Passion

It’s all about passion. It’s our many driver of existence, may it be on politics, climate change or on interpersonal relations.

We need someone or something to push our expectations on moral dramatically lives. We want to live life with a higher purpose or path.

We are blind enough to take our passion without thinking about it’s roots and consequences. In the end, we are only animals that pursue the sense of common goals, even if it causes the wrong effect on our hedonistic sense of self.

We talk about climate change as THE problem. It sure is a problem but not will not cause the end of the world. We have time to prevent that long term effect. And it’s easy to be pushed with the stream of misleading information. Therefore, ignorance associates deeply with passion, at least in societal terms. (Nevertheless, ignorance is also a igniter of the birth of Love. Be ignorance the drive to the know feelings of happiness and to the unknown field of deep sharing of lives.) The media tells us that the world is going to change abruptly in the near future and that’s all. We don’t scrutinize the available information and sometimes don’t even mind to give the full picture of the problem. Passion can lead to extremism. And, in theory, is not that different from other kinds of extremist behaviors.

We feel the need to belong to a large blockbuster of dramatic reunion on a common goal. That’s good. The bad part of it is if it leaves behind the rationality, to be simplistic. We need to assert that all the information available is analyzed and that the better solutions are effective on the short, mid and long term.

We have people dying of hunger, malaria, VIH, poor water and sanitation conditions, and we have the technology and the money to solve this issues. But, weird enough, people don’t deeply engage in a common purpose, though they cherish this humanitarian expression of Love through donations. Or, they see it as something that causes pain and is immoral but it’s there “far away from me”. You send them money and our humanity consciousness calms down. But if the symptoms of problems tackle our feet, then we all join together on a single blind purpose. And even is that the solutions of the seductive problem are wrong, we don’t care. You have done your share. You commit emotionally. And anyone that tries to put things in perspective and use our ability of think calmly the benefits and costs of those approaches is called something worse than “the devil”. And why? Simple. It stops, for moments, the stream of passion. And that causes people to put the fish out of the water.

We need apocalyptical monsters and salvation figures or purposes and we lack the wisdom on our analysis. We need to act intelligently so that we won’t simply be the glorified victims of our stupidity. We need to make the WORLD a better place and not just the environment. And the happily part is that you can do it. The saddest is that we seem too blind to do it.

We are living on the shoulder of blind solutions and not taking them in our hands.

Windows 7 Preview

Get into the news about the new Windows 7 UI!

 

http://www.neowin.net/news/live/08/10/28/introducing-the-windows-7-ui

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081028-first-look-at-windows-7.html

Volkswagen becomes world top company {for a day}

..or two..or more. :)

Understanding this flip-flops it’s like finding a needle in an haystack. Or not.

Shares move like leafs in the wind, touching subjective self-fulfilling prophecies softly, leaving room for the value symbolism of power over an – now- powerless other.

Psychology comes out as a figurative artifact that goes right before and after the behaviors to try to show how things make sense as a part of a system of systems.

Volkswagen briefly became the world's biggest company by market value on Tuesday, as short sellers continued to pile into the stock on weekend news Porsche had bought up much of VW's remaining free float.

Porsche said on Sunday it held over 74 per cent of VW, prompting a panic among short sellers who had sold VW shares in the hope of buying them back at lower prices.

Shares in the German car maker hit an intraday high of €1,005.01, valuing the company at €296.06-billion euros ($370.4-billion) based on ordinary stock, more than that of world number one company Exxon Mobil Corp's $343-billion market value at Monday's closing price.

Brilhante: como combater portugueses ignorantes que têm a mania que sabem muito sobre tudo

Resposta

Caro anónimo indignado com a indignação dos professores:

Os homens (e as mulheres) não se medem aos palmos, medem-se, entre outras coisas, por aquilo que afirmam, isto é, por saberem ou não saberem o que dizem e do que falam.O caro anónimo mostra-se indignado (apesar de não aceitar que os professores também se possam indignar! Dualidade de critérios deste nosso estimado anónimo...

Mas passemos à frente, com o excesso de descanso dos professores: afirma que descansamos no Natal, no Carnaval, na Páscoa e no Verão, (esqueceu-se de mencionar que também descansamos aos fins-de-semana). E o nosso prezado anónimo insurge-se veementemente contra tão desmesurada dose de descanso de que os professores usufruem e de que, ao que parece, ninguém mais usufrui. Ora vamos lá ver se o nosso atento e sagaz anónimo tem razão.

Vai perdoar-me, mas, nestas coisas, só lá vamos com contas.O horário semanal de trabalho do professor é 35 horas. Dessas trinta e cinco, 11 horas (em alguns casos até são apenas dez) são destinadas ao seu trabalho individual, que cada um gere como entende. As outras 24 horas são passadas na escola, a leccionar, a dar apoio, em reuniões, em aulas de substituição, em funções de direcção de turma, de coordenação pedagógica, etc., etc.

Bom, centremo-nos naquelas 11 horas que estão destinadas ao trabalho que é realizado pelo professor fora da escola (já que na escola não há quaisquer condições de o realizar): preparação de aulas, elaboração de testes, correcção de testes, correcção de trabalhos de casa, correcção de trabalhos individuais e/ou de grupo, investigação e formação contínua. Agora, vamos imaginar que um professor, a quem podemos passar a chamar de Simplício, tem 5 turmas, 3 níveis de ensino, e que cada turma tem 25 alunos (há casos de professores com mais turmas, mais alunos e mais níveis de ensino e há casos com menos — ficamos por uma situação média, se não se importar). Para sabermos o quanto este professor trabalha ou descansa, temos de contar as suas horas de trabalho. Vamos lá, então, contar:

1. Preparação de aulas: considerando que tem duas vezes por semana cada uma dessas turmas e que tem três níveis diferentes de ensino, o professor Simplício precisa de preparar, no mínimo, 6 aulas por semana (estou a considerar, hipoteticamente, que as turmas do mesmo nível são exactamente iguais — o que não acontece — e que, por isso, quando prepara para uma turma também já está a preparar para a outra turma do mesmo nível). Vamos considerar que a preparação de cada aula demora 1 hora. Significa que, por semana, despende 6 horas para esse trabalho. Se o período tiver 14 semanas, como é o caso do 1.º período do presente ano lectivo, o professor gasta um total de 84 horas nesta tarefa.

2. Elaboração de testes: imaginemos que o prof. Simplício realiza, por período, dois testes em cada turma. Significa que tem de elaborar dez testes. Vamos imaginar que ele consegue gastar apenas 1 hora para preparar, escrever e fotocopiar o teste (estou a ser muito poupado, acredite), quer dizer que consome, num período, 10 horas neste trabalho.

3. Correcção de testes: o prof. Simplício tem, como vimos, 125 alunos, isto implica que ele corrige, por período, 250 testes. Vamos imaginar que ele consegue corrigir cada teste em 25 minutos (o que, em muitas disciplinas, seria um milagre, mas vamos admitir que sim, que é possível corrigir em tão pouco tempo), demora mais de 104 horas para conseguir corrigir todos os testes, durante um período.

4. Correcção de trabalhos de casa: consideremos que o prof. Simplício só manda realizar trabalhos para casa uma vez por semana e que corrige cada um em 10 minutos. No total são mais de 20 horas (isto é, 125 alunos x 10 minutos) por semana. Como o período tem 14 semanas, temos um resultado final de mais de 280 horas.

5. Correcção de trabalhos individuais e/ou de grupo: vamos pensar que o prof. Simplício manda realizar apenas um trabalho de grupo, por período, e que cada grupo é composto por 3 alunos; terá de corrigir cerca de 41 trabalhos. Vamos também imaginar que demora apenas 1 hora a corrigir cada um deles (os meus colegas até gargalham, ao verem estes números tão minguados), dá um total de 41 horas.

6. Investigação: consideremos que o professor dedica apenas 2 horas por semana a investigar, dá, no período, 28 horas (2h x 14 semanas).

7. Acções de formação contínua: para não atrapalhar as contas, nem vou considerar este tempo.

Vamos, então, somar isto tudo: 84h+10h+104h+280h+41h+28h=547 horas. Multipliquemos, agora, as 11horas semanais que o professor tem para estes trabalhos pelas 14 semanas do período: 11hx14= 154 horas.Ora 547h-154h=393 horas. Significa isto que o professor trabalhou, no período, 393 horas a mais do que aquelas que lhe tinham sido destinadas para o efeito.

Vamos ver, de seguida, quantos dias úteis de descanso tem o professor no Natal. No próximo Natal, por exemplo, as aulas terminam no dia 18 de Dezembro. Os dias 19, 22 e 23 serão para realizar Conselhos de Turma, portanto, terá descanso nos seguintes dias úteis: 24, 26, 29 30 e 31 de Dezembro e dia 2 de Janeiro. Total de 6 dias úteis. Ora 6 dias vezes 7 horas de trabalho por dia dá 42 horas. Então, vamos subtrair às 393 horas a mais que o professor trabalhou as 42 horas de descanso que teve no Natal, ficam a sobrar 351 horas. Quer dizer, o professor trabalhou a mais 351 horas!! Isto em dias de trabalho, de 7 horas diárias, corresponde a 50 dias!!! O professor Simplício tem um crédito sobre o Estado de 50 dias de trabalho. Por outras palavras, o Estado tem um calote de 50 dias para com o prof. Simplício.

Pois é, não parecia, pois não, caro anónimo? Mas é isso que o Estado deve, em média, a cada professor no final de cada período escolar.Ora, como o Estado somos todos nós, onde se inclui, naturalmente, o nosso prezado anónimo, (pressupondo que, como nós, tem os impostos em dia) significa que o estimado anónimo, afinal, está em dívida para com o prof. Simplício. E ao contrário daquilo que o nosso simpático anónimo afirmava, os professores não descansam muito, descansam pouco!

Veja lá os trabalhos que arranjou: sai daqui a dever dinheiro a um professor.

Mas, não se incomode, pode ser que um dia se encontrem e, nessa altura, o amigo paga o que deve.

Um abraço.

Mário Carneiro

(Texto recebido por e-mail. Créditos do texto ao autor, Mário Carneiro)

Immigration Canada

The following information is about applying for permanent residence in Canada in the Economic class, as a skilled worker or professional.

The first step is to decide in which province or territory of Canada you wish to live. These websites which will give you an overview of life and work in Canada, information about your particular trade or profession, the evaluation and recognition of your credentials as well as information about the different regions and communities in Canada : www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, www.credentials.gc.ca.

If you are planning an exploratory trip to Canada, you will find useful information on the Canadian Tourism Commission website: www.canada.travel

1. If you wish to establish in the province of Québec, you must first be selected by the immigration authorities of Québec and obtain a Certificat de sélection du Québec or CSQ, according to their own selection criteria.

For information on the selection criteria, procedures, fees and processing time: www.immq.gouv.qc.ca

Once you have obtained a CSQ, you must submit a Permanent Resident Visa application to our office. We are responsible for the medical examination and the background check, prior to issuing the visa. Our processing time for Skilled Workers selected by Québec is 6 to 9 months. The application kit is available on the following website: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/skilled.asp

2. If you wish to establish in one of the 9 other provinces or in one of the 3 territories, you may be selected in one of 2 ways:

A. Selection in a "Provincial Nominee Program":

Most Canadian provinces and territories have an agreement with the government of Canada allowing them to have a direct say in the selection of a certain number of immigrants who wish to settle in their area and whose presence will meet particular needs.

For information on the selection criteria, procedures, fees and processing time: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/provincial/index.asp

If you meet the selection criteria of the Provincial Nominee Program in the province or territory where you wish to establish, you will receive a Certificate of Nomination. Once you have obtained a certificate of nomination, you must submit a Permanent Resident Visa application to our office. We are responsible for the medical examination and the background check, prior to issuing the visa. Our processing time for Provincial Nominees is 5 to 9 months. The application kit is available on the following website: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/skilled.asp

Note: Provincial Nominees may submit an application for a Temporary Work Permit at the same time as their Permanent Resident Visa application if they are required to start working soon.

B. Selection in the « Federal Skilled Workers » category:

Applications in the Federal Skilled Workers category may be submitted directly to a visa office outside Canada, such as our service at the Embassy.

Your immigration application as a Skilled Worker will be assessed according to six selection criteria (age, education, work experience, knowledge of English and French, reserved employment, adaptability) and a point system. The current pass mark is 67 points out of 100.

A self-assessment test is available on line to help you determine whether you qualify as a Skilled Worker: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assess/index.asp

Note:

• A job offer is not required.

• You must have at least one year of continuous, paid work experience.

• Your work experience must be in an occupation which requires a certain level of skill, according to the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC). Please refer to the on line self-assessment test for further information

• This experience must have been acquired within the last 10 years.

• You must have sufficient funds for yourself and your dependents to establish (10 000 $ CAD for the principal applicant + 2 000 $ CAD per dependent).

If you meet the selection criteria and obtain sufficient points, we will proceed with the medical examination and the background check, prior to issuing the visa. Our processing time for Federal Skilled Workers is approximately 36 months. The application kit is available on the following website: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/skilled-simple.asp

If you have a a job offer confirmed by Human Resources and Social Development Canada, the processing time is 5 to 9 months. For more information, please consult the following site: www.hrsdc.gc.ca.

Permanent residents of Canada may start their own business or self-employed activity in Canada, no matter in which category they were selected. Please note, however, that there exist specific Business categories in the different Provincial Nominee Programs as well as in the federal program. Information about immigrating to Canada as an Entrepreneur, Investor or Self-Employed Person is available on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/index.asp

For information about Study Permits, Temporary Work Permits, Youth Mobility Programs and Temporary Resident Visas (visitor visas), please consult our website: www.amb-canada.fr/visa

For other information's and statistics, visit:

http://www.statcan.ca/menu-en.htm

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/canada_e.html

http://www.thestar.com/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

http://www.livingin-canada.com/

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/06/0611_mercer/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html

http://www.economist.com/countries/Canada/

http://www.imf.org/external/country/CAN/index.htm

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/02/index.htm

Enjoy!

 

Rednecks for Obama

Alguém acredita que americanos brancos, amantes de armas e cerveja, votem em Obama? Hum…Pelos vistos não só votarão como criaram uma plataforma de apoio a Obama.

"I don't care about his beer, I care about his intelligence."

"We've had many democratic presidents, and we will still have our guns."

"He is brilliant.  And he's not an elitist, though he has the education to be."

     -Tony Viessman, Co-Founder - Rednecks for Obama

"We need to build the economy from the bottom up, none of this trickle down business.  Just because you're white and southern don't mean you have to vote Republican."

    - Les Spencer, Co-Founder - Rednecks for Obama

 

O Mundo é um lugar estranho…Ainda bem, por vezes.

:)

Presidente moralmente manco

Como é possível que um presidente da república promulgue uma lei que considera que terá impactos negativos no dia a dia das pessoas? Alguém explica?

Comedy on US elections

A must see!

Plymouth – The Place to Be in the USA

Tell me why!

Why was Plymouth ranked as the Best Place to Live in America?

Chris Hagen, 7 year resident

“Excellent parks here, bike trails everywhere, I can ride my bike almost anywhere in Plymouth, and it’s just a great place to live. Everything is convenient.”

Diane Gearty, 10 year resident, pictured with grandchild, Casey

“We moved here because we found a gorgeous lot we loved and it’s very close to the freeways and to my job. The parks are great. I’m here with five grandkids and there’s always something close by to do with them.”

Heidi Fokken, 17 year resident

“My husband and I have been here a long time and we love the way the city has grown and matured. I think the city has a lot to offer. Right now I have the grandchildren here with us and we take them to the weekly puppet show and it’s just a wonderful service.

The Fire & Ice Festival in February is just terrific.”

Jared Justesen, 9 year resident, pictured with Meghan, Blake and Brady

“The parks, the lakes, the people…it’s second to none.”

Stacey Speck, 12 year resident

“The summers are wonderful and being in this area we have great access to the lakes, it’s really very nice. Plymouth has a variety of things to do and it is close to the city. But, I still have not gotten used to the winters.”

Theo and Patrice Cox, one year residents

“We really like how the community comes together at the community events, people are really pleasant and there are a lot of activities. The July festival (Music in Plymouth) was great. With five children, the schools are important and we’ve been very pleased with the elementary, middle and senior high schools.”

Tom Ona,6 year resident, pictured with Ethan

“My wife grew up in Plymouth and her parents still live here. We like the bicycle paths a lot and we get out on them to venture into the parks. Everybody is so friendly here and they are easy to get along with, it’s just a great place to live and to raise a family.”

Veena Lokhanve, lived in Plymouth less than a month

“ Plymouth is a nice, green city and very close to downtown Minneapolis. My job is here in Plymouth and the bus system is good. It’s on time and the service is very good.”

Josh and Christina Nolte

“The neighborhoods, there is a real sense of community here. We get together with our neighbors and it provides a relaxing social aspect to our lives. Here in Plymouth we have a lot of fun, it’s a nice area and it has nice wetlands.”

Connect the frames

Art at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Show me something beautiful

Galway, Ireland, by day

Here

Genialidade 3

Oposto 3: Cada homem é um eu único ou um eu semelhante a todos os outros?

Community

The sense of community is based upon a shared set of values. There is an antagonism between envy and the care for one another in a community based town or culture. They are inversely proportional, i.e., the larger and profound the community values are, the less people are subsumed to the annihilation of their relation to others. 

Portugal is usually perceived and marketed as a low profile country, where people are friendly and the sense of community is present. In my humble opinion, Portuguese people are stuck between their future projections of wealth and their depressive recognition of a collective failure to succeed. This polarities are particularly obvious when you dwell into people’s relationships dynamics. There is a broad sense of agreement on people’s minds regarding the need to tear the others positive outcomes into little worlds of subjugation and oblivion. The quest if, therefore, condemned to last until people turn to each other, look to each others eyes and see humanity as a protocol of shared ground, a battlefield of blood in our bodies and not in our hands. People would start then to care for the sake of others, of the neighborhood, of their cities and ultimately of their country. You won’t find this in Portugal. We are stuck on separate worlds, where is context is a polyphonic and unarticulated orchestra. There’s a lot of noise and no music.   

Post-Mortem

À memória de tudo em que vivo.

O casamento

O planeamento vulgar, católico, de um casamento costuma organizar-se num eixo muito curioso. Trata-se de um eixo muito flexível.

Queres casar comigo? Sim! Que bom! Quero! Quero! Pergunta imediata: Onde? Quantas pessoas? O que comer? Bem, o acessório torna-se acessório relativamente ao casal?

Quem serão os que irão legitimar a nossa felicidade, com efeito proporcional à nossa felicidade presente e projecção futura?

Temos que ter muitas pessoas connosco. Quantas mais, melhor casamento; mutatis mutandis, quantas menos, pior a celebração.

A quantidade, a materialidade, a pérfida noção de que a expansividade do marketing se sobrepõe à celebração do Amor e não do casamento. O Amor torna-se um indivíduo isolado pelos jocosos tilintares dos copos. Ah! Vamos mas é beber muito e comer mais! Ou ao contrário…

Dias mais tarde…

O que segura/celebra um casamento? As imbricações da celebração de um casamento ou o “latente escondido e traído (sem espaço)” Amor?

Bah! Amor não se quantificam não se come e não se mostra aos amigos como se mostra uma nova casa ou o novo carro! Não!

Celebremos a perfídia e a jactância! Comamos e bebamos! Este é o eterno júbilo pintado em tons de balança e de notas verdes.

Urra!

E estão preocupados os homossexuais em casarem-se? O que une as pessoas? A legalidade de um carimbo? O Estado é um olho cego com corpo de gigante: estremece o chão que pisa, ruge, mas não vê nada. Normaliza. Quantifica.

Benefícios monetários do casamento entre homossexuais? $$$$ Entendam-se! 

Happiness

Did you make anyone happy last month?