DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Strategic Airlift Crews Fight An Exhausting War In Anonymity

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Strategic Airlift Crews Fight An Exhausting War In Anonymity

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 22, 2012:  A C-17 lifted out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, one afternoon last month packed with crates of servicemembers’ household goods up front and explosive munitions stacked on the cargo ramp in back. From there they could be jettisoned in a hurry if a fire broke out.

Minutes after takeoff, the plane’s commander, Lt. Col. John Wiltse, called out “copilot’s aircraft” and turned over the controls. The young officer to his right, Capt. Rick Loesch, acknowledged the command crisply, like Wiltse requires.

Slumping forward until his forehead rested against the instrument panel, Wiltse let out a sigh that deepened into a yawn. He took a long pull from a Monster energy drink, the first of several heavy caffeine doses he would consume during the nine-hour flight to Dover Air Force Base, Del.

For the previous five days, the crew had hopscotched around the Middle East and Europe, carrying food, ammunition, fuel and troops — the materiel and human components of the war in Afghanistan, which has depended on airlift likely more than any other major conflict. Now, after crossing more time zones than they could count and subsisting on precious little sleep, they were in the final stretch of the mission, and would reach home at Joint Base Lewis-McChord., Wash., the next day.

(Read complete story on Defense-Technology News - Click on link undermentioned)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/06/dtn-news-defense-news-strategic-airlift.html

DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Australia-Europe Non-Stop Flights Promised By Long-Range Aircraft, But Airlines Don't See Demand

DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Australia-Europe Non-Stop Flights Promised By Long-Range Aircraft, But Airlines Don't See Demand

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 28, 2012: The Australian market continues to be excited by the prospect of non-stop flights between Australia and Europe as new technology aircraft arrive, but the reality is their excitement does not convert into sustainable yields, making it unlikely in the foreseeable future for such flights to be operated.

Stiff competition – European carriers have pulled out while British Airways (BA) and Qantas whittle their presence – has reduced the route to one that is fought on cost, where intermediate Asian and Middle East network carriers have an advantage. Geography also poses disadvantages: an ultra long-haul route to asingle European point would still require onward European connections, diminishing much of the advantage of the non-stop service. And while arguments continue about whether Qantas should have ordered Boeing777s instead of 787s, the reality is that the 777 would probably have been of little help in Qantas' current position.

(Read complete strory on Defense-Technology News - Click on link undermentioned)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-airlines-news-australia-europe.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Asia's Military Spending To Surpass Europe's For First Time

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Asia's Military Spending To Surpass Europe's For First Time

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 26, 2012: 2012 will be a historic moment in the shift of global power from the West to the East. According to expert estimates and figures on military spending, in 2012 Asia's spending on defense will eclipse Europe's for the first time in the modern era.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies, a UK-based think tank focusing on global military and political research and analysis, released its influential "Military Balance 2012" report back in early March.

The report claims that since 2008, financial crises in the West have led to major reductions in defense spending in Europe. Drawdowns in Afghanistan and Iraq will likely contribute to decreasing numbers in the future. Meanwhile, Asia's continued economic growth, and efforts to modernize and build military forces there, have reinforced higher spending. In the IISS calculations, Europe does not include Russia, and Asia does not include the Middle East, but does include Australasia.

While per capita spending in Europe is still higher, press releases form the institute say that "Asian defense spending is likely to exceed that of Europe, in nominal terms, during 2012." The U.S. accounted for nearly half of all worldwide military spending in 2011, a figure which may be in slight decline over the following years due to defense cutbacks.

IISS says that in real terms, declines in defense spending by 16 out of 28 member states of NATO exceeded 10 percent between 2008 and 2010. Asian spending increased almost 3.2 percent in real terms between 2010 to 2011.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-defense-news-asias-military.html

Italy is back in Eurovision.

Being missing for 14 years from the Eurovision scene (last appearance back in 20 century in 1997)   Italy  is back. And how it is coming back, I am predicting it will be a winner this year with really unique Un-Italian presentation of Jazzy Madness of love by young  Raphael Gualazzi .

Check it for yourself,  I do believe you will enjoy it.
The wait is almost over, by Saturday evening we will know if the Europe will shear my point of view and taste in a music.   To bad my vote would not count, US is not participating in Eurovision.

Raphael Gualazzi - Madness of love lyrics and english lyrics
Dire si dire mai
Non e’ facile sai
And all the world around you seems to slip and disappear
Io non so piu’ chi sei
Non mi importa chi sei
I know for certain I won't bother you with nostalgia

Ma vedrai un altro me
in un sogno fragile
riderai come se non ti avessi amato mai
cercherai un altro me oltre l’ombra di un caffe’
Troverai solo me
Se mi fermo un attimo io non so piu’ chi sei

Qui si vive cosi’
day by day night by night
but someone hit me and I fell into your heart, my dear

And you’ll fly over lands
Where your eyes can’t find the end
Upon mountains down lanes
Being so far away from you just makes me feel so damned!

E vedrai un altra te quasi invincibile
viva come non mai ed e’ li che tu mi avrai
oltre false magie l’orizzonte sarai
splenderai, splenderai, splenderai
splenderai!
-----------------------------
Can’t you see
Through your eyes
There’s a look that don’t shine
And all the world around you seems to slip and disappear

Thought that word from your heart
Means I’m yours, means you’re smart
I know for certain I won't bother you with nostalgia

But you'll find other men
full of love and filled with damn
and you'll smile here and there
like the first of all your sighs
there you'll cry with your friends
like he was the first and last
spreading life wasting life
shouldn't be that way if you ain't got a tear to hide!

Here we live, with no tricks
day by day night by night
but someone hit me and I fell into your heart, my dear

And you’ll fly over lands
Where your eyes can’t find the end
Upon mountains down lanes
Being so far away from you just makes me feel so damned!

Show your man how to love,
show him tears and skies above,
show him worlds full of light
and your dreams that you can't hide
show him spells he can hear
and your wonderful life, let it shine!
let it shine!
let it shine!
let it shine!

ABBAland (part2).

If you liked my ABBAland post, here is a trite for you, two more views of Europe from the eastern part of the continent - Russia and Poland, and as a bonus you can get an American view of its Southern Neighbours (South America).

Enjoy!!!

Double click on a map to see the details.

Russian View of Europe.



Polish View of Europe.

American View of South America

ABBAland and IKIAville is a same country, isn't it?

A stereotype or "stereotypes" is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups based on some prior assumptions.




The term stereotype (στερεότυπος) derives from the Greek words στερεός (stereos), "firm, solid" and τύπος (typos), "impression", hence "solid impression".



Recently I found several maps which represent these "solid impressions" toward the countries and areas in Europe in a minds of Americans, British, French, Germans and Italians. Take under consideration, assuming that the post and maps are scientifically correct is a stereotyping some sort.



American View of Europe.

 French View of Europe.

 German View of Europe.

 Italian View of Europe.

 British View of Europe.

Europe’s Alcohol Belts.

Remember around year and a half ago, I presented my readers map of Europe representing popularity staffed cabbage vs. staffed peppers.

http://katzmanyata.blogspot.com/2008/08/stuffed-cabbage-vs-stuffed-peppers.html

However recently I stumbled on similar thematic Europe maps , only now lets talk about drinking habits of ‘Old’ continent.






This map shows Europe dominated by three so-called ‘alcohol belts’, the northernmost one for distilled spirits, a middle one for beer and the southernmost one for wine. Each one’s existence and extension is determined by a mix of culture and agriculture.
The Wine Belt covers the southern parts of Europe, where wine has historically been an important industry and an everyday commodity: the whole of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Montenegro, Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldova and Georgia; all but the northwestern zone of France; and significant parts of Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, and Romania.
Either through effects of climate change or renewed viticultural enthusiasm, grapes and wine-making have in recent years been introduced in areas to the north of the traditional Wine Belt, in southern Britain and the Low Countries, creating an overlap between Wine and Beer Belts. That overlap is often ancient rather than recent; the introduction not rarely is a reintroduction. And indeed, southwestern Germany, for example, has an ancient and unbroken tradition of wine-making.
The Beer Belt comprises areas where beer has been the alcoholic beverage of choice since times immemorial: Ireland and the UK, the Low Countries, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Bosnia and Albania; most of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia and Romania; and significant, western parts of Poland. Beer production requires the cultivation of cereals, so this is a climatic-agricultural precondition for the Beer Belt.
An interesting co-explanation for the prevalence of beer in southern parts of this belt is the relatively weak cultural influence of the Roman Empire on these places. The Wine Belt indeed conforms to a large extent with the territory formerly occupied by Rome, with notable exceptions in areas with large Slavic or Germanic migration (the Balkans, southwestern Germany, northern France respectively), where beer predominates (although often overlapping with wine).


The Vodka Belt occupies what’s left of Europe, to the east and north: Scandinavia (except Denmark), Russia, the Baltics, Belarus, Ukraine and central and eastern Poland. There is a climatological imperative to the Vodka Belt: freezing temperatures make grape cultivation impossible (except in southernmost Russia and some areas of Ukraine). So there’s almost no overlap possible between the Vodka and Wine Belts. For cultural reasons, however, the Vodka Belt has been losing ground to the Beer Belt. Scandinavians tend to drink more beer than before (although possibly this doesn’t mean they drink less wodka). Maybe this is due to the perception of beer correlating more with ‘core European’ behaviour (as it is the preferred alcoholic beverage of Britain, Germany and other influential and centrally positioned countries). That might explain the emergence in Poland, some years ago, of a Beer-Lovers’ Party (which actually won seats in the Polish Parliament in the early 1990s). Beer has since surpassed wodka as the most consumed type of alcohol in Poland.

Stuffed Cabbage vs. Stuffed Peppers

In the pre-Columbian ( before America become known to Europeans) Europe, people could not rely on potato as a main food staple, simply because it was not known to Europeans. So they had something else as a main source of getting energy for their wellbeing (I am talking about food here.). Cabbage and Sweet peppers, depending on a country and culture, were and still are one of the main food staples on European continent. Many dishes are made out of them, but I would like to take a note on two of them which are similar in preparation except the main ingredient in them Cabbage and Sweet Pepper. Let’s talk Stuffed Cabbage vs. Stuffed Pepper.

Stuffed Cabbage.

The filling is traditionally based a ground meet, often beef, lamb or pork and is seasoned with garlic, onion and spices. Grains such as rice and barley, eggs, mushrooms and vegetables are often included in the filling as well. Pickled cabbage leaves are often used for wrapping. The stuffed cabbage are usually baked in a sauce made from cream, tomatoes and spices.

Stuffed Peppers

Usually prepared with bell peppers (or a similar species) stuffed with ground meat, often beef, lamb or pork , rice, onion and other vegetables and spices. The stuffed peppers are usually baked in a sauce made from cream, tomatoes and spices.

Sounds similar, but not quite, here the 48th parallel phenomenon takes effect. People north of that line prefer Stuffed Cabbage to Stuffed Pepper, and people south of that line vise versa. The farther from that parallel you go, liking to particular kind of food getting stronger. Nice example is a map presented in a blog. Countries like Hungary, Ukraine, France enjoy both dishes equally, however Germany, Austria and Poland are more cabbage people, and Romania, Moldova, Italy and Spain are pepper ones.

Map of Europe and its Ethnic groups (part 2)

Check the second map and flag poster of ethnic Europe.

Map of Europe of ethnic groups.

Map of most of European nations and its flags. Notice some of them not matching exact borders of the European countries.