Commuting by subway? What you need to know about air quality

My summary would wander away from the subject.
CNN
Commuting by subway? What you need to know about air quality (article)
Summary
I reconfirmed by reading this article that I was really lucky because I can go to my office on foot. My thoughts were only to make time for it.
In Japan, many people commute to work by train. They probably use over two hours per day, and they won't know that train and subway air have high levels of air pollution. 
In fact, I recently think that people have bad common manners, especially in the train. They eat bread, drink a drink take out of Starbucks Coffee or canned beer. Some girls put on makeup, mothers feed a child snacks and, some people call a person on their phone though it's not allowed.
So we just need to know about air quality that is really bad and it affects our health. 
I think that it is difficult to be improved because people and companies don't know it. They think that cars only have high levels of air pollution, and it needs a lot of money to fix station's environment.
Each of us has to take care of our health.
Don't eat something in the train, even if nobody forbids you. It is better to wish your hands and to rinse your throat after you come back home.

Words in this story

forbid / refuse to allow (something).  prohibit, ban, outlaw, make illegal

ventilation /noun/ the provision of fresh air to a room, building, public discussion or examination of an opinion, issue, complaint, exhaust.

solution /səlúːʃən/  pollution /pəlúːʃən/  

tunnel /tˈʌnl/  comparison /kəmpˈærəsn/ 

Caitlin Quattromani & Lauran Arledge : How our friendship survives our opposing politics

TED 2017

Caitlin Quattromani & Lauran Arledge : How our friendship survives our opposing politics (transcript)

Summary

Probably, everyone would be looking forward to such article because almost all people had feelings of hostility and disrespect against opposing politics during this US presidential election. Then you might not make up with someone even nowadays.

In fact, we are regular friends who just think very differently about politics and the role that government should play in our lives. Then you know that we were all taught not to talk about politics because it's not polite.

However, we need to be able to talk about it because it's important to us and our children and it's part of who we are. Even when you disagree, trying to be willing to listen to one another and putting aside your ego and your preconceived ideas. You can understand that the political goal isn't to win.

The goal is to listen to someone who is outside of your political party and who avoid a political conversation. To understand them and to be open to learning something new. When your child honestly asks you, “Why would people vote for Trump,but we love them?”

We need to learn more to have a good answer and our family, children and our country.

"We think that that is the right direction for this country".

Words in this story

bipartisan / of or involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other's policies.

collide /verb/  crash into, hit, strike, hit with force when moving.

divisive / tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people.

Arthur Brooks: A conservative's plea: Let's work together

TED 2016

Arthur Brooks: A conservative's plea: Let's work together (transcript)

Summary

You think that in America and many countries around the world, there is a crisis by political polarization such as liberals and conservatives. And then you assume that your ideology is based in love but your opponents' ideology is based on hate. This is political motive asymmetry that makes you suffer. You can't progress as a society when you have it. The world needs both of the diversity which is our strength. In fact, poverty in the world has declined because the aspiration that comes from dreams are embedded in the free enterprise system and it's shared. This is the obsession with poverty from people beyond politics. It's worth flexible ideology.

We have to need liberals and conservatives to solve problems in the world. Conservatives can do for the moral obligation and liberals can do with responsibly to solve our problems.

Stop fighting for our ideology which should be used for a competition of ideas based on solidarity and mutual respect.

Words in this story

plea / defense, excuse, a request made in an urgent and emotional manner.

asymmetry / lack of equality or equivalence between parts or aspects of something, lack of symmetry.

enterprise / a business or company

obligation / duty, commitment, responsibility, moral imperative

ideology / a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

solidarity / unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.

English Rakugo

English Rakugo

According to the Wikipedia, Rakugo is a form of Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone storyteller called Rakugo ka in Japanese sits on stage and without standing up, Rakugo ka depicts a story that is comical, pretty smart and funny, and that definitely has the point of the joke called Ochi in the ending of the story.

In our life, we often meet something that is awful or boring and that we want to angry at.  However, the story of Rakugo turns them to humor with jokes that is sometimes really ironic.

English Rakugo can tell us such Japanese juke in English. If you don't understand the Japanese language, you can learn about funny Japanese culture. And then for Japanese people, we can learn English and that Japanese people probably forget in their ordinary life.

Neko no Sara is a good story, because the old man who thought to be fooled by the dealer is the one who actually tricked the dealer. It makes us really happy.

From now, I try to read and listen to English Rakugo and l want to use the jokes someday. It's because making people happy will be definitely making me happy. I reconfirmed that studying English is so much fun. Thank you always.

Alarm as 'super malaria' spreads in South East Asia

BBC news

Alarm as 'super malaria' spreads in South East Asia (article)

Summary

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease and it kills a lot of people in the world.

Before, the medicine of malaria was developed and people could escape death if they took it soon.  

However, this time, "super malaria" that can’t be killed with the main anti-malaria drugs spreads in South East Asia.

It means the medicine has become less effective, malaria will be untreatable again.

It can spread to Africa too and it could kill many people if the development of the new medicine will be late.

We can't ignore the alarm.

Deborah Lipstadt : Behind the lie of Holocaust denial

TED 2017

Deborah Lipstadt  : Behind the lie of Holocaust denial (transcript)

Summary

When I’d read the article at first, l couldn’t understand it completely and I didn't know about the movie "denial". Then I knew about the movie that in Japan, is going to be released on December this year and Japanese subtitle is "Negative and affirmative".

First, what is the Holocaust denial?

The Holocaust is a genocide that Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany killed millions of Jews during World War II. It has the dubious distinction of being the best-documented genocide in the world and there are victims, survivors, bystanders, perpetrators and even death camps. 1)

The Holocaust denial is to deny the Holocaust or to think that it didn't happen.  A denier is a person who takes the position that the Nazis were really not so bad, the allies were really not so good. He knows the documents and facts of the Holocaust, but he somehow twists them to get this opinion and this is his proud new opinion.

It's not related whether you believe it or not, the opinion exists. 2)

In fact, he was the same adulation of Hitler, praise of the Third Reich, anti-Semitism and racism prejudice. 3)

It means that it is wrong to think that there are facts and there are opinions. There, there are facts, there are opinions and there are lies. He firstly has lies and he says that it's his new opinions. He leads it to the conversation and then he encroaches on facts. 4)

Furthermore, he was bringing a libel suit against the speaker in the United Kingdom, because she called him a Holocaust denier. 5)

It's because British law the burden of proof on her to prove the truth of what she said.

If she didn't fight, he would win by default and then he could legitimately say that Hitler had nothing to do with any suffering but the Jews have made this all up. 6)

She fought and she followed his footnotes back to his sources. She proved that he didn't have the evidence to prove it. 7)

So we have to know that there is a view that is made by lies, that is distorted deliberately, and that truth and facts are under assault. 8)

We must go on the offensive, not the defensive.

Truth and facts are under assault.

This was the surprising article that I couldn't understand completely at first and then it reminded me of the Japanese military comfort women.

Words in this story

distinction /noun/  importance, significance, excellence that sets someone or something apart from others.

adulation /noun/ praise, admiration, applause, compliment.

encroach /verb/ intrude on (a person's territory or a thing considered to be a right).  impose oneself on

The power of a “not-to-do” list

BBC news

The power of a “not-to-do” list (article)

Summary

This article explains that it is better for us to firstly make a ”not-to-do” list than setting goals we want to achieve. In fact, in our private time, we don't do what we don't want to do. Probably, we don't like to join long meetings, to check e-mail many times and to answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers.

If we wouldn’t do those, we can achieve our goals earlier and easier and we can have more time. Additionally, if sharing it with our offices, it will be more effective.

However, we have to make a lot of lists what we have to do always.

To focus on minimising the negatives instead of maximising the positives.

Therefor, what you don't do determines what you can do.

Words in this story

effective /adj/  successful, effectual, potent, powerful

immeasurably /adv/ boundlessly, infinitely

attainable /adj/  achievable, obtainable, accessible, within reach

Ruth Chang : How to make hard choices

               

TED 2014
Ruth Chang : How to make hard choices (transcript)

Summary

People definitely say that they have some hard choices. They think that hard choices are big and hard, it matters to them but they can't choose one because they are stupid.  

However, the speaker who studies hard choices and is a philosopher, tells us that we shouldn't choose one because there is no best option. It means that we misunderstand hard choices but we have to choose one.

1) If you start with two things that are equally good, and you improve one of them, it now must be better than the other. This is not the case with options in hard choices.

2) You assume that the choice has a good answer that is greater or lesser or equal. However, the value of the choices can't be measured by something. She calls this "on a par"

3) In fact, the alternatives are in the same area and at the same level. It's very different in kind of value but you don't realize.

4) The choice means to create reasons for yourself and make yourself into the kind of person who you want to be. It's not dictated by reasons given to you. The reasons create to you like you became the authors of your own life.

In other words, How to make hard choices doesn't have the failure, because you can make yourself. In the space of hard choices where you get to exercise your normative power. The power creates reasons for yourself and makes yourself fit the reasons. You can decide your life by yourself. This is the answer on how to make hard choices.  You can enjoy it.

Words in this story

normative / establishing, relating to

dictated / instruct, admonish, direct
precious /adj/  valuable, costly, expensive
luxury /noun/ extravagance, magnificence, indulgence, comfort luxurious /adj/

Robbins : The art of misdirection

                           

TED 2013

Robbins : The art of misdirection (transcript)

Summary

I  thought this was a magic, but  the speaker said he studied this trick from picking pockets. The technique to exploit something is to use your attention that is a limited resource. It means that he controls how you spend your attention and he steals your attention through a distraction.

I was really scared to think about the possibility that a man who is next to me and talks to me steals my watch and money.

Attention is a powerful thing and it shapes your reality and I noticed when he changed his tie in the video. In fact, I realized that he would change his clothes when he told us what he wore.

Probably, this is the answer what I did. Continuing to pay attention something if you are asked something. Don't be deprived of your attention but it has a limit. What shall I do?

And then there is one more question. If you could control somebody's attention, what would you do with it?

My answer is that I don't want to use it because I don't want to be controlled by someone.

However, I try to be more careful not to be deprived of my attention.

Words in this story

misdirection / Misdirection is a form of deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another.

distraction / a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.

exploit / deed, a bold or daring feat.
deprive of / dispossess of, strip of, divest of, relieve of, deny, rob of, cheat out of, peel off, strip off

Halla Tómasdóttir 2 : It’s time for women to run for office

                                

TED 2016

Halla Tómasdóttir 2 : It’s time for women to run for office (transcript)

Summary

So you don't necessarily have to reach the top, you just have to go for it with your family, your friends, and everyone. If you do it well, you will grow beyond anything you will experience before. And then to try it again and again and again, it must lead to a high probability of a better result.

The speaker ran for president of Iceland. She couldn't catch its position though the one percent she had was changed to receive a third of the vote.

Challenges that she had to face are about media, muscle, and money. Alter all, there was the gender inequality in the media and politics fields also. It might not have conscious bias but there is unconscious one there. The reason was that she was a woman, it was harder to get access and airtime in media than men. In fact, unfortunately, politics needed money.

However, it is better to be womanly, to have the courage to talk about things that you want to change, to have the ambition to do more even if you don't have financial support, and not to forget why you decided to run. If you are a woman and you have no political experience, it is important to decide to do good, to step up and to continue to run. Women participate in politics, it only leads to being able to attract young women and young men in politics.

This is her message for you. If you are a woman, you don't necessarily have to reach the top, and you just run.

Words in this story

first hand /adj/ (of information or experience) from the original source or personal experience; direct.

compliment /noun/ a polite expression of praise or admiration.

sincerity /noun/ honesty, truthfulness   sincerely /adv/  sincere /adj/ honest

Halla Tómasdóttir 1: A feminine response to Iceland's financial crash

                            

TED 2010

Halla Tómasdóttir 1: A feminine response to Iceland's financial crash (transcript)

Summary

We may be mistaken about genuine equality. Our world, you expect a different outcome though you do the same things over and over.  The speaker tells us that it isn't like women and men have just the same opportunities. Women and men are not the same and it's great because of our differences, thus we can create and sustain life. We should embrace our differences and aim for challenges.  

We are always forced that we have to choose either men or women though we need to start embracing the beauty of balance.

The speaker and her friend founded a financial firm named Audur Capital to incorporate feminine values into the world of finance. They got through the economic collapse hit in their country Iceland. The reasons were that the female trend meant female value and its sustainability trend just worked. This is not about women being better than men. It means that there are differences between women and men, it brings different values and different ways, and we find them out. It leads to having diversity around the decision-making table.

So we need this to change the world and to create sustainable future.

Words in this story

feminine / having qualities or appearance traditionally associated with women, especially delicacy and prettiness

diligence /noun/ careful and persistent work or effort.

tyranny /noun/ totalitarianism totalitarian /adj/

philanthropy / charity, humanitarianism

Clay Christensen : How Will You Measure Your Life?

TEDxBoston

Clay Christensen : How Will You Measure Your Life? (transcript)

Summary

Is it right that you do now?

It will be better for you to doubt it sometimes. It's because probably there's the answer where you don't notice and don't expect.

For example, in fact, the reasons that a product is bought aren't that the product is really good or people really want it. People just wanted the job to be done because what causes us to do something is there’s a job that arises in their life.

Thus the company doesn’t need to fix a product better but have to reach out and find the causes that people buy it or want its services.

This is the mechanism behind a purchase. Then such causal theories lead to the way of measuring your life.

In our case, we pursue for achievement always and we think that measuring it is your success.

However, you cannot achieve your success by the pursuit of achievement.

In fact, you are driven by the job to be done. You have to reach out and find its job. It will be around you. Thus your success is how you help other people to be better people.

Words in this story

propensity /noun/  tendency, an inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way.

allocate /verb/  assign, distribute

pursuit /noun/ striving toward, quest after/for, search for, aim, goal, the action of following or pursuing someone or something.

pursue /verb/ seek, chase down, follow (someone or something) in order to catch or attack them.

persuade /verb/  convince, cause (someone) to do something through reasoning or argument.

aggregate /noun/  total, formed or calculated by the combination of many separate units or items

Jeff Speck 2 : 4 ways to make a city more walkable

                              

Jeff Speck 2 : 4 ways to make a city more walkable (transcript)

Summary

The speaker told us why we need the walkable city in the previous TED talk. This time, he talks about how to do the walkable city.

If a walk is as good as a drive or better, even people who own cars and want to drive all the time will start to walk.

What does this mean?

It means that the city has a proper reason to walk,1) the walk has to be safe and feel safe, 2) the walk has to be comfortable, 3) and the walk has to be interesting. 4)

What is a proper reason to walk? 1)

Probably, in your city, you can’t walk to your office from your house or your children can't walk to school and soccer field. It's because in your city, nothing is located near anything else and you have to use your car, you have to pick and drop your children off by car. Then it leads to traffic accidents.

In the past, when factories discharged the smoke and the soot, the planners moved the housing away from the factories, thus suburban sprawl couldn’t be helped.

However, your city will be better to be compact and be diverse from now, won't it? You can live in the city which has offices, shops, schools and perfect transit to be able to access to the whole city as a pedestrian. You and your children can go all places on foot. This is the another dream that you use a car.

How does the walk have to be safe and feel safe? 2)

The speaker said that this is the most important part, and of course, it means to create a walkable city. The streets have appropriate driving lanes, an amount of on street parking, and bike lanes. In fact, to add only driving lanes leads to the traffic jam and accidents. Adding more on street parking protects the sidewalk, it makes the sidewalk safe. It also creates great bicycle network. This is the very different from Tokyo, Japan. In Tokyo, all streets are forbidden to park, even a few seconds, you have to pay parking fines. There are many men who would retire police and who observe the streets. The merchants are in deep trouble.

So the parallel parking protects the curb and pedestrians.

The walk has to be comfortable. 3) It means that all animals need a prospect and a refuge to feel that you are covered. The speaker tells us that it needs to have good e.edges on the streets.

The walk has to be interesting. 4) lt’ll mean that the places which people gather draw more people.

The places where there are great restaurants and shops should be built better streets for pedestrians. It’ll be wonderful if your city becomes more walkable.

This is the world famous Shibuya scramble crossing in Japan. Is it a walkable?

Words in this story

nuisance / a person, thing, or circumstance causing inconvenience or annoyance.

transit / transportation, transport, movement, flow
pedestrian /adj/ lacking inspiration or excitement; dull. /noun/ walker, person on foot, foot traffic
congestion / crowding, overcrowding, obstruction, blockage, traffic jam

Serena Williams : On tennis, love and motherhood

                               

TED 2017

Serena Williams : On tennis, love and motherhood (transcript)

Summary

September 1, this year 2017, Serena Williams gave birth to a girl and this week, she shared a picture with her baby on Instagram at the first time.

“Congratulations!”

This was the funny conversation with Serena Williams who is a tennis superstar and Gayle King who is a journalist though that time was when after Serena announced that she gave up playing tennis this year because of her pregnancy. However, she swears to definitely come back.

Serena is said to be a tennis legend player who brought power into female tennis field.

She has won four Olympic gold medals, and she has been world No.1 by a female tennis player about 6 years.  

She said that she's felt like winning for her is super addictive.

So winning will make her win again and again. She hates to lose, but losing has also brought her this position.

I think that tennis is a severe sport. Why can you watch the program until the other lose? I always run away from TV when someone will lose.

Then her big sister is also a famous tennis player. Her name is Venues. Serena was beaten by Venues many times but now, Serena won Venues. They grew up practicing together and they will think that they are their toughest opponent of each other. They are mortal enemies on the tennis court, but the second they shake hands they become best friends. They have incredible respect and love each other.

For a while, we can't watch them playing together and we know that age for athletes is important. However, no one doubts that Serena is coming back.

In addition, her husband spoke on TED stage in the past. I was very surprised by that.

Words in this story

endure / suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently.

pregnancy /noun/ pregnant /adj/

comfortably /adv/ comfortable / adj/ /noun/

LaToya Ruby Frazier : A visual history of inequality in industrial America

                          

TED 2015
LaToya Ruby Frazier : A visual history of inequality in industrial America　（transcript)

Summary

I think that there are many stories about inequality in the TED talks and the speakers who tell us that are almost black people.

The speaker is a black woman. Her work is to tell many people hidden histories by taking pictures and holding exhibitions. Hidden histories mean the cities which predominantly black people live in, where mass media has omitted the fact, and where they have been hidden, silenced and erased. Black people worked hard in bad risky environments.

The hidden histories are carved into their bodies and landscapes.

When the speaker sets a place, they appear.  This is her way to tell us about the inequality of history.  

Words in this story  

predominantly / mainly; for the most part.

leave out or exclude (someone or something), either intentionally or forgetfully.

carve / cut (a hard material) in order to produce an aesthetically pleasing object or design.

Ray Dalio : How to build a company where the best ideas win

                               

TED 2017
Ray Dalio : How to build a company where the best ideas win (transcript)

Summary

Although this was the story about the field of the hedge fund, I wanted to trust that it can be used on all the fields.

If I can tell you the simple word that he said, it will be being objective, it's difficult, and nowadays, it can be avoided by algorithms. When you think you’re doing the right thing or not in your job, you see in only one dimension. However, if you can listen to people who express their opinions to you, and you can see a higher level from separating your opinion, then you can see in multiple dimensions.

The speaker created the tool which can make decisions better and much faster than us, by using algorithms. It can process a lot more emotional information but it can process more decisions unemotionally.

It'll certainly help you and give you a balance between your audacity and your humility. It leads to not making autocratic an idea but meritocratic one.

It'll be better for you to know that you can use algorithms where the best ideas would win, and it'll affect your life.

Words in this story

meritocratic /adj/  meritocracy /noun/ government by the gifted or skilled, government by the intellectually worthy (rather than by family lineage or class)

autocratic / adj/  audacity /noun/ boldness, daring, fearlessness.

-ity -ism -my /noun/

consensus / general agreement, majority.