Generally, napping at work is not very well seen, falling asleep in front of your computer either. Fatigue is something that cannot be controlled. Today, the perception of this concept changes and becomes more and more positive. To be efficient and at the top of your abilities, it is therefore preferable to have a sufficient amount of sleep. Approximately, a night’s sleep must be between 7 and 9 hours in order to be effective. Unfortunately, today, many people do not get enough sleep. But some of them do not need more. These sleep reductions are also due to societal issues such as the longer travel time to go to work for example. This is why companies such as Nike or Google have set up nap and relaxation rooms within their establishments so that their employees can charge their batteries on their working time during lunch break for example. Some of these rooms are equipped with the « EnergyPod » chair. A 2008 study by Sara Mednick, Denise Cai, Jennifer Kanady and Sean Drummond reveals that a nap is better than caffeine but these two elements combined are not the best to improve our performance. Following this study, these researchers tell us that an energizing nap would be much more beneficial than the latter two. Then they tell us about EnergyPod. According to MetroNaps, it is « the first chair in the world designed specifically for a nap at work ». Finally, composed of different functions such as vibrations, lights, these chairs are known to be relaxing, restful and rejuvenating.
For the 5th year in a row Chicago’s population is declining, due to African-Americans’ continuous exodus. The history of the White family members shows the migration dynamics in the 3rd largest US city that was shaped by black people.
Chicago’s population is made of almost one third of whites, blacks and latinos. However, the equilibrium has been shifting every year since 2014: more people have left than come. Among them, it is nearly 50,000 black residents who have emigrated. Hardis, Dora, Tshena and Ke’Oisha are part of the same family, whose story in Chicago started more than six decades ago. Each of its members were faced with the choice of staying or leaving the city due to different reasons, which are the same ones causing black Chicagoans’ decision to vacate or remain.
Hardis White is one of those who chose to move out of the city he called its home since he was a teenager during the 50’s. He arrived in Chicago during the Great Migration when African-Americans moved north by millions, hoping for a better life. With his wife Velma they were among the first colored people in their suburb. It’s in 2018 that they moved out due to Velma’s health problems, to live with Dora their eldest daughter, growing the cohort of 200,000 African-Americans who moved out of Chicago in the last twenty years. On a Saturday in front of a two-stories brick house on Laporte Avenue, Tshena knows her father is going to pass by to attend the local church.
““He doesn’t need to stop. He just slows down and looks.
He likes to know that the family is still there.”
The Laporte Avenue’s house is now Tshena Whites’. When her parents wanted to sell it, she decided it was not leaving the family. She bought the house she grew up in for her and her sister with her children. Tshena noticed a shift in demographics in her neighbourhood: “It’s a mixed neighborhood now — we have different races”. In 2017 the number of whites in Chicago is superior to that of Blacks, and according to the 2020 census there will be more Latinos than Black people.
Even if the wealthier and whiter parts of the city are booming, Chicago and more broadly the the midwest, are the epicenter of a reverse Great Migration impacting African-Americans. According to the U.S. Census’s annual American Community Survey, among ten largest US cities, only four are losing black residents. However, between 2010 and 2017, Chicago did so at four to ten times the rate of the other three (Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose), which is unprecedented for any major American city over the last hundred years. Dora Whites, unlike her sister Tschena, grew concerned about Chicago’s violence, drugs and guns. She bought a house in a suburb, 10 miles away from the city, worried about the future of her daughter. She wanted to get her out of that environment. She does not doubt she did what most parents would have done if given the chance. By pulling her child Ke’Oisha out of a dangerous environment she helped her secure a path to college and a successful career.
“It wasn’t too bad until the grandkids started coming — the next generation under me,” explained Ms. Dora White.
By 2003, no other city in the country had as many homicides as Chicago, which has long struggled with gun violence. In January 2020, the 34 murders reported were an increase of half the shooting (22) reported last year during the same period, according to Chicago’s police.
Ke’Oisha the granddaughter of the Whites family moved out of Chicago with her mother during the early 2000’s. After graduating, she applied for jobs after jobs in the city however every time she was under the impression that if she didn’t know someone, she wasn’t going to get the position. She needed to look for job opportunities out of the city. Finally, she got an internship in a Texan company. It was a blow to her parents since no one in their family had ever left Chicago or its suburbs. She ended up making her career in Houston,
Black Chicagoans are actually moving to the suburbs but also leaving the region altogether. It is Sunbelt hotspots cities which are gaining population at Chicago’s expenses, drawn by perceived greater opportunities and the possibility to relink with their old southern families and friends.
In one sense, the Whites are an archetypal Chicago family, said Rob Paral, a demographer who studies the city’s population. They are being driven out of the city by segregation, gun violence, discriminatory policing, racial disparities in employment, and the uneven quality of public schools. At the same time, white, Latino and Asian residents are flowing in, and Chicago’s wealthier downtown are booming. Many black Chicagoans have taken only small steps away from the city, resettling in nearby suburbs in Illinois or Indiana that offer more highly rated schools and a lower cost of living. Others have followed suit of a reverse migration, making homes in places like Atlanta or Houston, many decades after black families came to Chicago and other Northern cities in large numbers in search of opportunities.
The year 2020 marks the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment and the culmination of the women’s suffrage movement. The year 2020 also marks the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the right of black men to the ballot after the Civil War.
Throughout this month of February and across the United States, several art exhibitions trace back the history of African-Americans. From photography to painting, including sculpture and engraving, these presentations show us, in different forms, the American segregation over the centuries.
Artists make a see history differently with their art. Tschabalala Self, with her figures reflecting cultural and attitudes toward race and gender, Paa Joe and his architectual models representing castles and forts which were stations for million Africans destinated to slavery or artworks by Epaul Julien about the incarceration of black women in Louisiana. These art exhibitions are dispersed in different institutes or museums in New-York, Detroit, Atlanta, Boston or in Los Angeles.
Arts honor the history of African-Americans and offer us moments to remember the evolution of the American society against Black people for this 150th anniversary of the 15th amendment. Unfortunately, it is also a moment to recall the harmful effect which is still endured by Afro-Americans, in several situations, in the United-States.
March 17th is a very important day in Ireland. Indeed, this day is one of the greatest symbols of this country. Saint Patrick’s day is famous all around the world and is settled in the cultural part of many countries such as the United States or Canada. But do yo really know the origin of this particular day ? How did it begin ? Let me explain it to you.
Who is Saint Patrick ?
Maewyn Succat (nowadays known as Saint Patrick) was born in 385 in Great Britain. When he was 16 he was kidnapped by pirates who then sold him to an Irish druid. He would have met God in one of his dreams, so he decided to escape to the Normandy coast in order to study theology and become a priest. A few years later, in 432, Pope Celestin I ordered him to return to Ireland in order to convert Irish Kings to Christianity. To explain the concept of the Holy Trinity (father, son, and the Holy Spirit), he used a 3-leaf clover. This is how this plant became a national emblem known worldwide. During his quest, Saint Patrick was ordained bishop and erected many monasteries.
Originally, Saint Patrick’s day is a holy day. It is customary to go to church and wear a clover leaf (symbol of the Holy Trinity) with the buttonhole. The Catholic Church recognized Saint Patrick’s day as a religious holiday in 1631 when the Pope decided to integrate it into the Christian calendar. This celebration takes place during Lent, which is the 40 days of fasting of the Christian religion, but it is possible to break the fast during this day. Saint Patrick’s day will officially become popular much later. It is also important to mention that the first manifestation of the Saint Patrick’s day did not take place in Ireland but in Boston, Massachussetts in the United States (where the Irish community is very important) in 1737. March 17 will be declared a holiday in Ireland in 1903 by an act of the British Parliament.
The mystery virus in Wuhan, China has now killed more than 1000 people and infected thousands more people around the world in at least 48 countries, such as Italy and Germany.
The virus seems to be spreading easily. To avoid the coronavirus some tips must be known. If a person with Coronavirus coughs or sneezes and another person is within two metres, they could inhale infected droplets.
Moreover, if an infected person touches a door handle, the other person who touches that door handle could catch the virus.
« Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth » said Dr. William P. Sawyer. If you never touch your facial mucous membranes, you are less likely to be sick again from any viral respiratory infection. « Eyes, nose, mouth, all those membranes are the portal into the body for the Coronavirus » said Mary Louise McLaws, professor of epidemiology. This is why it’s really important to wash your hands regularly. It’s important to take whatever precaution you can by continuing to maintain good hygiene. The best way to stop contamination is to avoid contact with people. Pets can also catch Coronavirus and the infections can become severe. Sometimes, the virus can lead to deadly diseases.
Some countries take precaution such as Japan where they decided to close their schools for at least a month. Iran canceled Friday Prayers in most of their cities. In the United States, people who had been at risk are under quarantaine, and some schools are also forced to close.
Uffington white horse is one of the most popular horse culture heritage known of England.
This big white horse is a big prehistoric hill figure and seems to be more than 3000 years old. It is presumed to date to the later prehistoric age or the Iron age, we can’t be really sure. It could be from late Bronze age too. The horse design, with its similarities with Celtic art, could refer to those periods.
Uffington white horse is made of deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk. It measures 110 meters, which is very large, especially if we think about the period when it was created, technology didn’t exist : people had no way of seeing the figure from the sky, so they had no idea of what the horse looked like ! This made this work much more impressive.
It is located in England, more precisely in the upper slopes of White Horse Hill in Uffington city which is located in Oxfordshire.
In 2014, more than 100 people took part in the re-chalking of the Uffington White Horse. In fact, because of its popularity, it could be rapidly degraded, which is why it is necessary to preserve it. The Bronze-Age figure is re-chalked once a year to keep it white. But, victim of its own success, this process of re-chalking was temporarily banned in 1857 because of the rising number of people : there were 30,000 travellers and visitors, waiting to see the tradition !!
As it is part of the English’s landscapes, the Uffington White Horse seems to have a bright future.
Harassment is an illegal behaviour towards a person that causes mental or emotional suffering, which includes repeated unwanted contacts without a reasonable purpose, insults, threats, touching or offensive language.
Harassment can affect everybody : children, younger people, adults, older people, women, men. And it’s possible everywhere, on the street, in a family context, in at school, in at work, at a sportsclub …
But the most affected are children or younger people because school is very complicated and children aren’t kind to each other. It can start because a child or a young person isn’t the same as the others, or doesn’t have a lot money, or because the clothes he/she wears aren’t fashionable or brand new …
Harassing can take many forms such as physical and moral bullying, cyberbullying, social bullying or sexual bullying, intimidation, assault, ridicule, offensive jokes, offensive pictures… The harasser can be your boss, a supervisor in another department, a co-worker, or even a non-employee.
Actually, harassment is a current subject because now on the networks the video of an Australian little boy travels worldwide. This little boy is affected by a disease : dwarfism. This little Australian cries and expresses a desire to kill himself because this classmates make fun of him.
His mother shows this video on the networks to show the wickedness of children, and demonstrates what young people who are harassed can do. She wants to raise awareness about harassment.
This video has circulated around the world, and many celebrities have sent an emotional message to this boy. For example, the actor of X-Men has sent a message or the Indigenous All Stars rugby league team have sent a emotional video and invite the little boy and his family to come to a rugby game.
But the harassment is punished by the law. Laws regarding workplace harassment are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or the Equality Act for the harassment out of the workplace.
Behaviours that are not considered as harassment are those that arise from a relationship of mutual consent. A hug between friends, mutual flirtation, and a compliment on physical appearance between colleagues are not considered as harassment.Harassment is very dangerous for the victim because it can lead to depression, detachment, fear, or suicide. One must be careful.
Finally, harassment is very dangerous, it is punishable by law, however, the victim can sometimes keep the persecution to themselves whether it is at school, at work or at home, I think that more prevention should be done in schools, and at work in order to be able to identify certain signs. More prevention campaigns are needed, because there are more and more suicides among young people.
On Friday, February 28, 2020 the 45th Caesar Ceremony took place in France, and created controversy. During this, the filmmaker Roman Polanski, not present for this evening, received the prize for best production. Following his confession of guilt in charges of rape against minors in the United States, the man fled before conviction in 1977 and is still wanted by the country. He is also accused of rape by 12 women. Wanting to avoid any « public lynching », he decided not to appear at the ceremony but demonstrators nevertheless were present to protest against the nomination of his film “J’Accuse” for 12 prizes.
The evening began with the actress Florence Foresti hosting the event with a black humor sketch aimed at the director. She said « There are 12 moments when we are going to have a problem » and points out the fact that the man should not normally be applauded during this evening.
When the filmmaker was named “best filmmaker”, a wave of anger from the demonstrators erupted outside the place of the ceremony. Inside, several artists left the room, including Adèle Haenel, who said that she had been the victim of sexual touching and harassment by French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia. In an interview posted online on Monday, February 24, she told the New York Times that « To distinguish Polanski is to spit on of all the victims », adding that his being nominated « means that raping women is not so bad ». When the announcement was made, she got up and left, shouting « Shame!”, followed by other spectators.
While creating a strong controversy visible on all newspapers and social networks, this 45th Caesar ceremony in France therefore allowed, several artists to denounce and accuse Roman Polanski. But he is not the only one to have fueled the controversy. Indeed, the French feminist group « Osez le Féminisme » (Dare Feminism), accused the Caesar commission of being sexist, following the filmmaker’s nomination, and therefore called for a rally in front of the ceremony hall. Indeed, the Caesar Academy appointed and rewarded the filmmaker by responding that their role was not to « make a moral decision » regarding the awards.
Greta Thunberg and her new own TV Series in coorporation with BBC Studio.
Greta Thunberg, the famous Swedish young activist is launching her own Tv Series in cooperation with the BBC Station. Her Tv Show will be about climate change. Indeed she is very involved in this issue. Climate change is an important issue in the world. Years by year we can see that many natural disasters have erupted more and more. That is why Greta Thunberg aims to raise awareness among people especially young people because this is their future.
The series will follow the adventure of Greta, showing where she is traveling in the world, and who she is meeting. Thanks to this series, she will explain how we can take care of our planet.
But how did she become famous?
She started to be famous when she organized a protest in front of the Swedish parliament in August 2018. Indeed the young activist decided to organize a protest to fight against climate change. That is why she decided to launch the hashtag on the different social media: #fridayforfuture. The goal was to interrupt classes on Fridays during three weeks so that students from around the world could gather on the streets of their country to raise awareness among the world’s population about global warming.
The climate change is a periodic modification of Earth’s climate. Since the 1960’s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one, by significant amounts.
January was the hottest month ever recorded in the history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The year 2019 has been ranked as the second hottest year on record behind 2016. The record of hot temperatures were visible in parts of Central America, Scandinavia, Russia and Canada. A little town in Swedish reached 10,3°C, its hottest January temperature since 1858. In Boston, city in the United States experienced as well its hottest January day, with 23°C. 2020 will likely rank among the five warmest years from the National Centers for Environmental Information.
The potential effects of global climate change include more frequent wildfires, longer periods of drought in some regions, and intensity of tropical storms. Since September 2019, Australia has known an exceptionally warm weather, with temperatures 1.5°C higher than the mid-twentieth century. The heat has contributed to the creation of wildfires which have burnt across much of Eastern Australia.
The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost an average of 286 billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2016.
The Antartic has begun February with several temperature peaks. The climate of Antartic is the coldest on Earth and it’s also extremely dry. The southern polar reached 20,75°C, surpassing the 20°C for the first time in its history on 9 February. Scientists, who collect the data describe the new record as « incredible and abnormal ». The previous record for the Antartic region was 19,8°C , in January 1982. Scientists said that temperatures rose more quickly in winter. This is believed to be the reason for an alarming decline of more than 50% in penguin colonies, which are dependent on sea ice.
Chloé
Glaciers in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Temperatures in the region have warmed rapidly in recent years. Photograph: Johan Ordóñez/AFP via Getty Images
