Showing posts with label Holidays / Celebrations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays / Celebrations. Show all posts
1.6.23
4.7.19
20.5.19
20th May - Celebrate World Bee Day
The value of bees
Bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, are increasingly under threat from human activities.
Pollinators allow many plants, including many food crops, to reproduce. Not only do pollinators contribute directly to food security, but they are key to conserving biodiversity - a cornerstone of the Sustainable Development Goals. They also serve as sentinels for emergent environmental risks, signaling the health of local ecosystems.
Invasive insects, pesticides, land-use change and monocropping practices may reduce available nutrients and pose threats to bee colonies.
To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the UN designated 20 May as World Bee Day.
Why this date?
20 May coincides with the birthday of Anton Janša, who in the 18th century pioneered modern beekeeping techniques in his native Slovenia and praised the bees for their ability to work so hard, while needing so little attention.
Did you know our pollinators help minimize the risk of climate change? How? Through their diversity. Pollinators have different traits and responses to various temperatures and habitats which means that we have pollinators suitable for different climates. Their diversity not only ensures pollination for current conditions but future ones as well. Protecting the diversity of pollinators can secure our future of food!
More than 75 % of the world’s food crops rely on pollination. Without bees, we wouldn’t have these nutritious foods. Bees play an essential role in keeping us and the planet healthy.
But, bees and other pollinators are under threat because of intensive agriculture, monocultures, pesticides and climate change.
The problem is BIG
Our future of food depends on us!
But YOU can do something to protect our tiny friends:
1. Grow flowering plants
2. Refrain from using insecticides
3. Teach the future generations about the importance of bees
Without bees and pollinators, 75% of the world's human food crops wouldn't exist!
But, bees and other pollinators are under threat.
Changes in land use and landscape structure, intensive agricultural practices, monocultures and use of pesticides have led to large-scale losses, fragmentation and degradation of their habitats.
Pests and diseases resulting from reduced resistance of bee colonies and from globalization, which facilitates the transmission of pests and diseases over long distances, pose a special threat.
Furthermore, climate change also has a negative impact. Higher temperatures, droughts, floods, other extreme climate events and changes of flowering time hinder pollination largely by desynchronizing the demand (flowers in bloom) with the supply of service providers (abundant and diverse populations of pollinators).
FAO carries out various activities to encourage pollinator-friendly practices in agricultural management. It provides technical assistance to countries on issues ranging from queen breeding to artificial insemination to sustainable solutions for honey production and export marketing.
World Bee Day is celebrated on 20 May each year to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators for food and agriculture.
1.4.18
Here’s What the Food Brands Are Up to This April Fools’ Day
April Fools’ Day is this Sunday, which means it’s time for all of the big food #brands to pull over-the-top pranks in the name of marketing. Don’t fall for these jokes.
Taco Bell
T-Bell wants you to live mas at its “one-of-a-kind vacation rental” called the Baja Bungalow. The house is said to come with “everything you can dream of for the ultimate summer rental including an indoor hydro typhoon surf simulator and tropical blast shower heads,” as well as a supply of Mountain Dew Baja Blast in bottles and cans. Unfortunately, this place isn’t real, and the posting on Craigslist was flagged for removal.
Burger King
Not to be outdone by its fast-food rival, Burger King is introducing a phony chocolate Whopper. This thing supposedly has a chocolate cake bun, flame-grilled chocolate patty, raspberry syrup, white chocolate rings, candied blood oranges, milk chocolate leaves, and vanilla frosting. Sound good? Too bad; it isn’t real.
Jägermeister
Every college kid’s favorite beverage to enjoy 1.5 ounces at a time, Jägermeister has concocted a healing balm to remedy “bartender’s elbow.” It purportedly contains Jägermeister, beeswax, coconut oil, shea butter, vitamin E, pan away, cinnamon, orange, clove, copaiba essential oils, cardamom, and star anise. Of course, it isn’t actually real.
Reese’s
Reese’s
In its press release, Hershey described its April Fools’ stunt as “a practical joke you’d welcome.” We will be the judge of that. Reese’s recently took over the egg aisle at a New Jersey grocery store and swapped out chicken eggs with peanut butter crème eggs. Reactions were “happy, surprised, amused, and confused,” according to the Reese’s brand manager. Sounds like it was a real wild time.
WArby’s
WArby’s
As reported earlier this week, Arby’s and hipster eyewear company Warby Parker got a very early jump-start on April Fools’, advertising a supposed partnership highlighting “WArby’s Onion Ring Monocle.” Per the press release, the item is “a crispy yet corrective product that’s positioned at the intersection of food and fashion, encompassing the ideals of WArby’s in a single offering.”
How to prank your kids as April Fool's Day and Easter Sunday coincide
Parents rejoice! For the first time since 1956, Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day take place on the same day – meaning it’s a once in a lifetime chance to play corny and obvious Easter-themed pranks on your children. Here are some suggestions:
A treasure hunt with a twist
A fantastic Easter Sunday tradition is to do a treasure hunt where the Easter Bunny has left eggs around your house, and each egg has a small written clue or riddle directing the children to where they can find the next one. But this year, instead of hiding chocolate eggs, why not leave some carrots in their place. On the third or fourth clue you can make it appear as if the Easter Bunny has left a note apologising for eating all the chocolate, but saying they hope you enjoy this left-behind lunch.
An Easter basket with a difference
Prepare an Easter basket for the children, and either wrap it up or cover it up so the contents can’t be seen. Have a card from the Easter Bunny next to it which they can open first, with a message that the Easter Bunny wants them to have an extra special Easter this year and so has prepared a special gift for them. But rather than chocolate or sweets, what you’ve put in the basket is incredibly dull stuff that kids will be completely unimpressed by - new toothpaste, some socks, a packet of batteries.
Surprise them with grapes
This one is a bit fiddly, but promises huge rewards. Buy a packet of mini eggs with foil wrappers. Unwrap them carefully, and (optionally) eat the chocolate yourself. Wrap grapes up in the place of the chocolate. Put the grapes back in the packet and wait for hilarity to ensue.
A sticky situation
You’ll need to prepare this in advance, but buy some of the plastic eggs that contain toys. Unwrap them, open them, and then carefully glue them shut and re-wrap them. You don’t have to be too tidy – your children are going to be thinking about getting to the toy, and are not going to be suspicious. Sit back and enjoy them trying and failing to open the eggs.
The invisible Easter egg hunt
This is an excellent plan if you have a garden. Tell the children there is an Easter egg hunt in the garden. Put the children in the garden. Close the back door. Let them spend ages searching fruitlessly for Easter eggs that you haven’t actually hidden. After you’ve enjoyed a rare 10 minutes of peace and quiet indoors, while they get increasingly bemused and frustrated, go into the garden claiming to have found a note from the Easter Bunny. The note reads “April Fool”.
17.3.18
Prince William and The Duchess of Cambridge celebrate St. Patrick's day
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are braving ferocious winds and chilly conditions to celebrate St Patrick's Day today by attending a parade of the Irish Guards.
Prince William, who is Colonel of the Irish Guards, and the Duchess are visiting the 1st Battalion at their base in Hounslow, west London.
They watched 350 soldiers arrive on the Parade Square before presenting traditional shamrocks to officers and guardsmen.
St. Patrick's Day | Shaun the Sheep - River Dance video
Shaun and the flock pay tribute to the River Dance in this short clip made for TV!
8.3.18
International Women’s Day 2018
This International Women’s Day, UN Women celebrates the rural and urban activists who have transformed the lives of women around the world. From grassroots campaigns to global movements, women’s activism over the decades has paved the way for women’s rights and a more
equal future.
The theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March, is “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives”.
This year, International Women’s Day comes on the heels of unprecedented global movement for women’s rights, equality and justice. Sexual harassment, violence and discrimination against women has captured headlines and public discourse, propelled by a rising determination for change.
People around the world are mobilizing for a future that is more equal. This has taken the form of global marches and campaigns, including #MeToo in the United States of America and its counterparts in other countries, protesting against sexual harassment and violence, such as #YoTambien in Mexico, Spain, South America and beyond, #QuellaVoltaChe in Italy, #BalanceTonPorc in France and #Ana_kaman in the Arab States; “Ni Una Menos” (‘not one less’), a campaign against femicide that originated in Argentina; and many others, on issues ranging from equal pay to women’s political representation.
International Women’s Day 2018 is an opportunity to transform this momentum into action, to empower women in all settings, rural and urban, and celebrate the activists who are working relentlessly to claim women’s rights and realize their full potential.
Echoing the priority theme of the upcoming 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, International Women’s Day will also draw attention to the rights and activism of rural women, who make up over a quarter of the world population and majority of the 43 per cent of women in the global agricultural labour force.
They till the lands and plant seeds to feed nations, ensure food security for their communities and build climate resilience. Yet, on almost every measure of development, because of deep seated gender inequalities and discrimination, rural women fare worse than rural men or urban women. For instance, less than 20 per cent of landholders worldwide are women, and while the global pay gap between men and women stand at 23 per cent, in rural areas, it can be as high as 40 per cent. They lack infrastructure and services, decent work and social protection, and are left more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Making the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality, to leave no one behind, needs urgent action in rural areas to ensure an adequate standard of living, a life free of violence and harmful practices for rural women, as well as their access to land and productive assets, food security and nutrition, decent work, education and health, including their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Rural women and their organizations represent an enormous potential, and they are on the move to claim their rights and improve their livelihoods and wellbeing. They are using innovative agricultural methods, setting up successful businesses and acquiring new skills, pursuing their legal entitlements and running for office. Recently, as hundreds of courageous women from the film, theatre and art industry in the USA started speaking against sexual harassment and assault by powerful men in the industry, they found a powerful ally in Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, the national farmworker women’s organization, no stranger to the abuse of power.
On 8 March, join activists around the world and UN Women to seize the moment, celebrate, take action and transform women’s lives everywhere. The time is NOW.
International Women's Day 2018: How the day began and why the fight for women's rights is still necessary
International Women’s Day is a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievements – from the political to the social – while calling for gender equality.
It has been observed since the early 1900s and is now recognised each year on March 8. Is is not affiliated with any one group, but brings together governments, women's organisations, corporations and charities.
The day is marked around the world with arts performances, talks, rallies, networking events, conferences and marches.
How did it start?
It’s difficult to say exactly when IWD (as it’s known) began. Its roots can be traced to 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding voting rights, better pay and shorter working hours.
A year later, the first National Woman’s Day was observed in the US on February 28, in accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America.n 1910, a woman called Clara Zetkin – leader of the ‘women’s office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany – tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She suggested that every country should celebrate women on one day every year to push for their demands.A conference of more than 100 women from 17 countries agreed to her suggestion and IWD was formed. In 1911, it was celebrated for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on March 19.In 1913, it was decided to transfer IWD to March 8, and it has been celebrated on that day ever since. The day was only recognised by the United Nations in 1975, but ever since it has created a theme each year for the celebration.In 2011, former US President Barack Obama proclaimed March to be ‘Women’s History Month’.
Why do we still celebrate it?
The original aim – to achieve full gender equality for women the world – has still not been realised. A gender pay gap persists across the globe and women are still not present in equal numbers in business or politics. Figures show that globally, women’s education, health and violence towards women is still worse than that of men.
According to the World Economic Forum, the gender gap won't close until 2186. On IWD, women across the world come together to force the world to recognise these inequalities – while also celebrating the achievements of women who have overcome these barriers.
According to a 2017 report by the World Economic Forum, it could still take another 100 years before the global equality gap between men and women disappears entirely.
Women are also paid less than half than men at some of Britain's major companies, according to recent gender pay gap figures.
In 2017, women's rights dominated the news, with a global reckoning on sexual misconduct rippling through industries.
Following the outpouring of allegations against Harvey Weinstein and other prominent men in power, the #MeToo movement gave a voice to women on the abuse and harassment they suffer in film, fashion, music, politics and art.
TIME magazine then named the women speaking out against sexual and gender injustice their Person of the Year in December, naming the collective winner 'The Silence Breakers'.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/international-womens-day-did-start-important/
31.12.17
New Year's Eve Customs and Traditions - video with subtitles in English
New Year's Eve is celebrated all around the world. Learn some English vocabulary while also learning about the customs and traditions of this holiday.
7.5.17
Mother's Day - «I Want A Mom That'll Last Forever» - Video
I want a mom that will last forever
I want a mom to make it all better
I want a mom that will last forever
I want a mom who love me whatever
I want a mom to take my hand
and make me feel like a holiday
A mom to tuck me in at night
And chase the monsters away
I want a mom to read me stories
and sing a lullaby
And if I have a bad dream, to hold me when I cry
Oh, I want a mom that will last forever
I want a mom to make it all better
I want a mom that will last forever
I want a mom that will love me whatever, forever
And when she says to me that she'll always be there
To watch and protect me, I don't have to be scared
O, and when she says I will always love you,
I want need to worry cause i'll know that it's true
I want a mom when I get lonely, to take the time to play
A mom who can be a friend and find a rainbow when it gray
I want a mom to read me stories and sing a lullaby
And if I find a bad dream, to hold me when I cry
I want a mom
I want a mom
I want a mom that will last forever
I want a mom that will last forever
I want a mom
I want a mom
I want a mom that will last forever
I want a mom
I want a mom that will last forever
13.4.17
International Kissing Day / World Kiss Day
girl kisses boy
boy kisses girl
oh what a wonderful world
boy kisses boy
girl kisses girl
oh what a beautiful world
Chorus:
love is love
love is love
love is love
black kisses white
day kisses night
oh what a wonderful world
I kiss you
you kiss me too
oh what a beautiful world
Chorus
girl kisses boy
boy kisses girl
oh what a wonderful world
boy kisses boy
girl kisses girl
oh what a beautiful world
Chorus
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The first kiss in a movie was recorded in 1896 - by May Irvin and John S. Reye. It was a 30-second act by Thomas Edison named The Kiss, counting 191 kisses.
A. E. Wolfram an American from Minnesota on September 15, 1990 kissed approximately 8001 people in 8 hours during the kissing festival. It means he managed to kiss a new person every 3.6 seconds.
The longest kiss in movie history is credited to You're in the Army Now (1940); Lead Actors Regis Toomey and Jane Wyman kissed for 185 seconds, which is 4 % of the movie length.
(in www.altiusdirectory.com)
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