Smartphones

I think we're all old enough to remember a time without smartphones, but there are many young people that have grown up with them.  Have you ever considered the affects (both positive and negative) on their development?

This article asks "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation"?:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/

In some places classes are being offered to students on a topic that in the past no one would have considered necesary-love:

https://www.npr.org/2017/11/22/565618299/lessons-in-love-for-generation-snapchat

I'm looking forward to discussing the differences between your generation and others as it relates to smartphones and hearing your opinions on the effects of the smartphone on today's generation.  

Thanksgiving & Awkward Conversations

Next Thursday will be Thanksgiving in the U.S.  I bet most of you know what it is and how it is celebrated, but if not here's a refresher from the notorious Sun:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/4645687/thanksgiving-2017-us-date-when-how-celebrated/

This children's video explains it as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faUYJ9fMiGg

This story gives a less whitewashed version:

http://yournewswire.com/the-real-and-uncomfortable-story-about-thanksgiving/

Aside from turkey and Black Friday Thanksgiving is also known for awkward conversations with family members that you don't see eye to eye with.  Does this ever happen to you at your family gatherings?  What topics often devolve into screaming matches?  What are some topics that you can't discuss?

Here's some tips on how to avoid awkward family conversations:

https://www.brit.co/how-to-survive-awkward-family-thanksgiving-dinner-conversations/

Or you can follow Larry Wilmore's tips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY9Xm2XpF_E

Realistically though, Thanksgiving isn't the only time you can have an awkward conversation.  Here are some suggestions to help you avoid making some mistakes:

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-avoid-the-most-common-awkward-conversation-mista-1257095824

Traffic, Commuting, and Public Transportation

In Houston I used to spend an hour and a half in traffic each way every single day. It drove me nuts.  I wasn't the only one:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/time-americans-waste-traffic/story?id=33313765

What is/was your daily commute like?  Have you had jobs previously where your commute was worse/better than now?  What would be your cutoff before you say enough is enough and change jobs?  What is your limit?

In most places in the U.S. people drive to work, but in many other places people use public transportation.  Here's an article about public transit around the world:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/02/how-the-commute-to-work-differs-around-the-world/?utm_term=.a64841e5d40d

Do you prefer public transportation to private?  What are the benefits of walking, cycling, driving your own car, or taking a bus or subway?

Here is a Ted Talk by the mayor of Bogotá about public transportation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3YjeARuilI

And here is another where a sociologist explains America's dependence on the automobile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8D9RXncGZ4

La sécurité sociale et l'assurance maladie

Je vous envoie deux courtes vidéos à regarder pour jeudi. Elles parlent de la Sécurité Sociale et de l'Assurance Maladie. 

3 minutes pour comprendre la Sécurité social

Comment fonctionne notre système de santé?

Ruta Natural 21 de octubre 2017

Sports

This week I´d like to talk about sports, and it´s perfect timing too because yesterday my hometown team won the World Series (baseball championship):

http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/84360/houston-strongest-after-more-than-a-half-century-astros-win-first-world-series-title

What sports do you like?  What sports do you play or did you play in the past?  What professional teams do you support?

Should professional teams be able to move from one city to the next?  Are they private entities or public institutions?  Often in the U.S. owners try to move a team to greener pastures depriving the city of their beloved team:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/10/17/crew-sc-exploring-new-columbus-stadium-or-potential-move-austin

Often, as in this case, the issue at hand is the owners insistence on a new stadium.  Should stadiums be publicly funded?  John Oliver had a segment on his show Last Week Tonight about this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcwJt4bcnXs

I´d also like to talk about the intersection of politics and sports.  Are there any instances that you can think of where sports and politics bleed into each other?  

In the U.S., you may have heard, professional athletes were protesting police brutality but of course the black hole that is Donald Trump turned it into something else entirely:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/22/donald-trump-nfl-national-anthem-protests