param param param baboum

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
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bam boum!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
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Ship hauls Christmas goods across globe

LONDON - Groaning with gifts and larger than any sleigh, the world's biggest container ship docked in Britain Saturday on a maiden voyage to deliver thousands of tons of Christmas presents, decorations and food across the globe.


The MS Emma Maersk, which weighs 190,400 tons, set sail from Gothenburg, Sweden, in September, collecting and delivering festive supplies in Yantian, China, Hong Kong and Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia.

Operated by a crew of 13, the vessel is the largest at sea — a quarter-mile long, 200 feet high and powered by the biggest diesel engine ever built.

Among goods packed into 11,000 containers are 2 million Christmas decorations, 12,800 MP3 players, 33,000 cocktail shakers, 168 tons of New Zealand lamb, thousands of frozen chickens and 138,000 cans of cat food, said the owner, Danish shipping company Maersk Line.

Around 50,400 tons of goods were due to be unloaded Saturday at Felixstowe port, in southern England, before the ship sails to mainland Europe to deliver 8,000 containers of cargo.

The voyage is the ship's first from China to Europe and was specifically planned to deliver Christmas stocks to shopkeepers — including a haul of electronic dinosaurs, radio-controlled cars, pinball machines and computers.

Maersk Line said the ship could travel about 200,000 miles every year — the equivalent of seven and a half trips around the world.

Most of the goods have been produced in China, which last year exported $30.5 billion worth of goods to Britain, said Caroline Lucas, a European Parliament legislator with Britain's environmentalist Green Party.

That should make Britons think twice, Lucas said. "People should see the ship as a little microcosm of all the major problems with world trade."

"The thousands of tons of goods being delivered are items which once would have been produced in Britain and Europe, but which are now made in China, where exploitation of the labor market means we cannot compete on price," Lucas told The Associated Press.

The ship's two-month voyage also highlighted concerns about the environmental impact of transporting goods and food long distances, she said.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
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WILLIAM PYE THE WATER SCULPTOR

THIS ONE CALLED "CHARYBDIS"

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
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Halloween Special

Myth-diagnosis:

Vampirism or Porphyria?

What creature has very pale skin, has teeth of an unusual colour, sports long fingernails and only comes out at night? Everyone knows it’s a vampire.

Or is it?

The vampire legend probably arose from the appearance and behaviour of people suffering from porphyria, a disease that is actually a group of related disorders.
All variants of the disease are caused by overproduction of porphyrins—chemicals that do not normally accumulate in the body. Although symptoms are many, most notable is extreme sensitivity to sunlight.
Porphyria is rare, especially outside Eastern Europe, and difficult to diagnose. Symptoms of the disease mimic those of many other ailments: They include insomnia, anxiety, skin lesions, nausea and muscle weakness; some types of porphyria also cause excessive nail growth and receding gums. Exposure to sunlight causes the skin to become so fragile it breaks easily, and people with porphyria avoid being outside at any time during the day—hence the idea that vampires fear sun and roam the earth only at night.

Shedding Light on the Vampire Legend

The most notorious alleged vampire lived in 15th-century Romania. Vlad the Impaler was indeed a ghoulish ruler, whose bloodthirsty habits were known far and wide even before Bram Stoker’s day, but he was not the earliest vampire legend. Records of vampire stories exist from 12th-century England. The Impaler’s sadistic punishments for minor offences certainly fuelled legends, and by all accounts he did actually indulge in the blood of his victims.
By the 17th century, vampires were linked to evil and witchcraft. The 18th century saw vampire hysteria in Eastern Europe into which even government officials were drawn. And in the 19th century, of course, Bram Stoker’s Dracula cemented into popular cultures the myths that had developed over centuries.
The early beliefs—that vampires drank blood, were creatures of darkness, and were fascinated with counting—were enriched by the newer aspects of the myth. Only within the last 200 years were we introduced to vampires who are dressed in capes and who turn into bats. But with the migration of cultures and their legends, some of the interesting traditions were lost—such as leaving a pile of seeds outside the door so a vampire would be distracted by counting them, thus losing interest in drinking the inhabitants’ blood.
Even with some of the finer details lost, and with evidence that porphyria was the likely cause of an odd appearance and behaviour, the vampire has captured the imagination of the public like no other legend.

Werewolves or hypertrichosis

The myth of the werewolf or "shape-shifter" dates back to the cavemen. The condition on which the myth was based is almost surely older than that.
A condition that probably contributed to the werewolf myth is hypertrichosis or hirsutism, which causes excessive hair growth over the entire body. The condition is linked to endocrine malfunction, which can be genetic and present at birth. The gene that causes the disease was recently isolated by geneticists and is thought to be an atavism, a once common genetic trait that became less common as humans evolved. The trait is sex-linked and dominant; males who inherit the disease from their mothers develop the condition, while females who inherit only one of the trait-bearing chromosomes exhibit the thick hair growth in random patches.
The condition can also develop over the course of a lifetime. Often, acquired hypertrichosis is the result of hormonal irregularities.
Hypertrichosis, especially from birth, is rare, but well-documented. In the past and even today, people with the condition have appeared in circuses as "wolf-men" or "dog-boys." No doubt these public exhibitions have contributed to the werewolf fascination.

The Werewolf Evolves

Every culture has its werewolf. The mythology has had a stronger hold on some cultures than others. Germany is famous for its werewolves, popularized by the Brothers Grimm. In early legends, people who became werewolves were cursed with the condition, and simply acted as wolves after they were transformed. In later legends, the werewolf was better able to control the transformation, usually using a salve or special article of clothing, and used the ability only to attack livestock in enemy farmers’ fields. In these stories, people are accidental victims of the werewolf, if victims at all.
Over time, werewolf folklore evolved from simple shape-shifting and animal worship to the 19th century and present-day conceptions, which are closely, linked to both witch and vampire legends. The Western werewolf, epitomized in Stephen King’s The Silver Bullet, transforms according to lunar changes which are linked to witchcraft, and can only be killed by a silver bullet formed from a molten crucifix, reminiscent of vampire lore.

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Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler
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Airplane-Giant K-7 now & then

In early 30's aviation design bureau, lead by K.A.Kalinin, was a well set team capable to solve absolutely new unexpected problems in aircraft design. For example, the 1929-1930 schedule KB included producing 3-engined passenger aircraft K-7, also designated as "K-Tjazholij" (K-Heavy), for the 500hp German BMW "Hornet" engines. It was designed to carry 22 passengers. Mockup prototype was tested in the TsAGI wind tunnel in September 1928, and was approved for production by the Scientific-Technical Commetee VVS in March following year.
But production was not started, and designation K-7 was used later for transcontinental aircraft project, started in 1928. 'Idea to built K-7,- K.A.Kalinin wrote later,- came to me long ago, as early as 1925. In 1929 the project was formulated and after two years of refinement it started to come to life... During creation of new huge machines new paths lead to new schemes of aircraft, to using of the wing to house payload. It means that those paths lead to the flying wing, which is exactly the perfect aircraft. To complete the transition to flying wing it is necessary to build a plane following the concept "everything is in the wing"'.
Original aircraft design was whole-wood with a 5-spar wing. But it suffered of luck of strength resource, and after long debates K.A.Kalinin decided to switch to whole-metal welded construction with 3-spar wing.

The K-7 was a gigantic elliptical wing of extremely thick airfoil (span 53m, area 452m2) with two triangle section tailbooms, carrying tailfin and tailplane with control mechanics. The wing had almost strait center (width 6m, length 10m, height 2.33m) where rooms for payload and people was arranged. Elliptical consoles with 14 fuel tanks were attached to the centroplane. The center was covered with duralumin, consoles with fabric. There were no such a thick tubes to comply with requirements of central spar so it was made of two parallel tubes. The rest of wings frame also was made of welded steel tubes.
A nacell was proturbed from the leading edge, with cockpit for two pilots, navigator, radio-navigator and chief mechanic. Seven more crew members were located in other sections of aircraft and communicated by internal telephone.
The aircraft was designed for 6 BMW engines, but later decision was made to install homemade AM-34. Six water-cooled engines lacked power, and K.A.Kalinin was forced to add 7th pusher engine on the trailing edge of the wing between tailbooms. Designer was aware that this engine will increase airflow turbulence and can lead to vibration of all aircraft, but he had no other choice. Early AM-34 engines were not equipped with gearboxes and had power only 750hp.
Triangle tailbooms were proturbed from the last spar to the tail. Tailbooms were equipped wit pneumatics, protecting the tail from undesired contact with the ground.
Original main gear design allowed aircraft to have a horizontal position while on the ground. Main gear consisted of two wide placed undercarriage of frame design with oil-pneumatic wheel suspension, the first attempt in Soviet heavy aircraft. Another innovation for this aircraft class were tires with cameras "GoodYear". Soviet industry had no such tires in production, and it had to start it in future for production aircraft.

Undercarriage had 3 wheels each and were covered with fairings - metallic 'pants' - left of which had an entry door and stair leading into the wing.
Yet on design stage it became clear that it will be hard for pilot to control the plane because enormous load on the controls. Though for the original design K.A.Kalinin proposed decision which later was widely used in aviation - electric 'boosters'. Contract was signed with one of Moscow electrotechnic institutions, which took a duty to develop and manufacture new system. But developers failed to do so, and control planes of K-7 were equipped with surfaces, placed on light booms.
Theoretical problems of heavy aircraft control by use of surfaces was solved by aerodynamic team lead by N.F.Freiman. On the TsAGI wind tunnel more than 300 successful tests were performed, and in 1932 surfaces were tested on the K-5 flying laboratory. The functionality was perfect, and it was recommended to install them on K-7.

K.A.Kalinin also decided to use chromium-molibdenium tubes for aircraft frame - it was the very first use of those tubes in our country. Calculation for the frame were lead by professor A.S.Balinsky - prominent scientist in the field of materials strength. But aircraft was overweight still in project, because calculation had to take into account loose strength of tubes near wielded joints.
Steel tube production started (at the same time with aircraft design) at the Dnepropetrovsk Metal Works. Until this similar tubes were imported from Sweden, and to buy tubes for single K-7 could cost as much as 100,000 golden rubles ($$ ? - 30's). As the TsAGI commission noted in 1932, the K-7 deserve to be a big step forward in aircraft design just because it stimulated practical use of chrome-molibdenium tubes in the USSR.
K-7 was designed as a multipurpose civil and military aircraft. One of passenger options was developed to carry 128 passengers up to 5,000km. Other design - "luxe" - supposed to arrange 16 luxirily cabins for 64 passengers. Aircraft supposed to have a comfortable club-room, snack-bar and kitchen. This was the first aircraft design allowing mechanics in-flight access to running engines.
A lot of efforts were spend on K-7 by armament team lead by D.I.Grigorov. Military version of aircraft was a real "flying fortress", which emerged 10 years before the American Boeing B-17. Defenses of Kalinin's giant reached as much as 12 gunner positions (8 20mm cannons and 8 7.62mm machine guns). Special electric cart (running on strings inside of tailbooms) was designed for "transportation" of gunners to two tail machine guns. Aircraft had no "blind spots", and every direction was under fire at least from 3 gunners, what greatly increased reliability of defence.
Bombs were located in wing bomb bays, and bomb bays frames were included into wing structure. Depending on the required range, bomb load varied from 9,900kg to 16,600kg (25,550 - 42,840lb). External fuel tanks allowed 2,400km flight with 6,000kg bombs.
Other military modification could carry 112 fully equipped paratroopers. Opportunities to carry 8,4tons tank or other parachute dropable equipment between main gears was also under study.
The technical project was completed early 1932. In the yard of the Kharkov Aviation Factory wooden mockup of aircraft central part was built in scale 1:1. The size of aircraft was too big for existing manufacturing areas, and new assembly hall was built. In November 1932 assembly of experimental aircraft started, and was completed just in nine months.
In the early August 1933 aircraft was taxied to the runway. Its test pilot was M.A.Snegirev, co-pilot - A.N.Giatsinsky. First start of all engines revealed serious vibration of different aircraft parts; those were urgently strengthened. On August 19 A.M.Snegirev made the first straight flight on 5m altitude. More troubles were revealed - elevators were vibrating with amplitude up to 1m! In few days tail of the aircraft was redesigned - it became a 'biplane' with additional stabilizing surface between tailfins. Surfaces from tailfins were deleted, and those on tailplanes were moved closer to elevators.
Day before the first flight P.I.Baranov (head of the Major Management of Aviation Industry) together with test-pilot M.M.Gromov arrived to Kharkov. At 6a.m. August 21, 1933 K-7 was 'on the start' with running engines. The weather was fair despite some light clouds. Seven crew members took their positions. And, as usual, at the last moment co-pilot's seat was occupied by Kalinin himself.

After few taxis, plane took off smoothly. As A.M.Snegirev told later, 'aircraft was very responsive. It was easy to control. Hard to believe, but you just pull the yoke - and machine responds'.
K-7 made a circle over Kharkiv, and safely landed on the factory airstrip. After pilot's report M.A.Snegirev received appreciations, and K.A.Kalinin - symbolic punishment for illegal flight on the test aircraft.
In next flights became clear, that vertical vibration is gone with new tail design, but horizontal is still there. But M.A.Snegirev, employing his rich experience of test pilot, found way to suppress it by changing of engines regime. Continuous test revealed fair flying characteristics of the plane. The last factory test flight was scheduled for November 20, and plane had to fly to Moscow. It was planned to measure maximum ground level speed. This flight (10th one) was completed successfully, but ground team made a mistake which spoiled the measurements.
Next attempt was planned for November 21. For now K-7 had over 5 hours in flight. Flight plan included approaching of the 'measuring kilometer' on altitude 1000m, then lovering aircraft to 100m and triple passing of the 'ruler' on the maximum speed.
At 2p.m. K-7 took off with 20 crew members on board. Here is story of D.A.Chebyshev, one of ground engineers participated in tests : "As scheduled, K-7 flew over us and pilot figured out that we are ready for measurements. Aircraft made a turn, accelerated and started approach. In 3-4km from us it made a sudden dive at 30-400 at full speed. The first hit into the ground knocked away landing gears. Aircraft jumped and with running engines hit the ground again. Fire started..."
What was recalled by on of five survived crew members, P.I.Semerenko : "Approaching the 'measure kilometer' Snegirev gave full throttle. Tail booms vibration came up. I counted 15-20 hits. Suddenly to the noise of running engines was added sound of breaking apart left tailboom lower tube. Displaced tube edges locked the elevators, and K-7 was not able to get out of dive. I am notifying vibration, on eye estimate dive angle... Near surface aircraft makes a left pitch. I'm waiting for the end. Controls are still dead. Smash..."

Technicians and designers suffered destruction of their creation and death of 15 crew members. K.A.Kalinin was out for two months because of heart problems. But despite this catastrophe the team did not lose self-confidence. To investigate causes of the crash few competent commetees were created, with participation of the most prominent aviation experts of the country. It was concluded that destructive vibration was caused by surfaces during some regimes of the seventh engine. But there were no 'theoretical' prove of this conclusion. Only few years later M.V.Keldysh explained this (and many other similar) crash and found a solution to fight the flatter - weight balancing of elevators. But it was too late...
After obtaining expert conclusions, revealing no mistakes in aircraft design, the head of GUAP ordered Kalinin to start urgent production of two new (passenger and military) K-7's with scheduled roll-out in the beginning of 1935. Production was assigned to new base - The Voronezh Aviation Factory.
Changed views of country aviation leadership on production of heavy aircraft did not allow the team to complete development of K-7. Both planes were 'preserved' (aka 'abandoned' - A.S.), one of them half-built. Few times Kalinin tried to prove necessity of this aircraft class, but he failed to overpower opposition to his project.




MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
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τερατογεννησεις

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
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YAHOO KAI ΦΥΓΑΜΕ......

Η Πυραμίδα του Ήλιου στο Μεξικό, κάποτε το κέντρο ενός προκολομβιανού πολιτισμού, θα γίνει σύντομα η αφετηρία μιας απόπειρας επικοινωνίας με εξωγήινους.
Το Υahoo θα μεταδώσει μήνυμα της ανθρωπότητας με μια δέσμη λέιζερ που θα εκπεμφθεί από το μνημείο.
Το πρόγραμμα Χρονοκάψουλα (Time Capsule) του δημοφιλούς δικτυακού τόπου δέχεται από την Τρίτη τις συνεισφορές των χρηστών, κείμενα, εικόνες και ήχους που αντανακλούν την ανθρώπινη φύση.
Το τελικό μήνυμα θα ψηφιοποιηθεί και θα εκπεμφθεί στο Διάστημα από την πυραμίδα στις 25 Οκτωβρίου, αναφέρει το Reuters.
Η τοποθεσία του Τεοτιχουακάν, κοντά στην Πόλη του Μεξικού, αποτέλεσε το κέντρο ενός πολιτισμού που άκμασε στη Μεσοαμερική την πρώτη χιλιετία μ.Χ., αλλά εξαφανίστηκε πριν από την άφιξη των Ευρωπαίων για άγνωστους λόγους.
«Έχουμε αυτή την απίστευτη αρχαία τοποθεσία και από την τοποθεσία αυτή μπορούμε να προβάλουμε σύγχρονο περιεχόμενο» δήλωσε αρχισυντάκτρια του Yahoo.
Δεν είναι η πρώτη φορά που ο άνθρωπος στέλνει μηνύματα στο Διάστημα με την ελπίδα ότι κάποτε θα τα λάβουν εξωγήινοι πολιτισμοί. Τη δεκαετία του 1970, ο αστρονόμος Καρλ Σέιγκαν δημιούργησε έναν χρυσό δίσκο, πάνω στον οποίο χαράχθηκαν χαιρετισμοί και εικόνες της Γης, ως πορτραίτο της ποικιλότητας της ζωής και του πολιτισμού στον πλανήτη.
Τοποθετημένος στο διαστημικό σκάφος Voyager, ο δίσκος ταξιδεύει τώρα έξω από το Ηλιακό Σύστημα.

news.in.gr

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Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler
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ΧΩΡΙΣΤΕ ΚΑΙ ΞΕΠΟΥΛΙΣΤΕ

ΑΥΤΑ ΣΥΜΒΑΙΝΟΥΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΝΤΙΠΕΡΑ ΟΧΘΗ ΤΟΥ ΑΤΛΑΝΤΙΚΟΥ, ΕΔΩ?

By KATHRYN SHATTUCK

GABRIELLE TORELLO drowned her wedding band — the cheap one — in the Hudson River, stuffed the diamond rings and earrings her ex-husband had given her into a pair of old shoes at the bottom of her closet, and treated herself to some commemorative sparkle, like the ring she bought when she survived her first court date.

“It makes me very happy every time I wear it,” said Ms. Torello, a communications consultant in Hackensack, N.J. “It was such a bad time that I don’t want to wear anything from that period in my life. I really wanted a new beginning.”

Jay Johnson, upon discovering that his girlfriend was two-timing him with one of his friends, simply packed everything she had given him — all the letters and boudoir pictures and sappy sentiments — into a box and mailed them to his rival with a note that said, “Good luck, Dave.”

“Hopefully, he gleaned something,” said Mr. Johnson, a ventriloquist whose show, “The Two and Only!” just opened on Broadway. “I know that they weren’t together all that long.”

And then there is Ellen Barkin, who on Tuesday will unload some $15 million worth of possessions at Christie’s, the detritus from her marriage to Ronald O. Perelman, in a move that may strike some as coldly pragmatic.

Still, when it comes to divorce, as the celebrity divorce lawyer Raoul Felder pointed out: “Sentiment goes out on the courthouse steps. Sentiment is yesterday’s news.”

In an age of unparalleled acquisitiveness, the quandary of what to do with the accumulated belongings of a relationship has become a predictable ingredient in the noxious stew of separation and recovery. Do you erase all traces of a love gone wrong, or recreate yourself within the debris?

“How acrimonious the divorce is — that’s probably the first issue that plays into the decision of whether to purge or not,” said Anya K. Luchow, a divorce mediator and psychologist in Tenafly, N.J. “The second is what their basic personality style is, divorce aside. Finally, economics are a big function in divorce. It’s easier for someone of wealth to part with objects they don’t need for survival.”

In other words, she said, “there is no rule.”

“I see it as an issue of control, especially for people who are being left,” she added. “For them in particular, dealing with the mementos is a way to gain some sort of control over a situation that, until now, has been beyond their control.”

That often includes a detoxification of that symbolic marital nest, the bedroom.

“The mattress and the sheets are the first to go,” Ms. Luchow said.

Some people will continue to divest their homes of furniture, artwork and photographs until nothing remains of the people responsible for their misery.

“I certainly don’t recommend doing that when a child is involved,” Ms. Luchow said. “I try to help people remember that as angry as they are and as much as it’s not working now, they need to hold on to some of the nice memories they have for the children’s sake.”

Marla Maples kept her daughter, Tiffany, in mind when she rid her life of certain objects given her by Tiffany’s father, Donald J. Trump.

“I did sell my engagement ring through an auction, and I donated a big part of it to my charity, Spirituality for Kids,” Ms. Maples said. “It was a big decision, because, of course, having a daughter, I wanted to make sure she was O.K. with it.”

Ms. Maples also put a sports car and a fur coat on the block at eBay, but she kept the wedding album, some family portraits and a stash of tender letters.

“I spent a third of my life with him at the time, so it carried a lot of weight,” she said. “I feel like it will be Tiffany’s choice later on to decide what she wants to hold on to of Mom and Dad.”

In “The Ex-Wives Club,” a makeover series for those left in the lurch, coming to ABC this winter, Ms. Maples will dispense her hard-won advice alongside Shar Jackson, who was dumped by her boyfriend Kevin Federline for Britney Spears, and Angie Everhart, who was engaged to Sylvester Stallone for two months and married to Ashley Hamilton for three.

Auction houses have traditionally been the refuge for those suffering from what John L. Marion, a former chairman of Sotheby’s North America, called the Three D’s: division, divorce and death.

But the equation works well only for women like Ms. Barkin and Ms. Maples, whose wealthy husbands bought major adornments for them, said Mr. Felder, the divorce lawyer. And even they don’t get an even trade.

“With the jewelry, there’s always a rude awakening, because the Van Cleef diamond ring, when you want to sell it back to the store, is worth 25 percent of what your husband paid,” Mr. Felder said.

“It’s fair to say when there’s an important jewelry collection,” he said later, “most women get rid of it because it usually represents a considerable amount of money that they can use to get on with their lives.”

The fashion designer Anait Bian didn’t want to wear the diamond ring an old boyfriend bought for her during a trip to Paris, but she didn’t want to sell it either.

Then one day Ms. Bian’s mother brought a fortuneteller to her house in New York. “She said: ‘You have to look around you. Something in your house been given to you, and it’s got bad energy,’ ” Ms. Bian recalled.

Despite her certainty that the woman was a scam artist, Ms. Bian handed over the ring.

Alas, the fortuneteller called several days later and said the ring was so tainted she had had to purge it herself.

“I thought it was an interesting way of getting rid of it,” Ms. Bian said. “I thought that if she had brought it back, it was meant to be mine. Then I could wear it without any doubt.”

Sometimes the universe has a way of telling you that something is over even before you realize it yourself.

Only weeks before Gail Greiner and her husband separated, she returned home to find that a shelf in her cupboard had collapsed, leaving her wedding china smashed on the floor.

“My son, poor guy, went about trying to salvage it and talked about how we could glue pieces together,” said Ms. Greiner, a writer and editor in Palisades, N.Y. “But I found that with the demise of my marriage came the end of my sentimental feelings about a lot of things, including my wedding china. I swept it up and put it in the garbage, telling my son that it was just ‘things’ and not that important. As soon as he saw that I was O.K. about it, he was, too.”

Still, there are those who manage to move on alongside certain reminders of the past. When the publicist Liz Derringer divorced, she discovered that although she could part with her husband, the rocker Rick Derringer, she was loath to part with his things, particularly his Les Paul Jr. guitar.

“It wasn’t that we were so in love by then, but it was all those years of memories that we had together, and our journey through the 60’s and 70’s,” she said. “We’re friends now, but we weren’t for a long time. When I look at those mementos, they make me really happy, and really sad. It’s so gut-wrenching, it really is, when you spend that much time with someone.”

Judy Steinberg turned that nauseating feeling into a series of symbolic gestures to help women move on with their lives after a breakup, in her book “Fabulous After 50 and Sexy at 60!” (Plume, 2006, written with Raechel Donahue), “because even if it’s amicable, it still shreds your self-esteem,” she said.

Ms. Steinberg should know. When her own marriage to the comedian David Steinberg ended after 24 years, she hit him where she thought it would hurt most — his vanity — by igniting a stack of his head shots in the parking lot of his favorite restaurant.

“Seeing that Chiclet smile go up in smoke was elevating, to say the least,” she said.

She decided to write a book about getting over the relationship when she learned that her ex-husband’s girlfriend had written one titled “How to Survive Your Boyfriend’s Divorce.”

“In my own case, I found my strength at the gym,” she said. “I started lifting weights at 57, and I started to behave like someone who was strong again.”

In the end, she, too, purged. “I didn’t have JAR jewelry, but I sold some coats and a lot of clothes — whatever I needed to do to launch myself into my own life,” she said.

“I read that she is going to start a new film company,” Ms. Steinberg said of Ms. Barkin. “And moving past the horror of being dumped so publicly is the perfect way to use that money. What could be more rewarding?”

She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“And it’s the best revenge.”

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
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Νομιμοποίηση του Κόμματος των Παιδοφίλων (PNVD)

ΑΠΙΣΤΕΥΤΗ ΑΠΟΦΑΣΗ

Μετά την απόφαση του Διεθνούς Δικαστηρίου της Χάγης, η οποία βασιζόμενη στην ελευθερία της έκφρασης, του εκλέγειν και εκλέγεσθαι, δεν απαγόρευσε την ίδρυσή του, η Ολλανδική Κυβέρνηση αναγνώρισε και επίσημα το νεοϊδρυθέν Κόμμα των Παιδοφίλων (PNVD).
Σε αυτή την περίπτωση η ελευθερία της έκφρασης λειτούργησε εναντίον των δικαιωμάτων των παιδιών.
Βασικοί στόχοι του κόμματος είναι:
- Η νομιμοποίηση της σεξουαλικής επαφής μεταξύ ενηλίκων και ανηλίκων από 12 ετών
- Η νομιμοποίηση της κατοχής παιδικού πορνογραφικού υλικού για προσωπική χρήση
Επίσης, κάθε νομοθεσία, που απαγορεύει την σεξουαλική επαφή μεταξύ ανθρώπων και ζώων, τους βρίσκει ρητά αντίθετους.
Κάθε συνειδητοποιημένος πολίτης στην Ευρώπη αλλά και σε ολόκληρο τον κόσμο οφείλει να αντιταχθεί στην νομιμοποίηση αυτού του πολιτικού κόμματος.
Η Φινλανδία, έχοντας την Προεδρία της Ε.Ε. πρόκειται να αιτηθεί την καταστολή της δράσης του Κόμματος των Παιδοφίλων στην Ολλανδία. Η αίτηση από την Πρωθυπουργό της Φινλανδίας κα. θα παραδοθεί στον Επίτροπο της Ε.Ε. κ. Franco Frattini, Αρμόδιο για Εσωτερικές Υποθέσεις, στο τέλος του τρέχοντος έτους.
Στα πλαίσια Ατυπης Συνάντησης μεταξύ των Υπουργών Δικαιοσύνης και Εσωτερικών της Ε.Ε. η οποία πραγματοποιήθηκε 20-22 Σεπτεμβρίου στην πόλη Tampere, οι Φιλανδοί πολίτες παρέδωσαν τις πρώτες υπογραφές στην Υπουργό Δικαιοσύνης της χώρα τους.

Όσο περισσότεροι σε ολόκληρο τον κόσμο συνυπογράψουμε το αίτημα τόσο μεγαλύτερη θα είναι η ισχύς του!

Σας καλούμε όλους να συμμετέχετε στην παγκόσμια αυτή διαμαρτυρία
συμπληρώνοντας το ονοματεπώνυμο & την ηλεκτρονική σας διεύθυνση
(πατήστε εδώ και δώστε μας τον ψήφο σας)

Όλα τα στοιχεία θα αποσταλούν από «Το Χαμόγελο του Παιδιού» στην αρμόδια Επιτροπή Συλλογής Υπογραφών

(Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες μπορείτε να επισκεφθείτε το http://www.adressit.com/pedonkielto)

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(Brexians lair)

Wide Range of Rocket Tech for Civilian Spaceflight

By Ker Than

04 October 2006

NEW YORK

A new era of human spaceflight is upon us, and its movers and shapers say it will be cheaper, safer and aimed at the masses.
Whether you just want to experience weightlessness, take a quick suborbital jaunt or spend a few days aboard the International Space Station or a space hotel, new space companies are cropping up, eager to compete for your business.
Representatives of the new industry spoke Saturday at Wired Magazine's NEXTFest. While fun and games capture the public’s imagination and open pocket books, serious long-term commercial goals are also driving the push, said the five-person panel, which included a NASA spokesman as well as the presidents and CEO's of Space Adventures, ZERO-G, Virgin Galactic and Rocket Racing League.
By filling in niches, such as orbital and sub-orbital flight, once occupied by NASA, private space companies will free up the agency's resources for other missions.
"NASA's budget is 16.8 billion dollars-six-tenths of one percent of the federal budget," said Chris Shank, special assistant to NASA chief, Michael Griffin. "For us to finish the International Space Station, go to the Moon and then on to Mars is going to require commercial and international investments. NASA can't do it by itself."
Shank says the agency plans to shift some of the workload involved in getting to space onto private businesses, freeing up the agency to focus on its federally mandated Moon, Mars & Beyond mission. This is happening already. For example, NASA recently awarded Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Rocketplane Kistler to deliver crew and cargo to the ISS.
"NASA is pioneering as it should, and hopefully abandoning parabolics, low-Earth orbit and letting industry take over as it moves forward," said ZERO-G president and co-founder Peter Diamandis.
"What NASA is rightfully doing is being the first out the doorway, going to the farthest bounds of science and exploration," added Alex Tai, president and CEO of Virgin Galactic. "That's not what we, at Virgin Galactic and the people on this platform, are trying to offer."
Options galore
With backing from Virgin mogul Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic is planning to roll out its new commercial spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, by 2008. Designed by X-Prize winner Burt Rutan, SpaceShipTwo will climb into suborbital space and give passengers a chance to experience weightlessness for several minutes. The price tag for the 2.5 hour trip: $200,000.
That cost is less than one percent the cost of another space package offered by the Virginia-based space tourism company Space Adventures. For about $25 million, a person can sign up with the company and, under a deal arranged with the Russian Federal Space Agency, blast off into space aboard a Soyuz rocket and spend more than a week aboard the ISS. Since 2001, four space tourists have signed up for the trip. The latest, Anousheh Ansari, was the first woman to do so.

For an additional $15 million, Space Adventures is offering participants the chance to take part in 90-minute space walks. And plans are in the work for a 3-day trip to the moon and back for $200 million.
If $200,000 still doesn't sound like quite a deal, then for $3,750, ZERO-G will let you experience weightlessness while flying up and down in a modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft. Or if you prefer to glimpse the future of spaceflight from the safety of the ground, then the new sport of rocket racing might be for you.
Safer spaceflights
Granger Whitelaw, President and co-founder of Rocket Racing League, describes rocket racing as a "21st century sport built with 21st century technology for 21st century people."
Essentially a rocket-powered NASCAR in the sky, rocket races will consists of at least 10 rocket-powered planes flown by professional pilots in a three-dimensional racetrack in the air.
Whitelaw insists that rocket racing will be about more than just entertainment. "In rocket racing, we're going to be testing a lot of technologies," he said. "It's like a Formula One IndyCar with big auto manufacturers—those technologies end up in your car. Competition breeds innovation, and innovation is what makes it safer and funner."
Spacecraft safety was another thing that all the panelists agreed would benefit from the new space tourism industry. Currently, there is a 1 in 100 chance of something going significantly wrong with the launch of each NASA space shuttle.
"Would I go on a space shuttle? Of course I would, I'd go in a heartbeat," Tai said. "Would I go a hundred times? I would have to think about that one. What we're doing with SpaceShipTwo is making it tens of thousands of times safer."
But as with flights aboard airplanes, the risks involved in human spaceflight will never be zero.
"Everyone here is trying to build the safest possible vehicle, but there is risk," Anderson said. "We can't deny that risk because that would not enable us to progress. So we must all understand that while we're trying to innovate and change things, people that fly in these vehicles in the early years should not think there is no risk. There is always risk, and you just have to be able to accept that risk to open the frontier."

The Future of Travel: Aquatic to Cosmic Destinations
Virgin Galactic Unveils SpaceShipTwo Interior Concept
Space Tourism Survey Shows Cost, Access Key Selling Points
Public Space Travel: Building the Business Case
Space Tourism: Keeping The Customer Satisfied
VIDEO: Virgin Galactic: Let the Journey Begin

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(Brexians lair)

run time error...

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(Brexians lair)

ΠΕΡΙΟΧΗ: ΚΥΔΩΝΙΑΙ ΑΡΕΩΣ...?????

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(Brexians lair)

Ο ΚΟΣΜΟΣ ΓΙΝΕΤΑΙ ΚΑΘΕ ΜΕΡΑ ΚΑΙ ΠΙΟ ΠΕΡΙΕΡΓΟΣ

Αυτή η σύνοψη δεν είναι διαθέσιμη. Κάντε κλικ εδώ, για να δείτε την ανάρτηση.

ΜΙΑ ΠΑΡΑΞΕΝΗ ΔΙΑΦΗΜΗΣΗ

ΜΙΑ ΛΑΜΠΟΡΓΚΙΝΙ ΣΤΟ ΦΛΥΤΖΑΝΙ ΣΑΣ

ΑΥΤΑ ΣΥΜΒΑΙΝΟΥΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΣΟΣΙΑΛΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΚΙΝΑ.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(Brexians lair)

Te tenteaza sa-ti faci un tatuaj?

Tatuajele au devenit foarte populare, destule persoane opteaza pentru o astfel de exprimare a simtului artistic sau a propriei personalitati.
Daca te-ai decis sa iti faci un tatuaj, ai grija ca totul sa fie facut igienic si artistul la care apelezi sa fie un profesionist, ca sa nu exista pericolul de infectii.

Inainte de a ti-l face:
Asigura-te ca incaperea unde se efectueaza tatuajul este sigura si curata. Adu-ti aminte, artistul iti va infinge ace in piele, asa ca fii foarte exigenta in ceea ce priveste igiena locului.

Cel care face tatuajul ar trebui sa foloseasca un ac nou, steril, pentru fiecare persoana in parte si pentru fiecare tatuaj nou. Roaga-l pe artist sa faca intreaga procedura de fata cu tine, de la desigilarea acului si sterilizarea intrumentelor folosite si pana la manusile pe care si le pune cand lucreaza.
Daca protesteaza ca nu ai incredere, e de preferat sa optezi pentru alt salon de gen. Toate "uneltele" ar trebui sa fie intinse, pregatite expres pentru tine si tatuajul tau, de exemplu, sticlute noi cu cerneala. Manusile purtate de cel care face tatuajul trebuie sa fie din latex, iar uleiul aplicat pe noul tatuaj sa se faca cu un instrument anume, nu cu mana.
Opteaza pentru desen. Gandeste-te foarte bine inainte. O sa iti placa la fel de mult intr-un an, cinci ani, zece ani? Nu iti tatua un nume pe care vei vrea sa il acoperi in anii care vor veni. Cele mai sigure nume sunt cele ale parintilor sau ale copiilor.

Vorbeste cu artistul despre cum vrei sa arate desenul - forma si culoare. Arata-i mostre si discuta cu el despre culori. Chiar si un ten mai inchis este optim pentru un desen in colori, dar nu uita, orice fel de tip de piele ai avea, doua straturi din culoarea naturala a pielii tale (sau bronzul) vor acoperi produsul final. Daca ai tenul mai inchis si vrei culori aprinse, gandeste-te ca protocaliul se poate dovedi a fi un rosu mai palid.
Asigura-te ca pielea ta este sanatoasa. Cu cateva zile inainte de a merge sa iti faci tatuajul, pregateste-ti pielea. Bea cat mai multe apa pentru hidratare.
Foloseste o lotiune buna de cateva ori pe zi. Nu bea alcool in ziua precedenta operatiei deoarece ar putea cauza sangerare excesiva in timpul procesului. Nu te bronza sau sta prea mult la soare inainte de a te tatua.

Ingrijirea
Cele mai importante lucruri pe care trebuie sa ti le amintesti: foloseste vitamina E sub forma uleioasa cel putin o data pe zi, timp de o saptamana, aplicandu-o pe tatuaj. Fereste tatuajul de apa fierbinte timp de o saptamana, la fel cum trebuie sa eviti piscinele cu apa cu clor. Pentru detalii, consulta propriul doctor sau pe cel care ti-a facut tatuajul.
Metode de a scapa de tatuaje
Exista cateva metode excelente in ziua de astazi pentru a iti "scoate" tatuajul. Metoda pe care doctorul sau artistul o va folosi depinde de dimensiunea tatuajului, de locatie si de timpul care a trecut de cand l-ai facut.
Astfel metodele pot fi: excizia, indepartarea unui strat de piele, indepartarea tatuajului prin laser sau prin folosirea unei solutii de sare pentru indepartarea culori.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(Brexians lair)

γιατι να ειναι μονο ο TARANTINO pulp

ΟΛΟΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΠΙΟ CULT ΠΙΣΤΑ !

Ο ΠΑΝΤΑΖΗΣ ΜΕ ΕΜΦΑΝΙΣΗ 18 ΚΤΑΡΗ

Η ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ, ΦΡΕΣΚΟΧΩΡΙΣΜΕΝΗ, ΜΕ ΝΕΟ LOΟK "ΚΡΟΥΕΛΑ"!!

ΝΗΣΙΩΤΙΚΑ ΚΑΙ ΞΕΣΑΛΩΜΑ.!!

«OPERA» ΣΤΗΝ ΙΕΡΑ ΟΔΟ

Η νύχτες σας θα είναι πιο καυτές, πιο CULT αυτό το χειμώνα στο «OPERA».
Η διασκέδασή σας θα έχει τέλεια μουσικά χρώματα, αφού θα συνυπάρχουν το λαϊκό και το νησιώτικo τραγούδι με τους Λευτέρη Πανταζή, Άντζελα Δημητρίου και τους Ματθαίο Γιαννούλη και Λευτέρη Βαζαίο με την πιτσιρίκα τους….
Ιερά οδός 30 . Τηλ κρατήσεων 6974 751881 δεν τους κανω διαφημιση αλλα θα μαζεψουν ολο το χαρτι.......γιατι αγκιζουν τους απλους λαϊκους ανθρωπους.... MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOUCopyright © Demetrios the Traveler
(Brexians lair)