tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-369583632024-03-18T09:40:55.828+01:00English Online BlogThis blog is an online publication of words, sounds, pictures and moving images, launched to increase your exposure to the English language and/or supplement your in-person English course with language structures, challenging new readings, TED talks, trailers, quality videos, thought-provoking posts, reliable news, quotations, food for thought and icon links to related websites or to the cloud.Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.comBlogger778125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-38601049470835542052024-03-17T23:35:00.003+01:002024-03-18T09:40:20.480+01:00QUEENDOM, remarkable portrait of a fearless activist and queer performer<div class="dcr-1djovmt" data-gu-name="headline" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; grid-area: headline; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-14emo0l" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 620px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-0" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="dcr-h5yuj3" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 4px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--headline-colour); font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="var(--standfirst-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Russian queer performance artist Gena Marvin’s incredible courage – and costumes – are on vivid display in Agniia Galdanova’s absorbing documentary. </span></span><span color="var(--standfirst-text)" style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By WENDY IDE, </span></span><span style="font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;">The Observer, December 3, 2023</span></h1><div style="font-weight: inherit;"><span color="var(--standfirst-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit;"><span color="var(--standfirst-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaCXiNcBnc1qzqBZXOR6u5EydUoy8U7c9ySUxIr52q8IMoZlsINMmfN9NrHz7VxDFgb_BbERoDp991mPRbaj_zIcjIv6Dsndk9_guCd7cFpz6FDIdB3IxXxZgTYKIp4bYT_tXeMUEsiGby5fX0SUxSx0-6taMyutXYPcoSpMglO1Dc2SLuE8z/s4725/MV5BM2UyNThhMTItNWVlNS00ZDI1LWEyOGYtYzEwZjM5NTJjNWM1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTE1NzUyNjA@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4725" data-original-width="3189" height="585" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijaCXiNcBnc1qzqBZXOR6u5EydUoy8U7c9ySUxIr52q8IMoZlsINMmfN9NrHz7VxDFgb_BbERoDp991mPRbaj_zIcjIv6Dsndk9_guCd7cFpz6FDIdB3IxXxZgTYKIp4bYT_tXeMUEsiGby5fX0SUxSx0-6taMyutXYPcoSpMglO1Dc2SLuE8z/w395-h585/MV5BM2UyNThhMTItNWVlNS00ZDI1LWEyOGYtYzEwZjM5NTJjNWM1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTE1NzUyNjA@._V1_.jpg" width="395" /></a></div></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit;"><span color="var(--standfirst-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit;"><span class="dcr-1ipjagz" color="var(--drop-cap)" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 111px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: 92px; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: text-top;">P</span><span style="font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;">rotest takes many forms. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, some brave souls took to the streets of Moscow to voice their horror at the war, and were met with batons and police brutality. Radical queer performance artist </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.instagram.com/genamarvin/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gena Marvin</a><span style="font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;"> took a different approach. Wearing platform boots, body paint and wrapped in barbed wire, she walked the streets of Moscow in a stark, silent statement against the war. To call Gena a drag artist fails to capture just how subversive and courageous her public “performances” are. Her otherworldly costumes, created from junk and tape, show the influence of </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/aug/13/sex-sin-and-sausages-the-debauched-brilliance-of-leigh-bowery" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Leigh Bowery</a><span style="font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;">; her fearlessness evokes the punk provocation of </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://pussyriot.love/" style="border-bottom: 1px solid var(--article-link-border); border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pussy Riot</a><span style="font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;">. But ultimately, as Agniia Galdanova’s remarkable observational documentary shows, Gena is her own extraordinary creation.</span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit;"><span style="font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYtD_SJ4Q85F-7vMmEqZNxAgDXXFnQR0y_DdnwM9nnDpjGIBETnB9c3mY_F5dCiZb4ZCaMfqotc_mcd3ldR0Gr5wR-_X7S3rHOUCe2251-sX-1PdvU7Q3VAGfPego0pR1OLfMaqtornQjuEUfJo3sgpqMJfQDSZ9OPaYNi8MkgWjAgEN31RQZ/s1700/ucraina-gena-marvin.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="1700" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYtD_SJ4Q85F-7vMmEqZNxAgDXXFnQR0y_DdnwM9nnDpjGIBETnB9c3mY_F5dCiZb4ZCaMfqotc_mcd3ldR0Gr5wR-_X7S3rHOUCe2251-sX-1PdvU7Q3VAGfPego0pR1OLfMaqtornQjuEUfJo3sgpqMJfQDSZ9OPaYNi8MkgWjAgEN31RQZ/w532-h265/ucraina-gena-marvin.webp" width="532" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7)" style="font-family: "JetBrains Mono", monospace; font-size: 11px; text-align: start; text-transform: uppercase;">GENA MARVIN defiantly marches on the streets of Moscow dressed in 3-colour <br />scotch tape In protest against alexey navalny's arrest</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-35419153778500392442024-02-29T13:45:00.008+01:002024-03-01T21:56:28.683+01:00By the light of the arrivals gate<p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKy5fUUy1bQTi3Vc_84FN0NiZPzvS3cfWwTicxtrFhi7MGArC1VUwVVqBVRelZ7DwYW1QTEY4G9432TOwizsy41VqRit-nlbWA4eeh6MnQrRw-TyORrWqQkpckwGlGwlHAzHi7FW8cO-zZ-g9hkfC4GVWLvu-cZNPbhSnRu7c0aX40Ts7Er-UE/s413/Studying%20@%20African%20Airport.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="413" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKy5fUUy1bQTi3Vc_84FN0NiZPzvS3cfWwTicxtrFhi7MGArC1VUwVVqBVRelZ7DwYW1QTEY4G9432TOwizsy41VqRit-nlbWA4eeh6MnQrRw-TyORrWqQkpckwGlGwlHAzHi7FW8cO-zZ-g9hkfC4GVWLvu-cZNPbhSnRu7c0aX40Ts7Er-UE/w590-h367/Studying%20@%20African%20Airport.jpeg" width="590" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">By <b>Nicole Gerber</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 24px;">Guinea's electricity crisis is a metaphor for the country's postcolonial maladies.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;">For more than a decade, night-time arrivals at Gbessia International Airport in Conakry, Guinea, were greeted by dozens and sometimes hundreds of secondary school students <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/19/AR2007071901225.html" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">studying in the parking lot</a>. A foreign visitor’s bemusement would quickly evaporate, however, as they noticed that beyond the bright lights of the partially French-owned and operated airport, block after block of the city of two million people was completely dark. Without electricity at home and needing to study page upon page of handwritten lecture notes, many young Guineans made nightly pilgrimages to public spaces, such as the airport or hotel parking lots and gas stations where costly diesel generators kept the lights on.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Witnessing this phenomenon inspired film-maker Eva Weber’s documentary <i style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box;"><b>Black Out</b></i>, shot in mid-2011 and released in November 2012 to <a href="http://www.oddgirlout.co.uk/OddGirlOutProductions/News.html" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">international acclaim</a>. The film is concise and artfully composed. As a former Conakry resident, I appreciated Weber’s beautiful portrait of this complex city, and that the entire story is told by Guineans, with the sole foreign voices coming from occasional audio clips of news broadcasts.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Beyond simply a “look-at-this-sad-situation” documentary, the story of students driven to succeed in the face of adversity is the starting point from which Weber subtly explores political and economic dynamics in Guinea.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;">It is certainly refreshing in a documentary on the challenges of an African country to not have a westerner presenting the narrative. <i style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box;">Black Out</i> opens with clips of English-language news broadcasts contextualizing the state of Guinea in early 2011 – having just experienced its first democratic presidential election and struggling to manage competing foreign claims for its vast mineral wealth.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GOwSArikm-E?feature=oembed" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%;" width="500"></iframe></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Moving forward, an unobtrusive and serious musical score weaves together interviews and accounts of Guinean secondary students, a teacher, and a worker at Conakry’s main power plant, Tombo, as they discuss their hopes and frustrations about their country’s development. Footage of everyday life in the roundabouts, neighborhoods, and markets of Conakry conveys the city’s bustling commercial atmosphere, which persists despite the challenges of weak infrastructure. This is neither war-torn hellscape nor poverty-stricken desperation, but rather capable, intelligent and ambitious people who feel they are being held back by forces out of their control.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;">“How does one prepare lessons without light?” the teacher asks, and I feel his pain, having spent many a night in Conakry straining my eyes as I graded papers or planned lessons by the light of a battery-powered lantern. Students read from their notes on topics from microbiology to Carthaginian history, information that must be memorized to pass their French-style school exams, but the terrible inconvenience and danger of staying out until 3am to study is only the beginning. The chronic lack of electricity in Guinea is a symptom of a much larger issue – an economy that struggles to produce formal employment and offers few career opportunities for high-school or university-educated Guineans.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Weber’s critiques the neocolonial economic situation. Train-loads of Guinea’s rust-colored bauxite is shown rolling through the city to the coastal port, where it will be shipped off and turned into aluminum for the profit of foreign-owned companies. “All Guineans understand that Guinea is rich,” the power-plant worker explains, and he is right. The students in Conakry lament that their country’s bauxite, iron-ore, diamond, gold and uranium resources are all being exploited by foreigners, and that poorly negotiated terms by unstable governments have thus far left the Guinean people with nothing to show for it. It is infuriating to hear young men and women proclaim that their best chances for success would be to leave Guinea. Or to hear the school teacher say that he didn’t have a chance to be a respected intellectual because he stayed in Guinea. The unfulfilled promises of politicians are lamented and highlight how domestic and international policy failures reverberate into every aspect of a citizen’s life.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;">This commentary is what gives <i style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box;">Black </i><em style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box;">Out</em> staying power. Conakry’s airport parking lot hasn’t been much of a study hall lately, as a <a href="http://www.jeuneafrique.com/234394/economie/guinee-la-turbine-de-kaleta-met-le-turbo/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">new hydroelectric dam</a> about two hours north of the city has tripled Guinea’s electricity output since 2015. The Kaléta dam cost USD446 million, 75 percent of which was paid for by China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE), with the state covering the remaining 25 percent. While <a href="http://www.jeuneafrique.com/mag/379389/economie/guinee-barrage-de-kaleta-mal-planifie%E2%80%89/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">it has not been a panacea</a> for Guinea’s power problems, there is now electricity in most of Conakry, most of the time, and CWE is now in negotiations with the Guinean government to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-15/china-s-cwe-in-talks-to-build-2-billion-dam-in-guinea" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">build another, bigger hydroelectric dam</a>.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;">The Chinese were not moved by the plight of Conakry’s students to help light-up Guinea, which faced a major economic downturn in 2014 due to the Ebola epidemic and is <a href="http://africanarguments.org/2016/08/19/guineas-anti-government-rally-500000-protesters-1-stray-bullet/" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">still struggling to achieve political stability</a>. Chinese banks and corporations have been drastically increasing their investment in Guinea’s bauxite and iron-ore mining operations, including a take-over of Río Tinto’s massive Simandou project last year.</p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Antwerp, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.7em; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box;">Black Out</i> aired for the first time on American public television recently. Although and the premise of the film no longer exists, the themes continue to be valid. Most students in Conakry can now study at home, but unless growth in the mining sectors fosters more diverse economic development, or the government of <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201701300819.html" rel="noopener" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;" target="_blank">newly appointed African Union chair</a> President Alpha Condé can implement policies that create much-needed jobs, Guineans will remain frustrated. (02/06/2017)</p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-64674672293589624922024-02-29T10:47:00.002+01:002024-02-29T13:07:48.099+01:00Alain de Botton on The Benefits of Being Away From Home<div class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gTEKKfiyUmH3cWhHwQtcstcyujrosCRxBHuKSRy0v4q1r_8dLEoUlDxZEJovyQojBkoMyvo54Xjl2vDpQN9fAG0_DNqMiYo-bU1GpmgA68jZVI3KExy5EIER1mYpvGh5GZKXMeLJ2zHADjyZ41ErgIWI4meBzlVplV0fH__eaXMEao_wCkYU/s1960/EN2%20Estrada%20Nacional%202,%20Portugal%20Photo%20TONI%20AMENGUAL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1354" data-original-width="1960" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gTEKKfiyUmH3cWhHwQtcstcyujrosCRxBHuKSRy0v4q1r_8dLEoUlDxZEJovyQojBkoMyvo54Xjl2vDpQN9fAG0_DNqMiYo-bU1GpmgA68jZVI3KExy5EIER1mYpvGh5GZKXMeLJ2zHADjyZ41ErgIWI4meBzlVplV0fH__eaXMEao_wCkYU/w557-h385/EN2%20Estrada%20Nacional%202,%20Portugal%20Photo%20TONI%20AMENGUAL.jpg" width="557" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans;">Estrada Nacional 2, Alentejo, Portugal. Photo: Toni Amengual</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Though we tend to love our homes and think of them as
anchors of identity, there are also disturbing ways in which they can fix us
unhelpfully to a version of ourselves we no longer wish to side with. The
familiar curtains and pictures subtly insist that we should not change because
they do not, our well-known rooms can anaesthetise us from a more urgent,
necessary relationship with particular questions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">It may not be until we have moved across an ocean, until we
are in a hotel room with peculiar new furniture and a view onto a motorway and
a supermarket full of products we don't recognise that we start to have the
strength to probe at certain assumptions. We gain freedom from watching the
take-offs and landings of planes in a departure lounge or from following a line
of distant electricity pylons from a train making its way across barren
steppes. In the middle of a foreign landscape, thoughts come to us that would
have been reluctant to emerge in our own beds. We are able to take implausible
but important leaps, encouraged by the changes around us, from the new
lightswitches to the cyrillic letters blinking in illuminated signs all around
us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Being cut loose from the habitual is the essential gift of
travel, as uncomfortable as it may be psychogically fruitful. Christianity once
took our feelings of dislocation and placed them at the heart of a thesis as to
the spiritual benefit of pilgrimages. Without accepting the church's analysis,
we may nevertheless be inspired by its approach to the value of feeling like a
lonely outsider. As much as any destination, it is isolated periods in untried
hotel rooms, in paleozoic canyons, in disintegrating palaces and empty service
station restaurants that facilitate an underlying psychological or spiritual
point of our journeys. (<b><i>The Observer</i></b>, Sunday, June 6th, 2010)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: large;"><i>Alain de Botton is the author of many books including 'How
Proust Can Change Your Life' , 'The Art of Travel' and 'Essays in Love'. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His most recent work 'A Week at the
Airport: A Heathrow Diary' is published by Profile Books.</i></span></div>
<div class="submeta" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; line-height: 19.2px; padding-top: 0.75rem; widows: 1;">
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Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-74486805523221110852024-02-29T10:18:00.000+01:002024-02-29T10:18:34.053+01:00Triple Standard_short film<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/frb6TMTw7WU" width="560"></iframe></div>
Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-44344472985868559192024-02-29T10:15:00.000+01:002024-02-29T10:15:39.611+01:00WTF_dance<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="361" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oQuRUNEKLBY" width="555" youtube-src-id="oQuRUNEKLBY"></iframe></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Defending the right to dance to a new masculinity.</span></p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-17069840405502211482024-02-29T10:14:00.000+01:002024-02-29T10:14:08.670+01:00The importance of us understanding how algorithms work<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5uCupbajEq4Vp28LnwkUrWMG_cJc-ZuTq2EsRe0pDHrIBAqzzSTJz5tOP92C-igabuBQRcKsv5AgBYoBq78KQDxgOrAzdrB2MCXfm8iSBB1dljjm-rCeZgwV7C5xuHPfWwN8S/s2000/El-poder-de-los-algoritmos-2000x1131-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1131" data-original-width="2000" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5uCupbajEq4Vp28LnwkUrWMG_cJc-ZuTq2EsRe0pDHrIBAqzzSTJz5tOP92C-igabuBQRcKsv5AgBYoBq78KQDxgOrAzdrB2MCXfm8iSBB1dljjm-rCeZgwV7C5xuHPfWwN8S/w657-h372/El-poder-de-los-algoritmos-2000x1131-1.jpg" width="657" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">By <b>ANJANA SUSARLA,</b> <i>Pledge Times</i>, 13 April, 2021</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the early days of social media, writers and journalists around the world extolled its power as the Arab Spring woke up. Now, in the era of covid-19, <b>experts warn against misinformation about the pandemic or infodemic, which abounds on social networks</b>. What has changed in this decade? How do we now understand the role of social platforms and remain alert to the damage that their algorithms perpetrate?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Networks and digital activism</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">The networks promised to have better connections and to expand the speed, scale and reach of digital activism. Before they existed, organizations and public figures could use the mass media, such as television, to spread their message to the general public. The media were the filters that allowed information to be disseminated according to established criteria to decide which news was a priority and how it should be delivered. At the same time, citizen communication, among equals, was more informal and fluid. The networks blur the boundaries between the two types and offer the best connected the possibility of being opinion makers.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">Twenty years ago there were no media capable of raising awareness and mobilizing for a cause with the speed and scale provided by networks, in which, for example, the #deleteuber label (erase Uber) caused 200,000 accounts to be eliminated in a single day of the transportation application, accused of “thwarting” a strike against Trump’s immigration veto in 2017. Before, for citizen activism to triumph, years of negotiations between companies and activists were necessary. Today, a single tweet can subtract millions of dollars from a company’s stock market value or cause a government to change its policies.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Towards radicalization</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">While such an opinion-maker role allows for unfettered civic discourse that can be positive for political activism, it also makes people more susceptible to misinformation and manipulation. The algorithms on which social media news updates are based are designed for constant interaction, to achieve maximum engagement. Most major technology platforms operate without the filters that control traditional sources of information. That, together with the large amounts of data that these companies handle, gives them enormous control over how the news reaches users. A study published in the journal <i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Science </i><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">i</span>n 2018 proved that <b>false information on networks spreads faster and reaches more people than real information, often because the news that elicits emotions seduces us more and, therefore, is more likely to be shared and amplified through the algorithms</b>. What we see on our networks, including advertising, is thought based on what we have said we like and our political and religious opinions. Such personalization can have many negative effects on society, such as voter deterrence, misinformation directed at minorities, or advertising targeted on discriminatory criteria. The algorithmic design of Big Tech platforms prioritizes new and micro-directed content, leading to an almost limitless proliferation of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Apple CEO Tim Cook warned in January: “We cannot continue to ignore a theory of technology that says any form of engagement is good.” These models based on participation have as a consequence the radicalization of cyberspace. Networks provide a sense of identity, purpose, and bond. Who publishes conspiracy theories and contributes to misinformation also understands the viral nature of networks, where disturbing content generates more participation.</span></p><section class="more_info | border_1 border_top pull_right" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Work Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">Coordinated actions in networks can disrupt the collective functioning of society, from financial markets to electoral processes. The danger is that a viral phenomenon, accompanied by the recommendations of algorithms and the resonance box effect of the networks, ends up creating a cycle of filter bubbles that feed back and push users to express increasingly radical ideas.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Let’s educate about algorithms</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Rectifying algorithmic biases and providing better information to users would help improve the situation</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;">. Some types of misinformation can be solved with a mixture of government regulations and self-regulation to ensure that content is monitored more and misleading information is better identified. To do this, technology companies must agree with the media and use a hybrid of artificial intelligence and detection of false information, with the collective collaboration of users. One way to solve several of these problems would be to use better bias detection strategies and offer more transparency about the algorithm’s recommendations.</span></span></p><section class="more_info | border_1 border_top pull_right" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">But it is also necessary to educate more about networks and algorithms: that users know to what extent the personalization and recommendations designed by big technology configure their information ecosystem, something that most people do not have enough knowledge to understand. </span><b>Adults who mainly inform themselves through social networks are less aware of politics and current affairs</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;">, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center in the US. In the era of covid-19, the World Economic Forum talks about </span><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">infodemic</i><span style="font-weight: inherit;">.</span></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is important to understand how platforms are deepening the divisions that already existed, with the possibility of causing real damage to users of search engines and social networks. In my research, I have found that depending on how the platforms provide their responses to searches, a more health-savvy user is more likely to receive helpful medical advice from a reputable institution like the Mayo Clinic, while the same search, made by a less informed user, will direct you to pseudo-therapies or misleading medical advice.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">Big tech companies have unprecedented social power. Their decisions about what behaviors, words, and accounts to authorize and what not to dominate billions of private interactions, influence public opinion, and affect trust in democratic institutions. It is time to stop seeing these platforms as mere for-profit entities and know that they have a public responsibility. </span><b>We need to talk about the impact of the ubiquitous algorithms in society and be more aware of the damage that they can cause due to our excessive dependence on big technology</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;">.</span></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Droid Serif", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: large;">Anjana Susarla holds the Omura-Saxena Chair in Artificial Intelligence at the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University.</span></i></p></section></section>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-9858520847707832902024-02-29T10:12:00.000+01:002024-02-29T10:12:38.329+01:00Aferrados a nuestros móviles: Byung-Chul Han contra el ‘smartphone’ como oso de peluche digital<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oFuXTnj7e2OGBgAG4dd03DrRClPI8D4MlGFZH-uZAAWUcr_dQYX1IUINGmzwDjIQlnB7wqdKrZKQ_43LMOnhpCo2nz9ezyis7xkevYb5EKyZPgoklYB6-9euxJYnHWEWKSxb/s1200/QXX7HFRJCZF5XF3SZKS5OKGQB4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oFuXTnj7e2OGBgAG4dd03DrRClPI8D4MlGFZH-uZAAWUcr_dQYX1IUINGmzwDjIQlnB7wqdKrZKQ_43LMOnhpCo2nz9ezyis7xkevYb5EKyZPgoklYB6-9euxJYnHWEWKSxb/w506-h337/QXX7HFRJCZF5XF3SZKS5OKGQB4.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><p></p><h2 class="a_st" style="background-color: white; font-family: MajritTxRoman; font-size: 25px; letter-spacing: -0.1px; line-height: 29px; margin: 29px 0px 0px;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adelanto del nuevo libro del filósofo surcoreano. En él, el autor de </span><i>La sociedad del cansancio</i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> advierte de que esta tecnología convierte a los otros en objeto, y destruye la empatía</span></span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><p>Por <a href="https://elpais.com/autor/byung-chul-han/" style="background-color: white; font-family: MajritTx, serif; font-size: 0.875rem; font-weight: 900; line-height: 1.1875rem; margin-right: 0px; padding-right: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; text-transform: uppercase;" title="Ver todas las noticias de Byung-Chul Han">BYUNG-CHUL HAN</a></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);">Hoy <a data-link-track-dtm="" href="https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2021-02-24/euridice-cabanes-el-telefono-movil-es-una-tecnologia-de-espionaje-que-llevamos-a-todas-partes.html" style="color: #016ca2;">llevamos el <i>smartphone</i> a todas partes</a> y delegamos nuestras percepciones en el aparato. Percibimos la realidad a través de la pantalla. La ventana digital diluye la realidad en información, que luego <i>registramos</i>. No hay <i>contacto con cosas.</i> Se las priva de su <i>presencia</i>. Ya no percibimos los <i>latidos materiales</i> de la realidad. La percepción se torna luz incorpórea. El <i>smartphone</i> irrealiza el mundo.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);">Las cosas no nos espían. Por eso tenemos <i>confianza</i> en ellas. El <i>smartphone,</i> en cambio, no solo es un infómata, sino un informante muy eficiente <a data-link-track-dtm="" href="https://elpais.com/ideas/2021-09-12/protejamos-nuestros-datos-no-olvidemos-como-los-usaban-los-nazis.html" style="color: #016ca2;">que vigila permanentemente a su usuario</a>. Quien sabe lo que sucede en su interior algorítmico se siente con razón perseguido por él. Él nos controla y programa. No somos nosotros los que utilizamos el <i>smartphone,</i> sino el <i>smartphone</i> el que nos utiliza a nosotros. El verdadero actor es el <i>smartphone</i>. Estamos a merced de ese informante digital, tras cuya superficie diferentes actores nos dirigen y nos distraen.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);"><br /></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;">El </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;">smartphone</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;"> no solo tiene aspectos emancipadores. La continua accesibilidad no se diferencia en gran medida de la servidumbre. El </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;">smartphone</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;"> se revela como un campo de trabajo móvil en el que nos encerramos voluntariamente. El </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;">smartphone</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;"> es también un </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;">pornófono</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;">. Nos desnudamos voluntariamente. Funciona como un confesonario portátil. Prolonga el “poderío sagrado del confesonario” en otra forma.</span></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);">Cada dominación tiene su particular devoción. El teólogo Ernst Troeltsch habla de “los cautivadores objetos devocionales de la imaginación popular”. Estabilizan la dominación al hacerla habitual y anclarla en el cuerpo. Ser devoto es ser sumiso. El <i>smartphone</i> se ha establecido como devocionario del régimen neoliberal. Como aparato de sumisión, se asemeja al rosario, que es tan móvil y manejable como el <i>gadget</i> digital. El <i>like</i> es el amén digital. <a data-link-track-dtm="" href="https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/05/24/ideas/1558709847_170516.html" style="color: #016ca2;">Cuando damos al botón de “Me gusta”</a>, nos sometemos al aparato de la dominación.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);"><br /></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);">Plataformas como Facebook o Google son los nuevos señores feudales. Incansables, labramos sus tierras y producimos datos valiosos, de los que ellos luego sacan provecho. Nos sentimos libres, pero estamos completamente explotados, vigilados y controlados. En un sistema que explota la libertad, no se crea ninguna resistencia. La dominación se consuma en el momento en que concuerda con la libertad.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);"><br /></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);">Hacia el final de <a data-link-track-dtm="" href="https://elpais.com/ideas/2020-10-08/shoshana-zuboff-el-neoliberalismo-lo-ha-destrozado-todo-debemos-empezar-de-cero.html" style="color: #016ca2;">su libro <i>La era del capitalismo de la vigilancia,</i> Shoshana Zuboff</a> evoca la resistencia colectiva que precedió a la caída del muro de Berlín: “El muro de Berlín cayó por muchas razones, pero, sobre todo, porque la gente de Berlín oriental se dijo: ‘¡Ya está bien! (…) ¡Basta!’. Tomemos esto como <i>nuestra</i> declaración”. El sistema comunista, que <i>suprime</i> la libertad, difiere fundamentalmente del capitalismo neoliberal de la vigilancia, que <i>explota</i> la libertad. Somos demasiado dependientes de la droga digital, y vivimos aturdidos por la fiebre de la comunicación, de modo que no hay ningún “¡Basta!”, ninguna voz de resistencia (…)</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);"><br /></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);">El régimen neoliberal es en sí mismo <i>smart</i> (inteligente). El poder <i>smart</i> no funciona con mandamientos y prohibiciones. No nos hace dóciles, sino dependientes y adictos. En lugar de quebrantar nuestra voluntad, sirve a nuestras necesidades. Quiere complacernos. Es permisivo, no represivo. No nos impone el silencio. Más bien nos incita y anima continuamente a comunicar y compartir nuestras opiniones, preferencias, necesidades y deseos. Y hasta a contar nuestras vidas. Al ser tan amistoso, es decir, <i>smart,</i> hace invisible su intención de dominio. El sujeto sometido ni siquiera es consciente de su sometimiento. Se imagina que es libre. El capitalismo consumado es el capitalismo del “Me gusta”. Gracias a su permisividad no tiene que temer ninguna resistencia, ninguna revolución.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);"><br /></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);">Dada <a data-link-track-dtm="" href="https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/03/13/ideas/1552473356_743382.html" style="color: #016ca2;">nuestra relación casi simbiótica con el <i>smartphone,</i></a> se presume ahora que este representa un objeto de transición. Objeto de transición llama el psicoanalista Donald Winnicott a aquellas cosas que posibilitan en el niño pequeño una transición segura a la realidad. Solo por medio de los objetos de transición crea el niño un espacio de juego, un “espacio intermedio” en el que “se relaja como si estuviera en un lugar de descanso seguro y no conflictivo”. Los objetos de transición construyen un puente hacia la realidad, hacia el otro, que se sustrae a su fantasía infantil de omnipotencia. Desde muy temprano, los niños pequeños agarran objetos como los extremos de un cobertor o una almohada para llevárselos a la boca o acariciarse con ellos. Más adelante toman un objeto entero como una muñeca o un peluche. Los objetos de transición cumplen una importante función vital. Dan al niño una sensación de seguridad. Le quitan el miedo a estar solo. Crean confianza y seguridad. Gracias a los objetos de transición, el niño se desarrolla lentamente en el mundo que lo rodea. Son las primeras cosas del mundo que estabilizan la vida de la primera infancia.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);"><br /></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);">El niño mantiene una relación muy intensa e íntima con su objeto de transición. El objeto de transición no debe alterarse ni lavarse. Nada tiene que interrumpir la experiencia de su cercanía. El niño entra en pánico cuando extravía su objeto querido. Aunque el objeto de transición es una posesión suya, tiene cierta vida propia. Para el niño se presenta como una entidad independiente y personal. Los objetos de transición abren un espacio <i>dialógico</i> en el cual el niño encuentra al <i>otro</i>.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);"><br /></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);">Cuando extraviamos nuestro <i>smartphone,</i> el pánico es total. También tenemos una relación íntima con él. De ahí que no nos guste dejarlo en otras manos. ¿Puede entonces compararse a un objeto de transición? ¿Sería como un oso de peluche digital? Esto se contradice con el hecho de que el <i>smartphone</i> es un objeto narcisista. El objeto de transición encarna al otro. El niño habla y se acurruca con él como si fuera otra persona. Pero nadie se arrima al <i>smartphone</i>. Nadie lo percibe propiamente como un otro. A diferencia del objeto de transición, no representa una cosa querida que sea insustituible. Al fin y al cabo, compramos regularmente un nuevo <i>smartphone</i>. (…) A diferencia del objeto de transición, el <i>smartphone</i> es <i>duro</i>. El <i>smartphone</i> no es un oso de peluche digital. Más bien es un objeto narcisista y autista en el que uno no siente a otro, sino ante todo <i>a sí mismo</i>. Como resultado, también destruye la empatía. Con el <i>smartphone</i> nos retiramos a una esfera narcisista protegida de los <i>imponderables del otro</i>. Hace que la otra persona esté <i>disponible</i> al transformarla en objeto. Convierte el <i>tú</i> en un <i>ello</i>. La <i>desaparición del otro</i> es precisamente la razón ontológica por la que el <i>smartphone</i> hace que nos sintamos solos. Hoy nos comunicamos de forma tan compulsiva y excesiva porque estamos solos y notamos un vacío. Pero esta hipercomunicación no es satisfactoria. Solo hace más honda la soledad, porque falta la<i> presencia del otro</i>. (El País, 2/10/2021)</p><aside class="a_np" style="background-color: white; border-top: 2px solid rgb(74, 74, 74); clear: both; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; line-height: 1.125rem; margin: 60px 0 60px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap); padding-top: 0.6875rem;"><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Byung-Chul Han (Seúl, 1959) es filósofo y ensayista y da clases en la Universidad de las Artes de Berlín. Este extracto es un adelanto de ‘No cosas. Quiebras del mundo de hoy’, que publica Taurus el 7 de octubre.</span></p></aside><p class="" style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: MajritTxRoman, serif; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: -0.019px; margin: 0 0 32px var(--grid-8-1-column-content-gap);"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.019px;"><br /></span></p><p> </p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-10563406869181400122024-02-29T10:11:00.001+01:002024-02-29T10:11:45.416+01:0010 Steps to Happiness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHivM8HqjU0yC7kwjeqt-V3IYWamk_ChIn5J1fgQmjtMA9lLYeox8uE6QkH4pZbiAWPYKsd_2AYQUrCHswySgK3ZtphGdYtE5n989GiMBsN84kR38RuC4dU60h3ih6O4mniOW/s1600/b42a08c1-9a7a-420a-98a9-8785bbea15eb-large.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHivM8HqjU0yC7kwjeqt-V3IYWamk_ChIn5J1fgQmjtMA9lLYeox8uE6QkH4pZbiAWPYKsd_2AYQUrCHswySgK3ZtphGdYtE5n989GiMBsN84kR38RuC4dU60h3ih6O4mniOW/s640/b42a08c1-9a7a-420a-98a9-8785bbea15eb-large.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-1168275122854177442024-02-29T10:11:00.000+01:002024-02-29T10:11:16.180+01:00Cinema Paradiso: Learning English with Moving Images<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span><span style="color: #000066; font-family: Open Sans; font-size: large;">By <b>CARLOS MARTÍN GAEBLER</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Open Sans;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is often said that Spaniards have a longstanding idiomatic deficit when it comes to speaking a foreign language. This is partly due to a very simple fact: hardly ever are they exposed to hearing foreign languages spoken on TV or at the cinema, since all of the films they watch and hear are dubbed into their native language. Naturally, they are not well prepared to develop an ear for English. They find learning it much more difficult than, for instance, their Portuguese neighbours, who are used to hearing English-speaking films or series on a regular basis. This same </span><span style="font-size: large;">pattern occurs in other EU countries, such as The Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden, which, together with a more efficient </span><span style="font-size: large;">bilingual education system, </span><span style="font-size: large;">ac</span><span style="font-size: large;">counts for the high standard of English of their citizens.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0lzda9ZP4hGOfdbcojtQr2PXYVxt93i9Lziuurjhp3IVRgM4XlTPYyxsLZeXsIewbzSUI8ESzpmnJ6gmii1QBoFnzaJu6uaL-W98H46Dhv6CLiKVyJPGOlD1yRZe0JzO1PiJ9/s1600-h/cinema_paradiso.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335036568780854642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0lzda9ZP4hGOfdbcojtQr2PXYVxt93i9Lziuurjhp3IVRgM4XlTPYyxsLZeXsIewbzSUI8ESzpmnJ6gmii1QBoFnzaJu6uaL-W98H46Dhv6CLiKVyJPGOlD1yRZe0JzO1PiJ9/s320/cinema_paradiso.jpg" style="float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; text-align: justify; width: 210px;" /></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span>The rich variety of highly-acclaimed English-speaking films and series produced in B</span><span>ritain, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand provide you with the </span><span>opportunity of enjoying a vast diversity of actors’ accents: Ralph Fiennes in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_English_Patient_%28film%29">The English Patient</a><span>; Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Remains_of_the_Day_%28film%29">The Remains of the Day</a><span>; Helen Mirren in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen_%28film%29">The Queen</a><span>; Nicole Kidman in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogville">Dogville</a><span>; Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridges_of_Madison_County_%28film%29">Bridges of Madison County</a><span>; Hugh Grant in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Actually">Love Actually</a><span>; Heath Ledger in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brokeback_Mountain">Brokeback Mountain</a><span>, or all the different American accents in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_%282004_film%29">Crash</a><span>. Therefore, using moving images to improve your English is of utmost importance in an increasingly multilingual global society.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Open Sans;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Here are some tips aimed at helping advanced learne</span><span>rs of English (living in Seville) to o</span><span>btain a better understanding of today’s lingua franca. Current releases with Spanish subtitles can be seen at the </span><b><a href="http://es.movies.yahoo.com/cartelera/s/sevilla/avenida-vo/listings-175422.html">Avenida</a>, </b><span style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.cineciudad.com/cine.php?index=10">Metromar</a> or <a href="http://www.sensacine.com/cines/cine/E0415/">Nervión Plaza</a></span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">cinemas (discount day is Wednesday)</span><span style="font-size: large;">. Another option is seeing films with English subtitles from the </span><b><span style="font-size: large;">Speak Up</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"> dvd series (you can check out some of them at </span><span style="font-size: large;">the self-learning section of the </span><b><span style="font-size: large;">Engineering School</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-size: large;">library on the Cartuja campus), which come with a helpful glossary, or enjoying the digital technology of DVDs, which also allows you to watch and read a film at the same time. Besides, seeing an English-speaking film with English subtitles online is strongly recommended because you </span><span style="font-size: large;">experience the film directly in English from beginning to end without having to read a Spanish translation of it.</span></span></div>
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<span>If you happen to be a television fan, TV platforms nowadays offer you the possibility of watching films and series in their original version. </span><span>Finally, the legendary </span><b><i face="trebuchet ms"><a href="http://www.rtve.es/tve/program/metropolis/index.html">Metrópolis</a></i></b><span> from </span><b>La 2</b><span> screens subtitled short films or advertising selections from time to time. (See TV listings.)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOekxASe1pw7tWxpPuGN8iyWmZEXXo0bzhvdY7Rqx_FJCux4DOuHd6uTkEoYFgx3n14N1hFEK-ydyb5sc4vAWQpv_ImOQfNv2zChI_2sM9aS41cTN7mpguMLbWzE02c0a3JdMX/s1600/Metropolitan+Cinema%252C+Rome+notte.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOekxASe1pw7tWxpPuGN8iyWmZEXXo0bzhvdY7Rqx_FJCux4DOuHd6uTkEoYFgx3n14N1hFEK-ydyb5sc4vAWQpv_ImOQfNv2zChI_2sM9aS41cTN7mpguMLbWzE02c0a3JdMX/s320/Metropolitan+Cinema%252C+Rome+notte.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: large;"><span>In short, remember that hearing a dubbed film is like experiencing only half of it because </span><span>the voices of actors and actresses who star in films are essential to fully enjoy cinema. Somebody once said, “</span><i><span style="color: #003333; font-weight: bold;">Watch a hundred films and you’ll find the meaning of life</span>”</i><span>. Ultimately, watching foreign films and series in the original version is just another way of broadening your cultural horizons.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br /></span>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-30831240545557966132024-02-29T10:10:00.000+01:002024-02-29T10:10:42.974+01:00All That We Share_advertising<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ygJD7FhN-RQ" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: large;">As this Danish TV ad opens, Danes file quietly onto a soundstage, stepping into outlined areas on the floor — areas meant to define them. "The High Earners" versus "Those Just Getting By." "Those We Trust" versus "Those We Try To Avoid." Lifelong Danes, versus those new to Denmark. Divisions you will find not just in Denmark, but in any country on Earth.</span></div>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: large;">However, a man begins to ask questions: <em>"Who in this room was the class clown?", </em><em>"Who are stepparents?", </em><em>"How many of you love to dance?" </em>Quickly, the "Us versus Them" narrative falls apart. People begin to step out of their so-called defining boxes. It's a heartwarming reminder that our perceived labels do not define us. If we look below the surface, we can find common ground with those we perceive as most different to ourselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Open Sans;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">A jewel of an advert and a moving tribute to a small great country. </span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Advertising can indeed help make a better world.</span></span></div>
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Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-16350947287965061022024-02-29T10:09:00.001+01:002024-02-29T10:09:48.110+01:00Meet "Generation Mute"<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">By <b>NONA WALIA</b></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><i>Times of India</i>, April 8th, 2018</span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Remember when teachers scolded us for talking too much in class? When “talkative” was a part of our report cards sent to our parents at the end of the year? Well, if talking was an object, it would be a relic right now. Tales of talking would probably make for good fairytales. Because if recent studies are to be believed, this generation is falling silent.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Youngsters simply don’t like talking anymore. Texting or using social media is fine. Even an pair of earphones will do, as long as speaking to someone can be avoided. Here’s what a survey from British communications regulator <i>Ofcom</i> revealed. About 15 per cent of 16-24-year-olds don’t want to use their phone to speak to people. They would rather use instant messengers. The same research also said that teenagers would even message people sitting in the same room, at times, next to each other; but not talk to them.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Why we have talking anxiety...</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">A part of this problem could be because we do not have any shared experience of sound in our digital world. Says Sunaina Mathew, engineer, “We have moved into a noiseless and soundless world, where we hear only our voices and the sound through our earphones buzzing.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">There is a private world of sounds in public spaces. For example, we can sit anywhere, even amid people, but just listen to our favourite playlist. Earlier, we were familiar and accustomed to sounds around us – people talking, the radio playing, children screaming, dogs barking, clang of kitchen utensils, etc. Now, the only sound we hear is the one we choose to, through our earphones. We go to silent discos, listen to music on earphones, have conversations on earphones, listen to movies with our headphones on; we have internalised our relationship with sound and made it a very private affair.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Etiquette expert Pria Warrick says for this generation the most natural and casual communication mode is texting, and phone calls are viewed as an ordeal. “Social media have changed how we communicate privately. There was a time when everyone talked for hours on the landline, and that was considered as a relaxation technique at the end of the day — between friends, lovers, parents-children — but now we think twice about violating someone’s space by calling them on the phone,” she says.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">There was also a time when birthdays were special occasions when you expected people to call you. But even that has become a textual affair these days. Maira Khanna, 36, doctor, didn’t get any calls on her birthday, but was flooded with text messages. “I missed the sound of people’s voices and the laughter along with the wishes,” she rues. MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle, one of the leading researchers looking into the effects of texting on interpersonal relationships, feels the onslaught of information and time spent with screens is another reason why people are talking less. </span><br />
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<span style="border: 0px; color: #222222; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Emotional fallout</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Psychologist Rachna Khanna Singh tries to throw some light on this phenomenal change in human behaviour in this century that, she says, will have far-reaching consequences on our emotional stratum. “We are conditioned to go for what’s easy because the innumerable choices and distractions in our lives — social media interactions throughout the day, work correspondence, traffic noise et al — have made our minds exhausted and we are seeking silence with a vengeance now,” she says. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">On public transport, we have our earphones on, lest someone should look our way, smile, or worse... talk to us. While out socialising, we are more bothered about interacting with people on the virtual world from our smartphones than the ones right in front of us. Digital expert Chetan Deshpande finds this quite funny and gives an interesting pointer. He says, “Being used to smartphones and social media for a while now, we also love editing our thoughts and expressions. Thanks to courtesy readily-available dictionaries and emojis, we have become accustomed to reducing our mistakes, editing every thought and expression, which isn’t possible while talking on the phone. This freaks people out.” </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri";">It’s also a scientific fact that anxious people become tongue tied. Now, think about an anxiety-ridden generation, multi-tasking 24x7. No wonder even the thought of picking up a phone to talk has become a terror.</span><br style="color: white; content: ""; display: block; font-family: proxima-regular1, Calibri; height: 15px; text-indent: -100000px;" /><br style="color: white; content: ""; display: block; font-family: proxima-regular1, Calibri; height: 15px; text-indent: -100000px;" /><span style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Sound stats</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: , "calibri"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: , "calibri";"></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri";">About 15 per cent of 16-24-year-olds don’t want to use their phones to speak to people. They’d rather text. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: , "calibri";">In TIME magazine’s mobility poll, 32 per cent of all respondents said they’d rather communicate by text than phone, even with people they know quite well. This is truer still in the workplace, where communication is between colleagues who are often not friends.</span></span><br />
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</div></div>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-70372526555311792182024-02-29T10:09:00.000+01:002024-02-29T10:09:01.934+01:00In Praise of Rugby<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-b7YYHw0af0PtwJ6HcFTZsHss-sbJbopyNE_lh9GSD9P6OcUefFFlZpFFB_gZPSLyJiuif23ADpO7uuqQ5Yt_EePOpcrqyBDNjeMPATxwpndesRsYLgK8ZvslZZNe2a_E7R2M/s1600/Rugby.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727177040509402642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-b7YYHw0af0PtwJ6HcFTZsHss-sbJbopyNE_lh9GSD9P6OcUefFFlZpFFB_gZPSLyJiuif23ADpO7uuqQ5Yt_EePOpcrqyBDNjeMPATxwpndesRsYLgK8ZvslZZNe2a_E7R2M/s400/Rugby.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: large;">Tackles,
collisions, players running into each other at full speed... rugby is a combat
sport. There is certainly more contact than in football, although according to
the old English saying: <i><b><span style="color: #274e13;">While football is a game for gentlemen played by
ruffians, rugby is a game for ruffians played by gentlemen</span></b></i>. If there is
something that distinguishes rugby, it is the attitude of <b><span style="color: #274e13;">respect</span></b> in the sport.
You can see a referee who measures maybe a metre seventy telling this guy who
is nearly two metres tall and weighs more than a hundred kilos "<i>you've
committed a foul, retreat ten metres</i>" and the other man never complains.
This attitude also exists between any two sets of fans, something that is
related to the sport's concern with values. This can also be seen on the
stands. When you go into a rugby stadium, there is a very warm atmosphere and
there are never any insults; it's a very healthy feeling.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande";"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-size: large;"><i>Related articles: </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "lucida grande";"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2015/11/01/actualidad/1446397936_213790.html">Rugby vs fútbol,</a> by John Carlin</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "lucida grande";"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://blogs.antena3.com/confesiones-sin-bin/perder_2012112600281.html">Perder</a>, por Bruno López</i></span></span><br />
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Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-21531391105131248622024-02-29T10:08:00.000+01:002024-02-29T10:08:38.578+01:00Breaking Bad, a masterpiece now, and a masterpiece a hundred years from now<p><span face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1G5Psgk52qajLpidUQai-1FAXFbF8c61Kd4-8nyhraImwbrhLofl4zyN5Y05uCdrfw_E5MDkvQ6JxQasby7ZcvrgzvcgPxeWrKu4z6IeO0Axl5tQ_94gxDWQLOYom8gB1gslJ/s1920/51780_breaking-bad-tv-series-poster-wallpaper-jpg_1920x1080_h.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1G5Psgk52qajLpidUQai-1FAXFbF8c61Kd4-8nyhraImwbrhLofl4zyN5Y05uCdrfw_E5MDkvQ6JxQasby7ZcvrgzvcgPxeWrKu4z6IeO0Axl5tQ_94gxDWQLOYom8gB1gslJ/w611-h344/51780_breaking-bad-tv-series-poster-wallpaper-jpg_1920x1080_h.jpg" width="611" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Open Sans;">Everything stands out, from the subtle details, to the unmatched writing and the perfect cast, to the very beautifully shot scenes. </span></span><span style="font-family: Open Sans;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Breaking Bad</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">, created by Vince Gillian,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> may very well be the best TV series out there. The story, even with some creative liberties, is well grounded, believable and feels very real. The show, unlike others, ages like fine wine. The more you watch and the longer you sink in, the better it gets. I can think of few series which grow stronger and better every season. It's not only worth sinking your teeth into, it's worth eating. Breaking Bad is a timeless piece and it will stand even long into the future, and will forever be one of the best TV shows to ever come out.</span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: large;">Definitely one of the greatest series ever. It just gets better as it goes along. The journeys of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman are something I will never forget. These are some of the best written characters to ever come from a pen hitting a paper. My praises for the acting and cinematography are unending. Some of the shots are intricate works of art, and in general the performances are just excellent. This makes all but the best movies look like utter dribble, and in terms of tone, every intense moment is executed with excellence, and always has the impact it's going for.</span></span></p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;">The plot of the series in the early seasons lacks a certain level of complexity, and the start is a bit slow paced, but nevertheless, this is an absolute must-watch, preferably one episode a day. If you have mixed feelings about Season 1, trust me, it's only uphill from there. If you want a series to call perfect; I think this might be it.</span></span></span>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-51062435518725196262024-02-29T09:55:00.000+01:002024-02-29T09:55:38.470+01:00A Letter Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b>Aisling Brennan</b>, a 12-year-old Irish primary school girl, is the winner of the Young Travel Writers Competition at this year's Lismore Immrama Festival of Travel Writing, sponsored by Aer Lingus. Here is her winning "<i>Postcard to Home</i>", a </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">delightful</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"> read</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">:</span></div>
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<br />Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-65907959697405042282024-02-09T18:32:00.002+01:002024-02-09T19:00:53.568+01:00NORMAL IS BORING<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtxa7KXUsZ5uFYe6EhoH_XfjqoUwREkFh1MUJKfYql99fFvTHdYQ_lA52iWy6bfUzm1XUz6QdYBJO2yCOWwiJouSeIlg2iJtqTp2OtNDxWrl-Hg04WHghD0SCvqQyLeBlRoBCk3Ytxynj4I6wSOfFcbjeil8Rhq91awLGiavHzi_AXw95XyEr/s4320/IMG_2558.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4320" data-original-width="3103" height="717" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtxa7KXUsZ5uFYe6EhoH_XfjqoUwREkFh1MUJKfYql99fFvTHdYQ_lA52iWy6bfUzm1XUz6QdYBJO2yCOWwiJouSeIlg2iJtqTp2OtNDxWrl-Hg04WHghD0SCvqQyLeBlRoBCk3Ytxynj4I6wSOfFcbjeil8Rhq91awLGiavHzi_AXw95XyEr/w516-h717/IMG_2558.jpeg" width="516" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Open Sans;"><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"> Self-explanatory</span></div></span><p></p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-49328780043073280662024-01-21T10:15:00.001+01:002024-01-21T10:15:35.734+01:00Living a longer, healthier life<div class="css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="css-1ay0v87 e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" id="link-6c01e4b8" style="border: 0px; color: var(--color-content-primary,#121212); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 2.9375rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: 200; line-height: 3.4375rem; margin: 0px auto 0.5rem; max-width: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">The Seven Keys to Longevity</h1></div><p class="css-1n0orw4 e1wiw3jv0" id="article-summary" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; margin: 0px auto 1.875rem; max-width: 600px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span face="nyt-cheltenham, georgia, times new roman, times, serif"><span style="font-size: 1.4375rem;"><span style="color: #444444;">Here are seven steps that can help you counter the effects of aging.</span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)"> </span></span></span><span face="nyt-cheltenham, georgia, times new roman, times, serif" style="color: #363636;"><span style="font-size: 23px;">By <b>Dana G. Smith</b>, </span></span><span face="nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif" style="color: #363636; font-size: 23px;"><i>The New York Times</i>, January 19th, 2024</span></p><div class="css-79elbk" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="css-z3e15g" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper-hidden" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; inset: 0px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; pointer-events: none; position: fixed; text-size-adjust: 100%; transition: opacity 0.2s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5" data-testid="photoviewer-children" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; transition: opacity 0.3s ease 0.2s; vertical-align: baseline;"><figure aria-label="media" class="sizeMedium layoutHorizontal css-nlqgyf" role="group" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 25px auto 2.5rem; max-width: 600px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; width: calc(100% - 40px);"><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/01/09/well/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=600"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/01/09/well/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=1200"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/01/09/well/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=1800"></source><img alt="An illustration of a person standing in a yoga pose with leaves emanating from different parts of the body; on either side of the person is an infinity loop with various vignettes; the vignettes are a couple on a couch, a person sleeping, a bowl of fruit and a person running." class="css-rq4mmj" decoding="async" height="400" sizes="((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 60vw, 100vw" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/01/09/well/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/01/09/well/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp 600w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/01/09/well/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS-jumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp 1024w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/01/09/well/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS/04WELL-LONGEVITY-BASICS-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp 2048w" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: top; width: 600px;" width="600" /></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">Humans have searched for the secret to immortality for thousands of years. For some, that quest now means sleeping in hyperbaric chambers, experimenting with cryotherapy or blasting oneself with infrared light.</span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">Most aging experts doubt that these actions will meaningfully extend the upper limits of the upper human life span. What they do believe is that by practicing a few simple behaviors, many people can live more healthily and longer, reaching 80, 90, and even 100 in good physical and mental shape. The interventions just aren't as exotic as transfusing yourself with a young person's blood. </span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">"People are looking for the magic pill," said Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, the scientific Director of the National Institute on Aging, and the magic pill is already here." </span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">Below are seven tips from geriatricians on how to add more good years to your life. </span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span><b>MOVE MORE</b></span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">The No. 1 thing experts recommend was to keep your body active. Study after study has shown that exercise reduces the risk of premature death.</span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">Physical activity keeps the heart and circulatory system health and provides protection against chronic diseases that affect the boy and mind. It also strengthens muscles, which can reduce older people's risk of falls.</span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">"If we spend some of our adult years building up our muscle mass, our strength, our balance, our cardiovascular endurance, then, as the body ages, you're starting from a stronger place for whatever is to come," said Dr. Anna Chang, a professor of medicine specializing in geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.</span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">The best exercise is any activity that you enjoy doing and will stick with. You don't have to do a lot, either --the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, meaning just walking a little more that 20 minutes a day is beneficial.</span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><b>EAT MOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES</b></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">The experts did't recommend one specific diet over another, but the generally advise eating in moderation and aiming for more fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods.</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">The Mediterranean diet --which emphasizes fresh product in addition to whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish and olive oil-- is a good model for healthy eating, and it's been shown to lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia.</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">Some experts say that maintaining a healthy weight is important for longevity, but to Dr. John Rowe, a professor of health policy and aging at Columbia University, that's less of a concern, especially as people enter old age. "I was always more worried about my patients who lost weight that my patients who lost weight," Dr. Rowe said.</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><b>GET ENOUHG SLEEP</b></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">Sleep is sometimes overlooked, but it plays a major role in healthy aging. Research has found that the amount of sleep a person averages each night is correlated with the risk of death from any cause and that consistently getting good quality sleep can add several years to a person's life. Sleep appears to be especially important to brain health: A 2021 study found that people who slept less than five hours a night had twice the risk of developing dementia. </span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">"As people get older, they need more sleep, rather than less," said Dr. Alison Moore, a professor of medicine and the chief of geriatrics, gerontology and palliative care at the University of California, San Diego. Seven to nine hours is generally recommended, she added.</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><b>DON'T SMOKE OR DRINK TOO MUCH</b></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">This goes without saying, but smoking cigarettes raises your risk for all kinds of deadly diseases. "There is no dose of cigarette smoke that is good for you, Dr. Rowe said.</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">We are starting to understand how bad excessive alcohol use is, too. More than one drink per day for women and two for men --and possibly even less than that-- raises the risk of heart disease and atrial fibrillation, liver disease and seven types of cancer.</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><b>MANAGE YOUR CHRONIC CONDITIONS</b></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">Nearly half of American adults have hypertension , 40 per cent have high cholesterol and more than one third have pre-diabetes. All the healthy behaviors mentioned above will help manage these conditions and prevent them from developing into even more serious diseases, but sometimes lifetime interventions aren'r enough. That's why experts say it's critical to follow your doctor's advice to keep things under control. </span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">"It's not fin to take the medications; it's not fun to check your blood pressure and check your blood sugar," Dr. Chang said. "But when we optimize all those things in a whole package, they also help us live longer, healthier and better lives."</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><b><br /></b></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><b>PRIORITIZE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS</b></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">Psychological health often takes a back seat to physical health, Dr. Chang said it's just as important. "Isolation and loneliness is a big a detriment to our health as smoking," she said, adding that it puts us "at a higher risk of dementia, heart disease, stroke."</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">Relationships are key to not only living more healthily, but also more happily. According to the Harvard Study of Adult Development, strong relationships are the biggest predictor of well-being.</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Rowe tells the medical students he teaches that one of the best indicators of how well an elderly patient will be faring in six months is to ask him "how many friends or family he's seen in the last week."</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;"><b>CULTIVATE A POSITIVE MIND-SET</b></span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">Even thinking positively can help you live longer. Several studies have found that optimism is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, and people who score high on tests of optimism live 5 percent to 15 percent longer that people who are more pessimistic.</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">That may be because optimists tend to have healthier habits and lower rates of some chronic diseases, but even when accounting for those factors, the research shows that people who think positively still live longer. </span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><span style="font-size: large;">If you had to pick one healthy practice for longevity, "do some version of physical activity," Dr. Moore said. "If you can't do that, then focus on being positive."</span></picture></div><div class="css-1xb94ky" data-testid="photoviewer-children-Image" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><picture><br /></picture></div></figure></div></div>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-25689810489195466652024-01-10T13:35:00.000+01:002024-01-10T13:35:08.668+01:00Tourism ruined my city. Tourism is saving my city.<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="letter-spacing: 3.072px; text-transform: uppercase;">By </span><b style="letter-spacing: 3.072px; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1018754960/miguel-macias">Miguel Macías</a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #767676;"><span style="font-size: x-small; letter-spacing: 3.072px; text-transform: uppercase;"><b>NPR</b>, January 9, 2024</span></span></div><div><span><span style="letter-spacing: 3.072px; text-transform: uppercase;"><div style="color: #767676;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #767676; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBJSVIAxOTgkwe4e8_B1YEQror5RuSZf_ZJaX4sSH3cAyxMwPBwDuOyzAEobwo0hshhBFgSb7g1lUopPj7OM-cxJx09JhX1CX5T1Nsg8i8z1tzOd2_IWyqcAnmykVUpekuR0WLWSx4Her4Q1mxLl83aeVh1SP3H0fGX-ksfrVaJTSEtsIn6qk/s1747/Nin%CC%83os%20jugando%20al%20fu%CC%81tbol%20en%20la%20Alameda%20de%20Hercules%20de%20Sevilla:Miguel%20Maci%CC%81as.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1747" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBJSVIAxOTgkwe4e8_B1YEQror5RuSZf_ZJaX4sSH3cAyxMwPBwDuOyzAEobwo0hshhBFgSb7g1lUopPj7OM-cxJx09JhX1CX5T1Nsg8i8z1tzOd2_IWyqcAnmykVUpekuR0WLWSx4Her4Q1mxLl83aeVh1SP3H0fGX-ksfrVaJTSEtsIn6qk/w579-h354/Nin%CC%83os%20jugando%20al%20fu%CC%81tbol%20en%20la%20Alameda%20de%20Hercules%20de%20Sevilla:Miguel%20Maci%CC%81as.jpeg" width="579" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #767676; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">SEVILLE, Spain — There was an old house in a very narrow street in central Seville, Spain that I used to stop and look at when I was a teenager in the early '90s. I dreamt of owning it one day, or at least one similar in the neighborhood that back then had a decent number of locals.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">I say "back then" because today that area, Barrio de Santa Cruz, has lost its soul. It's not me saying this — it's what you hear from nearly anyone who lives or works in the neighborhood.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Many longtime residents have left, saying they were pushed by a wave of tourism that, after the pandemic, has come back in full force.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">It's good news for the city and its economy. But it's mixed news for nearly anyone whose memories are attached to those narrow streets, now filled with souvenir shops, boutique hotels and restaurants where locals don't quite feel welcome anymore.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">This is the story of how a city tries to honor its past while ensuring its future.</p><h3 class="edTag" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSans, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.25; margin: 35px auto 10px; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">Students replaced by selfies</span></strong></h3><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">In the heart of Barrio de Santa Cruz you can still find a public school. It almost seems like a relic of a different time, when this neighborhood had not turned into a museum of sorts.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Ana Palacio is the principal of the San Isidoro school. She joined seven years ago, when admission for students was competitive. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"When we'd start receiving applications for admission, people would camp out at the door and spend the night to grab a spot for their kids," she tells me.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Now, she has open spots in her classrooms, and the reason is simple. Palacio looks up and points at the beautiful old houses in front of the school, on Mateos Gago street. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"All those houses, where families used to live and send their kids to our school – all those houses are now apartments for tourists," she says.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">For Palacio, this is not just a small inconvenience. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"I have real issues here. When kids enter and exit the school, I have a crowd of tourists at the door," she says. "Since the school building is a beautiful old convent, tourists want to take pictures and shoot videos."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">She says it's affecting the way locals enjoy the city, and that in areas where tourists flock, locals sometimes don't even feel welcome at tapas bars and restaurants. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"In Seville, you order the first beer at the bar. Then you sit down and chat with your friends. Then maybe you order a tapa. And after a while, you order another one. And before you realize it, it's 5 or 6 in the evening," she says.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">That would be the Sevillian way. But many restaurants are no longer locally owned, or simply prefer to cater to tourists, who sit for an hour, order fast and copiously, and then move on. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">These days it's not unusual to see restaurants that don't serve tapas anymore and won't let you sit at a table if you're not ready to order a meal.</span></p><h3 class="edTag" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSans, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.25; margin: 35px auto 10px; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are those who benefit</span></strong></h3><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">There are some restaurants, however, that are still locally owned, and try to maintain a balance between benefitting from the tourism boom and serving local customers.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">On Mateos Gago street, just a short walk from the San Isidoro school, I stand in front of a small restaurant called La Azotea. I know this place well; it used to be called Campanario more than two decades ago. I used to work here when I was in my early twenties.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">I meet Juan Antonio Gómez, the chef and owner of La Azotea, outside his restaurant, where the view from the tables is simply astonishing. The tower of the cathedral of Seville, La Giralda, is the most iconic monument of the city. If you come to Seville, chances are you will walk down this street and visit it.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">When Gómez opened his first location, his clients were mostly locals. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"But soon — as in, like, three months — we started to receive our first tourists. And a year later, we have, every day, lines at the door at the opening time for 30 people, mostly tourists," Gómez says. His story reinforces a truth now widely known in Seville: if a restaurant is good, tourists will find it.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Gómez says he wishes he could see more locals around Mateos Gago street — an area he has known since he was a child attending the same San Isidoro School that is now struggling to find students.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Tourism is an engine of the Spanish economy. In 2022, it represented more than <a href="https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=estadistica_C&cid=1254736169169&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735576863" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">11% of the national GDP</a>. It's even more acute in Seville, where tourism provides an <a href="https://www.cope.es/emisoras/andalucia/sevilla-provincia/sevilla/noticias/turismo-representa-del-pib-sevilla-20220926_2309883" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">estimated</a> 20% of the city's economy.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">This southern region of Spain where Seville is located has long been mired by unemployment as well, which <a href="https://www.eldiario.es/andalucia/andalucia-cifra-paro-baja-15-anos-sigue-cinco-puntos-media-nacional_1_10155813.html" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">currently sits at just over 18%</a> — about 5 points above the national average. So you can appreciate how jobs in the service sector provide a lifeline for the city that welcomed nearly <a href="https://www.diariodesevilla.es/sevilla/Sevilla-liderar-incremento-turismo-Andalucia_0_1832217510.html" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2 million visitors</a> in just the first eight months of 2023 — up 14% from the previous year.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">Gómez benefits from this tourism boom, obviously, but he has mixed feelings: "What I'm seeing right now in Seville I've never seen before. It's massive. And I think, in one way or another, we have to stop a little bit."</span></p><h3 class="edTag" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSans, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.25; margin: 35px auto 10px; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">The year everything changed</span></strong></h3><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Sevillians point to 1992 as a transformative time for the city. It was the year Seville hosted the International Expo 92, which became a presentation party of sorts, celebrating the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Seville was pitching itself to the world as a place of beauty and historic landmarks. Hundreds of acres of unutilized land was transformed into a type of international theme park, with more than 100 nations represented in pavilions.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Tens of millions of people visited Seville that year. Billions of dollars were invested in the city: bridges were built over the Guadalquivir River; dozens of new hotels were opened; a high-speed train connecting Madrid and Seville was inaugurated; and the city looked at the historic center as its crown jewel. A jewel that needed urgent care.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Miguel López was 10 years old then, and lived in the neighborhood of Alameda – a huge open space now filled with restaurants. Like the city center back then, his neighborhood was falling apart, he tells me, with many houses needing drastic rehabilitation.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Crime was common in central areas, and it wasn't unusual to turn to a street and find yourself alone and vulnerable to theft or worse.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Before the wave of Expo investment, the region of Andalucía had a staggering <a href="https://datosmacro.expansion.com/paro-epa/espana-comunidades-autonomas/andalucia?anio=1985" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">30% unemployment rate</a>, which skyrocketed to more than 50% for young people.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">López was enchanted with the Expo as a child, with all its promise of change and progress, and visited the site many times that year. On his way home, he would have to cross the Alameda, an area t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">hat was known for drugs, crime and sex workers back then.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"Now my son, who is 12, plays soccer in the Alameda," López says. "The only issue he runs into is the complaints of patrons at restaurants who might be hit by a soccer ball here and there."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Investment meant growing crowds of tourists, which led to gentrification and beautiful new pedestrian avenues and well-maintained buildings. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">It also meant high — and still rising — rent prices. López still lives in the neighborhood today, and has tried to get access to subsidized housing in the area, but with no luck.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Recently, while looking at Airbnb properties in his neighborhood, he ran into a surprise: a subsidized duplex in the area was listed on the site. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"I was livid. So much so that I notified the city hall," López says.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">It's not unusual to see locals trying to make a buck out of the tourism demand for accommodation, but for López, this was crossing the line. Someone lucky enough to have been awarded a house in the city center was turning around and listing it as a tourist apartment.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">And yet, López also admits to having rented his apartment on Airbnb for a few months while he was out of town. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"When I've done it, it was more about surviving, not a business," López says. "We need to resort to sharing our apartments to be able to afford them. We'll get to the end of our lives having to share an apartment."</span></p><h3 class="edTag" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSans, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.25; margin: 35px auto 10px; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">Housing becomes the hot topic</span></strong></h3><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">In December, the city hall assembly voted down a proposed "tourist tax" that would have charged a fee to visitors spending the night in Seville, after mayor José Luis Sanz and his conservative party opposed it.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">The mayor has previously said there is an oversaturation of accommodation for tourists in some areas of the city, such as Barrio de Santa Cruz, and that local residents are beginning to experience a certain tourism-phobia.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Yet he also says tourists have brought economic gains to the city that shouldn't be overlooked. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"Many belong to Sevillian companies and have brought wealth and contributed to the economic growth of the city,"</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;"> </span><a href="https://sevilla.abc.es/sevilla/jose-luis-sanz-apartamentos-turisticos-traido-riqueza-20231221105942-nts.html" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #5076b8; font: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">he says</a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">. "If it weren't for them, many blocks and old houses would have disappeared."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><span style="color: #333333;">A 2022 study found that more than</span> <a href="https://www.exceltur.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ReviTUR-EXCELTUR-Documento-completo-221122.pdf" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">60% of properties in Barrio de Santa Cruz are used to house tourists</a><span style="color: #333333;">. For other neighborhoods inside the historic center it's more than 20%, and overall the concentration of hotels and housing for tourists in central Seville is the highest of any city in Spain.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Just outside Barrio de Santa Cruz you can find another centric area, the San Bartolomé neighborhood, where Ana Álvarez-Ossorio was born and raised. She lives there now with her husband, and her daughter, who attends the San Isidoro school.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">She tells a familiar story: when she was little, the neighborhood wasn't necessarily a desired place for locals to live in. Many houses needed urgent renovation or outright demolition. It's one of the reasons her parents were able to afford an entire house in what today is a prime location.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">"It was a working class neighborhood back then. Families did not have a lot of money," Álvarez-Ossorio says. The expo in 1992 changed that.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">"There was an urban plan implemented for the entire historic center to be brought back to life. Wealthy people moved in, started to buy property. Prices rose and working class people left the center of the city," Álvarez-Ossorio says.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Today, the center is going through another time of deep change. And this time the target is not wealthy locals, but tourists.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">"Seville is hosting anything from the Latin Grammys to international soccer events. Anything to attract tourists," Álvarez-Ossorio says. "And so, all this housing gets fully booked. The historic center is turning into a theme park."</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">Álvarez-Ossorio represents the tension playing out — she feels unease at the change, but is also benefiting from it by becoming an Airbnb host herself. After she and her sister moved out of the family house, they decided to renovate it and rent the bigger part to tourists. Ana's father still lives in the building, in a smaller apartment they kept for his use.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">When I ask her about possibly limiting the use of apartments for tourists, she has mixed feelings. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">"What worries me the most is that long-term rental units are disappearing in the city center. Because anyone who has an apartment available wonders: Do I rent for 600 euros a month, or do I turn it into an apartment for tourists and make 3,500 euros? But we need some limits because our city center is going to turn into one massive hotel."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">As for me, my dream of owning a house in the city center is long gone. <span style="letter-spacing: 0.36px;">Instead, I now live just around the corner from a small construction site where my new house is being built. The neighborhood is just outside of the city center. Many consider this area the "new center" of Seville, where locals live and where businesses still survive off of them. But things can change fast.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: NPRSerif, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.36px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.17647em; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 15px; position: static; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;">I've been noticing more groups of tourists walking around. They stay here in apartments that are more affordable than those inside the walls of the old town. And I can't help but wonder: How long will it take for my neighborhood to change?</p></div></span></span></div>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-91764756876953054792023-11-26T14:49:00.002+01:002023-11-27T12:59:55.589+01:00Screen Addiction Threatens Family Gatherings<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hMGFFc9nJPdAiXXwvGt-7GLJBJ2-8GsnpuohgRXxHncNshYJmh0WN8w59N2mC8mOfJQ58Fy7LPR0kCyKk9RuPqK-xIVwEMNhEJfuwV2wkJzA4RwvK4csJjYg0Gn6xioXxRMLyw0Eoclf_Hp4COf5-RuvgmvHMkv-jLGFSCQLj8Ktx2oEzbdi/s1150/Captura%20de%20pantalla%202023-11-25%20a%20las%2013.45.03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="844" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hMGFFc9nJPdAiXXwvGt-7GLJBJ2-8GsnpuohgRXxHncNshYJmh0WN8w59N2mC8mOfJQ58Fy7LPR0kCyKk9RuPqK-xIVwEMNhEJfuwV2wkJzA4RwvK4csJjYg0Gn6xioXxRMLyw0Eoclf_Hp4COf5-RuvgmvHMkv-jLGFSCQLj8Ktx2oEzbdi/w464-h632/Captura%20de%20pantalla%202023-11-25%20a%20las%2013.45.03.png" width="464" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-58474171909535994012023-10-30T13:06:00.001+01:002023-10-30T13:06:34.300+01:00Here, there and everywhere: why the world is still crazy about the Beatles<p><span style="background-color: #fef9f5; color: #121212; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><i>Now and Then</i> may be the band’s final song, but the appetite for books, exhibitions, films and TV series about the Fab Four seems never to wane. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #fef9f5; color: #121212; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">By NEIL SPENCER, </span><span style="background-color: #fef9f5; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="color: #999999;">The Observer, Sunday, October 29th, 2023</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbV1tC-aW6rPpH-Qmdq9aUscOTJv1uSC61Jqr4NUQdXXgMwhihK0tAg7E3s4wRkdPehI9tfZCsjQdcxYpN-eZy081zpCqevhkwwhWDfIOAW4rMVS5z1Sk9cOTHh-gHk_LHNIwfLOws8bVsPi1blfxjvCiD-zcEBJ01TlkMVAaaFFjaERpOCTZx/s1392/Captura%20de%20pantalla%202023-10-30%20a%20las%2013.03.48.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="892" data-original-width="1392" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbV1tC-aW6rPpH-Qmdq9aUscOTJv1uSC61Jqr4NUQdXXgMwhihK0tAg7E3s4wRkdPehI9tfZCsjQdcxYpN-eZy081zpCqevhkwwhWDfIOAW4rMVS5z1Sk9cOTHh-gHk_LHNIwfLOws8bVsPi1blfxjvCiD-zcEBJ01TlkMVAaaFFjaERpOCTZx/w573-h366/Captura%20de%20pantalla%202023-10-30%20a%20las%2013.03.48.png" width="573" /></a></div><p></p><p class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: #fef9f5; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span class="dcr-11l45yn" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c74600; float: left; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 111px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 92px; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: text-top;">P</span>erhaps the real surprise behind <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/oct/26/the-beatles-final-song-now-and-then-ai-technology" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c74600; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">this week’s release</a> of the “final” Beatles song, Now and Then, is not that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr wanted to resurrect the band one last time – uniting them with the “crystal clear” voice of John Lennon from a 1970s home tape, a feat enabled by technology Peter Jackson developed for his 2021 <em class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/nov/25/the-beatles-get-back-review-peter-jackson-eight-hours-of-tv-so-aimless-it-threatens-your-sanity" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c74600; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Get Back</a></em><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/nov/25/the-beatles-get-back-review-peter-jackson-eight-hours-of-tv-so-aimless-it-threatens-your-sanity" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c74600; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> documentary</a> – but that there remains a seemingly insatiable thirst for all things Fab Four.</p><p class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: #fef9f5; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">It is now 60 years since Beatlemania engulfed first Britain and then, via America, the world. No one then imagined that in 2023 we would still be entranced by the group. The shelf life of pop acts was measured in months, or at best years – the Beatles themselves didn’t make it past their 1970 break-up. Yet this month sees a fresh surge of interest. Accompanying Now and Then are expanded versions of the <em class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Red</em> and <em class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Blue</em> compilations first issued in 1973, Philip Norman’s <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/George-Harrison/Philip-Norman/9781982195861" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c74600; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">biography of George Harrison</a> (to go alongside his tomes on Lennon and McCartney), and an Apple TV series, <em class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/oct/27/john-lennon-tv-docuseries" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c74600; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Murder Without A Trial</a></em>, examining the 1980 killing of Lennon outside his New York home.</p><div id="sign-in-gate" style="background-color: #fef9f5; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: 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style="box-sizing: border-box;"></gu-island></div><p class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: #fef9f5; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Until the end of last month, the National Portrait Gallery was running <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jun/27/paul-mccartney-photographs-1963-64-review-eyes-of-the-storm-beatles" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c74600; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Eyes of The Storm</a>, McCartney’s evocative exhibition after his “discovery” of a cache of photos from 1963-64. And you can still enjoy National Trust tours of John and Paul’s Liverpool homes, and hear Hey Jude ringing from English football terraces.</p><p class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: #fef9f5; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Some reasons for the ongoing obsession are straightforward. Since even the humblest contribution to Beatledom is guaranteed global attention, more products keep arriving. Then there is the nostalgia of baby boomers for their youth – not least in the US, where the likes of Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen were inspired to pick up guitars by the Beatles’ celebrated appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.</p><p class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: #fef9f5; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Behind it all lies the enduring quality of the music – the exuberance of the early hits, the inventive plunge into psychedelia, the gentle beauty of the love songs – and where the Fabs pioneered, the rest followed. Their career still describes the perfect arc of pop success, from early gigs in Merseyside and immersion in the crucible of Hamburg lowlife to becoming local heroes, national sensations and international icons. Unlike their peers the Rolling Stones, they didn’t stick around to become a vainglorious tribute band to themselves.</p><p class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: #fef9f5; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">The foursome’s panache – the “Beatle cuts”, the casual ostentation of their clothes, their gritty ambition – helped make them the personification of an era in which optimism, hope and social mobility were possible. They radiated an infectious joyousness which now seems remote and beyond reach, and even when they were naive – Maharishi, Apple – they were brave. As Harrison put it: “They [the public] gave their money, and gave their screams, but the Beatles gave their nervous systems. They used us as an excuse to go mad, the world did, and then blamed it on us.”</p><p class="dcr-rysp4a" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: #fef9f5; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, "Guardian Text Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;">Now and Then may be the Beatles’ “final song”, but it won’t be the final word in their story. McCartney, who has cannily curated the group’s legacy, may yet find another cache of photos, while one day, perhaps, we may get to read Lennon’s Dakota diaries, briefly glimpsed after his murder but swiftly recovered by Yoko Ono and kept secret ever since.</p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-86286627012543574172023-10-24T10:37:00.001+02:002023-10-24T10:37:01.950+02:00FREEDOM FOR PALESTINE<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKClOd4xoq9_4cF3rUe0Yv5YhHr7IC1AEXaufn_KoamwPmePv19ekcGrloCYX17brqJk-MxAYQOPPK-XJvQLJjyfAD13Nvq7CduD0ndMJUVplIOiauHQPZrCYG2L3WPg984WQxFG0RWzrrYYh5USF_yN7D9dtkFy229Fula3tv90RbHOqaETA/s1382/Captura%20de%20pantalla%202023-10-24%20a%20las%2010.35.06.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1382" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKClOd4xoq9_4cF3rUe0Yv5YhHr7IC1AEXaufn_KoamwPmePv19ekcGrloCYX17brqJk-MxAYQOPPK-XJvQLJjyfAD13Nvq7CduD0ndMJUVplIOiauHQPZrCYG2L3WPg984WQxFG0RWzrrYYh5USF_yN7D9dtkFy229Fula3tv90RbHOqaETA/w698-h393/Captura%20de%20pantalla%202023-10-24%20a%20las%2010.35.06.png" width="698" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-6816408218007178622023-10-23T13:48:00.003+02:002023-10-23T13:48:48.480+02:00Alcalá de Guadaíra, the Story Behind a Name<p><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;"> By <b>TONY BRYANT</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;"><i>Sur in English</i>, September 15th, 2023</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge220sCR61fIqbhc__vmYXNRAe1ngvTk9eKA1KmHlkGtQAQ_xdABJdyIcRKKSn1c2bTa4TBMwGhALs-IlYBjjb8Ug2kmcEJzAXi4UTSeDWgmns0vfF4vRnw92UPd-gz6t7odNNvUZfUJ_ayOi6Oi-B5nohIoj2Xk5Frcsu4Xd3ULfC0CFw1aJR/s2560/Castillo_de_Alcala%CC%81_de_Guadai%CC%81ra._Vista_desde_el_barrio_del_arrabal_o_barrio_del_castillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1704" data-original-width="2560" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge220sCR61fIqbhc__vmYXNRAe1ngvTk9eKA1KmHlkGtQAQ_xdABJdyIcRKKSn1c2bTa4TBMwGhALs-IlYBjjb8Ug2kmcEJzAXi4UTSeDWgmns0vfF4vRnw92UPd-gz6t7odNNvUZfUJ_ayOi6Oi-B5nohIoj2Xk5Frcsu4Xd3ULfC0CFw1aJR/w525-h349/Castillo_de_Alcala%CC%81_de_Guadai%CC%81ra._Vista_desde_el_barrio_del_arrabal_o_barrio_del_castillo.jpg" width="525" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;">The earliest settlements in the area around what is now <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_Alcal%C3%A1_de_Guada%C3%ADra">Alcalá de Guadaíra</a>, a town not far from Seville (a mere 14 kms), in Southern Spain, date to prehistoric times, as confirmed by the discovery of Chalcolithic dolmens at the archaeological site of El Gandul. However, the origins of the current town can be traced back to the Tartessians, who called the settlement Irippo.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;">Some historians claim that the first part of this name, Ir, signifies "rushing river", in reference to the Aira river, later called Guadaíra, and therefore Irippo meant "the city of the river" in Tartessian. The Greeks called the town Hienipa, meaning "underground water", and this name was later converted by the Romans to Ordo Hinipense.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;">The town achieved importance during the Muslim era because it was located on the river and was part of the defensive belt of Isbiliya (Sevilla). The inhabitants, whose main income was agriculture, used the river to transport the wheat they cultivated to Seville.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;">The Arabs named it Al Kalat Wad Aira -the fortress on the River Aira- in reference to the importance of the 12th -century Almohad castle, and it is from this name that the current toponym derives.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;">The town was taken from the Moors by King Fernando III in 1244. Under the Christians the town lost its economic prosperity, and only regained it in the 20th century, when agriculture was mechanised. Some of the watermills built during the Moorish era can be still found in the area, and because the town once provided most of Seville's bread, it became known as Alcalá de los Panaderos (Alcalá of the bakers).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;">In 2001, the Town Hall approved adding the accent to the word Guadaira to make it Guadaíra. This was based on the pronunciation of the word by the locals. This slightly adapted spelling became official on 23 April 2003.</span></p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-4115537999210305552023-10-05T13:26:00.000+02:002023-10-05T13:26:56.261+02:00Lea. Lisez. Read.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="465" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DVXkHNsKYIo" width="672" youtube-src-id="DVXkHNsKYIo"></iframe></div><br /><p></p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-49789144426181218572023-10-04T21:41:00.002+02:002023-10-04T21:41:18.437+02:00Gig Etiquette<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIjtBpvDKJiycRz5LImwfryKm8Zv2GSnj623AdtKYFc9J7Py1_lprI4pp3GPZm-m1jIRJSe74ks6Y7Hr1tl_a71sAGsvnAkX60TROivCnqmMmHkUUXEWz3EssuGy6KPuUSjXAfIHaOUEwOe2oiViM-wRO29lWQBHrrjpYAX__BDXQYrb9DWei/s1504/Captura%20de%20pantalla%202023-10-04%20a%20las%2021.37.39.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1504" data-original-width="1124" height="860" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIjtBpvDKJiycRz5LImwfryKm8Zv2GSnj623AdtKYFc9J7Py1_lprI4pp3GPZm-m1jIRJSe74ks6Y7Hr1tl_a71sAGsvnAkX60TROivCnqmMmHkUUXEWz3EssuGy6KPuUSjXAfIHaOUEwOe2oiViM-wRO29lWQBHrrjpYAX__BDXQYrb9DWei/w642-h860/Captura%20de%20pantalla%202023-10-04%20a%20las%2021.37.39.png" width="642" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-28864977328238596132023-08-19T18:09:00.006+02:002023-08-19T18:10:01.778+02:00Un idioma es una forma de ver el mundo: las personas que hablan distintas lenguas memorizan mejor<p><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Se ha observado en experimentos que se dan respuestas distintas a cuestiones morales cuando se plantean en la lengua materna o en un segundo idioma. </i></b><b><i>Los traductores simultáneos automáticos pueden hacer menos útiles tareas como la traducción o el aprendizaje de un segundo idioma.</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Por DANIEL MEDIAVILLA</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">El País, 19 de agosto de 2023 </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Hay un experimento clásico que pone a un voluntario en el brete de decidir qué hacer con un vagón que avanza descontrolado hacia cinco trabajadores que no pueden verlo. El voluntario observa la escena desde lo alto de un puente junto a otra persona. Si le empuja a las vías, ese individuo morirá, pero detendrá el vagón y salvará cinco vidas. Cuando el experimento se realiza con personas que hablan dos idiomas y responden en su lengua materna, el 20% deciden que sacrificar a una persona es aceptable por salvar a cinco. Cuando responden en su segundo idioma, la cifra se eleva al 33%. El efecto se explica porque, cuando se habla una lengua extranjera, se tiende a tomar decisiones menos emocionales y más utilitaristas.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Ese cambio, tan importante en un ámbito tan personal como la moral, muestra que el idioma no es solo un modo de percibir el mundo o codificarlo. Cada lenguaje activa distintas regiones neurales que pueden cambiar el modo en que nos relacionamos con lo que nos rodea. Borges defendía que el inglés, más sintético y directo, producía una evocación más definida y poderosa de la realidad, mientras en el español estaba enmarañado por localismos que ofrecían muchos sinónimos, pero no más posibilidades de expresarse con precisión.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">¿Puedes aprender idiomas mientras duermes? Viorica Marian dirige desde el año 2000 el Laboratorio de Investigación en Bilingüismo y Psicolingüística de la Universidad del Noroeste, en Chicago (EE UU), donde estudia de forma sistemática estas diferencias. Uno de los puntos de partida de Marian, nacida en Moldavia, es que la psicolingüística se ha centrado durante mucho tiempo en las personas monolingües, mayoría en EE UU, pero menos frecuentes en el resto del mundo. La investigadora recuerda que la realidad es una recreación producida por nuestro cerebro y que diferentes idiomas activan diferentes redes neurales. En su último estudio, publicado en la revista <i>Science Advances</i>, se muestra cómo tanto personas bilingües como monolingües agrupan y recuerdan las palabras que suenan igual, aunque su significado sea diferente.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Los angloparlantes que no hablaban otro idioma, por ejemplo, cuando escuchaban la palabra candle (vela en inglés), además de esa palabra, le prestaban atención a una palabra similar como candy (dulces), aunque tenga un significado completamente diferente. En los bilingües que también hablaban castellano la cosa se complica, porque su interés se dirige también a las palabras de su otro idioma. Por ejemplo, en el caso de candle, además de a candy, su atención se dirigía a la palabra candado.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Estos resultados sugieren que “en los bilingües los dos idiomas siguen activos y esto influye también en la memoria, porque las personas que hablaban dos idiomas, cuando se les preguntaba por los objetos que había en la lista que les habíamos enseñado, los recordaban mejor que los monolingües”, señala Matías Fernandez-Duque, primer autor del trabajo. Estos datos, plantea Fernández-Duque, apuntan a una mayor flexibilidad cognitiva en las personas que usan dos idiomas, algo que tiene efectos fisiológicos. “Hay estudios que han visto que la aparición de los efectos del alzhéimer en bilingües se retrasa hasta cinco años en comparación con individuos monolingües con condiciones similares”, ejemplifica.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Con este estudio se muestra, según los autores, “que la experiencia del idioma no solo influye en cómo la gente percibe su entorno, sino también lo que recuerdan a largo plazo”. “Esto puede explicar en parte por qué el mismo suceso puede ser recordado de forma diferente por distintas personas”, añaden. Como plantean otros resultados del equipo de Marian, aprender un segundo idioma cambia nuestro cerebro, la forma de sentir y recordar, y hasta las decisiones que tomamos.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">En los próximos años, es probable que las tecnologías de traducción simultánea reduzcan el interés por aprender otros idiomas. En un paso más hacia la homogeneización de la población global. Los políglotas, ahora multitud, pueden empezar a ser una rareza. En todo el mundo, solo el 1% de las 6.000 lenguas registradas tienen más de medio millón de hablantes, y solo el 10% supera los 100.000. “Si pensamos que los idiomas afectan a cómo pensamos, que se pierda un idioma no solo es perder una forma de acceder a una cultura. También se pierde una forma de ver el mundo”, opina Fernández-Duque. “Creo que es importante que pensemos en cómo proteger estos idiomas en peligro de extinción”, concluye.</span></p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36958363.post-54263001291816746462023-07-11T13:07:00.002+02:002023-07-11T13:07:07.312+02:00MUST RESIST<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;">An aerial view of protesters holding banners during a demonstration in Tel Aviv against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plans. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Israeli cities for the ninth straight week, on Saturday March 4th, to fight a government plan to overhaul the country's court system. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Open Sans; font-size: medium;">Drone photo by Or Adar</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66G6GzLdXU7QhZ9KQ1t8svg63MXCRLmR6KyZIGcTMjK9pN8hJpS8vHcLbk3_k_GAZmHP5vAiGU_F8POMJIU-myO0N1n7hxi4aSZj7bhq4ebk5You-zPs9Pl9jhJ1wPJUY2lGY59YhI6a5V7ToxG7DSgTJLiRu_wenw7CIljPBGIX9bUt3297k/s1464/MUST%20RESIST,%20Tel%20Aviv.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1464" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66G6GzLdXU7QhZ9KQ1t8svg63MXCRLmR6KyZIGcTMjK9pN8hJpS8vHcLbk3_k_GAZmHP5vAiGU_F8POMJIU-myO0N1n7hxi4aSZj7bhq4ebk5You-zPs9Pl9jhJ1wPJUY2lGY59YhI6a5V7ToxG7DSgTJLiRu_wenw7CIljPBGIX9bUt3297k/w567-h418/MUST%20RESIST,%20Tel%20Aviv.png" width="567" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Carlos Martín Gaebler, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702378130322930937noreply@blogger.com0