Italian star, Mario Balotelli, is back in the news.

Balotelli says he'll "kill" anyone who racially abuses him.

Mario Balotelli, the Italy forward, has said today he will notpermit any offensive or racist attacks during the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine and declared that if he is subject to any ofense by a racist fan he will "walk off the pitch and go home". He also said he would "kill someone and go to jail" if anyone threw a banana at him, when he was training they throught him one. "Racism is unacceptable to me. We are in 2012. This should not happen anymore" SuperMario finished with this words.


What do you think about balotelli's words? And about racism?

The year of the records of Leo Messi

Leo Messi have improved his own records again this year scoring more than 70 goal in all season. He has been the maximum scorer of the League BBVA and of the UEFA Champions League. Leo scores must of the Barcelona goal but he also assists his mates. Messi is only 24 years old and has won many leagues cup and individual prizes.

Do you think Leo is the best player of the history?

Mexico prepares for volcano eruption

Popocatépetl, the nearly 18,000 foot volcano living at the border of Puebla and Morelos states in central Mexico, has started a series of small eruptions, which could presage something more violent. (last month)

The authorities in Mexico are setting up preparations for an evacuation around the Popocatepetl volcano, in case of a major eruption.

Actually the volcano, near Mexico City, has been spewing glowing rock fragments and ash from more than 60 openings in its crust.

86 years old gimnast

Preparing for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Germany hosted the Gymnastics Challenge Cup in the city of Cottbus last month. 

While gymnastics is often a sport that features 15-year-olds , one tumbler stood out — because she’s 86 years old.

Johanna Quaas set a world record, while the competitors were resting. Her floor exercise routine included cartwheels, handstands and somersaults. At the front of a cheering crowd, she executed a full “planche” on the parallel bars, raising her outstretched body parallel with the ground, supported by just her arms.

Quaas has won nearly a dozen medals in senior gymnastics competitions

London’s Telegraph newspaper reported that Quaas picked up the sport at age 30. In an interview with Gymmedia, she recalled being a member of (then) East Germany’s championship handball team in 1954.

Much of this entry is copy-paste. Acknowledge sources please!

Pedro called for defense the Spain t-shirt

Pedro Rodriguez, a historical Barcelona player who has scored more than 100 goals, is going to take part in the Eurocup this summer to defend the Spanish colours. People say that Pedro is going because David Villa finally isn't, but there are other players like Adrián or Soldado who may have deserved to go.

• Do you think Pedro is a fair replacement for David Villa?
• Do you think that Adrián or Soldado should be down to go to the Eurocup?

Edited

Bye to the penalty shoot out?

Joseph Blatter, FIFA president, has opened a debate to change one of the most unfair laws of soccer: penalty shoot-outs."When it comes to penalty shoot-outs the game lose its essence. Football should be a team sport all the way," he said. 


The FIFA President claiming that football loses its "essence" when deciding a match through a penalty shoot-out, of the kind that ended Chelsea's hopes in the Champions League.


This year the final of the Champions League Chelsea  was won through the penalty shootout by Bayern Munich. And this season, shoot outs decided the African Nations Cup, where Zambia  beat  Ivory Coast.


Also crowned the 2006 World Cup champion Italy  with France, while the 1994 gave Brazil its fourth title after beating Italy's RobertoBaggio with the same fate.

·Do you think that they should take off the penalty shoot outs when there is a draw?


·If you think so, what can it be replaced with?




Alvaro Fuertes 
(Edited)

Bermuda Triangle

This is the first part of a National Geographic documentary about the Bermuda Triangle. Have a look and answer the following questions! :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYcn-S3R4MU

Do you believe in the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle?

Or do you think it’s just causality?

If you had to fly to the United States, would you rather avoid the area?

 Ana Adán

And the winner is… Sweden !

As you might already know, the winner of this year’s Eurovision Festival is Sweden, whose entry was sung by Loreen.

It was a masterful performance as the Swedish singer, used her breath-taking voice and great choreography to take advantage of the effect of the wind machine.

Russia stood in second place on the podium represented by a group of old grandmothers who were actually very funny despite they didn’t sing well or have any kind of choreography.

The following videos are the performances of Sweden and Spain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1kbQbfKImo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPkPKzccoWU

This leads us to thinking whether the contest is corrupted by political agreements.

Although Sweden has turn out to be the winner, it is also argued that the competition is quite unfair. Many people say that each country votes to their neighbour’s or to the country in which they have political interest.

Do you agree with this argument? Did Spain, which settled in the tenth place, deserve by far more votes than Sweden or Russia?  What to you think is the key to winning? Is it singing in English, having a singer with a great voice or simply putting on strange performances such as the Chiquilicuatre in 2008? 

Nicole Pattje

Top 10 Super Bowl

Top 10 Super Bowl Commercial Adverts

The super bowl commercial adverts have become the most expensive and widely-seen adverts in the United States.

Watch the top 10 adverts in 2012 and choose the most effective one and tell us why did you choose it?

You can also tell us if the advert follows the five principles of adevertising

Is Disney stereotypical?

Disney has always been part of our childhood at some point or another yet the movies can portray certain stereotypes and some sexism and racism.

Take a look a this:


Princesses all have beautiful faces, with perfect hair and makeup and large, innocent eyes. They have abnormally perfect bodies as they are slim with tiny waists.
Moreover, the princesses are usually the damsels in distress, who have to be saved by the handsome prince. The movies also convey that dreams come true thanks to a man.
Cinderella is rescued from her terrible conditions by the prince, as is Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Jasmine leaves the palace walls when Aladdin arrives upon a magic carpet to show her the world,  Ariel must marry Eric  to live the life she's always wanted (out of sea) and Mulan only becomes happy when Shang courts her (even though she saves China from the Huns).  And these are just a few examples of women that are completely dependent on men.
Furthermore, women are  also expected to stick to behaviour established by society such as being obedient, silent, hard-working (especially with house-hold chores) and non-rebelious.
The Disney men on the other hand, have two options. They can either be the handsome and strong idealized man, or be portrayed as dumb which goes along with their physical appearance (for example, Mr. Smee in Peter Pan, Yao in Mulan and Lafou in Beauty and the Beast). Men are sentenced to show agressiveness and masculinity and most of the movies end with a fight between two men (or masculine characters) for the love of a woman or for their personal status.

What other problems can you see in the Disney films?

What effect can this have on the youngest and more vulnerable generations?

What conception about the world and about ourselves do we grow up with?