dissabte, 31 de gener del 2009

Slum Dog Millionaire


Plou desde el matí, i per tant dia perfecte per quedar-se a casa i fer una mica de update de cinema.
Després del Waltz with Bashir, Slum Dog Millionaire. Es un Dickens a Bombai, (el director i el primer guionista son britanics, però practicament tot el reste del equip i els actors son hindus), però amb un referent de programa de televisió, si, el ¿Quien quiere ser millonario? cada una de les preguntes contestades per un nen de suburbi que ha hagut de sobreviure a la manca de pare, la mort de la mare (un episodi que entra en un dels temes més rellevants de la India contemporania: les lluites religioses i l'apartheid dels musulmans - jà més nombrosos els que viuen a la India que els que van haver de marxar al Pakistan), és explicada (almenys en part) als expectadors. Curiosament per les preguntes finals es guarden els dos comodins, que cadascú pot interpretar a la seva manera, però que em semblen brillants.
La pelicula va canviant de manera trepidant el to, així passem de la brutalitat mes crua, a escenes caramelades, sense que en cap moment es perdi el ritme i l'interès per seguir el desenvolupament del tema, tot i que les dues hores son plenes de flashbacks que entren i tornen, i tornen...

Vals amb Bashir (và de cine)


Mes de vint anys després de la guerra del Liban, un antic recluta intenta recuperar la memoria.
No pot recordar la invasió de Beirut ni el seu paper a les matances "protegides" per l'excercit d'Israel, del camps de Sabra i Chatila, per part de les milicies cristiano-falangistes libaneses.
Tot en un format d'animació molt realista (ultra detallista). Es una producció internacional, però pensada, desenvolupada, i finalment presentada desde Israel, el que ens hà de suggerir que encara queda esperança...


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pastafarisme


Una de les teories més solides del DI (Disseny Inteligent), apareguda com a resposta a la prohibició d'ensenyar l'evolucionisme darwinià a les escoles de Kansas. Tot es basa en un un deu que es coneix com FSM ( el monstre espaguetti volador) que amb la mateixa forma però que amb diferents materials i consistencies và fent aparicions (la web dels pastafaris és plena de diverses "encarnacions" del deu monstre, espaguetti, i volador). Entre altres poders, te la capacitat d'enganyar als cientifics, alterant principis considerats com a fonamentals, per exemple la degradació del Carbono 14.

un classic

1183 - 4 = 1179 (Tenen els pinochetistes dret a treure pit?)

AMÉRICA LATINA | Desaparecidos en la dictadura de Pinochet

La Justicia chilena investiga los casos de falsas víctimas del régimen militar

Germán Cofré. | Foto cortesía de 'El Mercurio' de Chile

Germán Cofré. | Foto cortesía de 'El Mercurio' de Chile

  • A Germán Cofré le dieron por muerto. En realidad, vivía en Argentina
  • 'Sabíamos que la extrema derecha lo aprovecharía', dicen las asociaciones

Los deudos que el domingo pasado visitaban el Monumento de Detenidos Desaparecidos durante la dictadura de Augusto Pinochet, observaron la escena con dolor e irritación. Era la cuarta vez que los trabajadores del cementerio borraban un nombre que no debía estar inscrito en el mármol.

En esa ocasión, el de Carlos Rojas Campos, quien figuraba entre los 1.183 hombres y mujeres a quienes los agentes del régimen ejecutaron y luego sepultaron de forma clandestina. Hace unos días, el consulado de Chile en Buenos Aires informó que Rojas Campos, desaparecido en 1973, reside desde entonces en Argentina.

Hoy circulaban por Santiago, unos volantes que pedían "desenmascarar a los autores del mito (de los desaparecidos) que ha manchado el honor de nuestras fuerzas armadas".

En respuesta al reclamo anónimo, la Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos (AFDD) exigió que se revise, caso por caso, la lista que confeccionó la Comisión Rettig, creada en 1974 con el propósito de esclarecer los crímenes perpetrados durante la época de Pinochet.

"Sabíamos que la extrema derecha aprovecharía las irregularidades que se han descubierto, para hacer de la excepción una regla y rehabilitar al dictador y a sus cómplices", dijo Ana González, fundadora de la AFDD.

divendres, 30 de gener del 2009

Bush, Obama, Reagan (És el podium de vegades en que es va mencionar a deu en el discurs inaugural)

Tot i així és el primer que fà menció als no-creients en termes "civilitzats".



An inaugural first: Obama acknowledges 'non-believers'
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY


On a morning of countless firsts in U.S. history, add this: Barack Obama's inaugural speech is the first time a president has ever explicitly acknowledged not only "Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus" but non-believers as well.

"This inclusiveness is a signature moment in American inaugural history," says David Domke, professor of communications at the University of Washington in Seattle, who has analyzed religious language in seven decades of inaugural and State of the Union addresses.

Obama's speech was "right in the middle" of recent presidents in the number of references to God — more than Reagan, fewer than George W. Bush — according to Domke's tally.

dijous, 29 de gener del 2009

un dia és un dia

Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog.

Don Ipock for The New York Times

The Bacon Explosion is a rolled concoction that can be baked or cooked in a smoker. More Photos >


Published: January 27, 2009

FOR a nation seeking unity, a recipe has swept the Internet that seems to unite conservatives and liberals, gun owners and foodies, carnivores and ... well, not vegetarians and health fanatics.

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Related

Recipe: Bacon Explosion (January 28, 2009)

Don Ipock for The New York Times

Woven bacon has sausage on top, then some cooked bacon. More Photos »

Certainly not the vegetarians and health fanatics.

This recipe is the Bacon Explosion, modestly called by its inventors “the BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes.” The instructions for constructing this massive torpedo-shaped amalgamation of two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce first appeared last month on the Web site of a team of Kansas City competition barbecuers. They say a diverse collection of well over 16,000 Web sites have linked to the recipe, celebrating, or sometimes scolding, its excessiveness. A fresh audience could be ready to discover it on Super Bowl Sunday.

Where once homegrown recipes were disseminated in Ann Landers columns or Junior League cookbooks, new media have changed — and greatly accelerated — the path to popularity. Few recipes have cruised down this path as fast or as far as the Bacon Explosion, and this turns out to be no accident. One of its inventors works as an Internet marketer, and had a sophisticated understanding of how the latest tools of promotion could be applied to a four-pound roll of pork.

The Bacon Explosion was born shortly before Christmas in Roeland Park, Kan., in Jason Day’s kitchen. He and Aaron Chronister, who anchor a barbecue team called Burnt Finger BBQ, were discussing a challenge from a bacon lover they received on their Twitter text-messaging service: What could the barbecuers do with bacon?

At the same time, Mr. Chronister wanted to get attention for their Web site, BBQAddicts.com. More traffic would bring in more advertising income, which they needed to fund a hobby that can cost thousands of dollars.

Mr. Day, a systems administrator who has been barbecuing since college, suggested doing something with a pile of sausage. “It’s a variation of what’s called a fattie in the barbecue community,” Mr. Day said. “But we took it to the extreme.”

He bought about $20 worth of bacon and Italian sausage from a local meat market. As it lay on the counter, he thought of weaving strips of raw bacon into a mat. The two spackled the bacon mat with a layer of sausage, covered that with a crunchy layer of cooked bacon, and rolled it up tight.

They then stuck the roll — containing at least 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat — in the Good-One Open Range backyard smoker that they use for practice. (In competitions, they use a custom-built smoker designed by the third member of the team, Bryant Gish, who was not present at the creation of the Bacon Explosion.)

Mr. Day said his wife laughed the whole time. “She’s very supportive of my hobby,” he said.

The two men posted their adventure on their Web site two days before Christmas. On Christmas Day, traffic on the site spiked to more than 27,000 visitors.

Mr. Chronister explained that the Bacon Explosion “got so much traction on the Web because it seems so over the top.” But Mr. Chronister, an Internet marketer from Kansas City, Mo., did what he could to help it along. He first used Twitter to send short text messages about the recipe to his 1,200 Twitter followers, many of them fellow Internet marketers with extensive social networks. He also posted links on social networking sites. “I used a lot of my connections to get it out there and to push it,” he said.

The Bacon Explosion posting has since been viewed about 390,000 times. It first found a following among barbecue fans, but quickly spread to sites run by outdoor enthusiasts, off-roaders and hunters. (Several proposed venison-sausage versions.) It also got mentions on the Web site of Air America, the liberal radio network, and National Review, the conservative magazine. Jonah Goldberg at NationalReview.com wrote, “There must be a reason one reader after another sends me this every couple hours.” Conservatives4palin.com linked, too.

So did regular people. A man from Wooster, Ohio, wrote that friends had served it at a bon voyage party before his 10-day trip to Israel, where he expected bacon to be in short supply. “It wasn’t planned as a send-off for me to Israel, but with all of the pork involved it sure seemed like it,” he wrote.

About 30 people sent in pictures of their Explosions. One sent a video of the log catching fire on a grill.

Mr. Day said that whether it is cooked in an oven or in a smoker, the rendered fat from the bacon keeps the sausage juicy. But in the smoker, he said, the smoke heightens the flavor of the meats.

Nick Pummell, a barbecue hobbyist in Las Vegas, learned of the recipe from Mr. Chronister’s Twittering. He made his first Explosion on Christmas Day, when he and a group of friends also had a more traditional turkey. “This was kind of the dessert part,” he said. “You need to call 911 after you are done. It was awesome.”

Mr. Chronister said the main propellant behind the Bacon Explosion’s spread was a Web service called StumbleUpon, which steers Web users toward content they are likely to find interesting. Readers tell the service about their professional interests or hobbies, and it serves up sites to match them. More than 7 million people worldwide use the service in an attempt to duplicate serendipity, the company says.

Mr. Chronister intended to send the post to StumbleUpon, but one of his readers beat him to it. It appeared on the front page of StumbleUpon for three days, which further increased traffic.

Mr. Chronister also littered his site with icons for Digg, Del.icio.us and other sites in which readers vote on posts or Web pages they like, helping to spread the word. “Alright this is going on Digg,” a commenter wrote minutes after the Explosion was posted. “Already there,” someone else answered.

Some have claimed that the Bacon Explosion is derivative. A writer known as the Headless Blogger posted a similar roll of sausage and bacon in mid-December. Mr. Chronister and Mr. Day do not claim to have invented the concept.

But they do vigorously defend their method. When one commenter dared to suggest that the two hours in the smoker could be slashed to a mere 30 minutes if the roll was first cooked in a microwave oven, Mr. Chronister snapped back. “Microwave??? Seriously? First, the proteins in the meats will bind around 140 degrees, so putting it on the smoker after that is pointless as it won’t absorb any smoke flavor,” he responded on his site. “This requires patience and some attention. It’s not McDonald’s.”

More Articles in Dining & Wine » A version of this article appeared in print on January 28, 2009, on page D1 of the New York edition.

the sound of silence (revisionisme XXL)



(Source: Wikipedia)
The Concordat between the Vatican and the NazisCardinal Secretary of State, Eugenio Pacelli (later to become Pope Pius XII) signs the Concordat between Nazi Germany and the Vatican at a formal ceremony in Rome on 20 July 1933. Nazi Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen sits at the left, Pacelli in the middle, and the Rudolf Buttmann sits at the right.The Concordat effectively legitimized Hitler and the Nazi government to the eyes of Catholicism, Christianity, and the world.



El Vaticano defiende en la ciudad de Berlín a Pío XII, 'Papa del Silencio'

El Vaticano defiende en Berlín a Pío XII, con una exposición que resalta algunas de sus tímidas declaraciones y actuaciones en favor de los judíos durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial


ImprimirE-mail
Rafael Poch | Corresponsal / Berlín | 28/01/2009 | Actualizada a las 19:15h | Internacional

El Comité Papal para la Ciencia Histórica acaba de inaugurar, en el Palacio de Charlottenburg de Berlín, una exposición dedicada a la controvertida figura de Eugenio Pacelli, Pio XII. Nuncio apostólico en Baviera y ante el Tercer Reich, y Papa desde 1939 hasta 1958, Pío XII ha sido considerado por sus críticos como 'el Papa del silencio', alegando que no hizo nada significativo para prevenir ni protestar por el Holocausto. A Pío XII se le asocia también con la cobertura ofrecida a la huida a América Latina de criminales nazis como Adolf Eichmann y Josef Mengele en 1945.

La exposición berlinesa 'Opus Justitiae Pax. Eugenio Pacelli', no menciona nada de eso, excepto para negarlo mediante una pormenorizada muestra de citas en las que se expresa un pesar general por desmanes cometidos durante la guerra por los nazis, sin que la palabra "judío", "masacre", "genocidio" o "Hitler" se mencione en ellos. También se exponen documentos papales y eclesiásticos que enfatizan diferentes ayudas a perseguidos, entre ellas la contribución eclesiástica a la salvación y refugio de los judíos de Roma.

En general, el tono de las declaraciones papales presentadas por la exposición como descargo del criticado "silencio" es algo vago. "Esta promesa solemne, la humanidad se la debe a los centenares de miles que han sido abandonados a la muerte o a la pobreza pese a su inocencia, por su simple pertenencia a un pueblo o por su origen", dijo en su alocución radiofónica navideña del 24 de diciembre de 1942. Medio año después, en un mensaje a los cardenales del 2 de junio de 1943, Pío XII expresa su, "profunda simpatía" hacia aquellos que, "son torturados y subyugados por causa de su nacionalidad o raza". Ninguna referencia a los responsables.

Todo ello contrasta con las enérgicas e inequívocas protestas diplomáticas y papales de 1949 contra la detención del primado de Hungría Joseph Mindszenty, acusado de espionaje por las autoridades comunistas de aquel país. El Primado de Hungría mereció una atención y protesta directa, que apenas se expresó en los casos de los innumerables mártires católicos del nazismo, entre ellos miles de religiosos asesinados en los campos de concentración y exterminio alemanes. Esa misma tenacidad se expresó en el combate de posguerra de Pío XII contra el Partido Comunista Italiano XII o contra la candidatura de un socialista a la alcaldía de Roma.

La exposición berlinesa, que fue mostrada previamente en Roma y seguirá en Munich, se organizó "por deseo del Papa", que anima la beatificación de Pacelli, señalan sus organizadores. El izquierdista 'Die Tageszeitung' ha dicho sobre ella que es, "un escándalo que muestra hasta qué punto triunfan los reaccionarios en el Vaticano". El diario denuncia que los archivos del Vaticano que aclararían muchas lagunas sobre la figura de Pio XII, estén cerrados hasta el año 2014. El Vaticano ha negado tajantemente esta afirmación, y sus portavoces han dicho que los historiadores han tenido pleno acceso al archivo. Curiosamente, una calle de Berlín lleva el nombre de Pío XII y a su muerte, el futuro Canciller socialdemócrata Willy Brandt, lo describió como, "uno de los Papas más significados de la Iglesia Romana".

Interrogado sobre la acusación de silencio papal durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el Presidente del Comité Papal de Ciencias Históricas, Walter Brandmüller, ha dicho que, "las posibilidades de un Papa son muy limitadas, pero las que (Pío XII) tuvo, las utilizó a fondo. Instó expresamente a las instituciones eclesiásticas, conventos y residencias de Roma para que abrieran sus puertas a los judíos perseguidos", dice. "Siempre se ha supuesto que actuaron por propia iniciativa, y seguramente lo habrían hecho de todas formas, pero hubo testigos irrefutables de que el Papa tenía un conocimiento expreso", afirma Brandmüller.

La inauguración de la exposición berlinesa ha coincidido con la tormenta que el Vaticano está afrontando estos días a causa de la decisión de revocar la excomunión de los obispos lefebvristas, entre ellos la del británico Richard Williamson, quien ha negado el Holocausto públicamente.

"El hecho de que sea un Papa alemán el autor de esta crisis entre los judíos y la Iglesia católica es particularmente doloroso, sorprendente y deplorable", ha dicho el vicepresidente del Consejo Central de los judíos de Alemania, Dieter Graumann. La prensa alemana ha sido muy crítica con Benedicto XVI. El 'Süddeutsche Zeitung' se ha preguntado en qué dirección quiere llevar el Papa a su Iglesia: "Los críticos veteranos de Ratzinger responden que el Papa es justamente un hombre fosilizado que está convirtiendo el Vaticano en una torre de marfil dogmática y está negando la apertura de la Iglesia al mundo".

En Europa, el conservador 'Neue Zürcher Zeitung' destaca, "que entre los cuatro obispos tradicionalistas se encuentre un desvergonzado negador del Holocausto, puede ser casualidad, o no, en vistas de la antigua propaganda antisemita dentro de la Iglesia Católica". Dirk Verhofstadt, autor de un libro sobre la actuación de Pío XII durante el Holocausto, señala en el belga 'De Morgen'; "al rehabilitar a Richard Williamson, el actual Papa envía dos señales.

En primer lugar, da a entender que los negadores del Holocausto y los antisemitas ocupan un lugar en lo alto de la Iglesia Católica. En segundo lugar, refuerza al hacerlo la autoridad de un obispo que pretende reescribir la Historia más de 60 años después de los brutales acontecimientos y deshumanizar de nuevo a los judíos".

En 'Le Monde' el catedrático de Historia y teólogo Matthieu Grimpret, dice, "por primera vez en mi vida, me avergüenzo de ser católico. No comprendo –y ésta es la razón misma de mi vergüenza– por qué se le abren los brazos a un hombre, Richard Williamson, cuyo antisemitismo y negación del Holocausto son de notoriedad pública".

En la revista de prensa europea de una institución alemana, sólo el diario polaco 'Polska' se muestra comprensivo: "la valerosa decisión de Benedicto XVI en dicha situación -dice- "era la única posibilidad de proteger a la Iglesia de un nuevo cisma".

dimecres, 28 de gener del 2009

Sense paraules (No words to say)

With no job and 5 kids, 'better to end our lives,' man wrote

  • Story Highlights
  • Police believe man killed five children and their mother, then took own life
  • Man left note detailing the his family's plight and blaming former employer
  • Officials say man killed family after he and his wife were terminated from jobs
  • Deaths related to economic woes "all-too-common story" lately, mayor says


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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- It was described as one of the most grisly scenes Los Angeles police had ever encountered: the bodies of five small children and their parents, all shot to death, in two upstairs rooms of the family's home.

A photo on Ervin Lupoe's Facebook page shows his wife and five children.

A photo on Ervin Lupoe's Facebook page shows his wife and five children.

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"The reaction on their faces was not a pretty sight," neighbor Jasmine Gomez told CNN. "There was an officer who came out of the house throwing up."

But even more incomprehensible to some was the story that emerged after the bodies were found Tuesday: A father who, after he and his wife were fired from their jobs, killed all six family members before turning the gun on himself.

In a letter faxed to Los Angeles television station KABC before his suicide, Ervin Antonio Lupoe blamed his former employer for the deaths, detailing his grievance against Kaiser Permanente's West Los Angeles Medical Center, where he and his wife Ana had worked as technicians. Video Watch how the note brought police to the home »

Lupoe claimed the couple was being investigated for "misrepresentation of our employment to an outside agency for the benefit to ourselves's [sic], childcare." He said the initial interview was held on December 19, and when he reported for work on December 23, "I was told by my administrator ... that 'You should not even have bothered to come to work today. You should have blown your brains out.'"

"Oh lord, my God," the letter concludes. "Is there no hope for a widow's son?"

Kaiser Permanente said in a statement Tuesday night that while the company is "saddened by the despair in Mr. Lupoe's letter faxed to the media ... we are confident that no one told him to take his own life or the lives of his family."

The Lupoes' employment was terminated over a week ago "after an internal investigation," the company said.

"While we may never fully understand why today's senseless deaths occurred, everyone who worked with the Lupoes is shocked and terribly saddened by the tragedy," said the statement. "It never should have happened."

Lupoe wrote in the fax, "after a horrendous ordeal my wife felt it better to end our lives and why leave our children in someone else's hands ... we have no job and 5 children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are."

Among those struggling to comprehend the news was Lupoe's 83-year-old grandmother, Josephine Lupoe of Atlanta, Georgia. She sobbed as she told CNN, "I just can't believe it."

She said Lupoe was born in Atlanta, but moved to Detroit, Michigan, with his parents as a child before moving to California. She recalled visiting the family when they lived in San Jose, California, "but that was years ago," she said. "I hadn't been to visit them since he got married and moved."

She said she last heard from him when he called her to say they were having a second set of twins.

"Every time I called, he was at work," Josephine Lupoe said. "He worked a lot, and even when I talked with him, he would be at work." But she said she had no indication of problems within the family.

She said she had spoken with Lupoe's mother a couple of days ago, and they discussed his sending pictures of the boys. "And then I hear this," she said tearfully.

Lupoe's mother was on the way to California on Wednesday, she said, but Josephine Lupoe said she is unable to travel.

Authorities said Lupoe and the three girls, identified by the Los Angeles Times as 8-year-old Brittney and twin 5-year-olds Jaszmin and Jasseley, were found in one upstairs room. Ana Lupoe and the boys -- twin 2-year-olds Benjamin and Christian, according to the newspaper -- were in another.

Police believe Lupoe also called 911, about the same time KABC was notifying police they had been contacted by a person who was threatening suicide. In the 911 call, police said, Lupoe reported returning home and finding his family dead.

Lupoe's co-workers told the Times they remembered the Lupoes as cheerful, good workers and caring parents.

Ana Lupoe was "always talking about the kids," said co-worker Hamlet Narvaez.

On Ervin Lupoe's Facebook page, which displays pictures of the family, he describes himself as a graduate of the University of Southern California.

Cherise Pounders-Caver, principal of the children's school, Crescent Heights Elementary, said Lupoe showed up to check the three older children out of school about two weeks ago and told her the family was moving to Kansas, the Times reported.

The deaths sent shock waves across the city and beyond. Video Watch how the tragedy unfolded »

"No matter how desperate you are, no matter how frustrated you are, to think this was the only answer -- to take your whole family with you in death -- is just too much to understand," said City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents the city's Wilmington neighborhood where the slayings took place.

Creacionistes en peu de guerra

Attenborough reveals creationist hate mail for not crediting God

David Attenborough in a still from his forthcoming television series 'Life In Cold Blood'

David Attenborough in a still from his series 'Life In Cold Blood'. Photograph: BBC/PA

Sir David Attenborough has revealed that he receives hate mail from viewers for failing to credit God in his documentaries. In an interview with this week's Radio Times about his latest documentary, on Charles Darwin and natural selection, the broadcaster said: "They tell me to burn in hell and good riddance."

Telling the magazine that he was asked why he did not give "credit" to God, Attenborough added: "They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."

Attenborough went further in his opposition to creationism, saying it was "terrible" when it was taught alongside evolution as an alternative perspective. "It's like saying that two and two equals four, but if you wish to believe it, it could also be five ... Evolution is not a theory; it is a fact, every bit as much as the historical fact that William the Conqueror landed in 1066."

Attenborough, who attended the Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in Leicester in the 1930s, said he was astonished at manifestations of Christian faith.

"It never really occurred to me to believe in God - and I had nothing to rebel against, my parents told me nothing whatsoever. But I do remember looking at my headmaster delivering a sermon, a classicist, extremely clever ... and thinking, he can't really believe all that, can he? How incredible!"

In 2002, Attenborough joined an effort by clerics and scientists to oppose the inclusion of creationism in the curriculum of state-funded independent schools receiving private sponsorship, such as the Emmanuel Schools Foundation.

dimarts, 27 de gener del 2009

Avui m'he emocionat


Aquest migdia anava a dinar (a un restaurant uruguaià... el missatge de PETA encara l'hé de païr - entretant visca la carn ben tallada i ben rostida), i he trobat dos vellets aparcant un SIMCA Horizon en un espai de zona verda acabat de crear, ella amb bata de guatiné i una mena de sabatilles térmiques a joc amb la bata, ell amb tot l'aspecte de tenir seriosos problemes d'oïda, i probablement de vista, ell al volant i ella a l'acera, intentant aliniar aquesta antigualla al voral d'un carreró de mala mort.
No us puc dir si ho han aconseguit del tot, malgrat que la vorera la tenien gairabé en exclusiva...

Joseph Bové tenia raó, els haviem d'haver dinamitat fà anys...

MacDonald's profite de la crise









Les chiffres sont sans appel : les consommateurs aiment McDonald's et McDonald's aime la crise. Alors que le nombre de faillites dans le secteur de l'hôtellerie-restauration française progresse de 27,2 % au premier semestre 2008, la chaîne américaine de restauration rapide affiche un bénéfice net en hausse de 80 % sur l'ensemble de l'année passée.

Dépassant largement les attentes des analystes, ces bons résultats ont de quoi déconcerter. McDonald's est l'une des rares entreprises à avoir vu ses ventes augmenter en 2008. A l'échelle mondiale, le groupe peut se vanter d'une progression de 6,9 %, de 4 % aux Etats-Unis, de 8,5 % en Europe et de 7,8 % au Moyen-Orient, en Afrique et en Asie-Pacifique. En termes de consommation individuelle, "le nombre moyen de clients par jour a augmenté, à plus de 58 millions", précisait, lundi, Jim Skinner, le PDG de l'entreprise, dans un communiqué.

Comment expliquer un tel succès ? Pour Charles Pernin, chargé du secteur alimentation à la CLCV (Association nationale de consommateurs et usagers), il n'y a pas de mystère : "L'entreprise communique beaucoup sur la diversification de l'offre, mais ce ne sont pas les salades, les carottes en bâtonnets ou la qualité des huiles qui changent la donne. Comme d'autres sociétés de restauration rapide, McDonald's profite beaucoup de la crise."

Outre l'amélioration du design des restaurants et un plus grand choix de menus, ce sont les petits prix qui séduisent les consommateurs. Aux Etats-Unis, la campagne de publicité organisée pour promouvoir un menu à 1 dollar a connu un franc succès.

LE PLUS GROS PLAN D'EXPANSION DEPUIS 5 ANS

La France, qui compte plus de 1 100 enseignes McDonald's, n'échappe pas à la tendance. "Du hamburger au kebab, en passant par la pizza et le sandwich, le marché se porte globalement bien", observe Dominique Bénézet, secrétaire général du Syndicat national de l'alimentation et de la restauration rapide. D'après lui, "le consommateur ne remet plus en cause la qualité sanitaire des produits et accepte de moins en moins de dépenser 30 euros pour un repas".

De quoi assurer encore un moment la suprématie du Big Mac. McDonald's devrait consacrer cette année 2,1 milliards de dollars (1,6 milliard d'euros) à l'ouverture de 1 000 nouveaux restaurants et à des investissements sur les sites existants. Selon Denis Hennequin, le président de McDonald's Europe, interrogé samedi par le Financial Times, McDonald's compte ouvrir 240 enseignes et créer 12 000 emplois en Europe en 2009. Soit un plan d'expansion, le plus important mené par le groupe américain depuis cinq ans, qui représente un investissement d'1,1 milliard de dollar, d'après le magazine Forbes.

Le Monde.fr

Mira-li els dits, be potser també la cintura i els malucs...

How our body measurements affect who we are

Top athletes have longer ring fingers – and women with larger hips have more intelligent children. Roger Dobson explains how the size and shape of body parts can speak volumes about our health, fertility, and even our personality traits

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Hands-on idea: the theory is that the finger ratio is a historical record of what went on in the womb when the brain, heart and other organs were growing

Siri Berting

Hands-on idea: the theory is that the finger ratio is a historical record of what went on in the womb when the brain, heart and other organs were growing

    PETA (el grup de defensa dels animals)

    Veggie Love: PETA's Banned Super Bowl Ad

    La TV americana ha censurat aquest anunci, s'havia d'emetre a la mitja part de la Super Bowl, per massa explicit. El NY Times entretant callant com a putes...

    Potser els coneixeu per la seva lluita contra el comerç de pells, aquest passat cap de setmana van fer una acció a la Plaça del Rei.



    PETA's ad—which features a bevy of beauties who are powerless to resist the temptation of veggie love—was deemed too hot for the Super Bowl. NBC rejected the video because of concerns over "rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin," a woman "screwing herself with broccoli," and more! Read NBC's complete list of concerns and enter to win your own veggie love!

    dilluns, 26 de gener del 2009

    michelito "matador"

    Si, ho heu sentit be, som al segle XXI i aixó s'hagues pogut programar al Colisseu de Roma...

    2:59pm UK, Sunday January 25, 2009

    A child matador has killed six young bulls in a fight that child and animal protection campaigners tried to stop.

    Michelito Lagravere

    Michelito in a bullfight in November 2008

    Michelito Lagravere, 11, was allowed to take part in the event after a court in south east Mexico rejected a bid to halt it.

    "I'm happy to have achieved this great victory," he said before leaving the bloodied bull ring in Merida.

    A judge gave the go-ahead for him to fight the six calves, aged one or two years, after reviewing licenses and permits submitted by his father, former French bullfighter Michel Lagravere.

    "We produced all the authorisations and guarantees we were following the rules, including the essential agreement from the National Association of Matadors," said Mr Lagravere.

    "Michelito has fought bulls since he was six years old and he's never had a serious accident."

    Around 3,500 people, including many young children, gathered at the ring to witness Michelito in action.

    A video of the fight will be sent to Guinness World Records for consideration - for the number of bulls killed and the age of the bullfighter.

    Michelito has killed dozens of bulls in Mexico, but several of his fights were banned in France last summer after protests.