Xmas crackers

What are Xmas crackers?

Gun Control

Obama Vows Fast Action in New Push for Gun Control

Leading House Republicans restated firm opposition to new limits on guns or ammunition, setting up the chance of a bitter legislative battle soon after President Obama’s inauguration.

 

President Obama said Wednesday that he will submit broad new gun control proposals to Congress no later than January and will commit the power of his office to overcoming political opposition in the wake of last week’s school massacre.

The president’s pledge comes as key House Republicans restated their firm opposition to enacting any new limits on firearms or ammunition, setting up the possibility of a philosophical clash over the Second Amendment early in Mr. Obama’s second term.

What would happen if our State Language Schools (EEOOII) disappeared one day? This is what some students say, what's your opinion? Watch and write your comments to the video here.

OXYMORON

Talking about the future

Learn some things about the future on this link by the BBC.

24 Daily Habits

“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us” – John Dryden

I have previously written about how the habit of exercising every day has helped me tremendously. Doing something every day is such a powerful way to form a habit that I thought I would make a list of 24 habits that are worth doing on a daily basis. Note: I have divided these into morning, day and night although some could obviously be under different headings.
The Morning
1. Wake Early: I am a big fan of waking at 5am and spending time working on myself before going to work. I have written more about this habit here: How to Wake Early When All You Want to Do Is Sleep.
2. Exercise: when I had the goal of exercising 4 times a week I found it was very easy to tell myself I will exercise tomorrow instead. Setting the expectation of daily exercise removed this as a potential excuse and I have since reaped the benefits of this daily habit.
3. Review or (even better) Rewrite Your Goals: each day I try to get closer to achieving my short, medium and long term goals. Starting the day by reviewing or rewriting my goals means that I have better awareness of them throughout the day. As Robin Sharma says:

“With better awareness you can make better choices and when you make better choices, you will see better results.”

4. Read and/ or Listen to Motivational Material: in the morning a whole day of endless possibilities lies ahead. I motivate myself to play my best game by reading and listening to inspirational books/ audiobooks. For audiobooks I recommend the free introductory offer from Audible.
5. Visualize the Day Ahead: I like to take a few minutes to shut my eyes and visualize what I want happen in the coming day. It’s amazing how often my desires become reality when I do this.
6. Write a “To Do” List: I like to write out a list in my diary of the important tasks I need to do that day. As they are completed I put a line through them. So simple, yet so effective.
7. Check the News Headlines: I think it’s important to have an idea of what is happening in our community and the world. Also if don’t at least check the main stories, I find it is easy to feel left out of conversations throughout the day. Having said this, much of the news is negative and I’m careful not to spend too much time digesting it unless there is a particular story of note.
8.  Blog: I find there are many benefits to blogging. Starting a blog can help you gain clarity, be creative, make new friends, and may even generate you some income. If you would like to start a blog I recommend Squarespace.
9. Take Time to Look Good: it’s a reality of life that people judge us by our appearance. I take a few minutes each morning to ensure I go out into the world looking the best I can.
The Day
10. Smile. You’ve probably heard about the importance of smiling, but as the saying goes “common sense is often quite uncommon.” I try to carry a smile with me on throughout the day. I find that not only does it make me happier, but it can make other people smile and open the door to conversations with people I haven’t talked to before.
11. Put First Things First: I try to avoid having my day controlled by tasks that are urgent , but not necessarily important. The habit of putting first things first is about organizing and executing your life around your deepest priorities.
12. Under-Promise and Over-Deliver: at work I try to go the extra mile on my projects, especially on the details many people might miss.  I set reasonable deadlines for myself and, when possible, try to get them done early.
13. Be Proactive: being proactive means showing initiative and taking the responsibility to make things happen. Whenever I want to get something done, I ask myself: “what can I do to make this happen?”
14. Snack Well: I substitute the chips, candy and chocolate with fruit, vegetables (carrots and celery are great to chomp on) and nuts.
15. Connect with Nature: I find spending time outdoors in nature is great for my sense of well-being. On work days I like to go for a walk during my lunch break.
16. Ping a Friend: I try to send a quick email or text to a friend each day. It’s a great way to stay in touch with friends when I am extremely busy.
17. Save: I save at least 10% of each paycheck. A great way to find the money to save is to break it down to a daily amount, for example $10-15. By taking account of the Latte Factor I find it easy to save this much.
The Evening
18. Have Family Time: I believe it’s important to be present most evenings. Family time is about quantity and quality.
19. Take Time for Myself: I also believe it’s important to spend a little time each day just for me. Some things I like to do: read, write, meditate, yoga, play music and/ or visit the gym.
20. Tidy Up: a cluttered house can lead to a cluttered mind and fuzzy thinking. I find it’s best to stay on top of things by tidying up each day.
21. Wind Down: I try to switch off the computer and the TV about 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime and let my brain have some down time after a long day. I sleep far more peacefully when I do this.
22.  Review My Day: I find this is a great way to hold myself to account for taking action throughout the day. Did I get closer to achieving my goals? Did I complete my to do list? Did my day go as planned? If not, why not?
23. Say I Love You: don’t just assume that your family members know you love them. I say these words to my wife and sons at least once per day.
24. Go to Bed At A Reasonable Time: the first habit of this list (waking early) begins by going to bed at a reasonable time and getting a good nights sleep.

Break the routine

• Oliver Burkeman
• The Guardian, Saturday 4 August 2007

The definition of insanity, someone once said, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It's not exactly clear who this someone was: pop-psychology authors, who love this quote, attribute it randomly to Einstein, Freud, Benjamin Franklin or, that safest bet of all, "an ancient Chinese saying". (Another ancient Chinese saying: he who wants to lend spurious credibility to his advice should claim it comes originally from an ancient Chinese saying.) But whoever said them first, there's wisdom in the words. We always say we want things to be different - in our relationships, work, health, whatever - but then we spend our lives locked in comfortable routines that ensure things stay the same.
"Break your routines" has long been a favourite maxim among overexcited motivational speakers and their ilk. Happily for sceptics like me, though, it's increasingly supported by neuroscience. Making even tiny, seemingly irrelevant changes to your daily patterns - taking a different route to work or rearranging furniture - can stimulate nerve cells and boost production of neurotrophins, which help brain cells thrive. There's some suggestion this might even slow the onset of Alzheimer's.
Routines help reinforce the illusion that we have a fairly large degree of control over our lives. This isn't true, but it's comforting - until something happens to shatter the illusion, jolting us back into confrontation with reality. Your routines will fail you in the end, so choosing to break everyday ones can act as a sort of limbering-up for inevitable crises. "The less routine, the more life," said Amos Bronson Alcott, the New England transcendentalist philosopher (and Louisa May's father). He also believed root vegetables were evil because they didn't point up towards heaven, but never mind about that for now.
Making subtle changes in your environment is a powerful tactic because they're often easier than mental or behavioural ones. You can't will yourself into being more creative, for example. But you can change rooms: according to a paper in this month's Journal Of Consumer Research, people brainstorm more freely, and are better at thinking abstractly, in high-ceilinged rooms. Low ceilings, by contrast, encourage better performance on technical, detailed tasks. Or take diet: as the blogger Steve Pavlina notes, it takes the willpower of a saint to give up unhealthy food and eat healthily. But it takes only a brief surge of enthusiasm - long enough for a trip to the supermarket - to switch the bad food in your fridge for better stuff. By the time the motivation wears off, you've tilted the playing field in favour of good health. (I'm working on this one. Please don't come and check my fridge just yet.)
Of course, the real point is to disrupt stale routines because they're stale, not to declare war on all routine. Many routines make perfect sense. As someone else once said, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result isn't only the definition of insanity: it's also the definition of fishing.
oliver.burkeman@guardian.co.uk

NHS 60 years: a difficult beginning - legendado 1/9

NHS 60 years: a difficult beginning - legendado 1/9

BBC documentary (2008): Serving over one and a half million patients and their families every day, the NHS is the biggest service of its kind in the world. It is universally regarded as a national treasure - the most remarkable achievement of post war Britain.
Yet, surprisingly, the National Health Service very nearly did not happen at all. In the months leading to its launch it was bitterly opposed - by the Tory Party and the national press. But its most vicious and vocal opponents were the very people its existence depended on - surgeons, nurses, dentists and Britain's 20,000 doctors. To get the NHS at all required the persistence and determination of one man - Nye Bevan, Labour's minister of health.
This film tells the extraordinary story of the six months leading up to its traumatic birth.