Democracy (by Julián Gonzalez Llorente)

Many of us were born in democracy but in other countries there are other forms of government. 

Democracy is an egalitarian form of government in which all the citizens of a nation together publicly determine the laws and the action of their state, requiring that all citizen have an equal opportunity to express their opinion. 

What are the benefits of democracy?

*  freedom of speech

* freedom of the press

*  voting according to the people's best interest

* equality before the law

* civil liberties

* political freedom

Alfonsin was the new president when democracy came back in Argentina in 1983.

 source

Strange and Fantastic Places (by Milagros Cotarelo)

Have you ever heard about Socotra or the marine sculpture garden? If you haven´t, they are two fantastic places in the world! Let me tell you something about them. You will be amazed after reading this post!

Socotra the magic Island in Africa.

Socotra is the main island, along with three other small islands, of and archipelago in the right horn of Africa.

 source 

The climate is generally tropical desert, with little rain. From June to September the island is inaccessible because of its high winds.

The striking plant formation of the island is on the cliff at the foot of the mountain. The vegetation here is dominated usually by the cucumber tree, the Adenium obesum subsp. socotranum and Euphoria arbuscula. Higher up in the mountains, the leash or tree of Socotra dragon´s blood with an umbrella-shaped crown.

 source

 source

source

Most islanders still live without electricity, running water or paved roads. They speak a semitic language itself, the soqotri. There are around ten thousand people living there!!

The island was recognized in July 2008 by UNESCO as World Natural Heritage. 

Art between fish

The artist Jason de Caires Taylor promotes the "Marine Sculpture Gardens", a new concept of art.

Molinere bay, in the small Caribbean island of Granada, was the first place that had a sculpture garden with sixty-five sculptures covering an area of 800 meters. You have to dive in some cases up to 20 meters deep!!

SOME OF THE SCULPTURES ARE...

• Vicitudes. It is a circle of children figures holding hands. It is designed to withstand strong currents and evoking ideas of unity and continuity. 

 source

• The Lost Correspondent. It depicts a man sitting at a desk with a typewriter. Taking the form of a traditional  correspondent, the alone figure is not only a relic but a fossil in a lost world.

source

Sources of information 1 & 2

Teenagers and Videogames (by Ramiro García Carou)

Nowadays, teenagers make use of technology as much as they can. Most boys have video game consoles like Sony PlayStation 2 or 3. We all love to be modern but most teenagers love to use the latest technology. 

Students usually fail their exams for not studying but playing videogames. There are even cases of people who aren’t married because they have no social lives and they spend most of their time playing videogames.

People usually have portable consoles to play while they travel

So, for me, I’d like to focus on my life and try not to play so much. We all love playing the game we like, but life is not a game and we don’t have too many opportunities on it. 

 source

Reta, my Place in the World (by Adrián Mazzotta)

It's not easy to find your place in the world, but I found it 13 years ago, and still I keep choosing it. That place is called Reta.

Reta is a wonderful place, a dream combination between sea and countryside, a place to breathe fresh air and eucalyptus-scented breeze, where you see the sunset over the sea, where nature still remains intact .

With Reta "either you fall in love or you never come back" because it is a lonely place for those who want to be in harmony with nature, away from noise.That's Reta: peace, peace and pure nature.

source 

Butterflies (by Damaris Stegman)

* Moths have a complex life cycle called "complete metamorphosis", passing through four main phases that are called: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult butterfly.    

source

* The scientific name of butterflies is "Lepidopteras" and they have a great variety of colors, sizes and shapes.

* Their pigments are produced chemically and physically by diffraction and refraction of light.

* Because of tropic favorable conditions, like a warm climate and abundant food, they have the greatest variety of species: 20,000!!!

* They have three body parts: head, thorax and abdomen.

* The head is divided into: proboscis head, antennae, labial paps and compound eyes.

* The thorax has three pairs of legs and two pairs of wings.

* The abdomen consists of ten segments, but only eight are clearly visible.  

source

* They develop a wide range of systems to protect themselves from predators.

* In great part of the world the number of butterflies has decreased and many species have already disappeared. As the  tropical forest (with a great variety of plants and animals) is the richest habitat for the Lepidoptera, the forest destruction threatens many species.

* The use of insecticides, herbicides and fertilizers are other threats to the fragile natural balance they need.

source of information

Porta's Concert (by Gian Franco Gentilezza Badano)

The concert I attended was in Luna Park. It was the rap concert of my favourite rapper, Porta, from Spain. I had been preparing for this concert for months. This Spanish guy comes once per year. It was his second concert and tour. The previous one had been in a smaller place. I went with my friend and we were bored because he did not appear, but suddenly he appeared singing one of his best hits, and all the crowd started shouting. Spectacular!

source

This concert was about his new CD "Trastorno Bipolar" (Bipolar Disorder). Then he sang some really good new songs, but he never stopped playing his classics, like " Cosas de la Vida" or "No Hay Truco". 

I would recommend you to go to his next concert, even to those who usually do not like rap because Porta talks about things that happen to every teenager.

Meet Facundo Soto (by Ruth Blanco)

Do you have an idol? Would you imagine yourself doing something for your idol? Are you the type of person that turns crazy just by seeing his/her idol? 

I'm one of those people and I do a lot of things only to see him in concerts. I have an idol and he is  Facundo Cruz Soto. He was born on 8 September, 1974 in La Plata and he has always been interested in National Rock. 

When he was young he commited small crimes like burning a classroom. He was in prison in La Plata  and in  Buenos Aires. 

Facundo is always in his bedroom with his guitar in high volume and writing songs. He is  the singer of a band called "Guasones" which plays National Rock. 

I love him because he changed my life, the songs are great and they have excellent lyrics.

There is no doubt he is my idol... Do you have one too?

Sources 1, 2

source

Landing on the Moon (by Camila Garcia Carou)

source

This photo is famous worldwide but what is hidden behind it? Here is the story before the first landing on the moon…

In 1950, the United States and the USSR were rivals because of the political and militar control of the planet. On October the fourth, the USSR  could finally put in orbit the first artificial satellite, “Sputnik 1”. A little time later, a second satellite, “Sputnik 2”, had a new success because it took a passenger: Laika, a dog.

Yuri Gagarin was the first person that traveled to space. He went on a Soviet spaceship, “Vostok 1” ,and in 1961 it completed an orbit surrounding the earth for 108 minutes. 

In 1962, the United States sent John Glenn, who went round the earth three times, and arrived here being a heroe. On 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman that travelled to the space on the spaceship "Vostok 6".

The American Project “Apollo” was a series of approaches to the moon. In 1969, the spaceship  "Apollo 11" was sent to the moon and on July the  20th it was already on the moon with Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on it, and they were also the first ones in walking over the moon. 

After this expedition, there were other “Apollo”missions  and 12 astronauts put their feets on the Moon. 

So, it is not as  simple as going to the beach! And what about you… would you like to go to the moon?

Source: Revista "Genios del Cole" Nº 22. La conquista del Espacio.

Pollution (by Liliana Cardozo)

WHAT IS POLLUTION?

Environmental pollution is something that happens constantly almost anywhere in the country. The good thing about this is that it could be easily avoided if we stopped throwing things on the floor, and took more care of the environment. Many factories, for example, send toxic gases to the air and also pollute the environment.

WHAT CAUSES IT? 

* rubbish thrown on the streets

*  streams that aren't cleaned

* smoke sent to the air 

 * places that collect trash

 source

source 

WHERE CAN WE FIND IT?

* unfortunately, almost everywhere... 

 source

source 

HOW CAN WE STOP IT?

* not throwing garbage everywhere

* recycling

* controlling the factories

* and most importantly... respecting each other and taking care of the planet.

Otherwise, it will soon look like this...

source 

After reading this post, we hope you think twice before throwing rubbish anywhere...

Let's take care of the planet before it's too late... it's the only one we have and it needs our help!

Easter Island (by Ailén Romero)

• What is this post about? It's about Easter Island.

source

• Where is it located? It's located in Chile, in the Polynesia, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

• Which is its capital? It's Hanga Roa and it's the only town in the whole island.

• How many people live there? 5,034 people live on this island.

• Which is the traditional name of this island? It's Rapa Nui, which is associated with the island Rapa, French Polynesia and which is also known as Rapa Iti.

• Who discovered the island? When? A Dutch navigator called Jakob Roggeveen after navigating through the Chilean coast, discovered it on April 5, 1722, date for the day of easter.

• What is the weather like there? It's a rare tropical oceanic weather typical of middle latitudes.

• Are there volcanos there? The island is of a volvanic origin and consists of three coalescing volcanos. One of this three, Poike,  used to be a separeted island until the Terevaka lavas joined the main islands.

source
Source of information