Five connections with real life

·        Revolution of the Animals represents the October Revolution and the February Revolution. February Revolution was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Was followed in the same year by the October Revolution, bringing Bolshevik rule and a change in Russia's social structure.

·        Flag of Animalism: green color for the green fields of England and is the complementary color of red, Horn and Hoof are based on hammer and sickle.

·        Attack of the windmill by Mr. Frederick shows the violation of the non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. And also Operation Barbarossa in 1941 .

·        Napoleon is an allegory of Joseph Stalin, the change of the laws signify the change from communism to Stalinism at the end no one remembers the old days. That Pinkeye ( a young pig) has to try all the food before Napoleon eats it is a parallel to Stalin’s delusion of seeing conspiracies against him everywhere.

·        Boxer is the symbol for the working class, gets exploit by the pigs just like the working class.
Probably he stands for “Alexei Grigorjewitsch Stachanow” (a miner in the Soviet Union,  31 August 1935: it was reported that he had mined a record 102 tonnes of coal in 5 hours and 45 minutes [14 times more than standard], 19 September,mined 227 tonnes of coal in a single shift, Role model for the working class).

Animal Farm

Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is an excellent book. Although reading is not one of my preferences, this book has kept my attention and full interest, since the first to the last page; every single part of it is interesting and joyful.

                It is a book that shows metaphorically the greed of the power. In spite animals are talking about equal rights and obligations, equality of opportunities, in the end, the real motivation of those who were not in command is to achieve a place where they could may the others obey to them.

                All in all their fight was a struggle for power and when they were succeeded they immediately copy the defeated behaviors and incurred in the very same dictatorial way to act in society.

                Animal Farm's describes with humor and accuracy the historical movements' under equality flag. We look around, think a little about communist countries, the values they defend, the way they emphasizes equality among all their citizens and we understand clearly that they are, with no exception, dictatorial countries as China, as Cuba and has Staline's Russia.

                Animal Farm shows that in the end the ones, who don't have the power, want it, and the people (animals in this book) who are fighting under equality flag, in fact are obsessed by the power.

Don't judge before you know the facts

Don't judge before you know the facts or simply, do not judge at all! Most of the people judge based on plain prejudice or stereotype, based on what other people say or simple facts. But, should we judge? Even if we know the facts?

                We shouldn't judge at all, we should accept how things are, how the people are and not judge. It does not matter if people are rich or poor, slim or fat, tall or short, black or white, lawyers or teachers, we should accept everyone like they are, not judge what they do , what they are or what they feel.

                People usually judge people by their appearance, where they come from, what they do despite the fact that they don´t know the people they are judging. Most of the people judge people from Cova da Moura (for example), based on what other people say about that neighborhood, based on stories, without having been there. I have been there and it is not so bad as I used to hear, they have a lot of positive things.

                All in all, in my point of view people shouldn't judge others without getting to know them, the place or the thing. Even if they know they shouldn't judge, we should accept the others like they are; accept their flaws like we accept their virtues. We shouldn't judge each other.

Public speech

In any society, country or epoch studying is always a gain of time and the best thing we can do to improve our skills: to grow up, to structure the foundations of ourselves and to be succeeded in whatever we do.

In fact, only by studying can we get the tools we need to overcome all obstacles that life sets up in front of us; only by studying, can we learn how to face these barriers successfully.

The skills that we develop during the studying process will certainly expand our employment opportunities and, consequently, our income potential. For instances, learning other languages and other cultures gives us the potential to perform highly demanding jobs. In fact, many companies seek out individuals with multi-lingual and multi-cultural experience and skills. Additionally, students can also take advantage of internships while they study abroad for an international work experience that is valued among their countries’ employers.

I think these are the reasons that motivate young people as Max to dive in a multicultural experience abroad.

While we are studying, we'll be exposed to countless different experiences that may influence the rest of our life. Some students even end up changing their major or career path as a result of the new things they learn in the school. As we study, we may find in the subjects we learn a profound influence on the career or personal goals we choose to pursuit.

The modern difficulties to find a job or to find an occupation related to the subject we take an academic degree in, is not a plausible/credible reason to consider that studying is a waste of time. In the first place, because such difficulties are due to the specific moment that our economy is passing trough and we have to be prepared for the moment when we get over the actual crisis. Furthermore, in order to have other solutions or alternatives to our future if we failed to achieve the job of our dreams, we must have as many tools as we can. Taking advantages of all the subjects we learn in school if our expertise on a specific field is not enough to get the job we want, we'll be able to face other possibilities.

All in all, studying is not the best option for our life, is the only and inevitable option he have.

          

Silly interview

Today we saw an interview. However, it wasn't a normal interview.

Firstly, the interviewer lost his good manners and didn´t greet his interviewee, then he asked him to stand up and sit again. In this request, we can already see that this was not a regular or normal interview. The interviewer, after that, induced his interviewee in error by saying "Good morning", when, at time, it was afternoon. Obviously, he started his interview confused and nervous. 

All the time, the interviewer was taking notes, judging his interviewee and assessing him. He was angry and frustrated in the final.

In the end, the interviewer said: "All the vacancies were taken weeks ago". He was just mocking him. This shows why this interview was so silly.

I liked it, because it shows how the interviewee feels in a job interview, nervous and anxious.

In my opinion, I will never have a job interview like this one, but I know that I will have the same feelings, that's one of the reasons why this is a silly interview.

There is no recipe for success

Today, I will talk about my life and who am I and what I have done to be successful.

I am João Cabral and I am a football player.

I play in Barcelona team and I won the award for the best football player of the world.

My career started really early. I have started playing football at five years old in Benfica and when I turned sixteen I was transferred to Barcelona team where I have been playing for five years now.

What have I done to get so far? One of my best skills is my commitment to the game and all the effort I put into it. I get to the training sessions, half an hour earlier and I am always the first one stating the training and the last leaving it. I pay attention ton my coach and when he tells me that I need to do something different, I listen to him and the I practise to improve that lack of skill. For instances, once the coach told me that I would shoot the free kicks next Sunday. So, at the end of the training, I stayed on the pitch for one hour longer shooting free kicks. As a result of that in that weekend match I scored one goal.

Is there any recipe for success? I don´t think so, because, in the end of the day, every single person is different and anyone can achieve success. Every person has to find their own recipe.

My recipe for success is to love what I do and work, work and work to improve my skills in order to be great in my job. Even if you are good at something, you need to work on that for improving your skills. If you don't work for improving you won't be successful.

Concluding, all of you have something that you enjoy doing and you are good at. So my advice is to work on that and if you do it hard you certainly will be successful.

I hope that all of the readers can find their own recipe and work on it. In the end, work is the key for a successful life.

What's in the news

Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Prime Minister and AC Milan president is facing charges of minor violation. It's the denominated "Ruby case".

The Ruby case, set to start on 6 April, involves two charges against the prime minister: paying a minor for sex, which commands a three-year jail term, and abuse of power, for which he could face six to 12 years in prison.

Prosecutors allege that Ms Mahroug attended several parties at Mr Berlusconi's residence last year and was paid for sex while she was still 17, an offence according to Italian law. Both she and the prime minister deny having sex. She says she did receive 7,000 euros (£5,900) but it was as a gift after a party.

Mr Berlusconi is also charged with abusing his power of office by trying to persuade police to release Ms Mahroug from custody after she was arrested in Milan on suspicion of stealing money and jewellery in a separate case. He has acknowledged the phone call but says it was made as a favour to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, because he believed Ruby was his granddaughter.

Berlusconi intends to roll George Clooney and Cristiano Ronaldo to testify on his behalf alleging that they also had sex with Ruby, because they all had the conviction that Ruby was an adult at the time.
Cristiano Ronaldo has already stated that he never was with Ruby and he doesn´t know her.