The Former Miner Returns from His First Day as a Service Worker (at a McDonald's somewhere in Appalachia)

by Mark Defoe




All day he crushed the spongy buns, pawed at
The lids of burger boxes and kiddie pacs
As if they were chinese puzzles.

All day long his hands ticked, ready to latch on
Or heave or curl around a tool
Heavier than a spatula,

All day he rubbed his eyes in the crisp light.
All day the blue tile, the polished chrome, said
Be nimble, be jolly, be quick.

All day he grinned while the public, with bland
Or befuddled faces, scowled over his head
And mumbled, whispered, snarled, and snapped.

All day his coworkers, pink and scrubbed,
Prattled and glided and skipped while he,
All bulk and balk, rumbled and banged.

Near shift's end he daydreamed - of the clang
Of rock on steel, the skreel
Of a conveyer belt, the rattling whine
Of the man-trip, the miner's growl of gears
As if gnarled, toothing at the seam.

He makes his slow way home, shadow among
Roadside shadows, groping back in himself
For that deep, sheltering dark.
He has never been so tired.
His hands have never been so clean.

Should school day be longer?

source: firstnews.co.uk


The school day should be made longer to get children ready for the world of work, say some politicians.

Stephen Twigg, the Labour party’s education boss, says a longer day would keep children off the streets, stop them being sucked into local gangs and give the most deprived pupils a place to study away from difficult home lives.

He also thinks that pupils should be put into groups in schools by ability or interests, rather than age.

The MP’s comments come after a survey by business leaders found that one out of three young people was not ready for a job.
One school in Norwich is already open for six days a week, 51 weeks of the year. Others are planning to keep pupils in school until at least 5pm or stage regular weekend lessons.

Mr Twigg thinks all pupils should have a longer day. “First, for secondary pupils, it would mean getting used to a work-like timetable,” he says. “How many employers expect their workers to leave the office at 3.30pm?

“Second, too many pupils who suffer from poor housing conditions struggle to find a quiet place to study or do their homework. Providing a longer school day will give these students a haven away from what, in some cases, can be chaotic and troublesome home lives. Third, it can take young people, quite literally, off the streets.”

Mr Twigg says studies have shown that gangs are most active immediately after schools close, and providing longer school-based activities may stop some young people getting into trouble.

====

vocabulary:

sucked into- to become involved in a situation, especially a bad situation, when you do not want to.

deprived- not having the things that are necessary for a comfortable or happy life

haven-a place where people or animals can live peacefully or go to in order to be safe

Carlos Slim's Remedy For World's Economic Woes: Lift Retirement Age To 70

The world’s richest man has urged struggling nations to lift workers’ retirement age to 70 and privatize as many infrastructure assets as possible to help shore up their economies,  Mexican press reported on June 12.

 

Slim, who owns Latin America’s largest cell-phone network, America Movil, noted the world’s telecommunications network is civilization’s “new nervous system.”  Everyone should have access to broadband communications and smart phones that are continuously hooked to the Internet – instead of relying on “dumb phones” that are only voice enabled, Slim was reported as saying.

Moreover, countries should have people work until they are older to reflect longer life expectancy rates, Slim reportedly said. He noted the ideal work schedule should be 10-11 hours three times per week for people over 60 to allow them to have more days to “innovate, create and cultivate themselves.”

Slim added the current retirement age was established “when jobs were more physical and people died at 60, but now we live until 85 or 90.”
El Universal reported one of the world’s savviest businessmen as saying: “We live in the knowledge society, so knowledge and experience should be valued. This is why a person’s work life could be increased.”

According to Forbes, Slim is the world’s richest man, currently worth $65 billion thanks to his stake in America Movil as well as several real-estate and retail holdings.
Mexican daily La Jornada also reported Slim’s speech at the conference, organized at the United Nation’s headquarters in the Swiss city.

-http://www.forbes.com/sites/ivancastano/2012/06/12/carlos-slims-remedy-for-worlds-economic-woes-lift-retirement-age-to-70/

The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm

The house was quiet and the world was calm.

 The reader became the book; and summer night

 Was like the conscious being of the book.

 The house was quiet and the world was calm.

 The words were spoken as if there was no book,

 Except that the reader leaned above the page,

 Wanted to lean, wanted much most to be

 The scholar to whom the book is true, to whom

 The summer night is like a perfection of thought.

 The house was quiet because it had to be.

 The quiet was part of the meaning, part of the mind:

 The access of perfection to the page.

 And the world was calm. The truth in a calm world,

 In which there is no other meaning, itself

 Is calm, itself is summer and night, itself

 Is the reader leaning late and reading there.

-wallace stevens

Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?

http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/why-do-japanese-change-their-attitude-when-they-communicate-with-foreigners

TOKYO —Many Japanese people don’t have the opportunity to communicate with foreigners, so when they do, they tend to change their attitude a bit.

Foreigners react in different ways to this — some feel they are being treated special, while others are uncomfortable. So says the website MADAME RiRi.

Here are some examples from the website.


“I think that the Japanese education system is the main reason why Japanese people cannot communicate with foreign people naturally. Japanese people don’t study much about other races and cultures, do they?” (American woman)

“At first, I was happy when Japanese people gave me compliments like ‘You are good at using chopsticks’ and ‘You speak Japanese very well.’ However, now that I have been in Japan for a long time, these sort of compliments sound like that they are looking down at me.” (Australian man)

“I think that staff in shops and restaurants treat foreign people better than Japanese people. However, in some situations, I feel like I am being treated like a mascot.” (Dutch man)

“Actually, it’s annoying when many Japanese people show me a product and ask ‘Is this product available America too?’ I have to tell them I’m not American.” (Danish man)
“I’m happy that Japanese people treat me as a foreigner. I think that foreign people don’t have any pressure to practice speaking Japanese because Japanese people don’t expect foreigners to do so.” (Brazilian man)

“If you come to Japan thinking that all Japanese people are sweet, you will be in for a shock a lot. This is my experience and there is no country where everybody is sweet.” (Italian man)

“Sometimes, when I see foreigners in Japanese dramas and animation, most of them seem stupid. It makes me uncomfortable if Japanese people think that foreign people are like that.” (American man)

“Japan is not a country with many immigrants like America and Europe. I think many Japanese have a hard time communicating not just with foreigners but also with other Japanese who are outside their sphere. That’s the ‘soto-uchi’ concept.” (American man)

“I think Japanese people change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners because they are interested in foreign countries and cultures.” (English man)

“Not all Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners. Japanese people who have lived abroad as exchange students, for example, communicate with foreigners in much the same way as they interact with Japanese. Maybe it depends on their experience level in communicating with with foreigners.” (American man)

True Love

True love. Is it normal
is it serious, is it practical?
What does the world get from two people
who exist in a world of their own?

Placed on the same pedestal for no good reason,
drawn randomly from millions but convinced
it had to happen this way - in reward for what?
For nothing.
The light descends from nowhere.
Why on these two and not on others?
Doesn't this outrage justice? Yes it does.
Doesn't it disrupt our painstakingly erected principles,
and cast the moral from the peak? Yes on both accounts.

Look at the happy couple.
Couldn't they at least try to hide it,
fake a little depression for their friends' sake?
Listen to them laughing - its an insult.
The language they use - deceptively clear.
And their little celebrations, rituals,
the elaborate mutual routines -
it's obviously a plot behind the human race's back!

It's hard even to guess how far things might go
if people start to follow their example.
What could religion and poetry count on?
What would be remembered? What renounced?
Who'd want to stay within bounds?

True love. Is it really necessary?
Tact and common sense tell us to pass over it in silence,
like a scandal in Life's highest circles.
Perfectly good children are born without its help.
It couldn't populate the planet in a million years,
it comes along so rarely.

Let the people who never find true love
keep saying that there's no such thing.

Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die.

The Snow Man

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place
For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

-Wallace Stevens

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory!
As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!

-emily dickinson

This Is Just To Say

by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably

saving
for breakfast.
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.

What would you fight for?

D.H. Lawrence

I am not sure I would always fight for my life.
Life might not be worth fighting for.

I am not sure I would always fight for my wife.
A wife isn't always worth fighting for.

Nor my children, nor my country, nor my fellow-men.
It all depends whether I found them worth fighting for.

The only thing men invariably fight for
Is their money.  But I doubt if I'd fight for mine, anyhow
 not to shed a lot of blood over it.

Yet one thing I do fight for, tooth and nail, all the time.
And that is my bit of inward peace, where I am at one
 with myself.

And I must say, I am often worsted.

Self Pity

by D. H. Lawrence 

I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.

I Taught Myself To Live Simply

by Anna Akhmatova

I taught myself to live simply and wisely,
to look at the sky and pray to God,
and to wander long before evening
to tire my superfluous worries.
When the burdocks rustle in the ravine
and the yellow-red rowanberry cluster droops
I compose happy verses
about life's decay, decay and beauty.
I come back. The fluffy cat
licks my palm, purrs so sweetly
and the fire flares bright
on the saw-mill turret by the lake.
Only the cry of a stork landing on the roof
occasionally breaks the silence.
If you knock on my door
I may not even hear.

For Every Woman

by Nancy Smith

 

For every woman who is tired of acting weak when she knows she is strong, there is a man who is tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable.

For every woman who is tired of acting dumb, there is a man who is burdened with the constant expectation of "knowing everything."

For every woman who is tired of being called "an emotional female," there is a man who is denied the right to weep and to be gentle.

For every woman who is called unfeminine when she competes, there is a man for whom competition is the only way to prove his masculinity.

For every woman who is tired of being a sex object, there is a man who must worry about his potency.

For every woman who feels "tied down" by her children, there is a man who is denied the full pleasures of shared parenthood.

For every woman who is denied meaningful employment or equal pay, there is a man who must bear full financial responsibility for another human being.

For every woman who was not taught the intricacies of an automobile, there is a man who was not taught the satisfactions of cooking.

For every woman who takes a step toward her own liberation, there is a man who finds the way to freedom has been made a little easier.

Being yourself at work is not good for your career: Study

LONDON: It's often said that honesty is the best policy. But, being yourself at work may not be a good idea if you want to further your career, scientists say. Researchers at the University of Greenwich in London found that people who show their "true shelves" at workplace tend to be less happy than those who "lie".

While revealing your true character to friends is likely to make you happier, doing so at the office is not a recipe for promotion, they said.

Lead study researcher Oliver Robinson said, "You hear self-help gurus say that the secret of happiness is 'being yourself ' or 'expressing your true feelings', but that doesn't apply in the workplace."

"So in some circumstances, it may be that a polite smile or tactfully keeping quiet may be more conducive to your well-being than saying what you actually think and feel to work colleagues," he said.

The team assessed levels of "authentic self expression" in more than 500 volunteers to see how far they opened up to people they interacted with.

The results showed people were more likely to "be themselves" with partners, followed by friends and then parents. They were much less likely to show their true self to work colleagues.

-http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-20/science/31373021_1_researchers-study-career

selected short poems by Rumi

Late, by myself, in the boat of myself, 
no light and no land anywhere,
cloudcover thick. I try to stay
just above the surface, yet I’m already under
and living within the ocean. 

•  

Come to the orchid in Spring.
There is light and wine, and sweethearts
in the pomegranate flowers.
If you do not come, these do not matter.
If you do come, these do not matter. 

•  

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,
absentminded. Someone sober
will worry about things going badly. 
Let the lover be. 

•  

Let yourself be silently drawn
by the stronger pull of what you really love. 

Hope

  

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.




-Emily Dickinson

Do people from Barcelona hate tourists?

Spain has one of the largest tourist economies in the world. The tourism industry started growing in 1970's when dictator Franco opened the country to foreigners. And now, more than 50,000,000 people came to Spain every year. Tourism brings a lot of money into Spain. But, some people are starting to think that there are too many tourists and there's too much tourism.

When tourists go to Spain, they usually go to Madrid or Barcelona. More often, they go to Barcelona. The city is in the north-east part of the country, it has a beach, it's close to France and Italy and it has the best architecture in the world.

When you go to Barcelona, you can visit the many tourist sites, but everywhere you go, there will only be tourists. It will be almost impossible to find a person who was born in Barcelona. The old historic center of the city is now controlled by the crowds of tourists and thieves that rob the tourists.

People who are from Barcelona are not happy about this. Tourism made life for the local people difficult. The price of houses is now more expensive. Rent is too expensive. Food is not cheap and the 2 most popular languages that you hear are Italian and English, not Catalan.

On the internet there are more stories about how people in Barcelona want less tourism. And, there's lots of photos of street signs and graffiti that say “tourists are not welcomed” and “tourists are terrorists.”

We tried to find a person who thought that tourists were really bad, but we did not find anyone.

But, we spoke to Marta Cubria who was born in Barcelona. She told us that she knows about the problem but she does not hate tourists.

“The problem,” she says, “is that the government spends a lot of money on cheap tourism, not cultural tourism. The normal tourist is young, comes to Barcelona for a short time and wants to have an amazing experience. In other cities governments give tourists low prices at the museums and theaters, not in Barcelona. When I'm in the city, they don't bother me. I don't mind them.”

The tourism board that has statistics on tourism in Barcelona disagrees with Marta. The statistics show that young tourists are a minority in Barcelona – only 20%. 40% of tourists are in Barcelona for business. 73% of tourists are older than 35. Tourists also said that the best thing about Barcelona is architecture. Second best thing about Barcelona is culture.

Also, bcn.cat says on its website that 93 percent of people in Barcelona think that tourism is a good thing for Barcelona.

source: newsforbeginners.com

Japan's Sawa Soccer World Player of 2011

FIFA, soccer's international governing body, has named Japan’s captain Homare Sawa as the Women's World Player of the Year. The 33-year-old scooped the award, known by the French term the Ballon d’Or, for leading her country to Japan’s first ever World Cup Finals triumph in July last year. She won the best player and top scorer awards at that tournament. Ms Sawa wore a pale blue kimono at the prize-giving ceremony. She stood next to Lionel Messi, who won the men’s award for the third year in a row. An emotional Sawa told the audience: “I feel very pleased to have been given this honor. I'd like to thank all those who have helped me to play soccer….I hope our football has given a chance for future players and children to dream."

Sawa is the first Asian player to win the award. She beat Brazil’s Marta, who was best female player in the world for the five previous years. Japanese Aya Miyama came fourth. Sawa later paid tribute to the Brazilian ace at a news conference, saying: “I am proud to be sitting here today alongside such legends as Marta.” Japan picked up another two awards at the ceremony. Norio Sasaki, manager of the women’s team, was coach of the year, and the Japan Football Association was chosen for FIFA’s Fair Play award. Mr Sasaki thanked those who supported Japan following the earthquake and tsunami that struck in March 2011. He said: "We provided excitement for Japanese people and boosted their spirits.”

--http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1201/120111-homare_sawa.html

Father Makes Toddler Train in Blizzard

A video of a father making his 4-year-old son train in freezing weather has caused outrage across the world. The man, He Liesheng, 44, calls himself "Eagle Dad" because he believes he will give his son strength and increase his intelligence if he trains him like eagles raise their young. Mr Liesheng recorded his son, He Yide, wearing just underpants and trainers running in a minus 13 degrees Centigrade blizzard. He said: "When the old eagle teaches its young, it takes the young eagles to the cliff side, beats them and pushes them to teach them to use their wings, and I believe I am helping my son in this way - to force him to challenge limitations and exceed his own expectations."

Liesheng said on Tuesday that his son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was born and that this could hinder the intellectual development of his son. He explained that the tough training schedule, including jogging in the snow without clothes, would make his son as healthy and intelligent as other children. He told CNN: “I consulted my doctor friends to ensure what we do is scientific and that it won't harm my son's body.” In the video footage, little Yide is crying as he chases his father and begs to be picked up. Xu Pengfei, a paediatric doctor said Mr Liesheng’s method “lacks scientific basis” and that “education can only lead to a modest change in IQ.”

-breakingnewsenglish.com

Internet Piracy Bill in Trouble

Several prominent websites like Wikipedia and Reddit went 'dark' on Wednesday to protest against the proposed anti-piracy legislation called SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act). Many other sites oppose SOPA but did not “go dark” in Wednesday’s 24-hour protest. These include Mozilla (owner of the Firefox web browser), Facebook, eBay and Google. A similar bill in the US Senate, the Protection of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) would allow U.S. copyright holders to get court orders against foreign websites that steal from them. Sites that abuse copyright would not be able to use many online advertising networks or credit card services. It is now doubtful the bill will get the support of the sixty senators it needs in a crucial vote on Tuesday, January 24th.

 The entertainment, pharmaceutical and fashion industries strongly support the bills. They lose billions of dollars every year to copyright violators. Internet companies oppose the bills, saying they will lead to censorship that would damage the Internet by discouraging new online start-ups. A letter to Congress signed by 130 technology entrepreneurs and executives expressed their concerns. It said SOPA and PIPA would "hurt economic growth and chill innovation in legitimate services that help people create, communicate, and make money online". Wikipedia has said it would continue the fight. It declares on its front page: "We're not done yet." It also said: “More than 162 million people saw our message asking if you could imagine a world without free knowledge.”

-breakingnewsenglish.com

The "Friendliest" Countries in the World

A new report shows which are the friendliest countries in the world. The HSBC bank conducted the Expat Explorer Survey to find out which countries offered the most comfortable lifestyles. Researchers questioned people in one hundred different countries between May and July 2011. They asked 3,385 respondents to assess how willing they would be to make different countries their second home. The questions were based on how easy it is to make friends with the local people; learning the local language, fitting in with the new culture, and integrating into the local community. The top-ranked country was New Zealand, followed by Australia, South Africa, Canada and the United States.

Head of marketing for HSBC, Lisa Wood, said: “As the largest global survey of expats, Expat Explorer allows us to capture invaluable insights into expat life and how it differs from country to country, continent to continent and from an expats’ home country of origin.” The lowest ranked country was the United Arab Emirates, which is surprising as around 80 per cent of the whole population comprises of expatriates. Most of these are poorly paid labourers who are unlikely to be eligible for HSBC’s survey. India finished second bottom. Danish expat Pia Mollback-Verbic said the country “is simply a minefield of relentless mental, emotional and practical daily challenges for most non-Indians.”

- www.breakingnewsenglish.com

2012 To Be Better Than 2011

A poll conducted by the Associated Press (AP) shows almost two-thirds of Americans believe 2012 will be better than 2011. The study revealed that 62 per cent are optimistic about what 2012 will bring for their country, and 78 per cent believe 2012 will bring better times for their family. Over two-thirds of those polled described 2011 as a poor year. Many said they are glad to see the back of 2011 because of the poor economy. Jobs were hard to come by and prices for things like healthcare, food and fuel continued to rise. South Carolina resident Mary Burke told the AP she had lost faith in Washington politics, saying: “They don't care about me and you. They only care about how they are going to line their pockets."

The year 2011 was a momentous one around the world. The shape of the Middle East changed after the Tunisian government fell to people power in January. This event started the Arab Spring that saw Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak resign and popular uprisings spread across the Arab world. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s murder in October completed his country’s successful uprising. There were many natural disasters in 2011. The biggest was the earthquake and tsunami that devastated much of Japan’s northern coastline. It killed 15,840 people and created one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters. Floods in Rio de Janeiro and Thailand killed thousands. The world population officially hit 7 billion, although Osama bin Laden, Apple’s Steve Jobs and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died.

source: breakingnewsenglish.com