Month: June 2016

Germany’s Beer Purity Law Is 500 Years Old.Is It Past Its Sell-By Date

Summary

This article says Germany’s beer purity low known as the Reinheitsgebot.It was introduced in 1516 and is 500 years old.The decree allows for only hops, barly, water, and later, yeast in ever Stein.More than 1300 breweries(85%)still obey this and produce many differnt types of beer.However someone insits that German beer’s taste is altered.Actually almost good beers with award are from America or somewhere else.On the one hand new breweries try to make some new tastes on the other ones who brew according to the low want to keep the tradition.

Opinion
Tradition is very difficult problem because there is a differnce of opinion,to keep it or to develop a new way.Surely it is important to keep a tradition. However they do not have to avert their eyes from the present condition.If necessary they should grope for a better future.In Japan there are many traditions,for example flower arrangement known as Kadou.It has some strict roles each groups.Nevertheless there are many groupes that arrange flowers freely ignoring the roles.It is a fact that it is popular with not only Japanese but other counttry’s people.Needless to say,the problem facing German brewer is not so easy.The history of 500 years give them grave responsibilities.I do not want to lose a traditional taste of it.Therefore,the conservatives should consider how to regain the popularity and The reformist group should not ignore the tradition perfectly.

Big wins for Five Star Movement in Italy

Summary

The anti-establishment Five Star Movement has won mayoral races in Roma and Turin last week. The successful candidate are female, and especially one in Roma becomes its first female mayor. Roma is a capital city and Turin is a big power base for the Democratic Party (DK) in Italy, thus these wins would be a significant step for Five Star Movement. At the same time they have a big effect on the DK and the direction that the prime minister Matteo Renzi is moving toward will be paid attention.

 

My opinion

Today Italy has lots of problems such as a depression and a high rate of unemployment, but the government hasn’t been able to solve them in status quo. Also the political and business world are dominated by matured men. Thus these wins would be progressive. However I believe Five Star Movement hasn’t been a party enough to reform one country because its policy is not reliable. For instance, it supports Universal Basic Income, but it doesn’t show a concrete source of revenue. In the current situation in Italy, Five Star Government must be a key thus it should be a more reliable party. And more than that, the Prime Minister Matteo Renzi should have a leadership to control and unit Italy.

Girls, 12, stable after taking ‘Teddy’ecstasy in Salford

Summary

This article was about the problem of drugs in Salford. One day, three 12-year-old girls rushed to hospital because they took “Teddy Bear” ecstasy tablets not on purpose. Fortunately, they are now fine. They drank a bottle of soft drink which a drug was mixed in. In this matter, a man and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of being in possession of a controlled substance. Last month, a girl who is 17 years old died because of suffering an adverse reaction to ecstasy. In these ways, it becomes the problem that a child embroils in a drug problem.

Opinion

I think it is a big problem that a child is rolled up in a drug problem. The drug gives only adverse effects for us and damages our health. Particularly, the effect is very big for the children. There is no merit to take a drug. It is necessary for us to solve the drug problem in a whole nation. I think the police should strengthen the drug investigation still more to reduce drug users. In addition, the government must educate children about a dangerous drug to prevent children to buy or take a drug. Moreover, other countries should also take care of a drug in order to prevent a drug from coming on to the illegal market. I hope everyone doesn’t use a drug and checks drinks and foods carefully.

What will happen to the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) if there’s a Brexit?

European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) affords travellers state provided necessary medical treatment in the host country. They cover temporary stays in European Economic Area (EEA) countries, plus Switzerland, and over 27 million people have one. Patients can be treated either at a reduced cost or for free by the state healthcare system. However, the future of this reciprocal benefit would be thrown into doubt by Brexit vote.
The UK remain severed ties with the EEA, as the card is not a European Union initiative, so feasible that in case the EHIC would likely cease to exist.

opinion

Today(6/24) the UK reached a decision to leave the EU, and this news created social disorder. Not only the dollar had fallen sharply, but also unemployment will be a serious problem. Brexit has had no little influence on the Japan’s economy. For example, the Japan’s export industry must be had influence. But, I think that it is important for the UK to recover the initiative as a nation, so I can understand the UK’s action. However, I objected to Brexit because this problem wasn’t ties with country to country, but severed ties with each other. Thank to severed ties, the UK will be accepted the EHIC as part of the single market. To be frank with you, I didn’t want the UK to leave the EU because Brexit may have influence for myself. We must search for a way to solve a problem.

The Big Win of Anti-Establishment in Italy

The anti-establishment Five Star Movement has won key mayoral races in Rome. Virginia Raggi who is a member of the party won 67% of the Rome vote and became its first female mayor of Rome. Her win is a blow the party in power in Italy. The results could give anti-globalization due in 2018. “I will restore legality and transparency to the city’s institutions after 20 years of poor governance,” she said. She will find a city mired in debts of more than €13bn-twice in annual budget.

Anti-establishments are necessary  to keep politics or goverments sound. Politicians and ministers  will be not able to offer or take bribe easily because they must be afraid of searching investigation of political donations. Also, the advance of wemen into society is very important. Enthusiatic wemen can advance every field if they hope to do and we have to support them. The victory of Ms Raggi will become the symbol of wemen’s activity. But, we have to pay attention to The Five Star Party’s insistence. They say Italy has to withdraw from Euro. Euro is not only the unit of currency but also the symbol of integration in Europe. If Italy leave Euro without much thought, other europe countries may imitate the action of Italy one after another.  Italian withdrawing may cause collapse of EU.

election in Italy -The first woman mayor-

Reflection #2                    Erika Hirayama Law-law 2nd 31509980

The article was about an election held in Italy on June 16th. What is special is that a woman won the vote and became the first female mayor in Rome. Her name is Virginia Raggi, a 37 year-old lawyer. She said that she’s going to restore legality snd transparency to the city’s institutions which means to end the internal corruption. To end in a defeat for city mayoral election in metropolis has taken a beating for the Roberto Giachetti, from Renzi’s center-left Democratic Party (PD), the article reported. This is the summary of the article.

Gender equality is being one of the most important topics these days. Hillary Rodham Clinton the representive example. If she won the election, she is going to be the first president so it is been a hot issue especially in America. Women are trying hard to take part in politics and that percentage is becoming higher. I think it is a good thing for both woman and man to be treated equally. However, when is comes to Japan, the situation is quite different. We only have 11.1% of women engaged in managerial position and this is the worst number compared to other developed countries such as America or France. Those countries are 43.1%and 39.4%, which are the highest number in the world.

I think the reason why it is has such a difference is based on two reasons. First of all, Japanese used to think that woman should do house work inside. This is like one of the traditions and what people used to believe importantly. Though the mind is changing right now, I think there are some people who still the division of gender roles are important in Japan.

The lack of a nursery school is another reasons why women cannot work. It is said that a number of child on the waiting list for daycare is 23167 in Japan. Government is trying hard to change this situation, but because of the low salary of nursery school teacher, many people leave that job so the task is getting harder and it is causing a vicious cycle. In order to make woman be able to work, I think it is important to change the situation and woman should be more positive for doing a job like politician or managerial position, just like the woman’s case in the article. This is what I thought after reading the article.

Portugal baby born to mother brain-dead for months

This topic is related with ethical problem.

A baby was born to a woman who had been brain-dead for almost four months.His mother  was declared brain-dead after a brain haemorrhage.The decision to continue the pregnancy was taken after tests revealed the foetus to be helthy and after the father agreed it should be allowed to continue.Doctors said the baby was in good health when he was born.They didn’t specify whether the boy’s mother remained on life support.

In person,I agreed with the father’s decision because the baby was born to the mother brain-dead by chance.It is so cruel to kill the baby only with the reason like that.Of cause,some people say if the mother had not given the birth to the baby,she could have lived longer.It is true but I think the mother herself wouldn’t hope to live longer at the expense of the baby’s life.

There are a big problem with the father and baby who their mother left before.It is really hard to earn life expenses and to rear a child at the same time.And there are many families with only father or mother like the family above so I think the most important thing is to make a society where the fatherless or motherless families can live with less burden.

Indian problem

summary

India has more people living in modern slavery. The population of India is 18 billion, which is the most in the world. There are many types of slavery in India. For example, intergenerational bonded labor, forced child labor, commercial sexual exploitation, forced begging, forced recuitment into non-state armed groups and forced marriage. These are many problems and one of the most serious problems is that it is difficult to know how many people are stuck in sexual slavery. One of the causes is Indian law. It doesn’t differentiate human trafficking from sex work, so we cannot count each correct amount. Therefore, some solutions are needed.

opinion

What should India do in order to reduce the slavery? I suggest two ideas. First, Indian government has to collect and register all Indian personal data like my number in Japan. Developing countries such as India cannot manage it enough. By managing it exactly, Indian goverment can understand where people work and who doesn’t get a legitimate job. Second, India should narrow the gap between rich and poor people. Generally,rich people treat poor people as slavery. By introducing a system of progressive taxation, India must relieve poor people’s burden. I think using these two schemes enable India to reduce the slavery.

 

Portugal baby born to mother brain-dead for months

A baby was born in Portugal to a woman who had been brain-dead for almost four months. His mother was declared brain-dead after hemorrhage. The decision to continue with the pregnancy was taken after tests revealed the fetus to be healthy,and after the father agreed it should be allowed to continue. Doctors said the baby was in good health when he was born, and they did not specify whether the mother remained on life support. In January,a baby whose mother had been brain-dead was born in Poland. He weighted only 1kg at birth,and was allowed home in April.

It’s a wonderful story that tells us the vitality of human. However, I feel the risk that the mother can’t endure and die before giving a birth. In that case, it hastens the time of death of the mother. In my opinion, everyone has the right to make decision about own life, and euthanasia should be allowed all over the world. However, in this case, parents have to take responsibility. Therefore, they must think about the baby’s life that without the mother. It is difficult to think about the weight of the life, I think it is important that consider if we can take responsibility for what will happen by what we do.