Our World

Imagine...

2009-03-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

To end this blog I chose to post a song called "Imagine" (by John Lennon). I think it's a great music and we should pay atention to its lyrics. If this could happen, the world would be a better place: no racism, no prejudice, no xenophobia. We could have equal rights. There wouldn't be war and we could share the world in peace...

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky

Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say,
I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day
You'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say,
I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day
You'll join us
And the world will be as one

Diana Chagas

World Day for Cultural Diversity

2009-03-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

This video presents an initiative of UNESCO called "World Day for Cultural Diversity". It was a concert where people from different countries show a little of their culture, trough music.

Inês Estrelinha

Racism and Xenophobia

2009-03-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

Racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each racial group possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another racial group or racial groups.

Xenophobia is intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries.

Racism types:
Racial discrimination: Racial discrimination is treating people differently through a process of social division into categories not necessarily related to race.
Institutional: is racial discrimination by governments, corporations, educational institutions or other large organizations with the power to influence the lives of many individuals.
Economic: Historical economic or social disparity is alleged to be a form of discrimination which is caused by past racism and historical reasons, affecting the present generation through deficits in the formal education and kinds of preparation in the parents' generation, and, through primarily unconscious racist attitudes and actions on members of the general population.

Marco Franco

Super Size Me

2009-03-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

Super Size Me is a 2004 documentary film written, produced, directed and starring by Morgan Spurlock.

Spurlock's film follows a 30-day time period during which he limits himself to only eat McDonald’s food. The film documents this lifestyle's drastic effects on Spurlock's physical and psychological. Spurlock dined at McDonald's restaurants three times per day. Spurlock consumed an average 5,000 cal (the equivalent of 9.26 Big Macs) per day. As a result Morgan Spurlock gained 11, 1 kg a 13% body mass increase, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and liver damage. It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight he gained.

Marco Franco

Immigrants' Witness

2009-03-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

My mother, my grandfather and my grandmother were immigrants in France during eighteen years. So, I asked them about what let them to immigrate and about how they feel during those years.

"We decided to immigrate because we wanted to give our children a better life. In the beggining, we did't like to live in France because We didn't understand their lifestyle, their habits and customs. But then, when we adapted to all of it, we started to like France and people who live there. However, we missed "Our Portugal" and our family. So we decided to return. Besides all of it, our years in France were some of the best years that we had in our entire life."

My grandmother and grandfather' witness

"I went to France when I was twelve years old because my parents decided to immigrate in order to have a better life and to give me and my brother a better future. I was so young that I didn't understand why it was happening. But I didn't have any choice: I had to immigrate with them. My adaptation was hard because I was very much linked to my city and to my family that stayed in Portugal. I had to adapted to a new language, new habits, new climate conditions, a new lifestyle and other things. But, after all of it, I was totally integrated in french society. I studied there, worked and made friends for the rest of my life. When I met my husband, I returned to Portugal. My mother and father had returned four years ago and so, I had all of my life here, in Portugal. Besides evrything that happen in the beggining, I really loves all of these years that I were in France. They gave me more experience of life and made me a much more cultivated person."

My mother' Witness

Inês Estrelinha

All The Invisible Children

2009-03-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

“All the invisible children” is a 2005 documentary about poor, abandoned and exploited children. It’s a collection of seven short films which focus different situations. They are directed by the most famous directors from each represented country. The money they get is given to UNICEF.

The seven short films are:
- Tanza - by Mehdi Charef;
- Blue Gypsy - by Emir Kusturica;
- Jesus Children of America - by Spike Lee;
- Joao and Bilu - by Kátia Lund;
- Jonathan - by Ridley Scott and Jordan Scott;
- Ciro - by Stefano Veneruso;
- Song Song and Little Cat - by John Woo.

I think this DVD is very interesting. It isn’t a happy film, but it shows us problems that exist in the whole world. It helps us to understand the difficulties of so many children, of so many innocents.

The film I prefer is “Jesus Children of America”. It’s about a girl whose parents are addicted to drugs. Through other people she discovers that they have aids and, of course, she has it too.

In my opinion you should see this DVD, specially those who think that have insoluble problems...

Diana Chagas

Confessions of a Shopaholic

2009-03-15T14:23:00.001-07:00

In this movie trailer, the leading figure is a journalist who lives with a friend. She is a shopaholic. She works in order to pay her debts. However, her salary is never enough.

It shows us some consequences of consumerism.

Inês Estrelinha

Brands

2009-03-15T14:21:00.001-07:00

DO NOT grow up under the pressure of a brand !

Diana Chagas

How Can We Buy?

2009-03-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

Commerce is an economic activity whose aim is to offer goods and services to consumers in order that they can acquire them and, in this way, satisfy their necessities.

Nowadays, there are a lot of ways of commerce according to the following criteria:

-Distribution circuit’ organization

->Independent Commerce

Commerce done, in most cases by family companies, in locals of a small dimension where there are few or no employees.

Example: Grocer's

->Integrated Commerce

Commerce in large that gathers the wholesale and retail functions and explore points of sale which has the same insignia, applying common management policies.

Example: Worten

->Associated Commerce

Commerce done by companies that individually maintain their legal independence, liking up in one or more activities in order to obtain vantages and to compete with integrated commerce.

Example: “Cooperativa Grula”

->Franchising

Franchising is a contract in which one company yields to another company, by a payment, the right to provide under its brand in order to sell goods and services.

Example: Benetton

-Strategies of Commercialization

->Traditional Commerce

Retail commerce located close to residential neighborhoods, in shops of small dimension where there are few employees that commercialize food, hygiene products and products for cleaning the house. This type of commerce provides a personalized relationship with customers.

Example: Bakery and Grocer's

->Hypermarket and Supermarket

Shops that work on a free service that could be medium-sized (Supermarket) or big-sized (Hypermarket). In this type of commerce, there are a big variety of products. Those shops are located in urban centers, in their periphery or in shopping centers.

Example: “Continente”

->Shopping Center

It is a large surface where there are shops of different types and one of them works as a pole of attraction for consumers. Those places are located at urban centers, near the main access roads and they have car park.

Example: “Colombo’ Shopping Center”

->Department stores

Shops that sell a big variety of products where sales are organized by department usually coinciding with a floor of the building.

Example: Harrod's and Macy's

->Specialized Commerce

Those shops are specialized in a concrete product (bookshop; shoe shop), in a certain type of costumer our in products that are related to a theme (diy, sports, decoration).

AKI

DECATHLON

IKEA

All of those types of commerce have the same aim: to sell. So, they develop different strategies to compete between all of them and, because of it, exist that differences between them.

Inês Estrelinha

Consumerism

2009-03-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

Shopping- a dream come true or a terrible nightmare? Some shopping is necessary. It can also be fun. For many people it is a hobby, often a very enjoyable one. We have even invented a new phrase, retail therapy, to describe the good feelings we can get from buying things. Shopping makes many of us feel better. However, it can go badly wrong too, when for some people, their spending gets out of control. Without a doubt, we live in a very "spend-happy" society. Generally, we are finding themselves in debt.

There is a video about consumerism and some tips to be a better consumer.

DON'T BE BLIND!
OPEN YOUR MIND!

Diana Chagas

Advertising influence on consumption

2009-03-13T02:43:00.000-07:00

Children and young people are generally very vulnerable to advertising, because they haven't a critical mind and ability to read the true message that a particular advertising transmits.

A statistic study in USA says that children are exposed to 30 000 ads per year. We are exposed every day to advertisements that persuade us to buy the products.

Marco Franco

Extreme Makeover

2009-03-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

This is a video with pictures of celebrities with(out) make-up.
A little difference...

Marco Franco

Body changes

2009-03-09T13:13:00.001-07:00

Nowadays, we are obsessed by our body and by the way we look. There are people who often do plastic surgeries and many people turn to eye surgeons, cosmetic dentists, hair and make-up artists, stylists and to personal trainers to modify their bodies and their appearance.

But these procedures are very expensive, so young people modify their appearance through more simple ways: they do tattoos, dye their hair and get sun tanned.

The number of young European people that change their hair colour is increasing every day. But if you are looking for a modern appearance you can have a surprise... Some people are over sensitive to the chemical substances that exist in the dye products. They can cause breathing difficulties, hair loss, burning, redness, eye’s and neck’s swelling and even hospitalization! (Click here to have more information: http://www.fda.gov/WOMENS/getthefacts/hairdye.html).

In 2006, 22 dye products were forbidden by the EU (click here to read more information http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1047 ). In Denmark, 75% of young girls dye their hair and they start doing it at the age of 16. Only Japan has a bigger percentage: 85%.

Tattoos seem to be “cool”: there are a lot of celebrities that show their tattoos and talk about them. But doing tattoos has some risks: it can cause infections and reactions like allergies, irritation, nodules, organ damages, scares and sun sensitive growing.

Before doing a tattoo, you should look for some information about problems caused by tattoos, talk to a doctor about your skin characteristics, talk to people who already did tattoos and examine the studio’s hygiene, experience and professionalism.

We like to see a tanned person and we usually say “You are so pale that you look like sick. You must get sun tanned!”. Celebrities are always tanned and some people do solaria programmes. We like sun and it is good to our health (skin vitamin D production) and humour but we must have precautions. If we don’t respect the advices to avoid sunburns, we may get reddened skin, feel pain in the burned area and later skin cancer.

RESPECT YOUR BODY!

Diana Chagas

Look For Fame...

2009-03-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

Actually, it is possible to establish that lots of people, especially teenagers, are looking for something special: the Fame.

In a certain way, it is the media that lead people think that the only way of being recognized by society or win in life is becoming famous. That syndrome of being constantly look for fame makes teenagers forget and leave behind studies and other rewarding ways of achieve victories in live.

But why? Why do they look for fame? What makes it so especially and important? Fame isn't nothing more than a proccess of accepting somenthing that are being done on society or someone who are doing it. People consider it like an exemple that they should follow, only because society accept it.

In this way, not only teenagers, but especially them, do everything to becoming famous, without thinking if what they do are right or wrong. However, almost of them can't become famous. It is when it happens that they discover they have everything to win in life without need to become famous: values, objectivs, family and friends'support.

I think that we can be famous without want it. We could be "famous" if we do good things, if we respect our world, if we help other people, if we are a good example for our family and for our freinds and if we do our work with pawning. All of it will make us like famous people, even if it is only for our family and friend, because in this way we will do great things that bring benefits and happiness for everyone who we like.

Inês Estrelinha

"Only You Can Silence Yourself"

2009-03-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

The next picture had been done by an American campaingn, whose aim is stimulating young people to vote and, in this way, express their opinion.

However, I think that the image and the slogan of this campaign ("Only you can Silence Yourself") can be related to the influence of celebrities and media in young people.

In my opinion, celebrities and media can only influence us if we let it.

In this way, I would use it to alert young peolple to the fact that they shouldn't show a passive attitude in the presence of celebrities and media's opinions and to develop their critical mind.

Inês Estrelinha

Celebrities'influence on teens'behaviour

2009-02-25T10:23:00.000-08:00

Nowadays, we live in a society where lots of peolple want to be famous, especially teenagers. They are influenced, in a great percentage, by the media which gives them a prespective of life that doesn't really match to reality.

Teenagers are influenced by celebrities'behaviour, options and values. They want to be like them. Most of them change their habits, their way of thinking and their way of dressing in order to become more similar to their idol.

If young people don't understand that some things that are communicated by the media about celebrities don't match to their life and reality, teenagers could have a wrong view of life. In some cases, they forget their studies, their own values and they begin thinking that the only way of having a successful life is becoming famous. From that moment, they don't think if the things that they to do to become famous are wrong or right: they only want to be famous!

I think that teenagers shouldn't dream about being famous, because fame isn't everything in the world. In my opinion, values like love, solidarity, family and friends are more important than fame. If they become famous, it will happen because they work hard and do useful things that are recognized by society.

Inês Estrelinha

Our Presentation =D

2009-02-19T02:45:00.000-08:00

Hello!

We are a group of portuguese students (Diana, Inês, Marco- ages between 16 and 17) who are doing an English project: this blog.
We are going to post texts, images and videos about fame, consumerism and world's cultures.
This is our second blog. The first one is about environment and alternative lifestyles. You can click here to visit it: http://www.planetunderpressure.blogspot.com/ .

We hope that you enjoy it =D

Diana, Inês, Marco