Let’s start with who is NOT right.

The USA.  I am just sick and tired of their war efforts.  What the HELL are they doing?  Oh ya, just trying to make money and control the world.  Wonderful……

I should say that a lot of American people know this and agree, so I don’t blame them at all.  But their government is absolutely out of control.  Obama and John Kerry look, talk, and seem like reasonable people, but clearly, they are not.

I’m not an expert on the situation, but I have been following it closely from many different information sources, and I’ll tell you what I think is going on.

This is important for the whole world, so please pay attention to this kind of stuff.  Don’t be like most people who just bury their heads in the sand and think, “I’m not interested in world politics” or something.  You should be.  We all should be.

So what I know is this:

Russia and the Ukraine have a long history, and it’s a complicated one, and the West (USA) knows almost nothing about it and it’s none of their business.  Several years ago, Russia gave back a part of land to the Ukraine, and now Putin wants it back.  I don’t know why, and I don’t know the history.  This is just what I understand.  The point is, this is a battle between the Ukraine and Russia over this piece of land.

Imagine if the US and Mexico were fighting over some part of land between them.  Do you think the US would be ok with Russia or anyone flying across the world and helping Mexico?  HAHAHA

Obviously not.  And Russia wouldn’t do that.  No one would.

I also hear that the Ukraine is having a lot of internal political struggle.  The US helped fund a very aggressive government in the Ukraine to help take over the country.  There was some kind of internal battle.  Obviously the US will give money to any group in any country if they believe that group will help the US in some way (ultimately financially).  This is sick, but it’s what the military does all the time.  And the people in the US military often don’t agree with what they are doing, they find out later and report how bad it all is.

I will post a video from an American guy who does a lot of research on many political issues.  I think it’s at least interesting and should be shared.  Please comment, no matter where you are from, and let me know what you think is going on, what will happen (will there be a real war) and what is the purpose of all this?  Who is right, who is wrong, and what is your media saying in your country?  I hope the Russians and Ukraine writers can try to make intelligent comments, and if we don’t agree with each other, we can at least do so respectfully.  Thanks guys.  Share this and make it popular!!  Watch the video too.  Can’t wait to read what you guys think and know about this.

We will of course be discussing this and more in the VIP!!  Also, keep coming here every day because I’m writing more and more blogs to make you think and improve your English.

High profile chicks are behind this.  People like Beyonce and Victoria Beckham (David Beckham’s wife).

Let me give you the basic “low down” (the main idea) first of what is going on.  This is insane.

“Bossy” is a word used to describe both men and women.  It means that someone is kind of “acting like a boss” of a situation in which they are not the boss.  For example, if I told you, “Hey Susan, clean my shoes”, that is incredibly “bossy” because I’m not Susan’s boss and I can’t just tell her what to do, as though I own her.

It’s always a negative word because it’s about people telling and demanding other people to do something.  Even a good real “boss” shouldn’t act so bossy.  It’s rude, and there are more polite ways to do it.

But now, these “feminists” are trying to get people to stop using this word which has been used for probably hundreds of years.  It makes me sick.  I find it quite ironic to think that they feel they should be the boss of such a huge cultural topic.  Who made them the boss of which words are right and which ones are not?  They seem pretty damn bossy to me!

I believe men and women are equal, but not the SAME.  They should have equal rights, but we shouldn’t get all men and women to act and think and do everything as one identical type of person.  I’m NOT saying women should be forced to be a certain way and men should be forced to act differently, people can and should do whatever they want, as long as it is not hurting others.

Is it unfair or wrong that women often have long hair and wear make up and earrings while men do not?  I don’t think so.  I don’t want us all trying to be the same.  Does long hair and make up make you better or worse?  No.  It just makes it easy to see who is a man and who is a woman.  (I mean, it’s pretty easy most of the time anyway, but you get my point.  We don’t all need to be the SAME, in order to have equal rights).

I think the “West” has sucked big time with this topic.  Asian, Russian, Eastern European, and MANY other cultures of modern day women are not thinking in this way.  They are honouring being feminine, and not trying to make things exactly the same.  If you make men and women think, talk, dress, and act exactly the same; it may seem “fair” in some weird sense, but it’s not making people happier. Not men, and not women either.

If some man or woman is acting bossy, I will ALWAYS keep using this word, and I don’t care what anyone thinks.  This is insane, and you can see clearly how badly the west is trying to ruin femininity with this fake idea of trying to be “equal” or trying to “empower women”.  I believe in empowering women, just not at all in this way.  This is completely ridiculous and I would love all your thoughts, from both men and women, all over the world.  Please comment below, whether or not you completely agree or completely disagree.

Add and I will be discussing this in the VIP room as well.  Will be an AWESOME one.

And here is the article I read about this nonsense.  I read about it other places too.  Might be interesting for you to check out.  :)

Would there be war?  Who would be fighting in it?

I believe that most people throughout the world do not want war.  They will say they want it if their country MUST fight, but they would prefer a peaceful world.

The problem is that the world is really terrible at understanding other countries and other people’s perspectives.  It’s so much easier to go to war with a culture that seems so different than it is to go to war with a country who is almost the same.

The western governments (especially US) are really effective at making other countries look like they are either filled with a horrible culture, an evil dictator as a leader, or filled with psycho terrorists.  This makes people scared, and when they are scared, most people will just believe whatever their government tells them, and whatever they see on TV and the news.

Most people are too busy paying attention to sports or the latest pop songs anyway.  They don’t know much about what is going on in the world, and they don’t really care.  It’s sad, but it’s true.

War is a huge business and that’s the main reason it continues in my belief.

It seems obvious (and totally crazy) to me that most countries in the world almost seem to “enjoy” their ignorance about other countries.  We all learn that our own history is better than it is, and that the history of other countries is worse than it is.  This pride and misunderstanding keeps the hatred alive, and it allows the possibility of war to always be present.

Could we all just learn one language and at least learn enough about one another to stop the fighting and killing?  I think so.  I just don’t think the global bankers and the government leaders in the world want that.  They prefer the fighting, killing, money, and misunderstanding.

Try to have a conversation with anyone about other countries.  Talk with them about Iran, North Korea, USA, Iraq, Syria, China, Russia, Brazil.  Listen to their opinions.  Ask them how they get their information and why they believe it so strongly.  You will see that most people feel confident they know what is going on, but when you ask them “how they know” you’ll see they are just people who easily believe what is in the news and what their governments (school system) tells them.

Love to hear your thoughts on why war keeps continuing, who really benefits from this, and would one language help to either stop it, or almost stop it.  Don’t be shy  Please share below.

Love to see you in the VIP!!  You’ll love it if you aren’t already in there.

When I was growing up, I remember everyone around me saying that I NEED a university education if I don’t want to have a terrible life.  I believed it.  Almost everyone I knew believed it too.

At that time, university wasn’t SOOO expensive.  Students could pay for school with a good part time job.  They didn’t graduate with a huge debt and crazy student loans.

Things are very different now.  University is unbelievably expensive, and more and more students are going to school.  It seems that everyone believes that having a university degree will somehow just “magically” give them a good job when they graduate.  Well, with so many people having degrees, the “good jobs” are getting harder and harder to find.  Students in the US are paying an average of $27 000 USD per YEAR just to go to school.  Some students are paying a lot more.  When they graduate, they have an insane amount of pressure to pay back a crazy student loan, and it’s harder and harder to find a high paying job just by showing people your degree.  A lot of employers now realize that A) too many people have the same thing, and B) It’s really just a “fancy” piece of paper.

With technology changing so fast as well, colleges and universities aren’t really able to “keep up” with it all, and really prepare students with the proper knowledge they will need for the jobs of the future.

Chinese students have been going to the US in HUGE numbers over the past 10 years or so.  They are growing so fast.  I just read in a really interesting article from the Wall Street Journal that about 70% of them return to China after graduating to find a job, and less and less of them can find a good job.  They’ve almost “wasted” their parent’s hard earned money, and it’s not their fault either.

The price of education is going up fast, the quality is going down fast, and more and more people are joining the workforce with the same degree, the same piece of paper.

They have a huge debt/loan to pay off.  It’s almost like they have a mortgage, but NO HOUSE!

Students in America owe a total of over 1 trillion dollars in student loans.  That is $1 000 000 000 000.  Insane.  Thousands and thousands of students in the US owe more money just in student loans, than the price of a pretty decent house!  I’m not joking.

REAL skills (like learning high level English, computers/internet, and networking) are becoming more important (and not expensive)

Anyway……  Do I think that it’s a terrible idea to get a university education?  Of course not!  But I absolutely think that you should really think about this carefully, and don’t just be a sheep and think that your insanely expensive piece of paper will just magically help you.  You need to think ahead and think “smarter” than most of the other people who just believe whatever they are told by society.

I’d love to know where you are from, how old you are, and what your thoughts are about this topic.  Please share your thoughts about this important topic in the comments below.

I also just watched an AWESOME documentary about this situation and I put that video and the article about international students studying in China here in the VIP community for you guys to enjoy.  You will love both.  There is a lot of great stuff in there that is both really interesting AND will help your English.  I spend so much of my time looking for this kind of stuff for you guys.  I’m sure you’ll love it

Again, please let me know your situation, and your exact opinion on this.  If you completely agree or totally disagree with me, that’s totally fine.  It’s great practice for your English to get your thoughts down in writing, and it’s great for all of us (including me) to learn and think about different perspectives.  We can all learn from each other.

Here is the basic idea:  The fuel (gas) costs for airplanes is HUGE.  Doing anything to save fuel costs is a very important business idea for any airline company.  The problem is that this can be a very sensitive issue.  We all know that it costs more money (a lot more) to fly with very expensive luggage.  But what about if you are fat yourself?  It’s not very easy for the airlines to say, “sorry sir, you are too fat. We need to charge you extra money to pay for the extra fuel required to fly your fat ass all over the world”.

I even remember a debate from years ago about charging super fat people double price.  This idea was not because of the fuel price, but because some people were so fat that they literally needed to sit on 2 seats.  We all know that airplane seats aren’t very big in economy class, and it’s easy to imagine that its absolutely impossible to put 3 super super fat people side by side in 3 seats.  (If you don’t believe that there are many people who are really that fat, then, well, I guess you’ve never been to the USA!)

Anyway, this topic is about any extra weight on a plane costing the airlines money.  Due to “political correctness” and an overly sensitive world (especially in the West) it’s impossible to charge passengers based on their body weight.

One Indian airline company recently had an interesting idea.  They announced that they are going to hire mostly petite (small) female staff.  A lot of airlines do this anyway, but they are making it a policy (rule) and their reason is that it will save them money on fuel costs.  I think it’s obvious that most airlines want to hire attractive young female flight attendants for other reasons, like for all the male passengers who love staring at them (even though men don’t easily admit this).  It’s good for almost any business to have attractive females deal with the customers.  But it’s not easy to just say “we are only going to hire attractive women”.

Anyway, the Indian airline gets to have the “best of both worlds”.  The way they are selling this idea to the public is they are saying that they want small females because it saves them “gas money”.  Apparently, just hiring mostly small women will save the company $500 000 USD per year in fuel costs.  That is a lot of money, AND it’s better for the environment.

I know what a lot of “western people” think about this topic, and I’m interested in your international opinion.  Please share your comments as usual in the comments section below.

1.  Do you think it’s ok for airline companies to start charging heavy people more money to fly?  Why or why not?

2.  Do you think people in the west are “overly sensitive” about these things?

3.  Do you think it’s ok to hire only small females for this job?  Is it fair?  Why or why not?

There are really no right or wrong answers, all of this stuff is just personal opinion to get you guys talking and practising English.  I can’t wait to hear your ideas.

We’ve got the live chat set up now and some more cool movies in here:  Live chat and more cool movies

Here was the original article from CNN.

Can’t wait to read your thoughts!

Mainstream news would be stuff like the news on TV, or major newspapers like the New York Times.  If it’s a big company making news, it’s “mainstream news”.  They have the advantage of having more money than independent bloggers or people making news on Youtube.  They can use all that money to send their staff to find out the real story.  They might (not always) be more attractive (if they are on TV) or talented at writing (If they write for a major newspaper).   Sounds like they should be a lot better right?  Well…

The problem with mainstream news is that it’s almost impossible to tell exactly how fake it is and how much BS they are feeding us.  Why would a major news organization want to make fake news if they can just tell the truth?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this question lately for some reason.  (I’m weird, I know.  You can say it.  Lol

Companies pay millions of dollars for advertising to the mainstream news companies.  So, even though the news organizations can theoretically write or say whatever they want, it’s the companies who are actually in control because they are paying the money.  They are not in direct control of the content, but they will take their advertising dollars to another place if they aren’t happy with the content of the news.

I read somewhere that climate change was hardly talked about at all last year by anyone in the mainstream media.  This is a perfect example of the power companies have with the advertising dollars.  Do you think that big oil companies will want to advertise on a news channel or newspaper that talks about how terrible oil is?  No way!  Do you think that Walmart will want to spend millions of USD on advertising to news channels that talk about how Walmart loves paying terrible wages to their workers and how they also try not to give them health insurance?  Obviously not.

So all private news stations and newspapers are corrupted by the people who pay them money.  It’s a huge problem and it leads to a very brainwashed society.

When I was growing up, I remember learning that government owned news networks are terrible because they always lie to make their own country look good and other countries look bad.  That is totally true, BUT, as I’ve grown up, I’ve also learned that news from private news companies is also a huge joke.  It’s almost impossible to get reliable news because there is so much bias in mainstream media.

Independent news shows on Youtube and people are blogging about the news are a lot better in the sense that they can say or write whatever they want because they don’t deal with advertisers directly, but the problem with them is that they don’t have the money to get the real information themselves.  If a blogger wants to write about a news story, they can’t send someone to the actual place the event is happening, they can only follow the mainstream news and then make their best guess from that.  It’s sick!

Hopefully this will change with “new media”, but it’s going to take some time.  BTW, “new media” is basically a term that describes the ways of getting information on the internet.  ”Youtube, Twitter, Blogging, etc”.  It’s in contrast to “traditional media” which is print newspapers, online newspapers, and TV news.

The news is different in every country, and it shapes our cultures and our understanding of the world.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on how you think the news is covered in your country, how you think it’s covered internationally, and what you think a possible solution is.  Do you even think it’s a big problem like I do?  Very curious to hear your thoughts on that below.

Add and I are also SUPER excited this week since the launch of our brand new private English community.  I’ve got a very strong feeling this is going to kick ass more than anything we’ve ever done, BY FAR.  Thanks to everyone who is in there already, and thanks especially for sharing your stories and helping to make it kick total ass.  Hope to see more of you in there… (It will be awesome; just sayin…)    :)

Looking forward to your comments as always guys!

Have a great day!

Here’s what happened…..

There was a really important basketball game yesterday between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers.  After the game, the media always interviews the players on TV.  One of the players was upset and said some “bad words”.  He wasn’t saying them directly to anyone, but he was definitely swearing when he was upset.  The player apologized later for saying the bad words.  The word that really got him into trouble was the word “homo”, which is a very negative term to describe a gay man.

He doesn’t hate gay people, just the word came out when he was angry, and he did say sorry after.

Then…..

The NBA fined him $75 000 USD.  To be honest, $75 000 is nothing for him, because the guy makes 12 million dollars a year, but still, he did have to pay this money.

The question is, “Should the player still have to pay money for saying a bad word and then apologizing?”

I personally think “NO”.  Not if it only happens once or twice.  Sometimes people say things they don’t mean when they are angry.  Then they apologize.  I don’t see the big deal if it’s not happening all the time.

Some people think it’s really terrible, and this player should pay this money for saying these words.  They think it’s very bad if some kids are watching TV at that time.  To be honest, I think I understand that point of view, but I just don’t really think it’s SO TERRIBLE if a kid hears a bad word.  They will hear these words anyway in life, and as a parent, you can just say “Those are bad words so you shouldn’t say them”.

I think the world is getting too “politically correct”.  People are too worried about saying the right thing all the time.  I think this worry makes for boring and fake people on TV.  No one can give an opinion any more without worrying about the consequences.  People are so scared to say something “bad” on TV that they “play it safe” and don’t share their real personalities, opinions, jokes, etc.  It’s like we’re forcing famous people to be like perfect little fake robots.

I hate it!  I think it’s foolish and it’s not helping society.  But I do realize that it is not a fact, but rather my opinion on the situation.  I’d love to hear your opinions below.

And I also want to point out something new and exciting.  Within the past 5 minutes, Add and I just opened up our new private English learning community.  We really hope you take a look and see if it’s right for you.  As of right now, Add and I are the only members, BUT this will grow fast and we will stop accepting members at some point.  It’s not for everyone.  If you think you might be interested, now is the time to try it out.  Looking forward to seeing you in the kick ass private community

We’ll talk to you on there.  Lot’s of awesome stuff to come on there.  Join up and see what it’s all about if it sounds interesting to you.  (I’m only about 99.9% sure you’ll love it)

This video was an American news video. It was talking about a story that apparently happened in China. I say “apparently” because, as you guys know, I live here and I didn’t hear about it. Anyway, I do believe it happened.

Apparently some woman in China was working in some kind of “divorce office”. I suppose she was one person in charge of allowing people to get divorced (I’m not sure which city) but it doesn’t really matter for this story. Anyway, when a husband and wife walk into the office to get a divorce, this woman is supposed to do the paperwork to make it official.

Well, I guess this Chinese woman didn’t like to see so many divorces, so she would pretend that the printer wasn’t working or she would make up some story that would make the couple “think twice” about getting the divorce. Her purpose of making the excuse was to try to save marriages and only give them to couples who are super serious about getting a divorce, and not just in a silly argument. Because of what this lady was doing, the couple would have to go home while still married because the divorce couldn’t happen that day, and if they still wanted a divorce later, they would have to go back to the office and get one.

According to this woman, many couples never returned. I guess they didn’t REALLY want one. I think many young couples don’t treat marriage seriously like they did in the past, and they get divorced for a silly reason like a dumb argument.

Divorces are getting more common all over the world. Some people think this is a horrible and sad thing for obvious reasons. Some people actually think its a good thing because they believe that people shouldn’t be married if they don’t want to be. They believe that if a couple says they want a divorce, just let them, what’s the big deal? It’s their choice right? They also believe that the reason there are more divorces now than in the past is because people in the past who were in terrible marriages (maybe where the husband was hitting his wife or in a marriage where one of them were cheating) would just stay married, even though the marriage was TERRIBLE. It’s definitely much easier to get a divorce now, and more people are getting them.

For me, I’m personally a little bit more traditional. I do believe that more divorces are a bad thing for society in general. I don’t think marriage should be treated lightly or like a total joke. It’s more than just a piece of paper in my mind. I do believe that couples who are truly in a horrible marriage should be able to get divorced, but I don’t think it should be so easy that all you have to do is get in a little argument and say “I want a divorce”.

If it’s so easy to get divorces, why even have marriage? If it’s JUST a piece of paper, then what is the point of that paper? I think we need to be somewhere in middle.

Anyway, the Americans in the video were saying it was WRONG of the Chinese woman to be doing this. They thought that the government should totally stay out of this business of divorce. I think the Americans who made this video were wrong. They were too simple minded and they treated marriage like it had too little meaning in my opinion.

The American woman in the video has especially ridiculous views on this (in my opinion again). I don’t like her thinking at all. I would love to hear what you guys think on this topic! I know some people can watch Youtube and some can’t because of the country you are in, but anyway, for those who can watch it, here it is.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section!   I am fine if you disagree with me on this.  It’s just opinions.  I’d love to hear where you are from, why you think what you do, and how old you are and what you do.  (Or anything you’d like to share with us)

By the way, the new SUPER VIP monthly membership is coming VERY SOON!!  It’s going to be amazing so get ready…

Also, remember to watch my daily free English learning videos here.

Today I want to talk about how we teach young kids in different cultures, AND how you think we SHOULD be teaching young kids.

I think most countries in the world have realized that history has been unfair to women in very many ways.  In history, it’s usually men who went to school, men who earned the money, men who had the power etc.  Even today, we see that it’s often easier for men to get promotions at work (Not all of the time, but often).

We’ve made a lot of progress.  We now see huge companies, like Yahoo, with female CEO’s.  We see women who are presidents of countries.  Times have really changed a lot in most places throughout the world.

I have some questions for you:

What more needs to be done to help women have more opportunities in the world?  Is it already “fair” or do we still have a lot of work to do in order to make things more fair to women?

SHOULD we be treating men and women in the same ways when they are children?  In your opinion, do you believe that there are naturally some jobs that are better for men and some jobs that are better for women?  Do you think this idea is total BS?  For example, do you think that being a police officer is more of a “man job” and being a nurse is better for women?  Is that crazy?

If a couple gets married and has 2 kids and the mom stays home and takes care of the house and kids while the father “brings home the bacon”  (That means earns the money for the family) is that ok?  Should we respect a woman’s choice to do this?  Is being a “housewife” ok?

What about if the father stayed home and the mom worked?  Should we think that is normal too?  Should people respect a man for staying home with the kids while his wife works?  Is this “manly”?  Is being a “house husband” ok?  Why or why not?

Should we try to forget words like “manly” or “womanly” in our languages?  Are there some types of attitudes and behaviours that are more suitable to men and women?

Should we teach our sons and our daughters the EXACT same things ALL the time?  Should there be any difference in how we teach men and women to behave?   What is the difference between men and women in this world in your opinion?

Please share where you are from and why you think the way you do.  Thanks so much!

By the way, here is a video I just made.  I’d love to hear what you think of this style of video.  If you like it, please subscribe for free to our English Learning Videos  I’m going to be making very many!  There will be awesome stuff for free and even cooler stuff in the VIP section!  Great news for all.  Here is the video on the phrasal verb put down

Note:  Add and I already did a podcast about Tiger Woods and what happened with his wife.  Here is the Tiger Woods podcast

Anyway, his wife found out about the cheating and obviously wanted to leave him.  Tiger Woods is obviously a very rich and famous golfer.  It’s no surprise that he has A LOT of money.

Cheating on your wife or husband is clearly a very bad thing to do (I think in any culture) but it’s an interesting topic because cheating is handled very differently all over the world.  I wanted to have a little discussion here about this, teach some English, and get your thoughts and cultural opinions.

I don’t know all the laws in all western countries, but in Canada and the US, getting divorced is expensive!  If you are the rich person, getting divorced can often cost you at least half of your money and assets.  The reason for the divorce doesn’t even matter.  If you are a rich guy and your wife cheats on you, she still gets half of your money.  It sounds crazy, but it’s true.  It’s the same if a man did that to a woman.  (Mini English lesson:  Cheating on your wife or husband is called having an “extra marital affair”)  Sometimes people just use the word “affair” to make it simpler.  Anyway, that’s what it means.

Do you think that is fair and reasonable?  How does it work in your country?  Should couples split money 50/50 for ANY reason in a divorce?

As many of you know from our podcasts, my girlfriend is from Seoul Korea.  We were talking about this and she told me something that shocked me.  She said that cheating on your husband or wife is illegal in South Korea.  If you get caught doing it, it’s possible you go to jail for up to 2 years.  I just read the same thing online.  (I should believe her more when we talk.  It’s my habit to always look up facts on the internet)  I actually think it’s an interesting law.  It’s new to me, but I think it makes sense. 2 years is a long time, but cheating is really horrible and it destroys families.  It’s a difficult question.  What do you guys think?  How is this handled in your country?  Any Koreans reading this want to comment?  We’d love to hear from you!  (And from everyone around the world too of course.)

Ok….. Back to Tiger Woods and his ex.  She got a HUGE divorce settlement.  (A “settlement” in this case means a lot of money, or a lot of stuff with value, things like houses, cars, etc)  It’s what the divorce courts “settled” or agreed upon.  That’s why it’s called a”settlement”.

Tiger cheated on her, so it’s certainly fair that she should get a lot of his stuff, but it’s quite amazing how much she got.  Do you think this is fair and reasonable?  Maybe it is, I just want to hear your honest opinions.  She’s one rich lady.  She got about $100 million USD in the settlement!

Love to hear your thoughts on all this guys!  (By the way, I read your comments from the last article and am working on a good lesson to teach those words and phrases.  Thanks for all the support!)

Here is the Yahoo article I was reading.  You can see photos of the house she’s getting.

Again, here is the Tiger Woods Divorce Podcast if you are interested and haven’t heard it yet.