DIAMONDS ARE WORTHLESS! (Money and Finance)

Short documentary about the marketing techniques surrounding diamonds. Consider this before LAYING OUT big money for a shiny rock to signify your love for someone...




BONUS!!! I sure do love ruining things!!!!

Death Penalty Mega Post

Polls related to death penalty opinions in the USA.

Time magazine article about the death penalty. 

US News article about the death penalty

Death Penalty information. An excellent resource for both sides of the debate.

Death penalty vocabulary. Please try to use this vocabulary during the debate. Also check out this glossary of terminology from PROCON.org.

A	B
Repeat Offender	someone who keeps committing crimes
Felony	serious crime such as rape and murder
Misdemeanor	less serious crime such as shoplifting
Hung Jury	when a jury cannot come up with a decision
To sentence	to give a punishment
To commit	do
Death Row	place where an inmate waits to die
to reinstate	make a law again
prosecution	lawyer(s) for the state
to be charged with	accused of doing a crime
verdict	the decision of the jury
defense	lawyer(s) for the accused on trial
parole	time after prison where a convict is watched for good behavior
to try	to bring to court and have a jury decide
to convict	to find someone guilty of the crime
to appeal	to get a second chance in court with a different jury
armed	carrying a weapon
manslaughter	less serious murder; like an accident
premeditated murder	most serious murder offense
to acquit	to find a person innocent or not guitly of the crime
to witness	to see a crime
lethal injection	method of execution
Criminal liability phase	court process: when the jury decides if a person is guilty or not guilty
A plea	when the defendant says he is "guilty" or "not guilty"
inmate	someone in prison
penalty phase	court process when the jury decides on the sentence (punishment)

National ID card! THAT GOES AGAINST MY FREEDOM!!!!!!!1 REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

For all of my European students...

What is Europe?

by harrymuesli3 hr

Where does Europe start? And where does it end? Let's find out, shall we?

Obviously, the EU is as good a starting point as any. That MUST be Europe, right?

Then let's include countries on the Balkan, as well as the Ukraine corner, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland. Nobody'll argue this is Europe!

So, while we're at it -- Russia can't really NOT be part of our little experiment. We're ignoring the whole Ural thing for now because Russia is Russia, wherever a Russian may be Russian to or from. And when we add Russia, we can add Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. And while we're adding Eurovision countries, let's just get it over with and add the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, some of the Europeanest of European cultures.

When we add certain (ex) European colonies, we have to add the rest of them too. So there we go.

Taiwan, Japan and South Korea Europeanized quicker than Europe ever did itself. So we'll add those too. And after 40 years of rapidly shedding its communist feathers for good ole American capitalism, China needs to be included as well. Then there's Iran and North Korea - they're very European in the sense that no European ever feels safe without a common enemy. Also, Kim Jong Un studied in Europe and Iran seemed pretty European before it suddenly wasn't anymore.

So, at long last, there you have it: Europe! In all its glory, with every square cm of possible territory included!

Rubric for Subculture/Counterculture Presentation

Here you can see how you will be graded on your presentation. This is so I can give you some feedback that is consistent among the entire class. Use this to help plan your presentation. Good luck. And don't f*** it up.

A new album from a great artist.

One of my all-time favorite bands is The Knife. The Knife is composed of Karin Dreijer Andersson and her brother Olof Dreijer. Unfortunately, this band broke up a few years back. T'was a sad day indeed. But! Karin also has her own solo project where she goes by the name Fever Ray. She released an album under this moniker a few years back and it had some great tracks like these...



AND



It's been 8 years and many thought that she was done making music but I'm happy to say she's back. Enjoy some new music and music vids from this excellent Swedish electronic artist and performer.

Grammar: Quantifiers!

There are a lot of quantifiers out there. A lot of, many, much, lots of... but how do we use them all? If you want good answers to tough questions about English grammar who do you look to? THE ENGLISH of course! Check out this link from Cambridge English to learn more about how, when, and where to use quantifiers properly and effectively. 

A tv show!

http://nonton01.com/seasons/westworld-season-1/

Lifespans are Long Enough. Formal Debate (Intensive listening practice)

New York Times Article and Podcast Episode About Trump and His Reality Show 'The Apprentice'

Podcast Episode about Trump's reality show The Apprentice. I could not recommend this episode more.

Embedded: 6 Lessons about Trump.

New York Times Article:

For Trump, the Reality Show Never Ended

Senator Bob Corker (R) has clashed with Trump publicly. Something most Republicans would only dream of doing.

How do you rate this communication between Eric Andre (Host) and Jack Black (Comedian)

Trump at the UN! What were we thinking...? "Rocket man is on a suicide mission..."

Check out a more formal review of the POTUS at the UN here from the New York Times.

The Vietnam War

Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed. Napalm is very powerful, but faith, forgiveness, and love are much more powerful. We would not have war at all if everyone could learn how to live with true love, hope, and forgiveness. If that little girl in the picture can do it, ask yourself: Can you?

“

”

Kim Phúc (Pictured in the center), NPR in 2008This is easily one of the most iconic photos of the Vietnam war and Kim's quote says everything I feel about war and more. If you wish to know more about the war I highly suggest watching the new Ken Burns documentary series, "The Vietnam War." The first 5 episodes of the series are now available to stream here. 
Other films I would suggest seeing if you wish to know more about the American perspective of the Vietnam war would be Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now! (1979), and Oliver Stone's Platoon (1986). Let me know if you have a chance to see any of these films and what impression they had on you. I love these movies because they let me know about how horrifying war is and that there is little glory to be had in it. 

HYPNOSIS!

A fascinating documentary from one of my favorite documentarians: The one, the only, Louis Theroux. Do you believe in the POWER OF HYPNOSIS!?!?!?!?!?

Youtube Update!

Please check out these latest videos from some of my favorite youtube channels! Enjoy!

Black Holes, White Supremacy, and an Online Community in English.

How do black holes work? What happens when matter is taken inside of them? What is the closest thing on Earth to a black hole? Watch this great video from Kurzgesagt to find out.


If you liked this video, check out Kurzgesagt's youtube channel.

Recently there have been some shocking events happening surrounding the removal of Confederate Civil War statues. To many, these statues represent the worst aspects of the Civil War: mostly the fact that it was fought to keep blacks enslaved as free labor for rich Southern farmers. Now many want these monuments taken down but some have come together to protest this. Watch this short documentary about what happened when protestors came to Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the removal of these statues. Were they really there to protest the statues being taken down? Or was there something else on their minds? You be the judge.

WARNING: This video contains images of graphic violence and language that may not be considered suitable for some.WARNING! 


You may have heard this chant during the video, "Blood and Soil!" What does it mean? Where does it come from?


Would you like to find a community that constantly posts in English where there is an unlimited amount of articles to read, comment on, and read comments on? A place that is mostly populated by native English speakers? Where is there such a place on the internet? Heard of Reddit?

reddit.com

Here is a screenshot of what reddit looks like. Confusing? I thought so too.

Well. Here's how it works. Reddit is organized into categories. These categories are called 'subreddits' (/r/). A subreddit could have any possible category you can think of. From technology (r/technology), politics (r/politics), cute animals (r/aww), funny dogs (r/rarepuppers), to crazy nature gifs (r/natureisf***inglit), to video games (r/gaming). to see any of these categories in their entirety simply type Reddit.com + /r/(any category you want). E.g. I like pokemon soooo... reddit.com/r/pokemon  

Now lets look closer at a category. I also like funny dogs so I'll go to /r/rarepuppers. 

and lets click on that link I underlined... and heres what we get.

awesome. SO GO EXPLORE! Ask me if you have any questions! And also check out this link to learn more about how reddit works. 

Documentaries, News, Politics, Optimistic Nihilism!

A documentary! Louis Theroux, my favorite documentarian, spends some time with Americans who like to call themselves Nazis. If you've never seen Theroux before you will be amazed with his ability to keep his cool around some of the strangest people on this planet.

“I’m not a racist and actually I think it’s wrong to be a racist and so I feel as though by saying whether I’m Jewish or not I’m kind of, in a way, acknowledging the premise that it really matters when I think it shouldn’t and it doesn’t.” 

News:
A very interesting article about the summer of 1977 and a serial murderer known to all New Yorkers as 'Son of Sam.'

Son of Sam 40 years later and other New York News

Hit the link below the pic to watch a full
episode of the Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

July 25th, 2017


How do you view life? You only get one shot at it...

Wonder Woman and What's going on with Trump these days?

First. A video that will teach you a bit about the origins of Wonder Woman and her inspiration. Hopefully this is the beginning of a series of awesome Wonder Woman stuff since we need more role models like this. After, please enjoy a quick recap of the insanity that has been going on involving Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. this week. Basically, he met with a Russian lawyer who has ties to the Kremlin after he learned that she had information that was damaging to Ms. Clinton in June of 2016... If it looks like collusion, smells like collusion, and walks like collusion... is it collusion? You be the judge.



And now... the Trumpageddon...

Podcast Project

This project is due MONDAY, MAY 1st

Ok! So here are the basic instructions for you podcast project. By your own admission you have fallen into the category of pessimist(realist) or optimist(idealist) when it comes to the future of humanity. Now I want you to take your views and express them in a thoughtful way by using actual information that you have gathered and to bring it up in a discussion with your assigned partner.

1. Partner Assignments

Angelica/Zaac
Elias/Henry
Faith/Carolina
Benny/Tabatha
Diana/Emil
Luis/Monica/Nadia

Lourdes (own opinion)

2. Research
Use various sources to back up your opinions on the future of humankind. You don't need to debate your partner but if you wish you certainly may.

Possible Websites to use
https://arstechnica.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/
https://www.reddit.com/r/space/
nytimes.com
bbc.co.uk
washingtonpost.com
https://techcrunch.com/
http://www.popsci.com/
http://www.futureforall.org/future-technology-web-sites.html

3. Record

Record a 5 to 10 minute conversation with your partner where you BOTH express your views on the future on humankind. Your thoughts do not obviously need to perfectly reflect your choice of optimist or pessimist but you should try to defend and express your opinions in your conversation.

4. Grading

I will be listening for accuracy/clarity of speech, pronunciation, variety and usage of grammatical structures and vocabulary, as well as the quality of the content produced. Good luck!

Tips: I highly recommend before sitting down to do your podcast your write out your notes about what have discovered in your research in bullet point form to make it easy for you to bring up the information quickly if you need to in your conversation. People who make podcasts weekly do hours of research on the subject and are able to have the information ready immediately so that there is no dead space in the podcast.

Also, you may edit or cut out portions of your podcast if you wish with editing software. I recommend using Audacity for this purpose.

Looney Tunes

Why watch Trump when you can see the real thing!!!???

Living Longer B1.2

Here (Living Longer) is an article from the National Institute on Aging about how much longer people are living. How old would you like to be? Come to me with any vocabulary in the article you find difficult and I will be happy to help! Enjoy!

Argumentative Essay Examples

Please follow the links below to see a few examples of university student argumentative essays on some different topics.

Having Children
For 1
For 2

Against 1
Against 2
Against 3

Marijuana Legalization

The Environment: Before the Flood documentary

A listening for any level related to the environment and environmental issues in the United States and around the world. Click the link UNDER the picture to start watching. Enjoy.

Before the Flood || The Garden of Earthly Delights (~1510) by Hieronymus Bosch. 

Isolation

Here is a great episode from a new series about the mind on Youtube. Enjoy! Please use subtitles if necessary to write down new vocabulary. Also. Do you think you could stay in isolation for 3 days???

HYPERNORMALISATION: a new documentary from Adam Curtis

Taken from Adam Curtis's blog. 

"I have a new film going up on iPlayer this Sunday - the 16th. Here’s a background to what the film is about. And a trail.

We live in a time of great uncertainty and confusion. Events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control. Donald Trump, Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, random bomb attacks. And those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed - they have no idea what to do.

This film is the epic story of how we got to this strange place. It explains not only why these chaotic events are happening - but also why we, and our politicians, cannot understand them.

It shows that what has happened is that all of us in the West - not just the politicians and the journalists and the experts, but we ourselves - have retreated into a simplified, and often completely fake version of the world. But because it is all around us we accept it as normal.

HyperNormalisation

The film has been made specially for [online viewing] - and is a giant narrative spanning forty years, with an extraordinary cast of characters. They include the Assad dynasty, Donald Trump, Henry Kissinger, Patti Smith, the early performance artists in New York, President Putin, intelligent machines, Japanese gangsters, suicide bombers - and the extraordinary untold story of the rise, fall, rise again, and finally the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi.

All these stories are woven together to show how today’s fake and hollow world was created. Part of it was done by those in power - politicians, financiers and technological utopians. Rather than face up to the real complexities of the world, they retreated. And instead constructed a simpler version of the world in order to hang onto power

But it wasn’t just those in power. This strange world was built by all of us. We all went along with it because the simplicity was reassuring. And that included the left and the radicals who thought they were attacking the system. The film shows how they too retreated into this make-believe world - which is why their opposition today has no effect, and nothing ever changes.

But there is another world outside. And the film shows dramatically how it is beginning to pierce through into our simplified bubble. Forces that politicians tried to forget and bury forty years ago - that were then left to fester and mutate - but which are now turning on us with a vengeful fury."

An article on VICE about Mr. Curtis and his new work.

TRAILER


Prepare yourself. This thing is about 3 hours long... also, take the time to re-watch something if you haven't learned about the topic before.

THE FILM (with reliable English subtitles)


 I have watched the film once and plan on watching it again soon. It is a tale that intrigues, confuses, and most of all, opens one's eyes to the fact that those who are worshipped as powerful cannot reconcile the fact that we live in a complex society and that any path to a more docile, obedient, and submissive society will be walked down. As a teacher, my goals are to help you see the world from many perspectives and in the documentary I believe Curtis creates an compelling narrative. The question remains though: How are we to get out of our comfort zones and take power back from those who have gained so much? What is the new ideology and who can possibly lead it?

Also, if we are to get out of our comfort zones/echo chambers/bubbles we must also hear any counter arguments and not allow any voice to be suppressed. So, I challenge you to find someone who disagrees with you on something and have a conversation with them.