2016-12-31 (Nyårsafton)

Idag lärde jag mig, att:

På årets sista dag så finns det äntligen alternativ för de människor och djur som inte står ut med allt smällande runt tolvslaget. SR Sjuhärad i min gamla lumparstad Borås är som vanligt med på noterna och presenterade dem med trevliga nyheter under morgonsändningarna den 29 och 30 december:

Den 29 berättade man att det nu finns tystare fyrverkeri. I en intervju med VD Pontus Persson på Hammargrens i Kungsbacka avslöjade han att man tillverkar s.k. knallfria pjäser, som visserligen fortfarande fräser när de beger sig upp mot skyn, men väl där uppvisar de bara fina ljusformationer, ingen smäll. Det fick mig att minnas när vi på Tofsen, Chalmers studentkårs tidskrift, fördjupade oss i fyrverkeriernas mysterier genom ett reportage just på Hammargrens, för 40 år sedan! Se referenser nummer 1 och 2, nedan.

Den 30 december fick vi sedan höra att Borås stads fyrverkeri i år också blir tystare. I stället för ett traditionellt fyrverkeri uppe i skyn så visar Borås Energi och Miljö ett tystare, billigare och mer miljövänligt ljusspel som emulerar ett fyrverkeri på ackumulatortanken. Se referens nummer 3 nedan.

(The text above in Swedish deals with fireworks and how there now are more quiet alternatives to the traditional ones, making of our four-legged friends very happy! The header photo was taken during a celebration at Lac d’Annecy, France, on August 6, 2005, by Semnoz under a Creative Commons license.)

G O T T N Y T T ÅR ! / H A P P Y N E W Y E A R ! / F E L I Z A N O N O V O !

… Tack för idag, slut för idag! (I morgon blir det allvarligt tal om global uppvärmning, så njut så länge du kan!)

byran

Do you need to TRANSLATE DOCUMENTS between ENGLISH, BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE, and the SCANDINAVIAN (SWEDISH / DANISH / NORWEGIAN) languages? Contact “Byrån / The Taskforce” here !!!

Refs.:

1: Nyheter P4 Sjuhärad 29 december kl 07.30

2: Reportage i Tofsen, Chalmers studentkårs tidskrift, december 1976, pp. 14-16, om fyrverkerier i teori och praktik, med besök på Hammargrens i Anneberg

3: Nyheter P4 Sjuhärad 30 december kl 07.30

+: What did you learn in school today ?

2016-12-24 (Saturday)

Today, I learned that:

The world is still a very unsafe place and every day we hear and see how evil actions from other people threaten the peace of the world. But today I read a news story that reminded me of how we all must contribute by going in baby steps and then, hopefully, one day we will arrive at making the world a peaceful habitat for all human kind. How does one eat an elephant? Some say it is impossible, but if you take a tiny bite every day, one day you will find that you have eaten it all!

It is therefore that I am very happy to announce that 2016 is the first year in many from the recent history of the world that the number of armed conflicts have lowered, from 33 at the end of 2015 to 32 today. According to the University of Hamburg, Germany, no new conflict has been added and the one in northeastern India is now considered as history only.

But the world is still a scary place. Of the 32 conflicts still present, here is some information: The bloodiest of them all is of course the terrible situation in Syria, and there are 11 more in the Near and Middle East. In the rest of Asia, there are 8 wars going on and 10 more in Africa. The remaining two are Ukraine in Europe and Colombia in South America.

But I sincerely hope that you are safe and can celebrate Christmas with your loved ones, so M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S to all of you!

lagoa-tree3

Illuminated Christmas tree in Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Photo taken in December 2015.

The photo above was taken in 2015 by a friend in Rio de Janeiro, when the city still had money to light up the Christmas tree. What a lovely view from ” cidade maravilhosa”!

… That’s what I learned in school !

byran

Do you need to TRANSLATE DOCUMENTS between ENGLISH, BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE, and the SCANDINAVIAN (SWEDISH / DANISH / NORWEGIAN) languages? Contact “Byrån / The Taskforce” here !!!

Refs.:

1:
Ingen har startat krig i år

+: What did you learn in school today ?