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

Sweet Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

Today we celebrate love and friendship. There is too much hate and anger in the world and hopefully this day can bring some positive energy to all the people all over the world.



For those who don't have a girlfriend/boyfriend yet...let's hope cupid will do his work.

The sky is the limit!!!

Hi folks,

Who wants some clean air? I guess everybody. In the United States, the new president wants the states to set their own limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. For some states, this will result in tougher standards. The car industry is against this proposition of course, because the price of a car will go up when it has to meet these tougher standards. Despite the protest, I really hope this law will become reality. You can’t do enough for the preservation of the environment.

Who believes in aliens? Personally I don’t know. I don’t think we are the only living creatures in our universe. It’s so huge that it’s not realistic to say that we’re alone. But I really don’t have a clue how these “other things” look like. Do they look like humans or do they have another shape. Are they more like animals? Plants maybe? Do they live under water? Do they breathe like we do?
I tell you this because Britain has just released 1500 pages of secret (until now) files of UFO-related topics. UFO means Unidentified Flying Object. The files and witness reports describe Royal Air Force attacks on a UFO back in 1957. They also include first-hand accounts of people claiming to be abducted by aliens. Is all this true or not? I don’t know the answer. Do you?


CU next week … if I’m not abducted by aliens in the meantime ;-)

ST

Heroes and diamonds

Hi folks,

This week I read two articles. And I can assure you, they both have a happy ending ;-)

Last week, a US Airways pilot did something amazing. To avoid a plane crash, Chesley Sullenberger landed his damaged aircraft into the Hudson River. Shortly after takeoff the plane hit a flock of geese. The pilot didn’t have another option than to land the plane into the river. Ferry boats rushed to the passengers who had climbed onto the wings. Amazingly, all of the one hundred and fifty five people survived. In America, Sullenberger is now a big hero. He even received a medal of the mayor of New York. I guess he deserves it, after all he saved all those lives. It isn’t easy to land an airplane on water.

‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’ they say. Scarlett Johansson, a 23-year old actress showed off her big diamond ring she got from her fiancé Ryan Reynolds, also an actor. Reynolds proposed and apparently Johansson said yes. I hope they will be happy, but I guess they will also have a lot of problems with the paparazzi. After all, they’re a celebrity couple. I agree that if you’re famous, you’re a little bit ‘public property’. But sometimes the photographers want too much and they follow – even stalk – the celebrities.

CU next week
ST

Life

Hi folks,

As promised, I’ll tell you some more positive things than last week. This week I read 4 articles on the 7Speaking website.

Who believes The King is alive? Apparently there are many people who believe this. When I say ‘The King’ I mean Elvis Presley if you haven’t figured that out yet. Famous artists who have died young, always seem to leave some mystery behind. There are always die hard fans that dress up or try to live like their idol. I think everyone is unique and special and you don’t have to pretend you’re someone else. But hey, that’s just my opinion.

My second article was about the Italian railway company who launched a high-speed train on the Rome-Milan line. They cut off one hour of the travelling time and now they can do the track in 3 hours and 30 minutes. We live in a world where time is important and technology will always find ways to save time. This is a good thing but only if we fill in the time we’ve gained with something positive, or something relaxing like spending more time with your family or spending more time on yourself instead of only trying to gain more and more time. Don’t forget to live, because life is going really fast.

This week’s number 3 was a real treat. The Cayman Islands with its coral reefs, frogfish and reggae beats is a beautiful place to spend your holiday. But lately a lot of businessmen found their way to the luxurious resorts. Now there are more people with briefcases and cellphones than there are scuba divers. Like I said earlier, don’t forget to live. Enjoy life!

Last but certainly not least: Prince Harry wants to spend more time helping children. He founded a charity in Lesotho in the memory of his mother, Princess Diana. Because of his busy army life, he can’t go there as much as he would like to. The charity helps orphans and abused children and wants to give them a better life. I’ve always dreamt about going to a pour country and build a school there or do something else to help those people. I’m really lucky I was born in one of the ‘Western country’s’ but I’ve always wanted to help the less fortunate. Maybe after graduating I’ll do it for a couple of months…who knows

byebye


ST

About bombs, missiles and car crashes

Hi folks,

Let me tell you about my work on 7Speaking this week. I read 3 articles about different topics:

The first one was about a bomb that went off in a bank and killed two people in America. The Police had found a suspicious object and when they took it inside, it exploded. The federal government offered a huge amount of money (a $35,000 reward) for information leading to an arrest and a conviction in this case. I really don’t understand why anyone would like to blow up other people or someone else’s property. These people are really crazy. The fact that the government offers a big reward to catch this lunatic is a typical American phenomenon, I guess.

My second article was about a complex test executed by the Pentagon. They tested a missile defense shield network by launching an interceptor missile to knock down another missile which simulated an enemy attack. In fact, both missiles were launched from the American continent, but one of them meant to simulate a North Korean long-range missile. This test cost $120 to $150 million dollars. I think America is spending too much money on defense when the poverty-rate is still very high. Hopefully Obama will be less defense-oriented then Bush.

My last article was a short news report broadcast on the radio about the death of Grace Kelly. She was an actress and a princess of Monaco, but died because of a car accident. Even though I wasn’t born yet at the time of this accident, I heard several stories about it. People were really shocked. I can imagine how the people felt back then, because a year ago I heard on the news that one of the most famous football players in Belgium (where I come from) also died because of a car accident. He played for my favorite team and was also a player of our national team. I didn’t know hem personally but it really was a punch in the face when I first heard it.

I’ll try to read something positive next week, because when I look back on this week’s work, it all looks a bit negative: bomb, dead, war, accident. Maybe next week I’ll tell you a love story or a fairy-tale, who knows ;-)

CU soon

ST

Happy New Year ! ! !

Hi folks,

First of all I want to wish everyone a happy and especially a healthy 2009!

This week, I read 3 articles. The first one was about the world’s largest painting (or at least an attempt to break the record) in Thailand. The canvas would be sold afterwards to the highest bidder and the whole amount would be donated to charity. I think this is a nice initiative even though I have my doubts about this whole “trying to get in the Guinness Book of World Records-mania”.

My second topic was about Estonia and its elections in 2011. It will be the first country where the citizens can vote by mobile phone. If this can be done in a secure way, without the risk of hacker attacks, fraud or vote count manipulation, I really believe this could be a good voting system.

My last article was about 30 Chrysler factories which will be closed for a month. Because of the international crisis, Chrysler is nearing the minimum level of cash it needs to run the company. In my opinion, I don’t think this measure won’t do any good. The workers will be unemployed for one month and the factories won’t make any money during that period.

So far my first entry of the year
CU soon

ST