The fire withinin

Now the olympics in Canada are finished, I introduce you to a former 'theme song' for the olympic winter games,

The Fire Within (Michael Kamen & Brian May)
Presumably written by Brian May and Michael Kamen. Original version 8:51
This track was conducted by Michael Kamen (who worked on 'Highlander').
It features mostly classical music, with Brian's guitar playing the part of 'The Fire Within'.
Performed at the opening of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 8 February 2002
The 'classical' music was performed live, but Brian's guitar solo was pre-recorded.

Bulgarian airbag absorbs semi-automatic rifle round

Bulgarian airbag absorbs semi-automatic rifle round

Implant saves US woman's life, plastic surgeon claims

A California woman caught up in a fatal shooting may have been saved by her D-cup breast implants, one of which took a round from a semi-automatic assault rifle, the Los Angeles Times reports.

On 1 July last year, Lydia Carranza was working at the front desk of a dentist's office in Simi Valley, north west of Los Angeles. Jaime Paredes, the estranged husband of one of her co-workers "marched into the office" with the rifle, first shooting his wife's brother in the stomach, then killing his wife, before turning the weapon on the other workers.

He shot Carranza in the arm and, despite her playing dead, shot her again in the chest at point-blank range. She said: "I didn't look or think about it. I just felt wet in my chest area. I thought I was going to die."

Now, the Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who's offered to reconstruct Carranza's chest claims it was the breast implant that saved her life. He said: "She's just one lucky woman. I saw the CT scan. The bullet fragments were millimeters from her heart and her vital organs. Had she not had the implant, she might not be alive today."

Scott Reitz, a "firearms instructor and deadly-force expert witness with 30 years' experience in the LAPD", described the implant as "like a high-pressure bag full of salt water" which would "probably would provide more resistance than plain flesh".

He noted: "Common sense would dictate that any time you have something that interrupts the velocity of the projectile, it would benefit the object it was trying to strike."

Reitz did, though, conclude: "I don't want to say a boob job is the equivalent of a bulletproof vest. So don't go getting breast enhancements as a means to deflect a possible incoming bullet." �

Bootnote

Jaime Paredes is currently being held without bail on "numerous counts including murder and premeditated attempted murder", the LA Times explains.

Staind - For you

And now the real stuff

A fantastic song, with a great clip, just with full instruments, so be warned, it is different

but sure as good as the others

Staind - everything changed (acoustic)

One of there well known songs, I realy love the arcoustic versions, and hope you do too.

Staind - sober (acoustic)

Mmm, some nice new clips from this great band, enjoy!

Monday.. grrr.. Maandag, grrr... :)))

Goede morgen allemaal

Good morning lovely lot

Jemig, wat een storm gisterenmiddag opeens, en wat een hoop bomen zijn er omgevallen, ook hier. Gelukkig is het weer voorbij, het is een stukje kouder geworden, maar dat liever dan rondvliegende dakpannen!
Slecht geslapen heb ik vannacht, ik was nog helemaal aan het ijshockeyen, wat een spannende wedstrijd, en wat een goede winnaar uiteindelijk. Tsja, de olympische spelen waren erg leuk! Op naar het volgende evenement!


It was pretty stormy yesterday, luckily the weather calmed down and we dont need to worry any longer about all kind of things blowing through the air.

It's a new monday, a new month, a new week, and even Garfield and company now and than have the right to have a day off, I should say.

Not here for me, a bit sleepy, I could not sleep past night after the exiting hockey final. What a match and what a party!

Enjoy your day, and eventually the -a bit unusual- clip under the cartoon!

Published on Friday, February 26, 2010 by Inter Press Service

Death Penalty Phasing Out Worldwide

Post-Genocide Countries Ban Executions to 'End Revenge'

by Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA - More than 1,000 activists and experts attending this week's Fourth World Congress Against the Death Penalty in this Swiss city are building a network of cooperation to support local organisations campaigning for human rights in countries that retain capital punishment.

One-third of the world's countries still apply the death sentence, and 2,390 persons were executed in 2008, according to Amnesty International (AI).

Nevertheless, there was marked global progress towards abolition of the death penalty in 2008, said the London-based rights watchdog.

In fact a real change in the history of the death penalty has occurred over the last 30 years, said Mario Marazziti, spokesman for the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Rome-based organisation that promotes international relations founded on human rights and North-South interdependence.

Back in the 1970s, only 23 countries had abolished the death penalty, by removing it from the statute books or ceasing to practice it, whereas today United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reports that 141 nations have taken this step, or 139 countries according to AI, said Marazziti.

The discrepancy arises because "specialist organisations may have access to confidential information that one or two executions have been carried out in a couple of countries, without any publicity," so there is doubt about the status of one or two countries, the Italian expert said.

So "we have around 140 countries without the death penalty, out of 192 in the world," said Marazziti, who added that the figures "indicate a real acceleration in at least the past 20 years."

As well as strengthening an international support network for those campaigning against court-ordered executions, the World Congress, which ends Friday, is planning a common strategy for the U.N. General Assembly session in December that is due to discuss a resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty.

An appropriate strategy must include simultaneous action in every region of the world, Marazziti told IPS. The Community of Sant'Egidio is calling on South Africa, Russia and Brazil to commit themselves to this effort, and help bring in other players like Mexico and Chile, he said.

That way, it cannot be argued that this is a European initiative, or the product of a single school of thought. It will be a demand made by the whole world, the expert said.

Prime Minister Jos� Luis Rodr�guez Zapatero of Spain, which currently holds the EU rotating presidency, confirmed that he will push for approval of the death penalty moratorium resolution at the U.N. General Assembly.

Opening the World Congress on Wednesday, Zapatero said his government wishes to establish an International Commission Against the Death Penalty. Such a body would be a great help in securing universal application of an effective moratorium by 2015, as a step towards total abolition, he said.

The year 2015 was not chosen at random: it coincides with the deadline approved in 2000 by U.N. member countries for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which set targets for slashing hunger, poverty and disease and improving education, health, equality and preservation of the environment.

"As well as slavery and torture, the death penalty must be consigned to history. It's a barbaric and old-fashioned way of interpreting justice," said Marazziti.

"I think the MDGs mean that life must be respected under any circumstances, even when there is suspicion of a crime," he said. "I want that to be respected, because not all the MDGs are respected."

The countries where the most executions took place in 2008 included China (1,718), Iran (346), Saudi Arabia (102), the United States (37), Pakistan (36), Iraq (34), Vietnam (19), Afghanistan (17), and North Korea and Japan (15 each).

Changes are happening in the United States, Marazziti said. Even in the state of Texas, where there is a high level of support for the death penalty, "only eight new death sentences were handed down in 2009 whereas the previous annual average was 48. And (the states of) New Jersey and New Mexico have abolished the death penalty within the last two years," he added.

In China, two things have happened. "The Supreme Court removed the power to pass death sentences from the local courts two years ago, and observers said that this should bring about a reduction of up to 30 percent in new death sentences," he said.

And a few days ago, "the Supreme Court published official guidelines instructing tribunals not to give the death penalty except for very heinous crimes or crimes against the state. So, this is another good sign," Marazziti said.

Last month, Mongolia abolished the death penalty. Uzbekistan had already done so, and Kazakhstan has eliminated it for ordinary crimes.

Marazziti highlighted the cases of Cambodia, Rwanda and Burundi, "three countries that have really suffered the last three big genocides in contemporary history, yet feel that only without the death penalty can a reconciliation process be started in their societies. Otherwise revenge, and the thirst for revenge, will never end."

These countries' abolition of capital punishment is "a very symbolic and meaningful step that can be an answer to those countries that say: 'We have a high level of violence, we need the death penalty'," he stressed.

"I think that we are experiencing a positive trend to eradicate the death penalty in the world," said the Italian expert.

Originally many African societies did not have the death penalty. It arrived hand in hand with colonialism, because African nations copied European constitutions and many other customs, he pointed out.

But on this issue, Africa is now changing faster than the other continents, he concluded.

� 2010 IPS North America

Pictures

Goede middag allemaal

Tsja, je kan met je grote liefde op allerlei manieren te koop lopen, maar de hoofdzaak is toch dat het in het hart goed zit, en daar helpen foto's niet aan he?
Natuurljk mag en kan je trots zijn op je grote liefde, en iedereen beleeft dat op zijn/haar eigen manier, gelukkig maar.
En een ding staat vast voor mij, en dat schreeuw ik ook van de daken

Music was my first love ... (and it will be my last)

And that is how it is!
Good afternoon lovely world. There are so many ways to show your love for your passion, no matter what it is! Be proud on what you have, on what you are and I realy count the blessings day by day.
And on a day like today, I value all the sudden the silent moments with true friends. Those moments that tell me so much.

Enjoy your life, you are worth it as much as me

And the song...
is realy a wonderful, amazing, fantastic song

9 minutes top performing, kicks ass, enjoy it!

Garfield

I am a bit late today,
but I can not leave the day without sharing this wonderful Garfield with you.

Yesterday we could think that Garfield was trying to annoy Jon
but now the dog catches the princess as well, he got a more serious problem than ever!

Well, that's for him, I wish you a wonderful rest of the weekend, take care!

No song, so clicking is useless LOL


Een beetje laat maar toch nog een Garfield, gewoon omdat hij zo goed in het rijtje past

Arme Jon, nu heeft de hond het ook al voor elkaar. Ik voel me aardig verwant met jon, haha.

Slaap lekker of.. goede morgen!

Princess

Good morning lovely people!

It was again an early day, but that has its advantages, there is a lot already done and there are still a few hours in the day. I need them -smile-, a small visit to 'her mother' and than the weekend is approaching fast and that's about time.
Further my ears were tickled with lovely music this morning and one of the songs is under your daily cat.

I LOVE this evil cat sooo much, it must be me :). Is it not that I am so bad in those games that it cant be me LOL; maybe it is than one of my kids telling hey dad, it's easy, look ...
Yea right..

Okay, enjoy your day, enjoy the nice song, no matter what you do, stay sweet!

26 - 02 - 2010

Good morning everyone

Last day of the week, and it is about time -smile-

The day started very early, but it has advantages.
I had a very nice talk with my brother (the one that my parents dont know about of course) and when I switched on the radio, this song came over me.
Wow.. the louder you play it, the more wonderful it gets

What a way to start the day!
Enjoy it,
Enjoy it very much
Like I do
--------------
Hmmm een heerlijke vrijdag voor jullie allemaal.
Vanmorgen had ik al een goed gesprek met mijn broer, en dan natuurlijk wel degene die mijn ouders niet kennen he (met die ander is dat niet mogelijk..).
Koffie, muziekje, en als dit dan uit de radio komt,
dan kan de dag toch niet meer stuk?!

Gelijk gezocht of ik het kon vinden, en even afspelen

Des te luider, des te mooier..

Maak er een mooie dag van
Want de dag is zo mooi
als dat jij bent

Enjoy!

Coins

Good afternoon wonderful world

Doing fine on this Thursday?
This day seems to be my running day, so many times I'd go downstairs (and upstairs haha), uncountable, but it must be good for my condition!
Further there is not much news here.
I fully agree with Garfield today, there is more in life than money, honey.

Have a wonderful day, feel the sunshine, even if it is (like here) between the clouds, the warmth is there, you just have to feel it.

Take care, enjoy the classical song, there was not even a consideration with choosing it!

Published on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 by Raw Story

Top Bush Adviser Defends Allowing President to Massacre, Nuke Civilians

The senior Justice Department legal adviser to president Bush who made the legal case for the Bush Administration's use of torture tactics on terror suspects defended comments that the president could unilaterally "massacre" civilians in wartime in a newly released interview.

John Yoo (File)

"You did argue that the president can legally order a village of civilians massacred," a KQED radio host asked John Yoo, now a professor at Berkeley. "Do you stand by that?"

"If, I thought it was militarily necessary," Yoo replied. "All you have to do is look at American history.... Look at the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "

Not backing down, Yoo championed the use of nuclear weapons in World War II.

"Could Congress tell President Truman he couldn't use a nuclear bombing in Japan, even though Truman thought in good faith he was saving millions of American and Japanese lives?" Yoo continued. "Or look at the American bombing campaign of World War II over Europe. Again, terrible things that the country had to do to bring the war to a faster conclusion and in the long run perhaps save more American or German lives."

He also suggested that the decision to use America's nuclear arsenal is the president's alone.

"The government places those decisions in the president, and if the Congress doesn't like it they can cut off funds for it or they can impeach him."

Liberal blog ThinkProgress' Ian Millhiser, which first highlighted the interview, argues that Yoo's understanding of the law in this case is wrong.

"As far back as 1804, a unanimous Supreme Court held in Little v. Barreme that Congress has sweeping authority to limit the President's actions in wartime. That case involved an Act of Congress authorizing vessels to seize cargo ships bound for French ports. After the President also authorized vessels to seize ships headed away from French ports, the Supreme Court held this authorization unconstitutional on the grounds that Congress' decision to allow one kind of seizure implicitly forbade other kinds of seizure. More recently, in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the Court held that the President does not have the power to unilaterally set military policy (in those cases with respect to detention); he must comply with statutory limits on his power. Taken together, these and other cases unquestionably establish that Congress has the power to tell the President 'no,' and the President must listen."

"John Yoo is a moral vacuum, but he is also a constitutional law professor at one of the nation's top law schools and a former Supreme Court clerk," the site added. "It is simply impossible that Yoo is not aware of Little, Hamdi and Hamdan, or that he does not understand what they say. So when John Yoo claims that the President is not bound by Congressional limits, he is not simply ignorant or misunderstanding the law. He is lying."

This weekend, Newsweek's Michael Isikoff noted that Yoo also "told Justice Department investigators that the president's war-making authority was so broad that he had the constitutional power to order a village to be 'massacred,' according to a report released Friday night by the Office of Professional Responsibility."

Pressed on his views in an interview with OPR investigators, Yoo was asked:

"What about ordering a village of resistants to be massacred? ... Is that a power that the president could legally -"

"Yeah," Yoo replied, according to a partial transcript included in the report. "Although, let me say this: So, certainly, that would fall within the commander-in-chief's power over tactical decisions."

"To order a village of civilians to be [exterminated]?" the OPR investigator asked again.

"Sure," said Yoo.

� 2010 Raw Story

Published on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 by Reuters

US Advice to Europe: Spend More on War-Making

US Raps Europe for Underfunding Defense

WASHINGTON - Europe has demilitarized too much since the end of the Cold War and its underfunded defense budgets are undermining shared security goals, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.

German Bundeswehr army soldiers of the Bravo platoon, 4th company, 391 mechanised infantry battalion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) march during a bridge reconstruction operation in Chahar Dara in the outskirts of Kunduz December 14, 2009. (Credit: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch)

Gates, addressing a NATO seminar in Washington, said too few helicopters and cargo aircraft for the NATO mission in Afghanistan were "directly impacting operations." NATO also needed more aerial refueling tankers and surveillance aircraft.

"Despite the need to spend more on vital equipment for ongoing missions, the alliance has been unwilling to fundamentally change how it sets priorities and allocates resources," Gates said.

"We need to provide our troops in the field the resources they need and fund other urgent priorities, such as missile defense," Gates said.

The comments follow U.S. President Barack Obama's request earlier this month to Congress for a record $708 billion in U.S. defense spending for fiscal 2011, including a hike for the Afghan war effort.

The unwillingness of European countries to fund defense was part of a trend in which large parts of the public and the political class there "are averse to military force and the risks that go with it," Gates said.

"The demilitarization of Europe ... has gone from a blessing in the 20th century to an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace in the 21st," Gates said.

"Not only can real or perceived weakness be a temptation to miscalculation and aggression, but, on a more basic level, the resulting funding and capability shortfalls make it difficult to operate and fight together to confront shared threats."

The NATO's 2010 budget shortfall has already reached hundreds of millions of euros, even though the year is less than two months old. That, Gates said, was a "natural consequence of having underinvested in collective defense for more than a decade."

"Since the end of the Cold War, national defense budgets have fallen consistently -- even with unprecedented operations outside NATO's territory over the past five years," Gates said.

He said only five of 28 NATO allies met a defense spending target of 2 percent of gross domestic product.

Despite Obama's record spending request, Pentagon officials expect the U.S. defense budget to come under pressure in coming years as the United States looks trim its deficit.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart, editing by Alan Elsner)

� 2010 Reuters

Verslaafd

toeval of niet, ik weet het niet

Gisterenmorgen sprak ik andy nog
Vanmorgen kreeg ik een telefoontje, dat hij was gevonden, op een bank in het station. De drankflessen naast hem.
Een van de velen, die de ongelijke strijd verloor.
En dit gedichtje maakte ik gisterenmiddag.
Vandaag draag ik het op aan hem, en aan alle anderen met een onzichtbare tegenstander

Ik kijk naar je En zie wat je niet zegt Ik luister naar je en hoor wat je niet doet Ik kan het je niet verwijten Want er is iets, dat is sterker dan jij en sterker dan ik Het zit tussen jou en mij Het zit tussen wil en werkelijkheid En zo mijn dierbare vriend raak ik je langzaam kwijt Voor onze vriendschap maakt het niet uit Maar toch, er knaagt iets Er zit iets in de weg Iets wat ik wel zie Maar niet meer tegen je zeg Je kan niet kiezen en ik kan het je niet kwalijk nemen Ik zie je weg glijden Langzaam, maar zeker Je woorden klinken niet meer zo goed En je weet dondersgoed wat er gebeurt Maar net als ik kan je het niet stoppen Mijn hart huilt voor jou mijn dierbare vriend Dit is iets wat noch ik noch jij verdient

The game

Good afternoon lovely world,

Another beautiful day is up, like an endless chain of perls (no not for the swine), another early day it was and another lot of things are done already.
Time for some relaxation, maybe a harvesting -smile- but most of all your daily smile and your daily song.

Not much to tell today, but that's me. I dont need words to understand you!

Enjoy your day, and til next oneg

Level 1

Good afternoon you all!

Wow, what was that an early start this morning, the alarm went at 4 am.
I however, made a re-start, at 6.30, what is a bit more decent -haha-, yes I am at the lucky side today.

So, an early day, what has advantages too, all is done now what I wanted to do, again a struggle with our new phone, it is NOT working and all the experts say it should work. Heck no, it DOESNT work, grrrrowl.
Okay, I feel way better with letting this out -smile-

And I feel related with Jon, I am so bad in (video) games that I am often happy to reach level 1 indeed.

The clip under the picture, MUST be this one, the only one that fits, enjoy it, as well as I hope you will enjoy your day too

Level 1

Good afternoon you all!

Wow, what was that an early start this morning, the alarm went at 4 am.
I however, made a re-start, at 6.30, what is a bit more decent -haha-, yes I am at the lucky side today.

So, an early day, what has advantages too, all is done now what I wanted to do, again a struggle with our new phone, it is NOT working and all the experts say it should work. Heck no, it DOESNT work, grrrrowl.
Okay, I feel way better with letting this out -smile-

And I feel related with Jon, I am so bad in (video) games that I am often happy to reach level 1 indeed.

The clip under the picture, MUST be this one, the only one that fits, enjoy it, as well as I hope you will enjoy your day too

beware for ..

Hey lovely people

Enjoying the sunday as much as me? Or is it monday already?
Nevertheless, we can always pretend it is sunday, every day of the week.

No barking dogs here, just relaxation, quiet and peaceful, the way I like those sundays.
Yesterday we were in the new shopping mall here, HUGE and we almost got lost in the Saturn market -lol-, that definitely is not our thing.
But curious as we are, it just opened Thursday, we had to take a look and now we know that we do our shoppings and stuff like we used to do it, in the city itselves, what has more charms (and better food for sure).

Also, today a day of ease, 'digging away' what we bught -smile- and further just knowing where I can be happy with.
Such as our little cat. I definitely can replace the dog with some people, who bark too much and say just nothing.

Have a smile and a wonderful day, you are worth it!

(the song will make you happy too!)

Sunday 21 - 02. 2010

Good morning world
Good morning lovely readers

Sunday, and all is there to make it a beautiful day.
After a nice breakfast, with a wonderful cup of coffee
Some smiles, and a nice sound

This day can not be other than good
And I wish the same for you
It's a beautiful day
Grab it, it is in your hands!



(clip) U2 - Beautiful day
Hochgeladen von Quasfiel. - Entdecke weitere Musik Videos.

Published on Friday, February 19, 2010 by the Guardian/UK

World's Top Firms Cause $2.2 Trillion of Environmental Damage, Report Estimates

Report for the UN into the activities of the world's 3,000 biggest companies estimates one-third of profits would be lost if firms were forced to pay for use, loss and damage of environment

by Juliette Jowit

The cost of pollution and other damage to the natural environment caused by the world's biggest companies would wipe out more than one-third of their profits if they were held financially accountable, a major unpublished study for the United Nations has found.

Black clouds over the central business district, Jakarta. The report into the activities of the world's 3,000 biggest public companies has estimated the cost of use, loss and damage of the environment. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

The report comes amid growing concern that no one is made to pay for most of the use, loss and damage of the environment, which is reaching crisis proportions in the form of pollution and the rapid loss of freshwater, fisheries and fertile soils.

Later this year, another huge UN study - dubbed the "Stern for nature" after the influential report on the economics of climate change by Sir Nicholas Stern - will attempt to put a price on such global environmental damage, and suggest ways to prevent it. The report, led by economist Pavan Sukhdev, is likely to argue for abolition of billions of dollars of subsidies to harmful industries like agriculture, energy and transport, tougher regulations and more taxes on companies that cause the damage.

Ahead of changes which would have a profound effect - not just on companies' profits but also their customers and pension funds and other investors - the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment initiative and the United Nations Environment Programme jointly ordered a report into the activities of the 3,000 biggest public companies in the world, which includes household names from the UK's FTSE 100 and other major stockmarkets.

The study, conducted by London-based consultancy Trucost and due to be published this summer, found the estimated combined damage was worth US$2.2 trillion (�1.4tn) in 2008 - a figure bigger than the national economies of all but seven countries in the world that year.

The figure equates to 6-7% of the companies' combined turnover, or an average of one-third of their profits, though some businesses would be much harder hit than others.

"What we're talking about is a completely new paradigm," said Richard Mattison, Trucost's chief operating officer and leader of the report team. "Externalities of this scale and nature pose a major risk to the global economy and markets are not fully aware of these risks, nor do they know how to deal with them."

The biggest single impact on the $2.2tn estimate, accounting for more than half of the total, was emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. Other major "costs" were local air pollution such as particulates, and the damage caused by the over-use and pollution of freshwater.

The true figure is likely to be even higher because the $2.2tn does not include damage caused by household and government consumption of goods and services, such as energy used to power appliances or waste; the "social impacts" such as the migration of people driven out of affected areas, or the long-term effects of any damage other than that from climate change. The final report will also include a higher total estimate which includes those long-term effects of problems such as toxic waste.

Trucost did not want to comment before the final report on which sectors incurred the highest "costs" of environmental damage, but they are likely to include power companies and heavy energy users like aluminium producers because of the greenhouse gases that result from burning fossil fuels. Heavy water users like food, drink and clothing companies are also likely to feature high up on the list.

Sukhdev said the heads of the major companies at this year's annual economic summit in Davos, Switzerland, were increasingly concerned about the impact on their business if they were stopped or forced to pay for the damage.

"It can make the difference between profit and loss," Sukhdev told the annual Earthwatch Oxford lecture last week. "That sense of foreboding is there with many, many [chief executives], and that potential is a good thing because it leads to solutions."

The aim of the study is to encourage and help investors lobby companies to reduce their environmental impact before concerned governments act to restrict them through taxes or regulations, said Mattison.

"It's going to be a significant proportion of a lot of companies' profit margins," Mattison told the Guardian. "Whether they actually have to pay for these costs will be determined by the appetite for policy makers to enforce the 'polluter pays' principle. We should be seeking ways to fix the system, rather than waiting for the economy to adapt. Continued inefficient use of natural resources will cause significant impacts on [national economies] overall, and a massive problem for governments to fix."

Another major concern is the risk that companies simply run out of resources they need to operate, said Andrea Moffat, of the US-based investor lobby group Ceres, whose members include more than 80 funds with assets worth more than US$8tn. An example was the estimated loss of 20,000 jobs and $1bn last year for agricultural companies because of water shortages in California, said Moffat.

� 2010 Guardian/UK

Wake up...

Good morning everyone

Awake already? Garfield is, but be quick, he might sleep soon again .. You might sleep as well after hearing a great 'sleeping song', but I am not 100 per cent sure about it. I know I fell asleep with this song/cd in the train, but that doesnt count, as soon as I am 'on transport' I fall asleep, hehehe.

We're close for a long weekend, with of course a lot of (winter) sport, and I did as well enjoy the 2 matches between the german and dutch football teams!

Life is nice, and so are you, make a good day, enjoy whatever you do (or dont, is up to you!!), click at the wonderful, sweet and funny Gafield for a song of those guys from the age that they were realy good.

Whitesnake - is this love

The wonderful warm voice of David Coverfield, in this wonderful warm and sexy video.

Enjoy it, make your thursday hot:)))


I should have known better
Than to let you go alone
It's times like these
I can't make it on my own
Wasted days, and sleepless nights
An' I can't wait to see you again

I find I spend my rime
Waiting on your call
How can I tell you, babe
My back's against the wall
I need you by my side
To tell me it's alright
Cos I don't think I can take anymore

Is this love that I'm feeling
Is this the love that I've been searching for
Is this love or am I dreaming
This must be love
Cos it's really go a hold on me
A hold on me

I can't stop the feeling
I've been this way before
But, with you I've found the key
To open any door
I can feel my love for you
Growing stronger day by day
An' I can't wait too see you again
So I can hold you in my arms


Is this love that I'm feeling
Is this the love that I've been searching for
Is this love or am I dreaming
This must be love
Cos it's really got a hold on me
A hold on me

Is this love that I'm feeling
Is this the love that I've been searching for

Is this love or am I dreaming

Still loving you

O yes, I am

I'm still loving you
And it will never pass away

But if we could do it over again, right from the start

I might do it different,
with less hurting your heart


One of the most wonderful ballads of the German super group the scorpions.

Enjoy and sing along
hehehe.

The scorpions - still loving you

---->>> KLICK HERE FOR THE CLIP <<<<---
Time, it needs time
To win back your love again.
I will be there, I will be there.

Love, only love
Can bring back your love someday.
I will be there, I will be there.

Fight, babe, I'll fight
To win back your love again.
I will be there, I will be there.

Love, only love
Can break down the walls someday.
I will be there, I will be there.

If we'd go again
All the way from the start,
I would try to change
The things that killed our love.

Your pride has build a wall, so strong
That I can't get through.
Is there really no chance
To start once again?
I'm loving you.

Try, baby try
To trust in my love again.
I will be there, I will be there.

Love, your love
Just shouldn't be thrown away.
I will be there, I will be there.

If we'd go again
All the way from the start,
I would try to change
The things that killed our love.

Your pride has build a wall, so strong
That I can't get through.
Is there really no chance
To start once again?

If we'd go again
All the way from the start,
I would try to change
The things that killed our love.

Yes I've hurt your pride, and I know
What you've been through.
You should give me a chance
This can't be the end.

I'm still loving you.
I'm still loving you,
I need your love.
I'm still loving you.
Still loving you, baby...

Sherriff - When I'm with you

Klick here for the nice clip.

I told you it is my 'relaxing day', and you will gonna love it :)

All we need is..

Morning lovely world

I slightly disagree with Garfield today, no frosting for me, just strong coffee, painkillers and good music.
And the music I can provide with you, a wonderful ballad under todays' cartoon, I am sure some of you will LOVE it!

It is a grey day, the only snow is at tv, the olympics are great (and curling is weird!) to watch and I am gonna give my leg (knee) some rest, so that I can use my leg tomorrow again.
Ah well, life could be worse... I'll look for some coffee, anyone wants a cuppa?

have a wonderful day, and don't consider too long what the world needs, because you ARE already here, make the best of it.



Enjoy!

Meer...

Hallo allemaal

Zo, het was een zeer vroeg morgentje weer, maar met behulp van koffie en vooral de olympische spelen (wat is dat curling toch een rare sport!!) kabbelt de donderdag vrolijk voort en zo gaat alles weer goed komen.

Ik heb niet zo veel te melden, vandaag gaat het hier NIET over het weer, maar gewoon, rustig an, lekker de dag door.

Daarom zit er onder het plaatje een heerlijke ballad. Er komt een vervelende pop-up, maar als je die wegklikt, dan heb je in elk geval een song om je vingers bij af te likken.

Dat heeft de wereld nodig, in elk geval mijne, vandaag!

Enjoy!

Published on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 by Huffington Post

Five Reasons NOT to Invest in Nuclear Power

by Robert Alvarez

Yesterday, President Obama announced that the Energy department will provide an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to the Southern Co. for its proposed nuclear power plant near Augusta, GA. "The loan guarantee program for new nuclear power plants not only will further the nation's commitment to clean energy, Obama said, "but also will assist in creating jobs in American communities." Unfortunately, nuclear energy isn't safe or clean and it's too costly for the nation.

Barack Obama speaks about creating new energy jobs. He announced plans to fund two new nuclear power plants. (Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty)

News coverage has been mostly supportive and, in some cases, bordering on cheerleading. In his blog for the Atlantic magazine, Editor Daniel Indiviglio laid out "five reasons to cheer Obama's ambition." Let's take a closer look at these "five reasons."

Reason #1: "Nuclear power is a known quantity. The U.S. has been successfully using this energy source for a very long time."

Nuclear power is certainly well known to Wall Street, which despite its recent debacles, has refused to fund power reactors for more than 30 years because of their financial risks. Reactor construction costs climbed as high as 380 percent above expectations during the boom period for nuclear in the 1970s. Nuclear investors eventually wrote off about $17 billion. Consider the 1979 Three Mile Island Accident, in which TMI investors lost about $2 billion in about an hour, when the reactor core started to melt. Nuclear energy has depended primarily on the financial burden being born by the tax payer and rate payer. This is hardly a success story.

Reasons #2 & #3: Semi-Shovel ready, Jobs now -- Jobs later

A new nuclear reactor might provide 800 near-term jobs and as many as 3,500 new construction jobs later. This is comparable to the number of home weatherization jobs created in State of Ohio last year. Unlike energy conservation, in which jobs are created relatively quickly, nuclear reactor construction jobs may take several years to come about.

Reason #4: Probably not very costly

Costs for nuclear power have nearly doubled in the past five years. Currently reactors are estimated to cost about $8 to $10 billion. Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office estimate these loan guarantees have more than a 50-50 chance of failing -- something Energy Secretary Chu told the news media yesterday he was unaware of before signing off on them. Because of the way the $54.5 billion in loan guarantees are structured, the Federal Financing Bank (otherwise known as the U.S. Treasury) will provide the loans. Guess who will be left holding the bag if things go south?

Reason #5: Preparing for America's Energy future

Assuming that all $54.5 billion in nuclear loan guarantees being sought by Obama are successful -- this will provide less than one percent of the nation's current electrical generating capacity. Replacing the existing fleet of 104 reactors which are expected to shut down by 2056 could cost about $1.4 trillion. Add another $500 billion for a 50% increase above current nuclear generation capacity to make a meaningful impact on reducing carbon emissions. This means the U.S. would have to start bringing a new reactor on line at a rate of once a week to once a month for the next several decades.

Meanwhile, Obama has pulled the rug out from under the nuclear industry by terminating funds for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal site in Nevada. After nearly 30 years of trying, disposal of high-level radioactive waste is proving to be extremely difficult. So Obama has convened a "blue ribbon" panel of experts to go back to the drawing board and recommend what to do two years from now.

The accumulation of spent power-reactor fuel is expected to double at reactor sites and poses new safety issues, which will be the reality for several decades to come. Spent fuel pools currently contain about four times what their original designs envisioned and may be more vulnerable to terrorist attacks than reactors. In 2004, a National Academy of Sciences panel concluded that drainage of water from a spent fuel pond by an act of malice could lead to a catastrophic radiological fire. One thing is certain. Republicans and Democrats do not want to restart a national radioactive waste dump selection process that's guaranteed to anger voters before the 2012 elections and beyond.

Nuclear Energy is an intriguing idea until you start to think about it.

� 2010 Huffington Post

Who wants to live forever

It was an early morning this morning, I mean, I woke up early, after an (almost) sleepless night.

After the recovery and when the light slowly entered the house, I put on the music and this was the first song that did reach my ears.

It is SUCH a wonderful song!!

Some background info with it..

The clip is recorded in summer. It was outside about 30 degrees and they (read Freddie) had decided that the clip should be recorded with just candle light lightening.
Also about 1,000 candles are burning and they gave a lot of warmth extra :))

Further was Roger (for the 1 who doesnt know, the drummer...) at the recordings with a HUGE hangover...

Anyway, a wonderful song, an almost seemless voiceover from Brian (who wrote it) to Freddies'

There is a tape circulating with Brians' daugher singing this song, when she was 8.. cute.
And as with all songs, this one is covered in many ways, I heard it with figure skating at the olympics a few days ago as well.

Enjoy. Enjoy Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZlWP66W0Po
Words and music by brian may

There's no time for us
There's no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away
From us

Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever....?

There's no chance for us
Its all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us

Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?

Who dares to love forever?
When love must die

But touch my tears with your lips
Touch my world with your fingertips
And we can have forever
And we can love forever
Forever is our today
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?
Forever is our today

Who waits forever anyway?

An Unusually Smooth Surface on Saturn's Calypso

An Unusually Smooth Surface on Saturn's Calypso
Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

Explanation: Why is this moon of Saturn so smooth? This past weekend, humanity's Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft passed as close to Saturn's small moon Calypso as it ever has, and imaged the small moon in unprecedented detail. Pictured above is an early return, raw, unprocessed image of the 20-km long irregularly shaped moon. Like its sister moon Telesto and the shepherd moon Pandora, Calypso has shown itself to be unusually smooth, much smoother than most of Saturn's larger moons. A leading hypothesis for Calypso's smoothness is that much of the moon's surface is actually a relatively loose jumble of rubble -- making Calypso a rubble-pile moon. The loose nature of the small ice pieces allows them to fill in many small craters and other surface features. Calypso orbits Saturn always behind Saturn's much larger moon Tethys, whereas Telesto's orbit always precedes Tethys. Calypso's extremely white surface -- not unlike fresh snow -- may result from the continuous accumulation of fresh ice particles falling in from Saturn's E ring.

Japanse oordopjes worden bediend met oogbewegingen

Door Arnoud Wokke, dinsdag 16 februari 2010 19:17, views: 22.310

De Japanse provider NTT Docomo heeft op het MWC in Barcelona oordopjes getoond die kunnen worden bestuurd met oogbewegingen. In de oordopjes zitten elektroden die de spierbewegingen van de ogen kunnen opvangen.

De techniek werkt doordat de spieren die het oog aansturen een andere spanning hebben dan spieren in rust. Dankzij elektromyografie kan die spanning gemeten worden, waardoor de kijkrichting bepaald kan worden. Elektroden in de oordopjes kunnen deze spanningsveranderingen detecteren en zetten dat om in commando's die via de headset aan een muziekspeler of telefoon worden doorgegeven.

Door diverse elektroden te gebruiken, kan nagegaan worden of de persoon naar links, rechts, boven of onder kijkt. Zodoende kan ook het apparaat worden bediend: door naar links of rechts kijken wordt de play/pauze-knop gesimuleerd, terwijl een gesprek kan worden aangenomen door naar rechts-links-rechts te kijken. Een cirkelbeweging met de klok mee geldt als commando om het volume op te schroeven. De omgekeerde beweging brengt het volume weer omlaag.

NTT Docomo, dat overigens ook een kantoor in Nederland heeft, kon niets zeggen over of de oordopjes ook buiten thuismarkt Japan op de markt komen. Ook over een prijs is niets bekend.

Good. Great!g

Hello you lovely people who make my world so wonderful.

Tuesdayafternoon, the day flies away. After an early doctor visit and a nice long phone call I just did make a soup (white beans), and am allowing me some time for the computer again.
The madness around farmville doesnt seem to end, half of the world is playing it, but of course it is at least as less so important to maintain the contacts with the rest of the world :)

Further I am fully 'into' the olympics, I enjoy it very much. This night I was watching until 4 (so proud at all the meddles that flow into our direction), and than I thought it was a good plan to sleep a little bit. Not much but I can keep awake with my coffee.

And here is your garfield for today.
Not sure if I placed this song before, but it is a beauty, you cant listen enough to it.
Only one click away, as usual.

Life is great, I have to admit -again!!-

Dark Shuttle Approaching

It looks likes science fiction.
But it is better than that


Dark Shuttle Approaching
Credit: Expedition 22 Crew, NASA

Explanation: What's that approaching? Astronauts on board the International Space Station first saw it far in the distance. Soon it enlarged to become a dark silhouette. As it came even closer, the silhouette appeared to be a spaceship. Finally, at just past 11 pm (CST) last Tuesday, the object, revealed to be the Space Shuttle Endeavour, docked as expected with the Earth-orbiting space station. Pictured above, Endeavour was imaged near Earth's horizon as it approached, where several layers of the Earth's atmosphere were visible. Directly behind the shuttle is the mesosphere, which appears blue. The atmospheric layer that appears white is the stratosphere, while the orange layer is Earth's Troposphere. This shuttle mission, which began with a dramatic night launch and will continue into next week, has many tasks planned. These tasks include the delivery of the Tranquility Module which includes a cupola bay window complex that may allow even better views of spaceships approaching and leaving the space station.

Tibet Update - Obama-Dalai Lama meeting announced, Losar in Tibet (Feb 16, 2010)ti

Support Tibet | Get Updates

The Tibet Update enewsletter is a bimonthly summary of news and governmental actions related to Tibet. Past issues in PDF format are located at http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/tibet-weekly-updates. U.S. GOVERNMENT: ICT Report: Obama-Dalai Lama meeting an opportunity for "an engaging and constructive dialogue" ICT welcomes the meeting announced on February 11 between President Obama and His Holiness the Dalai Lama as an opportunity both to deepen their relationship and discuss forward steps in U.S. support for the Dalai Lama's leadership and his approach of seeking a solution for Tibet through dialogue with the People's Republic of China. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has said that the White House meeting is set for February 18 and "The Dalai Lama is an internationally respected religious leader and spokesman for Tibetan rights, and the President looks forward to an engaging and constructive dialogue." Read the full ICT report >> INSIDE TIBET: ICT Report: Tension in Tibet as Tibetans mark New Year with prayers for the dead On February 14, several hundred Tibetan monks and laypeople were surrounded by armed troops yesterday on the first day of Tibetan New Year (Losar) as they gathered together and prayed for those killed in the Ngaba area of Sichuan and other Tibetan areas after the crackdown following protests began in March, 2008. According to reports from inside Tibet, Tibetans in Lhasa too, held somber and devotional commemorations of Losar (Tibetan New Year) amid tension as security was stepped up. Read the full ICT report >> TIBETAN-CHINESE DIALOGUE: ICT Report: 9th round of Sino-Tibetan dialogue identifies elements to build on The International Campaign for Tibet welcomed the strong and detailed statement issued today by Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, the Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and chief interlocutor with Chinese officials during nine rounds of dialogue since 2002. The statement which concluded that "we do not see any reason why we cannot find common ground on these issues," included a proposal for "a common effort to study the actual reality on the ground, in the spirit of seeking truth from facts [to] help both the sides to move beyond each others' contentions" and an appeal to Beijing to stop mislabeling the Dalai Lama as a "separatist." Read the full ICT report >> Statement by the Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lodi G. Gyari On February 2, 2009, Special Envoy Lodi G. Gyari said that he and Envoy Kalsang Gyaltsen, accompanied by two members of the Tibetan Task Force and one member of the Task Force Secretariat visited China from January 26 to 31, for the ninth round of discussions with representatives of the Chinese leadership. In Beijing, they had a session with Mr. Du Qinglin, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as well as Minister of the Central United Front Work Department on January 30. On January 31, they had a day-long discussion with Executive Vice Minister Zhu Weiqun and Vice Minister Sithar. Mr. Nyima Tsering, a Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress, also participated in these meetings. Read the full statement >> Chinese State Media report on dialogue Chinese State Media Xinhua, on February 2, reported that the the Chinese central government and representatives of the Dalai Lama had "sharply divided" views in the latest talks "as usual." Xinhua quoted Zhu Weiqun, executive vice minister of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, who told a press conference, "We have been accustomed to such a confrontation of viewpoints as views had been divided in previous talks." But added that he said the talks "had some upside" as they let both sides know exactly their differences and how wide the differences were. Read the full news item >> FROM THE ICT BLOG: Legitimacy and otherwise - February 3, 2009

International Campaign for Tibet 1825 Jefferson Place NW | Washington, DC 20036 info@savetibet.org | 202-785-1515 http://www.savetibet.org/

home is where the heart is

Hello everybody

On this sunny and bright and not so cold (huzzah, snow is melting!!!) day I come here to wish you a nice rest of your tuesday.

One disadvantages of the bright sun is that you see every dust bit in the house, but for that I have a nice solution, just looking into the other direction :))
Life gets slowly back to normal, there are still a few parades in the region (and silly people running around), but the shops are open again and we're going to face spring very soon. Further rhere is no better place to be than home, and it doesnt matter too much how it looks, when you feel comfortable there, it is fine :)

Okay, a nice song, to make you smile, just one click away, enjoy your day!!!

Cassini Spacecraft Crosses Saturn's Ring Plane

Cassini Spacecraft Crosses Saturn's Ring Plane
Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA

Explanation: If this is Saturn, where are the rings? When Saturn's "appendages" disappeared in 1612, Galileo did not understand why. Later that century, it became understood that Saturn's unusual protrusions were rings and that when the Earth crosses the ring plane, the edge-on rings will appear to disappear. This is because Saturn's rings are confined to a plane many times thinner, in proportion, than a razor blade. In modern times, the robot Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn now also crosses Saturn's ring plane. A series of plane crossing images from 2005 February was dug out of the vast online Cassini raw image archive by interested Spanish amateur Fernando Garcia Navarro. Pictured above, digitally cropped and set in representative colors, is the striking result. Saturn's thin ring plane appears in blue, bands and clouds in Saturn's upper atmosphere appear in gold. Since Saturn just passed its equinox, today the ring plane is pointed close to the Sun and the rings could not cast the high dark shadows seen across the top of this image, taken back in 2005. Moons appear as bumps in the rings.

time ..

Hello lovely people,

Here is your favorite cat again!

It is a free day here today, Rosenmontag, Carnaval in full swing with huge parades in the Carnaval areas, also here for sure.
Anyway, we did have our part yesterday (pictures coming up soon), we took a relaxing day. In the supermarket I was surrounded with 6 pink bunnies, who were shopping beer, me the carrots -smile-.
And outside were some mexicans singing songs that definitely NEVER are heard in mexico! LOL

Okay, enjoy your day,
and enjoy the wonderful song under the picture.

Before I forget, I want to thank all the sweet messages you wrote in my guestbook. I read them and appreciate them alot!

Okay, time for the toon and the tune, you will love both!

time ..

Hello lovely people,

Here is your favorite cat again!

It is a free day here today, Rosenmontag, Carnaval in full swing with huge parades in the Carnaval areas, also here for sure.
Anyway, we did have our part yesterday (pictures coming up soon), we took a relaxing day. In the supermarket I was surrounded with 6 pink bunnies, who were shopping beer, me the carrots -smile-.
And outside were some mexicans singing songs that definitely NEVER are heard in mexico! LOL

Okay, enjoy your day,
and enjoy the wonderful song under the picture.

Before I forget, I want to thank all the sweet messages you wrote in my guestbook. I read them and appreciate them alot!

Okay, time for the toon and the tune, you will love both!

Braziliaans carnaval

Doodles op de homepage van Google Brazillie. Ook Orkut een andere dienst van Google had een Doodle in het kader van het carnaval. In Zuid-Amerika wordt het carnaval uitbundig gevierd, waarbij vooral het Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro the place to be is, want daar vindt de wereldberoemde carnavalsparade plaats. Het grootste straatcarnaval van de wereld vindt overigens plaats in Salvador da Bahia, een andere grote plaats in Brazili�. Braziliaans carnaval 2010
Braziliaans carnaval 2009

*In deze Doodle zit een Triforce verstopt, meer daarover op deze pagina: Triforce Easter Egg.

Braziliaans carnaval 2008

Google logo: Olympische Spelen Vancouver 2010

vrijdag 12 februari 2010

Vandaag staat op de homepage van Google het eerste logo in het teken van de Olympische Winterspelen 2010 die vandaag van start gaan. Het is de eerste keer dat Google een logo plaatst die de gehele breedte van de homepage bedekt. In het logo de Olympische vlam en het logo van de Olympische Spelen. De verwachting is dat in de komende dagen er elke dag een ander logo op de homepage worden geplaatst net zoals dit in 2002 en in 2006 het geval was, in ieder geval heeft Pegman, het Google Maps Street View figuurtje al een skipak aan.

Alle speciale logo's die Google tot en met 28 februari op de homepage plaatst kun je bekijken op deze pagina: Google Logo's - Sport: Olympische Winterspelen 2010.

Fashion..

Hello everyone

It was an an unexpected and early start of the day, oh well, those things happen, it has some advantages as well. I did dig up my 'french press' coffee machine and it is delicious, I forgot how good it tastes.
Nothing of that sh..t like flavored coffee, cappuccino or so, no, coffee pure. AND black. :)

Good, as you see that is the most important thing happening in my life so far today, so I can say that life is good!
Maybe it even is amazing

Surely that is true, if you listen to this wonderful golden oldie, with the fantastic guitar play of joe perry and the big big voice of tyler.
Revealed too much?

Just a click and you know it.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone, you are WORTH it!

Patch voor 17 jaar oude bug blijkt oorzaak van bsod's in XP

Door Erik Kloppenburg, vrijdag 12 februari 2010 11:48
Submitter: whiz, views: 33.714

Microsoft heeft op 9 februari via Windows Update een patch verspreid die bij sommige Windows XP-gebruikers tot een blue screen of death leidt. De update was bedoeld om een zeventien jaar oud beveiligingslek te verhelpen.

Na installatie en herstarten van de pc, werden diverse gebruikers met een 'PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA'-melding geconfronteerd, waarna de machine opnieuw opstart. De oorzaak van de crashende XP-systemen blijkt de op 9 februari vrijgegeven update KB977165 te zijn, een patch die een 17 jaar oude beveiligingsbug moet dichten.

Een Microsoft-medewerker heeft op het support-forum van de softwaregigant een bruikbare workaround gegeven: door de betreffende update met behulp van de recovery console te de�nstalleren, kan het systeem weer zonder problemen opstarten. Gevolg van het verwijderen van de patch is uiteraard wel dat het systeem weer kwetsbaar wordt voor de antieke bug. Het is volgens de medewerker echter mogelijk de computer alsnog te beschermen via een tool die het lek dicht zonder daarbij bsod's te veroorzaken.

Tips voor Google Buzz

donderdag 11 februari 2010

Op dinsdag introduceerde Google een nieuwe tool in Gmail, Google Buzz. In het kort een combinatie van Twitter, Facebook en FriendFeed. Inmiddels, twee dagen later hebben de meeste Gmail accounts de beschikking over Google Buzz en mogelijk heb je het al uitgeprobeerd. Het kan uiteraard ook zijn dat je Buzz het liefst zo snel mogelijk weer uitschakeld. Een aantal tips voor Buzz in het artikel: Google Buzz tips.

Google Doodles: Napoleon Orda en Chinese papierkunst

donderdag 11 februari 2010

Twee Doodles op donderdag. Als eerte een doodle ter ere van Napoleon Orda. Orda was een Poolse muzikant, pianist, componist en artiest. Hij is met name bekend geworden door zijn vele tekeningen die hij maakte, reizend door geheel Europa. Napoleon Orda werd geboren in het Pinsk disctrict van het gouvernement Minsk. Hij studeerde op middelbare leeftijd piano in Parijs.



Chinese papierkunst - 11 februari 2010
Op de homepage van Google China de Chinese papierkunst. De gemaakte decoraties worden gebruikt rond oud en nieuw om huizen en ramen mee te versieren.

Google en de Olympische Winterspelen 2010

donderdag 11 februari 2010

Het is bijna zover, morgen beginnen in Vancouver de 21e Olympische Winterspelen. Het is de derde keer dat Canada de Olympische Spelen organiseert, de openingsceremonie vindt om 18:00 plaatselijke tijd (03:00 Nederlandse tijd) plaats. Google heeft een speciale website (wbsc.nl/spelen2010) geopend met allerlei manieren om de Olympische Spelen te volgen.

Op de pagina zie je direct een gadget met een agenda en een Google Maps kaartje. Ook zie je hier medaillewinnaars en lees je het laatste nieuws. Speciaal voor de Winterspelen is Google met een Street View-sneeuwmobiel de diverse skipistes langsgegaan om foto's te maken. Op Google Maps kunnen al deze beelden bekeken worden.

Verder op de Engelse versie van de pagina een link naar realtime zoekresultaten met tweets, blogberichten etc. over de Winterspelen. Video's kunnen worden bekeken op het daarvoor ingerichte YouTube kanaal en als laatste is er een iGoogle gadget beschikbaar.

Doodles
In de komende dagen zullen er ook net als in 2002 en in 2006 logo's geplaatst worden op de homepage. Dit begint met de openingsceremonie en daarna zal er elke dag een ander logo worden geplaatst. Alle logo's worden geplaatst deze pagina geplaatst. Inmiddels is Pegman, het figuurtje van Google Maps al voorzien van skies.

snoopy

Hello lovely people, hello wonderful world

Friday already and all the sudden I had some time extra for myself. I had the plan to go bowling, but I am glad someone took over, so that I can give my knee the well needed rest. My old bones! -smile-

When I saw this garfield, the 'snoopy' shirt, it reminded me to my snoopy, that small white toy that I got from my first international Queen correspondence friend, from paris. It is about 28 years ago I guess! Anyway, when our daughter was 1 year, and very very sick, she got snoopy with her in the hospital and from that time on they were united, she took snoopy everywhere with her. Now she's 23, I shall ask her if she still has it, I think she has, if she is like her father in that (and I know she is), than she has those little 'items' still there.

Okay, that was the story of today. I wish you all a wonderful jump into the weekend, enjoy everything you do and enjoy as well the golden oldie what I put under the toon.

snoeppie

Halloo allemaal

Zo, vrijdagmiddag, ik ben 'ontsnapt' aan mijn verplichting, kegelen mag iemand anders doen, wel heel aardig dat het zo van me is overgenomen en zo heb ik onverwachts een vrije middag, voor het huishouden dan maar he?

Verder is en blijft het koud, gisteren was de straat vol met konijnen, lieveheersbeestjes, tovenaars, heksen en varkens, vandaag ben ik slechts een paar heksen en cowboys tegen gekomen.

Ik wens iedereen een fijne dag toe en uhm tsja, aan Snoopy zit voor mij een goede herinnering.
Ik kreeg van van mijn eerste correspondentievriendin, uit parijs, een snoopy knuffel. Een aantal jaren later werd onze dochter echt doodziek, en toen heeft zijn 'mijn' snoopy meegekregen in het ziekenhuis, de twee waren onafscheidelijk. Gelukkig is Anne er goed doorgekomen, destijds, en ik zal haar eens vragen of ze nog steeds 'snoopy' heeft, ik geloof het eigenlijk wel.

Okee, een plaatje met een plaatje, enjoy!

Star Cluster M34

Star Cluster M34
Credit & Copyright: Bob Franke

Explanation: This pretty open cluster of stars, M34, is about the size of the Full Moon on the sky. Easy to appreciate in small telescopes, it lies some 1,800 light-years away in the constellation Perseus. At that distance, M34 physically spans about 15 light-years. Formed at the same time from the same cloud of dust and gas, all the stars of M34 are about 200 million years young. But like any open star cluster orbiting in the plane of our galaxy, M34 will eventually disperse as it experiences gravitational tides and encounters with the Milky Way's interstellar clouds and other stars. Over four billion years ago, our own Sun was likely formed in a similar open star cluster.