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THE ATLANTIC
How Kanye's Vocabulary Stacks Up to Shakespeare's
"I’ll teach you how to flow," Antonio tells Sebastian in The Tempest.
Almost as long as hip-hop has existed, scholars both professional and less so have made efforts to compare its lyrics to the work of Shakespeare. The Folger Shakespeare Library offered a lesson, "M.C. Shakespeare," that asked students to find comparisons between the rhymes of Bard and Busta.
TED TALK
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NPR best way to get women run for office
Women make up less than 20 percent of those serving in Congress, but more than half the population. There are many reasons for this, but one simple answer comes back again and again. It's about recruiting.
When got the call, she thought it was a joke. The call came from a man she had worked to help get elected.
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The Guardian
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Devant le succès rencontré par "learn English with photos, Jeffrey Hill, The English Blog propose à présent des leçons d'anglais illustrées par des vidéos authentiques:
Sur la même page, il nous propose des activités et des liens pour célébrer Shakespeare.
De son côté, Michèle Henry sur RESCOL propose une page rafraîchissante sur la mer:The SEA
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Walking in Dylan Thomas's footsteps in the "city of towers"
Dylan Thomas centenary: Exploring the poet's New York
article+ videos
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-27203520Dylan Thomas's centenary
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Why Paths of Glory is the one film you should watch this week – video
paths-of-glory-stanley-kubrick-film-video-review
The final scene:
The Guardian interactive : impressive changes. Ypres then and now
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The Guardian : A challenge for charity
Jack Monroe cooks on £1 a day for Live Below the Line 2014
It is possible to feed yourself on £1 a day – but it isn't easy. Jack Monroe explains how, and why, she took the challenge for charityIngredients for Jack Monroe's Live Below the Line challenge.
Photograph: Jack Monroe for the Guardian
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BBC NEWS : How 'Black Fives' led to racial integration in basketball (video)
"The term Black Fives refers to all-black basketball teams that thrived in the United States between 1904, when basketball was first introduced to African Americans on a large scale organized basis, and 1950, when the National Basketball Association became racially integrated. The period is known as the "Black Fives Era" or "Early Black Basketball" or simply "Black Basketball".
Early basketball teams were often called "fives” in reference to the five starting players. All-black teams were known as colored quints, colored fives, Negro fives, or black fives.
Dozens of all-black teams emerged during the Black Fives Era, in New York City, Washington, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and other cities. They were sponsored by or affiliated with churches, athletic clubs, social clubs, businesses, newspapers, YMCA branches, and other organizations.
The terms "Black Fives" and "Black Fives Era" are trademarked phrases owned by Black Fives, Inc., whose founder and owner, Claude Johnson, coined the terms while researching and promoting the period's history." Source: Wikipedia
Current exhibit at the New York Historical society
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Honesty of the Long-distance Runner!
Ivan Fernandez Anaya, Spanish Runner, Intentionally Loses Race So Opponent Can Win
"A Spanish runner has shown the world that sometimes, just sometimes, winning isn't everything.
Spanish athlete Ivan Fernandez Anaya impressed the world by giving up victory to do the right thing. According to El Pais, it happened as the 24-year-old raced a cross-country event in Burlada, Navarre on Dec. 2. 2012.
In second place to Abel Mutai, the Kenyan athlete who won a bronze medal in the London Olympics, Anaya suddenly had a chance to surge ahead. According to El Pais, Mutai mistakenly thought the end of the race came about 10 meters sooner than it did, and stopped running.
Then, he “looked back and saw the people telling him to "keep going" . "But since he doesn't speak Spanish he didn't realize it."
So Anaya slowed, guiding Mutai to the actual finish line.
Photo: El pais: Fernández Anaya helps Mutai toward the line. / CALLEJA (DIARIO DE NAVARRA)
And he didn't think much of it, either. Anaya told El Pais: "I didn't deserve to win it. I did what I had to do. He was the rightful winner. He created a gap that I couldn't have closed if he hadn't made a mistake. As soon as I saw he was stopping, I knew I wasn't going to pass him."
His actions may not have won him the match, or the approval of his coach, but they did get him a few new fans."
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another-bad-sign-for-america's-middle-class (article + videos)
"You don't have to be an economic victim of the Great Recession to know that America's middle class is being squeezed in an unprecedented manner. Not only is the U.S. middle class no longer the world's richest, according to recent research, but millions of families who were once financially secure are now living hand-to-mouth."
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International Workers' Day
Why we celebrate May 1st (Encyclopedia of Chicago)
"On May 1, 1886, Chicago unionists, reformers, socialists, anarchists, and ordinary workers combined to make the city the center of the national movement for an eight-hour day. Between April 25 and May 4, workers attended scores of meetings and paraded through the streets at least 19 times. On Saturday, May 1, 35,000 workers walked off their jobs. Tens of thousands more, both skilled and unskilled, joined them on May 3 and 4. Crowds traveled from workplace to workplace urging fellow workers to strike. Many now adopted the radical demand of eight hours' work for ten hours' pay. Police clashed with strikers at least a dozen times, three with shootings."
"Labor Day in the United States is a holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It is a celebration of the American labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country.
Labor Day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, who organized the first parade in New York City. After the Haymarket Massacre, which occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886, U.S. President Grover Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the affair. Thus, in 1887, it was established as an official holiday in September to support the Labor Day that the Knights favored.[1]
The equivalent holiday in Canada, Labour Day, is also celebrated on the first Monday of September. In many other countries (more than 80 worldwide), "Labour Day" is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers' Day, which occurs on May 1."
Source : Wikipedia
pbs video
(2011) CBS Chicago : 125 th anniversary of Haymarket riots article + very short audio
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In the NYT:Why some cannot celebrate
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LA Clippers owner race row ban welcomed
LA Clippers coach's relief at owner's ban
Sterling's views have 'no place in the NBA'
(See previous articles on this blog)
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Campaigning against racism in football
‘We are all monkeys’ – stars go bananas to support Alves against racism
(to "go bananas" : to become mildly crazy)
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Explanations and illustrations :
What some players are confronted with:
Dani Alves eats banana thrown at him.
After the match, the 30-year-old Alves posted a clip of the incident on Instagram, joking his father had always told him to eat bananas to prevent cramp.
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Let's remember Paul Canoville, Chelsea's first black player.
Poem Black and Blue written by an eight-year-old schoolboy
his autobiography : Black and Blue
BBC NEWS ARTICLE, September 2013
The Voice online
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Extracts from Bend it like Beckham
Whole scene + match + Joe : starts at 5'41
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TIME : D Day for Donald Sterling
A VOA Summary of the incident (video)
The Huffington Post
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A social media director for the Obama campaign tells the story of how a well-timed photo of Barack and Michelle Obama broke records for Twitter and Facebook
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BBC NEWS :Los Angeles Clippers in silent protest over racist remarks by their owner Donald Sterling
ON ABC5 :
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The Clippers players protested against their owner, Donald Sterling, before their playoff game
on Sunday night by ditching their team jackets and putting on logo-less red warmup shirts.
Photo: AP, Getty Images
"President Barack Obama's comment : President Obama, speaking at a news conference in Malaysia, called Sterling’s remarks “incredibly offensive.” “When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything, you just let them talk,” Obama added.
Another reaction on CNN
"Plantation mentality thrives in L.A. Clippers owner's suite"
By Paula Madison
April 28, 2014
Paula Madison's reaction(video)
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VOA NEWS Summary of incident and reactions(video)
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Another illustration of what some players are confronted with:
Dani Alves eats banana thrown at him.
After the match, the 30-year-old Alves posted a clip of the incident on Instagram, joking his father had always told him to eat bananas to prevent cramp.
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1968 Olympics Black Power salute: "Another silent protest"
Source : Wikipedia
A film was made : SALUTE
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Link to other articles I posted some time ago (racism in sport)
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this theme of racism and sport may also remind us of Invictus
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From the New York Post
French Tourist gives food to Richard Gere
Only one person, French tourist Karine Gombeau, offers Gere a bag of food, without knowing it’s the Golden Globe-winning actor. Gere happily took the bag and thanked the woman.
Actor Richard Gere plays such a convincing homeless man that a kindhearted woman — who had no clue he was really a famous actor worth nearly $100 million — gave him a bag of food on the set of his latest movie in Midtown.
Richard Gere as a homeless man at Grand Central Station while filming for his upcoming movie “Time Out of Mind.”
Photo: Splash News
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Your dictionary: examples of doublespeak
Before Orwell:
Oxymoronic Phrases
We're alone
No comment
Turned up missing
Where the truth lies
Specialize in everything
The rain is starting to stop.
Can I ask you a question?
You cannot know anything for sure
Thank God I'm an atheist.
New antiques arriving daily
Different, like everybody else
ready-to-eat frozen dinner
As famous as the unknown soldier
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This page intentionally left blank ( a student?)
I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous .
That shoe fits you like a glove! (Prince Charming to Cinderella,)
See also "How to speak English at the café"!
just below
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Thanks to Jeffrey Hill ( The English Blog)
Cartoon explained on the English Blog : George Clooney gets engaged
Cartoon by Mac from the Daily mail
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Fred Brownell: The Man who made South Africa's flag
An interesting article about the history of the flag
+ videos
The multi-coloured flag of modern South Africa is a symbol of its post-apartheid rebirth. But while Nelson Mandela led the country on a "long walk" to freedom, the creation of the flag 20 years ago was a frantic sprint by an unsung hero, writes Xin Fan.
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'Little progress' on forest protection plan
Cartoon by Chris Madden
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http://eventsforchange.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/the-starfish-story-one-step-towards-changing-the-world/
Original story : The Star Thrower
extracts on Amazon.com (pages 170-184)
The story has been adapted by many motivational speakers and also for children
the-star-thrower-story on ABC