The 2012 London Olympics Games

The Olympic torch was first lit in Olympia in greece by focusing the rays of the sun in the temple of Hera.

The Torch shape est special. it has a significant meaning. Its triangular shape represent the three times that london has been awarded the games in 1908, 1948 and 2012. It also contains 8000 holes which represent eache person who will carry it around Britain on the torch relay.

The forst torch bearer in the uk will be Ben ainslie, he is famous for sailing and had three times the olympics gold medale.

It will take 70 days to reach tje Olympic Stadium.

The designers of the torch were Edward Brber and Jay Osgerby.

The paralympic torch relay begin from the 4 UK capitals, London, Edinburg, Cardiff and Belfast. It continues to Stoke Manddeville stadium and than to London.
The names of the Olympic mascots are Wenlock and Mandeville.

They were designed by Iris, a London-based creative agency. They are animations depicting two drops of steel from a Stellworks in Bolton. They are named after the Shrophire town of much Wendlock, which held a forerunner of the current Olympic games and stoke Mandeville Hospital, a facility in Buckingham shire that initially organised the Stoke Mandeville games, the precursor of the paralympic games.

The British Media - TV and Newspapers

Today our task is to do a summary of one the top stories of any websites proposed by miss Jeanette. We had the choice between the BBC News, ITN news, Channel 4 News, The Guardian, The Sun and The Daily Mirror.

On the BBC news it is:
"Badminton Horse Trials cancelled amid South West flood alerts"

On the ITN newws it is:

"Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks cut 1,400 UK jobs"

On the Channel4 news it is:

"Drug cheat chambers may spring for olympic gold"

On The Gardian Website is is:

"Roy Hodgson for England is a shock choice and maybe a wrong one"

On the Sun website it is:

"‘I waited for Claire at the finish line. I just thought she’d got a twisted ankle’

Anguish of marathon girl's boyfriend"

On the Dailymiror website it is :

"Blue-turn: Tevez says he's staying with City next season "

I chose one in the Channel4  website. The tittle of that story is '' Dwain Chambers' lifetime ban is expected to be lifted officially this afternoon, freeing him to compete for a spot on the British Olympic team following a steroid scandal.'' It is an article written this morning.

Some weeks ago, Mr Chambers, who is a british cyclist has been detected positive on drugs test results. He was lifetime banned and legal procedings had been took against him. This morning the Channel4 news said that he is now allowed to practise his activity and the association will lift the ban officially rhis afternoon. Mr chamber will be able to be part of a spot on the British Olympic team.


Reference:

- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17892419

- http://www.itn.co.uk/home/44263/Clydesdale+and+Yorkshire+banks+cut+jobs

- http://www.channel4.com/news/drug-cheat-dwain-chambers-may-sprint-for-olympic-gold

- http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/apr/30/roy-hodgson-england

- http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4287149/I-waited-for-Claire-at-the-finish-line-I-just-thought-shed-got-a-twisted-ankle-Tragic-marathon-runner-Claire-Squires-boyfriend-Simon-van-Herrewege.html

- http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/transfer-news-carlos-tevez-says-812035

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

The night of 6th of August  2011 was a night which really marked the Britian. While more than 16,000 police officers were  managing to keep mostly London calm , the riots and the looting moved from Londin to the cities in the North such as Manchester. The trigger element was when the 29 year old man, Mark Duggan was killed. It turned England into a  nationwide rampage of firebombing and looting youths. That was the beginning of the big Riot of august 2011.

          

 Definition of Riots

- The riots are criminal and thug behaviour with no political purpose.

 

 Principal reasons of the London Riots 

 1 - A social and economic inequality
 Britain has a lot of inequalities in in wages, wealth, and life chances, than at any time since.the big krack of 1929 really emphasizes that situation. Many people had to face brutal cuts and forced austerity.


2 -  High rates of youth unemployment
Most of the looters and vandals were under 20, and they were destroying the same low-income neighborhoods they live in, where public housing is thick and job opportunities thin. That young people had  wanted to be heard an they had nothing to loose more because thy already had not got anything.




3- Racial profiling
The anger black people feel at being stopped and searched more often had  been had  to  a continuing deprivation, a growing unemployment, a feeling of lack of opportunity. All that fellings made them feel most hurted than never and decide to act like they did.

 

Punishments for the rioters

In my opinion, such as most of the rioters were young and that their acts were most of them due to an important amount of frustration and social injustice, every rioter must be punish according to his criminal case. That type of event can not be punished like in general.

Sources:

- http://theweek.com/article/index/218125/what-caused-the-london-riots-5-theories

- Google images about London riots

The team work activity

Doing activity in group

                 For the past two weeks, Miss Jeanette gave me some class work to do but not as usual. That time , I had to work in groups, in others words, work with other classmate. That new activity was really nice, we did games, task responses, multiples choises answers and so on. I really enjoyed it.

                 Work in group in a benificial activity. It has helped me to have more ability to work with the others, we discovered the strengths and the weaknesses of each other. Know all of that strengths and  weaknesses is very important because without it a group can not worf efficiently.

                  I had discovered what a team work is able to produce and like it is sometimes argued union is Strength.

 For us, who are International and who need to improme our diferent skills, it could be a substantial activity because we share vocabulary, story, knowledge, many other things.

                 Even if it is not an easy activity because of the fact that everybody does not all the time have the same idea and also because we also have to make to the balance and finally choose is an activity which can help even in our future life. For example when we will have to manage a family for example, I like to work in group, I also like my class.

The Welsh Assembly

The tour of the Senedd (Parliament)

Translation of some words

- Senedd : Parliament

- Neuadd : Hall

- Oriel : Gallery

- Siambr : Chamber

Informations about the senedd

               The Senedd was opened on 1 March 2006, by Her Majesty The Queen with The Duke of  Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall. The Assembly Members, Members of Parliament and parliamentarians and representatives from the United Kingdom, Europe and the Commonwealth were alson present.

                   
The world 'devolution' means a degeneration or a tranfer.

When you are standing in front of the Senedd, it is possible to see the St David Hotel and the Pier Head and Paneth.

The reception area of the Senedd is situated inside.

The purpose of the funnel is allows natural daylight into the Siambr.


The Headphones in the public areaare used to trnaslate what the politicians are saying.


The 'Plenary meetings' take place every tuesday and wednesday.


The glass walls in the Committeeroom have two purposes which are to allow to have a natural light and to alow the transparence.


In the 'i's in the Assembly shop, it is possible to buy big brands of water, gifts, higher levels of journals, magazines and newspapers.

MORE ABOUT THE WELSH ASSEMBLY

All my Classmates and our lecturer Miss Jaenette did a recent visit to Cardiff. I did have the chance to go there because of my heath but with some photos that my classmates gave to me and some descrptions and explanations, i will try to do my best about a generel impression od the Welsh Assembly. The Welsh National Assembly for Wales is just a  delight: it has a strange but very functional structure and it is located right at the centre of Cardiff Bay, where Cardiff Docks were previously.

The exterior points directly out on to the coastline and is surrounded by a landscape of slate steps quarried within a mountain near Ffestinog in Snowdonia. The Senedd’s has a  highly sustainable design provide for low energy demands thanks to the maximum exposure to sunlight due to  its high density glazing around the whole frontage and sides

 The  funnel will allow anyone to remember who has visited Berlin’s parliament building, the German Bundestag. Above the funnel is the lantern which allows natural daylight into the Siambr. In addition to this the design includes reflective material bringing more light down through the funnel and thus lessening the demand for other types of heating in the building. Rainwater  is collected from the roof and used for flushing in the WCs, irrigation and maintenance.

The Chamber / Y Siambr

Touch screen panels allow visitors to interact with many information about current debates and issues as well as news headlines including visual/audio content. Because the chamber is enclosed by the partially glazed funnel, headsets are provided for visitors to listen in on debates. Up to 60 Assembly Members may attend the debates. Access to the main debating chamber is restricted but up to 128 seated visitors may view it from above in the viewing gallery. Debates are also broadcasted on BBC TV and streamed live over the internet.

There is a  sculpture lies at the centre of the chamber which was created by the Swansea-based artist Alexander Beleschenko. The swirls have a particular signification in relation with what the Assembly is stands for. Few governmental debating chambers in the world have that type of architecture.

In conclusion, The Welsh Assembly is just a more than ecologic building fore the future which allows debates about differents subjects most important from each other.

The Role Of The British Parliament

The United Kingdom in a democratic country, which means all the Britains have a say in how the country is run. Parliament represents the people. It is where they send their chosen representatives to represent thier views in the House of Commons.

What is Parliament 

              Parliament is where politicians (MPs) meet to decide laws and make decisions for the United Kingdom. It is not the same as the Government (which runs the country). One of the works Parliament does is to check that the Government is running the country properly.

 The essential role of the Parliament  

The main functions of Parliament are:

- To pass laws

- To provide, by voting for taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government

- To scrutinise government policy and administration, including proposals for expenditure

- To debate the major issues of the day

The organisation of the Parliament

The Queen :

            The Queen is the official Head of State. Britain has a constitutional monarchy where the Queen only rules symbolically. In reality, power belongs to Parliament. So, although the Queen 'opens' Parliament each year and laws are passed in her name, the Queen herself plays no part in determining decisions made in Parliament. The Queen has the final say on whether a bill becomes law. The last Monarch to reject a law that was wanted by both Houses of Parliament was Queen Anne who died in 1715.

 

The House of Lord

               The House of Lords is made up of people who have inherited family titles and those who have been given titles because of their outstanding work in one field or another. There are 675 members of the Lords. The main job of the House of Lords is to 'double check' new laws to make sure they are fair and will work.

House of Commons : 

               The House of Commons has 659 members who have been elected by local residents to represent an area of the country in Parliament. The election of all Members of Parliament (MPs) for each constituency (local area) is called a General Election. In the UK we vote for the best candidate in our local area to represent us in the house of commons The members are called MPs (Members of Parliament). Each MP represents one of 659 constituencies (areas) in the UK and is a member of a political party, such as New Labour or the Conservative party. The Commons is the most important place for discussing policies and making laws.

Primary sources

- http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/  

- http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/parliament-government/

Secondary sources :

-  http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=569&tbm=isch&tbnid=AgufStH63LORCM:&imgrefurl=http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~hyde/England/day4.html&docid=T49orEDza_0NLM&imgurl=http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~hyde/England/PicsJan3/02Parliament.JPG&w=592&h=444&ei=o5Q3T_aTO4PO0QWq6sydBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=800&vpy=18&dur=972&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=111&ty=109&sig=105555719725630779664&page=1&tbnh=112&tbnw=147&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:0

-http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=569&tbm=isch&tbnid=-41Ph9mnLm5CwM:&imgrefurl=http://jonathanturley.org/2011/07/20/brititsh-parliament-debates-news-corp/&docid=HIUgb1H56qCGsM&imgurl=http://jonathanturley.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/n_ireland_news_9-1__511362t1.jpg%253Fw%253D500&w=294&h=294&ei=WJk3T8y_KuOm0QXTz6GkAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1100&vpy=206&dur=1039&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=149&ty=70&sig=105555719725630779664&page=4&tbnh=170&tbnw=177&start=55&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:55

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=569&tbm=isch&tbnid=d7XayayHjR2N5M:&imgrefurl=http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/en/article-538/The_Parliament_Building_of_Quebec:_A_Place_of_Memory.html&docid=ARffxJZY7NKlWM&imgurl=http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/media-4058/parlement_salon_rouge.jpg&w=533&h=800&ei=Mps3T8HkOsmw0QXprbygAg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=330&sig=105555719725630779664&page=2&tbnh=170&tbnw=113&start=21&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:21&tx=73&ty=95

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=568&tbm=isch&tbnid=wnjbOoUpJ7e63M:&imgrefurl=http://www.examiner.com/british-royal-family-in-national/queen-elizabeth-delivers-speech-formally-opens-parliament-with-new-government&docid=pMmt94iQkVAR_M&imgurl=http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/replicate/EXID16629/images/00_queens_speech_opening_of_parliament.jpg&w=512&h=325&ei=SZ43T4uWAYix0AXnhZCNAg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=546&sig=105555719725630779664&page=3&tbnh=131&tbnw=207&start=39&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:39&tx=100&ty=77

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=597&tbm=isch&tbnid=jUQmzIl5WQ56_M:&imgrefurl=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9031302/House-of-Lords-full-to-bursting-warns-peer.html&docid=yakNgtHeNJ0gaM&imgurl=http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02102/LORDS_2102502a.jpg&w=546&h=342&ei=jKc3T5PnMsrK0QXysI3DAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1041&vpy=253&dur=1559&hovh=178&hovw=284&tx=207&ty=122&sig=105555719725630779664&page=7&tbnh=123&tbnw=176&start=152&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:152

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=597&tbm=isch&tbnid=ASld9zMYdPMaNM:&imgrefurl=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/justice/729900/Justice-Teacher-blames-Mps-and-footballers-Yobs-in-Britain.html&docid=EigyD1jgbE4ViM&imgurl=http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00425/SNN2609MP_384_425388a.jpg&w=384&h=278&ei=4ak3T63QE-Kl0AWO4YW3Ag&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=175&vpy=234&dur=46&hovh=191&hovw=264&tx=190&ty=73&sig=105555719725630779664&page=3&tbnh=128&tbnw=174&start=47&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:47

Spain In The Eurozone Crises

HOW THAT SITUATION BEGAN ...

The creation of the EU and when Spain entered in :

              The idea of the  European Union  came after the Second World War (1939-1945) because of a desire ti create a peaceful and prosperous Europe after the destruction of two World Wars and after a long time of antogonism and mutual distrust between the european powers.  At the begining six principals countries : West germany, France, Belguim, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy signed the treaty of Rome and formed the European Economic Community ( EEC). At that moment, Britain could joined them but it distanced itself from that European Union because it regarded itself as a commercial pomer and did not wanted to be restricted by the European relationships.

                

             It was in 1973 that Britain , Denmark and Republic of Ireland. 

In 1981 Greece,

and in 1986 Spain and Portugal. 

   

         The EEC was based initially on economic concerns and instituted harmonization programmes such as common coal, steel, agricultural and fisheries policies, aboliton of trade tarrifs between member states and aid to development to depressed areas within its borders. Some britain regions have benefited considerably from regional funds. 

             

              In 1986, when Spain and Portugal entered in the EU,  the member-states formed an internal or Single European Market, in which goods, services, people and capital could move freely across national frontiers within that was called then called the European Community. In 1992 The Maastrict treaty was a step in the process as a result of which the European community became the European Union (EU). The treaty provided for the introduction of a common European currency the Euro, a European bank and common defence, foreign and social policies.

But, the European Community which is called now  the European Union in not what it was at that time. Of course we will talk about the begining of the crisis.

THE MAIN PROBLEM...

The European Crisis and the effect on Spain : 

         Since the financial crisis hit in 2008, a wave of debt crises have swept the European Union, threatening various countries and putting the future of the euro in danger. Many countries are affected but I will just focus on Spain.

        Because of the higher increase in construction of new homes and the long time between the beginning and end of a construction project, "by the time the demand for housing had slowed in 2007, available housing was reaching its peak. By this time, construction accounted for 13 percent of total employment in Spain." When prices began falling and housing demand halted, unemployment jumped up 10 percent. In 2008, Spain fell into an economic downturn, due to the collapse of his housing market. that situation worsened the economic conditions as a result,  the country expenses unregulated savings banks were in the real estate market. the decision of increase the  public benefits caused higher government spending and the government debt skyrocketed.  In that case, investors became more reluctant to invest and Spain’s economy further declined. Banks have therefore begun to lend big money to households, which when the market became ill could not repay.Result households got into debt and could no longer give the money back and the banks too had overleveraged to allow these strong borrowings. This is the main reason of that crisis in Spain.

  

THE SOLUTONS TAKEN...

 The measures taken to try to save Spain :

Spain has seen record borrowing costs recently, forcing its government to adopt numerous austerity measures to get its finances under control. 

The housing boom turned to bust, leaving the country's banks loaded with bad debt and the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone.So the governement decided to take austerity measures. Spain experienced a real estate bubble leading up to the crisis, which hurt its growth despite the country’s unusually safe financial sector. Facing higher than expected deficits, Spain adopted austerity measures in May 2010. In March, Spain announced it had met its deficit reduction target for the previous year. Borrowing costs for Spain have spiked, spurring fears that it may require a bailout that other European governments cannot afford. Spanish leaders say they are considering more austerity measures.

To sum up

We can notice that the European crisis had a really bad effect on many countries of the Eu especially Spain and now whether with austerity measures or something, Spain does not succed to go out of this situation.We just hope that within a few years, direageants of these countries heavily affected by the crisis such as Spain finally find solutions that will help these countries get back to this crisis, which for now is just destroying them. 

Principal sources:

- Documents gaven in class

- http://blogs.law.uiowa.edu/ebook/content/spanish-financial-crisis

- http://www.articlesbase.com/debt-consolidation-articles/the-2010-euro-debt-crisis-and-its-effect-on-spain-5060686.html

Secondary sources:

- http://rlv.zcache.com/west_germany_flag_1948_proposal_postcard-p239472501889642710z8iat_400.jpg

- http://www.punjabigraphics.com/images/85/france-flag.gif

- http://www.flags.net/images/largeflags/BELG0001.GIF

- http://ifrancepics.com/wp-content/uploads/flag_luxembourg.gif 

- http://www.map-of-italy.net/images/italian-flag.gif

- http://www.flags.net/images/largeflags/NETH0001.GIF

- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/britain/Flagbig.GIF  

- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/denmark/flag/Flagbig.GIF

- http://farm1.static.flickr.com/63/168817684_e6a315de0a.jpg  

- http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091230144352/desencyclopedie/images/9/97/Greece-flag.jpg

- http://www.spain-flag.eu/photos/spain-flag.gif

- http://www.olstars.com/images/flags/Big/pt.gif

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=568&tbm=isch&tbnid=bvDQrqlp9cPj9M:&imgrefurl=http://investing.curiouscatblog.net/2011/08/03/curious-cat-investing-and-economic-carnival-14/&docid=qJQWzBx41aF2gM&imgurl=http://investing.curiouscatblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/government_debt_as_percent_of_gdp-1998-2010.png&w=660&h=427&ei=TSYpT9vCD4i0-Qa8mpHPBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=777&vpy=148&dur=8512&hovh=180&hovw=279&tx=108&ty=79&sig=105555719725630779664&page=1&tbnh=98&tbnw=151&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0