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Friday, February 22, 2013

What if...you could design a city?

Future cityscape

As part of its project on the cities of the future, the BBC asked a series of experts to explain their vision of where they would like to live in the future.

With input from those who are planning new cities to people who are retro-fitting old ones and even a child's view of the future, we asked one simple question: "What if you could design a city from scratch?"

We have had some intriguing answers, from those who think the smart cities of the future will rely on technology to those who want to put people centre stage.

And for the children, who will after all be the citizens of these future urban spaces, the vision is more fantastical.

But then, who wouldn't want a city with tree-high swimming pools full of sweets?

 

Operation centre in Rio de Janeiro

Guru Banavar is IBM's chief technology officer and was the chief architect behind Rio de Janeiro's control centre.

If I were to build a city from scratch, I would build in the digital infrastructure of sensors, networks and data analytics as meticulously as the physical infrastructure of buildings, roads, and utilities.

In a modern city, a robust digital infrastructure is essential to manage the physical resources and ensure that the city will be liveable and sustainable over the long term.

A well-designed digital infrastructure will support decision-making by public managers as well as private citizens.

By understanding the large volumes of data emitted by a city, it is possible to not only sense and respond to the current demands of citizens, but also be proactive in anticipating the needs and issues that citizens may face in the future.

A modern city would go far beyond simply sensing what's going on all around. Good decisions are based on a good understanding of information, which means that city data from many sources will need to be integrated and analysed rapidly. For example, city leaders will need high-quality insights to manage a carbon neutrality programme, a social and health services programme, or an innovative public transportation programme.

The digital infrastructure can provide the insight and foresight needed to support the right operational decisions, drive long-term plans, and help evolve the city towards its goals, whether they are social, economic, or environmental.

Steve Lewis knows better than many the problems of building a city from scratch because he is attempting to do just that in Portugal.

Reasons for urbanisation are wide-ranging but tend to be economic and social in nature.

Today the top 25 cities in the world account for 50% or more of our global wealth.

Traditionally, permanent and sustainable settlement has taken hundreds of years - in some cases, thousands. However, due to rapid population growth and development of certain regions of the world, town and cities are established rapidly - some in the space of a few years.

Through significant advances in computer simulation to provide tools that enable an entire community - including planners - to consider, evaluate and implement current requirements while modelling future scenarios.

Moreover, this simulation of thousands of complex variables may include, for example, balancing aesthetics with efficient use of capital - new methods to plan, design, manufacture, operate - and natural resources.

It may include reducing our impact on the environment while creating places that increase social cohesion, or accelerating human interaction in education, health and employment to improve the quality of life for an ever greater percentage of our world population.

However, people will remain the critical determining factor of how we interpret, implement and enhance our urban environments.

Ultimately, they will decide how we retain the fundamental organic development of our cities that lead to their future sustainability.

Towns and cities do not exist without their essential ingredient - their citizens.

A car driving past a pothole

Tom Steinberg has revolutionised engagement between citizens and government with services such as FixMyStreet - empowering people to report things such as potholes and graffiti. Having started in the UK, it is now a global phenomenon.

I'd like to see a city in which every occasion on which you received a public service was also an opportunity to get involved with the decision-making that determines the nature of that service.

Let me give you an example. I have an old mattress I need to get rid of, so I go to the council website to find out how to do this.

The council offers a disposal service, but it seems pretty expensive to me - £30.

In my vision of a modern city, the page that tells me the cost will link to information on who made the decision to impose a charge, what reason was given, and who controls this decision in the future.

The key word here is "opportunity".

I don't think that people want to be repeatedly told that they should be good citizens, attending planning meetings seven days a week.

But I do think that every moment of contact between me and the city government - every time I get on a publicly subsidised bus, or check the day of my bin collection - should be treated as an opportunity to engage me in the decisions that relate to that service, if I want.

The technology required for this radical educational idea is as old as technology gets on the web - it's the humble link.

The challenge is persuading politicians that it is healthy for more local people to understand how decisions are made.

Carlo Ratti, copyright Nic Marchesi

Carlo Ratti heads up Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Senseable Cities Lab, which aims to study the ways cities are transforming themselves using sensors and electronic systems.

If we could design a city from scratch... we would not do it!

Since their emergence around 10,000 years ago, cities have always been the outcome of a collaborative, bottom-up process.

The "urbs"- as Romans would call the physical form of the city - was nothing other than the result of the "civitas", the community of the citizen.

Even when Romans needed to plan a new city, they did little more than laying out the main axes and parcelling the land, leaving it up to the individuals to take action.

The idea that an architect could design a city from scratch, in a top-down way, is relatively new.

It embodies both the 19th Century dream of the artist with unbound freedom and imagination and the egotistic vision of the 20th Century architect; something that resembles Howard Rourke - Ayn Rand's main character in The Fountainhead - who proclaimed that "the first right is the right of the ego".

It also responds to the rapid expansion urbanisation of the past 100 years that often leads governments to call for quick solutions for human settlement.

Architectural exemplars of the limitations of such an approach stand out in the dullness of Brasilia and the rigidity of Chandigarh.

In fact, as Christopher Alexander reminded us, a good city cannot be designed in a top-down fashion.

Spaces and fluxes overlap and intertwine in our interaction with the city, which can only be shaped through a distributed, bottom-up process.

A chaotic self-organising movement, which resembles what we have seen during the Arab Spring and its fostering of new forms of participation, is rising in unexpected ways and with unknown consequence.

Can these very forms, supported by social media and new technologies, now extend to urban design and planning? Could this be the beginning of a new urban spring?

Archie McGuinness and Lily Wakefield

OK, so they aren't experts but my children are the future citizens of such cities and have some interesting ideas about where they want to live.

Archie: If I could design a city the cars would run on water instead of fuel and would be driven automatically so that you could just sit back and enjoy the ride.

There would also be lots of huge buildings that lots and lots of people could work in.

In the city centre there would be an extraordinarily big shopping centre with everything you could possibly need.

As well as that, there would be little shops dotted around for certain things.

Everybody would exercise to keep themselves healthy.

Lily: If I could design a city from scratch I would have a swimming pool on trees filled with sweets and chocolate.

Also, I would have flying cars.

I would have schools that you play in all day and you would have offices that grown-ups can take their children into to watch TV all day.

At the centre of the town there would be shops and there would be a Santa's workshop for whenever you wanted to make something.

It would be Christmas every day.

China acknowledges 'cancer villages'

polluted waterway in Beijing

China's environment ministry appears to have acknowledged the existence of so-called "cancer villages" after years of public speculation about the impact of pollution in certain areas.

For years campaigners have said cancer rates in some villages near factories and polluted waterways has shot up.

But the term "cancer village" has no technical definition and the ministry's report did not elaborate on it.

There have been many calls for China to be more transparent on pollution.

The latest report from the environment ministry is entitled "Guard against and control risks presented by chemicals to the environment during the 12th Five-Year period (2011-2015)".

It says that the widespread production and consumption of harmful chemicals forbidden in many developed nations are still found in China.

"The toxic chemicals have caused many environmental emergencies linked to water and air pollution," it said.

The report goes on to acknowledge that such chemicals could pose a long-term risk to human health, making a direct link to the so-called "cancer villages".

"There are even some serious cases of health and social problems like the emergence of cancer villages in individual regions," it said.

Beijing smog
The BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing says that as China has experienced rapid development, stories about so-called cancer villages have become more frequent.

And China has witnessed growing public anger over air pollution and industrial waste caused by industrial development.

Media coverage of conditions in these so-called "cancer villages" has been widespread. In 2009, one Chinese journalist published a map identifying dozens of apparently affected villages.

In 2007 the BBC visited the small hamlet of Shangba in southern China where one scientist was studying the cause and effects of pollution on the village.

He found high levels of poisonous heavy metals in the water and believed there was a direct connection between incidences of cancer and mining in the area.

Until now, there has been little comment from the government on such allegations.

Environmental lawyer Wang Canfa, who runs a pollution aid centre in Beijing, told the AFP news agency that it was the first time the "cancer village" phrase had appeared in a ministry document.

Last month - Beijing - and several other cities - were blanketed in smog that soared past levels considered hazardous by the World Health Organisation.

The choking pollution provoked a public outcry and led to a highly charged debate about the costs of the country's rapid economic development, our correspondent says.

White Rose: The Germans who tried to topple Hitler

Lilo Furst-Ramdohr in 1942 - and today (picture: Domenic Saller)

Seventy years ago today, three German students were executed in Munich for leading a resistance movement against Hitler. Since then, the members of the White Rose group have become German national heroes - Lilo Furst-Ramdohr was one of them.


In 1943, World War II was at its height - but in Munich, the centre of Nazi power, a group of students had started a campaign of passive resistance.

Liselotte Furst-Ramdohr, already a widow at the age of 29 following her husband's death on the Russian front, was introduced to the White Rose group by her friend, Alexander Schmorell.

"I can still see Alex today as he told me about it," says Furst-Ramdohr, now a spry 99-year-old. "He never said the word 'resistance', he just said that the war was dreadful, with the battles and so many people dying, and that Hitler was a megalomaniac, and so they had to do something."
Continue reading the main story

What was the White Rose?


Hans and Sophie Scholl, members of the White Rose resistance group


  • Resistance group formed in 1942 by group of Munich University students and their professor

  • Horrified by Nazism, they wrote and distributed leaflets urging Germans to oppose Hitler's regime

  • Also painted anti-Nazi slogans on buildings around Munich

  • Produced six leaflets before their arrest




Schmorell and his friends Christoph Probst and Hans Scholl had started writing leaflets encouraging Germans to join them in resisting the Nazi regime.


With the help of a small group of collaborators, they distributed the leaflets to addresses selected at random from the phone book.

Furst-Ramdohr says the group couldn't understand how the German people had been so easily led into supporting the Nazi Party and its ideology.

"They must have been able to tell how bad things were, it was ridiculous," she says.

The White Rose delivered the leaflets by hand to addresses in the Munich area, and sent them to other cities through trusted couriers.

Furst-Ramdohr never delivered the leaflets herself but hid them in a broom cupboard in her flat.

She also helped Schmorell make stencils in her flat saying "Down with Hitler", and on the nights of 8 and 15 February, the White Rose graffitied the slogan on walls across Munich.

Furst-Ramdohr remembers the activists - who were risking their lives for their beliefs - as young and naive.

One of the best-known members of the group today is Hans Scholl's younger sister Sophie, later the subject of an Oscar-nominated film, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. Furst-Ramdohr remembers that Sophie was so scared that she used to sleep in her brother's bed.
Continue reading the main story

'Fight against the Party!'


The sixth leaflet produced by the White Rose was smuggled out of the country and scattered over Germany by Allied planes.

The day of reckoning has come, the reckoning of German youth with the most repellent tyranny our nation has ever seen...

For us there is only one slogan: Fight against the Party! Get out of the party hierarchy, which wants to keep us silent!

The German name will be dishonoured forever if German youth does not rise up, to revenge and atone at once, to destroy their tormentors and build up a new spiritual Europe. Students! The German nation looks to us!

Translation: Lucy Burns


"Hans was very afraid too, but they wanted to keep going for Germany - they loved their country," she says.


On 18 February, Hans and Sophie Scholl set off on their most daring expedition yet. They planned to distribute copies of their sixth - and as it would turn out, final - leaflet at the University of Munich, where students would find them as they came out of lectures.

The siblings left piles of the leaflets around the central stairwell. But as they reached the top of the stairs, Sophie still had a number of leaflets left over - so she threw them over the balcony, to float down to the students below.

She was seen by a caretaker, who called the Gestapo. Hans Scholl had a draft for another leaflet in his pocket, which he attempted to swallow, but the Gestapo were too quick.

The Scholl siblings were arrested and tried in front of an emergency session of the People's Court. They were found guilty and executed by guillotine, along with their friend and collaborator Christoph Probst, on 22 February 1943.

Hans Scholl's last words before he was executed were: "Long live freedom!"

A copy of the sentences against members of the White Rose at the Munich district court

The Scholls were tried at the People's Court of Law, now Munich's district court
The rest of the White Rose group was thrown into panic. Alexander Schmorell went straight to Lilo Forst-Ramdohr's flat, where she helped him find new clothes and a fake passport. Schmorell attempted to flee to Switzerland but was forced to turn back by heavy snow.

Returning to Munich, he was captured after a former girlfriend recognised him entering an air raid shelter during a bombing raid. He was arrested, and later executed.

Lilo Furst-Ramdohr was herself arrested on 2 March. "Two Gestapo men came to the flat and they turned everything upside down," she says.

"They went through my letters, and then one of them said 'I'm afraid you'll have to come with us'.

"They took me to the Gestapo prison in the Wittelsbach Palais on the tram - they stood behind my seat so I couldn't escape."

Continue reading the main story
Find out more
Lucy Burns interviewed Liselotte Furst-Ramdohr for the BBC World Service programme Witness

Listen via BBC iPlayer
Browse the Witness podcast archive
More from BBC World Service
Furst-Ramdohr spent a month in Gestapo custody. She was regularly interrogated about her role in the White Rose, but eventually released without charge - a stroke of luck she puts down to her status as a war widow, and to the likelihood that the Gestapo was hoping she would lead them to other co-conspirators. After her release she was followed by the secret police for some time.

She then fled Munich for Aschersleben, near Leipzig, where she married again and opened a puppet theatre.

The final White Rose leaflet was smuggled out of Germany and intercepted by Allied forces, with the result that, in the autumn of 1943, millions of copies were dropped over Germany by Allied aircraft.

Since the end of the war, the members of the White Rose have become celebrated figures, as German society has searched for positive role models from the Nazi period.

But Furst-Ramdohr doesn't like it. "At the time, they'd have had us all executed," she says of the majority of her compatriots.

She now lives alone in a small town outside Munich, where she continued to give dancing lessons up to the age of 86.

Her friend Alexander Schmorell was made a saint by the Russian Orthodox church in 2012.

"He would have laughed out loud if he'd known," says Furst-Ramdohr. "He wasn't a saint - he was just a normal person."

The babies who nap in sub-zero temperatures

Children in snow

Would you put your baby or toddler outside in the freezing cold for their lunchtime nap? Most Nordic parents wouldn't give it a second thought. For them it's part of their daily routine.

Daytime temperatures this winter in Stockholm have regularly dropped to -5C (23F) but it's still common to see children left outside by their parents for a sleep in the pram.

Wander through the snowy city and you'll see buggies lined up outside coffee shops while parents sip on lattes inside.

And if you are visiting friends and your child needs a nap, you may be offered the garden or balcony instead of a bedroom.

"I think it's good for them to be in the fresh air as soon as possible," says Lisa Mardon, a mother-of-three from Stockholm, who works for a food distribution company.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote
When the temperature drops to -15C we always cover the prams with blankets”

Brittmarie Carlzon
Pre-school head teacher
"Especially in the winter when there's lots of diseases going around... the kids seem healthier."

Her children have been sleeping outside since they were born.

The youngest, Alfred, is two and she puts him outside in the pram to nap once a day, for an hour and a half. When he was younger he slept outside twice a day.

This isn't a recent fashion. Lisa's mother, Gunilla, now 61, says she also did it with Lisa when she was a baby.

"Yes we were doing it back then as well… It was important for her to get fresh air and stay healthy," Gunilla says.

And Lisa's father, Peter, was put outside by his mother to sleep in a pram in the 1950s. Only when it got to around -10C (14F) did she bring him indoors.

Nowadays most day-care centres in Sweden put children outside to rest. It's common to see rows of prams lined up in the snow at nap-time, with youngsters fast asleep inside.

Baby asleep

he baby is electronically monitored, as is the outside temperature... -10C
At Forskolan Orren, a pre-school outside Stockholm, all children sleep outside until they reach the age of three.

"When the temperature drops to -15C (5F) we always cover the prams with blankets," says head teacher Brittmarie Carlzon.

"It's not only the temperature that matters, it's also how cold it feels. Some days it can be -15C but it actually feels like -20C (-4F) because of the wind," she says.
Babies often sleep outside cafes in Copenhagen too
"Last year we had a couple of days with a temperature of -20C. On those days we brought the prams inside some of the time the children were sleeping, but most of their sleep they spent outdoors."

One group at the pre-school spends all its time outside, from 09:00 to 15:00 every day. Out in the fresh air they do everything children normally do inside, only going inside at mealtimes, or in unusually cold weather.

The theory behind outdoor napping is that children exposed to fresh air, whether in summer or the depths of winter, are less likely to catch coughs and colds - and that spending a whole day in one room with 30 other children does them no good at all.

Many parents also believe their children sleep better and for longer in the open, and one researcher in Finland - outdoor napping is popular in all the Nordic countries - says she has evidence from a survey of parents to back this up.

"Babies clearly slept longer outdoors than indoors," says Marjo Tourula. While indoor naps lasted between one and two hours, outdoor naps lasted from 1.5 to three hours.

"Probably the restriction of movements by clothing could increase the length of sleep, and a cold environment makes swaddling possible without overheating," she says.

Continue reading the main story
Finland's 'official' nap advice
Irrespective of the season, many children have their evening naps outside in prams.

Many babies sleep better outdoors in the fresh air than in the bedroom. Sleeping outdoors is not dangerous for a baby. One may gradually start going outdoors when the baby is two weeks old.

Read more: Having children in Finland
According to her research, -5C is the best temperature for an outdoor nap - though some parents she spoke to even put their children out at -30C.

But do children who sleep outside end up catching fewer coughs and colds?

Paediatrician Margareta Blennow says reports from the Swedish Environmental protection agency show conflicting results.

"In some studies they found pre-schoolers who spent many hours outside generally - not just for naps - took fewer days off than those who spent most of their time indoors," she says.

"In other studies there wasn't a difference."

Martin Jarnstrom, head of one of the Ur och Skur group of pre-schools , is another big advocate of outdoor naps, though he emphasises that while the weather may be cold, the child must be warm.

"It's very important that the children have wool closest to their body, warm clothes and a warm sleeping bag," he says.

There is a Swedish saying that encapsulates this thought - "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing."

Another saying sums up what Swedes are likely to think when toddlers in other countries are kept indoors in sub-zero temperatures: "A little fresh air never hurt anyone."

Italy election: Why voters back Berlusconi, no matter what

Silvio Berlusconi at a political rally

To many in the outside world, Silvio Berlusconi is the clown prince of politics - better known for his bunga-bunga parties, outrageous comments and courtroom battles than for any obvious political nous.

Within Italy, though, the former prime minister remains a potent political force. His centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party has been gaining ground, and he may well be in the reckoning when this weekend's election results roll in.

So, what is the secret of his enduring attraction? Some of his faithful followers in Italy's affluent north explain why they have stayed loyal, despite all the scandal. Another, meanwhile, explains why he has finally had enough.

Andrea Bianchi, 66
Mr Bianchi describes himself as one of life's "gypsies". He's travelled the world during a career that's included the Italian diplomatic service, shipping and finance industries. He now works as a training consultant to big firms from his home in Milan. Mr Bianchi has been a Berlusconi fan since the former cruise-ship crooner exploded onto the political scene in 1994 - and he remains one to this day. He even supports Mr Berlusconi's AC Milan.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

The way he's been attacked over the years has infuriated me”

"This was a man who'd come from virtually nothing to be a big success in building, finance, the media - and had spotted a gap in the political market. He also opened up politics - to businessmen, academics and managers. And I like his easy way with people. What he's found, though, is that the Italian political system is very difficult to change, because of the resistance of the political system and vested interests.

"The way he's been attacked over the years has infuriated me. They started out trying to attack him on issues that seemed important - and when that didn't work, they ended up talking about the girls and the parties.

"What he has now - in addition to his business expertise - is 20 years' experience of politics. And that could be invaluable at this difficult time. In fact, I believe in him now even more than in the past."

Luca Ferri, 27

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote
The other parties - on the left - they want to talk about gay weddings. I mean - what planet are they on? They've no experience of the real world”

Mr Ferri is single, and a marketing graduate. Home is a small village called Comun Nuova, in the Po valley. His day starts at 06:00 in the morning, when he sets off for work at the nearby Tenaris steel plant. Four evenings a week he studies for his masters degree in international marketing.

"Berlusconi's no saint, we all know that. But there's a saying in Italian - 'ci mette la faccia' - which basically means someone's not afraid of a fight, of taking a risk. And that's Berlusconi all over. He has no fear.

"Before he came back as leader - just before the election - the PDL was down and out. Now it's back and fighting hard. The PDL might still lose - but it would have been a lot worse without Berlusconi.

"Berlusconi is the only one who knows how to talk to people about their real problems. You know, we've businessmen round here who've lost everything they've worked to build up over the past 40 years - men who can't even afford a decent meal any more.

"And the other parties - on the left - they want to talk about gay weddings. I mean - what planet are they on? They've no experience of the real world. The only world most of them know is the world of politics."

Maria Birolini, 43
Ms Birolini is running for election to the Lombardy regional council on the PDL ticket. A 43-year-old mother of two, she's passionate about culture, the importance of rooting out corruption and the role of women in Italian society. How does that sit with her place in a party led by a man known for constant corruption allegations - and a taste for dancing girls?

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

I think he got misled by some of those around him”

"Berlusconi is not the PDL. The reason I'm in the PDL is because it represents freedom of choice - and it's only by the exercise of choice that you become a better citizen. Berlusconi did a lot for the country in his first 10 years. But after that, I think he got misled by some of those around him.

"It's really difficult to be a woman in the centre-right at the moment because some of the examples in the past were so bad. We're all 'messo nello stesso cappello' - thrown together in the same hat. It's my personal battle to show that a woman can make a valid contribution politically, that there's a different way to be a woman in politics on the centre-right. It's a heavy responsibility - especially at a time like this.

"But the top priority after the election has to be to tackle corruption. The worst thing is the way it's insinuated its way into society - so that ordinary people end up thinking it's not really criminal behaviour, just a way of doing business."

Giovanni Marieni Saredo, 70

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote
He lost his sense of proportion - and of the ridiculous. And as a result, he's simply not credible anymore.”

Mr Marieni is a property owner and retired manager, whose family home is in the town of Bergamo, just outside Milan. He's a firm believer in free-market liberalism - and had great hopes for Silvio Berlusconi when he first appeared on the political scene. But this time, he says, he won't be voting PDL.

"I voted for him because he seemed to be the only person who could prevent Italy being taken over by the communists or ex-communists. I think he had a genuine desire to renew the country - to slash bureaucracy and shake up the public administration, education and health.

He also saw the need to modernise our infrastructure in order to catch up with the rest of Europe - everything from high-speed train networks and motorways to nuclear power plants and high-speed internet access.

"But the establishment - most of it on the left - was against all this - and so started the battle against him - like antibodies fighting off alien intruders in the body.

"Now, though, I think his time is over. He eventually came to see himself as almighty. He lost his sense of proportion - and of the ridiculous: all those alleged red-light parties, Ruby and the rest. And as a result, he's simply not credible anymore."

Pub owner fined after Irish 'nuns' are caught drinking illegally

A man dressed as a nun drinks outside a pub

Irish police officer found 51 people dressed as nuns in the bar after closing time
An Irish publican has been prosecuted after police found dozens of "nuns" drinking illegally, several hours past closing time on his premises.

Christy Walsh, who runs the bar in Listowel, County Kerry, has been fined a total of 700 euros (£605) after his pub was raided twice in one night.

He had helped to organise a charity event in the town last July, in which hundreds of people dressed up as nuns.

Mr Walsh said he was "disappointed" but vowed to continue his charity work.

Holy show
The Nunday event took place in Listowel on 30 June 2012, and set a new record for the "largest gathering of people dressed as nuns".

In total, 1,436 adults made a holy show of themselves at a GAA sports ground in the town.

The volunteers donned nuns' outfits and gathered in the field, where they were counted by officials acting on behalf of Guinness World Records.

The adjudicators also made sure that the 'sisters' observed a strict dress code. It had to include a habit, a veil, black shoes and black socks or tights.

Mr Walsh, who was a member of the Nunday organising committee, said the small town's population doubled for the day as up to 3,000 extra people came to Listowel to either participate in or witness the unusual event.

It was staged in aid of Pieta House, a suicide and self-harm awareness charity.

The 'nuns' gathered in a sports field in Listowel where they were officially counted, setting a new Guinness World Record

The 'nuns' gathered in a sports field in Listowel where they were officially counted, setting a new Guinness World Record
However, after pub closing time, in the early hours of the following morning, police entered Mr Christy's bar on two separate occasions, and found 51 'nuns' on the premises.

The officers first came in to the pub at about 01:45 BST, 45 minutes after closing time and found 30 people dressed as nuns.

Their second visit was at about 04:10 BST, when they observed 21 'sisters' still at the bar.

Mr Walsh said he was at the premises for the first police visit and accepted that the police were "doing their job".

He said he was not there in person for the second visit, because he was driving people home.

He claimed that many people found to be in the pub after hours were waiting on taxis.

Nun's blessing

Publican Christy Walsh said the event raised thousands for charity
Mr Walsh said Listowel had a population of about 3,000 people and on a typical Saturday night there were only about 10 taxis to cater for late night revellers.

The publican said he was disappointed by the decision to proceed with the prosecution.

However, he appeared philosophical about it, adding that the event had raised around 26,000 euros (£22,500) for charity.

The idea had come from a County Kerry couple, who had lost their 17-year-old son to suicide.

Mr Walsh said when the nun costumes were suggested, the organising committee sought reaction from a local convent and from a parish priest before going ahead with it.

He claimed that both saw the humour, agreed it was for a good cause, and "gave their blessing" to Nunday.

Apple smart watch efforts confirmed by US patent

Apple patent

Fresh evidence that Apple has been working on a smart watch concept since at least 2011 has emerged in a patent filing.

The document describes a flexible touchscreen display which would communicate with a smartphone or other electronic device.

It coincides with a report from a tech consultancy suggesting there is huge pent up demand for such a gadget.

But ABI Research warns that battery life issues still need to be addressed.

It says assuming such problems can be resolved, about 485 million wearable computing devices might ship by 2018, providing a significant growth opportunity for Apple and the wider consumer electronics industry.

Not all published patents lead to actual products, but Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have all published reports this month saying sources had confirmed Apple was experimenting with a watch-like device.

The iPhone-maker declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

Slap wraps
The US Patent Office only revealed Apple's filing on Thursday, but the document dates back to August 2011.

The mooted device is likened to a "slap wrap" - a thin strip of metal covered in fabric which snapped around the user's wrist to form a bracelet.

The toy was popular with teenagers in the late-1980s, but fell out of favour after complaints that it lost its ability to retain its shape over time,. There were also complaints that some users had experienced injuries after the fabric wore away to reveal a sharp metal edge.
Apple suggests components would harvest kinetic energy and provide wireless connectivity
Apple puts a hi-tech spin on the idea proposing a "slap bracelet" featuring a flexible circuit board and display, a touch sensitive user interface and a two-way communication chip, which would curl around the user's skin.

It suggests the gadget could detect which part of its surface was covered so that its readout would be limited to the exposed screen, with information flowing over the join.

Apple suggests lights along the device's edge could be programmed to blink when the user receives an alert, before displaying the details on its screen.

It says the user could then provide a brief response or use the bracelet to command a wirelessly connected smartphone, tablet or laptop to carry out another function such as adjusting the order of a song playlist or reviewing what recent calls had been made.

Apple acknowledges that the relatively thin nature of a wrist band would limit its uses, but suggests a wider armband could also be developed.

"At the width of a few inches the display can function to temporarily view and manipulate the screen of the portable device it is in communication with," says the paper.

"This might be desirable when the portable electronic device is stored in an inconvenient location such as a cargo pocket, or the bottom of a backpack.
Martian's voice-controlled smart watches are about to join the market
"A larger display is also more desirable for map viewing... as a traveller or explorer can easily reference the information with a flick of the wrist while exploring."

Recharge worries
ABI Research notes that several companies already sell smart watches - such as Fossil, Pebble and Sony - while others (including Samsung and Martian) are known to be working on such products,

For the time being, however, it says the sector is dominated instead by activity trackers - such as Nike's Fuelband and the Garmin Forerunner - which account for an estimated 61% of the wearable tech market.

Some of these devices do tell the time, but they only offer limited functionality beyond monitoring exercise or the owner's sleep pattern.

The consultants instead suggest a much wider range of uses giving the example of linking the watch to a home automation system so that "a quick shake of your wrist can turn off/on room lights".

The idea of a smartwatch has been around for years - but the firm says technology only recently caught up with our imagination.

"Moore's law has driven silicon to the point where it's small enough and powerful enough to drive applications that mean things to consumers," ABI's chief research officer, Stuart Carlaw, told the BBC.
Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, sits on the board of Fuelband-maker Nike
"Bluetooth Smart has also brought us high-bandwidth, low-energy connectivity at a less than a dollar a chip and takes up little space while offering robust performance.

"But one note of caution is that when we look at wearable technologies the use of power becomes an issue. You don't want to have to be plugging in four or five products a night to recharge - energy harvesting or wireless recharging technologies are going to become incredibly important."

Apple's patent confirms the company is aware of the problem.

It suggests harvesting energy from the movement of the user's arms and only coming out of standby mode when a sensor detects the device has been rotated to face a certain way.

It adds that the use of an AMOLED (active matrix light emitting diode) display would also help since it can allow individual pixels to be turned off, allowing the watch to only activate the parts which are facing the owner's eyes.

Farrell honoured at Irish awards

Colin Farrell

Seven Psychopaths star Colin Farrell was the toast of the Irish-American community in Los Angeles, as he was honoured at the Oscar Wilde awards.

The Dubliner, whose work includes Minority Report and Miami Vice, flew in from New York to accept the award.

In his acceptance speech, he thanked his parents "who are rumoured to have genetically made me Irish" and the US for the opportunities it had given him.

Other honours went to make-up artist Michele Burke and Michael Burns.

Burns, vice president of film studio Lionsgate, and Oscar winner Burke picked up awards for their contribution to film.

Producer Paula Wagner, who has worked with Burke on films including Vanilla Sky, said that when Burke first began working in prosthetics, there were no women in the industry.

But Burke persisted and it wasn't long before she became known as "the blood lady" because she created the best fake blood in the business.

The Kildare-born artist also designed the make-up for Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain in The Heiress.

The Oscar Wilde awards, named after the famed Irish writer, were created by the non-profit US-Ireland Alliance.
Michael Burns and make-up artist Michele Burke were also honoured at the annual ceremony
Earlier in the evening, Farrell spoke of his admiration for Anglo-Irish Oscar nominee Daniel Day Lewis, who could win a historic third Oscar for his leading role in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln on Sunday.

"Daniel is very special… he is incredible," said Farrell, who revealed he had recently finished shooting Saving Mr Banks, which also stars Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson.

The film is based on the making of the Mary Poppins movie and has already been tipped by the Hollywood Reporter to pick up an Oscar next year.

Farrell plays Emma Thompson's father in the film, which he said had one of the "most beautiful scripts I've read in 15 years".

The Oscar Wilde's were held on the roof of Bad Robot, JJ Abrams' production company.

The sci-fi director was recently named as the director of the next Star Wars film, Star Wars Episode VII.

He said the announcement was "an incredibly surreal thing" but told BBC Radio 5 Live "it was too early to talk" about a release date or give any details about the film's content.

Seven Psychopaths star Colin Farrell was the toast of the Irish-American community in Los Angeles, as he was honoured at the Oscar Wilde awards.

The Dubliner, whose work includes Minority Report and Miami Vice, flew in from New York to accept the award.

In his acceptance speech, he thanked his parents "who are rumoured to have genetically made me Irish" and the US for the opportunities it had given him.

Other honours went to make-up artist Michele Burke and Michael Burns.

Burns, vice president of film studio Lionsgate, and Oscar winner Burke picked up awards for their contribution to film.

Producer Paula Wagner, who has worked with Burke on films including Vanilla Sky, said that when Burke first began working in prosthetics, there were no women in the industry.

But Burke persisted and it wasn't long before she became known as "the blood lady" because she created the best fake blood in the business.

The Kildare-born artist also designed the make-up for Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain in The Heiress.

The Oscar Wilde awards, named after the famed Irish writer, were created by the non-profit US-Ireland Alliance.
Michael Burns and make-up artist Michele Burke were also honoured at the annual ceremony
Earlier in the evening, Farrell spoke of his admiration for Anglo-Irish Oscar nominee Daniel Day Lewis, who could win a historic third Oscar for his leading role in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln on Sunday.

"Daniel is very special… he is incredible," said Farrell, who revealed he had recently finished shooting Saving Mr Banks, which also stars Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson.

The film is based on the making of the Mary Poppins movie and has already been tipped by the Hollywood Reporter to pick up an Oscar next year.

Farrell plays Emma Thompson's father in the film, which he said had one of the "most beautiful scripts I've read in 15 years".

The Oscar Wilde's were held on the roof of Bad Robot, JJ Abrams' production company.

The sci-fi director was recently named as the director of the next Star Wars film, Star Wars Episode VII.

He said the announcement was "an incredibly surreal thing" but told BBC Radio 5 Live "it was too early to talk" about a release date or give any details about the film's content.

Mosquitoes ignore repellent Deet after first exposure

Aedes aegypti

The widely used insect repellent Deet appears to be losing its effectiveness against mosquitoes, scientists say.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine say mosquitoes are first deterred by the substance, but then later ignore it.

They say more research is needed to find alternatives to Deet, which was first developed by the US military.

The research was carried out on Aedes aegypti, a species of mosquito that spreads dengue and yellow fever.

The findings are published in the journal Plos One.

Dr James Logan from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "The more we can understand about how repellents work and how mosquitoes detect them, the better we can work out ways to get around the problem when they do become resistant to repellents."

Human bait

Deet - or N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide - is one of the most widely used active ingredients in insect repellents. It was developed by the US military, following its experience of jungle warfare during World War II.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

Mosquitoes are very good at evolving very very quickly”

Dr James Logan
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
For many years, it was not clear exactly how the chemical worked, but recent research suggests that insects simply do not like the smell.

However, there are concerns that some mosquitoes are growing resistant to it.

To find out more, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine took some A. aegypti mosquitoes in the laboratory, and tempted them with a human arm covered in Deet.

As expected, the repellent put the insects off their potential meal.

However, a few hours later when the same mosquitoes were offered a chance to dine again, the researchers found that the Deet was less effective.

To investigate why this might be happening, the researchers attached electrodes to the insects' antenna.

Dr Logan explained: "We were able to record the response of the receptors on the antenna to Deet, and what we found was the mosquitoes were no longer as sensitive to the chemical, so they weren't picking it up as well.

"There is something about being exposed to the chemical that first time that changes their olfactory system - changes their sense of smell - and their ability to smell Deet, which makes it less effective."

Arms race

Earlier research by the same team found that genetic changes to the same species of mosquito can make them immune to Deet, although it was not clear if there were any mosquitoes like this in the wild.

Dr Logan said it was vital to understand both these permanent genetic and temporary olfactory changes that were taking place.

He said: "Mosquitoes are very good at evolving very very quickly."

He stressed that the findings should not stop people from using Deet in high risk areas, but that they would help scientists who are trying to find new versions that could be effective.

To follow up on the study, the researchers now plan to find out how long the effect lasts after the initial exposure to the chemical.

The team would also like to study the effect in other mosquitoes, including the species that transmit malaria.

Air France-KLM losses widen as fuel costs rise

Air France Airbus A330-200

Air France-KLM, the Franco-Dutch airline, says it made a big loss in 2012, blaming sharply rising fuel costs and trouble with its cargo business.

Net losses increased 47% to 1.19bn euros (£1bn; $1.57bn), after a 471m-euro restructuring charge and a 890m-euro increase in its fuel bill.

But operating losses fell to 300m euros, from 353m euros the year before.

Revenues rose 5.2% to 25.6bn euros, thanks in part to increased prices on its North Atlantic routes.

Debt fell from 6.51bn to 5.97bn euros after sell-offs and spending cuts - the company plans to reduce its net debt by 2bn euros by the end of 2014.

Chief executive Jean-Cyril Spinetta said in a statement: "The year 2012 was characterised by a slowdown in global growth and recession in Europe, but nevertheless saw a sharp increase in the fuel price.

"In 2013, we will maintain strict discipline in terms of capacity management, investments and costs."

Air France-KLM is renegotiating pay and conditions with its staff and cutting more than 5,000 jobs, as high fuel costs and competition from low-cost airlines take their toll on the debt-laden company.

The airline managed to increase filled capacity on its flights to more than 83% as demand for long-haul trips rose, but its cargo business continues to struggle

Australian Olympic swimmers admit using sedative



James Magnussen and Australia swimming teammate Eamon Sullivan admitted taking part in a "bonding" ritual
Continue reading the main story

The six male athletes also said they engaged in disruptive behaviour.

The admission follows a report that assessed Australia's poor swimming performance at the London 2012 Games which pointed to a "toxic" team culture.

Swimming Australia said the swimmers will face an inquiry panel.

Stilnox, used to treat insomnia, is not considered a performance enhancer and is not a banned substance, but the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) put it on the prohibited list ahead of the Games.

In their statement, the six members of the men's 4x100 freestyle relay team said the prescriptions "were filled in Australia before their departure to their staging camp in Spain and prior to the AOC's announcement the drug was (prohibited)".

But they "acknowledge that at the time Stilnox was consumed it had been recently prohibited for use".

"We stand here collectively to confirm that we did take part in a bonding exercise during which members of the relay team took Stilnox," the six swimmers said.

"We acknowledge by our recent action in continuing a recent tradition in the Australia swim team, we have let ourselves down and the people who have supported us."

All but one team member took the medication, they said. Then they engaged in pranks they described as "childish" and "stupid", such as knocking on the doors of other athletes and making phone calls. They said they were asleep by 22:30.

"I think one of the reasons I agreed to go along with it was all the pressure I was under," one of the swimmers, James Magnussen, said. "Completely inappropriate in hindsight."

The relay team, nicknamed Weapons of Mass Destruction before the Olympics, came in fourth in the event, in which they had been expected to deliver a medal.

Magnussen, a favourite to win the men's 100 metres freestyle, won a silver.

Their admission follows the release of a review of the sport after the country's worst Olympic swimming performance in two decades.

It found that amid a lack of leadership a "toxic" team culture developed that led to bullying and misuse of prescription drugs, and that standards and discipline were "too loose".

Australia's swimmers won just one gold medal at London 2012, far short of previous medal hauls at other recent Olympics.

Oscar Pistorius bail decision due in Pretoria court



A South African magistrate is delivering his ruling on whether Oscar Pistorius, accused of murdering his girlfriend, should be freed on bail.

The Paralympic sprinter denies murder, saying he shot Reeva Steenkamp thinking she was an intruder at his home.

The prosecution argues there is a risk Mr Pistorius, 26, may abscond and bail should be refused.

After the final arguments, magistrate Desmond Nair began announcing his decision at about 2:30pm (12:30GMT).

Reeva Steenkamp, 29, was a model and law graduate with a burgeoning television career.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis
Andrew Harding
Africa correspondent
It's been the quiet, rather overlooked subtext to the drama and detail emerging from Courtroom C: the shambolic state of South Africa's police force.

Given that this is perhaps the most high-profile murder investigation that South Africa has seen in years, it makes you wonder what happens in other, more ordinary, cases, and to begin to understand why, for instance, the conviction rate for alleged rapists is pitifully low, and why so many police dockets are reported to "disappear" from the files, allowing suspects to walk free.

Read more from Andrew
Intent?
In his closing argument, lead prosecutor Gerrie Nel said that Oscar Pistorius's version of events was "improbable" and there was a clear risk he would flee if granted bail.

He said the athlete's statement to the court suggested he thought "I've done nothing wrong" as there was no admission of culpable homicide.

Oscar Pistorius knows he is "almost guaranteed" to serve a long term in prison, and he should not be treated differently because he is famous or because he has a disability, the prosecutor added.

"He fired four shots, not one shot," Mr Nel said.

"The only reason you fire four shots is to kill. On his own version, he is bound to be convicted."

In response, lead defence lawyer Barry Roux reiterated that Mr Pistorius had no intent to kill Ms Steenkamp: he fired at what he thought was a burglar.

Continue reading the main story
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Nair: detective conceded that defence version of shooting angle and position could be true.
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Three sketch artists busy working on portraits of #0scarPistorius. No cameras allowed to record his reaction when bail ruling comes.
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"He did not want to kill Reeva. He had no intent to kill Reeva," Mr Roux said

If anything, his client should be charged with culpable homicide, not premeditated murder, the lawyer argued.

"All the factors are present to show that he is not a flight risk," Mr Roux said, adding that the athlete's prosthetic limbs meant he could not go unnoticed through airport security.

Oscar Pistorius hopes to resume training next week if he is granted bail, his coach Ampie Louw said as he arrived at court.

If denied bail, he could face months in prison before a full trial begins later this year.

Prosecutors say Mr Pistorius fired four shots through a locked toilet door as Ms Steenkamp cowered on the other side. She was hit in the head, arm and hip.

Mr Pistorius admits firing the shots, but says he was acting in self-defence against what he thought was an intruder.

Continue reading the main story

What happened on the night?
Flight risk?
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said Mr Pistorius had the "money, means and motive," to abscond abroad if he was given bail.

But defence lawyer Barry Roux said Mr Pistorius's prosthetic limbs would make it difficult to escape the country, as they could not go through airport security unnoticed and required regular maintenance.

``Let me tell you how difficult it is for this man to disappear from this world,'' Mr Roux said.

Because of the seriousness of the charges, Mr Pistorius's defence team have to prove there is an "exceptional" reason for him to be freed on bail.

Detective replaced

Reeva Steenkamp's family say they want the truth
On Thursday, police replaced their lead detective in the case, Hilton Botha, after it emerged he faced attempted murder charges.

South Africa's most senior detective, Lt Gen Vineshkumar Moonoo, will now take charge of the investigation.

Det Botha is expected to appear in court in May in connection with a 2009 incident in which he and other officers opened fire on a minibus taxi whose driver apparently disobeyed an order to stop.

He has not been suspended and could remain a potential witness in any trial of Mr Pistorius.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

U.S. unveils strategy that fights cybercrime



The White House today has introduced a new strategy to put pressure on China and other countries that engage in corporate espionage against the United States, reports the WSJ.
This is an attempt of the administration of President Obama was kundërvyer cyberattacks and commercial espionage.

Strategy released Wednesday that was the subject of a meeting at the White House, considering the growth of U.S. trade restrictions on products and services resulting from stolen trade secrets.

U.S. officials also presented a series of diplomatic actions with which they will reinforce the commitment of the administration to reduce such theft made ​​through cyber attacks.

The new strategy comes after revelations cyber espionage coming from China, which the latter has denied, calling as unfounded.

Sony PS4 launches, without showing the console design



Manufacturer of the most famous gaming console, PlayStation, Sony company yesterday introduced the fourth generation of its console - PlayStation 4, which has said it will begin to be sold during the holidays.
Electronics giant has introduced the new console - PS4, but in addition to photographs of various games, the company has revealed little about the design of the console itself.

Although it is not known how much it will cost, or how it will look, Sony has confirmed that the beginning of the sales will be during the holidays.

Also, the company has released sales data for PS3, which console has sold 70 million copies.

Abidal close to returning to Barcën

Eric Abidal, Foto: Gety Images

French defender Eric Abidal is now on standby for coach Tito Vilanova, after an absence of 12 months.
Barcelona confirmed us that Abidal will be on alert to play in future games, after full riaftëisimit.

Eric Abidal was operated after the diagnosis of liver tumors.

Pique: Maybe we are not good as we think

Gerard Pique (Foto: Getty Images)

Hub Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has said that loss against Milan was very bad and that there is no excuse for it. Further, he said that maybe they are not as good as some all.

"Judges can make mistakes sometimes but there is no excuse for this. Neither the judge, nor the fields, nothing. "

"It is very bad result. When they scored the first goal we lost focus. Need to improve, to learn and to wait for the return leg at the Nou Camp to qualify. "

"Maybe we are not as good as all think," said Pique to Marca.

Milan: We Are History

Milan is very close to qualifying to the next stage of the Champions League after beating Barcelona at the San Siro with the result 2-0.
San Siro overcrowded by 85 thousand ardent fans with a choreography since filliim scared off Barcelona at this meeting was presented with the strongest lineup, while Milan Balotelli was absent, but his absence was not noticed at all.



The first half was balanced. Barcelona had no case, posdim quite dominant, but Milan showed strong protection.Mexes not left Messi breathe, while the first part was no goal.

In the second half, things changed. The beginning was the same, with little difference for teams. Barcelona dominated possession, but Milan fans enjoyed.

After a free kick in the 57th minute and a touch suspicious without deliberate hand by Cristian Zapata, was Kevin Prince Boateng with a fantastic kick for 1-0 routing goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Great joy for Rossoneri fans, Messi quiet.

Messi continued to be silent, thanks to the fantastic branding organized by master Massimiliano Allegri, who inkuadroi M'baye Niang, who gave even more power Rossoneri attack .



After a well organized action, Stephan Al Shaaraëy left without words Piquen, followed Muntari, who so Maestral with a kick volej welcomed Valdesin and all the hierarchy of Barcelona together with the fans to 2-0 (81 ').

Catalans did not believe their eyes, but for the Rossoneri this was of little importance, as the San Siro was on fire from their holidays.

By the end of Barcelona attempted to return, but Milan's defense was an example to the whole world, how to stop this team. The match ended with the score 2-0.

Milani in this challenge scored the 400th goal in European competitions, while Barcelona was just the third loss this season in all competitions.

Intervention with this result Milan is one step closer to quarterfinal after Barcelona at Camp Nou two weeks will need a 2-0 win to ensure progress and win 3-0 to qualify without continuations

Madrid City of protests

Protesters take part in a demonstration against plans to cut medical spending and privatize hospital services in Madrid of February 17, 2013.

-- Loud chants rise up from the street below, the noise bouncing off the wall of the building across the way and pouring in to an apartment on the top floor of a block in Vicalvaro, a working class suburb of Madrid.
"The people, united, will never be divided!" yells the crowd, angrily waving banners and placards. "To fight is the only way!"
Rocio pokes her head out of the window, watching the commotion below with interest, as dog-walkers, mothers with strollers, and pensioners carrying shopping bags join the throng.
The scores of people gathering on the sidewalk are no nosey neighbors -- indeed, many of them are complete strangers to the family living on the fifth floor -- but they are all here to protect Rocio from eviction.
The mother-of-one, with brightly-dyed hair, braces on her teeth, and worry etched on her face, hangs her head as she explains how she got here: The move from Ecuador in 2003, when times were good and jobs plentiful in Spain, the decision to invest in a home for Rocio and her son, now 17 and in high school.
Spain: Unemployed woman fights eviction Desperate situation for Spain's homeless Spanish musician: We want dignity Spain's jobless look toward future
But then the global financial crisis hit, bringing Spain's economy to its knees; Rocio lost her jobs -- in a shop, and as a cleaner -- and the mortgage payments spiraled out of reach.
For a while, she got by on benefits, but then those stopped too, and now the bailiffs are circling.
"They are about to evict me, and I'm fighting to stay because I don't have anywhere else to go," she says. "I haven't paid my mortgage because I can't -- I don't have any work."
Inside the cosy two-bedroom apartment, there's little sign that the family may be turned out onto the street at any moment: The TV is on in the lounge, shelves and closets are full, and a piece of meat sits on the kitchen counter top, defrosting in time for tonight's dinner.
In the main bedroom, there's just one concession to the very real threat that Rocio might be about to lose her home: a large black suitcase sits, empty, atop a bedspread dotted with pink roses.
"I can't stand the thought of living on the streets with my son, but I have no idea where else to go," she says. "Just thinking about it makes me very sad."
Rocio's story is echoed by others all over Spain: the global financial crisis knocked the bottom out of the country's housing market and sparked a major recession that left thousands jobless.
The country's unemployment rate stands at 26% -- its highest level ever -- and the situation is even worse for young people, with more than 55% of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work.
With no income, many are finding themselves unable to afford the mortgage payments on homes that are no longer worth the prices paid for them.
People are losing their jobs... they can't pay their mortgages, they struggle. Even people with degrees are living on the street. Nobody is safe
Tomas Rodriguez, homeless
Tomas Rodriguez is one of those who lost his home. The 33-year-old used to work in a grocery store, but was made redundant when the company got into trouble. Now he sleeps in Madrid's Plaza Mayor, a tourist hotspot by day, and cardboard city peopled by the homeless at night.
"I was able to get unemployment benefits, but time has run out," he says. "I can't afford to pay for things, so now I'm living on the street... It's hard, but that's the way it is."
Rodriguez says the financial crisis has left many ordinary Spaniards homeless: "People are losing their jobs. Now they can't pay their mortgages, they can't provide for their families, they struggle.
"People have an image of the homeless that is not real -- they see somebody with a box of wine and they think we're all like that, [but] that's not the case... Even people with degrees are living on the street. Nobody is safe."
It is this fear that has driven many Spanish people to action -- compelled to act by what they see as the gross unfairness of everyday life in Spain in 2013, where struggling citizens are evicted, even as hundreds of homes lie empty.
Dozens of those gathered outside the door of Rocio's apartment block are supporters of "Stop Desahucios" (Stop Evictions), part of the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH) a group which campaigns to prevent banks and authorities turfing those hit by the country's economic woes out of their homes.
Spain's 'Indignados' still angry Strike makes Seville stink Pamplona locksmiths fight evictions Austerity bites for Spanish citizens
"For every eviction, an occupation!" they shout, accusing the banks and authorities of "real estate terrorism."
"The next eviction should be at the Palace of Moncloa! [the Spanish prime minister's official residence]" runs another chant; a few short years ago, most Spaniards would have shied away from such overtly political protests.
Activist Dante Scherma, 24, says Spain's troubled history had left many wary of becoming involved in political issues: "Forty years of Franco's dictatorship made people disconnect from politics."
But when simmering anger and resentment about the government and the economy gave way to the mass marches of the 15-M movement -- also known as the "Indignados" -- the floodgates were opened.
In 2011, thousands of Spaniards took to the country's streets, inspiring the global "Occupy" movement with their protest camp in Madrid's Puerta del Sol.
Sofia de Roa, 28, was one of the first to take part in the demonstrations, which she says were a political awakening for the Spanish people.
"Citizens were not used to speaking out on political issues. My parents never discussed politics with me, but now that is changing. The movement awoke a lot of people who were not interested in politics before."
Scherma agrees: "The 15-M movement made people talk about social issues, and about politics in normal conversations -- in cafes, restaurants, bars -- where before they only talked about football or fashion."
Nowadays, Madrid is a city of protests -- it is almost impossible to cross the capital without coming across a sit-in or a march, petitions are everywhere, and the activists have returned to the Puerta del Sol.
The demonstrations are organized through the internet, particicularly Twitter and Facebook.
"We use the social networks to communicate," explains de Roa, brandishing her smartphone. "This is the tool that has permitted us to fight together, and to feel that we are not alone."
My parents never discussed politics with me, but now that is changing. The movement awoke a lot of people who were not interested in politics before
Sofia de Roa, activist
Their subjects are anything and everything -- from education reform to job losses, government cuts to corruption -- but all reflecting a widespread dissatisfaction with politicians and their handling of the country's economic crisis.
"They are destroying our future," says college student Alejandra, as she participates in a march in support of public education. "We know there's a crisis, but it could be less if they managed the money better.
"All the political parties do is accuse each other, the government is destroying the country, and the conditions for workers are getting worse and worse."
Each protest is color-coded: White for healthcare workers, green for the education sector, orange for social services, red for general trade union members, and black for public service workers.
On Saturday, February 23, all these individual groups are expected to unite for rainbow-hued mass demonstrations in towns and cities across Spain, known as the "Marea Cuidadana" (Tide of Citizens).
Back in Vicalvaro, the moment of truth has arrived, but the crowd -- now shouting at the police, insisting they should be ashamed of themselves for helping to evict families -- appears to have had an impact. Rocio is summoned downstairs, as lawyers from the PAH explain that she will be able to stay -- for a while at least.
For those working to stop Spain's eviction epidemic, today has seen a small and temporary victory: The bailiffs have been put off for now, but Rocio knows they may yet return.
For those demonstrating about cuts, corruption and a lack of cash, the protests will go on.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Like | Comment | Share

i m nt in ur hEart
bt i mis U ♥ i
m nt ur family b
t i carE fOr U ♥ i m
nt ur bloOd relatiOns bt
m rEady tO sharE ur
pain bcuz i m
ur stupid frnd :):):)♥●•

@[398100653619121:0]

Like | Comment | Share

i m nt in ur hEart
bt i mis U ♥ i
m nt ur family b
t i carE fOr U ♥ i m
nt ur bloOd relatiOns bt
m rEady tO sharE ur
pain bcuz i m
ur stupid frnd :):):)♥●•

@[398100653619121:0]

Monday, February 11, 2013

Sentence ending in a prep.

If a sentence should not end in a preposition, why do people say, "I have never done this before"?

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The correct usage of "You're", "Your"

The correct usage of "You're", "Your"1

Ones excited by first Asia tour. By Phil Jones

Ones excited by first Asia tour.

“From what Rio was saying, the fan base is absolutely huge out there, and that makes it exciting for us to go over there and experience it, and for the fans to see us as well. It’s important to give something back to those fans and show our support to them.kl;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

“When I met up with the squad for the first time [in 2011] it was definitely an eye-opener for me to see how big United is as a club. I already knew it was a massive club, but I didn’t realise just how big the fanbase was. There were people queuing up outside our hotel just to catch glimpses of us which was kind of surreal, but it was a great experience.” - Phil Jones
Do you have any story to say us. Just click here ...

supposedly

I hear all the time supposibly instead of supposedly.

bitch please

fail

that will be better

What you think of Justin Timberlake's announcement that he is returning to the music game?

big fail

Could be a real safety hazard!

crash

When you're driving and Nicki Minaj is on all 3 radio stations at the exact same time, there's nothing left to do except crash your car.

RVP

Rvp says that he and his team are not afraid from cr7 and real madrid.he said that he will play like every match so it won't be a problem

evra

“Win your games and show that Manchester United is the number 1 team” Evra. Patrice told us it’s time to deliver now, can we keep up our good run of form?

cr7 vs man utd

Cr7 say that he is not afraid about his match with man utd on champions league but man utd say that they are happy if they take a draw.

Wells Fargo Fail

Gutter Language?

This morning a BBC News strapline told us that costs of household water and sewerage were to increase. Since when did every household get a bill for the infrastructure?

Monday, February 4, 2013

Different from or different than?

When does one use different from and different than?

Parts of Speech - General Overview

What are Parts of Speech ?

 

All the words in English can be divided into 8, 9 or more groups according to their function in the language. These groups are traditionally called parts of speech and are today referred to as lexical categories or word classes. The following terms comprise the most basic grammar terminology every English user must be familiar with in order to understand how language works to create meaning.

Nouns (success), verbs (succeed), adjectives (successful), adverbs (successfully) and interjections (wow!) are sub-grouped into content words, namely, words that provide the concepts and ideas underlying the sentence. Content words are constantly being added to or removed from the language (an open word class), as changing usage patterns influence dynamic changes in a language's vocabulary.

Conversely, Determiners (the), pronouns (we), prepositions (at) and conjunctions (and) are sub-grouped into structure words, whose number almost always stays constant in a language (closed word class). These are words that tie the content words together into a grammatically correct sentence and reflect the inner 
grammar rules of the language structure. These, as opposed to content words, change very slowly, if at all, throughout a language's history.

It is vital for any English writer to be familiar with the parts of speech in order to have the terminology to study and analyze the language and identify mistakes in writing. Moreover, a word can function as a different part of speech depending on its role in the 
sentence structure (the terms of which are also vital for successful writing). This affects the word's meaning and structure, making it important to confirm whether you are using the correct part of speech in the correct position in the sentence.
The defendant's lawyers object to any claims made by the prosecution.
[ object is a verb, meaning to oppose]

They also showed an object found in the scene of the crime as exhibit A.
[ object is a noun, meaning a physical item]

 

 7th

Parts of Speech in the English Language

 

I. Content Words

 

1. The Noun

 

1. A Noun is a word that names a person ( teacher), thing ( pencil), animal ( cat), place (Paris) or abstract idea ( love). As practically anything in the universe has a name, and as there are many things in the universe, nouns comprise the largest group of words in English (about 65%). Nouns name common everyday objects such as pen, through to general conditions such as friendship, all the way to the most technical terminology for the tiniest part of a jet engine.

The Present Progressive Tense

Talking about dynamic ongoing activities happening at a specific present time only


The Present Progressive tense (or Present Continuous) is a much-used verb tense in English that describes on-going actions at the moment of speaking, stressing that the doer is in the middle of the activity and hasn’t finished yet (the action is incomplete). It is used to refer to a temporary dynamic activity occurring at a specific time in the present, not on a regular basis. To know more, read these sections of our grammar review on the Present Progressive in English.

1. Slogan
2. Usages
3. Form
4. Common time expressions
5. Negative statements and questions types
6. Summary



1. Slogan: “I am in the middle of doing something, please don’t disturb !” or


“It doesn’t happen all the time”



The slogans encapsulate the basic meaning of the Present Progressive, so use it when hesitating about what verb form to choose in your English writing. Remembering one short slogan can help you navigate through all the grammar rules it relates to.

Creative English Writing

Welcome to the Free English Writing Guide. The Free English Writing Guide provides articles that offer tips and suggestions on how to write successfully. How to write business letters, cover letters and reports or produce creative English writing of a high standard in essays, articles and novels. 


Writing is a complex skill that requires time to develop as many elements are weaved together to form one final product. Writing is more than just putting words and sentences together, as it should also address questions of writing purpose (to convince, inform or narrate), audience (friends Vs. business associates, teenagers Vs. University professors), genre (argumentative, descriptive, narrative), style (avoiding sexist and biased language, conciseness, and emphasis), register (formal. Informal, technical, jocular) and format (article, report, contract, letter, e-mail, memo etc.). To achieve a good piece of writing, there are some essential and well defined stages within the writing process that make sure you will actually end up with the piece of writing you intended to have.

 

Different writing purposes frequently warrant the usage of specific formats, which by convention are expected to be used, using specific headings, graphic layout and specialist terminology. As nearly all writers in all levels, find it sometimes hard to start writing what they have in mind, a good writing template with a ready-made structure, key words and phrases can serve as an excellent springboard. For example, when writing informative texts in expository style for school or for journalistic purposes, it is recommended to use an agreed upon structure for a review article, a student's 5-paragraph essay on Napoleon or a news item. Persuasive writing is based on a strong persuasive style, which empowers opinion essays, newspaper editorials or business proposals. Academic writing, for college or university, expects certain models for writing assignments, from a research report or a book review; through to a lab report, literary analysis, or a term paper; and all the way up to a full thesis.

The world of business writing uses common formats for business e-mails, press releases, financial plans or even simple memos confirming a business meeting. Resumes stand in a category of their own, as various occupations merit various resume styles. Legal documents, such as real estate contracts, power to an attorney or wills, or medical documents such as insurance policies and autopsy reports require careful attention to technicalities. Various letter formats are very useful for letters of resignation, complaint or recommendation.

In contrast to the hard factual approach taken in expository writing, Creative writing lets you give vent to personal thought, subjective feelings and practically anything that comes to mind without having to provide evidence to support arguments. Such writing includes diary entries, personal blogs, love letters and just about any kind of free written reflection. Finally, literary writing, attempted by layman and artist alike, produces narratives for short stories or novellas, lyrical poems and sonnets, and dramatic prose for plays or movie scripts.
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English Vocabulary: Beginnings

There Just Seems to Be No End to It - Part 1


The English language has become the international language of the world. In addition to the 400 million people speaking English as a first language, about 800 million use or study Englishas a second/ foreign language. As English grammar is relatively simple compared to other languages, it is the vast English vocabulary, which poses a real challenge in the quest to master the language.

Almost every word in English seems to have many synonym sets with rough to subtle differences in meaning between members of each set. For example, to name the place where one lives, you can use home, house, quarters, or lodging (standard); residence, domicile, orhabituation (formal); and shack, digs, spot, or pad (informal, slang). A set of words can also be found to describe a person who talks a lot: articulate, eloquent, fluent (positive connotation); vocal, talkative, verbose (neutral connotation); chattering, gossipy, and gabby(negative connotation). There just seems to be no end to English words...

The most complete dictionary of English, the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED (second edition, 20 volumes, 1989) has more than 600,000 word entries (including archaic forms and variant spellings). Nevertheless, English is estimated to have more than a 1,000,000 words, as the second half of the 20th century enriched the language with an abundance of specialist, technical and scientific terms, not to mention slang and contributions from local English varieties (American, British, Australian & New-Zealander English, Indian English, and more). Just for comparison, Arabic has "only" 200,000 words, German 160,000, French 140,000, Japanese 116,000, and Hebrew 100,000 (rough estimates).

How is it that English has such a huge vocabulary, larger than any other language on earth? In addition to various word formation mechanisms existing in other languages, such as onomatopoeia, derivation, affixation, compounding and functional extension, the major source for the large variety of English words is its dramatic history. The 1,600 years of English existence have been witness to massive revolutionary changes in the language as it mixed with and continuously borrowed from other languages, with which it came into contact.

Early English roots trace back to the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons to Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries resulting in Old English being mainly Germanic. 83% of the most common 1000 words in today's English are of Anglo-Saxon origin.









Old English
words


  • nouns: house, mother, father ,cow, God, gold, work, land, winter

  • verbs: be, have, do, say, come, make

  • adjectives: good, new, and long

  • function words: he, of, him, for, and, under, on



Already in this period of Old English, the language began applying its inclination to ravenously borrow words from other languages. From the native Celts, it took clan, bin, gull, and crag, as well as names for places and rivers ( Dover, Kent, Severn, Thames). Latin words arrived even earlier with the Roman conquest of 43 B.C. ( cheese, cup, kitchen, plant, street, wine). A later wave of Latin words was brought with Christian monks and missionaries seeking to convert the Anglo-Saxons, enriching the language with both religious and secular words, such asabbot, altar, acolyte, candle, martyr, Mass, and lily.

The next addition to the vocabulary to close the Old English period resulted from the Viking invasions to Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries. These newcomers, who had settled alongside the Anglo-Saxons, contributed Old Norse vocabulary such as the following:









from Old Norse



  • flat, cake, take, get, call, husband, want, cut, both, ugly, fellow, hit, odd, egg, sister, law, leg, rag, window, die, are (form of the verb be)

  • words beginning with sk: scorch, scrape, scrub, skill, and sky

  • The personal pronouns: they, their, them



Synonymous word sets such as those presented above already show up in this period: sick vs.ill, shirt vs. skirt, wrath vs. anger, rear vs. raise, hide vs. skin, the first Anglo-Saxon, the second Old Norse, respectively. The all-in-all contribution of words from Germanic origins (Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse etc.) amounts to about 23% of the current English vocabulary.

The year 1066 marked the dramatic transition to Middle English, with William the Conqueror, king of Normandy in Western France, drawing his army into Britain. Old French thus became the spoken language of the ruling classes: the nobles, bankers, lawmakers, and scholars; the peasants and lower classes spoke Anglo-Saxon and some surviving Celtic dialects; the clergy used Latin. In the coming 400 years, Middle English gradually overthrew French and became the language of all classes, but words for government, religion, food, law, art, literature, and medicine are originally French.









from
Norman French
parliament, justice, crime, marriage, money, ornament, art, pleasure, joy, rent



The parallel usage of several languages has resulted in some famous duplicate and triplicate synonym sets. For instance, kingly (from Old English), royal (from French), and regal (from Latin). As well as house-mansion, wood-forest, answer-reply, yearly-annual, room-chamber, wish-desire, might-power, worthy-honorable, and bold-courageous (the former from Old-English, the latter from French, respectively).images (2)

Another fascinating example of the social divide between language users of Middle English is shown in nouns denoting different kinds of meats. The English speaking peasants who raised the animals used the Anglo-Saxon words ( swine/pig, sheep, ox, cow, calf, deer), whereas the French speaking elite, who could afford eating these meats regularly, used the French equivalents ( pork, bacon, mutton, beef, veal, venison, respectively). Today, these duplicates remain in common use in modern English, using different words for the animals and the meats produced from them. The contribution of both Norman and Modern French to English is estimated in about 29% of the current vocabulary.

English Vocabulary Guide - Vocabulary Check / Vocabulary Checker

English Vocabulary Guide - Vocabulary Check / Vocabulary Checker

Welcome to the English Vocabulary Guide. The English Vocabulary Guide has articles about key topics on English vocabulary and semantics (the meaning of words) that will teach you about writing more correctly. Remember that even experienced writers always have their writing edited for vocabulary (word replacement with synonyms, enrichment, register, collocations or word appropriateness).

As English has the largest vocabulary compared to other languages, with estimates running between 500,000 and one million word items, it is important to know how to enrich your vocabulary. Words together form phrases, figures of speech and idioms which enrich one's language figuratively and symbolically. In addition to tips on memorizing words, our vocabulary guide allows you to access information on word formation and derivation (roots, prefixes and suffixes), phrasal verbs, synonyms, antonyms, word origins in English, dictionary use, cliches, jargon, and words commonly confused.
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