I did it my way

Hi folks,

This is the last time I write something on my blog. The “7Speaking-project” is over. So before getting too emotional, I’ll talk about the 3 articles I read on the website this week.

The first one was about Japan. Apparently in Japan your blood type tells a lot about your personality. For the Japanese, the blood type is very important and it can help you to find a job or even a partner. You can compare it with a horoscope. First I thought this wasn’t something to take seriously, but when they compared it with a horoscope, I changed my mind. Because I believe a little bit in horoscope (not all of it), maybe these blood type revelations could be true in some way.

The second article was an alarming one. The polar bear has been added to the list of endangered species by the environmental organization World Conservation Union. They predict polar bear population will decline with 30% in the next 45 years. If this is true (and I believe it is) then we really have to do something about it. But I’m not a scientist, so I can’t do any proposition how to stop this from happening, sorry.

My third topic was a trailer of the movie “World Trade Center”. It tells the story of two firefighters who went into one of the Twin Towers to evacuate as many people as possible. But just when they entered the tower, it collapsed. The movie is about the rescue operation to free these men, but especially about the bonding between the two in their struggle to survive. I saw this movie a couple of weeks ago. Some parts are really breathtaking, especially when you realize this is based upon a true story.

And now the end is near

And so I face the final curtain…

CU

ST

Almost done

Hi folks,



This will be my penultimate entry on this blog normally. Next week is the last week we have to do articles on 7Speaking, so next week we will say goodbye. It will be very emotional so you better have some Kleenex on hand ;-)



Ok back to business. This week I did 3 articles. Jacques Rogge, Jerry Lewis and oil prices were the subjects.



Let's start with my fellow-countryman Jacques Rogge, who is also the president of the International Olympic Committee. In a speech he claims that the Games of Beijing were magnificent and he was also looking forward to the Olympics in 2012, in London. I don't know if the Beijing Olympics were so magnificent, if you know that people lost their house, their store, their work... just because of the 'image' China wanted to have. I saw several documentaries where Chinese people told how they were thrown out of their homes because they lived too close to the Olympic stadium. 'Only the best for China'...yeah right



Article number 2 was about the famous comic Jerry Lewis. He's 82 years old but never thought about retiring. I'm young and I don't know till what age I'll have to work when I'll be old. 60? 65? 70? Who knows? I just hope it won't be 82.



My last article was about the oil prices. If you follow my blog regularly you know I'm interested in the world crisis, oil prices, renewable energy, etc... so it shouldn't surprise you I read this article. It's actually an old article, dated October 2007. Back then the oil price was soaring. Now the prices dropped again, but still I think they're too high. Demand is growing, true, but supply is being kept too low by the OPEC (Organization of Oil Exporting Countries). Greedy as they are, they just try to keep the price as high as possible, while people are having problems paying their energy bills.



CU next week for the last time



ST

Chat with Jenny

Hi folks,

This week I was working on the 7Speaking website when all of a sudden someone asked me to chat. I thought it was a joke at first but I accepted, curious as I am. It turned out that there's an English teacher online who talks to the visitors. Her name was Jenny by the way. We had a quick conversation about my work on the website, how many times I do some articles, for how long,... I wasn't sure if she was a real person or an automatic responder, so I asked. Apparantly she's real. So next time you're doing an article on 7Speaking (during office hours) watch out for Jenny !!

ST

Hi folks,

This week I didn’t do much because I was ill this weekend. I still am. So I won’t make it too long, I really need my bed.

I read 2 articles, both about the crisis in the US. The first one was about Ben Bernanke, the president of the Federal Reserve. He promised to help house owners who have problems with paying their loans. Because of adjustable rate mortgages, a lot of Americans can’t pay their loans. The result of this is that a lot of families saw their home foreclosed. Bernanke, together with various stakeholders in the public, private and non-profit sectors, want to help these people.

The second article was about the US economic recovery plan of Barack Obama, approved by the House. Obama wants to help America getting out of the negative spiral. Therefore Democrats and Republicans agreed to nearly $789 billion in tax cuts and spending.

I really hope America can get “back on track” because they are one of the key players in global economy. If they can get out of the crisis, the rest of the world will follow. I have confidence in Bernanke and Obama that they will help America and the rest of the world.

CU next week (I hope I’ll be in a better condition)

ST

Darwin and an Indian dolphin

Hi folks,

As usual, I'll tell you what I've done on the 7Speaking website. I had a busy week, so I only read some articles this weekend.

My first article was about India. While the rest of the world is in a recession, India is doing really well. The article told the story of a young woman who worked there. She has a driver and a housekeeper and at age 31 she is already a senior manager. It doesn't surprise me that the economy in India is doing a lot better than the world's economy. India is one of the BRIC-countries (Brazil-Russia-India-China), countries with a high economical growth. Next Tuesday there's an info session in our school about India. I think I'll go and who knows...apply for a job in India.

The second article was about one of the most intelligent animals in the world: a dolphin. Scientists discovered that dolphins call each other by name. They did several tests with recordings of dolphin whistles and their findings suggest that dolphins use their whistles as words to identify each other. I hope one day I can swim with a dolphin. And then I'll ask him/her what his/her name is :-)

Number 3 for this week was an article about Charles Darwin. One of the most famous scientists in history celebrated his 200th birthday (if he were still alive). Therefore a statue was unveiled at the College where Darwin studied almost 2 centuries ago. For those who don't know Darwin, he's the guy from the evolution theory ('theory of evolution by natural selection'). Darwin's theory hasn't been well received by the Church because they believe God is the creator of all humans, animals and everything else in our universe. If I had to choose between Darwin and God, I’ll pick Darwin. I don’t believe mankind (and the fauna and flora also) were created out of nothing in 6 days (not 7 days because God rested on the 7th day ;-)

CU next week

ST

Mother nature is the solution

Hi folks,

Another week of 7Speaking has past. Let me tell you about the 2 articles I’ve read last week: wind power and market forces.

My first article was very interesting. It was about the ‘Pickens Plan’. Thousands of wind turbines constructed across America’s wind belt which will produce 20% of the nation’s electricity needs. The article also discussed the difference between the solutions proposed by Obama and McCain. McCain wants 45 nuclear plants, whereas Obama emphasizes the use of renewable fuels. In my opinion, we really have to develop renewable fuels (so I’m glad Obama won the elections), because oilfields will eventually deplete. Nuclear plants aren’t a good solution either, because they are expensive and dangerous. The use of wind, water or the sun to produce electricity will cost a lot in the development phase, but will also be regained easily after a couple of years. We owe it to our children and grandchildren.

The second article was about the market forces and how difficult it is to survive during these times of financial uncertainty. The text told the story of British Airways (airline company), Green King (beer brewer), Global Radio (radio station) and Thomas Cook and Tui (both travel agencies). Their shares have fallen drastically over the last couple of months. I guess it’s a worldwide problem and there aren’t many companies who aren’t affected by the crisis. Let’s just hope 2009 will be the year of the resurrection.

CU next week

ST

Life's expenses

Hi folks,

As you can see, I have not been abducted by aliens…so I’m still able to write on my blog :-)

So this week I read two articles on 7Speaking. One was about the high prices and the other one about Leonardo Da Vinci. The Da Vinci-article wasn’t very interesting so I will concentrate on the price issue.

Everyone noticed that the prices jumped to a level we’ve never seen before. The article I read, pointed out two reasons why prices are so high: speculation and bad harvests because of flooding. These are both true. Excessive speculation is certainly a reason why we now have to pay so much for gasoline or food products. Also the climate change, resulting in flooding and other disasters, is responsible for the increasing prices.

But these aren’t the only reasons I think. I’m working on a thesis about high food prices and I divided all the reasons into three groups: demand-factors, supply-factors and intermediary factors.

The demand-factors are:
- Increase of the world population
- Growing wealth and demand for meat in the BRIC-countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China)
The supply-factors are:
- Bad harvests (due to climate change)
- Biofuel production
- The high price of petroleum
The intermediary factor is speculation

Which of these factors is the most responsible for the food crisis? I don’t know yet, I haven’t finished my thesis. But I guess it will be a combination of (in order of importance) biofuel regulations, climate change and the developing BRIC-countries.

I don’t want to go too much in detail, maybe I’ll bore you with this subject but I’m really interested in this matter. After all, this crisis reaches every one of us. Next week, during our English class, I'm gonna give a presentation about the high prices. Everybody is invited.

See you guys next week

ST