Mecca

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By   Ibrahim Al Radi, Saudi Arabia

  It is in the west of Saudi Arabia. It is a city in the Hejaz Area in Saudi Arabia. It is the capital city of the Mecca region.

            Mecca has two million people. It has many of the features of the Islamic holy Grand Mosque.

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          The Grand Mosque is the holiest place on earth for Muslims because it houses the Kaaba that Muslims kiss in prayer 5 times a day for more than (1.5) billion Muslims in the world. Many Muslims visit Mecca during the Hajj and Umrah seasons.

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             The prophet Muhammad communicated his messages to all people in the world from Mecca.

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           All Muslims enjoy traveling to places in Mecca. Saudi Arabia is making great efforts to serve them by increasing service and creating large developed areas in Mecca.

Technology

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by Mohamed Mahmoud, Saudi Arabia.

 

       The world has become dependent on technology more than the past. People are using more than one type of technology in their daily lives, for example, phones, cars, laptops, lights, air conditioners , televisions and more.technology makes life easier. you can communicate with other people from other countries or continents from your home not only in text messages, but also by different ways, for example, voice calls or video calls. In addition, technology makes the world smaller where you can know the news about any country at any time.

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       On the other hand, technology has disadvantages, too. These days, most people have become addicted to their phones or computers. They use the phone when they are driving, or maybe when they are crossing a street which is very dangerous. In addition, some of these technologies are very harmful for eyes, especially if you use phone or computer for a long time. Also, it leads to isolation sometimes.

       Therefore, we consider technology is a double-edged sword. If you use it well, it will be very helpful, but it could be dangerous if you don’t handle it well. I think you can avoid all these disadvantages easily, for example, by control the amount of time you use your phone or computer. In the end, it depends on the person who uses these technologies.

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How to dive

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Tariq ALsamiri

from kSA

 

I need a equipment for dive.

 

mask and snorkle and fins and booties and weight beit and ( BCD ) bouyancy compensaor and cylinders and compass and watches and knive .

I learned how to dive 10 years ago diving alon is very dingerus you take professional partner with you there is a trader dive alon and die alon so you must choose a partner in the diving also the place and the right time for dive and take the extreme degree of safety.

Santa Barbara Places, I Liked Most

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Jasmin Hengartner, Switzerland

 

Most visited Place:Image result for state street santa barbara

Is State Street, you can buy there everything you want from clothes to food. I walk everyday across the State Street, but if you want to walk the hole street, you have to be sporty because its a long street. There is a little Passage called Paseo Nuevo, where are cute stores and many little restaurants. But State Street is a expensive street, if you want to safe money, you should probaply go to another one. I think the street is the most popular thing in Santa Barbara, because you can meet people and do a lot.

 

Most Beautiful Beach:

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Is Butterfly beach. He is a bit farer away than West Beach, but i think it is worth it. The water is very clearly and there is more sober sand. You have more space because there are not many people. I was there for two times and i loved it. In the wate you can see some small fishes, they are very cute.

 

Best Food:

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The best food is across the street from our EF school and called South Coast Deli. They serve sandwiches, paninis and many salads. All food is fresh and every student from EF is going there. I think because of the cheap prices and big sizes from the meals. So you dont have to be hungry anymore.

Santa Barbara

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By Abdulaziz Jastaniah, Saudi Arabia.

 

The Weather :

The weather in Santa Barbara has warmer winters and cooler summers compared to places farther inland. In the winter, storms reach California, some of which have heavy rainfall.

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State Street :

Is the best street i have ever seen, it has a lot of interesting places. Also, you can find everything you want. For example,there are a lot of american restaurant, movie theaters, Pharmacies, supermarkets, coffees, libraries, Apple store, shopping places and more ! There are a lot of celebrations every year on this street.

 

The Beach :

I used to go to the beach every weekend. I always went there with my friends and played volleyball together and sometimes swam. I really loved it and i had great time there.

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Welcome To Japan

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Kenta Yamauchi, Japan

1.About Tokyo

Tokyo is the most famous Japanese city. In addition,Tokyo is a major city in Japan.

There are a variety of attractions in Tokyo,for example,Tokyo Tower,Sky Tree…

I think you guys ought to come to Japan!

2 .My Food Recommendations

Japanese food is very delicious and famous around the world. I love Japanese food.

Anyway I will introduce my recommended food.

First…Sushi

Second…Ramen

Finally…Okonomiyaki

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3.Famous Places

Tokyo is a beautiful town.You know?

Have you been there? You should come to Tokyo! Some famous places are Tokyo station,Sky Tree,Tokyo Tower,Asakusa Temple…

In addition to that I will also introduce you to a lot of good place.

 

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What’s Interesting In Nice ?

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By Melanie BELLOCHIO, France

 

Nice is located in the South of France between Marseille, Cannes and Monaco.The weather is really nice and there are not so many building, that’s why many tourists want to visit this city. Moreover, the mountains are not so far away from the city : you can go to ski just in 1h30 by car.

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There is a beautiful point of view of Nice from “la colline du chateau” or the castle hill. By elevator or by walk for the most athletic people. You can see a beautiful waterfall, walk in a park or just chillout in front of the view. This castle is also famous because it is the finish line of many sporting competitions.

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The most famous street in Nice is “la promenade des anglais”. This avenue is between the pebble beach (and not a sand beach) and the old downtown. Walkers, cyclists, riders and skateboarders share the sidewalk for 7 kilometers. The downtown is very cute and safe. Most students go out in the downtown during the night by tramway. It’s common to meet their friends, to eat something in a restaurant or a fast food place and go to a bar until 3 or 4 am. I can recommend a good restaurant-bar called ” le Blast” where you can eat Mexican food and drink very good cocktails. There are many other great bars in the downtown. Sometimes, you can meet students with a costume, because in few university, there are costume partys in the bars in the downtown.

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Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership by Mattis Bieg, Germany

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Currently in negotiations the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a trade agreement with the aim to strengthen and boost the US economy and the member nations of the European Union. The supporters of the partnership are claiming that the trade agreement will result in the creation of millions of jobs for American and European citizens; furthermore, they assert it could have a positive impact on the economy of the EU and the USA. According to the European Commission, the partnership could boost the economy by at least 90 billion dollars just for the USA. However critics believe that big corporations will exclusively profit from the partnership and the positive effects on families and private households won’t compensate the disadvantages in sectors such as environmental protection, consumer protection and food safety acts. In addition, the negotiations between the USA and the EU are criticized for being undemocratic and for haggling behind closed doors without including the public in the decision making process.

The TTIP should be publicly discussed if it is morally defendable to support a trade agreement which could result in the expansion of an already immense wealth gap. According to the book Capital by Thomas Piketty the imbalance will result in a decreasing economic potential for both parties. Furthermore, TTIP strengthens social injustice and the exploitation of minorities and workers in the low-paid sector and the creation of a justice system independent from domestic laws for big companies who will then be able to sue countries via international arbitrations for a potential loss of profit due to domestic consumer protection laws or environmental protection laws.

To ensure that the interests of the US and EU economies as well as big corporations are represented in the negotiations, the leading US negotiators are mostly former lobbyists. For example, Michael Froman, trade representative for the USA and chief negotiator of TTIP, was paid four million dollars by his former employer to take on this task. Other examples are Islam Siddiqui who is a former lobbyist of Crop Life which is representing establishments like Bayer, BASF and Monsanto, or Robert Holleyman who has been an Apple and Microsoft lobbyist for over 20 years. But the EU is no better. Even though there are over 15,000 lobbyists working in Brussels, the negotiators of the EU still thought it would be necessary to have over 520 meetings with neoliberal-related lobbyists.

Perhaps the influence of the lobbyists isn’t a problem at all, because there is at least the potential that those companies involved won’t act selfishly or only focus on their own interests. Lobbyists for example possess an advanced knowledge about finances and management; these skills have been used by the Swiss government to budget the building of the world’s longest tunnel and to stick to the time schedule, which was a complete success. Additionally not all lobbyists are related to finance and business, some of them work for social organizations like the Human Rights Watch, the Freedom House or even the ICRC.

So what could be the other consequences of TTIP? Positive effects of TTIP would be the creation of a strong trade union, which could protect the members of this union from a potential global economic crisis. Other benefits are surely the reduction of beurocratism and the unnecessary costs of domestic customs for export and import. Furthermore, trade with foreign countries who ratified TTIP will be far easier than current conditions. In addition, TTIP will lead to the cultural exchange of goods.

The trading partnership will definitely have an impact on consumer protection, environment protection and worker’s rights. In those cases, the effects will be especially negative for the EU, due to the fact that they have stricter and more diverse laws and restrictions. One just needs to take a look at the list of prohibited chemical and biological substances; of the 1,300 forbidden substances in the EU, only 11 are forbidden in the USA. For example, asbestos (used in the shipbuilding and construction industry), which was clearly and without any doubt declared as a threat to health and a carcinogen, is still commonly used in plenty of goods in the USA. Furthermore, the USA has only ratified two out of eight ILO-norms (International Labor Organization) which would be forced labor and child labor in its worst forms. Obviously this doesn’t mean that the USA is one of the worst countries regarding workers rights, because countries like Syria have ratified all ILO-norms and Iran five of eight, and surely the people there don’t have more workers rights than the people in the USA. However, this kind of behavior illustrates a certain attitude towards the lack of protection of workers in the USA. For example 25 states in the USA have special Right-to-work-laws which restrict the funding of labor unions and worker councils. An example of this would be the Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama which is the only factory of Mercedes worldwide without a committeeman.  In addition, there are countless further cases of egoistic and immoral behavior by international businesses. A great example would be the Canadian establishment, Gabriel Resources, which focuses on the mining of gold in Romania. Romania and Canada signed a trading partnership to protect the interests of companies and investors. However Gabriel Resources is currently suing the state of Romania for prohibiting the project due to the planned use of cyanide during mining, which is against the environmental laws of the EU, to which Romania is applying for a membership. Cyanide is also called a ticking bomb due to the fact that it is highly toxic and even deadly. Further examples for this controversy would be the lawsuit against Estonia for regulating its financial institutions or Uruguay for labeling cigarettes with health warnings. In general this wouldn’t be a problem if the case was held in front of a domestic judge, but those cases are fought in front of international arbitrators, whose lawyers and judges are often selected by the businesses themselves. In addition there is no inclusion of third-parties or witnesses if one of the partners doesn’t agree.

Considering all this information, the negotiation procedure has to be changed in order to include the public and to prevent secret unwritten agreements with the aim to loosen regulations in favor of big companies. Furthermore, the discussion about hard-won workers’ rights, as well as the preparation to introduce a parallel justice system for globalized companies, has to be put to an end to fulfill the aim of serving the citizens and providing them benefits through the TTIP deal. If they conform to the requirements, TTIP is more likely to make a positive change in our daily lives, improve the economy and to strengthen the USA and the EU, if they don’t protect the workers and citizens it will have disastrous impacts on our societies.

Cartoons:

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Recommendations:

  • Thank You for Smoking (2005, USA)
  • Why the Deadly Asbestos Industry Is Still Alive and Well (Vice Reports)
  • TTIP-leaks (Greenpeace, Netherlands)
  • TTIP (Vice Reports)

 

Autism as a Unique World

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by Klaudia Lubczuk, Poland

Today’s world is full of people whose behavior is difficult for us to understand. Seldom are we drawing attention to these people who, despite having specific disabilities, are unique. One of these disabilities is autism, which is invisible to the eyes. Autism is one of the major issues affecting children nowadays. Although, do we know for sure what the condition involves? Autistic children with language and cognitive abilities is the topic which I would like to raise. This subject is close to my heart, because in the future I would like to work with autistic children, helping them with everyday reality.

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that can cause problems with thinking, feeling, language and the ability to relate to others. To the main symptoms of ASD we can include limited ability to initiate and sustain social contacts, deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as repetitive, stereotyped forms of activity and behavior. Cognition deficits of autistic people relate to deficits in the development of the theory of mind.

“By THE TIME I’d returned to my old school, I was so withdrawn that I had little idea of what was going on around me.  As I gradually emerged, it was once again into a world of things. I became fascinated with words and books, and making outside order out of inner chaos.”

Donna Williams, “Nobody Nowhere”

Helen Tager-Flusberg in 1995 carried out research based on detailed studies of autistic children’s narrative story-telling abilities by PhD Loveland and her colleagues. Loveland asked autistic children to tell the story that they were watching in the form of a puppet show. She found out that autistic children weren’t able to retell the story. Furthermore, some of them in this research failed to understand the events. Thus, we can speak about the lack of cultural perspective, imagination of others intentions, desires or the ways of thinking. These deficits can have a strong impact on fundamental aspects of autism, for instance, participation in social interactions.

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Hinging on the foregoing research, Helen Tager-Flusberg wanted to verify autistic children narrative abilities. She asked 10 autistic and 10 developmentally typical children to narrate a story from a wordless picture book. The book was telling the story about a boy, whose lovely frog ran away at night. This is a typical task for examining the theory of mind. In narrative stories, it was difficult to identify the character’s emotions, and only 4 of the 10 children reported a solution to the character’s situation. Autistic children were using very expressive language, they were minimally narrating picture stories, not describing the main characters. In their stories there was lack of cause-effect relationships. Henceforth, we can see the deficits in understanding others intentions and mental states. The empathy level of autistic children’s is relatively low.

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Whenever we are raising the narrative abilities issue, we need to remember how big an impact it has on the theory of mind. Autistic children’s stories represent particular deficits in understanding both mental states and other’s emotions. Deficits in emphatic behaviors can be broaden by usage of strong expressive language which, widely considered, is inadequate to socially agreed standards. Furthermore, deficits in the theory of mind can bring many complications. In 1992, Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues had put forward a hypothesis that autistic children have problems with understanding other’s desires, beliefs and intentions. These elements concur to support the theory of mind which is indispensable to understanding and predicting other’s behaviors. Baron-Cohen mentioned as well that autistic people can perceive the world as chaotic or even intimidating. Not only social contacts but also attempts to understand them will end up in failure. The motivation to begin social interactions is very common for autistic children, nonetheless, the biggest barrier is misunderstanding the function of communicating, as well as their limited skills in people-to-people contacts.

In essence, autistic children have many difficulties with everyday reality. Despite having motivation to communicate with others, they cannot understand the process of communication. Perceiving the world as chaotic or even intimidating should not affect autistic people. Our duty is to make their life easier, because they see the world  in different colors than we do.

Women in the 21st century

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Rosa Cuesta Valentin, The Netherlands

Most people find feminist annoying. Feminist complain, feminist are fat, feminist are not able to get a man, feminist live in houses with way too many cats and most of all: feminists hate men. The F-word, feminism, still remains a negative topic in this, so-called to be, 21st century ‘modern world’. Which seems totally unfair, when you know that there doesn’t exist a single place on earth where men and women have the same rights.

Ever since the beginning of the feminist movement, the development of women has been blocked by both traditional thinking and stereotypes. Even in The United States of America, which is claimed by many to be the country of freedom, respect and equality, men and women are not equal. Women everywhere in this world are still subordinate to men. Difference in wage between men and women while having the same job function, stereotypes which demand certain behavior from both women and men, the acceptation of the lower position of women in Arabian countries. They all prove us the reality of gender inequality of today’s life.emma-watson

Women are subordinate to men, even here in the US in the 21st century. I don’t know whether I am a feminist or not, but when I watched Emma Watson’s speech for the HeforShe Campaign on feminism at the United Nations I felt every word she said. I had my doubt when writing about this subject, just as Emma Watson had her doubts on giving her speech. However, beyond the  fear she might had felt , more outstanding to me was the power and strength that she radiated as she spoke. ‘I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen, to speak up.’  It were her last words that gave her, and me, the strike-through we needed: ‘Ask yourself ‘If not me, who? And if not now, when?’.