A hilarious poem by Pete Seeger

Embedding is not allowed, so there goes the link

click here

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Obama's Inauguration speech with English subtitles

The credit for this link goes to Teresa Liñan, from the EOI Córdoba

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Big Freeze for Obama's swearing in ceremony

The big freeze set to stay for inauguration day by Matt Taylor

The recent arctic freeze in the northeast USA shows no signs of abating this week. Inauguration day on Tuesday is forecast to be particularly cold.

Last week, some very cold air pushed south from Canada, bringing bitterly cold temperatures to many parts of the Midwest and Northeast. Sub-zero temperatures combined with a fresh breeze led to wind chill temperatures as low as -45C (-49F) in parts of Minnesota.

The cold air is still affecting Washington D.C and a storm system pushing in from the mid-Atlantic on Monday is forecast to bring up to an inch of snow. This will be followed by dry and cold weather through inauguration day on Tuesday.

In stark contrast to the cold weather gripping central and eastern parts of the USA, a number of western states are experiencing unusually warm conditions. Temperatures in Los Angeles last week reached 27C (81F), 10 degrees above average for the time of year.

BBC World News - Weather

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The biggest fall on record and a sign of a deep recession.

From BBC News

Spanish industrial output plunges
Employment in Spain's construction industry has been hard hit

Spanish industrial output fell by 15.1% in November, compared with the same month one year ago, the biggest fall on record and a sign of a deep recession.

Analysts had expected output in factories and mines to drop by 11%.

On Thursday, figures revealed that the country's unemployment rate hit a 12-year high in 2008 of 3 million.

Retail sales across the 15 nations that share the euro rose unexpectedly in November, defying the gloom that pervades the eurozone economy.

Manufacturing blow

Spain has been particularly hard hit by the slowdown, partly because of the slump in the construction sector.

The figures indicate that the problem is not just in the construction sector, but also in manufacturing.

The outlook is bleak for both the production and household sides in Europe
Matthew Sharatt, Bank of America

The biggest fall in output was in durable goods like household appliances, which tumbled 23.9%. Consumer goods fell 9.4%.

This latest data reinforces expectations of an early cut in eurozone interest rates.

The European Central Bank is to meet next week to decide on the future level of rates and will be faced with a barrage of data indicating a worsening slowdown in the eurozone.

"The fourth quarter does look very, very bad. There has been a substantial contraction in all activity, not just in industry, but what we've seen this morning is this is not just a Spanish, but a pan-European story," said Juergen Michels of Citigroup.

"The difference for Spain is that the problem is exacerbated by its own internal problems of its housing market and a lack of competitiveness," he added.

Retail sales

Retail sales across the eurozone in November rose 0.6% from October and fell 1.5% from a year earlier. Both figures were better than expected.

Europe's biggest economies did better than the average.

Retail sales in France, the eurozone's second-biggest economy, were up 1.8% month on month and 1.6% on the year.

Germany, the eurozone's largest economy, registered rises of 0.7% and 0.3% respectively.

Food and drink sales rose 0.5% on the month and fell 1.3% on the year.

But analysts said the outlook remained bleak.

"Monthly data can be volatile. It's way too early to talk about signs of a turnaround with unemployment only recently surging higher. The outlook is both bleak for production and household sides in Europe once unemployment continues to rise much higher and we have only just seen that starting in Germany," said Matthew Sharratt of Bank of America.

"It makes no overall change to the outlook. It will probably lead to a 50 basis point cut by the ECB next week but signs on the retail side that it's not all one way count against the hope they could do more than 50 basis points," he added.

Eurozone interest rates are currently 2.5%.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7819569.stm

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Thursday, 8th January

We reviewed the vocabulary related to crime and punishment --> Exercise 2, page 37 & Vocabulary Bank page 149

Cicconetti

"Judge Mike Cicconetti has been Judge of the Painesville Municipal Court since January, 1994, and is currently in his third six-year term of office. Judge Cicconetti is a summa cum laude graduate of St. Leo College, Florida, and received his law degree from Cleveland State University in 1980.

Judge Cicconetti is the proud father of five children and resides in Concord Township. "

Then we started the speaking exercise on page 39 (Exercise 5). First we thought of an appropriate punishment for each of the crimes suggested in 5a; then we read the text on page 39 (Judge Cicconetti's creative justice) aloud and checked if the punishments agreed matched those by Cicconnetti. We asked and answered a few comprehension questions and in small groups we discussed what 'creative punishments' to apply on a number of offences suggested in 6a.

Homework --> page 38, exercise 4a and workbook, page 24.

Body of Evidence, a TV Programme devoted to crime and punishment ...

"This riveting series gets inside the mind, life and career of one of the country's leading forensic profilers. In each episode, Dayle Hinman guides you through some of her most puzzling cases and explains how they were solved. These are baffling mysteries -- often with no eyewitnesses, little evidence and no apparent motive."

Click here

People caught Speeding ...

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Thursday, 13th November 2008

Grammar 'Narrative Tenses'

Reading 'We're going to crash' (Page 26, exercise 3a,b)

Narrative Tenses: Past simple, past perfect, past continuous, past perfect continuous.

Grammar bank, pages 134 / 135

Click here to download a presentation on this matter and here for more practice.

Exercise 3d

Homework: Reading 'Little Brother' (Student's book, pages 30-31)

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First Aid Advice

iFIRSTAID - first aid advice

St John Ambulance believes that everyone should learn at least the basic first aid techniques. You may need to use them at any time at home, at school or work or even while you're travelling. Knowing what to do can make the difference to a person's recovery and you could even save their life...

read more

Listening material inside!

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Fraud or genuine psychics?

From: http://www.psychic-experiences.com

Read the article and write a short comment on it (100-150 words).
Do you believe psychics have special powers or are you sceptical? Do you know anyone who has been to a psychic? What happened?

It is a shocking fact to discover that in the psychic industry of today, out of every four people who call themselves psychic or medium readers, maybe only about one out of that are actually genuine psychics with real abilities. This will give you a clearer idea of how many fake psychics are actually out there preying on desperate people, people in real need of help.

As a genuine psychic myself, I find it a disgusting thought that there are people out their pretending to be something there not, but why do they pretend and what do they get out of it? Well, the plain facts are that greed is one of the major reasons for their pretence. To these fraud artists, the needs of others mean little, they care little about the psychological or emotional damage that their scam maybe causing, to those who need reassurance that there is light at the end of the tunnel for them. The above information even for me would be enough to make me want to stay clear of psychic readings and psychics readers, in general. There is hope though for those who would like to find a genuine reader and an honest reading. So, let us see if we can separate the Frauds to the Genuine Psychic Readers.

1) Many fake psychics on-line ask for your date of birth or your star sign. This is so that they can check their local newspaper for that days astrology reading, then they just type it up differently and make it sound like their actually picking up information from you.

2) Fake psychic online will ask for the country or city you live in and sometimes your age, this is because where you live can say a lot about the kind of life, education and your social status - work class, middle class, upper class etc.

You see, say you found out someone said they lived in Egypt, an ordinary person could guess the way this person live and the life they are leading. A person age and sex can tell fake psychics things about the general lifestyle interests and sometimes even the status of relationships. By using simple techniques often used in the study of Sociology.

3) A fake psychic will make all kinds of promises that they can bring back your lover with spells and candles which, of course, will all add up to extra and expensive charges. Ịf a psychic says you have a curse on you, your family or friend, this is a definite warning sign that you have found a fake psychic. Because curses, hexes etc, do not exist, and fear can be a powerful tool when it involves your nearest and dearest.

4) Many of the tips I have already given you have been used by fraud psychics, both on and off-line. Another sign that you are dealing with a fraudulent psychic is if they tell you they are famous or internationally world known, or have read for Hollywood stars. If you have never heard of them and all they have is an on-line site, then it is more realistic that they are frauds, if they were so world famous then you, your family or friends would have heard something about them.

5) Fraud psychics don't like to be tested, so they will never be interested in you asking a few questions that only you have the answers too. If they will not let you ask a few questions first or refuse to do a general reading, then it is more than likely they're con artists. A real genuine psychic can tell you about your past, present and future with some in-depth knowledge that not everyone would know. If all a psychic is willing to do is give you airy-fairy future readings with no personal or relevant information, then you got a fake psychic on your hands.

6) For face-to-face readings offline, it is better for you to go wearing some casual clothes, wear no rings, jewelry or designer wear. Everything from the way you sit, talk, clothes and jewelry you wear can tell a fake psychic a lot about you. If you speak very proper using a lot of big words, then it probably means your well educated, designer clothes can tell the reader you not short on cash. Jewelry, rings in particular, can tell about relationships, jewelry in general can tell the reader your social class, job status whether you are in a well-paid job etc. Do not give anything away if you want a real genuine and honest reading. If you drive but can walk to your reading then do so. Because regardless of what you wear or do not wear, a real psychic will be able to pick up on your life regardless of the above.

6) Do not let a fake psychic reel you in and manipulate you into giving them more information than you should or need to. A real genuine psychic will never ask you questions, a genuine psychic will only ever give you answers to your questions. Fake psychics can manipulate people into answering their questions and elaborating on their own answers, and then the fake reader will give you back your own answer but change it around to make it sound like they are picking something up psychically from you.

7) A fake psychic will be more interested in telling you what they think you want to hear, rather than being completely blunt and telling you your situation or problem like it is. For example, say you go to a psychic wanting to know if the guy/girl you are with is the one for you. A fake psychic, through a series of manipulative questioning, will have you tell them what you hope the answer will be without you realizing it. Then answer your question exactly how you want it to be. For the fake psychic, it is not about caring for others, or trying to help others, but more about getting you hooked for more readings. All the fake psychic cares about is money and themselves.

8) A fake psychic will try to reel you in and make a lot of cash out of you by pretending that they are your friend and that they care. Fake psychics are experts in manipulation. A genuine psychic will be blunt, honest and will not try to be your friend, but will honestly provide you with a professional service like any other advisor or consultant.

9) Fake feedback is a big problem in finding a genuine psychic among the fakes. If you go to an online psychic site, where the psychics are reviewed and find hundreds of glowing reviews and no average or bad reviews that there is a good chance that this psychic is a fake. All psychics have good and bad days and no psychic is 100% accurate, so if the reviews do not reflect that, and the psychics profile is filled with 100% worth of completely glowing reviews, then you will know that this fake psychic has been doctoring his/her reviews. Some psychic sites allow the psychics to use only certain reviews, so fake psychics can manipulate desperate individuals into giving them 5 stars reviews.

Then there is the age old tactic of the fake psychic to write their own reviews, or have their family and friends come and rate them and write reviews to make them look genuine.

10) Genuine psychics give you the good news and the bad news; they do not leave out the bits they think might lose them precious reviews or rating points. A genuine psychic will give you an honest reading that does not sound like something straight out of a fairy tale. A genuine psychic will not mind you testing them by asking them a few questions of your own choice.

11) A genuine psychic will give you some personal information about you that is not common knowledge to prove they are truly connected with you.

12) Genuine psychics do not give you false hope; they do not charge high prices or promise you anything more than an honest reading. A genuine reader will never try to manipulate you into returning to them for other readings, a genuine psychic will not ask for any information other than your first name, real psychics don't ask questions, they give answers.

13) Genuine psychics never talk of evil spirits or energy attached or around a person - a real psychic is not out to scare you or make you afraid.

14) A genuine and professional psychic does not divulge information like deaths, accidents or anything like this during a reading - this is unprofessional behavior for any psychic and is another fear and manipulation tactic of the fake psychic.

15) Genuine psychics do not need your date of birth, star sign or the country you live in, because a psychic reading is very different to an astrology reading, if the information given sound like its astrology from a newspaper or magazine then you have found a fake psychic. A genuine psychic will only ever recommend a reading every 6-12 months.

It is a sad state of affairs that there are so many frauds out there who are only interested in conning others. I hope with this article that I have given anyone interested in psychic readings some useful tips to finding genuine psychics and mediums in today's world.

Brightest Blessings

Psychic Hecate

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