Just Talk, Already!

Two old men in a little town in Mexico are refusing to speak to each other. That’s okay. However, these men are the only two known to speak Ayapaneco. They are not in a fight, they just do not have that much in common. When these men were younger, Ayapeneco was spoken throughout Mexico, but has been dying off in the last couple of decades. One of the men, Manuel, continues to talk to his wife in this rare language, but she is unable to talk back as she only knows a few words. Nevertheless, to keep this language at least in memory, Daniel Suslak, an Indiana University linguistic expert is compiling a dictionary of the language.

I think it’s a shame that these men don’t speak to each other anymore. Especially since there’s a language at stake. However, I can imagine that it isn’t really nice to sit down with someone whom you have no shared interests, and just talk. We don’t like that either. So the only reason to talk is to keep the language alive. However, seeing as there’s little interest in making Ayapeneco mandatory in schools, there really isn’t any need for forcing these men to talk when they really don’t want to. Just let them relax on their old days.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2011/04/15/last-two-speakers-of-native-language-fall-out-and-stop-talking-to-each-other-115875-23061845/

Absolutely Crushed By What Happened

Thomas, a two year old boy, was dragged under a heavy-weight truck, but amazingly survived. The buggy he had been sitting in was also dragged under and ripped to pieces. At the hospital his mother, Laura, was told that even if he survived, he could have brain damage or be partly paralyzed. His mother says she cannot say exactly what happened: “Suddenly the pram ­handles were ripped out of my hands,” she ­said. “I heard a ­horrible crack and it ­disappeared under the wheels.” Luckily, a nurse was nearby and after a quick look at the boy, she knew he was alright. How this terrible event could have occurred is still unsure. Police are researching the event and also if the red light was on.

Even though it is absolutely terrible what happened to the little boy, I cannot wrap my mind across the fact that he got under a truck. I cannot imagine how that could happen with the mother holding onto the handles of the buggy. Maybe the mother was standing too close to the roadside? Nevertheless, it is strange. You would think that the mother would take extra caution and not stand too close to the road. I am not saying that it is her fault, because these things happen too often. However, if it were my child, I would look ten times before crossing the street, just to be sure.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/04/24/two-year-old-thomas-wilshaw-has-miraculous-escape-after-his-buggy-is-dragged-under-a-12-ton-truck-115875-23081967/

Judy Murray rails against ‘chip fat’ mentality

Judy Murray, mother of the famous tennis star Andy Murray, is trying to get people, especially children, to exercise more. She plans on doing do by getting schools to double the amount of physical education lessons in schools. As research shows, few children exercise at all. A third of girls who have passed the age of 16 don’t exercise anymore. Moreover, only an astonishing 15% of children between the age of 11 to 15 take regular exercise. Judy states that solutions are easy to come by, they are just plainly ignored.

I think it’s a very good idea to double PE lessons. Children nowadays are lazy. They don’t have to go anywhere. They get picked up from school by car, then go home, watch television, eat and go to sleep. So if parents aren’t taking responsibility for their children’s health, the school should. It’s really the only way. Next to that, food that is given to the children at school should be bettered. There have been several shows on TV that showed us what children are served; hamburgers, fries, even sweetened milk! I think it’s absolutely ridiculous and therefore am more than pleased to hear that at least someone is trying to make a change in this fat-obsessed, lazy world.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/judy-murray-rails-against-lsquochip-fatrsquo-mentality-2267691.html

BritNed power cable boosts hopes for European supergrid

There is going to be a link between the UK and The Netherlands with regard to electricity. The main goal is to try and ‘share’ electricity, so to speak. For example when one country is low on wind, it can import wind energy from another country with which it is connected. This way, there will never be a shortage of energy. Moreover, this will be a way to put renewable energy to work. BritNed has already auctioned off the entire transmission capacity since the auction started on the 31^st of March. Due to high success, the network will be broadened and there are plans for linking the UK and Iceland.

I think this is a very good idea, seeing as this will offer wind energy to the places that need it the most. Currently, this network is only at work in Europe, but think about going worldwide. This will give even the poorest countries energy, which otherwise, they wouldn’t have had. I also like the fact that consumers will have to pay a lower price for their energy as there can never be a lack of wind power when using this system. The downside is that it will take forever to get this network up and running, but that’s the price that has to be paid to realize big ambitions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/11/uk-netherlands-power-cable-britned/print

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