2009年4月23日 星期四

donating to second-hand stores

Inside Europe | 25.04.2009 | 07:05

Charity is chic in Belgium

An increasing number of people are donating to second-hand stores in Belgium - no longer happy to just throw stuff away.

Charity shops are sorting and selling record volumes of used household items. While tough economic times may make recycled objects especially popular, Belgium's leading charity shop network says it fears for the future.

Report: Nina-Maria Potts


我家隔壁的"真理堂" (這在堂唐朝可能指飼寺廟 現在指 路德宗基督教)

從去年起一直有賣上手之固定攤販


2009年4月21日 星期二

先住民が照明革命 台湾

先住民が照明革命 台湾 電球一新、電気代半減 自然と共存、伝統守る

2009年4月20日 20:14 カテゴリー:アジア・世界
省電力型蛍光灯に切り替えた街灯。電球のかさは集落のタイヤル族住民が作った木彫り作品だ

  30年前、台湾で最も遅く電気が通じた山中の集落が昨年、省エネ照明のモデル地区に指定され、集落の電球がすべて発光ダイオード(LED)などの省電力型 に取り換えられた。日本と同様、エネルギー源の大半を海外に依存する台湾では、省エネ技術の革新と普及が急務となっている。最先端の「照明革命」に取り組 む先住民の村を訪れた。 (台北・小山田昌生)

 台湾北部の新竹県尖石郷。平野部から車で3時間半かけて、海抜1590メートルのスマングス集落にたどり着いた。小鳥がさえずり、冷たい山の空気が心地よい。人口は約170人、全員が先住民族のタイヤル族だ。

 この集落に送電線が伸びたのは1979年。95年に外部との道路が開通するまでは、ほぼ自給自足の生活で、谷を挟んだ隣の集落まで歩いて数時間かかっていた。

 ■省電力3‐8割

 台湾経済部(経済省)エネルギー局は昨年4月までに、同集落にある約870個の電球をすべて省エネ型に交換した。20ワットの白熱灯を5ワットの蛍光灯や2ワットのLED灯などに切り替えることで、同等の明るさを保ちながら、30‐80%の省電力効果がある。

  電球は台湾製で、エネルギー局が費用約60万台湾元(約180万円)を負担し、財団法人・工業技術研究院が技術協力。設置工事や街灯のかさに使う木彫りの 制作は集落住民が携わった。省エネ電球の価格は白熱灯の数倍するが、寿命も3倍程度長持ちする。昨年6月から今年2月までの使用電力量は49%減り、電気 代も減った。

 エネルギー局によると、照明用電力は台湾の総使用電力量の12%を占める。「照明革命」のモデル地区に、この山奥の集落を選んだ理由について、同局は「山間部は送電コストが平地の何倍も高いので、より大きな節電効果が得られる」と説明する。

 ■土地共有制守る

朝の集会で住民にその日の集落の仕事割りなどを伝える頭目のイチェスロンさん(左から2人目)=台湾・新竹県尖石郷スマングス集落

  電気のない時代、村人は夜をどう過ごしていたのか。頭目のイチェスロンさん(69)が小屋の中で、松の木切れに火を付けて見せてくれた。油脂分の多い松は あかあかと燃え、火持ちがいい。昔は日が暮れると明かりの周りに家族が集まり、親から子へ、生活の教えや部族に伝わる物語を語り継いだという。「松の木も 貴重だから、8時ぐらいには灯を消して眠りに就いた」と頭目は語る。

 90年代、集落の奥でベニヒノキの巨木群が発見され、道路開通とともに登山客が訪れるようになった。最近は山荘も数軒建てられ、年間1万人余りが宿泊する。

  この集落では土地を集落の共有財産とし、山荘経営やモモ、キャベツなどの栽培で得た収入も均等に分かち合う。仕事の割り振りなどは、朝の寄り合いで決め る。外部資本によって生活環境や共同体の調和が侵されないための知恵でもある。「私たちは電気を無駄に使わない。省エネに取り組むことは、自然を大切にし てきた民族の伝統的考えにも合うものだ」と、頭目は力を込めた。

=2009/04/20付 西日本新聞朝刊=

2009年4月16日 星期四

Aspire One PC.

April 15, 2009, 7:43 am

Lighter on Laps and Wallets

netbookMaurice Tsai/Bloomberg News A shopper looks at the Acer Aspire One PC.

Laptops on airplanes are hardly an unusual sight these days, but when Heather Poole pulled out her computer on a recent flight from New York to Los Angeles, she got a surprising reaction from the flight attendants serving drinks.

2009年4月10日 星期五

Italy's Cinque Terre National Park

Italy's Cinque Terre National Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Ligurian Coast

© Sanjiva Wijesinha

Aug 12, 2008
Village of the Cinque Terre, Sanjiva Wijesinha
The Italian Riviera, stretching from the northern port of Genova to the naval base of La Spezia to its south, has always been a popular tourist destination.

With its rocky coastline, picturesque fishing villages and magnificent views of the ocean, the eastern Riviera on Italy's Ligurian coastline is well worth a visit – particularly as it affords the opportunity of visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Cinque Terre national park.

National parkmeaning ‘the Five Lands" in Italian, is an area covering the five villages of Monterosso, Vernaza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore- which since 1999 has been designated a protected national park. What is unique about this nature reserve is that it represents a landscape crafted not by nature but by humans, who over a thousand years or more painstakingly and voluntarily transformed the steep mountainsides into cultivable terraces. Carrying rock after rock up the hillsides on their shoulders and using these rocks to build low walls without any form of cement or cohesive substance, they created over 6000 km of dry stone ramparts that held the soils back and changed an inhospitable region into the terraced vineyards one sees today.

Cinque TerreIt is really a masterpiece of landscape architecture.

The most famous product of the Cinque Terre is Sciacchetra, a sweet raisin wine made from grapes grown on the terraced hillsides. Since ancient times, Sciacchetra was exported to other parts of Europe, being described as far back as 1448 by Giacomo Bracelli, the chancellor of the Genovese Republic, as “a wine that adorns the dining halls of kings”.

Tourism

Life however, is hard in these isolated villages – and many young people have left to seek work in the big cities and overseas. With lessening numbers to maintain the walls and work the vineyards, there is a real danger that soil erosion will result in the hillsides literally sliding into the sea – and one of the objectives of the national park is to encourage the inhabitants to remain in the villages and young people who have left to return. With over a million tourists visiting the area each year, tourism has overtaken agriculture as the mainstay of the local economy. But having thousands of visitors invading the park and tramping over its picturesque hiking trails can also adversely affect the environment, and the authorities now limit the number of visitors entering the park. “Sustainable eco-compatible tourism” after all, is the buzzword these days.

The mountains of the Cinque Terre drop precipitously into the Ligurian Sea – and this rocky coastline with its sheltered coves, pastel-coloured houses and terraced hillsides covered with vines and olives constitutes one of Italy’s most attractive landscapes. Cars are not allowed beyond the entrances to each village – so the best way to get around is by train. The journey from one village to another along the coastal railway line takes just a few minutes, with trains running every 20 minutes or so between 0630 to 2200 hours.

The villages themselves are attractive – Riomaggiore has been described as a ‘mess of houses slithering down a ravine” while Corniglia is perched precariously atop a mountain ridge way above the beach. The protected coastal path from Riomaggiore to Manarola hugs the cliff face and has aptly been named ‘Via del’Amore’ or Lovers Walk for it affords breathtaking views of the ocean down below. Vernazza is probably the prettiest of the villages with its sea front piazza, while Monterosso is the place to go to taste fresh seafood (anchovies being a speciality), to drink limoncino – and of course, to sample Sciacchetra.

How to Go

Internal flights to Genova - or take a short train or bus ride from from: Florence , Pisa or Lucca.


The copyright of the article Italy's Cinque Terre National Park in Italy Travel is owned by Sanjiva Wijesinha. Permission to republish Italy's Cinque Terre National Park in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


2009年4月9日 星期四

L´Aquila/ Irpinia

欧洲 | 2009.04.09

意大利政要到震区为何是重要信号

意大利中部地震造成的死亡人数已经超过了270人,对失踪人员的搜救工作还在紧张进行中,此外还有数千人流离失所。慰问受灾群众并哀悼死难者的第一批政界 要人已经抵达该地区。其中尤以意大利总理贝鲁斯科尼的发言最为特别,他鼓励那些目前被安置在临时营地的人们,将此次受灾当成一次"周末野营 "。

意大利总统纳波利塔诺(Giorgio Napolitano)上午就出现在受灾的拉奎拉市(L´Aquila)。纳波利塔诺说,这是出于责任感以及对灾民的同情。迅速慰问无家可归的灾民,并保 证这不会对救援者展开初步行动构成障碍,这在意大利非常重要。对于总统来说,他是凌驾于各自为战的诸多政治阵营之上的国家元首。

总统的迅速抵达对于受灾群众则意味着更多--以前,幸存者常常很快就会被身处罗马的政客忘得一干二净并被弃之不顾。时政评论员朱塞佩·桑佐塔 说: "我还记得1980年发生在伊尔皮尼亚(Irpinia,位于意大利南部坎帕尼亚省大区)的地震。那时的救援工具确实既不快也不好,但当时也确实谈 不上任何救援。与那时相比,这次总理立即取消俄罗斯之行,并在几小时后就赶到拉奎拉市,已经算是好样的了。这能给人们勇气,并且让他们意识到,自己没有被 遗忘。这是一个积极的信号,它清楚地表明:有政府在呢!"

造成近3000人死亡的伊尔皮尼亚地震是意大利在二战后遭遇的最惨重的自然灾害,意大利救灾组织目前的组织形式即源于那次地震。救灾工具今天派上了 用场。在拉奎拉市的地震中,救援者和提供帮助的人得到了众口一词的称赞。但是对于那些失去家园的人来说,待在临时营地中的时间变得越来越长。不是所有人都 能理解设立应急居住地的做法,因为那意味着开始等待,而等待总会让人情绪紧张, "只有细得可怜的水流,没有水,没有电。我们都冻得要命。我睡在地上,身 上污秽不堪。救援者拼命工作,没日没夜。但是水还是冰冷的。"

这种失落的感觉,尽管与仍在继续的搜救工作相比显得几乎可以忽略不计,但政府官员希望通过在受灾地区露面能够对缓解灾民情绪有所帮助。伊尔皮尼亚地 震,当时政府的表现是失败的。而且用于重建的材料居然也会消失不见。所以桑佐塔非常支持贝鲁斯科尼关于"建立第2个拉奎拉"的计划,"了解这座城市的人会 明白,重建不能只在这儿进行。而是继续向下,在平原地区,建造一个空间更广阔的城市,那种带有工业园区的城市。拥有两座城市是完全可能的,一个被重建的老 城,一个充满全新建筑的新城。"

重建工程需要数月甚至数年之久。害怕被遗忘的恐惧是巨大的。管理混乱会让所有承诺落空。但是拉奎拉市已经开始着眼于未来。明天的集体葬礼仪式时,此次沉重打击的总体破坏程度究竟严重到什么程度,就会再一次清楚的表现出来。

作者:Gregor Hoppe / 子江

责编:乐然

2009年4月5日 星期日

Dole is a commune in the Jura department in Franche-Comté

Commune of Dole

Location
Image:Paris_plan_pointer_b_jms.gif
Map highlighting the commune of
Coordinates 47°05′35″N 5°29′26″E / 47.09306°N 5.49056°E / 47.09306; 5.49056
Administration
Country France
Region Franche-Comté
Department Jura
Arrondissement Dole
Statistics
Elevation 196–341 m (640–1,120 ft)
Land area1 38.38 km2 (14.82 sq mi)
Population2
(2006)
25,705
- Density 650 /km² (1,700 /sq mi)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 39198/ 39100
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Dole is a commune in the Jura department in Franche-Comté in eastern France, of which it is a sub-prefecture.

Contents

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History

Dole was the capital of Franche-Comté until Louis XIV conquered the region; he shifted the parlement from Dole to Besançon. The university, founded by Philip the Good of Burgundy in 1422, was also transferred to Besançon at that time.

Geography

Dole is located on the Doubs River. The commune has a land area of 38.38 km² (14.82 sq mi).

Demographics

As of the census of 1999, the population was 24,949.
The estimation for 2005 was 23,900.

It is the largest commune in Jura, although the préfecture (capital) resides in the commune of Lons-le-Saunier.

Miscellaneous

Dole was the birthplace of Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), microbiologist and chemist; as well as the birthplace of Marie Émile Antoine Béthouart (17 December 1889 – 17 October 1982), soldier.

The 1995 film, Happiness Is in the Field, was set in Dole.

Museums

The Museum of Fine Arts, Dole founded in 1821, is located in the House of the Officers, an example of military architecture of Franche-Comté at the 18th century.

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