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Migrants. German Village of 102 to host 750. Mayor's wife: it's a joke. No? Official language would be (local becomes minority)?
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The German village of Sumte, population 102, to accommodate for an influx of 750 migrants, nearly 10 times as many migrants as it had residents
SUMTE, Germany — This bucolic, one-street settlement of handsome redbrick farmhouses may for the moment have many more cows than people. In early October, the district government informed Sumte’s mayor, Christian Fabel, by email that his village of 102 people just over the border in what was once Communist East Germany would take in 1,000 asylum seekers.
His wife, the mayor said, assured him it must be a hoax. “It certainly can’t be true” that such a small, isolated place would be asked to accommodate nearly 10 times as many migrants as it had residents, she told him. “She thought it was a joke,” he said.
But it was not. Sumte has become a showcase of the extreme pressures bearing down on Germany as it scrambles to find shelter for what, by the end of the year, could be well over a million people seeking refuge from poverty or wars in Africa, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
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Photo courtesy Gordon Welters / NY Times
24 Oct 1945, after World War II: UN established. New Year's Day 1942: US, UK, USSR and China signed United Nations Declaration
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The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation, established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193.
The headquarters of the United Nations is in Manhattan, New York City, and experiences extraterritoriality. Further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna.
- UN Charter signed 26 June 1945
- Charter entered into force 24 October 1945
There are six official languages of the UN.
These are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
1942 "Declaration of United Nations" by the Allies of World War II read more »
Shall we chat (or read a book, or recite poems, or debate) over a cup of coffee? (texting: much missed) Have a happy Coffee Day!
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September 29 is National Coffee Day in the US.
Finland is No. 1 in the world for coffee consumption per capita, according to data collected by market research provider Euromonitor International. On average, each person in Finland consumed 9.9 kilograms (21.8 pounds) of coffee in 2014.
Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia round out the top five coffee-consuming nations.
The United States didn't even break the top 10, ranking 25th for coffee consumption in 2014. Americans consumed 3.1 kilograms (6.8 pounds) of coffee per capita last year, the same amount as the citizens of France.
Italians consumed slightly more: 3.4 kilograms (7.5 pounds), coming in at No. 21 on the global list.
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Image courtesy clipartlord.com
Find code of Honor (if you can) as Duel goes - 1804 Hamilton-Burr duel; 2016 giant Robots hand-to-hand duel: USA vs Japan
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The duel was based on a code of honour. Duels were fought not so much to kill the opponent as to gain "satisfaction", that is, to restore one's honour by demonstrating a willingness to risk one's life for it, and as such the tradition of duelling was originally reserved for the male members of nobility.
telegraph.co.uk -MegaBots, an American engineering company, challenged Japan's Suidobashi Heavy Industry to a duel. Japan's Suidobashi accepts MegaBots' challenge of a duel, paving the way for robot wars on a grand scale. It's the moment we've all been waiting for: two giant fighting robots - one Japanese and one American - will square off in a melee one year from now.
dailydot.com Jul 6, 2015 - The makers of a giant, real-life, human-powered robot have challenged their Japanese counterparts to a giant robot duel. Japan responds to U.S. giant-robot battle challenge: "Bring it on"
Last week, a U.S. giant-robot company summoned a Japanese giant-robot company to fight them in a giant-robot duel. In their challenge video, U.S.-based Megabots gave Japan's Suidobashi Heavy Industry—and all of Japan—the opportunity to name the battlefield and "meet in one year's time." It's on. read more »
15 Sep 1858 Butterfield Overland Mail Company begins first transcontinental mail service between eastern and western regions
NEW YORK HERALD, Oct. 10, 1858 "* First transcontinental mail service success * Arrives at San Francisco, California"
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September 15 1858 – The Butterfield Overland Mail Company begins the first transcontinental mail service between eastern and western regions of the nation, from St. Louis to San Francisco, sending out its first two stages. The company's motto was "Remember, boys, nothing on God's earth must stop the United States mail!" The line continued to operate until May 10, 1869, the day the first transcontinental railroad was completed.
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Image courtesy Southern Arizona News-Examiner and Rare & Early Newspapers
WWii ace pilot, at 95, still remembers brave voices (1 vs 12 head-on); modern youth think Battle of Britain took place last year
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update March 5th 2016 marks 80 years since the first flight of the Supermarine Spitfire, which had a vital role defending the UK during the Battle of Britain The prototype Spitfire first flew from Southampton Airport in 1936 read more »
"Without fuel, you can fly longer"! Two pilots, both innovators and pioneers, inspire Solar aviation technology for clean future
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"Now you can fly longer with no fuel than you can with fuel. So, what Andre has done is not only a historic first for aviation, it's a historic first for renewable energies. And this is why we are doing this project." The Swiss team is using the various stopovers on its round-the-world journey to carry a campaigning message to local people on the topic of clean technologies. The vehicle is covered in 17,000 photovoltaic cells. These either power the vehicle's electric motors directly, or charge its lithium-ion batteries, which sustain the plane during the night hours. Mr Piccard told reporters at Kalaeloa: "Andre's flight was longer than all the other single-seater flights that had fuel. That's an incredible message.
"Now you can fly longer with no fuel than you can with fuel. So, what Andre has done is not only a historic first for aviation, it's a historic first for renewable energies. And this is why we are doing this project." read more »