http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22073484
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Commentators divided on Thatcher's legacy
Former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22073484
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22073484
Unravelling the mystery of Pablo Neruda´s Death
The remains of Chile's Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda are being exhumed on Monday in a bid to determine the cause of his death after his assistant alleged he was murdered by Gen Augusto Pinochet's military regime, the BBC's Gideon Long reports from Isla Negra.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
President Obama Second Term Speech
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Monday, March 12, 2012
Kony 2012
Hi everyone! Have you heard about the Kony video? At the beginning of the year we talked about viral videos, with the example of the University of California Davis pepper spray incident. Last week, a video went viral even more quickly--in fact, "Kony 2012", below, has become the fastest-growing viral video in history. (This article, in the Guardian, explores the implications of this kind of "virality".) At the time of writing this post, it has more than 74 million views.
The video aims to* raise awareness about Kony, a Ugandan warlord whose rebel army is known for abducting children and turning them into sex slaves and child soldiers. I thought we could talk about it on Wednesday in English Breakfast. It is quite a bit longer than your average popular video, at almost a half hour, but if you watch the first ten minutes and last three or so, you get a general sense of it (it includes English subtitles). Alternatively, you could read this article in the LA Times which presents some of the criticisms of the awareness campaign (or this shorter one in simpler English).
Some questions to consider: What do you think about the use of this kind of social media and marketing to raise awareness about such serious issues? Do you have any problems with how the issue was presented? Do you think the campaign is/will be effective, or do you think that ultimately it could do more harm than good?
*tries to, intends to
The video aims to* raise awareness about Kony, a Ugandan warlord whose rebel army is known for abducting children and turning them into sex slaves and child soldiers. I thought we could talk about it on Wednesday in English Breakfast. It is quite a bit longer than your average popular video, at almost a half hour, but if you watch the first ten minutes and last three or so, you get a general sense of it (it includes English subtitles). Alternatively, you could read this article in the LA Times which presents some of the criticisms of the awareness campaign (or this shorter one in simpler English).
Some questions to consider: What do you think about the use of this kind of social media and marketing to raise awareness about such serious issues? Do you have any problems with how the issue was presented? Do you think the campaign is/will be effective, or do you think that ultimately it could do more harm than good?
*tries to, intends to
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Recommended Links
Language Resources
Word Reference (wordreference.com) is my favorite bilingual dictionary.
For monolingual dictionaries, The Oxford English Dictionary (oed.com) is the most respected authority on the English language (from the British and historical perspective), but requires a subscription. Merriam Webster (m-w.com) is a good option for American English, and does not require a subscription.
News
The New York Times (nytimes.com) is my favorite newspaper, although it has a 20 article limit a month. The Sunday Review and Sunday Magazine sections are particularly interesting.
The Daily Beast (thedailybeast.com) is a news aggregator that has a "Cheat Sheet" of the top stories every day, with links to other publications--this is great for having a general sense of what's going on in an abridged format.
NPR (npr.org), the National Public Radio of the U.S., always has great programs--Monica's favorite is "On Point" (http://onpoint.wbur.org/)
Other
Radiolab (radiolab.org) is a fantastic series of thought-provoking podcasts; they recently won a MacArthur Genius Grant for their work.
The Daily Show (thedailyshow.com) is a satirical news program run by Jon Stewart--it's been on the air for years and has a huge following. You can watch it for free online by clicking on "Full Episode" or any of the individual clips. It might be a little hard to follow at first if you're not familiar with current events or popular culture in the U.S., but it's very funny and actually pretty informative--lots of young people in the States get their news by watching it. Stewart is super intelligent and is known for being very critical of the news media. I really recommend it!
The Daily Show (thedailyshow.com) is a satirical news program run by Jon Stewart--it's been on the air for years and has a huge following. You can watch it for free online by clicking on "Full Episode" or any of the individual clips. It might be a little hard to follow at first if you're not familiar with current events or popular culture in the U.S., but it's very funny and actually pretty informative--lots of young people in the States get their news by watching it. Stewart is super intelligent and is known for being very critical of the news media. I really recommend it!
(originally sent by email on 23/11/11)
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