So I went to a Thanksgiving party yesterday and I was welcomed in by my almost-the-same-age-as-me cousin, who was wearing a blond wig and a pair of sunglasses inside the house. It seems that the few lights that were there were absolutely blinding him to death. I could see the smoke coming out from behind the lenses. Of course, I just sarcastically smiled and passed through, because the whole sight was completely hilarious or something.

No, he looked nothing like this. Hellsing is to cool for him (no offense, cousin). This is more like the cartoon version of Ozzy Osbourne without the speech impediment.

After that, I just sat down and talked with my family as I normally would if I were not in a party. Don’t you find that extremely exciting? I mean, I’m not sure. It seems pretty routine, to me, you know. Holy shit I’m going crazy with the italicizing. But, anyhow, so I went with my cousin (lets call him Ed) to one of the rooms and played some form of unfair 1-to-2 dodgeball with this kid (who also happens to be a relative, apparently), and you could see the fear in his eyes when Ed had the ball. Yet he wanted to continue playing?

Apparently he didn't know the reason.

So what did I do? Knowing I was most likely wack (Whack? I don’t know. Damn these slang terms!) at making a throw that would tear his eyes or die some skin cells, I occasionally passed it to Ed. And the ball was like an angry girlfriend, because you could hear it smack him from miles away.

I accidentally hit him in the balls and he didn’t even whimper – it rebounded. My cousin hit him at his ear, and apparently it imploded and it hurt more than him getting hit in the balls (or maybe his balls are part of his eardrums?), since he started crying.

The funny – well, really, the disturbing – thing is that Ed started filming the whole thing mocking him, and then he even said he’s going to post it on Myspace. What the hell kind of shit is that? That is sick. For real. I just stood there in inner shock giving him [Ed] the face.

The Popeye Face.

Sometimes I think he jokes too much, which creeps me out. I found that sort of insensitive and crap. But I didn’t have the guts to do anything. Wish I would’ve said something. I just left the room, and when I came back Ed was giving him some talk about not crying over stupid stuff like that, to suck it up – which I found even more preposterous. I just carried along with a petrified feeling in mi corazon.

It all seemed familiar though..and that’s when I remembered: he was acting just like CJ, that asshole back in them old camp days. Pfft. What a damn role model. I also realized, that at any minute, he could do the same to me if I get out of my gender box and stuff, you know?

But, anyhow, the kid started feeling better, and there was no more dodgeball after that.

Then, thinking I’m probably going to be going to Xavier, out of all the schools I put down, I asked him how it is there, since he just entered as a sophomore. Apparently, you have to pay for food, and they do teach you how to play instruments, if you join for the class of course, and the homework is fine. Looks pretty good to me.

The he told me I’m going to Harvard, which is cool, though Harvard is just a bit overrated.

He also told me he’s planning on going to West Point. I told him there’s no way in pornographic hell I’d go there. But what I really meant was:

1) What the hell are you thinking?!

2) HA! Good luck wit’ that!

I'm sure it will be fun.

Then after that, we listened to some music – Ed dancing around humorously as I laughed at him, and me interrupting the music on his Blackberry with my radio station. He was trying to do air guitar. Didn’t do very good. I think leg guitar would’ve been better for him – that is, if he’s into contortionist stunts.

The food didn’t taste very good, and I had a lot of it left on my plate. I went and inconspicuously threw it out, because I didn’t want to insult whoever cooked that day. Surprisingly, there was no Turkey.

I discovered that 2 of the challenge blogs I have been regularly taking part in have ceased to be this week. Dear Sandy has given up – too much work and a real drain on her time. She has been running them for 2 years though and we all know what a job it is doing the challenges, never mind planning and orchestrating the whole thing, especially when they’re popular, as TGIF and SaWo were. She and the challenges will be missed…

I have been making fabric bookmarks as presents for friends for xmas, painting and designing my own personal xmas card. I finished a large mixed media canvas and am looking for a title or name for it. I shall photograph it tomorrow and ask for your help in the naming of this beast!!

In the meantime, I am quietly disgusted that my DD’s situation continues, along with the daily harrassment by the bullies. I have logged most of it on my other blog and as she turns 15 tomorrow, we’re having a breakfast party with her best GF and chilling.

Unbelievable! Over a week has passed since we informed DD’s Form Tutor that she was being persistently bullied. We have still heard nothing from the school yet and the harrassment continues. Are these girls ‘untouchable’? Is anyone in school concerned? It certainly doesn’t seem so…

On the plus side, I had a call from Anti-Bullying Cornwall’s Project Manager, Anna Thomas on Thursday. We had a long discussion and she was pretty disappointed that we still have had no contact from the school. She told me she was phoning the school to speak to the Headmaster and would call me back if she managed to speak to him.

She has also arranged to go into school on Tuesday herself, and have a meeting with DD. She will explain that she’s there on her behalf, to help her to get through this and has informed the school that she will be going in, with full parental consent. I wonder what they will think, or if they’ll even care? In circumstances like this, the ‘ABC’ workers teach children coping mechanisms and psychological defenses to help them to deal with bullies, which is more than the school are doing, so I am incredibly grateful for the support from an outside agency. At least we’re not on our own.

I received an email from Anna, saying that she hadn’t managed to get hold of the Headmaster, but that she was looking forward to meeting DD on Tuesday… I have told DD and I think she’s warily looking forward to meeting Anna too. Wouldn’t it be great if the school would take their heads out of the sand, (to be polite), and bloody well do something?

This has got to be one of the most stressful periods we have ever experienced in our lives. The hardest part is seeing your child go off to school in the morning, both of you filled with a sense of dread, not knowing what crap the day will bring, and then just being so relieved that she comes home safe that afternoon. It really shouldn’t be this way, should it? I mean, the school have a duty of care to your children; they are supposed to make sure they are able to receive an education whilst in school. Kids are supposed to be safe when they’re at school, aren’t they? They shouldn’t dread going into lessons, knowing they’ll be ridiculed and humiliated at every available opportunity, should they?

I’m at the stage now where I know this is going to take time to fix, but I’m not backing down. My child has the right to study and learn and achieve. She has the right to be safe at school. She has the right to a proper education and that is what we are fighting for.

Of all the battles I have waged in my life, I never thought stopping my DD being bullied would be the hardest one of all…

O Ministério Público do Estado de Santa Catarina vem somar esforços ao trabalho já realizado pelo Governo do Estado, no combate ao “Bullying” (ou “Intimidação” – tradução livre).

Com o mote “Bullying, isso não é brincadeira!“, esta campanha objetiva conscientizar pais, alunos e professores quanto aos sérios danos psicológicos e até físicos que a prática pode causar em crianças e adolescentes nos ambientes escolares públicos e privados.

Cartaz da Campanha

Panfleto: Campanha Anti-Bullying (lado externo)

Panfleto: Campanha Anti-Bullying (lado interno)

O que é Bullying?

É uma prática social de natureza agressiva que pode afetar a vítima tanto no sentido físico, quanto no aspecto psicológico e eventualmente até virtual, principalmente com crescente uso mal-intencionado dos sites de relacionamentos.

No ambiente escolar, este tipo de intimidação ocorre por meio de um aluno ou determinado grupo de alunos (as “panelinhas”), que passam a perseguir sistematicamente outro aluno.

Esta prática, covarde, sempre ocorre em uma relação desigual de poder, onde a vítima encontra-se em desvantagem, razão pela qual não pode se defender, causando angústia e sofrimento.

Embora esta prática seja mais explícita no âmbito escolar, o Bullying é um problema social também presente em áreas de lazer e, de forma mais dissimulada, com adultos nos locais de trabalho.

Quais as formas de intimidação praticadas?

• Física: desde empurrar e beliscar até chutes e socos (as “vias de fato”);
• Verbal: apelidos extremamente pejorativos e insultos gratuitos;
• Material: danos intencionais no material escolar da vítima, furtos e até roubo;
• Moral: disseminação de calúnias;
• Psicológica: exclusão social ou, inversamente, a perseguição de tendência intimidatória, além do uso de chantagens emocionais;
• Sexual: além do abuso, o assédio;
• Virtual (cyberbullying): a evolução e inclusão tecnológica digital trouxe inúmeros benefícios às pessoas, porém assim como tanta outras ferramentas, a internet e os celulares podem ser utilizados para propagação de situações constrangedoras à vítima, principalmente através de sites de relacionamento ou sites de compartilhamento de vídeos. Esta forma de intimidação, pode ser sobremaneira danosa, pela velocidade, alcance e a possibilidade de anonimato para disseminação de mensagens, imagens ou vídeos pela rede.

Aspecto legal

O Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente (art. 4º*, caput, da Lei nº 8.069/1990), já aborda a importância das questões da proteção à dignidade, ao respeito e à convivência comunitária.

Com este objetivo, o Governo do Estado de Santa Catarina, instituiu no início deste ano o “Programa de Combate ao Bullying” (Lei nº 14.651/2009), que prevê o enfrentamento de tal prática por meio de atividades interdisciplinares e da participação comunitária.

* “Art. 4º É dever da família, da comunidade, da sociedade em geral e do poder público assegurar, com absoluta prioridade, a efetivação dos direitos referentes à vida, à saúde, à alimentação, à educação, ao esporte, ao lazer, à profissionalização, à cultura, à dignidade, ao respeito, à liberdade e à convivência familiar e comunitária.”

Consequências para as vítimas de Bullying:

• Baixa autoestima;
• Baixo rendimento e evasão escolar;
• Agressividade e desejo de vingança;
• Estresse, ansiedade e fobia social;
• Dificuldade de relacionamento;
• Depressão e pensamentos suicidas.

Como identificar uma possível vítima:

• Desinteresse em frequentar a escola;
• Retorna da escola com roupas e/ou materiais rasgados ou sujos;
• Isolamento familiar e social;
• Aparenta tristeza, ansiedade ou aflição.

Orientações:

Às vítimas:
Procure a ajuda dos pais, da escola, de um psicólogo, do Conselho Titular, de delegacias especializadas ou de um Promotor de Justiça.

À família e aos responsáveis:
A criança tem na família o suporte e a referência básica para lidar com as diversidades da vida, motivo pela qual torna-se essencial que tanto a gravidade do problema (Bullying), quanto sua prevenção e luta sejam bem compreendidos pelos pais ou responsáveis;
A boa educação no lar, com estabelecimento de limites e respeito às diferenças entre as pessoas representam uma base sólida para um amadurecimento social do indivíduo. O bom exemplo dos pais é vital;
Jamais culpe a criança por ser vítima ou praticante de Bullying: busque auxílio psicoterapêutico;
Cobre providências da direção da escola e caso esta se omita, busque o Conselho Tutelar ou o Ministério Público.

À escola:
Incluir no Projeto Político Pedagógico da escola regras claras que prevejam a identificação de diferenças entre simples brincadeiras e a prática de Bullying;
Estimular a discussão do tema entre o corpo docente, pais e alunos;
Desenvolver atividades que trabalhem o respeito e a tolerância às diferenças individuais e socioculturais;
Todo caso de Bullying deverá ser encaminhado pela escola ao Conselho Tutelar;
A escola, como espaço privilegiado para promoção e exercício da cidadania, deve prever em seu Projeto Político Pedagógico a educação integral, articulando valores sociais para a formação de sujeitos conscientes de deus direitos e deveres.

Redação »

by Ellen Brandt, Ph.D.

Many of those in my now-loyal audience first became acquainted with my work by supporting me in the Community Marketing site’s Great Blog-Off contest a few months ago. A number of people have asked me to write a little case study about my (overwhelming) win in that test, which illustrates some basic principles everyone who writes for the Internet should keep in mind: Hook ‘Em With Headlines. Keep ‘Em There With Links. And Remember You’re Only As Strong As Your Fan Base.

I’ve been a heavy-volume print journalist most of my working life. But after a several-year sabbatical from the field, I returned to find the world of magazines in disarray, Big Media under fire from Little Media, and the Internet emerging as the place where a busy and educated audience of professionals tended to go for both news and features.

I was also dismayed to find that the current dominance of a few major search engines tends to exclude from Internet visibility anything written prior to 18 months ago or so. Magazines are particularly poorly represented. So the more than 3,000 print magazine articles I’d published over a 30-year period were virtually inaccessible, in Internet terms. I was suddenly a journalistic ghost, while Buffy the Siamese Cat, with 14,000 Twitter “publications,” was now a media superstar.

What to do? Well, with the help of my cousin the Internet guru, I first scanned in a selection of about 50 of my magazine articles and placed them in a little virtual portfolio on the Web. Then I wrote a couple of articles for Internet “aggregators,” but soon decided they were pretty much pimps, and I was a lady, not a Lady of the Night.

So I decided to create a Web presence of my own by publishing and administering my own blogsites and developing an audience in the Brave New Blogosphere. While this idea was germinating, I heard about the Great Blog-Off contest at a website called Community Marketing.

Marketing is not my area of expertise, although I’ve done a few stories on it over the years. (I’ve probably done a few stories on everything over the years.) But this contest was not designed for marketing writers only. It welcomed all bloggers who professed to be “thought leaders” on any kind of subject matter. I had been contemplating starting my Baby Boomers-The Angriest Generation series, which most of you now know about. (See the latest Index at http://wp.me/pxD3J-2a )

I signed up for the contest, describing myself as a “thought leader” on the subject of Baby Boomers. The owner of the site asked contestants – there were a couple of dozen originally, although some turned out to be not very active – to come up with punchy little descriptions of themselves, a few words that would make us memorable. I offered the following:

Dr. Ellen Brandt – “Sophisticated Rabble Rouser”

About my professional background: I’m an Ivy League-educated Ph.D. cultural historian and the author of over 3,000 magazine articles. I’m now a professional in the senior services industry – the fastest-growing sector of this economy for the next 100 years or so – while also resuming my career as a heavy-volume journalist.

When I’m not working: I’m a mezzo soprano trained at Juilliard Prep when it was at 123rd and Claremont. I like lighthouses, carousels, and botanical gardens. And my Dog-Nephew Garcia, named after Jerry Garcia, was – honestly! – the inspiration for the Obamas getting a Portuguese water dog.

My Pre-Blog-Off Blogsite

Said punchy blurb was accompanied by a photo and the notation that I would be the contestant representing Boomers among a field of mostly Gen-Xers and Millennials.

The punchy blurbs were posted about ten days before the contest proper was to begin, at which time I contemplated what kind of strategy might set me apart from the field, help win me a loyal audience, and address the essential differences between a static print environment and this dynamic sphere which calls itself the Internet.

I decided to establish a “pre-blog-off blog” at WordPress, where I now house the blogs I publish. The site was called “Preparing for the Blog-Off” with the subheading “Seeing What Works.”

It basically consisted of the same page repeated ten times with different headlines. More about the headlines in a second. The main purpose of the page was to introduce readers to the Blog-Off, with an easy link to the contest embedded in the text.

I also said a little bit about my background and stated that I would be the contestant representing Content and Experience, as befitted a Baby Boomer. On the blogsite’s About page, I offered further links to my Linked In profile, about 50 examples of my print magazine articles, and a wide-ranging interview about my career. (See Why This Blog at http://wp.me/sycK6-about )

This adds up to a whole lot of links! Which illustrates one of those three principles successful website owners should keep in mind: Don’t keep your Readers on one static page, in which case they might as well be sitting at their kitchen table reading a newspaper. Keep your audience moving swiftly from link to link, offering them choices of what to read about next. Make your site a textual Treasure Hunt, with riches galore opening before their eyes.

Now For Those Headlines . . .

All I needed now was an interesting topic for the site, broad enough to warrant several blog entries over the two-week period of the contest, and compelling enough to attract a brand-new audience previously unfamiliar with my work.

The Blog-Off winner would be the contestant who attracted both the most comments and the most clicks – or page views – on the Community Marketing site. So I conceived the idea of a series of stories about attracting both page views and comments via the strength of one’s article headlines.

The series would be called “Thank You For Clicking!” and would be based on the experience early in my career within the world of those Headline Hotshots, the tabloid newspapers. (See “In An Economy and World Gone Haywire” http://wp.me/pycK6-v )

No one does headlines better than the tabloids. Their titles may amuse you, intrigue you, infuriate you, or have you scratching your head – but they are superb at drawing you in and getting you to read the accompanying stories.

Looking at this exercise as informative, as well as fun, I decided to use ten Faux Tabloid Headlines representing different kinds of typical tabloid stories, which I categorized as The Big Story, Plausible-But-Off, Purely Ridiculous, and What-the-Heck-Is-That-About? You can read about these tabloid story categories – and I certainly hope you will – in the four-part series of blogs which made up my composite entry in the Blog-Off.

Here are the ten Faux Tabloid Headlines:

Corpse Found in Internet Guru’s Gym Locker

Pet Hamsters May Spread Swine Flu

Each of these headlines was placed on a separate page at the “Preparing For the Blog-Off” site at Word Press, with the exact same text accompanying each one. In other words, the only element that differed page-to-page was the headline itself. A reader’s clicking on any particular page instead of another would demonstrate that the headline on that page attracted that reader in some way. I also encouraged readers to comment on why they clicked on that particular headline.

Please click on this link to see what the “Preparing For the Blog-Off” page looked like: http://wp.me/pycK6-2h I have used “7 Out of 10 Blog in the Nude” as an example.

Finding Your Fan Base

At this point I needed an audience to read my Blog-Off entries. Several of the younger entrants in the contest publically stated they’d be concentrating on their Twitter networks as potential bases of fans. But I wasn’t on Twitter yet, nor was I active on Face Book.

So I decided to focus my efforts on my Linked In network – considerably smaller then than it is now – and my 50 Linked In groups.

Starting about two weeks before the Blog-Off’s official commencement, I began to post each of the ten Faux Tabloid Headlines in turn, with a link to the appropriate “Preparing” site page, first in the News sections, then in the Discussion sections, of my various Linked In Groups. I made sure each of the ten Faux Headlines appeared in News and Discussion threads an equal number of times, meaning that an approximately equal number of site visitors would have the opportunity to click – or not click – on each distinctive headline.

Readers who did choose to click were encouraged to make comments about why they chose the headline they did. Many got into the spirit of this exercise and made comments which were sophisticated, insightful, and often quite funny.

It was also soon very clear who my own “fan base” tended to be: over-35; equally divided between female and male; well-educated; and with professional, managerial, or creative careers.

I’m quite happy with that audience. And, in fact, many of those who first “found” me and my work via the Blog-Off are now friends and members of my network.

A quick note about my Baby Boomers series: I intended to introduce the first of my Baby Boomers-The Angriest Generation articles towards the end of the Blog-Off contest. But I collected so much material from the Faux Tabloid Headlines exercise – most of which turned out to be genuinely interesting, as well as humorous – I decided to stick with that “mini-series,” consisting of four separate “Thank You For Clicking!” stories, as my composite Blog-Off entry.

Here are links to the four stories in the series:

Thank You For Clicking! Part One: Corpse Found In Internet Guru’s Gym Locker

Thank You For Clicking! Part Four: New Reality Show To Feature Laid-Off Bankers, Lawyers

I urge you to read these stories in sequence, after looking at the Introductory page from the “Preparing For the Blog-Off” site, linked above.

This sequence of four Thank You For Clicking! results articles made up my Blog-Off entry. They were posted on the Community Marketing site at about three-day intervals over the two-week course of the contest. Other active competitors also posted about four stories on average, with three to five blogs being the typical range per contestant.

When the results were tallied, my articles garnered about twice as many page views on the Community Marketing site as my nearest competitor. But the number of page views on the “Preparing for the Blog-Off” site itself was over double that amount, meaning my total views overall, counting both sites, was between six and seven times as great as the next-nearest contestant.

Tell Me What You Think

The series of Thank You For Clicking! stories also did extremely well in terms of reader commentary, which I believe is one of the essential components of successful Internet-based publishing.

Internet gurus tell us that a comment-to-click ratio of 1-2 percent is the average among publishers across the Web. Adding together the approximately 200 comments the Thank You! series received at the Community Marketing site, my Linked In Groups, and the “Preparing For the Blog-Off” site, these articles had a comment-to-click ratio of almost 4 percent, considered an excellent showing.

The comment-to-page view ratio on the “Preparing” site alone, where I – and not other managers – had complete control of the blog and its content was similar, with close to 100 comments from readers, out of 2700 page views in a three-week period.

I am including a selection of original Reader comments from the Community Marketing site and the “Preparing” blogsite as an appendix to this case study. To see them, please click here:

The superb reader response demonstrates how enthusiastic – and witty – an audience I was fortunate enough to make an acquaintance with during the course of the Blog Off contest.

There were a few detractors. If you’ve read my serious humor piece about malice on the Web, you’ll remember a small cadre of loonies at a couple of Linked In media groups – including a PR man! – who thought anything whatsoever to do with tabloids was just too undignified for Internet discourse. (See “Vultures and Stiletto Heels” http://wp.me/pycK6-5 )

But most readers loved the premise of the Faux Tabloid Headline experiment and understood that it was not only entertaining, but also told us some interesting things about which kinds of headlines readers respond to viscerally and why.

Even coming from a heavy-volume print background, it was essential for me – as it is for every writer and publisher – to discover just who my Internet “fan base” might be and how I could best appeal to them in future Web publications.

My gratifying win in the Blog-Off contest allowed me to do that.

Soon afterwards, I launched my Baby Boomers-The Angriest Generation series. ( xxxxxxxx ) And “Tell Me What You Think,” a catch phrase I used throughout the Blog-Off, became the subtitle of my EllenInteractive site, a cornucopia of diverse stories designed to elicit above-average reader response. (For instance, see “The World is Divided,” a key question story which received well over 100 comments: http://wp.me/pycK6-n )

I’m now moving on to additional Internet publishing projects:

Media Revolution, a subseries of EllenInteractive, talks about how the entire media sector is undergoing a sea change of enormous proportions and how we must prepare for it. (See “Is Big Brother Here-And Is He An Algorithm?” http://wp.me/pycK6-1Y )

Romance After Fifty is a series on dating and relationships I’m developing with a Baby Boomer matchmaker. (See “A Chance for Romance” http://wp.me/pxD3J-R )

A Little Knowledge will look at Internet security and cloud computing from the perspective of an audience which is well-educated and has used computers for years, but which lacks information on some of the serious recent developments that are changing the Web as we speak.

And The Rest of US - pun intended – is a new blogsite I’m launching about and for political Centrists.

So there have been many interesting developments built upon the foundation of my Blog-Off win.

I invite my brilliant, sophisticated, and in-every-way-perfect audience to join with me in these new projects and others to come.

Any success I have is due to you!

THE HINDUOnline edition of India’s National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 25, 2008
Opinion – Letters to the Editor
The merger of the subsidiary banks with the SBI will give pension as a third retirement benefit to the employees. Yet, the trade unions oppose the merger. The banking sector is moving away from office-based banking with the advent of technology. The trade unions’ allegation that the government’s initiatives will affect branch expansion is thus unconvincing. And bank employees by themselves cannot stop the flow of FDI into any sector.

The two-day strike, which will achieve nothing, will only help private banks increase their business.

R. Sajan,

Aluva

Lobna Abdelrehim

Abdelrehim’s lawsuit states that she has been subjected to an “overtly and disturbing sexually hostile work environment” at GDS International’s Wall Street offices. The complaint describes a workplace that is “rife with unwelcome sex-based bodily contact, such as hugs, patting, and face and forehead kissing.”

Abdelrehim alleges that sexually inappropriate company-wide emails referring to topics such as “MILFs” were regularly distributed.  In addition, her lawsuit claims that she and other saleswomen were given “overtly sexist and demeaning sales propaganda, exhorting [them] to use their feminine wiles as a sale closing technique.” 

For example, one company memo was entitled “Using your SEX to Sell and the Boulevard to Bombshell Bitchiness,” which included tips for female employees to “flirt to get what [you] want” and how female employees “can get away with being aggressive because its sexy.”

Abdelrehim, a Muslim, also claims that religious discrimination against Muslims was common at GDS International.  For example, emails were circulated among employees “depicting men in Muslim garb as raging homicidal terrorists.”

After Abdelrehim complained to the HR manager about the hostile work environment, she alleges that company management “made no attempt to credibly investigate, let alone redress,” her complaints.  Instead, she claims that she was retaliated against for having complained by being demoted shortly afterwards, and she was told that she would be fired if she didn’t achieve an extremely high and “unrealistic” sales quota.

——————–

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Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad, said Euripides. This saying exactly fits in to the current PPP regime who to mark the party’s 43rd foundation day in Karachi thrashed almost everyone including media. Such an unprofessional attitude from the party’s top leadership exposed the fear and stress they have been confronting for quite sometime. The ‘Awami’ president  from his highly secured president house via telephonic address “warned” the nation (minus PPP supporters) that they are here because they have a mandate and PPP will foil all attempts of political actors. Mr. Zardari and co. during his bullying referred MQM, PML N, PTI, JI and Geo Tv as political actors who want to derail democratic set up by not supporting PPP’s corruption and mismanagement, in a sense he lashed at almost all the political parties and mainstream media out of frustration however the response came from the so called political actors should be much appreciated as they understand what the Awami government is currently going through and how fragile they are. The nation knows that a single long march or a comprehensive media campaign can topple this highly unpopular Government.

I believe at this point of time PPP should reconsider their governing strategy (if any) and include all the party veterans in their central executive committee who would not only sincerely advise the perplexed president but help PPP’s brand building as well. Currently Zardari brigade seems to be on defensive side as they have widely been criticized across the nation but unfortunately instead of fixing their blunders they have chosen to capitalize sympathy vote by portraying themselves innocent which is a sure way to self-destruction, People’s party under the disguise of democracy are putting all energies to earn people’s sympathy without realizing the fact that the hurdles of free media, courts and  now an alert Army would never let the nation befooled as we are facing one of the worst times in the history of Pakistan. This is the time when even opposition is reluctant to take charge of country and demand mid term elections despite their growing popularity graph but again whom gods would destroy, they first make mad.

What's the connection to this post? Sunflowers are one of my favourite things! And I'll consider bribes. There's no connection between the two. I'm just sayin'.

I missed out, big time, on a blog topic so readily available to me – Canada’s Thanksgiving Day, back in October.  Well call me an opportunist, I’m hopping on the American Thanksgiving bandwagon for today’s theme:  Things I’m thankful for in my job!

1.  I work with a great group of people.  I empathize with my fellow HR’ers who have to work with or for terrors.  Why is this still happening in our workplaces?  “Ethical treatment is a fundamental human right.”

2.  Have a great idea?  Do it.  Don’t know how to do it?  There’s enough expertise + smarts that between us, we’ll figure it out.

3.  The office Christmas party.  Sure, there may not be any crystal chandeliers to swing from, but a great meal with my coworkers is always a fun time to bond.

4.  A fair compensation plan.  Between news of abysmal child poverty rates and stratospheric executive compensation, it puts things into perspective.

5.  I’m measured on my deliverables.  It’s all about whether I got the job done and how well, not at what time I turned on my computer.

6.  The results of my performance review is never a surprise.  I’m kept up to date on my progress on a regular basis and feedback is a two-way street.  Likewise, I do my best to never surprise my boss.  I said I do my best… but I’m not perfect.

7.  My coworkers offer suggestions to make my work better.  I listen to them because they’re experts at what they do and they care about good work.  They listen to me when I apologize for having Monday morning grr’s.

8.  My daily can of diet Root Beer.  Sometimes, happiness is as simple as sugar-free caramel-flavoured fizzy water.

9.  Support for learning.  It helps that my organization offers some great workshops.

10.  I can log on to Facebook and LinkedIn and do the social networking thing without being questioned on whether or not I’m working.  I feel sorry for people who have these websites blocked at work because social networking is not seen as a business tool.

So, there’s a lot to be thankful for.  Sure, everyone has days when they would rather not do what they’re doing and wish they’d win the next Lotto Max jackpot.  Hey, that’s life!  But during those moments, I’ll try my best to remember the above instead of blowing $10 on a quick pick.

The BBC reported on a recent survey by the British Heart Foundation which found that most parents in the UK vastly overestimate the amount of exercise their children are getting. While 72% of parents believe that their children are getting enough exercise, according to the survey, only one in ten children actually get the recommended amount of exercise per day.  As more children begin to suffer the ill effects of not exercising and because obesity in children is on the rise, there is added urgency to understand how weight impacts the lives of children.

A recent study by Clark, Slate, and Viglietti (2009), found that children who were severely overweight had significantly worse marks in all subjects than students who were not obese.  The same was seen with standardized test scores and was found even when controlling for economic status or student conduct. However, the results were only found among white students; weight was not significantly correlated with grades for students in other ethnic categories. The authors caution that much more research should be done as their sample was somewhat limited and that people should be careful of studies looking at weight categories because many children go through growth-spurts at different times. Furthermore, it is important to remember that their research only showed that weight and academic performance were correlated. It is impossible to say that obesity causes low grades when it could very well be the other way around or other factors may influence both grades and weight.

Regardless, the study is interesting because it highlights that the issue of obesity may be worrisome not just because of its ill effects on physical health. Children who are overweight might suffer from low self-esteem or become victims of bullying or social exclusion, all of which could impact their physical and mental health. There are still a number of questions that social psychologists could help answer: Why does obesity negatively correlate with academic success? Do teachers treat obese children differently than non-obese children? Or, are children who are suffering academically less likely to exercise and eat a proper diet?

Read more: David Clark, D., Slate, J. R., & Vigliett, G. C. (2009). Children’s Weight and Academic Performance in Elementary School: Cause for Concern?. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. 9, 1, 185-204.

Not a good day, really. First thing this morning I had an appointment with my doctor, requested because I thought maybe I want to try anti-depressants again, to combat the naturally increased levels of anxiety associated with my job. The doctor ended up seeing me half an hour late, as he always does, causing a great deal of stress as I would have to be at work within the hour. He only gave me a few minutes, just like he always does, in which I had to persuade him that my problem really isn’t just a case of mild newcomer nerves. I got a prescription for three months’ worth of citalopram, which I was on last year. I had thought it might be useful to try something else, something that won’t cause all the unpleasant side effects that put me off citalopram before, but since the doctor was clearly too busy for a proper discussion, I had to make do with what I was given. I really can’t wait to move next month so that I can sign up with a new doctor.

When I was finally out of the doctor’s surgery I rushed home to take the first tablet in the course, before I had to go to work. Maybe it’s an alcoholic thing to do, rushing home in a frenzy to take a pill in the hope that I might feel better, rather than leaving it for tomorrow. With some extra serotonin in my system, I think I felt OK on the tube to Notting Hill this morning. I certainly didn’t feel horrible like I have every morning for the past two weeks. That can probably be put down to the expectation effect, rather than any real chemical action. SSRI’s such as citalopram take weeks to have any real effect, which is how they are not habit-forming.

At work I had three hours of customer service to look forward to – after yesterday’s ‘experience’ they seem to think I’m ready to be let loose on the public properly. I logged on to find about 300 customer e-mail enquiries that urgently needed responding to. The same guy who sat with me yesterday at the helpdesk sat with me again today, offering help when it was needed. I got the impression after an hour that I should be starting to feel more confident in answering the enquiries on my own. My supervisor began to sound tired and bored with my endless requests for help. After two hours, I noticed him rolling his eyes nearly every time I spoke. I began to panic, horrified by the thought that I was being a burden, and I made a few mistakes, choosing to go ahead and respond to enquiries alone rather than risk further eye-rolling by asking for more help.

After three hours I had to take a break just to calm down. I went out to Starbucks, sat down and stuffed my face with sugar. My hands were shaking; I was sure that I’d finally proved myself to be the failure that I always thought I was in their eyes. I’d reduced someone who was supposed to be helping me to eye-rolling boredom. In his eyes, I could be a bit slow, at best. Stupid, at worst. The thought of being seen as stupid is absolutely horrifying to me. I don’t know why.

After using up my paid break I returned to the office where I was allowed to get on with the other part of my job, the bit that I’ve got used to over the past two weeks, where I have to update the website with retailer offers. I’m comfortable with this bit of the job: it’s got nothing to do with customer service, it’s just typing words and numbers into a live website. Of course, two weeks ago I was in a similar place with this part of the job to the place where I am now with the new part. I thought I’d never understand any of it two weeks ago. Now it’s almost a piece of cake. If I can get my head around that, surely I can understand anything. Well, that’s what I’m hoping.

At 5pm Melanie announced to the office that our thanksgiving dinner was ready and waiting for us downstairs. I didn’t know why the whole company was choosing to go to a thanksgiving party, until I got downstairs and saw all the alcohol. About fifty fresh bottles of various descriptions sat on a table in the corner of the room, and the thirty or so employees of the company were fighting their way over to the table to lay claim to their share of the night’s alcoholic refreshment. Melanie and some of the other directors had cooked turkey; with all the booze distracting everyone the food was almost a second thought at this point. I put some meat and potatoes on a paper plate and went to sit on the only free seat in the corner of the room. It’s a really bad space for a party: only one large sofa and a few swivel chairs had to accommodate thirty people with their dinner and drinks. From the moment I sat down I knew I wasn’t enjoying myself. Everyone separated off into their little cliques where they were bound to stay for the rest of the night. Melanie, who I might have felt comfortable chatting to, was busy serving up the food in the kitchen and didn’t look as if she would be mingling any time soon. I forced the food down my throat in three minutes and decided I’d had enough of the party. I had to leave. No one was really interested in socialising: it was all about getting pissed as quickly as possible. I had hoped that tonight would finally be my opportunity to meet the other people in the company, get to know some faces and names outside of the small, uncomfortable little team that I always work in. Alas, I didn’t stand a chance of making a single friend.

I wasn’t the first person to sneak out early tonight. One of the guys who trained with me three weeks ago was out of the door like a shot after forcing his food down in a similar way to me. At least I didn’t have to be the first to leave. Just five minutes of the event was more than enough for me. It’s not the fear of drinking that puts me off these kinds of things: it’s the fear of being around drunk people. I can’t handle it.

As soon as I left I was full of doubts once again about the future of my job. Someone was bound to notice my sudden departure. They could be thinking: what an ungrateful arse, staying only long enough to eat our food without bothering to talk to anyone! With the added pressure of the extra work that I am now being expected to do every day, I’m really fearful about the whole thing tonight. I went straight to the gay step 11 meeting from Notting Hill – I desperately needed to be in a safe place with safe people. There I managed to share about what had just happened, though it was an incredibly busy meeting and I don’t usually manage to jump in when there are so many others needing to speak. I’m glad I was able to go to the meeting tonight, and I’m really glad I was able to talk about all the things going through my mind. As a consequence I felt much better, for a while. People came up to share with me their experiences of dreaded office parties, how we all find it impossible to deal with so-called ‘normal’ people in the real world where getting drunk is the highest priority for most. The trouble with socialising in the ‘real’ world is that it’s all so meaningless. None of the conversation that I heard tonight was of any real interest to me; a few years ago it wouldn’t have mattered as I would have been too wasted to care. Today I can’t ignore the fact that most of what these people want to talk about is utter shit! I don’t want to be judgmental, it’s just the way British society works. As long as you can get really drunk, nothing else matters.

En aquest enllaç trobareu unes reflexions que s’han publicat a la revista juvenil OKAPI d’abril 2009, sobre l’assetjament escolar i com aquest afecta al qui el pateix.

Basta de insultos

Please note I would be away for Thanksgiving so I might not tweet as much. But before I do, here are the tweets of the week.

Test prep companies are catering to a new demographic: 3 & 4 year olds http://bit.ly/6G8iPP | I think this is a little ridiculous. Just let the kids be kids. They have a lot of schooling and test prep ahead of them.

Student assaulted during Kick A Jew Day http://bit.ly/90mVDM & Red-haired boy beat up on Kick a Ginger Day http://bit.ly/7Mso9l | I find both of these instances very disturbing. How could kids be so cruel? Here is the bigger problem (regarding the Kick A Jew Day). “But one grandparent said he just chalks it up to kids being kids. ‘Personally I think it’s a non issue,’ said Raymond Brusca.” Bullying should not be accepted as a fact of life. This is when you can’t let kids be kids.

White House Begins Campaign to Promote Science and Math Education http://bit.ly/578Zur | We definitely need more Bill Nyes or Mythbusters, people who make science and math cool and exciting and Obama is absolutely right. Scientists and engineers should be recognized for their achievements and viewed like role models like athletes do right now. I guess what I’m envisioning is kind of like those Intel commercial lately which show scientists like Ajay Bhatt (one of the people responsible for the USB) as rock stars. People do respond to efforts like that. Again going back to the Intel example, they couldn’t keep up with the high demand to give away Ajay Bhatt t-shirts and had to raffle them off and without a doubt is one of Intel most successful marketing efforts. I don’t know how much people in going into science and math fields because of that but it is a start. Society has made the most progress when the scientists and engineers’ innovations are encourage and celebrated.

Have a great Thanksgiving and as always you can follow me at my twitter account, (@gmatlinks).

Adam the ant had polka dot pants; and everyone thought they were keen.

But there was one jealous ant who disliked his pants, and to him every day he was mean.

Max was his name and he thought it a game, to ridicule, taunt, and tease.

But Adam stayed Adam and didn’t give in; he stayed selfless, happy, and free.

Adam tried to ignore Max with all of his might, but Max wanted Adam to put up a fight.

Max didn’t have any friends to play with or love. Was there ever a friend anytime, anyone?

Max laughed at Adam and made fun of his pants, but Adam was one of the nicer ants.

At school one day, during story time, the teacher called on Max to read the next line.

Soon everyone knew that Max couldn’t read, so THEY began to taunt and tease.

Max got upset and started to cry. Adam then understood the bully inside.

Adam yelled at this classmates to hush and to stop. He said, “That’s enough!” as he jumped and he stomped.

“Max is a bully we know this is true, but he needs our help cuz he’s lonely and blue.”

Everyone stopped, they didn’t know what to say, but Adam would be Max’s friend anyway.

That was the day a new friendship was born. Adam taught Max to read and write on the board.

He also taught Max how a person should be: To love the Lord, your friends, and your enemies.

Max is now nice and he’s no longer mean. Now he has some pants you really should see!

By: Lori Kaiser

Copyright 2007

Did you read about this one yet? This is an unbelievable story out of Florida about 15-year-old Michael Brewer, who was doused with rubbing alcohol by 5 bully youths ages 13 to 15 and then set on fire. This young man’s life will never be the same.

Yes, it’s been on the TODAY show and the news, but does it really sink in? It’s one thing to be taunted. It’s another to be punched or even threatened with a weapon. But, to me, there is not many worse ways to hurt someone severely than with burning. I’m sure there will be all sorts of excuses made by lawyers like, “the boys are too young to understand the nature of what they did”. Well the end truth is that Michael Brewer’s life has been ruined for absolutely no reason and his recover will be painful and lifelong. Over 65 percent of his body has been burned.

His doctor summed it up in an article on the ABC News website.

“Every part of his body is affected…his torso, legs, arms and head. It does look like the burns to his face and hands are not as bad as they could be,” said Namias.

The use of an accelerant means the burn injuries will likely get worse in the coming weeks. “We consider flame burns to be worse that most other types of burns,” the doctor said.

After the attack, when the bullies were caught, the police said they were still laughing about it. I have to ask myself why? The other question that seems to be coming to mind after blogging about this for a while is, why is FLORIDA such a problem state for bullying. So many of the national stories on bullying seem to come from this state. What is going on (or not going on) in Florida that makes the bullying issue worse and why is the legislature not taking any action?

Any Florida folks out there want to respond with your comments about why you think this state in particular continues to have some of the worst bullying stories coming from it. I am certainly interested in hearing why this pattern seems to be happening. Also what do you think should happen to these bullies? So far, it’s been reported that the 13 year old boy is the only one showing remorse. He made a statement to the press today about how sorry he was with his involvement in the attack. What should happen next? I wish Michael a speedy recovery and hope the best for him and his family.

Are you bullying yourself? Skits 17-24 for your class to act out. This is the final set of skits on this topic.

Did you know you can be a bully to yourself? This is illustrated in the role-play called “Squirrel rejects his bushy tail.”

Read the role-play at this link – “Be Bully Free role-play: Squirrel rejects his bushy tail”

See if it reminds you of any time when you might have rejected or put down any part of your body or your life.

When I shared this story with middle school students several years back, they shared the following reactions.

You may wish to involve your students in acting these scenarios out in skit form or getting them to share some reactions of their own.

Click CONFLICT RESOLUTION to read the details about the next set of 8 skits to act out.

I’m on a bit of a mission at work. It has long been a point of fact that I have zero tolerance for any type of bullying. This includes any of that mean talk that kids indulge in, including notes passed in class with petty slanders about the girl in the corner. I believe passionately that no child should have to suffer in silence and if more teachers made it their personal mission to stand up and say no then the frightened victims would finally have someone on their side. Too often educators turn a blind eye to the cruelty of children and teens, stating that it is “just a phase”, “I wouldn’t know what to do”, “it will pass”, “it is all part of natural selection” or God only knows what else.

When I was 11 and 12 and one of the only English girls at my predominantly American girl’s school in Japan, I was bullied. Rude things about me were written in soap on the bathroom wall, my pencil case was thrust down the toilet to a chorus of laughing girls and the entire time no one did anything about it. Even my own mother said at one point “ Well did you do anything to provoke them?”

I feel no shame in the fact that I was bullied. Occasionally I search for reasons why it was me that was relentlessly picked on and I come up with the idea that perhaps I was different from the others. I spoke with a different accent, I wasn’t allowed to wear make up or go to see movies like Endless Love or Blue Lagoon. I spoke off the cuff, tried too hard to have friends…. I have no idea what combination of facts led to me being the IT girl for those girl’s nasty behaviour. I do know that while I was pinned down at a sleep over and rubbed all over with lip sticks that stained my pajamas, that there was nothing I could do to stop it.

The other day in PSHE ( personal, social and health education) I combined both Year 7 ( grade 6 ) classes to discuss this very subject. I told them that I would not tolerate any unkindness of any sort and that what they might deem funny could, in fact, be very painful to the person involved. I also told them about the importance of the bystander and witness and how powerful a role that person plays in stopping the meanness. I explained that I knew how hard it was to be a snitch and tell on someone and for that reason they could, at any time, drop a note on my desk explaining anything they had seen.

Bullying is not rife in my school by any means. It is a small school where every one knows each other and I don’t believe that any one of my students is particularly cruel. However, things do happen as I was soon to find out. I handed out sheets of paper to all 40 students and asked them to anonymously write down anything they had seen or done. Reading these notes later made me quite sad. One boy was pushed into the gym shower where three other boys turned the tap on soaking his clothes. One person confessed to breaking into a few lockers. Someone else explained how they had passed mean notes in class. Simply the act of writing these facts down helped to make these 11 year olds realize the little cruelties they were inflicting on their classmates.

Since that PSHE class I now have a reputation for being a fighter for all students who feel excluded. My door is always open to any one who feels slighted and they all know that I will always be on their side. Just the other day I received  note from a sweet young girl who is certain that none of the girls in her class like her. She wrote a litany of examples of times that she was excluded or sniggered at. I will invite all the girls involved into my class room for a chat next week. Once they realize that some one is watching, someone who refuses to stand by and allow meanness to exist, maybe they will think twice.

I am not a fool and I know too well that girls between the ages of 11 and 15 can be extremely unkind. I also know that I cannot change this fact, but I can let the victims know that some one has their back. I will not stand by and do nothing, at the very least for those kids who have the bad luck to be the chosen targets.

Thumbsucker

Não, eu não esqueci de Thumbsucker, eu só tava ausente por causa da FUVEST, perdão á todos. Cá estou eu com a segunda parte do capitulo 2. E se você estiver interessado em ler logo o resto dele,  essa fanfic pode ser encontrada no meu perfil no Nyah! Fanfiction. Boa Leitura.

Capitulo 2 (segunda parte)

O intervalo começa e eu começo minha busca atrás daquele menino, mas sou impedido e puxado por um bando de meninas alucinadas que me convidam a sentar com elas. Vou até o refeitório com elas, sento-me com elas e fico ali com elas. Mas não queria estar com elas, queria estar com ele. Ouço um rebuliço atrás de mim e todas aquelas meninas apontam para algum lugar. Olho para onde estão apontando e para minha surpresa lá está ele, sentado sozinho em um canto, terminando seu lanche, ele está pensativo, entre uma mordida e outra ele para e fica a observar o nada, em que estaria pensando?

–Olha lá ele, não é fofo? – gritou a loirinha que beija muito mal.

– Lindo! Mas por que será que está sozinho? – indagou a despeitada que beija mais ou menos.

– Eu acho que ele ainda não fez amigos, é só o primeiro dia de aula dele. – falou uma menina que não conheço, ruiva de óculos.

– Devemos chamá-lo? – perguntou a gostosona que beija mal. Por alguns minutos eu cheguei a ficar eufórico e quase concordei com ela, mas logo descartei essa idéia, ficar no meio dessas serpentes venenosas?! Ele exala um ar de pureza, a pior coisa pra ele seria estar aqui conosco.

– Deixa o menino quieto lá. Vão acabar assustando o pobre coitado. – disse a loirinha. Elas o estavam tratando como um animalzinho, será que esqueceram que ele é um ser humano. Que seres desprezíveis são essas garotas. Decido me afastar delas.

Uma coisa me preocupa muito, dois garotos não tiram os olhos dele, e não parecem nada amigáveis. Eu os conheço, são da sala C também. Estou com um mau pressentimento.

Não estava errado, alguns minutos depois ele termina o seu lanche e os dois caras o barram e o arrastam para longe, eu espero um pouco e depois vou atrás deles, escondido é claro.

Eles o levaram ao banheiro, cheguei na hora, eles estavam quase colocando a cabeça dele dentro do vaso. Sinto uma raiva incontrolável. Como esses dois se atrevem a fazer isso? Ainda mais com um menino tão lindo. Grito bem alto.

– Saiam todos desse banheiro já! Não estou a fim de ver isso agora! – os dois caras tremem da cabeça aos pés e saem correndo de lá, eles me reconhecem, é claro, e sabem que mexer comigo é encrenca.

Ajoelho-me ao lado do menino e toco seu ombro, ele começa a tossir, eu massageio suas costas enquanto ele coloca tudo pra fora. A maioria das pessoas vomita antes disso acontecer, ele é forte, agüentou um bocado. Eu sinto pena, uma coisa que nunca senti antes por ninguém. Essa carinha de anjo encanta qualquer um mesmo.

Ele se vira pra mim e me encara, seus olhos expressam duvida, eu compreendo, ele estava quase sendo afogado na privada e de repente foi salvo por um estranho, eu sorri. Mas meu sorriso é ignorado, eu sou ignorado, ele vai até a pia, se lava e vai embora. Eu o sigo, lógico, quero evitar que alguém faça mal a ele. Vou com ele até sua sala, e fico esperando na porta até que o professor apareça, só depois eu volto pra minha sala. Queria me certificar se tudo estaria bem.

De volta a sala, novamente a conversa maçante de minhas colegas e a bajulação incessante de meus seguidores. Não ligo para eles, aquele menino toma toda a minha atenção. Nada consegue tirar ele da minha mente. A conversa de minhas colegas volta-se a Richard, elas começaram a chamá-lo de Ricky. Quem elas pensão que são? Que intimidade é essa? Nem conhecem o menino. Vejam só, estou com ciúme dele ou será somente minha imaginação? Eu não devia ligar para elas, nem para ele. Mas, eu não quero que essas víboras cheguem perto dele, nem que o chamem de Ricky.

O sinal da saída toca e eu o procuro, ele já saiu da sala, vejo-o passando por um corredor, ele está correndo. Será que foge de alguma coisa? Já faz uns vinte minutos que ele se trancou no banheiro, o que diabos ele está fazendo lá dentro? Começo a ficar preocupado, será que fizeram algo com ele? Será que está chorando? Finalmente ele sai de lá e começa a… Como é que é? Ele está se maquiando? Não, Willian , seu idiota, ele está escondendo um machucado na testa, ele estava com ele na hora do intervalo, mas não estava com ele na primeira vez que nos encontramos. Saí de onde eu estava escondido e fiquei a admira-lo, ele percebe minha presença e olha pra mim. Eu não resisto e solto um comentário, digamos, infeliz.

– Se aqueles caras vissem o que eu vi iriam te bater tanto. – não é uma mentira total, somente isso seria um motivo muito bom pra qualquer um espanca-lo até ele não se mexer mais, maquiagem era uma coisa pra meninas. Mas meu sorrisinho cínico desapareceu quando ele disse:

– Melhor apanhar aqui do que em casa. – jamais imaginei que ele dissesse algo assim, coitado, apanha na escola e se chegar em casa com machucados apanha de novo. Senti um peso enorme em minha consciência. Ele deve ter achado que disse de mais, ficou vermelhinho, devo ressaltar que ele fica lindo corado desse jeito. Depois saiu porta a fora, como se nada fosse. Eu o segui, queria garantir que chegaria bem até seu carro.

Mas ele não ia pra casa de carro, fomos até um ponto de ônibus. Ele é um Sinclar, um dos muitos Sinclar’s que existe, devia imaginar que alguém com um nome tão comum não teria motorista, mas agora ônibus! Isso foi meio forçado. Eu não conseguia deixar de admira-lo, ele era lindo! Como uma obra de arte, delicado e belo. Não que eu entendesse muito de arte. Nem de beleza masculina, mas ele não possuía beleza masculina, nem muito menos feminina, e nem algo entre os dois. Ele possuía algo diferente, acho que celestial, uma força estranha que me atraia. Fiquei triste quando ele se foi, como se tivessem tirado algo imensamente importante de mim. Mas o que mais me deixou entristecido foi ele ter me ignorado completamente. Creio eu que esse seja se mecanismo de defesa. Isso realmente funciona sabe, os bullings gostam de ver a cara de medo e desespero de suas vitimas, se elas não lhe proporcionam isso eles cansam. Sei disso porque sou um.

Imagino o quanto ele não sofreu nas mãos de pessoas mais fortes que ele, sinto muita pena e muita raiva. Não imagino quem possa ter coragem de machucar um ser como aquele. Eu prometo que não vai mais ser assim, eu quero protege-lo, mesmo que ele não queira minha proteção eu vou protege-lo! No que diabos eu estou pensando? Eu devo estar ficando louco mesmo. É melhor eu voltar pra escola, se não meu motorista vai achar que eu acabei sendo seqüestrado…

Emails leaked over the weekend by anonymous hackers, via a Russian web server, have unearthed a culture of deception, bullying, intimidation and smear-campaigning by certain scientists at apparently reputable climate research institutions such as the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in the UK. Where many have been quick to write off the ‘conspiracy theories’ postulated by a few of the sceptics, it would appear that they’re really not too far off the mark.

With data modelling suggesting that temperatures should have climbed more than what they have, senior scientists at the CRU unashamedly emailed each other essentially lamenting the fact that the facts were not consistent with their theories, and suggesting they’d better find different data, or different ways of interpreting the data, to make it conform to their agenda. Colleagues with differing viewpoints were ridiculed and/or sacked.

In a nutshell, any shred of scientific credibility or integrity has evaporated and they have very clearly demonstrated that they are intent on proving their point regardless of whether that’s factual or not.

I don’t claim to be a scientist, and so can’t argue the finer points of the science behind carbon and it’s role in global warming, but from a philosophical point of view I think it’s clear that we need to keep a much more open mind and be willing to listen to a broader spectrum of voices from the scientific community.

I don’t need any convincing to reduce pollution, waste, landfill, energy consumption and so on. I believe there’s a clear case for treating responsibly our use of the natural resources around us, and our physical health is certainly not aided by wanton pollution. But I have no time for one-eyed, aggressive, bullying agenda-driven politicians and scientists who are so focussed on their agenda (and each may have different motivations behind that) that they disrespect and ridicule dissenters, and fail to allow themselves to think more laterally about other real issues that may be of concern if in fact they’re wrong about the causes of global warming.

Last night was one of those bad sleeps that I have to endure every now and then, and as a consequence I didn’t feel too good this morning. It took me at least an hour to get out of bed. Almost before I knew it was time to go to work, and the old dread instantly filled me, and I desperately didn’t want to go in. I’ve been given new tasks at work to fill the extra hours that I’ve taken on this week, and yesterday could hardly be described as a success when it came to me learning how to perform my new tasks. I wasn’t looking forward to arriving today, to finding out that I’d be left to get on with the extra work alone as if I had already mastered it. I’m fast learning that my superiors don’t really want to be bothered at the moment, with it being the run up to Christmas and the mass of extra work that this necessarily entails for everyone. I felt time slow to a snail’s pace this morning as I waited desperately for the hours to pass just so I could get to work and get it over with. Time goes strange when I am under pressure – the way it always drags when I need it to pass the most is hateful. I know I’m making it drag by thinking about it so much. The anxiety makes me analyze the passing of time more than I would normally. I’m so anxious for it to be the weekend that I can’t just let the days pass without hindrance. I watch the clock constantly. I can’t help it.

When I finally got to work at noon I was unexpectedly told to go downstairs to man the helpdesk for a couple of hours, so I could get a feel for the kind of enquiries coming in over the phone at the moment. From now on part of my role will be to respond to e-mail enquiries from customers – the idea was to see if I could hack it on the phone first. Since I received the official helpdesk training when I started three weeks ago, I should have been able to handle it today without breaking a sweat. I have no idea if it looked like I was handling the job: inside I was panicking horribly the whole time. I have had a phone phobia all my life – I never use the phone if I can avoid it (and I really mean never) -  taking calls from angry customers wanting to know why their retail discounts aren’t working was just about the last way I wanted to spend today. I can understand why they thought it would be a good idea for me to do this. It would give me a more rounded feel for the business, a perspective on the bigger picture from the other side of things, the customers’ side, rather than the retailers’ side that I have been exclusively working from so far. Even though I did the helpdesk training three weeks ago I in no way felt prepared to answer the telephone today. Around me ten other operators took calls constantly, smoothly directing customers to the answers that they needed, while I sat there staring at the handset in front of me, praying for it not to ring. Some of the people who I trained with were in the room with me this afternoon. They’re lucky: they’ve had three weeks of helpline experience now. Since I started I haven’t answered a single phone call. I’ve got quite comfortable at my computer upstairs, where I can perform a multitude of tasks without ever having to speak to anyone.

I don’t know why I am so terrified of telephones. Is it the threat of hearing someone’s actual voice? The possibility that if I can’t answer a question I will have to deal with verbal abuse? In the world of retail the customer is always right, even if they’re hurling insults at you. At least on the computer I can take time to think about what I want to say, and the abuse, if there is any, doesn’t have the emotional punch that it does when you hear it coming from someone’s mouth.

Anyway, when my two hours of hell were up I was allowed to return to the slightly comforting familiarity of my usual home upstairs, after the person who had been semi-supervising me at the helpdesk told me I’d done well. I refused to believe him: for a start I’d only answered the phone once, after much persuasion and guidance and badly disguised looks of contempt from the other helpdesk operators who all had their hands full.

Upstairs, being allowed to get on with my normal job was something of a relief, just because I now find it very easy, if slightly boring at times. I remain haunted by the possibility that I may be asked to return to the helpdesk from time to time, when they are short of staff for instance. They seem to think that because I did the training I will be as good at it as everybody else. I don’t know, maybe I am good at it, I just happen to feel as if I’m being plunged into the deep end of a very deep pool every time I’m in that room.

Hopefully now that I’ve done the helpdesk once I will be able to answer the online enquiries that I am to be given in my extra hours from now on with some ease. It kind of seems like another string that I’m adding to the bow, another test to be passed. As long as I don’t have to answer the phone again for a long time, I’ll be fine. I’m learning little things in my job every day; I’ve survived two weeks of it now and when I’m doing what I’m good at, i.e. working at the computer, I would say I feel quite comfortable. There will probably never be a day when there isn’t at least one challenge to be faced. I already know what tomorrow’s challenge is going to be: a big after-work trip to the pub has been arranged and everyone is expected to go. Melanie, the American boss, is cooking turkey for everyone to celebrate thanksgiving and we are going to sit down in the pub together and eat it. Part of me is quite looking forward to the occasion. I don’t quite know what’s going to happen. Maybe it will be my long-awaited opportunity to meet the other people in the team, get to know them in a setting that isn’t entirely work-related. Since we’ll be in the pub it’s bound to emerge at some point that I don’t drink. I know the question will come up and I know what I’ll say: ‘I don’t like alcohol’. I certainly don’t owe anyone any more explanation than that. In my experience, 9 out of 10 people are perfectly happy with that answer. It’s the 1 in 10 who are the interesting ones.

É com surpresa que vimos o filme mais fascinante sobre vampiros surgir da Suécia. Desde “Nosferatu” do Murnau e “The Hunger” do Tony Scott não surgia nada tão original, hipnótico e assustador sobre o tema. Tomas Alfredson orquestra brilhantemente um elenco afiadíssimo (especialmente as crianças) calcado num roteiro preciso e envolvente sobre Oskar, um menino solitário que conhece uma vizinha estranha e noturna. A criatura o ajuda a ter mais autoconfiança para enfrentar seus agressores no colégio enquanto terríveis mortes acontecem no lugar.

A fotografia é um espetáculo à parte ajudando a compor um clima gélido e assustador com um enquadramento singular, cheio de contrastes e closes inéditos. A música também é perfeita e caminha junto com toda esta perfeição técnica compondo situações apavorantes que enchem a tela a cada instante com imagens de gelar o sangue sem abusar dos efeitos especiais. É preciso estar atento para não perder detalhes preciosos como sons de fome e a besta oculta pelas sombras ou subindo pelas paredes feito um inseto rastejante. Esqueçam os clichês óbvios como cruzes, dentes pontiagudos, alhos e caixões embora a essência da lenda esteja completa na estória. A releitura inteligente acrescenta elementos psicológicos e sexuais que impregnam a trama com uma verossimilhança impressionante tocando em temas delicados como a difícil transição para a adolescência, longevidade, ambiguidade, longevidade e luta pela sobrevivência. Tudo manipulado com habilidade, sensibilidade e sutileza raras para o gênero.

Em dias de crepúsculos e sanguessugas lésbicas, “Deixa ela entrar” será um marco para uma nova era de filmes sobre vampiros se as portas continuarem abertas para a qualidade.

Carlos Henry

Observeu els següents videos, on es presenta els conflictes que es poden trobar alguns alumnes i en algunes situacions sobre l’assetjament escolar.

El malson

Friends

La lluita pel chupa chup

Por Amanda Miranda

Hoje, galerinha, vamos falar de um assunto que me preocupa muito: o bullying.

Bullying é uma violência física ou psicológica que muita gente sofre na escola. Pode ser praticado pelo famoso “valentão” do colégio ou de um grupo de pessoas, perseguir um colega porque ele é diferente ou humilhar colocando apelidos que ele não gosta é uma forma de bullying. Existem vários tipos, mas esses são os mais comuns.

Colocar apelidos pode parecer engraçado, mas pode trazer sérias conseqüências para a vítima. Em outros casos, além da agressão verbal (apelido e xingamentos), tem a agressão física, o que é ERRADÍSSIMO. Nunca parta para a violência, agredir uma pessoa é algo muito sério e pode por você e seu colega numa fria.

Alguns alvos desse tipo de violência deixam de ir pro colégio porque é “zoado” ou porque vira “saco de pancada” pelos colegas e isso não é legal. Antes de você machucar fisicamente ou psicologicamente uma pessoa, se ponha no lugar dela e veja se você iria gostar.

Escola é um ambiente de diversão e aprendizado, não de “massacre”. Brinque com os colegas sem machuca-los, seja através das palavras ou dos gestos.

Diga não ao Bullying! É o que o Papo de Aborrecente defende e pede para que você faça o mesmo.

Seja um colega do bem e faça da escola um lugar melhor para se conviver.