December 15, 2006, 8:54 PM CT
Go To Finland
Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It finally won its complete independence in 1917, eventhough the country promptly plunged into a bitter civil war between the conservative Whites and the Communist Reds, eventually won by the Whites.
During World War II, Finland was attacked by the Soviet Union in the Winter War, but fought them to a standstill that saw Russia conquer 20% of Finnish territory. Finland then allied with Gera number of in an unsuccessful attempt to repel the Russians, but was defeated and, as a condition for peace, had to turn against the Germans instead. After the war, Finland fell into the Soviet sphere of influence, but maintained a studied policy of official neutrality and managed to retain a free market economy and internal political freedom. In the subsequent half century, the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy featuring high-tech giants like Nokia, and per capita income is now on par with Western Europe.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Finland joined the European Union in 1995, and was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink
October 26, 2006, 5:18 AM CT
Moderate Drinking May Boost Memory
In the long run, a drink or two a day may be good for the brain.
Researchers found that moderate amounts of alcohol - amounts equivalent to a couple of drinks a day for a human - improved the memories of laboratory rats.
Such a finding may have implications for serious neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, said Matthew During, the study's senior author and a professor of molecular virology, immunology and cancer genetics at Ohio State University.
"There is some evidence suggesting that mild to moderate alcohol consumption can protect against diseases like Alzheimer's in humans," said During. "But it's not apparent how this happens".
He and his colleague, Margaret Kalev-Zylinska, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Auckland, in New Zealand, uncovered a neuronal mechanism that may help explain the link between alcohol and improved memory.
"We saw a noticeable change on the surface of certain neurons in rats that were given alcohol," During said. "This change may have something to do with the positive effects of alcohol on memory".
The researchers presented their findings at the annual Society for Neuroscience conference in Atlanta.
During and Kalev-Zylinska designed a special liquid diet for the rats. One formulation included a low dose of alcohol, comparable to two or three drinks a day for a human, while the other diet included a much higher dose of alcohol, comparable to six or seven drinks a day for a human. A third group of rats was given a liquid diet without alcohol. All animals were given their respective diets daily for about four weeks.........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source
October 25, 2006, 5:05 AM CT
The Space Tourism Industry Can Really Make Money
So far, only one craft has flown in space, sending test pilots to the final frontier at an expense of $25 million-plus to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize. Market right now doesn't show the prospects that were expected by the investors in the space tourism industry.
But this doesn't mean that people in the real world don't have any respect for this industry. Space Tourism is not aimed at "space geeks" only. This seems the way it is because people in the real world can't afford the million dollars ride into the space and it looks like they are less bothered about what is going on in the space tourism industry.
Every body around the world would like to see the futuristic industry to succeed in the splendid mission they are trying to achieve. The market will sooner prove that investors can really make money on space tourism. There are no doubt high risks in investing millions or billions of dollars. But all of this is going to come out in its totality in two to four years.
Via:msnbc........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source
September 25, 2006, 6:46 PM CT
Galapagos Wildlife
Galapagos WildlifeReptiles.There are 27 species of reptiles found on the Galapagos divided in five families as follows: snakes, geckos, Iguanas, lava lizards and, the giant tortoises.
Giant Tortoises (Geochelone elephantopus).The Galapagos and the Seychelles are the sole islands housing giant tortoises while the Galapagos name originates from the Saddleback tortoise meaning galápago or saddle.
14 subspecies of this wonderful ancient has been located on the islands and 11 survive to this day. The most senior tortoise lives in the Darwin Research Station and is purported to be a grand 170. Longevity results through perhaps a stress free lifestyle as all their life consists of is eating, mating and sleeping with no predators at large in addition to nesting during February to May when the females prepare to lay their eggs which take between 3 to 8 months to hatch.
Today the Darwin Research station is helping to increase the current 15,000 population of giant turtles and along with the Santa Cruz tortoise reserve on San Cristobal housing the highest population of all islands the captivity approach is working effectively.
Marine Turtles (Chelonia mydas).The pacific green turtle mates around December-January and lays its eggs from 80 up to over 100 in a hole in the darkness of night with Floreana beach being a popular area for the laying of their eggs.........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source
August 19, 2006, 4:30 PM CT
Stranger in a Strange Land
This past weekend was BlogHer. I only was able to make it down for the Saturday sessions, but overall, I think it was a great event. In a sentence, it was the most valuable blogging-related event I have attended in the past year.
Now, some might think this is a little overblown, but, well, let them choke on their own bile. The event was how such blogging events should be: the newbies and the veterans getting together to discuss blogging and blogging practices. This is the only time that I have not seen the newbies attacked as idiots or undeserving the veterans attention, but rather working together to make the community better. Let me ask you: is that such a bad thing?.
As others have noted, there was hugging and kissing and giggling - but that was pretty much just me, as I tend to hug and kiss people I know hello. And, well, I got to meet a lot of people that I read, but have not seen yet in person, or people that I met at the conference or people that are friends: Nellie Lide, Teresa Valdez Klein, Toby Bloomberg, Susan Getgood, Amy Gahran, Josh Hallett, Erin Caldwell, Robert Scoble, Stacy Libby. the list goes on and on, and the people that I forgot, I apologize.
And, well, Lisa and Elisa and Jory did a great job - and that's not a shock. Yep, me talking to Jory and Elisa.........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source
August 19, 2006, 11:50 AM CT
Paris, The City Of Lights
Paris is the capital of France and - with 2 million people living in the center and some 10 million people in the suburbs (la banlieue) - one of the largest cities in Europe.
Central Paris is officially divided into 20 districts called arrondissements, numbered from 1 to 20 in a clockwise spiral from the centre of town. Arrondissements are named as per their number. You might, for example, stay in the "5th", which would be written as 5ème (SANK-ee-emm) in French. The 12th and 16th arrondissements include large suburban parks, the Bois de Vincennes, and the Bois de Boulogne respectively. Additionally the newer skyscraper district La Défense is also an official district of Paris.
The very best cheap pocket map you can get for Paris is called "Paris Pratique par Arrondissement" which you can buy at any news stand. It makes navigating the city easy, so much so that one can imagine that the introduction of such map-books might be part of what made the arrondissement concept so popular in the first place.........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source
August 5, 2006, 0:14 AM CT
Paris Dragons
I don't think I would have known there was an exhibition of dragons in Paris, if I hadn't seen this fire breather at the Gare de Lyon train station the other day. This particular dragon claims to be made with eco-packaging but it has that evil symbol that tricks people into thinking it is environmentally friendly and recyclable (but in reality it isn't). The saving grace is that this dragon is, in fact, getting recycled in the form of a sculpture.
Despite my bitterness toward evil conglomerates that pretend they are being good to nature, it doesn't mean that the exhibition is not worth visiting. The exhibition looks pretty cool, actually.
Exposition of Dragons.
April 5 to November 6 (the dragon at the station will be there until June 15).
La Grande Galerie de l'Exposition.
Jardin des Plantes.
36 rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.
75005 Paris.
Hours: 10am to 6pm (Saturdays open 'til 8pm).
Admission: 8 Euros.........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source
August 3, 2006, 10:15 PM CT
Bums' Paradise
Bums' Paradise is a 53-minute documentary that depicts the lives of the men and women who lived in the ten-year-old Albany Landfill community previous to their eviction. It follows them through the eviction and documents them one month after the eviction. The film emphasizes their concepts of community as well as the amazing art that they created. Instead of being a documentary about homelessness, Bums' Paradise considers the question: What if the homeless - the indigent, the bums - told their own stories? This is exactly what filmmakers Tomas McCabe and Andrei Rozen set out to explore with the Albany Landfill residents. Both McCabe and Rozen shot for five months. Landfill resident Robert "Rabbit" Barringer was also given a camera to film life as he experienced it as a resident on the Landfill. What unfolds is a rich and complex story showing the full spectrum of human experience. We see segments on love, family, home, politics, community, art, insanity, and addiction: Paula and Chris are a couple - Sparky paints pictures on broken pieces of concrete - Rabbit talks about social egalitarianism and Marxism. Ashby talks about his experiences with the police; "Mad" Mark talks about a gas or liquid drug that induces hypnosis. Jean Paul reveals his shattering thoughts facing jail time versus being evicted:.........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source
August 3, 2006, 10:11 PM CT
My Little Hiding Place
Everyone has a hiding place. Mine is the little island of Shamian. Ever since.
I discovered it in 2002, I keep returning this place whenever I can. The people who run the little shops and restaurants there remember me and that makes me happy. Some pictures from Shamian Dao.
East meets west. They added these statues sometimes in 2003. Over the years they have been making this island more and more pretty.
The musicians enjoy while the men shoot an advert for a shop. The canal behind them seperates the island from rest of Guangzhou. Some shops here are gift shops targeted at the tourists. One of most famous and expensive hotels in Guangzhou - the White Swan hotel as well one of the better budget hotel - the Guangzhou youth hostel are on this island. If you want to eat cheap local food you will have to cross the canal. Shamain has more expensive restaurants - again for the tourists - though there is a smal hidden away canteen that serves the people working here. You got to just make friends with someone here and they will be happy to show you the place.........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source
August 3, 2006, 9:57 PM CT
Phuket Roundup
Phew! what I fantastically hectic week and a half!.
I went on a little getaway for 4 days to Phuket last week, where I had a ball of a time with the Other, save for a few island wide power outages on our second or third night there, which was truly horrific considering that you are airconless in a hotel room, while it was raining and it's steamy and you just feel uncomfortable and damp.
Still, we had a fantastic time and couldn't have picked a better time to go when it was low season and there weren't as a number of tourists as usual. Still there is always Patong for all the touristy bits and underbelly goings-on of the Phuket nightlife.
I have never gone to Phuket before, so I don't know what it was like pre-tsunami, but judging from what I saw, everything looks normal. You wouldn't even know a tsunami hit Phuket last December if not for the bits of destroyed buildings you see here and there and of course the commemorative t-shirts sold by street vendors along the beaches. In fact, while we were there, the annual Phuket Surfing Contest was going on, so it looks as if everything is back to normal, with lots of smiles and friendly locals.
We hired a jeep (800 Baht per day) there for 2 days as driving would help us get around faster and we could go places that normal tourists wouldn't have gone to. But may I remark that the jeep was quite nasty as it leaked water and the windshield wiper on the passenger side came off while we were on our way back to the resort! Luckily it was still on the bonnet and I simply wound the window down, stretched my hand out to grasp the end of the wiper, all while we were going 100km/hour on the highway!.........
Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source
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