At the Bridge Table, Clues to a Lucid Old Age

When we become old enough, it is important to plan our life after retirement. We should take it seriously. Some people don’t think too much about it and retire as soon as they can. They may feel happy and free temporarily. After few days, they fell bored missing their jobs. When they are working, they feel tired and bound, longing for retirement. They, however, are used to working all day. When they retire, they can’t adapt leisure. It comes to torture rather than comfort. I heard lots of such affairs from those adults. They should know there is still a long way to go not just few days. Retirement plan involves in what ways of life they will live. In the article those elders choose retirement community. It is good. They can help each other and do something they like. They can also keep contacting with friends to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. It is the most important. They find something to do not just stay home and daze. So plan is necessary. No matter what they like, it is important to find something to do after retirement.
There are lots of things they can do, such as joining clubs, taking lessons and so on. Recently my mother considers retiring. When I asked what she wants to do, it seemed that she had no idea. I advised her to make a retirement plan. She can think about her interests. If she likes cooking, it may be proper to take some culinary lessons. She can also go to retirement community just like those elders in the article. There are lots of things she can do. Just don’t go to retire without any plan.

Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?

I recalled Taiwan’s celebrities who was sent to jail for using illegal drugs. When they were caught by the police, they cried in front of cameras saying that they won’t take drugs again and pleading the public to give them one more chance. It seemed that they were poor and they would repent. They made mistake again however.
I couldn’t help but doubt that if we decriminalize drugs, will the number of drug addicts decline. That solution worked out in Portugal. But it may come out differently in another country, because we have different culture and policy and so on. But the policy is good in certain aspect. It gives those who really try to pull themselves together one more chance. Maybe we could revise our drug laws based on the thought. After all there is still someone who is kind but makes a mistake not on purpose.
It will be good that we could reduce drug use numbers. Our government should be like Portugal’s. It doesn’t mean that we should decriminalize drugs and use the same policy. It means that we should try to make our drug laws better and better. To figure out what will be the most suitable solution for our people is what we should lean from Portugal.

Does Facebook Replace Face Time or Enhance It?

Nowadays internet becomes the most common thing. There are lots of ways to communicate with friends, one of which is facebook. Just as what those people in the article said, facebook is more convenient and better than other forms of communication. For instance when we make a phone call to our friends, not only does it cost lots of money but also we can’t last the call for a long time, because the only we can do is talking. Sometimes we may feel embarrassed when we don’t know what to say or we offend the other one for speaking too quickly to think. However if we use facebook, we won’t have those problem. It really provides a good way keeping in touch with our friends.
However there must be some flaw when we become used to it. Sometimes it is dangerous to make friends on internet for we don’t know their backgrounds or personalities. We just talk to them. Then we will be incautious and give them our private information. It may be a risk for us. Just like the male singer who used facebook to make a girlfriend and was betrayed by her. With the recent news we must be careful about those who we are unfamiliar with even though we consider facebook to be a convenient form of communication.

A Quiet Revolution Grows in the Muslim World

The woman, Ziada, who strived for the rights they deserved, was really courageous. To fight for the things we want may be hard to us who lived in a democratic country. Don’t ever think about a woman living in a conservative country. To launch a revolution needs not only determination, but other important things. Time and money will be essential. Also how to express the leader’s thought to let public accept it is important. If something gets wrong, it may cause lots of troubles. The worst situation may be the revolution fail or other politicians use the revolution to do something bad. Besides the extremist in the revolution may hurt or mislead public. So to launch a revolution really needs courage.
Because of American’s former president, it is normal that Muslims don’t believe Obama. They don’t believe not only Obama but also American. America did so much harm to Muslims. Although Obama promised to help them, who knew that he was genuine. Most countries consider only themselves the most important. America is in a economic recession. Do they have another time and money to help Muslims? Maybe Obama do want to keep the promise. But he just can’t.
The soft revolution may not as successful as other countries, but it did deliver its thought to the public. No matter what the result is, this revolution means the way to the success. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler(書評)

The book described a girl called Claudia plan to run away from her annoying home. She invited her younger brother, Jamie, to join her plan about running away. They left home and went to Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In the museum they happened to run into the issue about whether the statue of an angel was faked or not. So they embarked on their investigation and adventure.
The plan Claudia made seemed ridiculous. After all who will think of Metropolitan Museum as a suitable place to live? I, however, couldn’t help but admire the two children’s determination especially the girl’s, Claudia. She was the one thinking of something, planning it, and carrying out it. Even most of adults can’t be like so, I included. Instead of doing it immediately, we just want it and think about it. There were also lots of advantages we should learn from Claudia, though she was not good at financial management. When Claudia was determined to get what she wanted, she would start making plan and carry out it with patience. Many people lack for patience. Even though they decide to do something, they sill fail due to impatience. Determination and patience are what we need to learn from Claudia.
Of course there is something else we could learn from the two children. In the beginning of their journey they argue frequently. But later they were gradually accustomed to each other and gave way to the other’s advice. This is what we called unity. When two or more people acting together, unity is so important that if we lack it, we will fail. It is hard to create unity in a group. Giving way is the hardest part of unity. After all everyone always consider themselves to be priority.
What the two children gained is not only the visual present but also something invisible they learned from this journey. Through the adventure they learned experience, unity and something even they couldn’t explain. Although we can’t learn these things in person like them, the book taught us that we should know we certainly get something invaluable from everything we go through, not those visible things but those invisible.

India’s ultracheap car arrives with load of uncertainties

A small car has plenty of advantages indeed. Just like what the article said, a big car may be too much to a small family or those who have not got married. It costs much more money, including not only the car’s price but also the higher oil price and emits lots of exhaust. In addition, it is really hard to find a parking space in Taiwan. With these flaws above, it is really unsuitable to some specific people, though a big car is even more comfortable than a tiny one. The idea creating low-cost small cars is pretty good.
To create something needs courage, which will risk losing many things. An invention costs great money and time. If the invention is successful, then all the hard working is worthwhile. However if it doesn’t succeed, the inventor did all the effort in vain. Besides even if the invention is successful, it may get something wrong and the inventor will risk many things again to repair it or to find which part get wrong. It may be finally fail. So I can’t help but admire Nano’s inventor’s courage and determination. If we also use the kind of courage and determination, we can succeed in everything.

A Web Awash in Liquor Ads, Promoting Moderation

Recently there was lots of news related to traffic accidents after drinking too much especially about celebrities. They always drink too much in the party driving the car and killing people. After that they will be very regretful. When I saw this kind of news, I couldn’t help but think about why people don’t consider the results before doing something wrong. So I totally agree with this article.
Just like what the one in the article said, it is hard to ban people not to drink. But it may work out to remind people to be responsible for their drinking. It is important that everybody be responsible for their own behaviors. They can deliver the thought to everyone through the campaign. People may think twice before they start to indulge themselves. They will think of the things they are going to do after drinking, and then they will drink less. I consider it to be the best condition.
Also what the campaign delivered is aimed at not only those who drink too much but also everyone. Responsibility is the essential thing to people. When we do something, we must consider the results. It is always too late to be regretful after all the mistakes we make. We should learn the most important lesson.

The Big Cram for Hunter High School

Time was ticking as a dozen sixth graders prepared to face the thing they had talked about, dreamed about and lost sleep over for much of the past year: the Hunter College High School admissions exam, a strenuous three- hour test that weeds out about 90 percent of those who take it. I thought cram school exists only in Taiwan. However in the article, I found I was wrong. It seems that every student, no matter where country they stay, they all have big pressure to enter a good school for a good job in the future. I really do dislike the way we learn thing. Everyone studies for a good job. There are less people studying for interest, me included. Seeing how hard the students in the article studied reminds me of the awful memory of when I was preparing for the entrance exam. Every day it seemed that I had endless books to study and I had no happiness in that time. My health became bad because of staying up and the big pressure. It was awful. I wish I wouldn’t face the situation again. It is impossible, though. Because almost everyone go to enter a research institute, I will fail to find a job, if I don’t enter it in the future, just like what those students said, all because of a successful career. It is ridiculous. We study not for extending knowledge but for a job.

Fast food + nearby schools = fat kids

Youth who study just a short walk from a fast-food outlet eat fewer fruit and vegetables, drink more soda and are more likely to be obese than students at other schools, according to research published Tuesday.
It is not surprising to see the news. Nowadays there are a variety of sorts of food we can choose. Definitely most people are inclined to choose delicious food and forget to estimate how many servings of vegetable and fruit they eat. I am one of those people. Compared with vegetable, I would like to have fast food or other deep frying food, just like most youths. Fast food really doesn’t have any nutrition. In addition, it caused obesity. It is impossible that fast food disappear, though. The only solution is to control ourselves.
There is also a fast-food restaurant near my home. Whenever I passed it, the smell always make me hungry. But I told myself that I can’t go in. I have to control myself not to go often. I don’t have to force ourselves not to eat it forever. That was too difficult. But we can go there once few months. Then that would be easy to reach.
There is much fast food or other things we can’t eat often. And if we don’t know how to control ourselves, the only consequence is fatness, just like the news topic.

Shoes and insults hurled at Bush on Iraq visit

George Bush's engagement with Iraq appeared to end as it began - in chaos and anger - yesterday when a surprise trip to Baghdad to thank his troops and herald a new security pact was disrupted by an Iraqi man calling the US president a "dog" in Arabic and throwing his shoes at him.
How did Bush have the courage to give a speech in Iraq? That was my only question. I didn’t feel surprised when I knew that the Iraqi man threw shoes to Bush. If I were an Iraqi, I might also want to do the same thing to him. I have seen that Bush was insulted by American also in his speech. I think that Bush is just like our former president. They kept doing what made people disapointed, they were cursed, and then they smiled saying some indifferent words. They, however, didn’t change. Not only those presidents but also lots of politicians do the same things. How can they do their own things and ignore people’s thirst? Why did we elect them? Can’t those politicians understand what we want? No matter what we need, we definetely don’t need corruption, money laundering, and so on.
I really do hope that there will be some great statesmen. And all the bad political affairs will disappear from the news. To tell the truth, I am tired of those boring news. Those politicians really have to work hard to make some different news.

Clashes spread across Greece after police kill teenager in flashpoint district of capital

The violence, the country's worst civil disturbances in years, erupted late on Saturday when it emerged that a teenage boy had been killed by police in Exarchia, a district of central Athens long associated with lawlessness and drug abuse.
It is unbelievable that the police officers shot the boy dead. Though the police said that he just wanted to warn that boy. However whatever the boy did, I don’t think it is proper to aimed at a youth. Maybe the youths made a fault for attacking the police’s car. The guilt was nt as serious as being shot. The event also became a trigger of the protest. The problems which are mentioned in the news appear in not only greece but also other countries. “There are a lot of disoriented young people who feel they don't have much to expect from the future.” “There is growing anger at the widening gap between rich and poor.” These problem became wost and worst. The expert argue and argue. However there is still no good solution.The event reminds us of those social problems. It is not only about Greece but also the globe. We can’t just depends on other professionals to solve problems for us. We should try hard to do it from ourselves. Even if it is just a small piece, we still try it. It is importasnt that we devote ourselves to the society.

One in 10 children suffer abuse, say experts

The true scale of the maltreatment of children in the UK is revealed by child abuse experts today who say that one in 10 suffers physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect.
Before the news, I thought there were few children suffering from abuse. The news, however, the news showed the unbelievable statistics. I don’t understand why there are many abuses. Didn’t all the parents love their chldren? Or they give birth to kids unexpectedly. No matter why they bear the children, abuses are intolerable. Violence is awful to adult, to say nothing of children. Every parents should be responsible for their children. If they want to give birth to children, they have to think twice before they doing so. Because the thing is very important. It affects not only the couple but also the children’s life. They can’t bear kids just because they want it. The thing they have to consider is if they have ability to raise a kid. The ability means many thing including their finance and the patince. Parents’ burden is much bigger than what we think.
The news reminds us that the social problem become more and more seriouser. We should take the problem seriously and try to improve it or we will cause many tragedies.

How Dubai's fantasy skyline tumbled to earth

The £15m grand opening of Dubai's latest luxury development can't mask the emirate's building crisis forever, writes Steve Rose
When I finished watching the video, my mind was just full of “wow”. Who will remember the economic crisis in Dubai, after seeing the incredible fireworks show. The manager said “ compared with fifty billions which they costed to construct the hotel, seven billions won’t be thought too over”. That was a truth. Because I think fifty billions was much more unbelievable. Though they cost so much money to attract tourists and the fact that the show was really beautiful, I don’t think they will get the equivalence. Maybe they will. That takes long time, though. Furthermore there are few people who have the ability to go. They need wealthy people, but wealthy people became less and less because of the economic crisis around the world. Most of there hotel, however, was constructed for those wealthy families. I think they should try another progam which can also attract the middle class tourists.
Dubai is a nation which ceated lot of amazing thing. Even if they face the crises, they continue to make the records. No matter what they will become, we can’t forget every spectacular they made.

Cocaine users are destroying the rainforest - at 4m squared a gram

Four square metres of rainforest are destroyed for every gram of cocaine snorted in the UK, a conference of senior police officers as told yesterday.
The news is such a worst alert for everyone around the world. The global environtment is going down at a high speed. We,however, don’t come up with other efective solution to solve it. Even if we do atempt to twist the awful situation, we don’t know what exactly to do. Evrything we do just destroys the environtment. The consequence is that the kind of news emerged much more than before. The news really makes me feel angry. Cocaine is not only harmful to our body but also harmful to the environtment. The trees on the world is much less than before. Why they plant those bad trees which produce only drugs insead of the good trees which not only produce oxygen but also slow down the raising of the temperature. If they just want to make money, there are so many other gobs they can find or plant they can cultivate. I just hope that they can stop doing those thing that may hurt the earth.
The news remind us that we must work harder to prevent our earth from being destroyed. Though we can’t do great improvement,like those sientists or inventors, we can make it from the small things in our lives, such as bringing chopsticks and bowls when we go out to have dinners. I believe that the kind of good things can help improve it, if there are lot of people doing so. That is a easy thing. I believe everyone can do it well.

Fake degree minister impeached

A senior minister in the Iranian government faces an impeachment hearing today after he admitted faking a degree from Oxford University
When I saw the news, I recalled a fortuneteller in Taiwan also did the same thing. It is really bad to do the kind of thing. Especially they are known for many people. What they do will be seen on the television. So they should be careful not to do some thing bad for some teenagers or kids may think this is cool and learn it. In addition, if they are found that they have done the kind of thing, they should apologize immediately. Not just deny. Whether they feel sorry or not, they have to show it on television. I think it is very important to let everybody know that it is bad to do it.
In the news, someone mentioned that the minister didn’t cause other mistake. That is good. But no matter how many good thing he did, he made the fake degree, which is a truth. If he did really want the job, he should do it by a right way. What he did is not fair to others who want the job. Other people studied hard for many years to try to find a good job. But they lose it just because of someone who makes a fake resume. It is frustrating. To sum up, faking degree is really bad.

Jarvis Cocker to try new form of 'edutainment' at gigs

The former Pulp frontman claims that lectures and 'a disco' will form part of future gigs. And all of the auduences are expecting it.

It is an interesting thing to combine music with education. I think that it is wonderful that someone wanted to try the thing. It means that Jarvis Cocker really takes education seriously. He not only wants to make music but also wants to give evrybody some valuable knowledges. If it makes a big success, then it will be a good news to everybody. We can not only listen to our favorite songs but also learn some things. And maybe in the future, we can combine other entertainments with education. It may be hard to image, but I believe that someday we will achieve the goal.
Jarvis Cocker is great for he tried to do something for people, when he has the ability. Most of the time, people put themselves at the first. Even if they have the ability, they refuse to give something back to the society, such as the entertainers, the polotician, and so on. With Jarvis Cocker’s idea, I hope there will be more people to think about this, and try to do it. And I also hope that in the future I will have the ability to do some good things for people.

British aid worker shot dead in Afghanistan 'for spreading Christianity'

A woman working in the British-based Christian aid charity organization was killed by gunmen on motorbike in Kabul which is the capital of Afghanistan. And the reason is that the murderers considered the women was spreading christianity.
Let’s put the question that is whether the women involved in proselytisation or not away. The most important is that those insurgents shouldn’t kill a women just because they didn’t like her behaviors. Everyone has his rights to something he like, except that the acts affect other people’s rights. The women, however, didn’t make anything wrong, even if she really did involve in spreading christianity. I think those murders just tried to make excuses to prevent them from being accused. I don’t know if their growing backgrounds afffected them so much. However, to respect everyone’s life is essential, isn’t it? I think that whatever their growing backgrownd are, the thought will still be known by everyone. In the article, the worker in the charity organization said they came to Afghanistan to help people, and they know how dangerous they are. I think that was a practical action to show that they really respect lives, and they really want to help them.
No matter how you don’t like them, it is important that you respect everyone’s life.

Bank stresses rising in emerging markets-IMF chief

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned finance and development ministers that the more severe and protracted the financial crisis becomes, the more emerging and developing countries will be affected.
To tell the truth, I don’t understand those things, such as stock, real estate, economies and so on. Even I understand that most countries have bad economies, though. Despite that my families don’t make an investment in stock, I still worry about the worst situation. I think stock market can show that whether this country’s economies is good or not. I think not only America but also Taiwan tried to rescue the economies. But it is impossible that we twist the situation immediately. My elder sister will graduate from college. She is very concerned that she can’t find a job. There are lots of her friends determining to research institutes. Because it is hard to find a job for who don’t have a high degree.
Every time when I turned on the T.V. , seeing those irritating political news, I can’t help but be angry. If they have much time to accuse somebody, why didn’t they spend some time to come up with a few measures to improve our economies? I am concerned not only for my sister but also for me. I really hope that it will be better soon.

Austria Stunned by Case of Imprisoned Woman

An Austria woman was imprisoned and raped by her father for twenty four years. And she has also borne seven children, and the eldest one has 19 years old.

Although this news was posted around five months ago, I still want to share my thought to who haven’t known it. It was really unbelievable. How could a father do something like that, especially such an old father? The other what I don’t understand is that how the father covered up all the things for such a long time. If that nineteen-years-old daughter didn’t go to the hospital, would it not be found forever? Put these two questions aside. What I want to say is about the father. To be honest, this kind of man shouldn’t be called a father. The injury he made to his daughter and that seven children won’t recover for all their lives. They may fade from their memories. They won’t forget it, though. That father has been 73. Even if he is sentenced to death or life imprisonment, he just has to bear for a few years. Maybe shorter, if he die early. Even if he has a psychic ill, the crime he made still can’t be endured by me.
To sum up, why this kind of thing happened is because the values in the world have changed a lot. If the situation doesn’t change, we can’t avoid those things forever. After reading the news, the only thing I hope is not to occur these bad things forever.

suicide?

An English chef was killed by chili sauce he made himself. And the reason is that the chili sauce was too hot.

After I read it, I don’t know how to describe my mood. Should I mourn over the chef's death? The thing was really exaggerative. The news reported that the chef who is a man felt itchy and uncomfortable and died after that day. And his sister said “Unbelievable! Who can imagine that chili sauce can kill a man? When I read her words, I couldn’t help but identify with her words which reminded me that my families and I like to eat Spicy hot pot or other hot foods. I think we should thank Chinese god for blessing us.

To say the truth, I didn’t feel sorry for the man or his families. All right , maybe a little. But what I really felt about the thing is a big shock. You might think that I was hardhearted.but all the thing was really ridiculous. And I wanted to share this news with you , otherwise you may have no chances to see the kind of news. And if you ask me that what did you gain from the article, I will answer that don’t eat food which is too hot. That was my topic sentence.