Nigeria on alert as Shell announces worst oil spill in a decade

The oil company says up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled 75 miles off the coast of the Niger delta

An oil spill on the shores of the Niger Delta swamps. Shell has said the recent oil spill is likely to be worst in a decade.

“Spill response procedures have been initiated and emergency control and spill risk procedures are up and running," said Tony Okonedo, a Shell Nigeria spokesman.

Satellite pictures obtained by independent monitors Skytruth suggested that the spill was 70km-long and was spread over 923 square kilometers (356 sq miles).

But a leading Nigerian human rights group said Shell's figures about the quantity of oil spilled or the clean-up could not be relied on. "Shell says 40,000 barrels were spilled and production was shut but we do not trust them because past incidents show that the company consistently under-reports the amounts and impacts of its carelessness," said Nnimmo Bassey, head of Environmental Rights Action, based in Lagos.

"We are alerting fisher folks and coastal communities to be on the look out. It just adds to the list of Shell's environmental atrocities in the Niger delta.

The spill, one of the worst off the coast of Nigeria in 10 years, is particularly embarrassing for Shell, coming only four months after a major UN study said it could take Shell and other oil companies 30 years and $1bn to clean spills in Ogoniland, one small part of the oil-rich delta. The company also admitted responsibility in August for two major spills in the Bodo region of the delta that took place in 2008, but has yet to pay compensation.

Shell, which works in partnership with the Nigerian government in the delta, claims that 98% of all its oil spills are caused by vandalism, theft or sabotage by militants and only a minimal amount by deteriorating infrastructure. But this is disputed by communities.

Yesterday Shell said it had also closed a Gulf of Mexico deep drilling operation after spilling 319 barrels of contaminated fluids.

• Do you think we should worry more about oil spills and whose responsibility are them?

• How are this news going to affect Nigeria's population?

• This company has been responsible for many oil spills, how do you think it should prevent these environmental disasters? Or should the government get involved?

If you want to read further visit here

A dance around the world

What would you do if you visited a different country?

A man called Matt who started with nothing, has now produced one of the most viewed videos on youtube, making him a well-known and wealthy man.
Matt decided to take a trip around the world and dance in front of important monuments, having people of that particular city/village/area accompany him.
In only four minuts we travel thoughout the whole planet, getting to know many beautiful places we didn’t even know existed. More importantly, we get to see many different cultures and life styles.
It is amazing how in such a small world we are all the same and yet we are so different. We all have different skin colour, wear distinctive clothes, are raised differently...
I mean, what does Jordan have to do with the Netherlands? What about Brazil and India? Mali and Japan?
We all live in different places and are surrounded by different people, yet we all have that same enthusiasm of dancing in front of a camera.

A photographer called Jock Sturges once said:
“Different members of different cultures will think that some things are beautiful.”

Do you agree with this statement? Are we really worlds apart or are we truly similar? What do you think about different cultures? Do they appeal to you? What did this video make you feel, and what has it meant to you?

This video was filmed and “launched” in the year 2008. Ever since his first success Matt has been travelling around the world, creating a new video each year.
For more information on Matt and his adventures check out this website: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Davis Cup

Rafael Nadal beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in a hard match to secure the Davis Cup for Spain.

His match secured Spain's fifth Davis Cup title and their third in four years.

Spain won 3-1 against a very capable Argentina.

These are the results of the matches:

• R1: R. Nadal (ESP) d. J. Monaco (ARG) 61 61 62
• R2: D. Ferrer (ESP) d. J.M. del Potro (ARG) 62 67(2) 36 64 63
• R3: D. Nalbandian / E. Schwank (ARG) d. F. Lopez / F. Verdasco (ESP) 64 62 63
• R4: R. Nadal (ESP) d. J.M. del Potro (ARG) 16 64 61 76(0)

The final was set in Sevilla and many people went to support the Spanish team.

Is Spain going to win next years Davis Cup or are they just on their way out?

Barça, the best... again?

This week, FC Barcelona may become the best club in the world for the second time in history. The semi final will be played on Thursday and the expected final on Sunday. Do you think Barça and Santos will get to the final and play against each other?

This is a very important trophy for all Barça fans and especially for Guardiola, who could achieve his 13th cup out of 16 possibles. The players have also said that they want to continue breaking records and keeping up the good work. That is the correct spirit they have to follow but will they be able to consolidate themselves as the best in team in the world? Will this be the proof of the great cycle we are living in? We will have to wait until the end of the week to know.

Dani Roura from Jose's acount.

A new concept of fashion

Its been almost a month since the worldwide know brand H&M launched their collaboration with the also well known Italian designer Versace. Its release was everything to be expected coming from such a designer so their launch in New York was colourful and pompous with all the guest celebrities invited. The next day in the shops all the pieces from the collection were sold in a matter of hours and you almost had to fight for the right size or piece you wanted.

However the amazing thing was that after only a few weeks of its release, the brand announced their next collaboration with Marni for the next season.

Click here to see Marni's collaboration

H&M is not the only brand that has started this new concept of chic & cheap fashion, they have done it before in past campaigns like last year with Lanvin and other brands like Gap also collaborate with great expensive firms.

This new way of fashion gives a chance to all of us to owe a piece of these famous designers for an affordable amount that we wouldn’t normally buy from their actual collections. This method is becoming more popular now due to the crisis and I think it’s a definite success for both the brand and the designer.

Do you think other brands should do this? Will this be the new way of fashion? Or will there still be unrealistic prices in big firms and we will have to conform ourselves with the usual stores like Zara, Mango, H&M…?

Social pressure

Would you:

• turn a blind eye to obvious racism?
• help an injured man in the street?
• try to stop a thief?
• kill another volunteer in an experiment?

In fact, asking you is probably the wrong approach: people tend to act first and explain away their actions afterwards.

To find out the truth, we need some social experiments, such as these. [Seen in some classes.]

Are you surprised by how the people in the videos behave?

UEFA has announced that its Betting Fraud Detection System has not yet shown any irregular betting information to justify an investigation into Lyon's 7-1 victory over Dinamo Zagreb on Champions League.
To finish second and pass to the next round, Lyon needed to beat Dinamo Zagreb and for Ajax to lose with Real Madrid with a seven-goal diference in their favour. Lyon emerged 7-1 victors while Ajax were beaten 3-0.
Ajax loosed against Madrid very strangely, 2 goals were badly canceled to Ajax by the referee, while Lyon scored 5 "strange" goals in 28 minutes.
Also a photo has been taken by a journalist in which Zagreb's defenser has made a wink to Gomis after his goal.
After all this Ajax's coach says an ispection should be done, because this match seems strange.

What do you think - has their been any underhand play?

END OF THE WORLD?

Two years ago, an outstanding film was launched, this movie “2012” was based on ancient beliefs which foretold the end of the world.

According to the Mayan calendar, the world is about to end: the date for our final breath will be the 21st of December next year, 2012.

Since the moment this calendar was discovered, a lot of investigations have been carried out to check the 'facts'. Although we hope this isn’t true, it has to be said that it isn't only the Mayan calendar which predicts the end of the world in 2012: a Roman oracle predicted that the world would last for nine periods of four hundred years each, with the tenth period the last - and this started in the year 2000AC. All her other predictions, up until today, have been true. Will this one will also be true?

What do you think will really happen?

Do you believe in these myths?

Don't waste time, make a change

Would you imagine a world were when you reached 25 you would stop ageing and you would only have the chance to live one more year?

This new film In Time presents the idea of immortality and the laws of nature where the strongest succeeds and survives. The people in this world fight and work for time and it becomes their currency and their most precious asset. Everything is controlled by a system that helps those who are rich and they are able to live hundreds of years and become almost immortal. But will Will Salas, a young man, with only a day of life, be able to break the system and bring equality to the world?

I truly recommend this film as it questions many of Darwin’s theories and it is also related to the theme of new technologies. The theme may be similar to other films but what make this one different is the comparison between time and money, both limited in our world.

Do you agree that we live in an unfair world ruled by those who have more money? Should we make a change and stop wasting time?

Robot children

Have you seen the sci-fi film Eva? Well, the idea of an adopted robot child is not so far-fetched as they are already under development.

Why commit yourself to 30 years of responsibility when you can enjoy the toddler years, again and again... but switch your child off when you want a good night's sleep?

Here are 3 videos of baby robots. You only need to see the first couple of minutes of each to get the idea.

• QRIO interacting with human toddlers  watch the last part, where they hug and tuck in their new friend
• CB2 used to model child development  notice that the child feels and reacts to touch as a human would
• iCub learning as a child  you can see how it 'learns' to interact within its own environment

Would you have a baby robot in your home - as company or as a playmate? Will children of the future interact with computer friends?

The future

Here are some predictions for the future. [This is the 42 min video we saw in class.] 
These predictions date from three years ago so some are already 'coming in'.
To find out more about technology that already exists, look here. [This is the 2 min clip that some groups watched.]


What are your predictions for the future?
[Helpful vocab here.]


For me, the most interesting and worrying moment is when Kevin Warwick starts to explain his work. Kevin's goal is nothing less than to be the one who ushers in a new age of cyborg humans. He states:

"The future I see [as] very rosy if you are a cyborg, or if you are an artificial intelligence machine. If you are a human, well, your time's up."

If he's right, you might want to get on the winning side as soon as possible - why not apply to be his research assistant? You can find out more about him at www.kevinwarwick.com

What makes Kevin special is his degree of personal commitment. In 1998 he started experimenting with a transponder chip (inserted in his forearm) connected to his nervous system. This chip provided a link between his nervous system and other electronic devices.  It allowed him to operate doors, lights, heaters and other computers without lifting a finger. He was able to use his hand movements to operate a cyborg hand or (as if he were disabled) a motorised wheelchair.

Obviously this 'connectivity' is limited as it is only one-way. So can you guess what his stage two was? To study the transmission of signals between people. He upgraded his chip and then went ahead and implanted another in his wife - so that they could 'communicate' movement to each other at a distance. And the next step? Obvious, logical and potentially frightening:  to progress from movement to the transmissions of thoughts and emotions.

What do you think? Is this research exciting? interesting? irrelevant? scary? worrying? necessary? dangerous? ethical?

There are other examples of robot technology successfully being used on or in humans here. In this case, a woman is cured of long-term depression at the touch of a button.

Soul Surfer

Bethany Hamilton is a true example of overcoming. 


This young inspirational girl promised herself to not give up her surfer career for anything in the world.
When she was 13 years old , this young surfer, suffered a shark attack while she was surfing, causing her a fateful disgrace, the loss of the left arm.
However her desire, determination and spirit  granted her the opportunity to follow her dream, surfing.

What do you think about this fascinating example of overcoming? Does it inspire you to realize your goals no matter how far awaythey are?

more information

SUPERNENAS HIP-HOP

Hip-hop is a very well known type of dance nowadays. It started in the 1970s in the Bronx, in New York City. There are some people who still believe that only black people can dance it and that's not true any more. In Spain there are many national competitions where you can sign up to and participate, though there may be some semi-finals first.

The Supernenas are 10 girls from Sant Adrià del Besós who train during all the year to achieve a final choreography. During the past years, they have won all of the competitions in Spain and the last two years they went to America to try and win the World Championship. In their surprise, this summer in Las Vegas they were thirds! When I first say them dance in Sant Cugat in may, I was amazed as how they all moved together, at the same time, and the intensity of every movement they made. It was...WOW!

So after watching this video, would you say there's a lot of work behind each performance? Or is it easy and simple to achieve such an incredible result?

Reality vs Plastic

We are surrounded by photoshop, and that can lead to several problems for teenagers, including eating disorders.

Dove is trying to make people realize that the beauty standards today are artificial and unrealistic, and the average woman has no chance of meeting them. If you criticize the model because she doesn't fit the artificial, unrealistic standards, you are missing the point. So yes, unfortunately, that’s how beauty industry works. At the start of the video we can see a beautiful woman. After the photoshop and the editing, we can see a pathetic plastic girl.

What do you think about our plastic world?

Andrea Díaz-Varela Vargas

addicted to facebook?

Recently, social networks have become extremely popular. People, especially teenagers, waste a huge amount of time looking at insignificant photos of people at Facebook, or just chatting to friends who they see every day. Is it normal to see this as something quotidian?

In cities, nearly everyone, except very young and old people have Facebook. Some of them just use it to keep in contact with far away friends, or just to keep up with what some members of the family are up to. But there is a problem: a part of Facebook users are becoming addict until the point of affecting school grades and social life in a negative way, without including sleepless nights and people just ‘talking’ to each other by facebook chat. Is this worth it? Is it better than rather talking with your friends somewhere?

Here are some real opinions from some students:

´´ I’ve outsourced my social life exclusively to Facebook Inc. Hence, it doesn’t really matter if I spend a lot of time on Facebook, because it substitutes for face time as well and has made my life more organized and efficient.``

´´ I think that there are three kinds of Facebook users. One the kind that is just keeping in touch with long distance friends. Two the older relative just trying to keep up with their niece. And three the kind that gets all dressed up to just take a Facebook photo. Personally I don’t want to take the chance that I’ll end up a number three and frankly I find the risk too much and the satisfaction that I would get out of it to low.``

´´ well i actually have stopped using Facebook by changing my password, but now i just find other ways to distract myself. ``

´´It’s horrible, but so hard to stop! I know how much time it takes up, but when I get sick of homework or something, it’s too easy to just click, click, log in. And then you’re stuck mindlessly on it, and don’t realize the time passing… it really is ‘addicting,’ but I’m not sure if it’s really an addiction. Distracting, for sure though. But I don’t want to deactivate mine, mostly out of this weird fear of missing something happening. Or if someone puts up bad pictures of me. Which is stupid, because I don’t party hard or anything. I wish Facebook had a time limit that one could set, so I could say, ‘okay, today I’m only going to go on for 35 minutes total,’ and then could actually adhere to it``

7 Billion: How Did We Get So Big So Fast?

In 200 years population grew from 1 bllion to 7 billion. Will we keep growing like this?

Can the world hold that many people? On what does it depend?

True or False?

Many newspapers and the player himself, Cristiano Ronaldo, are claiming that there's a global campaign against him.

Are these statements the result of fatigue due to this campaign or is it all just imagination?

   

• Do you think he's justified to say this? 
• Do you think it's true that people are jealous of him?

Christmas or commercial?

A few days ago to my house arrived the new magazine of games and toys of the Corte Ingles, my brother already has a huge list of all the things he wants.

Yes Christmas advertisement have begun and there is till left more than one month for Christmas. The big brands have begun with their advertisemenst making discounts, attracting people to buy. When did we change the Christmas spirit? Where is it?

It is true that everybody loves getting presents but we don’t have to forget that Christmas it’s a time for being with the family a time where we have to behave perfectly.

Why are we losing the Christmas spirit? Is Christmas spirit going to disappear and it is just going to be totally commercial? Have you got Christmas spirit?

War Generation

Few days ago Activision Company, has produced the second part of the world famous battle game: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.

This videogame has a great content of war images which can be very influential for young people, like shooting people, exploding ships or killing terrorists. Also this game imagines the idea of the third world war which is also very influencious.

 Many scientists agree that this type of game can produce an aggressive behavior but separate studies denied it.

So what is your real opinion about this type of games?

Moments

How to define a moment?

Moments. All those instants that pass in front of our eyes constantly, and without us noticing, disappear in time without being given importance. Those moments are the ones that make us be ourselves, that change our lives and make them special.

This video made me realise how moments seem insignificant to us, while they really are the main characters of our daily lives. Have a look.

So, how would you define a moment?   What did the video made you feel?

Ana Las Hayas

What a wave!

Have you seen this video? At least 880,000 other people have (there are various versions on Youtube) in the last three days alone (at time of posting). So maybe you should take a look!

Do you surf? Do you want to after seeing this? What does or would it feel like to ride such a wave?

Is this how things work in China?

I saw this video a few days ago and I couldn’t believe what I was watching.


WARNING: the video is disturbing. If you feel this should not be posted, please email the site administrator Mr L asap. Thanks.

This is the second video I’ve seen related to accidents taking place in China. In another, a young girl is knocked over and ignored by passers-by. Terrifying accidents where someone probably dies and many people standing near them, recognising what has happened, but totally ignoring them.

Is this moral? I mean, if this happened here, everybody would take notice and many people would try to help and help the woman to survive or if she doesn’t at least calling for the ambulance or the police. On the contrary, the Chinese drivers decide to ignore her as if it was something normal and pass just by her side without even stopping and being curious about what had happened.

I cdouldn't understand why they would be like this but I was told that apparently the sanitary system in China is very complicated. If someone decided to help an injured person and take him or her to the hospital they would have to pay for them. So, as not many people have money for that and medicines are so expensive, they prefer to ignore those situations.

I definitely think that this is unacceptable. Such a country, which is growing day-by-day, should not permit these things. The contrast is clear and frightening: one of the richest countries in the world is nurturing one of the poorest societies - a society that can’t take care of others due to an unfair health-care system that cures just those who can pay…

Vandalism or Art?

Do you really think practicing this "city sport" represents a vandalic act? Nowadays the youth usually  spend their time recording road descensions in a very risky way. Do you think they do it to rebel themself and free their acomulated adrenaline or its simply another way of Art expression?



Hugo Cuesta

The big debate...

Well... is he?

Can I have your number?

Alejandra Séculi from Paula’s account

This video is showing us how the way our feelings are expressed has changed so much.

A long time ago boys used to tell girls how much they loved them by a letter or a poem or being sweet with them while expressing their feelings, but now things seem to have changed:

-Why are boys so direct?

-How would you feel if you were the girl in this situation?

-Do you think this is harassing her?

Alejandra Séculi

Bieber believer?

I guess if you are a Bieber believer, you will be certain that a fan's claim to have fathered Justin's baby is all a pack of lies. But could it be possible that this icon of innocence went from "cute and gushy to aggressive" as Californian Mariah Yeater states?

Dressed to look young an innocent for American TV show, The Insider, the 20 year-old claims that she had a brief liason with Bieber four years ago, culminating in 30 seconds of unprotected sex in a backstage toilet.

Was it just a matter of time before the squeaky-clean image of this 'family' pop-star was tarnished by temptation?

If none of this is true, should we or the government act to stop the Mariah Yeater's of this world from stirring up trouble? Or should libel laws be ignored in the name of entertainment?

Natural-born hunter?

'It's primeval, not evil': The brutal civil servant who loves killing and skinning elephants in the wild screams the headline in the Daily Mail, a UK tabloid newspaper. Reported the same day as pile-up on the M5 motorway that killed 7 and injured over 50, is this really news? Are we shocked that people hunt? Does it matter that this man is a civil servant? Does it matter that he claims to have killed over 300 creatures? Is he brutal? Or as he himself states, is hunting natural and are its critics hipocrites who are happy to torture animals for fresh meat at home? Read the article here.

The Killing Game

At the moment, 5 US soldiers are on trial for killing civilians in Afghanistan. Should soldiers be put on trial when at war for their country? 

According to the article, US military training raised the percentage of soldiers shooting to kill from 15% in World War II to 55% in Korean (1950s) and 90% in Vietnam. Does this mean that military training breaks down a natural reluctance to kill other humans?

We all know that atrocities are commited by both sides during war (such as at My Lai, in Vietnam, in which almost 400 villagers were killed). The journalist who wrote the article appears to believe that training the troops to think twice could change this. Do you think that soldiers can be shown how to respect enemy troops and civilians?

Don't sleep with your smart phone nearby

A fellow named Daniel Sieberg was telling me his hard-and-fast rule for getting through the night.

He takes all of his digital devices -- laptops, tablets, cellphones, anything portable that has a screen-- to another room before he turns off the light. 

He has come to terms with the fact that the technological gadgets that have so thoroughly insinuated themselves into his life that they can become addictive.

So, when it's time for slumber, he locks them out. He won't even let his cellphone charge overnight in the bedroom: "If it's there, I would have the temptation to turn it on and check it." We have learned to celebrate, even revere, the wireless gadgets we carry around and the inventors who bring them to us; the response to the death of Steve Jobs this month was emblematic of how important our do-it-all phones, our computers, our tablets and related digital devices have become.

We say that the technology has changed life as we used to know it. But how much is too much?

- Are we over-communicated?

- Do you feel as if somehow you were unable to disconnect completely?

- Do you think that this can be a serious problem for future generations?

Men more romantic than women

Read more here.

Do you agree that men are more romantic? More likely to say 'I love you' first?

5 million, 50% youth, UNEMPLOYED

Work not only provides financial security and the opportunity to plan ahead, it also ensures inclusion and builds identity. What do you think these figures mean for the future of society? For your future?

Today it was announced that there were 4.978.300 unemployed in Spain in September. This amounts to 21,5% of the population and is the highest unemployment has been since 1996.

As young people, you may be particularly interested to know that the percentage of Spanish youth unemployed, after rising above 40%, is now approaching 50%, and that RTVE reports that almost 20% of university graduates between 25 and 29 years old are unable to find work.

You may also be interested to know the differences between the sexes: while 146,800 jobs were lost in the last three months, 114,000 of these individuals were women and 32,800 were men.

Equally worrying is the fact that:

• the number of households in which all working-age adults are unemployed has risen to 1,425,200. 
• of the 4,978,300 unemployed, 2,117,300 are long-term unemployed (1+ years).

BUT before you panic, bear in mind that there are 9,058,300 households in which all working-age adults have a job and also that there are 23,134,600 people of working age in Spain.

Mum, Dad, can I have the car tonight?

This question will soon be a thing of the past as Catalunya moves to ban young drivers from driving alone. In the future you may well have to ask Mummy or Daddy if they will 'accompany you' as you drive to pick up your boyfriend or girlfriend for a night at the pictures or a party.

Is this a positive move which will save lives or a direct attack on teen freedom? Will it drive down the demand for car use from love-crazed couples? Is this one more example of excessive molly-coddling in an over-protective society?

Barcelona, 24 oct (EFE).- El RACC ha propuesto hoy que los jóvenes que se saquen el carné de conducir tengan que ir siempre acompañados por un adulto durante los primeros meses, para tratar de reducir la siniestralidad, ya que los jóvenes tienen un 30% de posibilidades más de morir en accidente que el resto de conductores.

En rueda de prensa, el gerente de programas de la Fundació RACC, Xavier Ruestes, ha advertido que, pese a la evolución positiva de la última década, en la que la mortalidad de jóvenes de entre 15 y 29 años en accidente de tráfico ha pasado de 20 a 6 al mes, la probabilidad de que un joven muera en accidente de tráfico en Cataluña es un 30% más alta que la media de la población.

En este sentido, Ruestes ha advertido que un joven que se acaba de sacar el carné de conducir tiene cinco veces más posibilidades de sufrir un accidente en su primer año al volante que un conductor experimentado.

Fuss and nonsense?

What happened on the pitch? Was there ever any real intention to do harm or hurt feelings?

Do you believe?

The following video has generated hundreds of comments. Here are four of them. What's yours?

Religion = brainwashing. You're not born with faith and religion, it's pounded into your head when you're still a child.

Faith is the result of neural circuitry in the temporal part of the frontal lobe. Without that circuitry, you would have no faith. The circuitry is an evolutionary mechanism that we, homo-sapien, evolved to help us deal with psychological trauma. If you get cut, you bleed, a scab forms to protect you from airborne opportunistic bacteria. The circuitry in your brain does the same thing for your mind.

Religion, my friend, is something you feel - like happiness, love, etc - and you are born with. you can deny or refuse it, maybe because you were raised that way or maybe you are too attached to this life that you refuse to believe in another, but you'll always feel it inside of you. thats probably why you're replying to me, trying to prove to yourself that religion is a lie. stop lying to yourself.

What can I say, humans are weak and primitive. They'll believe in anything as long as their little dreamland remains intact. For most humans reality is a scary thing. So they come up with imaginary friends. Pathetic, incredibly pathetic.

Flatmates from hell... or heaven?

You may get on like a house on fire at school, but could you manage to live together? Later this year you'll find out what your friends are like at close quarters. Perhaps you already know from ski week!

Let us know who you would or wouldn't (or do or don't) enjoy sharing with and why:

• Here is a video of one girl putting down her the people she shares a flat with. Do you feel the same about your family?
• Let us know who you would or who you wouldn't share with and why. Which habits or personality traits would you enjoy and which would drive you round the bend?

Remember - you don't necessarily need to mention names and, above all, keep your comments in good taste; this blog is an extension of class.

Blackberry - Crackberry

Did you cold turkey through the days of service blackout? Many did. Users all over the world flocked to forums and sought sympathy from fellow sufferers. Did you, do you, trust your Blackberry? Did you, do you, trust the Web? Perhaps it is time to pause for thought...

Here are two videos on the theme: the first, a comedy sketch; the second, an attempt at comedy.

Prohibition of Bull-fighting

The recent ban of bull-fighting in Catalonia has caused a greater contrast between the opinions of the Spanish population according to this prohibition.

• Which is your opinion in reference to this prohibition of bull-fighting?
• Do you defend bull-fighting?
• Or do you think it is an animal torture?

Give your opinion by commenting below.

Thank you.

Have you got an accent?

This video took YouTube by storm. Amy Walker talks you through 21 different 'Englishes' spoken from London to New Zealand.

• Which accent do you prefer? 
• Are any 'terrible', 'annoying' or 'sexy'? 
• Do accents matter? 
• Are you embarrassed by your Spanish accent or proud of it? 
• Is there an accent that you'd like to be able to speak with? 

To find out more about the 'real' woman behind the video, visit her website http://www.AmyWalkerOnline.com  or watch her explanatory video.

To learn some differences between American and English slang, watch Hugh Laurie from House (and  before that, Jeeves and Wooster) and Ellen Degeneres (well-liked American Chat Show Host).

Millions will lose their money

This video is causing waves. A broker from the UK says what everyone has been thinking, but has been afraid to put into words. Listen. It is frightening. He is frightening.

How do you feel about what he says and how he says it? Does he deserve the criticism that he has received?

Troy Davis

"For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls.

"All I can ask... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight."  

With these words, Troy Davis settled back into his chair and received an injection of a lethal coctail of drugs. He was was pronounced dead at 23:08 in the state of Georgia (04:08 Thursday, our time), 15 minutes after the lethal injection began. 


A black man convicted of having killed a white policeman in the deep south of the USA on the basis of partial evidence and retracted confessions, Davis could have been the main character of a novel written about racism fifty years ago. But his death is real. You can read more about the case here. 


What is your opinion about the death penalty and death row? 

Misunderstood?

Is Mourinho the victim of malicious and biased media-coverage? Or is he simply a bad-loser? First there was the Pujol slap and now there is the Tito poke. Just what is Mourinho up to?

Burqua?

An affront to women's rights? Bad manners? Personal choice?
There are various points of view about wearing the Islamic veil (of which there are various kinds). One argument is that it's a question of religious tolerance. The counter-argument is that the veil limits the freedom of women to express themselves and is a symbol of repression and discrimination. This video summarises these and other points of view. What's yours?

Call me!

How often are our last words to our loved one, "Call me!" as we go our separate ways?

You may want to think twice before uttering the phrase in the future: today's La Vanguardia carried the story of a Dutch woman who called her ex-lover 65,000 times a year (that's 178 times a day).

As we grow up, we are constantly bombarded with phrases like, "Keep it up!" or "Give it your all!" and, "Don't give up!". This woman appears to have taken the advice literally. Are we better off ignoring it or should we follow her example?

I mean, if you loved someone and they left you, just how far would you go to get them back before calling it a day? And if you were on the receiving end, just how much would you put up before calling in the professionals - whether the police or the psychiatrists?

Barrier or protection?

Will a wall (or fence) keep danger out or simply bottle-up people's anger and frustration?

They've been tried throughout history and are currently constructed close to borders in Palestine, the United States and Ceuta-Melilla to name just a few places. In your opinion, have they or do they ever work? Are they justified or unacceptable?

Here is some footage of the wall in Palestine - the first 4 minutes is enough to get the idea of its effect.

And here, if you are interested, in one artist's reaction. Have you heard of Banksy? He's all the rage in the UK and the USA at the moment. It's worth doing an image search for his graffiti.