Well Done Stevie
The weather is fabulous and it looks as though high pressure is set to take over at the weekend. This might mean we can expect nice weather but I´ll check this soon.We are being visited this next week by little people and this means we will have to do a scan of the building and remove low lwevel objects that provide immense temptation for little hands. Everything must go to higher pastures and I do mean everything. little hands are everywhere and they have no respect for china and glass. This is just normal inquisitiveness for little people and we all went through this stage. However, we get a bit out of practice..............
This is a very important news item for the expat community in Spain. Remember, Zapatero has the EU Presidency at this moment in time.....
Euro-MPs have demanded the immediate repeal of notorious Spanish land laws that continue to wreck the holiday-home dreams of Britons in the Valencia region.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, visiting the European Parliament in Strasbourg, was warned he could face a campaign to stop EU subsidies to Spain unless he intervenes to stop the confiscation of expatriate properties.
Thousands of holiday villas in Spain have even been demolished without compensation for their owners. In some cases, the authorities have charged the property owners for the installation of local services, even after they have lost their property.
About 15,000 mostly British, Belgian, German and French property owners lodged a formal petition with MEPs four years ago in desperation over a 1994 Valencia land and town planning law which triggered 20,000 compulsory purchases of land or property for “urban” development.
The law´s aim was to ensure community development plans were not blocked by individual land-owners, but a loophole meant unscrupulous developers could reclassify rural land as urban without the owners´ permission – effectively giving themselves compulsory purchase rights on foreign-owned homes at a fraction of the market value.
The European Court of Justice has already ruled the “land-grab” law illegal, but the European Commission says a replacement law – the Ley Urbanistica Valenciana – still breaches EU public procurement regulations and therefore fails to protect citizens´ rights. Full Story
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obituary Notice
Is anybody else as confused as I am that a man whose house has just been burgled and his family attacked is punished for attacking the perpetrators of this event by any means he can? Is anyone else confused and annoyed by the stupidity of the Police chief who reckons petty crime doesn´t affect normal people? The following might help
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge.)
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from
school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason. He is survived by his four stepbrothers: I Know My Rights, I Want It Now Someone Else Is To Blame and I'm A Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
-------------------------------------------------------
You've only got one brain, so the last thing you need is a buildup of beta-amyloid.
In Alzheimer's disease (AD), beta-amyloid protein creates plaque that weakens nerve cell function in the brain.
Fortunately, there are several steps you can take that may reduce risk of amyloid buildup...
* Exercise daily
* Increase omega-3 fatty acid intake
* Increase vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid intake (these vitamins reduce homocysteine, which has been linked to amyloid formation)
* Use supplementary curcumin (antioxidant and anti- inflammatory properties are believed to break up amyloid)
* Increase intake of EGCG (a green tea flavonoid)
New studies offer two additional ways amyloid buildup might be avoided.
One of them...well, let's call it a long shot. A long shot at best. But the other is more realistic, so we'll start there.
In a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Framingham Heart Study researchers report on leptin – a hormone that's believed to remove amyloid and help keep synapses flexible.
Blood levels of leptin were measured in 785 Framingham subjects with an average age of 79. Eight years later, higher leptin levels were clearly linked to lower risk of dementia and AD. MRI images also linked low leptin levels to reduced brain volume – a typical Alzheimer's trait.
As I've mentioned before, leptin levels tend to be higher in people who regularly get enough sleep. High fructose corn syrup intake has also been linked to lower leptin.Source
................................................................................
Word of the Day
oscuro oh-skoo'-roh (adjective)
dark; overcast; obscure; uncertain; shady, suspect
EXAMPLES
Mi hermana vive en Seattle y siempre viste de oscuro. - My sister lives in Seattle and always wears dark clothing.
Hay algo oscuro en su pasado. - There is something suspect about his past.
For more information and examples, visit the SpanishDict.com entry for oscuro.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here´s the weather for the next few Alicante Province days.......
Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday
Clear
19° C | 8° C
Clear
16° C | 9° C
Chance of Rain
15° C | 9° C
Chance of Rain
15° C | 7° C
Chance of Rain
12° C | 6° C
Clear Clear Chance of Rain
40% chance of precipitation
Chance of Rain
20% chance of precipitation
Chance of Rain
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is a simple case of chop of the pops. Hairdressers in Spain are asking their customers to take their own music when they have a haircut as they battle against demands from the music industry that they pay for putting the radio on.
Signs were today hanging in the windows of salons in Barcelona and across the north-western region of Catalonia as hairdressers rebelled against a monthly fee being levied on behalf of composers and record companies.
“From now on, when you come to the hairdressers don't forget to bring your own music from home!” says the sign hanging in shop windows.
The Spanish Society of Authors (SGAE) charges the salons a monthly fee of between €6 and €12 a month on behalf of the music industry. Full Story
..............................................................
Word of the Day
la edad eh-dad' (noun)
age; period
EXAMPLES
Tienen la misma edad. - They are the same age.
No tengo edad para votar. - I'm not old enough to vote.
IDIOMS
Ser mayor de edad - To be of age
De corta edad - Young
---------------------------------------------------
Vaccine makers ready new push
Think you've seen a hard sell when it comes to swine flu vaccine?
Well, you ain't seen nothing yet!
The vaccine makers are just getting warmed up -- and now they're coming right out and boasting to their investors about how much money they're going to rake in from vaccines in the next few years.
Sanofi-Aventis is telling its investors that it plans to double its vaccine business by 2013. In 2010 alone, they're hoping to sell nearly $5.76 billion in needless needles.
That's not just significant. That's a bombshell -- because this company owns Sanofi Pasteur, the world's largest vaccine maker. That should tell you everything you need to know about these drugs. The vaccine business is not a noble effort to end disease... but a relentless push to boost profits.
There's a simple reason for this: The drug kingpins are running out of patents on their blockbuster meds. And with nothing in the works to replace them right now, they're turning to vaccines for quick and easy cash.
You just need to look at Merck to see how it works: After spending billions to settle Vioxx lawsuits, they turned to a vaccine to soften the blow.
That's how we got Gardasil, the dangerous needle being forced on little girls from coast to coast. The vaccine is supposed to protect against some strains of
HPV -- but it's been dubbed "Help Pay for Vioxx."
But let's get back to Sanofi Pasteur, because this French company typically makes 45 percent of all the flu vaccine sold in the United States, and 40 percent of the world's flu vaccines. They've sold us half a billion dollars' worth of swine flu shots already, and expect to sell half a billion more by spring.
Call that fair warning, because you can now expect every sniffle that comes along to become the "next" swine flu.
Don't believe it -- not today, not tomorrow and not in 2013.
Fighting for the future,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
------------------------------------------------
Sheenagh notices a boy in the field standing alone, while all the other kids are running around having fun. She takes pity on him and decides to speak to him.
'What´s your name?- 'David' 'You ok?' she says. 'Yes.' he says.
'You can go and play with the other kids you know' she says.
'It's best I stay here.' he says.
'Why?' says the blonde.
The boy says: "Because I'm the goalkeeper"
........................................................................
Sheenagh is just back from seeing Stevie Wonder and sends us this report.......
Stevie Wonder is playing his 1st gig in China and the place is heaving, packed to the rafters. In a bid to break the ice he asks if anyone has a request. One chap jumps out of his seat in the 1st row and shouts at
the top of his voice "Play a jazz chord ! Play a jazz chord!"
Amazed that this guy knows about the jazz influences in his career, the blind virtuoso starts to play an E minor scale and then goes into a difficult jazz melody for about 10 minutes. When he finishes, the whole place goes wild. The chap jumps out of his seat again and shouts "No, no, play a jazz chord, play a jazz chord...".
Although a bit cheesed off by this, Stevie, being the professional he is, steams straight in to a jazz improvisation with his band around the B flat minor chord and really tears the place apart. The crowd goes ballistic with this impromptu show of his musical expertise. But, still the little Chinese man jumps up again and shouts "No, no. Play a jazz chord, play a jazz chord!!!".
Stevie is really peeved off now that this chap doesn't seem to appreciate his playing ability and shouts to him from the stage - "OK, smart ass, you get up here and do it"..
The little bloke climbs onto the stage, takes hold of the mike and starts to sing............
"a jazz chord, to say, I ruv you...."
Here are some musical events for today
1959, alone with an acoustic guitar and tape recorder in his New York City apartment Buddy Holly made his last recordings, including Peggy Sue Got Married;Crying, Waiting, Hoping; The recordings would be overdubbed posthumously and were later released by Coral Records.
1994, D:Ream had their first UK No.1 single with 'Things Can Only Get Better', it stayed at No.1 for four weeks.In 1997 the track was adopted by the UK Labour Party as their theme for the 1997 UK General Election.
2001, former rubbish collector Mark Oliver was found guilty by a London court of stealing luggage belonging to Victoria Beckham from Heathrow Airport.
1962, Michael Hutchence, vocals, INXS, (1988 UK No.2 US No.1 single 'Need You Tonight'). ;Hutchence was found dead in his hotel suite in Sydney on 22nd Nov 1997 age 37.
Today's Podcast
This is a very important news item for the expat community in Spain. Remember, Zapatero has the EU Presidency at this moment in time.....
Euro-MPs have demanded the immediate repeal of notorious Spanish land laws that continue to wreck the holiday-home dreams of Britons in the Valencia region.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, visiting the European Parliament in Strasbourg, was warned he could face a campaign to stop EU subsidies to Spain unless he intervenes to stop the confiscation of expatriate properties.
Thousands of holiday villas in Spain have even been demolished without compensation for their owners. In some cases, the authorities have charged the property owners for the installation of local services, even after they have lost their property.
About 15,000 mostly British, Belgian, German and French property owners lodged a formal petition with MEPs four years ago in desperation over a 1994 Valencia land and town planning law which triggered 20,000 compulsory purchases of land or property for “urban” development.
The law´s aim was to ensure community development plans were not blocked by individual land-owners, but a loophole meant unscrupulous developers could reclassify rural land as urban without the owners´ permission – effectively giving themselves compulsory purchase rights on foreign-owned homes at a fraction of the market value.
The European Court of Justice has already ruled the “land-grab” law illegal, but the European Commission says a replacement law – the Ley Urbanistica Valenciana – still breaches EU public procurement regulations and therefore fails to protect citizens´ rights. Full Story
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obituary Notice
Is anybody else as confused as I am that a man whose house has just been burgled and his family attacked is punished for attacking the perpetrators of this event by any means he can? Is anyone else confused and annoyed by the stupidity of the Police chief who reckons petty crime doesn´t affect normal people? The following might help
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge.)
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from
school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason. He is survived by his four stepbrothers: I Know My Rights, I Want It Now Someone Else Is To Blame and I'm A Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
-------------------------------------------------------
You've only got one brain, so the last thing you need is a buildup of beta-amyloid.
In Alzheimer's disease (AD), beta-amyloid protein creates plaque that weakens nerve cell function in the brain.
Fortunately, there are several steps you can take that may reduce risk of amyloid buildup...
* Exercise daily
* Increase omega-3 fatty acid intake
* Increase vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid intake (these vitamins reduce homocysteine, which has been linked to amyloid formation)
* Use supplementary curcumin (antioxidant and anti- inflammatory properties are believed to break up amyloid)
* Increase intake of EGCG (a green tea flavonoid)
New studies offer two additional ways amyloid buildup might be avoided.
One of them...well, let's call it a long shot. A long shot at best. But the other is more realistic, so we'll start there.
In a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Framingham Heart Study researchers report on leptin – a hormone that's believed to remove amyloid and help keep synapses flexible.
Blood levels of leptin were measured in 785 Framingham subjects with an average age of 79. Eight years later, higher leptin levels were clearly linked to lower risk of dementia and AD. MRI images also linked low leptin levels to reduced brain volume – a typical Alzheimer's trait.
As I've mentioned before, leptin levels tend to be higher in people who regularly get enough sleep. High fructose corn syrup intake has also been linked to lower leptin.Source
................................................................................
Word of the Day
oscuro oh-skoo'-roh (adjective)
dark; overcast; obscure; uncertain; shady, suspect
EXAMPLES
Mi hermana vive en Seattle y siempre viste de oscuro. - My sister lives in Seattle and always wears dark clothing.
Hay algo oscuro en su pasado. - There is something suspect about his past.
For more information and examples, visit the SpanishDict.com entry for oscuro.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here´s the weather for the next few Alicante Province days.......
Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday
Clear
19° C | 8° C
Clear
16° C | 9° C
Chance of Rain
15° C | 9° C
Chance of Rain
15° C | 7° C
Chance of Rain
12° C | 6° C
Clear Clear Chance of Rain
40% chance of precipitation
Chance of Rain
20% chance of precipitation
Chance of Rain
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is a simple case of chop of the pops. Hairdressers in Spain are asking their customers to take their own music when they have a haircut as they battle against demands from the music industry that they pay for putting the radio on.
Signs were today hanging in the windows of salons in Barcelona and across the north-western region of Catalonia as hairdressers rebelled against a monthly fee being levied on behalf of composers and record companies.
“From now on, when you come to the hairdressers don't forget to bring your own music from home!” says the sign hanging in shop windows.
The Spanish Society of Authors (SGAE) charges the salons a monthly fee of between €6 and €12 a month on behalf of the music industry. Full Story
..............................................................
Word of the Day
la edad eh-dad' (noun)
age; period
EXAMPLES
Tienen la misma edad. - They are the same age.
No tengo edad para votar. - I'm not old enough to vote.
IDIOMS
Ser mayor de edad - To be of age
De corta edad - Young
---------------------------------------------------
Vaccine makers ready new push
Think you've seen a hard sell when it comes to swine flu vaccine?
Well, you ain't seen nothing yet!
The vaccine makers are just getting warmed up -- and now they're coming right out and boasting to their investors about how much money they're going to rake in from vaccines in the next few years.
Sanofi-Aventis is telling its investors that it plans to double its vaccine business by 2013. In 2010 alone, they're hoping to sell nearly $5.76 billion in needless needles.
That's not just significant. That's a bombshell -- because this company owns Sanofi Pasteur, the world's largest vaccine maker. That should tell you everything you need to know about these drugs. The vaccine business is not a noble effort to end disease... but a relentless push to boost profits.
There's a simple reason for this: The drug kingpins are running out of patents on their blockbuster meds. And with nothing in the works to replace them right now, they're turning to vaccines for quick and easy cash.
You just need to look at Merck to see how it works: After spending billions to settle Vioxx lawsuits, they turned to a vaccine to soften the blow.
That's how we got Gardasil, the dangerous needle being forced on little girls from coast to coast. The vaccine is supposed to protect against some strains of
HPV -- but it's been dubbed "Help Pay for Vioxx."
But let's get back to Sanofi Pasteur, because this French company typically makes 45 percent of all the flu vaccine sold in the United States, and 40 percent of the world's flu vaccines. They've sold us half a billion dollars' worth of swine flu shots already, and expect to sell half a billion more by spring.
Call that fair warning, because you can now expect every sniffle that comes along to become the "next" swine flu.
Don't believe it -- not today, not tomorrow and not in 2013.
Fighting for the future,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
------------------------------------------------
Sheenagh notices a boy in the field standing alone, while all the other kids are running around having fun. She takes pity on him and decides to speak to him.
'What´s your name?- 'David' 'You ok?' she says. 'Yes.' he says.
'You can go and play with the other kids you know' she says.
'It's best I stay here.' he says.
'Why?' says the blonde.
The boy says: "Because I'm the goalkeeper"
........................................................................
Sheenagh is just back from seeing Stevie Wonder and sends us this report.......
Stevie Wonder is playing his 1st gig in China and the place is heaving, packed to the rafters. In a bid to break the ice he asks if anyone has a request. One chap jumps out of his seat in the 1st row and shouts at
the top of his voice "Play a jazz chord ! Play a jazz chord!"
Amazed that this guy knows about the jazz influences in his career, the blind virtuoso starts to play an E minor scale and then goes into a difficult jazz melody for about 10 minutes. When he finishes, the whole place goes wild. The chap jumps out of his seat again and shouts "No, no, play a jazz chord, play a jazz chord...".
Although a bit cheesed off by this, Stevie, being the professional he is, steams straight in to a jazz improvisation with his band around the B flat minor chord and really tears the place apart. The crowd goes ballistic with this impromptu show of his musical expertise. But, still the little Chinese man jumps up again and shouts "No, no. Play a jazz chord, play a jazz chord!!!".
Stevie is really peeved off now that this chap doesn't seem to appreciate his playing ability and shouts to him from the stage - "OK, smart ass, you get up here and do it"..
The little bloke climbs onto the stage, takes hold of the mike and starts to sing............
"a jazz chord, to say, I ruv you...."
Here are some musical events for today
1959, alone with an acoustic guitar and tape recorder in his New York City apartment Buddy Holly made his last recordings, including Peggy Sue Got Married;Crying, Waiting, Hoping; The recordings would be overdubbed posthumously and were later released by Coral Records.
1994, D:Ream had their first UK No.1 single with 'Things Can Only Get Better', it stayed at No.1 for four weeks.In 1997 the track was adopted by the UK Labour Party as their theme for the 1997 UK General Election.
2001, former rubbish collector Mark Oliver was found guilty by a London court of stealing luggage belonging to Victoria Beckham from Heathrow Airport.
1962, Michael Hutchence, vocals, INXS, (1988 UK No.2 US No.1 single 'Need You Tonight'). ;Hutchence was found dead in his hotel suite in Sydney on 22nd Nov 1997 age 37.
Today's Podcast
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