Leone´s the Dollar’s Trilogy

¿Have you ever heard about The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? ¿And Once Upon a Time in the West? The genre these films belong to is the spaghetti western, born in the sixties and which revolutionized the way of making films.

The spaghetti western was born in Europe, more precisely in Italy and Spain. The films identified because of their dirty looking, their particular way of showing the violence in its magnificence, their simple characters and their excellent soundtracks (highlighting Ennio Morricone´s ones). The spaghetti westerns, which break up with the American ideas, were at first left out, but well seen then. This genre became so popular that it invaded literature, appearing great writers such as Silver Kane, Clark Carrados or Marcial Lafuente Estefanía.

Between these films, it stands out Sergio Leone’s the Dollar’s Trilogy and Once Upon a Time in the West, which is considered a masterpiece. It can be said that Leone reinvented the westerns and turned them fashionable.

www.otto.de a social trading company?

The otto group is an big enterprise based in germany and holds several sub companies. The most popular among them is Otto.de. A popular website for online-shopping. In July 2010 the web-shop got 5,6 million visitors. That is more than 160.000 visitors a day. This makes this website a good place to communicate social projects the company is related in. But how does Otto.de combine social projects and profit oriented marketing?

THE HISTORY OF SKIING

The aim of this work is to summarize the history of skiing and at the same time, to highlight the main characteristics of this sport in our country. Thus, firstly, we will talk about the general history of skiing, and then, we will focus on our country and its resorts.

It is clear that skiing is not only a favorite sport for many; it can be also considered an art. However, the history of this famous sport is somewhat obscure. Regarding its origins and thanks to historians ‘works, we do have a good idea of the basic history of skiing. It is clear that the first type of skiing was cross country skiing, which then evolved into downhill skiing. It is also thought that skiing has been around since before Christ, when the Norwegian hunters had to ski on flat wood to get more speed when hunting animals. The first findings were found in Rodody, Norway, although other proof has been found in Russia, for the same use.

 

But, this did not remain the same. Downhill skiing came later, during a more modern era. In 1850, Sondre Norheim, a Norwegian, constructed a birch binding that enabled skiers to ski without the risk of losing their skis. Norheim’s bindings were perhaps the first stiff bindings, which tied his boots to his skis and provided more control than leather straps. While others had built devices similar to this before Norheim, he paired his birch binding with shorter, curved skis that enabled him to win the first Norwegian downhill skiing competition. Most historians believe that Norheim’s method of skiing is similar to the modern day form of telemark, or “free heel” skiing.

 

So, it is obvious that with more and more improvements, skiing became the popular recreational activity that we participate in today. In other words, little by little, techniques were perfected to be able to use skis, and the art of skiing was born: how to ski over flat plains with no hills, styles of ski, discipline etc. Material for skis has gradually been improved over the years to increase mobility and use. In addition to this, lots of ski brands were set up. In addition to this, we cannot forget the first Skiing Olympics that took place in the town of Chamonix and later in St. Moritz and Oslo.

The right to education

The right to education it is very important and everybody should respect it and fight to integrate it in every state and society. Given the opportunity of receiving an education, everybody can learn and grow as a person, get a job and form a family and be part of the society where he/she lives.

UNESCO (United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organization) establishes some basical principles for education as: the principle of no discrimination, equal opportunities and treatment, universal right to achieving an education and the solidarity principle.

These principles provide the basis and guidelines for the actuation rules of the Organization.

Education is both a human right in itself and also an indispensable mean for being able to realize other human rights. Education is the primary vehicle by which persons that are economically and socially marginalized, can lift themselves out from poverty and obtain the necessary means to participate fully in their communities. Especially, education has a vital role in empowering women and in moving children away from exploitative works. Altough there are countries where the right to education is respected and there are other ones where it is not respected. For example in South-Saharan and Arab States there are still millions of children who are not able to have an education. Moreover, kids that live in a situation of poverty, in rural areas, or with any kind of disability are the ones that have fewer opportunities to develop their education. We also have to take into account that there are also differences on the contribution in education of the families from different regions of the world. In Africa families contribute in the 49% of the spending in education. Latin American and Caribbean countries contribute in the 25%. However, In North America and Europe families only have to contribute in the 7% of the total.

             

Increasingly, nowadays education is recognized as one of the best financial investments that a State can make. But the importance of education is not just practical: a well-educated and active mind that is able to wonder freely, is one of the best rewards of human existence.

References:

• http://www.unesco.org/new/es/media-services/single-view/news/two_out_of_three_children_in_africa_are_left_out_of_secondary_school/
• http://articulo26.wordpress.com/el-sistema-educativo/

Forum Sport

Forum Sport, Eroski kooperatibaren barne aurki ditzakegun 44 dendek osatzen dute. 1991.urtean Genar Andrinuak, Marino Lejarretak eta Miguel Indurainek kirola oinarritzat duten biltegi hauek sortzea erabaki zuten.

Forum Sport talde bat lez funtzionatzen du. Hau egituran nabari da, non kirolariak izan diren bazkideak aurki daitezke.  Aitzindariak dira teknika eta material berriak sartzen kirolen praktikarako, betiere garantia eta kalitate ezin hobea ziurtaraziz. Akzionisten taldea langileekin osatzen da eta eroski taldearen barne dagoenez, kooperatiba horrek duen esperientziazeta negozioetarako duen egonkortasunaz baliatuz, etorkizunean agertuko diren erronkei aurre egiteko tresnak izan baditu Forum Sport-ek.

Ez  dago tokiz kanpo bere aurkaririk hurbilenak, Decahtlon-ek, garatzen dituen hainbat ideia interesgarri aipatzea. Horien artean aipagarriena, sare sozialetan profil ugari dituela da. Bai facebook-en, twitter-en, eta beste zenbait saretan profilak ditu. Horrez gain gure mugikorrean app bat deskargatzeko aukera ere badago. Era honetan euren izena asko hedatzen da denbora tarte labur batean.

Forum Sport-ek  presentzia eskasa du sare sozialetan, ez dauka ez Facebook-eko edota Twitter-eko profilik. Linkedin-en aurki dezakegu bakarrik euren presentzia. Bertan langile ugari aurki daitezke, enpresaren barne interakziorako eta mundu mailan ezagunagoak izateko baliogarria da. Baliteke beste sare sozialetan ez agertzearen arrazoia, seriotasun irudi bat eskaini nahi izatea dela. Hala ere, eurek babestutako hainbat ekintzek badituzte sare sozialetan profil propioak. Esate Baterako  Kosta Trail lasterketak bai facebook-en eta twitter-en baditu profilak, bertan frogaren berri guztiak jarrai daitezke, beste partaideekin elkarrizketak edota entrenamenduei buruzko gomendioak eta oharrak jaso.

Forum Sport-en kirola bizitzeko modu bat denez, edozein motatako kirolarien zalantzei erantzunak emateko borondatea daukate. Hori dela eta, erosleei kirola egiteko ekipamendu ugari eskaintzeaz gain, behar bezalako saltzaileak izaten saiatzen dira.  Saltzen den oro probatu egiten dute, era horretan bai profesionalak direnei edota kirola denbora pasa lez egiten dutenei gomendioak emateko gai dira.

Webgunea aztergai izanik, bertan muriltzeko bi aukera daude. Alde batetik sarean duten denda ikusteko aukera dugu. Eta bestalde, webgune korporatibora sartzeko aukera dugu. Lehengo aukeran promozioen zenbait irudi daude, gabonetako promozioko hainbat eskaintzenak. Ikusten den irudi handiaren gainean, lau erlaitz agertzen dira, enpresak erabiltzen dituen markak, jorratzen dituen kirolak, promozioak eta dendak arakatzeko aukera ematen dituztenak. Beherago kirolen araberako erlaitzak ditugu, behar den produktua aurkitzeko. Azkenik hiru zutabeetan banaturik produkturik salduenak, markarik salduenak eta erosketarako laguntza aurkezten dira. liburuxka deskargatzeko aukera ematen duena; bazkide txartelarekin lortzen direnak, edota opari txartelak eskaintzen dituena.

Webgune korporatiboa aztergai izanik, zenbait irudi agertzen zaizkigu orrialdearen erdialdean. Irudiek  bai gabonetako promozioari, bazkide promozioei eta opari txartelari egiten diete erreferentzia. Irudi hauen gainean  6 erlaitz ditugu non enpresari buruzko informazioa, , ekitaldiak eta lasterketak, berriak, norberaren curriculuma bidaltzeko aukera eta dendei buruzko informazioa aurkezten diren. Erlaitz hauen ondoan dagoen esteka sakatuz sareko dendara bueltatzeko aukera badago.

Bezeroen foroetan publikatutako iritziak kontuan harturik, denda sare honek hainbat gauza on eta txar izan baditu. Alde onak aztertuz; produktuen ugaritasuna eta kalitatea eta baita erosleei tratamendu on bat eskaintzen dela aurki daitezke. Alde txarretan, prezio altuak dira gehienbat erosleen kexen iturri. Baina oro har, gehiengoa ados dago kalitatezko produktua eta erosleenganako jarrera on bat eskaintzen dela. Horrez gain, enpresa honen hedatzeko gaitasuna aipatu eta sortu dien harridura aurkezten dute.

Ondorio lez denda multzo honen lana errespetu handia merezi duela esan daiteke. Estatu mailan asko hedatzeko gai izan da azkeneko urteetan egindako lan onari esker. Bere izena entzutean kalitatea eta tratu egokia etortzen zaizkigu gogora eta baita edozein kirol burutzeko materiala aurki dezakegula.

Erreferentziak:

• Ciao, 2012. Forum Sport Opiniones. Shopping Guide GmbH. Available at: http://www.ciao.es/Opiniones/Forum__346855 [Accessed December 11, 2012].
• Ruben, 2012. Forum Sport. El Catálogo y sus Tiendas. modaellos. Available at: http://modaellos.com/la-tienda-forum-sport-catalogo-y-tiendas/ [Accessed December 11, 2012].
• Casado, E., 2009. Forum sport. 20minutos.es. Available at: http://blogs.20minutos.es/quefuede/2009/08/31/quao-fue-de-andrinaaa/ [Accessed December 12, 2012].
• Decathlon, Decathlon. Available at: http://www.decathlon.es/ [Accessed December 13, 2012].

8 mile

8 mile; produced by Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment, is an American dramatic film directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) and starring Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, Taryn Manning and  Brittany Murphy.

The film tells the story about Jimmy Smith Jr.; who is called B. Rabbit by his friends. He, who loves hip-hop music, lives in Detroit, in a poor and predominantly black population.

DANZAS VASCAS

Este artículo trata de Las Danzas vascas. Son importantes ya que desempeñan un gran papel en la sociedad y cultura vasca desde hace muchos años. Para ello, es considerable analizar su historia y las distintas danzas que podemos encontrar.

Las Danzas vascas (en euskera Euskal Dantzak) son una parte fundamental en la cultura vasca. Cada provincia, o territorio histórico, consta de sus propias danzas y también, cada pueblo  tiene su propia danza la cual es frecuente ver en sus fiestas o en acontecimientos importantes que se den.  Muchas de estas danzas son tan antiguas que no se sabe cual puede ser su verdadero origen. Otras, sin embargo, son nuevas coreografías con base popular.

Negative effects of technology

The advantages of technology are undeniable, electronic devices make our life much easier as we can save time and money when using them: cars, microwaves, mobile phones… In contrast, there are a lot of disadvantages that we don’t take into account.

The recession is not the only cause of unemployment: technology has enabled multinational companies to replace their workers with machines. This business process has created job redundancies and downsizing. In addition, local agencies and music stores have been forced to shut down since items are available online. Technology may have made communication quicker, easier and more convenient but it has also brought along privacy issues. People are now worried about their once private information becoming public knowledge. In order to feel secure at the work place is necessary to be in constant learning mode, as technology keeps on changing every day. There is always a new discovery or development that may be useful to make our job safer.

 

Privacy nowadays: beyond a personal setting in a social network

INTRODUCTION

Technology and privacy have changed radically lately. Some years ago and mostly caused by centralist and bureaucratic sates, information was all kept together in databases (Agre and Rotenberg, 1997), where only administrative staff had access to it. This means that information was not spread like nowadays, since boundaries among countries do affect rather seldom to personal privacy, which now can be look it up wherever it is. Merging databases is much easier than before. This thorny controversy has been materialized in our University with the publication of some personal pictures of some students, visible at international level although they are a clear attempt against self-honour.

In today’s world we can get information without difficulties at the very same moment we are asking to do so, with more specific details and in a convenient way. This has lead us to a new public sphere (Agre and Rotenberg, 1997), in other words, a stage where the exchange of information requires new platforms to support the rapid changes. Therefore public action needs to be done in order to provide the right environment and do it in the best conditions. In other words, governments have to promote laws and rules in collaboration with private scheme to solve this problem.

 

PROBLEMS ARISE…

The very first obstacle we have to tackle with is the different cultures among states (Agre and Rotenberg, 1997). The approach that different communities may offer to the same reality can undermine the decision-making moment. This challenge is reflected, for example, in the way privacy and self-honour is seen by diverse actors. Take the USA, where private ownership is an inalienable right which goes above all. Therefore individual rights in this country will be more crucial and the trend will be towards gaining this. However, another country where community features are more important than personal ones, will be less interested in promoting measures in this sense. Moreover in this current ‘social network’ society (Hill, 2012), where our daily life can be followed without obstacles, measures in this sense must be taken urgently. Private fears are nothing new in this case, in contrast with technologies, which they are indeed.

Nevertheless, efforts taken by governments for the sake of citizen’s can be taken advantage by many companies with rather groundless reasons. A law which allowed public administration to peep on personal e-mail more than 180 days in the former mentioned country is apparently going to be deleted because of doubtful results: it has been also a steal of information that has affected many victims. In the same source we can find also the controversy about the ‘cloud’. This tool is used by many people in order to store personal information. Encryptation in this area is not high-standard many times, and the key seems to be a proper data authentification system.

This ‘privacy invasion’ can end in undesirable circumstances such as being mistaken as a criminal. Governments can undertake measures against you in the name of good, hence new technologies deserve an easier access to our personal life and may go far away, beyond legal-borders to solve thorny situations which could be solved in a more ethic way. In a USA’s Supreme Court Decision in January 2012 (United States vs. Jones) demonstrates the steps they are taking to go against this approach though, when affirming this is a ‘loss of privacy, not property’.

 

CONCLUSION

The accessibility to information cannot work as an excuse to deep into people’s personal life. The apparently responsible for this issue like governments ought to defend individual’s rights according to the requirements within society, not answering business interests. All in all a new ethic is necessary to get the best result and to avoid ending in a schizophrenic society with ruling phantoms.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hill, Kasmir, ‘The Technologies are New, the Privacy fears aren’t’ in Forbes, published 1-10-2012 (available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/01/10/the-technologies-are-new-the-privacy-fears-arent/– data accessed 10-12-2012).

Agre, Philip E. and Rotenberg, Marc, Technology and Privacy: the new Landscape, 1997, (available at: http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/landscape.html- data accessed 10-12-2012)

Mello Jr, John P, ‘Bill closing email privacy loophole clears commitee’ in TechNewsWorld, published 12-03-2012 (available at: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/76752.html– data accessed 10-12-2012).

Bioclimatic Architecture

Today,  we are living a difficult tima for architecture and construction. The Crise is affecting this field harder than others and it is important to know, that in architecture, the quality is much more important than the quantity. Respecting the environment is one of the principal goals that architectura is trying to achieve all along the 21st century. We have made a lot of improvements but there is a lot to do yet.

What is bio­cli­matic architecture?

Build­ing that takes into account cli­mate and envi­ron­men­tal con­di­tions to help achieve ther­mal com­fort inside. It deals with design and archi­tec­tural ele­ments, avoid­ing com­plete depen­dence on mechan­i­cal sys­tems, which are regarded as sup­port.  (i.e. Using nat­ural ven­ti­la­tion or mixed mode ven­ti­la­tion)  Archi­tec­ture that has a con­nec­tion to Nature.

Here we have an example about how to use natural resources like orientation, vetnilation, etc to make a  construction energetically more efficient

But, does it really work?

Tra­di­tional tech­niques work, and in Spain we know it well: the cool­ness inside a thick-walled tra­di­tional vil­lage house at noon in August, the com­fort of a tra­di­tional patio in Andalu­cia on a hot day, or how the sun enters through South ori­ented win­dows in win­ter replac­ing  the need for heat­ing. If this works, don’t you think it could be pos­si­ble, through care­ful house design, to design houses like this today?  Answer–Yes! It is entirely pos­si­ble to design mod­ern bio­cli­matic hous­ing and archi­tec­ture, using nat­ural ven­ti­la­tion, pas­sive solar design, and sus­tain­able materials.

How much does it cost?

A bio­cli­matic house needn’t be either cheaper nor more expen­sive, uglier or nicer, than any other. The bio­cli­matic house doesn’t need the pur­chase and instal­la­tion of com­pli­cated and expen­sive sys­tems, but it just uses the reg­u­lar archi­tec­tural ele­ments to increase the ener­getic per­for­mance and get a nat­ural com­fort. To achieve this, the bio­cli­matic design imposes a set of guide­lines, but there still remains a lot of free­dom to design accord­ing to indi­vid­ual taste. Sit­ing of the build­ing, con­sid­er­a­tion of solar access, col­lec­tion of rain­wa­ter, using ther­mal mass to your advan­tage, cor­rect fen­es­tra­tion and solar shad­ing all can be taken into account when design­ing, and the end prod­uct you have is a much more energy effi­cient while being in tune with its sur­round­ings and Nature.

Then, why is bio­cli­matic archi­tec­ture is not well known?

Clothes mean much more to us that the need for ther­mal pro­tec­tion (started sim­ple and some­times lost to the con­cept of fash­ion), hous­ing means more than the need for a com­fort­able place to live, and may rep­re­sent, for exam­ple, a sta­tus sym­bol. As that sym­bol, it must adapt to the estab­lished stan­dards of sta­tus, some­times ignor­ing the envi­ron­ment (i.e. McMan­sions). Energy sav­ing and tak­ing advan­tage of the sun may not fit into these stan­dards, but hav­ing an expen­sive con­di­tion­ing sys­tem to over­heat in win­ter and over­cool in sum­mer every sin­gle space in the house (even if it is sel­dom used) may seem nec­es­sary. The cul­tural iner­tia of the over­done, is hard to stop, because right now its working.…and energy prices go up.

In despite of spo­radic aware­ness cam­paigns, pub­lic­ity takes pride every day to asso­ciate sav­ing with dis­com­fort and low sta­tus, and waste with easy liv­ing and pres­tige. And it gets the point across: a lot of peo­ple asso­ciate sav­ing energy to poverty. Sci­ence is dis­re­garded, global warm­ing has no real world con­se­quence, energy is wasted, peo­ple pay and pay with­out real­iz­ing it. Now our eco­nom­i­cal sys­tem needs us to con­sume as much as pos­si­ble so as to keep the wheel going.

The pow­ers that be are strong and they have built a legacy they want to con­tinue.  Big com­pa­nies (the legacy industries) refuse to inno­vate, lobby to keep the sta­tus quo–no energy sup­ply com­pa­nies is really inter­ested in new tech­nolo­gies for renew­able energy, just the new star­tups. How will they increase their ben­e­fits? How will they sell energy if you are mak­ing your own, or dont need as much because your new house works better. Air con­di­tion­ing man­u­fac­tur­ers aren’t inter­ested in alter­na­tive sys­tems that bust their tech­nol­ogy, nat­ural ven­ti­la­tion does not make money.

Archi­tects and builders don’t worry as far as their busi­ness goes well, and the con­sumer, with no infor­ma­tion on the topic, can­not demand alter­na­tive prod­ucts he does not know, ever won­der why there is no elec­tric car on your streets or solar pan­els on your roof?  Why would the pow­ers that be want you to get energy for free when they can charge for it?

Slowly, new pro­grams, smart com­pa­nies, eco cit­i­zens are becom­ing aware of the energy waste prob­lem, and things are babystep­ping forward–promoting research on the topic and gen­er­at­ing new leg­is­la­tion and stan­dards. For exam­ple, some­thing as sim­ple as good insu­la­tion in build­ings to keep heat inside is a topic for leg­is­la­tion of increas­ing impor­tance. And in a lot of coun­tries insti­tu­tions (USGBC.org) are appear­ing to per­form research and spread bio­cli­matic knowl­edge among archi­tects and builders (like CIEMAT in Spain). Hun­dreds of books have been writ­ten on the topic, and hun­dreds of projects related some how to bio­cli­matic archi­tec­ture have been imple­mented around the world, and slowly it takes hold.

One of the most important leaders of sustainable architecture is Norman Foster, who is one of the most respected architectural professionals in the world. With his ambitious goals in high tech architecture, he gave Great Britain and the entire world numerous architectural wonders.

                                 

 

media and references:

http://bioclimaticx.com/bioclimatic-architecture1/

http://www.concept-bio.eu/bioclimatic-architecture-buildings.php

http://www.cres.gr/kape/energeia_politis/energeia_politis_bioclimatic_eng.htm

http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/arch304/winter2001/sharve6/passive_solar/

http://www.colorcoat-online.com/blog/index.php/2011/03/norman-fosters-city-of-the-future-sustainable-zero-waste-and-car-free/

Equestrianism

My favourite hobby is horse riding, undoubtedly. I have always had a special connection to these animals that I find not only beautiful but astonishing.

A horse is the projection of peoples’ dreams about themselves – strong, powerful, beautiful – and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence. Pam Brown

The horse has played an important role throughout human history all over the world, horses have been used in wars and in peaceful moments. It is not easy to affirm the exact date horses were domesticated and when they were first ridden; it seems that horses first were ridden approximately 4500 BC. Nevertheless it seems evident that horses were ridden long before they were driven.

What is clear is that horse riding is a hobby which is enjoyed by all ages. Most people start horse riding when young,but there are many people who take up horse riding for the first time later in life.

Horse riding (British English) or Equestrianism (from Latin equester, equestr-, horseman, horse)  refers to the skill of riding or driving horses. This description includes the use of horses for working purposes or competitive sport, not forgetting that horses are also used to improve human health and emotional development.

Western Sahara

For the vast majority of the people, Western Sahara is a territory which can be easily placed in a map due to the same name given to the world’s largest hot desert. But what do we really know about Western Sahara? Through this post we want to focus our interest on the analysis of this territory to reveal those historical facts which are unknown about it.

As is widely known, Western Sahara or the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a territory located on the west of the African continent and it boarders with Morocco on the North, on the Northeast with Algeria and on the East and South with Mauritania. It takes the name of the desert which is part of, the Sahara desert and its largest city is El Aaiún.

Green March, 1975

This stateless nation which is not recognised by every United Nations countries became in the year 1884 a Spanish colony and was treated as Spanish territory until the colonizing country decided to make a referendum on independence to Western Sahara in 1975. But nothing would stop Morocco to achieve its aim of building a huge Moroccan empire. In addition, Morocco had always claimed that Western Sahara was within the country’s borders, and they wanted their territory back. In this way, and a cause of the United Nations’ decision of giving to Sahrawi people the right of self-determination, 350,000 people move towards Saharan territory with the objective of occupying the land. This strategy, known as Green March, will be the beginning of the Moroccan military invasion, and so Spain transferred the sovereignty of the Western Sahara to Mauritania and Morocco in 1976. However, in opposition to the agreement of the administration of the Sahrawi territory, Algeria and the recently created Polisario Front (1973) stood against both Moroccan and Mauritanian claims and demanded full independent of Western Sahara.

Then, Mauritanian and Moroccan troops started occupying the cities of Western Sahara, and consequently, Saharan people were forced to leave the cities and moved to Algerian territory, where they would settle down their refugees’ camps. One of these refugees’ camps is located in the Algerian region of Tindouf.

Refugee camp, Tindouf

When Moroccan troops had already entered the Sahrawi territory, the Polisario Front proclaimed the constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) the 27th February 1976, and 3 years later Mauritania signed its peace agreement with the Polisario Front, renouncing their rights to the territory of Western Sahara. However, Morocco, instead of doing the same, annexed the part to which Mauritania had renounced and claimed it as their own while it continued the occupation.

Although nowadays the territory is mostly administrated by Morocco, there is a part of Western Sahara which is controlled by the Polisario Front and it is called the “Free Zone”. It is referred as the zone of freedom because is the only part of Western Sahara which is not under Morocco’s control. Moreover, Moroccan part and Free Zone are divided by the Moroccan Wall, a wall of 2,700km-long that started building in 1980 with the purpose of protecting the territory occupied by Morocco from the intrusion of the Polisario Front as well as of avoiding the return of Saharan refugees.

The Moroccan Wall divides the territory occupied by Morocco and the “Free Zone”

After the abandonment of Mauritania, SADR obtained its greatest international recognition in 1984 and in front of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1982. In September 1991 began the ceasefire guided by UN. However, disputes among Western Sahara and Morocco are still happening, and so its status remains unresolved.

References:

• http://www.saharalibre.es/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polisario_Front
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_March
• http://hablemosdelsahara.wordpress.com
• http://www.kwang4x4.com/par16.html

Free topic post: “Trikitixa, a closer look”

I sincerely believe that music grants a deep sense of fullfillment, one that improves life to limitless extents. This, though, is no wonder, since I am a musician myself -it would be rather counter-productive to go against the guild, dont you think?-. My most cherished instrument -of the few I own- is called “trikitixa”, a diathonic accordion typicial of the basque country, whose characteristic sound you must have surely heard. My intention with this post is to enlighten the reader with some deeper understanding of the instrument itself, the way it works, and some personal impressions.

Let us start with some history: The trikitixa is actually a variation of the diathonic button accordion, which has its roots in italy (incidentally, the main manufacturers are italian). Its “Diathonic” nature makes each an incredibly complicated product of luthiery, and thus they are quite costly, but, on the ther hand, if properly taken care of, they can outlast their owners. Because of this, it is not infrequent for the most veteran (and succesful) players to sport real vintages, antique models handed down from generation to generation in their families.

Here are some of the best trikitilaris of the past century, with models of the time.
Image taken from: http://www.absolutbilbao.com/festival-internacional-de-trikitixa-de-getxo/ (accessed: 19.20 13/12/2012)

The diathonic accordion was introduced in the late 19th century by french and italian sailors and/or railway workers, in a time its use was extending all over europe. The trikitixa was developed as the originals suffered some small modifications in tone and bass-notes (and later on the 20th century, also by adding 4 altered notes). It consists of two keyboards and a bellow; the one for the right hand bears individual sounds and the one in the left, chords in different octaves. The sounds are made when the air (either stored in the bellow or from the outside) is made to go through dual windpipes each containing a thin metal sheet, which are sealed in one side so as to isolate notes. These windpipes are covered by a plug connected to its corresponding button through a small lever, thus allowing to play one note at a time, or any combination wanted (so long as the harmonics allow it).

Description of each section with complementary images here.

Traditionally, it has been assotiated with folk music from the basque country, being present in most of the traditional song types (specially “fandango”, “arin-arin”, and “kopla”), and frequently played accompanied by a “pandero” (a hand-percutted frame-drum), though from the late seventies onwards it has been increasingly paired with unorthodox instruments so as to include it in many other genres (pop, rock, jazz, and so on). Here are some examples of the “old” and the “modern” songs:

“Odolaren boza” – Traditional march.

“Kalanbreak” – Pop-rock song by Gozategi.

Personally, I think that it is a complicate instrument to play. It is an acquired taste, one that requires constant practice lest the player get rusty and the fingers sloppy, and there have been cases of people quitting out of sheer frustration. Nevetheless, once it gets to you, it is enormously satisfactory to play it, because of the challenge it suposses. I’ve been playing it for 12 years already, and I still have vast amounts to learn, so that should give you a pretty accurate idea of how tough it is.

And that’s it. I hope you enjoyed it.

Media and references:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5mvcCZCTx8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQZGVndHwUU
• http://www.trikitixa.net/
• http://www.absolutbilbao.com/festival-internacional-de-trikitixa-de-getxo/ (accessed: 19.20 13/12/2012)

Extreme Sports

Nowadays, Extreme sports, also known as action sports, are becoming really popular and famous due to how particular they are and having a high level of inherent danger. Most times they involve wind, speed height or other terrific situations. There is not a specific definition of extreme sports but the reality is that these sports or activities began in 1995 with a marketing strategy which promoting  the  X- games. This is an annual event, organized by U.S.A sports broathcaster ESPN. The event is divided in Winter and Summer sports and the participants compete to win medals and money prizes.

This is a competition really similar to the Olympic Games but with another type of sport games. The most common extreme sports are these:

Paragliding – All Terrain Windsurfing – Parkour – Aggressive Inline – Rock climbing – BMX – Cave diving – Surfing – Snowboarding – Ice climbing –  Longboarding – Waveski .

I believe that the most interesting thing about these sports is the felling that you have while you are practicing it. I just try a few of them and I would like to explain my favorite ones. Surf and Snowbording.

• SURFING

Surfing is a surface water sport in which the wave rider, referred to as a “surfer,”  rides on the forward face of a wave. There are many different ways to ride the wave and we call them by different ways. Bodysurfing, bodyboarding, surfboard….

Currently, is one of the most popular and trendy sports worldwide, many people practice and it is said that the bask country with Australia are the best place to enjoy the best waves. Kelly Slater, Andy Irons and Aritz Aranburu are the three best surfers.

Surfers represent a diverse culture based on riding the waves. Some people practice surfing as a recreational activity while others make it the central focus of their lives. Within the United States, surfing culture is most dominant in Hawaii and California because these two states offer the best surfing conditions.

•  SNOWBOARDING

This can be the most exiting winter sport ever,  it involves descending a slope that is covered with snow while standing on a board attached to a rider’s feet, using a special boot set onto a mounted binding. It is inspired in Skateboarding and Surfing and developed in the U.S.A betwwen the 60^s and 70^{s .}

If you want to practise this sport you must have a good equipment, which is really expenseive. You will need: a snowboard with bindings and boots are the most importat ones but althoug Snowboards, boots and bindings get all the love and attention, don’t forget about the accessories. The right helmet, goggles, stomp pads and even a lock for your snowboard are just as important as the gear you’re riding  moreover a good jacket and a hat are really necessary.

There are three different styles which are Freeriding, freestyle and Freecave. This sport is consider and Olympic sport since the year 1998.

References:

• Andersen Even  (2011) Snowboard Freestyle ||Best Ever|| HD (DC proteam) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQB3kl-TSdw.
• Emaus(2012)SnowboardWikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowboarding
• ABC max Livestyle, ABC of snowboarding. http://www.abc-of-snowboarding.com/info/
• ESPM action sports (2012) http://espn.go.com/action/xgames/summer/2012/story/_/id/7963950/x-games-los-angeles-2012-guest-information

Gabonak!!

Abenduan gaudenez,(abenduaren 10ean hain zuzen ere)Gabonei buruz hitz egitea erabaki dut. Gabonak, munduko toki guztietan ez dira berdin ospatzen. Nik , euskal herriko gabonen gainean hitz egingo dut.
Gabonak, modu askotara ospatu daitezke ( familiarekin, lagunekin, etxean, etxetik kanpo, beste herrialde baten…):
Normalean, familiarekin edo lagunekin ospatzen dira, ohitura bat delako .Gaur egun modernizazio garaiarekin batera aldatu egin dira ohitura hauek. Orain arte, familia guztia elkartu eta batera ospatu izan dituzte gabonak. Gabon egunean, 25ean denok batera afaldu eta gabez Olentzerok opariak ekartzen ditu etxeetara. 25 gauean, Olentzero herriz- herri pasatzen da umeak agurtzeko eta dantza egiten zaio. ( Euskal dantzak).Hurrengo egunean goizean opariak zabaldu eta batera bazkaldu ohi izaten dute familiek. Gabon zahar eguna, abenduak 31ean izaten da. 25etik 31ra bitartean, familiak batera jarraitzen dute edo lan egin behar dutenak 31rarte ez dira berriro elkartzen. 31 gauean, familia oso elkartu eta batera afaltzen dute,gaueko 12etan urte berria ospatzeko. Festa handiak egiten dira herri bakoitzean. Eta 12etako mahatsak jan ostean, etxean geratu eta familiarekin ospatu edota; lagunekin irtetea izaten da ohikoena.
Hasieran aipatu dudan bezala, ohikoena familiarekin ospatzea izan arren, gaur egun,jendeak beste modu batzuetara ospatu ohi dituzte gabonak. Adibidez, badago jende asko, bere herrietatik kanpo joan eta bertan ospatzen dituztenak. Normalean, toki epeletara jotzen du jendeak, gabonak Euskal herrian hotzak izaten direlako. Beste batzuk, herrialdean bertan geratuta, aterpetxeak alokatu eta bertan ospatzen dituzte. Horrela, ez dira etxea garbitzen ibili behar eta denbora libre gehiago izaten dute batera egoteko.
Gabonetan beti esan ohi izan da jendeak diru gehiago xahutzen duela( Oparietan, janarian…) Beraz, saltokiak honetaz baliatuz, prezioak igotzen dituzte. Gabonetan, beraien produktuak saltzeko iragarki deigarriak erabiltzen dituzte, honela, bezeroak bereganatu eta urtean zehar baino diru gehiago lortzen dute. Gabonak, gertu daudela ikusteko, komunikabideek eta saltokiek, iragarki gehiago erabiltzen dituzte: Interneta, telebista, irratia, kaleko propaganda… . Beraz esan genezake, sare sozial eta iragarki asko ikusi ditzakegula urteko sasoi honetan. Interneten, ingurukoei opariren bat egin nahi izan ezkero, edozer aurki dezakezu, telebistan eta irratian ere iragarkiak aurki daitezke, eta kalean zehar jendeak propaganda banantzen du ,nahi duen produktua jende guztiaren eskuetara hel daiten. Sare sozialei erabilpen asko ematen zaie sasoi honetan batez ere. Komunikabideak, telebista eta irratiak ere, gabonetako iragarkiz betetzen dira eta behin eta berriz agertzen dira bezeroak bereganatzeko eta produktua saltzeko.
Nire ustez, hasieran aipatu dudan bezala, gabonetan sare sozial gehiago eta iragarki deigarri gehiago ikus daitezke. Saltokiek, badakitelako jendeak sasoi honetan gehiago erosten duela, iragarkien bidez eta sare sozialen bidez bezeroak bereganatzen saiatzen dira bezeroak euren saltokia aukeratzeko eta ez beste bat. Beraz,konklusio giza esan dezaket, sare sozialak eta iragarkiak saltokiekin bat datozela eta langileek erabiltzen jakin behar dituztela beraien produktua aurrera ateratzeko eta bezeroak eurengana hurbiltzeko. Oso garrantzitsua da
hauek ondo erabiltzen jakitea, eta publikoa bereganatzea. Horretarako, erabiltzen diren iragarkiak edozein izan daitezke baina gaur egungo gustura eta erabilpenetara egokituta egon behar dira.

Minnesota, land of 10.000 lakes

When we talk about the USA, the first thing our imagination draws is the New York  skyline with hundreds of skyscrapers, thousands of people walking across the 5th avenue shopping, talking on their phones and the typical yellow taxi waiting at us at the John F Kennedy airport in New York. But of course, that’s only the picture created by Hollywood movies, which doesn’t really show everything and not even beautiful states from the USA that are barely named. As an example of this we have Minnesota.

Located in the Midwestern of the United States, Minnesota is known as “Land of 10.000 lakes” due to the tremendous amount of lakes distributed all around the state. The economy is based in agriculture producing sweet corn, sugar beets and green beens, and it is the first state in the farm-raised turkeys.

Hardly can anybody think that the origin of Minnesota is related with Indians, as we tend to relate the Indians with southern states such as Texas, Oklahoma or Arizona. But there is evidence that the Chippewa Indian colony lived there before the Europeans arrived. A clear evidence of this is the name of several counties located in the southeast called Kandiyohi or Chippewa. Later on, the French arrived to Minnesota followed by the British. And by 1800 it became the home for many Scandinavian and German immigrants who were looking for new land.

The climate changes in each season, having an abrupt temperature change between summer and winter. While the temperature in summer reaches easily 30 degrees, the winter is harsh reaching -20 degrees and with several blizzards that cover the landscapes with white snow. Fall and spring have slightly mild temperature. Due to the particular climate if the area, there is a special bird called the Common Loon, which has become the State Bird as it only inhabits in Minnesota.

The metropolitan area is focused in a particular area called the Twin Cities due to the closeness of the two main cities Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Even if Minneapolis is the most known and populated city, Saint Paul is the economic and political capital. In that area is located the main attraction for tourists: The Mall of America. It was until 2006 the biggest shopping mall in the world with more than 500 stores, an indoor amusement park, aquarium and daily events such as celebrity book signing or performance of famous singers.

Besides the consumerist attraction, Minnesota is the perfect state for outdoor activities. The long Mississippi riverside has beautiful walks. Even if it is a plain state, there are hills adequate for skiing and snowboarding, and the plain lands are a great opportunity for those who like bike rides around the lakes.

Overall, Minnesota is a traditional and conservative state distinguished from the regular image that people have about the USA. Its green and plain landscapes and just the simplicity of the state makes Minnesota a quiet and calm place for anyone who wants to visit it.

REFERENCES:

• Peterson, M., 2005. Minnesota Memories and Images, Cambridge, MN: Adventure.
• Ryan, G. & Beyer, S., 2004. Minnesota impressions, Minneapolis: Farcountry.
• Anon, Minnesota. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota.

Fashion in France

As everyone knows, France has always been the queen of fashion, the perfect style’s image.

Throughout the last century, France became the most representative of the country in the world of fashion, cosmetics and perfumery. Many or even all French brands are the leaders in these areas.

From haute couture to prêt à porter, from luxury perfumes to the cheapest, the whole spectrum of this sector has been held by French companies, some of which are world leaders. Brands such as Chanel, Christian Dior, Lacoste and Du Pareil have made this country a reference.

Nowadays, France continues inspiring the irresistible clothing brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Balmain, Lanvin …

Now I will give a brief summary of those companies which I think have inspired the fashion trends of other nations.

COCO CHANEL

Gabrielle Chanel was born in 1883 and she had, a sad childhood. Nicknamed Coco, or Mademoiselle, she had great strength of character. In 1910 she decided to open her first store, the store was called Chanel Modes.

Coco Chanel was not like any other. She invented the “sport” mode, she did not draw her models, it assembles on the client, she created a new silhouette, she also dared using the jersey for the first time, she cut her hair and appeared in trousers…

Aggressive for those days. She was always one step ahead of the trends of those days. In 1924 she created the a new perfume company and also a jewelry workshop to support her mode.

During the Second World War, Gabrielle Chanel withdraws.

It was not until 1983 and the arrival of KARL LAGERFELD that it was possible to see the brand of Chanel revived. He gives a new impetus to the fashion house while keeping the legacy of Mademoiselle Chanel. Today, it also represents the brand.

LOUIS VUITTON

Louis Vuitton was born in France in 1821 and finally moved to Paris, where he began his first steps as an apprenticeship with a bag manufacturer. One of his first achievements was to conquer the refined taste of the Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie, and from there, nothing was the same: that allowed him to capture the attention and taste of prestigious personalities. Finally his brand was born in the year 1854 as the reference point of leather goods, handbags and suitcases mainly. Like all great, the brand began to be forged and is today one of the most imitated brands.

In 1885, Louis Vuitton opened a store in London. In 1978, he managed to conquer Japan, the market of excellence luxury. Meanwhile the United States is the second largest market, where the brand has 85 stores.

In advertising campaigns, it is possible to see the most prestigious models in the world of fashion, few names: Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Eva Herzigova, who put their face and body to represent this brand

Nowadays the brand has 322 stores and is present in 52 countries. To do their job the brand leather workshops in France, Spain and California, and even today, most of these products are manufactured according to traditional methods, which characterize and distinguish this great company.

CHRISTIAN DIOR

Christian Dior consolidated his fashion brand as one of the most prestigious in the world. French couturier was also a visional in his time and has revolutionized haute couture with his style dubbed as “New Look”.

Dior began studying political science and music because the insistence of his parents, but he had other motivations.

The family business went bankrupt, so he decided to become a fashion model’s illustrator. He started selling his drawings to various newspapers of Paris, but he found a job in 1938 as a designer in the business models of Robert Piguet.

In 1946, he set up his own Parisian couture company with financial assistance from the textil manufacturer Marcel Boussac. The following year, he presented his first collection that marked the evolution and became known as the “New Look.”

The style of the French couturier made his point to create an image of a  very feminine woman with mid-calf skirts, tight waist and narrow shoulders.

Following the introduction of this new style, the fashion designer opened a year later an office in New York and with later the company would expand to other major cities such as Milan, Tokyo, Shanghai , Hong Kong, Boston, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Las Vegas or San Francisco.

Black, blue and white are Dior’s favorite colors, who kept every detail accompanied by exquisite elegance and refined. After his death in 1957, the company continued with successors as Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan and Gianfranco Ferre. John Galliano is now who deals with the design of models of the brand.

A clockwork orange

A clockwork orange is a film produced in 1971, written and directed by Stanley Kubrick and bassed on the Anthony Burgess novella A clockwork orange. The film shows disturbing and violents images of the young gang that appears in the film.

CAST

Malcom McDowell as Alex 

James Marcus as Georgie

Warren Clarke as Dim

                                                                                                                                         

 

PLOT

The film happens in a futuristic London. Alex, is the leader of a gang called “droogs“. One night, after drinking “milk plus“ in their favourite bar, they go to a writter’s house asking for help, and when his wife opens the door, they come in, rape and kill the woman and torture the writer.After that, they go to their houses until next day, when Alex’s “droogs” believe that he wouldn’t be the leader and face him by leaving him alone in a house while he’s illegally entering it.

After killing the woman, the police finally arrives and sends him to jail, where he almost “recoveres” and is sent to a psychiatric where he is used to proove the Ludovico technique. After this, he ends up worse than he had arrived, because if he saw a little sign of violence around him, made him feel sick, so he couldn’t stand it.

When he goes out of the psychiatric, he discoveres that two of his “droogs” have become policeman, and in a sign of superiority they immerse Alex’s head in water almost drowning him. After being hit and dropped by the policemen at a house he asks for help, and he realizes that he is in the house of the writer. The writher, who is aware od the Ludovico technique, torures Alex until he drops himself from the window.He finally wakes up in the hospital after being practised a lobotomy, so, instead of curing him, they make him stupid.

CURIOSITIES

• Kubrick came up with the idea of the unifor when Malcom McDowell showed him his cricket-player costume.
• While filming the Ludovico technique scene, McDowell scratched a cornea and ended up temporary blind.
• The doctor standing beside him, was a real doctor who made sure that McDowell’s eyes did not dry.
• The only special effect used in the film is when Alex jumps of the window atempting suicide. To film this scene, Kubrick dropped the camera 6 times from the window, so that the scene could be seen from Alex’s point of view.
• Kubrick had to re-edit the film a year after its release for having received death threats.
• The title refers to a say: “as queer as a clockwork orange”. Burgess thought that it could refer to a mechanical (clockwork) human (orang, that in Malay means “man”).

QUOTES 

Alex on a homeless:

“One thing I could never stand was to see a filthy dirty old drunky howling away at the filthy songs of his fathers and going blurp blurp in between as it might be a filthy old orchestra in his stinking rotten guts;I could never stand to see anyone like that. whatever his age might be, but more especially when he was real old like this one was”

Alex explaining their lifestyle:

” There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, sitting in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. Theyr sold milk-plus, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence”

The last words of the film, by Alex:

“I was cured, all right!”

EXPLANATION OF THE FINAL SCENE

After pronouncing the words “I was cured, all right!“, we can see that, in Alex’s mind, he is imagining an orgy of sex and violence, so it makes us think that he has been sarcastic with that last remark. Also could be, that the cure, by his point of view, was that he could think by himself again, no matter what society said.

 

REFERENCES TO “A CLOCKWORK ORANGE UN “THE SIMPSON’S”

It is a fact that “The Simpsons”  has made a reference to a clockwork orange several times. In fact, Matt Groening(the creator of “The Simpsons”, was a real fan of the film.

 REFERENCES

• Wikipedia. A clockwork orange (film)Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(film)#Further_reading [Accessed December 10, 2012].
• Burgess, A. The clockwork condition Available at: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/06/04/120604fa_fact_burgess%5BAccessed December 10, 2012].
• Flixster. A clockwork orange (1971)Available at: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/clockwork_orange/ %5BAccessed December 10, 2012].
• Hammer, B. Explanation of the ending of A Clockwork Orange. Available at: http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/678/explanation-of-the-ending-of-a-clockwork-orange %5BAccessed December 10, 2012].
• Agger, R. The power of drug. Available at: http://www.collativelearning.com/ACO%20chapter%2014%20.h

Basque Mythology

Basque Mythology has survived in the Basque Country since prehistory. The basque people have always had a strong own culture and  language, but later, their rites and beliefs were influenced by the Roman Empire and the Christianity.

The main deity in the Basque Mythology is Amalurra. The Earth is considered as the source that gives life to all beings and it is said that it holds many treasures inside.

Another important divinity in the Basque Mythology is the goddess Mari. She lives in   all the basque mountaintops and her most important dwelling is the Anboto´s cave, therefore she is called The Lady of Anboto, too. Mari represents the nature and the supreme ethical power. She can appear as a beautiful woman, as an animal, as a tree or as a weather phenomenon. It is said that Mari crosses the sky as a bright light to go to the Txindoki mountain from the Anboto. Her movements have a great influence in the weather and when she is in the Anboto is the time of raining and when she is in another mountain the weather is sunny.

The partner of Mari is Maju or Sugar. He is a darker god and he can appear as a man or as a snake or a dragon. He lives in other caves such as Amunda, Baltzola or Atarreta. He has two sons: Mikelatz (represents evil) and Atarabi (represents good). Maju was related with the Princess of Mundaka and it is said that  Jaun Zuria, the first mythological Lord of Biscay, was the result of this relationship.

Another divinity with great relevance is Eguzki Amandre, the Sun. She gives us the light and the heat and has the power to eliminate all the bad geniuses and the darkness. In many legends the Sun is considered as the God´s eye and a very extended tradition is to put an Eguzkilore (flower of the sun) in the doors of the houses to keep away the bad spirits. More information about the Eguzkilore.

Ilargi Amandre is the divinity of the Moon. She is considered as the God´s face and the light of the dead people. The last important deity is Urtzi, the Sky. It is said that this divinity has been influenced by the Norse mythology because of his similarity with the God Thor.

Apart from the divinities there are a lot of geniuses and elves. Some of them are:

• Basajaun: He is the Lord of the Forests. He is represented as a big man covered of hair with a claw-shaped foot. He helps the shepherds with their flocks and is a master of many crafts.
• Lamia: She is similar to the sirens or the nymphs. She is represented as a beautiful woman waist up but with flippers, hooves or fishtail depending on the zone where the lamia lives. Her favourite activity is to comb her long hair with a golden comb. She helps the humans when they need help but she can also be very evil if she doesn´t get what she wants.
• Jentilak: They were the first settlers of the Basque Country. They were very big and strong and could launch boulders great distances. With the arrival of Christianity they had to move to remote areas and they disappeared.
• Sorginak: They are female and evil geniuses sometimes. They could be priestesses of Mari. On Friday evening they celebrate the Akelarre, which was a meeting to worship the genius Akerbeltz.
• Tartalo: Is a terrifying cyclop who eats men and works as a pastor. It has a big influence from the greek mythology.
• Olentzero: He was a jentil but with the arrival of the Christianity it was adapted to the new religion. He was related with the time of the winter solstice and the burning of all the old things. Nowadays, he brings presents to the people announcing the birth of Christ and brings coal to those who have misbehaved.
• Iratxoak: They are elves that make mischiefs for the humans. The can appear in many different forms of animals or goblins. They are related to the ferns and they live in caverns and wells.

There are so much geniuses in the Basque Mythology and there are a lot of legends and stories about them such as the Galtxagorris, the legend of Martin Txiki or the Greedy Lamia. One of the most important writers and researchers was J.M Barandiaran, who wrote several books about the Basque Mythology. Nowadays, it is becoming more popular because of the foundation of some museums such as the JM Barandiaran of Ataun Museum and the Mythological Park of Mungia.

To sum up, I would say that the Basque Country has a rich mythology that has been influenced by many countries such as the nordic or the romans. One of the most remarkable characteristics of the Basque Mythology is that is matriarchal, and the female divinities are more than the male. It is very ancient and, like all mythology, contains a deep and complex meaning, therefore, I think that it is very interesting and it is a good idea to make it more known.

Bibliography:

• By Koldo Alijostes Bordagarai: https://sites.google.com/a/amaroa.com/mitologia-vasca/antiguas-divinidades
• By Koldo Alijostes Bordagarai: https://sites.google.com/a/amaroa.com/mitologia-vasca/personajes-mitologicos-de-vasconia
• http://www.portalvasco.com/historia/histo5.html
• http://www.ekiria.org (image)
• http://ruralconencanto.wordpress.com/2010/11/25/anboto-una-montana-magica/(image)

tobacco and its harms

Tobacco is the most consumed drug in our world. Some years ago it wasn’t frowned upon, but nowadays smokers are marginalized. Two years ago the Spanish parliament approved an anti-smoking law. Now smokers have to go out from where they are to smoke. And I think that this is a good law because non-smokers have to have more rights than the other. I dont mean that smokers deserve less rights but those who don’t like it should have priority.

Thats what smoking does to your body:
“Smoking hurts your lung’s natural cleaning and repair system and traps cancer-causing chemicals build in your lungs. Smoking destroys the tiny hairs, which line the upper airways and protect against infection. Normally, there is a very thin layer of mucous and thousands of these hairs lining the insides of your breathing tubes. The mucous traps the little bits of dirt and pollution you breath oxygen in, and the hairs move together like a wave to push the dirt-filled mucous out of your lungs. Then you have to waste your time coughing , swallow, or spit up the mucous, and the dirt is out of your lungs. When your lungs’ natural cleaning and repair system is hurt, germs, dirt and chemicals from cigarette smoke stay inside your lungs and never come out. This puts you at risk for a cough that never goes away, chest infections, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease .”

But not only those who smoke are who suffer it’s damage. I’m referring to secondhand smokers. Secondhand smokers are who breathe the smoke when they are not smoker, for example, children, waiters… here we have the result of the damage that it causes:

-The EPA says secondhand smoke causes 3,000 cancer fatalities in Americans each year.
– The American Heart Association says that secondhand smoke causes 50,000 fatal heart attacks in Americans each year.
– An unspecified number of Americans are dying each year from “respiratory illnesses” attributable to secondhand smoke.

Most of the smokers are young. There are only a few who start smoking being an adult.
Teenagers start with it because they think that it is cool or that they may have more friends.
I don´t know. But what we know is that smoking is really harmful for our health and we must
not start with it.
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The principal countries that cultivate tobaco are: Cuba, India, China, USA and Pakistan.
They use many pesticides that harm seriouly the ground. Tobacco companies recommend up to 16 separate applications of pesticides just in the period between planting the seeds in greenhouses and transplanting the young plants to the field. Pesticide use has started because the producers want to get larger crops in less time. Pesticides often harm tobacco farmers because they are unaware of the health effects and the proper safety protocol for working with pesticides. These pesticides, finally, end up in the soil, waterways, and the food chain.

References:

The Second-hand Smoke Will Endanger Non-smokers Health
·http://www.directessays.com/viewpaper/98472.html

Passionate Anti Smoking Tobacco
·http://www.123helpme.com/passionate-anti-smoking-tobacco-essay-view.asp?id=155505

Anti-Smoking Movement
·http://joedawson.org/Interests/SmokersRights/Essays/issues1.html

Tobacco
·http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco
·http://www.tobacco.org/