Things That Matter...

The Christmas and New Year Eve were truly remarkable for me this year as I spent it in fantastic and mesmerising Brazil. My friend Caio was my guide there and as a native he could show me the best of Brazil: not only the touristic parts but also the whole beauty of small towns and suburbs, everyday life, traditions and culture. Considering that not many people speak English there I am so grateful to Caio for making this trip so amazing and stress free for me. Multifaceted and colourful Brazil is known for its nature, culture and rich history. In Brazil you can experience everything from architectural monuments of the colonial era, lively carnivals to  simply   a delicate aroma of coffee floating in the air. Among of all beautiful places Rio De Janeiro surely holds is pr imary position for me. Noisy, picturesque and ever bubbling Rio attracts by its excellent sandy beaches, luxurious hotels, unique sights and state-of-the-art architecture. To visit the city of all B...

The world population is growing rapidly and according to demographers by 2035 it will reach 8.5 billion people.   Subsequently, the world primary energy demand is anticipated to increase at an average annual growth rate of 1.5% under annual GDP growth of 2.8%.   E nvironmental, economic and energy experts forecast the results of possible strategies of world energy development and calculate whether the world will meet 2 Degree Celsius (2C) target - a widely agreed international objective of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to avoid global warming by 2020.   Yet, with the Arab Spring, earthquake in Japan and global recession impacting energy markets, it will inevitably be tougher to reach the 2C goals. 2011 was a year when we had to learn the importance of reserving spare capacity for dealing with potential supply disruptions. We have seen oil at record high prices due to instability in the Arab world; we witnessed the dangers of nuclear power on...

There was nothing extraordinary or romantic in the way those two met. No intriguing online dating, no crazy friends party and not even cheeky meek smile in a pub or supermarket. He met her on a usual cold winter day at the most common and yet the most inappropriate for any romance place. And they actually haven’t thought of any kind of romance between them. Still… they managed to get together. He was special for her and she loved everything about him. Well, almost everything… Nobody is ideal at the end of the day! He…. He loved her too, even though he was never brave enough to admit it. He considered her being a bit moody but he thought he knew her and understood her… But did he really? Could he possibly know whether she was his little Angel or a Belial? Could he even guess what was on her mind in those minutes of silence? Did he wonder if she ever lied to him? Who was she with when he wasn’t around? Did he meet her to become finally happy or turn his life in to more misery? And will ...

R emember the famous Tolstoy’s quote “all happy families are the same”? The similar could also apply to the most of the movies with the happy endings. I don’t know whether it’s just me being weird, but in my opinion, Hollywood happy endings ruin some movies. You watch a film and all you remember afterwards is just the cliché at the end– main characters are happily in love, bad guys in prison, everything ideal…just as it’s meant to be. Isn’t it boring?! Many would disagree with me saying that there are enough negative things happening in our lives and films with happy endings make us forget about daily problems, deepen our believe in love and good triumphs over evil. So what is better – to be a spectator of a narrative history we love it closes where the bad are punished and that ultimately the conflict is resolved or... to watch a film which make you think about things or bring to you the most unexpected? What would stay in your memory and what the difference between a good fi...

Итак, моя первая статья на русском, впервые за последние 5 лет. Хммм, слова путаются в голове... Пытаюсь сформулировать мысль, но всё как-то машинально происходит на английском. Странно… вдруг понимаю, что не говорю в совершенстве ни на одном языке. Как говорят - "ни к селу ни к городу!" Итак, первая статейка… О чем она? Конечно же о самом важном, о личном опыте, о самой жизни - моей жизни в Британии. Наверное самой большой трудностью с которой я сталкнулась, приехав в Лондон, был "культурный шок", динамичность всего проиcшодящего вокруг, ну и, конечно же, какое-то странное чувство одиночества и ненужности. Но ко всему постепенно привыкаешь, приспосабливаешься. Такое доказательство теории Дарвина на собственной шкуре! Ну обо всём по порядку... Как я уже сказала, к такому культурному шоку я была не готова... И дело не только в бешеном ритме мегаполиса, куче достоприомечательностей мирового уровня, английского завтрака по утрам и " fish and chi...

Some funny stuff... Human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood at a distance of 10 meters . ( Oh, God!) Pig’s orgasm lasts 30 minutes ! ( I want to be a pig in my next life :) ) A cockroach can live 9 days with the severed head before it starves to death . ( Phew!) (… I am still thinking about a pig…:) ) Banging your head against the wall for an hour you can spend 150 calories . ( Do not try at home ..... at work , maybe) A flea can jump a distance of 350 times its body length . It's like a human jumping a football field. (…30 minutes ....... lucky pig ... just imagine !) Some lions mate over 50 times a day . (Still a pig is much cooler ... the quality over the quantity ) The strongest muscle in human’s body is tongue ! ( Hmmm. ......) Right handed people , on average , live nine years longer than left-handed ones. (I am unlucky one :( ) Elephants are the only animals that can not jump . (That 's...

Think about food… all the experiences, feeling and emotions related to it... It is known fact that human can survive about a month without eating anything at all. However, already on the second day of fasting he/she will have a strong appetite . Let think of the reasons for starvation. S ome people starve for the sake of so-called " spiritual development". . Others are forced to go hungry all the time due to their bad financial situation. Sometimes it happens that people have an appetite and money , but they just can not eat - this is commonly known disease … Also, there are two types of food : homemade (literally made at home) and everything else . Homemade , of course, is the favourite one , but sometimes it becomes annoying . We w ant to try something new , even taking into account that the new is likely to be worse than the taste of our so familiar and delicious homemade dish. Now a bit about restaurants… There are ...

Tory introduced a new immigration policy which means scraping of Tier 1 (Post study visa) and further restrictions for Tier 1 (Work permit for highly skilled immigrants). The new immigration policy makes it much harder for highly skilled people graduated from UK universities to stay in the country. As Immigration Minister Phil Woolas says: “we would run our immigration system for the benefit of the UK and that is what we are doing…” However, is it really going to be beneficial for the UK? Immigration Caps would punish highly skilled migrants who wish to settle in the UK and make an economic contribution to the development of Britain. This is not large group of people coming from outside the EU, who must already qualify to high standards to apply under the points based system. For example, if before it was enough for me to earn of 20K a year in order to get my visa, now I will only gain my points if I earn 25,000 or more for the last 12 months! Again, my 25K does not give me much confid...

Many people dream about living in a capital… But what is hidden behind the life in a megalopolis and is it that sweet as it seems? People literally dissolve in the furious pace of the city: a bustling, traffic, mobility, and you - just a grain of sand, which is caught by this whirlwind and directed in a given order. No time to stop once to think... Urgent need to run somewhere all the time... No time for socializing, but for fleeting chatter. Enough time for sex, but not enough for love. You manage to establish business contacts, but you can’t help a friend. No time to even think about that you are alone. London is one of the largest and the most attractive capitals in the world. It brings so many colors and opportunities starting from employments, magnificence of sightseeing and architecture to an interesting and eventful life full of new impressions and acquaintances... It is all true. However there are pitfalls. It is an interesting fact that the highest percentage of lonely single ...

Every day I make a promise to myself to lose some weight, to eat healthy, to live healthy and every day I break these promises. I was wondering why it happens to me over and over again? Why am I lazy to go to gym or at least jogging? Why do I always go for meats, hummus, pitas, cakes and wines instead of fruits, vegetables and water?How often it happens that I am lying on my sofa, chatting with my friends online and just hating to do any housework. Few days ago my friend Kubra said that after 26 y.o. woman’s body loses its firm, starts aging and cellulite is just waiting for its moment to attack. Tomorrow is Monday, and this time I am very determined to win my battle with the laziness and waste. Here is a plan, let’s see if it works. 1. Setting up the goals. Few months ago I bought beautiful sexy, backless red dress. I bought it on eBay, and when it finally arrived and I tried it on all my excitement turned into a suicidal mood. I looked like a fat cow. I never wore the dress since I ...

Uzbekistan's transition to market relations determined the state policy in forming and development the class of real property-owners, but in recent years the government decided that this system doesn’t work for Uzbek society. On the first stage of reforms the government was working towards the privatization of state housing fund, small and medium trade enterprises, service, light and food industries, transport and construction. All these formed 52268 owners of trade, consumer services, public catering, and consumer cooperation entities. At the second stage the privatization formed 2 million shareholders of privatized enterprises, 3 million owners of personal household plots, 85 thousand owners of private and small enterprises and 14 thousand of real estate owners. Last, the privatization of industrial giants such as fuel and energy complex, chemical, metallurgical and machine-building industries is conducted, and it's carried out with wide attraction of foreign capital. Howeve...

The SCO (an organisation which is established to provide peace and security in Central Asia, Russia and China) could only observe how Kyrgyz and Uzbek people were killing each other in southern Kyrgyzstan. What is a point of the SCO then?

Tonight I had a dream ... I was back to school. We were given a task to write an essay about anything we want. I always had a problem to come up with the ideas for my assignments or articles or news stories in real life, and used to ask Alex to brainstorm with me. But not this time... There was no Alex in this dream :) The topic came up to my mind just two hours before handing in the actual assignment. I wrote about wars! To my amazement I still could remember the idea of my essay in the morning. That's the reason why I decided to write about it now. Here it is... Civil war in Afghanistan which is taking place from 1978 brought 2,000,000 casualties; Gulf War 1990-1991 - 20, 000 to 35,000 losses; Iraq war in 2003 – about 1,300,000 casualties; ongoing Civil war in Chad; 2006 Lebanon war with its 1,300 dead; 2006-2009 war in Somalia with about 8,000 dead; invasion into Gaza 2008-2009 with its 1,400 casualties...And many, many others....... The horror of war affects young and old, it k...

Determined man is not able to love. Determined man always lives purposefully. He can make money, career, but he can’t love, because love has no purpose. It is not an object of consumption. We can’t save it, we can’t buy it, and we can’t use it to enhance our ego. Love has neither purpose nor meaning; it exists by itself. The calculating, always logical, reasoning in terms of goals person can’t love, because he or she is always in the future, but never here and now. Love is always here, there is no future. That's why love is so close to meditation and death. They are all matter only in the present. However, some people are just scared of love. It makes them depressed, they scared to lose their mind, and they scared to lose their freedom or maybe they just scared of changes. At the end of the day what is love? We can assure ourselves that we love someone unconditionally, eternally, but it would not be true. Nothing is unconditional; nothing lasts forever. Strange … as older I become ...

Some of the linguists argue that Arabic world will never achieve scientific progress and progressive thinking due to the logical structure of their mother tongue. Language has played a significant role in the rise and fall of civilizations. Since language is the portrait of human thoughts, it reflects the quality of thought generated in a society. The selection of language tools used to express thought reflects the priorities of a person or for that matter a nation. The way language is acquired can make a significant difference in the development of nation. The quality and quantity of language is a barometer of the intellectual health of the people. Executive Director of the New Century Education, Rayed Afzal wrote once that that the growth of a society depends on two types of language skills. The BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) concern with human feelings, social and religious arguments and entertainment. The CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) is the langua...

Another documentary I was waiting for a week and finally watched in Mosaic Rooms... The director of the movie, Simon El Habre, made a film about Semaan - the only one inhabitant in the small village of Ain al-Halazoun in the Lebanese mountains. The place was completely destroyed and abandoned by its inhabitants during the civil war in Lebanon between 1975 and 1990. People left the village but they didn’t forget it. Nowadays they regularly come to the land they were born and grew up, to cultivate their plot of soil and visit the remains of their houses. The old villagers do remember pre-war times but when it comes to the war itself they prefer not to talk about it and it seems they barely being able to recall the events. The movie provokes different feelings… Absolute sorrow about the consequences of the war, wiping out an entire village, separating families…Lebanese people still remaining vulnerable to a new civil war. It also shows the importance of the memories, family unity and h...

Power of yes! - is a drama explaining the financial crisis in a simple way, it causes, its growth, its consequences and its...originators. I saw the performance recently at the Royal National Theatre. I loved the story, and I loved the fact its tackles such an actual national issue as an economic downturn. It is truly said that the drama raises “questions to which we all want to know the answers.” This is not just a play, its educative tool about what happened in the world economy from 1979 to 2009, when the banks went bust, capitalism was replaced by a socialism that bailed out the rich alone. The originators of the crisis cry out loud they are not blameworthy. Powerful financial figures move from the one influential position to another. Yesterday’s bank owner is today’s LSE director and tomorrow’s politician. Nobody’s fault, nobody’s responsibility, nobody is punished. The play writer in the drama, learning from bankers and journalists, calls attention to the government and regulat...

Israeli press follows up yesterday’s Obama-Netanyahu meeting with the headline “Obama humiliates Netanyahu”. One Israeli newspaper called the meeting "a hazing in stages", poisoned by such mistrust that the Israeli delegation eventually left rather than risk being eavesdropped on a White House phone line. Another said that the Prime Minister had received "the treatment reserved for the President of Equatorial Guinea". Al-Jazeera says no concrete announcements were made and Netanyahu “twice pushed back his departure as the Israelis scrambled to assemble a package of goodwill gestures to bring the peace process back on track.” Russian NTV , referring to Israeli newspapers only, reported: “Obama requested from Netanyahu a written promise of concession on the construction “freeze” in East Jerusalem. Not having received this paper Obama has left a trunk-call room with the words: “I am still here, let me know when you have something new”. British media outlets say ...

What would you prefer: to buy a thick version of The Times with a huge volume of unreliable articles or The Times which would be twice thinner but much trustworthy? Cardiff University researchers came up with striking findings – that the most respectful newspapers in the country are routinely recycling unchecked second-hand materials. They found that “60% of those quality-print stories consisted wholly or mainly of PR material and wire copy. And a further 20 % contained clear statements of wire copy or PR to which more or less other material has been added. Only 12 % of the stories were generated by the reporters themselves and only 12 % of key facts being checked. ” Today journalists working in a national newspaper are turning out nearly ten stories a day, spending most of the time in office. In the times when the speed efficiency and short deadlines are above everything else journalists are not able to check the facts and to tell their readers the truth about what's go...

Woke up at 9 am... It is pretty early for me considering the fact I worked until 1 am yesterday :) Today I have been asked to check TED conference published recently on youtube and express my opinion. The question of whether science should be an authority on moral issues raised by Sam Harris led to vivid discussion with my friend. Does a husband beating his wife somewhere in Syria understand that it is against commonly accepted moral and bad? Does a dog owner kicking his dog realize it’s contradicts human ethic? Do they actually have a right for these horrible things? Should everyone consider that as a wrongdoing or maybe we should be free to do whatever we want depending on the society we live in? Sam Harris, “an outspoken proponent of skepticism and science” with a degree in philosophy and a Ph.D. in neuroscience, believes that science can answer moral questions. He proposes the idea to create a universal system where science dictates morality. Beating women and children is bad exec...