 2010. You don't say...
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/01/japanese-pm-admits-government-and-tepco-ignored-safety-concerns/

Revise your vocabulary

...with MEMOVOC: http://www.memovoc.com/
Big thanks and kuddos to Hélène.

4 crucial years

And 4 years of hard work in the Japanese power plants if cleaning the mess is possible.

Worldwide military spending

Worldwide military spending edged up in 2010 to a record $1.6 trillion, a leading think-tank said on Monday.
And other impressive figures.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/10/us-military-spending-idUSTRE73937Y20110410

One thousand quakes

...since 3/11. Yes, one thousand quakes above 4° magnitude on the Richter scale.
439 quakes above 5°; 57 quakes above 6° and 4 above 7°
Much tremor in 34 days.

Pronouncing words

I was checking the pronunciation of obesity and I discovered a great site.
http://fr.forvo.com/word/obesity/

Terabecquerels

Terabecquerels and level 7
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/84805.html

Lies and omissions

And we're left to wonder what the situation really is as the earth keeps shaking.
Tonight in Japan, a 7.4°-magnitude earthquake strikes off coast of Miyagi, Japan

Closing Ranks: The NRC, the Nuclear Industry, and TEPCo. Are Limiting the Flow of Information from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

Fighting landmines

The so-called Ottawa Process that led to the signing of the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997 was unorthodox, historic and unprecedented. The treaty is the product of an unusually cohesive and strategic partnership between non-governmental organizations, international organizations, United Nations agencies and governments.
The political initiative launched in October 1996 and culminating in the opening for signature of the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa, Canada, in December 1997 is known as the Ottawa Process. Coline Serreau played her part with this short film.

3/11 onwards or else

In case you're still more interested in Facebook than in the Fukushima world catastrophe,read this:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/28/earlyshow/living/parenting/main20047775.shtml?tag=stack
Otherwise, read that here:
"This sort of mistake is not something that can be forgiven," Edano said sternly Monday.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/28
And remember this:
"Plutonium can be shielded by a sheet of paper" : here I quote NHK news anchor.
Ok! But don't forget that once in the body, it is baaaaaaaaaaaad. Real bad.
Remember, Plutonium's half-life is 24,000 years.BAAAAAD
Read here for more
http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/03/12/japans-radiation-exposure-how-serious-is-it/

Read more here in French:http://www.electron-economy.org/article-l-arriere-plan-nauseabond-de-ce-drame-la-puissance-de-ce-que-par-pudeur-on-nomme-le-lobby-nucleaire-le-monde-70278377.html

Hokusai REVISITED. We love you NIHON

The Great Wave off Kanagawa (神奈川沖浪裏, Kanagawa Oki Nami Ura, lit. "Under a Wave off Kanagawa")is a woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai. An example of ukiyo-e art that inspired the impressionists.An example can be seen in Giverny, Monet's home. FRANCE LOVES JAPAN

Profit vs Life

Read the Guardian here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/12/japan-ministers-ignored-warnings-nuclear
and here from a Korean website/english:
http://www.peacemaking.co.kr/english/news/view.php?papercode=ENGLISH&newsno=1037&pubno=315&returl=%2Fenglish%2Fnews%2Flistall.php%3Fpapercode%3DENGLISH%26pageno%3D1%26q%3D%26ordertype%3D

INTO ETERNITY

Every day, the world over, large amounts of high-level radioactive waste created by nuclear power plants is placed in interim storage, which is vulnerable to natural disasters, man-made disasters, and to societal changes. In Finland the world’s first permanent repository is being hewn out of solid rock – a huge system of underground tunnels - that must last 100,000 years as this is how long the waste remains hazardous.http://www.intoeternitythemovie.com/
and watch the movie here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RurTvL7NWGc&NR=1

High Levels indeed

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/23_28.html
"Extremely high radiation found in soil

Japanese authorities have detected a concentration of a radioactive substance 1,600 times higher than normal in soil at a village, 40 kilometers away from the troubled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

The disaster task force in Fukushima composed of the central and local governments surveyed radioactive substances in soil about 5 centimeters below the surface at 6 locations around the plant from last Friday through Tuesday.

The results announced on Wednesday show that 163,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium-137 per kilogram of soil has been detected in Iitate Village, about 40 kilometers northwest of the plant.

Gakushuin University Professor Yasuyuki Muramatsu, an expert on radiation in the environment, says that normal levels of radioactive cesium-137 in soil are around 100 becquerels at most. The professor says he was surprised at the extremely high reading, which is 1,630 times higher than normal levels."

LINKS to check regularly

http://www.irsn.fr/FR/Actualites_presse/Actualites/Pages/20110319_simulation_dispersion_panache_radioactif.aspx
The site above contains a planetary simulation of the radiation.

http://www.asn.fr/

If you want to have a look at the earthquake map in Japan since 3/11:
http://www.japanquakemap.com/

We're all Japanese 2

Go to the link below nd watch and listen to this couple and to this young woman.
They're about to take a plane and leave Japan.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/mar/15/japan-earthquake-evacuation-akita-airport

NO MORE WAR

WISCONSIN!FIGHT BACK!06:00 NO MORE WAR 09:50 !
Dennis Kucinich has always been my favourite.
http://kucinich.house.gov/
I quote : "Since being elected to Congress in 1996, Kucinich has been a tireless advocate for worker rights, civil rights and human rights"



I like this comment from EmileZ(+50p)
"Dennis Kucinich is the most terse, pithy, passionate, inspiring, truthful, righteous, federal representative we've got (that I am aware of).
He is picking it up where Dr. King left off."

Expecting worse?

We're all Japanese

The phrases we use when a man-made or natural catastrophe turns all our planet's inhabitants' eyes in the same direction.
I remember September 11 in 2001. 'We're all Americans.' That's what we said at the time about the man-made catastrophy.
Now I'll remember 3 /11 in 2011."We're all japanese." That's what we can say today about this natural and man-made (we build nuclear power stations)catastrophe.
Words, dates.But one present.One Human People. We think of you Japan.
http://www.newsonjapan.com/

Emergency Alert System

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2011/02/what_is_a_presidential_alert_1.html
quote: "It may seem like a scene out of George Orwell's "1984" or some other apocalyptic Hollywood blockbuster, but government officials have wanted for years to establish a way for the White House to quickly, directly alert Americans of impending danger."

H.Clinton on media

I posted this video which was suppressed, and then reappeared. I hope my pupils can watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zW4AKrOIak&feature=player_embedded

an Oscar for INSIDE JOB

an oscar for best documentary:

... Banksy didn't get the Oscar but as a nominee, many people discovered his talent and his message.

An oscar for Banksy!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7357858n&tag=channelMore;vid
Watch the great video above and see more of Banksy's works.

"Banksy is the elusive British bad-boy street artist and nominee for best documentary feature for his directing debut, "Exit Through the Gift Shop."

Will the artist who prefers to hide his face from public view suddenly turn ham and appear in front of a half-billion viewers? As the movie academy would put it, you're invited to find out." from CBS.com

Visit Banksy's site again: http://banksy.co.uk/

And watch his art in videos here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYpZpLx47_g&feature=player_embedded#at=60

The U.S. cost of War

http://costofwar.com/en/
Figures that make you think.

And always

Really one of my favourite!

Amazing English teacher blog.

http://moviesegmentstoassessgrammargoals.blogspot.com/
Kuddos Claudio

Egypt's future? Egypt's past

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/12/mubarak-egypt-roots-of-despotism
Extract: "The so-called Higher Military Council inspires no confidence. Does another military strongman lurk in the regime's entrails? I wonder if western leaders, shamed into moral bluster after being caught in flagrante with Mubarak, will, when we relax our vigils, tip the balance towards "stability" and against real change.

I grow a bit apprehensive too, recalling the words of an extraordinarily perceptive observer of Egypt's struggles in the past: "The edifice of despotic government totters to its fall. Strive so far as you can to destroy the foundations of this despotism, not to pluck up and cast out its individual agents."

Mubarak Steps down

The Egyptian people is jubilant.So am I! So are we!
PEACE and French wishes:Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12433045

Some granny!

Spielberg believes in listening and...

Amazonians

An uncontacted tribe in Peru was filmed from afar.Watch this remarkable footage.
Do you think they would like to get into contact with the rest of the world?
You can also read an article about this tribe here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-amazonian-tribe-that-hid-from-the-rest-of-the-world-ndash-until-now-836774.html
or this one:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0203/Photos-of-isolated-Amazonian-tribe-raise-awareness-of-deforestation-in-Brazil-Peru

Cyclone Yasi vs Hurricane Katrina

'more life threatening than any experienced in recent generations'
Cyclone Yasi is quite huge indeed but some say Hurricane Katrina was even bigger.
Have a fantastic satellite look at Cyclone Yasi here:
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radars/australia/national-satellite

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/floodrelief/north-queensland-braces-for-cyclone-anthony-as-cyclone-yasi-brews-behind-it/story-fn7ik2te-1225997552623

Gazing at art online

http://www.googleartproject.com/

Wikileaks and news about Julian Assange

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20029950-10391709.html
What the journalists who interviewed him for 60 minutes have to say.
And then, watch the 60 minutes interview.
Keep informed about Wikileaks!... And say what you think! For I'm still desperately waiting for your comments!
UPDATE : http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/24/world/main20035758.shtml?tag=nl.e879

Candid camera & ... a few Americans

...desperately in need of some education.
I guess we could have the same types of answers in France!
I like the part with the wrong map of the world!

A new great site!

English Social Network.You'll love it!
http://www.youtube.com/user/EnglishSocialNetwork

RAY BRADBURY about Books

Go to the following link to watch and listen to RAY BRADBURY, a great science fiction writers.
http://neabigread.org/books/fahrenheit451/filmguide.php

Geek Meditation

A bomb in Spokane

The FBI is looking for possible racial links in their investigation of a bomb scare in Spokane, Washington, shortly before a Martin Luther King Day Parade was set to take place.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Free audio books here!

Listen to English books or read them for free at GUTENBERG dot ORG
Ain't that wonderful?
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/languages/en

Ad brought to you by NASA

From the Guardian website

Hard to believe... but true. The article I mean!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jan/10/earth-close-encounter-aliens-extraterrestrials

Obama on Tunisia

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/world/africa/15tunis.html?_r=1&emc=na

Tunisia, which is determinedly secular, is a close United States ally in the fight against terrorism. But on Friday, after reports that Mr. Ben Ali had fled, President Obama made strong statements in support of the protesters.

“I condemn and deplore the use of violence against citizens peacefully voicing their opinion in Tunisia, and I applaud the courage and dignity of the Tunisian people,” said in a statement issued by the White House. “The United States stands with the entire international community in bearing witness to this brave and determined struggle for the universal rights that we must all uphold, and we will long remember the images of the Tunisian people seeking to make their voices heard.”

Royal Family granted new right of secrecy

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/royal-family-granted-new-right-of-secrecy-2179148.html

Ex-CIA agent on TV about Julian Assange and his Wikileaks team.

Ray Mc Govern, ex-CIA agent talks on CNN about Wikileaks and Julian Assange as well as Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King... two heavy-weight references
See this quote by Thomas Jefferson:The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers & be capable of reading them.


The same Ray mc Govern on RT, (RT is "the first Russian 24/7 English-language news channel which brings the Russian view on global news.")I wonder whether the non-English-speaking Russian people have the same content.



And did you know that?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/10/24-8

Why you shouldn't try to fall in love on the web:

PEACE & disarmament...

Shame on warmongers for there IS so much fighting and killing and suffering on this planet.
But we, the people of the rich countries with our cohort of weapons manufacturers and bomb salesmen do not seem to care. Well, I care. And I'm sure you do and it makes me smile.
Happy new Year to all.Life and peace.

Orwellian times. Can you believe it?

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2010/12/14/nr.how.to.spot.hidden.cameras.cnn
Cameras everywhere and ...Oh my!
Every nincompoop, (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nincompoop)every nitwwit and the likes can monitor anything and they'll keep wasting their time in front of a screen, for nothing or sheer evil. Just like Big Brother.

Geomagnetic storm

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales/

Life is a gift indeed

A quote about war

I'm sure that someday children in schools will study the history of the men who made war as you study an absurdity. They'll be shocked, just as today we're shocked with cannibalism.
-Golda Meir, Israeli Prime Minister (1898-1978)
Thank you again Anu http://wordsmith.org/

Not an advert... We're relieved!

An orang-utan

Her name is Green, she is alone in a world that doesn't belong to her. She is a female orang-utan, victim of deforestation and resource exploitation.

http://www.greenthefilm.com/

Some speech

This speech was deliverd by Bernie Sanders on the senate floor on November 30th, 2010
a comment here:http://tinyurl.com/34gkvyx


Sénateur Bernie Sanders: l'Amérique à deux vitesses S/T
envoyé par hussardelamort. - L'info internationale vidéo.

The Infamous Double Slit Experiment

If you want to begin to grasp what Quantum Physics is, you will watch that video:

Wired: Danger Room

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/air-force-on-secret-space-plane-nothing-to-see-here-move-along/

Banksy

A video with many works by Banksy and more here: http://bilien.blogspot.com/search?q=banksy

Chimps and morality

BP's Gulf of Mexico OIL SPILL

Remember the oil spill? I'm sure you haven't heard about it much since August...
Well, you can now watch this very interesting video here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/commando602#p/a/f/0/d_x-b97LX0k
If you don't want to watch it all (15 minutes), concentrate on 3:45 up to 4:55 and then 13:00 onwards.
And then of course you might only have time to watch BP being made fun of...

Picasso

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Planète Bureau

I know, I know, this is in French, but you'll enjoy it!
You see, I've got very creative friends!... but they're French ;-(
Why don't we write subtitles for them!
To my pupils: If you do so, you'll get a reward!

http://www.planete-bureau.fr/

A Darwinian Theory of Beauty

Learn English with songs!

http://www.lyricstraining.com/index.php
As the video unfolds, you have to fill in blanks. It automatically waits for you.
Choose your song, your level, and try it!

The Fly

A poem by William Blake

Little Fly,
Thy summer's play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?
For I dance
And drink, and sing,
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.
If thought is life
And strength and breath
And the want
Of thought is death;
Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.

Body scanners: Opt out!

http://www.optoutday.com/
Some people are willing to refuse body scanners and would rather have a body search or "enhanced pat down"

Know that the TSA is Transportation Security Administration "that protects the nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce." Indeed!!!

Let's be careful drivers!

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims from lucy pepper on Vimeo.

John Lennon's aurora borealis

See http://bilien.blogspot.com/search?q=imagine
 and
http://www.wtop.com/?sid=2074196&nid=114
http://www.spaceweather.com/

ORAL COMPREHENSION SITES

TWO GREAT FINDINGS!
Remember!
If you really want to improve your English, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN to as much English as you can!

http://storycorps.org/listen

http://soundportraits.org/on-air/

Thomas Jefferson

A great PBS series on youtube. Thx PBS, thx youtube

Physics according to Niels Bohr

"It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how Nature is. Physics concerns what we say about Nature. "


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bpbohr.html

If you like horses,

you'll love Zenyatta
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7009219n&tag=component.1

5th of November = Guy Fawkes'night

Watch V for Vendetta tonight, on Bonfire Night and learn more about it,Guy Fawkes and the conspirators led by Robert Catesby:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,1605605,00.html
or here:http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/gunpowder_robinson_01.shtml
I quote:
"Their first meeting was on 20 May 1604. Catesby was joined by his friends Thomas Wintour, Jack Wright and Thomas Percy at the Duck and Drake, in the Strand. The fifth person was Guy Fawkes. Originally from York, he had been recruited in Flanders, where he had been serving in the Spanish Army. They discussed their plan to blow up Parliament House, and shortly afterwards leased a small house in the heart of Westminster, installing Fawkes as caretaker, under the alias of John Johnson."
Here is a video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ikQQk8cJQ
And the nursery rhyme: thanks Emily!

"Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd (or by God's mercy*)
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holla boys, Holla boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him? Burn him!"

The empathic civilization

Marijuana: 7 Health Myths Up in Smoke

Proposition 19 also known as the "Regulate, Control & Tax Cannabis Act" was a ballot initiative on the November 2, 2010 California statewide ballot...  
Two days ago when U.S. democrats lose the majority in the House of Representatives but keep it in the Senate.
It was ultimately defeated, with 53.9% of California voters voting 'No'
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20021612-10391704.html
Marijuana: 7 Health Myths Up in Smoke
http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10005201.html?tag=page

National Geographic

One of the links towards NG's website.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/science.html

TEN FACTS

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/6546462/The-10-weirdest-physics-facts-from-relativity-to-quantum-physics.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/6546462/The-10-weirdest-physics-facts-from-relativity-to-quantum-physics.html