Category Archives: Viva!

Winged beauties under threat – The Hindu

A recent study by the scientists of the Zoological Survey of India, (ZSI) has revealed that of the 1,677 species and subspecies found in India, more than one-fourth (close to 425) are either threatened or endangered.

Of the 425 species of butterflies, 123 species and subspecies of butterflies are included under Schedule- I (Part- IV) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, while 302 subspecies and species are under Scheduled II (Part II) of the Act.

via Winged beauties under threat – The Hindu.

October 2014 –

★ Halloween with my sister. We watched Labyrinth for the first time ever and we hated it. It was a lot of fun to rip it to pieces and get frustrated together & eat caramel popcorn & homemade vegan muffins & have conversations that had nothing to do with the film, because it bored us so much we couldn’t focus.

★ Celebrated La Castanyada with parents & sis, it was so much fun! Mom slept over so we could go to the cemetery on Nov. 1 (Día de todos los santos) early in the morning.

via October 2014 –.

Bio | ZAA Band esta bueno!

Band ZAA was founded in the end of February in the year 2008 in Krusevac.

They have had more than 200 performances in cities throughout the former Yugoslavia, and they also performed in Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary.

From the critics they were rated as „concert attraction“, and they are recognizable by their original and energetic performances, which are characterized by distinct dance rhythms in combination with skillful improvisation. And regarding their unique sound, it’s characterized by authentic musical genres which represent the crossover between the variety of styles from ska music and dub, to post-rock jazz and punk, and that is what makes ZAA unique.

In the very beginning of their carrier they have made a significant success, by winning the third prize on Demofest in Banja Luka (2009), as in the year later they have made it to the regional finals of the prestigious European festival Rototom.

The band has performed in numerous festivals in Serbia, like Exit, Supernatural, Arsenal fest, Nisville, Love fest, Osvezenje fest, Reggae Serbia fest, and amongst the numerous performances in the region, the ones standing out are: Pung art and Overjam festivalsin Slovenia, Lake fest inNiksic, Duka fest in Banja Luka, NGOM festival in Prizren, Festival ulicnih sviraca and Koncert godine in Novi Sad.

ZAA, so far has published two studio albums: ZAA (2010) i Good Things (2011), as well as double single Full Scale Riot/Moonlight (2011) and EP Foot by Foot (2012).

Their third studio album What About, released on October 2nd, 2014.

via Bio | ZAA.

RIP: Thomas M. Menino, Mayor Who Transformed Boston, Dies at 71 – NYTimes.com

Mr. Menino remained a creature of its neighborhoods. He spent his whole life in Hyde Park, where he was born. He spent his days ambling along the city’s streets, talking with residents, reporting potholes and rarely missing a ribbon cutting. In a remarkable achievement for a big-city mayor, he met more than half of Boston’s 625,000 residents in person, according to polls. He left office with approval ratings at an astronomical 82 percent.

via Thomas M. Menino, Mayor Who Transformed Boston, Dies at 71 – NYTimes.com.

Thousands of Hungarians march against Internet tax | News | DW.DE | 29.10.2014

(and how many have not marched in US to retain net neutrality and say no to 3rd class internet for middle and lower income people? ZERO!)

As many as 100,000 people were said to have taken to the streets of Budapest on Tuesday, to protest a plan to tax the use of the Internet from 2015.

The rally was the second in three days objecting to the new law that would force Internet service providers to pay a capped amount of 700 forints ($2.89, 2.27 euros) per month per individual subscriber. Business subscribers would pay 5,000 forints.

“We are not going to let it happen,” the crowd chanted as it passed through the center of the capital to rally in front of the economy ministry.

Zsolt Varady, founder of a Hungarian social media website, told the crowd: “The internet tax is a symbol of the government autocracy.”

via Thousands of Hungarians march against Internet tax | News | DW.DE | 29.10.2014.

Conservative Group Urges Changes at Japanese War Shrine – NYTimes.com

The 14 war criminals were secretly added to the list of souls honored at Yasukuni by the shrine’s priests in 1978, a move that reflected the belief of some Japanese nationalists that they were actually patriots who had been victims of victor’s justice by the triumphant Allies. When the enshrinement was made public a year later, in 1979, the emperor at the time, Hirohito, protested by refusing to visit Yasukuni, a boycott continued by his son, the current emperor, Akihito.

The honoring of the 14 has also been the main reason given by China and South Korea for their objections, starting in the 1980s, to Japanese politicians’ visiting the shrine. In those countries, the inclusion of the war criminals has helped make Yasukuni a symbol of Japan’s perceived lack of repentance for its wartime misdeeds

via Conservative Group Urges Changes at Japanese War Shrine – NYTimes.com.