What if...? (Punishments)

Defamation – harm done to a person’s reputation, and slander (spoken) versus libel (written)
Whether a statement is seen or heard by a third party or parties
Whether the identity of the target is clear
Anonymity – does it make the perpetrator more or less responsible?
Harassment – what does it involve?
Duty to provide a safe work or study environment – what roles do schools and teachers play?
Right to freedom of expression – what limits should be placed on it?
Right to security of person – should people be protected from written or verbal attacks?
Defences and confounding factors – what makes a possibly libellous statement okay?
Truth – when the statement is accurate
Fair comment - a legitimate journalistic intent
“The reasonable person” - how offensive does something have to be before it becomes libellous?

Perception

Sensory perception is when you use your senses, sight, touch, smell, hearing and taste to identify and witness something.

Interpretations is when you see, hear, touch, smell or taste something and your mind links it with your existing ideas.


What would a biologist think of a tree? Or a logger? Or an environmentalist? And what does a native from Sarawak think of a tree?

A biologist would probably think that a tree is made up of a cells and that a tree basically 'swaps' carbon dioxide with oxygen. A logger thinks that a cutting down that tree will bring him money. An environmentalist will probably think that the tree is something we have to save, because it brings us oxygen. A native might think that the tree has some useful properties for medicine.


So, how does our education and culture affect our perception?

Not only each person has a different perception, also our culture and education play a huge role in this. Nationality and religion will probably have an effect on it as well. This is because in some countries the death penalty is a way to escape the crime someone committed, while in other countries they think it's good to get rid of criminals. Of course, there are other examples as well, but I can't really think of any on the top of my head. I'm blank -.-"

What crimes/offences are most common in The Netherlands?

Damaging of cars:
Teens think that it's cool to damage cars or other vehicles. I don't know why they like to do that - maybe because it feels good destroying something? I've, luckily, never seen it and I hope I will never see it, too.

Bicycle theft:
The Dutch people love cycling, we even have special roads for cyclers. People, most probably, steal bikes because they don't have one or they see one standing there without any locks on it, or, they see a very expensive bike.

Among the top 10 crimes, there are also some more serious crimes, such as sexual offenses. For example, in The Netherlands there are frequently rapes, or gang rapes. This is, of course, horrible. Also there is breaking in and abusing in the top 10 crimes in The Netherlands.

Crime and Punishment

Different offenses should have different punishments. What about these here?

• Shoplifting
• Breaking into a car
• Picking a fight
• Drink driving
• Driving under the influence of drugs
• Solvent abuse
• Urinating against a wall
• Doing a paper round at the age of 11
• Shouting racist abuse
• Being sold alcohol in a bar whilst under the age limit


All of these offenses are crimes. The only exception might be the paper round under the age eleven. In this case, the person who commits the crime would be the person who employs the kid under the age of eleven.

I don't think any of them are victim less, but of course, this could be argued against. There could always be a consequence of the crime committed.

Some committers of these offenses could be thrown into jail, for example, if you break into a car, or shoplift. Others might get away with a fine, like drink driving or driving under the influences of drugs. It actually depends on how heavy the crime is committed. For example, if you were heavily drunk while you were driving, you might be thrown in jail or have a very heavy fine.

I'd say that the person who commits the crime several times should be getting heavier punishment than the punishment before. Each time it should be intensified.

Feedback. What the hell is it?

Feedback is your opinion on someone’s work, both good and bad. It is important to have feedback on the things you do because you learn from it. With feedback you can improve your weaknesses to improve the things you do. Good feedback helps us in learning, as I said above, because we find out what our weaknesses are and learn to improve our things.

The impacts of good feedback are that you’ll be able to learn from them and improve yourself while with bad feedback you can’t really do anything. Also it can bring down someone’s self esteem and really hurt people.


I watched this video about blogging used by students and a teacher on a certain school/collage (whatever they are learning in) and they explained that using the blogs, the students would be able to see their progress and reflecting on them. Also they could see the progress of other students and help them with things they don't understand or ask other students to help. They also said that all the criticism they get from the teachers and students helps them improve themselves. As well as that the blogs they created helped them understand the things they needed to learn more. The students also post comments on each others work that they would've probably never said to each other face-to-face. I agree with the lady talking about how blogging is good for feedback because, come on, aren't we all scared of what people might say of our work?


This would be an example of bad feedback:

I mean, I said I loved the song but didn't explain what exactly I loved. Did I love the lyrics? Their musical talent?

This, however would probably be a good feedback:

Here I explained what I liked about the post and how she could improve it. I also had a little bit of humour in it in order to make it more casual and friendly. Come on, no-one likes stern criticism.

I think I have been trying to give good feedback. I always try to include at least one positive point and one negative point.

Ways To Conserve Water In The Kitchen III

- To avoid wasting drinking water from a running tap, collect it in a bottle or jug and store it in the fridge until it is cool enough to drink.
- Garbage-disposal units use about 6 litres of water per day. Put suitable food scraps into a composter or worm farm rather than down the kitchen sink.
- When you clean your fish tank, use the ‘old’ nitrogen and phosphorous-rich water on your plants.


- Look for dishwashers that have a National Water Conservation or WELS Label. The best water rating achieved by dishwashers is 5 star.
- Only use the dishwasher when you have a full load.
- Use the rinse-hold setting on the dishwasher, if it has one, rather than rinsing dishes under the tap.


- When washing dishes by hand, don’t rinse them under a running tap. If you have two sinks, fill the second one with rinsing water. If you have only one sink, stack washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a pan of hot water.
- Use washing-up liquid sparingly as this will reduce the amount of rinsing required when washing dishes by hand.
- Use a plugged sink or a pan of water. This saves running the tap continuously.
- When boiling vegetables, use enough water to cover them and keep the lid on the saucepan. Your vegetables will boil quicker and it will save you water, power, and preserve precious vitamins in the food.
- Flow-controlled aerators for taps are inexpensive and can reduce water flow by 50%.
- Don’t use running water to defrost frozen food. Ideally place food in refrigerator to defrost overnight.
- Catch running water whilst waiting for it to warm up. Use it to water plants, rinse dishes, or wash fruit and vegetables.
- If you have a leaking tap, replace the washer or other components as required. Dripping taps can waste 30–200 litres of water per day.
- Insulate hot water pipes. This avoids wasting water while waiting for hot water to flow through and saves energy.
- Make sure your hot water system thermostat is not set too high. Adding cold water to cool very hot water is wasteful.


- Remove ice cube trays a few minutes before you need them, to loosen them at room temperature instead of under the faucet.
- Keep a covered container of drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running the faucet for cool water. - Shake the container before serving to incorporate air in water and eliminate “flat” taste.
- Serve drinking water only if people request it.