Topic Reading-Vol.2005-10/7/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

German president: New walls have gone up

27 years have already passed since Western Germany and Eastern Germany were reunited. Though overall German economy has been outperforming any other EU nations for the last decade or so, there still is a considerable gap between the former socialism regions and the western regions. Of the 80 million plus total population, only about 20% of them live in the east including Berlin. There still are significant economic disparities between the two blocks; the easterners are only at about three-quarters of the western level in terms of productivity and roughly 70% in per capita GDP. Also, only a third of eastern Germans own their homes, while in western Germany half do. Thus, people in eastern Germany seem to be less tolerant of immigrants, unhappy with the widening economic gap and looking for a change. As a result, more voters chose the party that presented most visible and tangible change than western voters.

On the nation's Day of German Unity, the president took the chance to remind the citizens that there is no option to go back to nationalism.

By the way, isn’t that the chancellor who leads Germany? Yes, but they also have an elected president whose duties are mostly ceremonial.

Enjoy reading and thinking if the world is getting more divided rather than united.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/03/europe/germany-president-speech/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2004-10/6/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Body clock scientists win Nobel Prize

Which clock do you follow? Most people follow the time as to what they do, such as to get up, eat, work or sleep, except for those who are free from any social or business engagement. But do people physically follow the mechanical, nowadays electric, regulator?

People, or any other creature on the planet, usually get active when the sun rises and slow down when it sets, except for some animals that live in the opposite time cycle such as the bat or owl. But what does actually regulate the body clock?

There have been numbers of scientists who have been trying to find the answers to this question, and three of the leading researchers are awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine in 2017 for their findings for human health and wellbeing.

Enjoy reading and learning what the body clock does to you.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-41468229

Topic Reading-Vol.2003-10/5/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

How wind can power the world's mass transit

No need to be so science-fictional. Learn from history, or try doing what has been done before the Industrial Revolution. But just do it determinedly and thoroughly.

What is one way to run a train without fossil fuels? Using electricity generated by a nuclear power plant doesn’t sound any greener, either. Hydroelectric power sounds like a viable option in a place where there are plentiful water and sufficient elevation to fall the water, but the environmental impacts around the area and along the river need to be studied carefully.

The national Dutch rail service came up with a bold idea to run all of the country’s electric trains by wind power, the nation’s proud traditional renewable energy source, and implemented it! Now the nation’s trains are all run by renewable energy.

It seems that determination and commitment realized this remarkable achievement.

Enjoy watching the video and reading the article about this human ingenuity with simple technology.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170929-how-wind-can-power-the-worlds-mass-transit

Topic Reading-Vol.2002-10/4/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Catalonia referendum result plunges Spain into political crisis

What are the roles of the national government?

What rights do the local government have?

A historic referendum took place in Barcelona on October 1 whether to go independent from Spain or not. Such referendum is regarded unconstitutional by the national government. They even had national police forces assault polling stations and injured several hundreds of voters. Though they couldn’t stop the referendum, the violent move lowered the turnout down to just 42% of the eligible voters for elections.

This crack down seemed to have elevated the number of voters who said yes for independence to over 90%, much higher than pre-referendum estimates. If there had been no police suppression to the polling stations, the turnout most likely would have been much higher. But what about the result? The crackdown might have simply hardened the spirit of Catalans and united the supporters for independence.

What will the Catalan government do next and how the national government, EU and UN will react?

Enjoy reading and thinking if any local government should have right to have such referendum for independence, and if such referendum should be respected.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/01/europe/catalonia-spain-independence-referendum-result/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2001-10/3/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

US Marines get first female infantry officer

Wow, a female lieutenant to lead a fighting platoon of toughest guys!

While some religiously and/or traditionally conservative countries still prohibit or restrict women to drive a car or wear an exposing outfit, other gender-progressive countries encourage and promote women to take traditionally male-held roles like combat units. And of course, the world mightiest armed forces, the US military, takes the lead.

A female US Marine successfully completed the highly-demanding infantry officer training course and will soon be assigned to lead a combat platoon. It sounds like a new challenge for both the officer and the soldiers to work together in extreme conditions. She could be assigned to command her troops in a place where women are required to get a permission from their guardian to travel or just to go out. How will she be looked in such places?

Enjoy reading the article, and the last two volumes of Topic Reading, and think if the world will see more or fewer boundaries between genders, races or beliefs in this century.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41394646

Topic Reading-Vol.2000-10/2/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Saudi Arabia driving ban on women to be lifted

There are many cars on the streets and gas is plentiful and inexpensive. Yet no Saudi women is driving in their homeland at all. Why? Because it is prohibited by law.

In this ultra-conservative desert kingdom, women must wear a loose black garment called an abaya and headscarf, get a permission from a male guardian when they travel and avoid interacting with unrelated men. They can work but only in a separated workplace from men.

Now a historic announcement was made to allow women to drive effective June next year, just like any other country in the world.

Though it sounds like a relatively minor move, this is a big step towards the direction laid out by the crown prince who is transforming this conservative oil-dependent kingdom to an economically balanced and independent modern kingdom.

Great news for progressive women but bad news for those who are hired to drive women there.

Enjoy reading and think what would be the next step to modernize the desert kingdom.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41408195

BTW, thank you so much for reading this 2000^th issue. It took nearly five years and five months to get here.

Topic Reading-Vol.1999-10/1/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

This is what happens when gender roles are forced on kids

Either a boy or a girl, babies are usually babies. They do the same things and act in the same way mostly. When they become toddlers, both boys and girls become active, though boys are more powerful as they develop macules. When they become children, boys and girls tend to do different things and do things differently. For example, types of toys they play with, colors of things they paint or use, and clothes they wear are usually designed for boys and girls respectively. Then when they reach puberty, girls usually start changing earlier than boys, they tend to, or often are taught to by tradition, keep some distance from each other. All these changes and behavioral differences seem to occur quite naturally and gradually within their respective society. In other words, boys and girls have or are expected to have, physical functions to work and social roles to play once they reach their adolescence.

In the next two topic readings, you’ll also learn very different roles and expectations women have in two distinctively different cultures.

Enjoy reading and learning how children change as they grow.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/20/health/geas-gender-stereotypes-study/index.html