Jordan’s Syrian refugee ‘city’ – with 115,000 residents, 12 districts, 6,000 shops and its own ‘Champs Elysees’
Syrian refugee ‘city’ in Jordan
Best sexy dance ever, Kizomba
This will make you want to grab hold of that dance partner of yours and sway!
The lovely pair in the video is dancing the sensual and romantic Kizomba dance – one of the most popular dance forms from Angola. Kizomba is a dance that was born in Angola in the late ’70s and the music is based on the Antillean Zouk and dance the Argentine tango. It is a sensual dance that allows you maximum freedom of expression. READ MORE
The Orthodox Christmas Eve in Serbia
Serbians attend a ceremonial burning of oak branches, the Yule log symbol for the Orthodox Christmas Eve, in front of a church in Smederevo, 60 kilometres east of Belgrade. The branches are also carried into the homes and burned. The Orthodox Christmas Day is celebrated today, 7 January (according to the Julian calendar).
Photo: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC
The school teacher’s outfit you can count on for 40 Years :)
There are superstars who wouldn’t wear the same dress twice, but this one teacher from Prestonwood Elementary (PE) in Richardson, USA, had himself photographed with the same outfit for 40 years in a row. PE teacher Dale Irby started his legendary yearbook photograph sequence by mistake, when he realized he was wearing the same polyester shirt and coffee-colored sweater like he did for the photo shoot one year ago, back in 1973.
“I was so embarrassed when I got the school pictures back that second year and realized I had worn the very same thing as the first year,” said Dale. It was his wife, Cathy, who managed to make a joke out of the situation, and dared her husband to wear the same clothes again next year. After this dare Dale wore his shirt and sweater for the next 5 years: “After five pictures,” he said, “it was like: ‘Why stop?’” Even when the clothes wouldn’t fit him anymore, Dale would bring them to school and wear exclusively for the photo shoot. Nice to have something you can count on these days!
via: dallasnews.com
The current economic system is bringing out the worst in us
Characteristics of the Psychopathic Personality: The study of the psychopath reveals an individual who is incapable of feeling guilt, remorse or empathy for their actions. They are generally cunning, manipulative and know the difference between right and wrong but dismiss it as applying to them.They are incapable of normal emotions such as love, generally react without considering the consequences of their actions and show extreme egocentric and narcissistic behavior.
The following are excerpts from “Neoliberalism has brought out the worst in us” by Paul Verhaeghe, The Guardian
An economic system that rewards psychopathic personality traits has changed our ethics and our personalities.
We tend to perceive our identities as stable and largely separate from outside forces. But over decades of research and therapeutic practice, I have become convinced that economic change is having a profound effect not only on our values but also on our personalities. Thirty years of neoliberalism, free-market forces and privatisation have taken their toll, as relentless pressure to achieve has become normative. If you’re reading this sceptically, I put this simple statement to you: meritocratic neoliberalism favours certain personality traits and penalises others.
Our society constantly proclaims that anyone can make it if they just try hard enough, all the while reinforcing privilege and putting increasing pressure on its overstretched and exhausted citizens. An increasing number of people fail, feeling humiliated, guilty and ashamed. We are forever told that we are freer to choose the course of our lives than ever before, but the freedom to choose outside the success narrative is limited. Furthermore, those who fail are deemed to be losers or scroungers, taking advantage of our social security system.
The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman neatly summarised the paradox of our era as: “Never have we been so free. Never have we felt so powerless.” We are indeed freer than before, in the sense that we can criticise religion, take advantage of the new laissez-faire attitude to sex and support any political movement we like. We can do all these things because they no longer have any significance – freedom of this kind is prompted by indifference. Yet, on the other hand, our daily lives have become a constant battle against a bureaucracy that would make Kafka weak at the knees. There are regulations about everything, from the salt content of bread to urban poultry-keeping.
Our presumed freedom is tied to one central condition: we must be successful – that is, “make” something of ourselves. You don’t need to look far for examples. A highly skilled individual who puts parenting before their career comes in for criticism. A person with a good job who turns down a promotion to invest more time in other things is seen as crazy – unless those other things ensure success. A young woman who wants to become a primary school teacher is told by her parents that she should start off by getting a master’s degree in economics – a primary school teacher, whatever can she be thinking of?
The current economic system is bringing out the worst in us.
Author: Paul Verhaeghe, theguardian.com
Read the entire article here.
FunTASTIC ornaments grandmother :)
Grandmother Agnes Kašpárková delicately paints traditional Moravian ornament on an early 18th century bell-tower.
Alibaba’s founder has become China’s richest person
Alibaba’s blockbuster $25 billion stock offering has made Jack Ma the wealthiest man in China, according to a new survey, as investor enthusiasm for Chinese technology names enriches a new generation of Internet moguls.
Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and his family have a net worth of about $25 billion following last week’s initial public offering.
The shift reflects a flood of dollars into China’s rapidly growing Internet sector, as investors bet on firms such as Alibaba growing at a fast clip at home and becoming more globally competitive. China has seen a record 15 Internet IPOs so far this year.