Prunus mume
MINOLTA AF 100mm F2.8 MACRO
Prunus mume
Tags
sony
digital
alpha
100mm
macro
dimanche 9 janvier 2011
Clear Sailing
Clear Sailing
A sunny day, the last of the ice gone, just the right size of waves on the water, and Tristan couldn't wait to set out for a sail all the way across the lagoon and the delight of chasing a couple of the other swans who happened to be on his route. Swan paradise!
Weather forecasts predict more freezing temperatures, so his style may be cramped again by next week!
View On Black
Tags
Vancouver
“British Columbia”
Canada
“Stanley Park”
“Lost Lagoon”
“Cygnus olor”
“Mute Swan
waterfowl
“water birds”
nature
cob
male
Tristan
winter
lake
water
british columbia canada, water birds, stanley park, weather forecasts, lagoon, sunny day, swans, waves, swan, temperatures
qtdz
Flickr.com
samedi 8 janvier 2011
Presa de Chira
Presa de Chira
Tags
agua
water
naturaleza
nature
Chira
San Bartolom de Tirajana
Gran Canaria
Canarias
Nikon
D200
presa
lluvia
rain
escorrenta
runoff
vendredi 7 janvier 2011
Police cuts will push up crime, think tank warns
Police cuts will push up crime, think tank warns
Cuts in police numbers will lead to a rise in crime and more victims, a think thank warns today.
By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor 7:00AM GMT 07 Jan 2011
The public will be at greater risk with an expected fall in officer numbers during the Government's austerity drive, according to a study by Civitas.
Police forces across the country are facing budget cuts of up to 20 per cent over the next four years which is likely to result in thousands of fewer officers and staff.
The Home Office has insisted crime can still be reduce while police officer number decline and has pointed to examples around the world including New York.
But an analysis of other countries by Civitas suggests crime is higher where there is fewer police.
A comparison of the number of police officers and the number of recorded offences per 100,000 people in European countries showed "a nation with fewer police is more likely to have a higher crime rate", it said.
The report, entitled 2011: the start of a great decade for criminals?, said reducing police numbers "could lead to an increase in the crime rate".
Its author Nick Cowen wrote: "It is plausible to suggest that police resources play an essential role in tackling crime.
"While police numbers and resources are far from the only contributor to police effectiveness, it seems highly unlikely that the swingeing cuts now being enacted will be made without significantly decreasing detection rates.
"The result will be that offenders will be able to engage in criminal acts with a reduced risk of being caught and sanctioned, making criminal acts less risky and more attractive for potential offenders.
"As a result, it is possible that recent falls in crime will be halted or even reversed.
"Members of the public are at greater risk of crime in the coming years."
He admitted that establishing a "causal relationship" was "notoriously difficult in criminology", but added that "crime rates have been consistently negatively correlated with key measures of police effectiveness".
Nick Herbert, the policing minister, said: "I totally reject these assumptions. The report ignores the savings of over £1 billion a year which the independent Inspectorate of Constabulary says forces can make while protecting the front line, and it makes a simple link between crime levels and police numbers which the evidence does not support.
"In New York, police numbers have fallen but crime has fallen faster still, while in Sweden and Spain, crime has risen even though police numbers have risen, too."
austerity drive, home affairs editor, tom whitehead, police effectiveness, criminal acts, police numbers, causal relationship, police resources, budget cuts, crime rate, crime rates, cowen, police forces, criminology, european countries, police officers, police officer, contributor, criminals, decline
qtdz
Telegraph.co.uk
jeudi 6 janvier 2011
German Party Battles to Rally Support
BERLIN—German Vice-Chancellor Guido Westerwelle might stir up friction in the coalition government as he tries to rally his party's support after plunging polls triggered rank-and-file calls for his resignation as chairman of the Free Democratic Party.
Mr. Westerwelle, speaking at a party conference Thursday, promised to accelerate the simplification of Germany's tax code and provide tax relief to small and mid-sized businesses.
The pledge in part resurrected the FDP's pre-election pledge to cut taxes, a promise it had to reverse in order to form a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, which favors deficit reduction over tax relief.
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The reversal on taxes helped pull down the FDP's showing in opinion polls, where the party now hovers below the critical 5% needed to gain any seat in parliament, down from nearly 15% of the vote in the 2009 general elections.
New general elections are still more than two years away. But coming into this year's string of elections in seven of Germany's 16 federal states, the last thing Merkel needs now is an open break with her junior coalition partner over taxes.
"The weakness of its coalition partner isn't pretty for the Chancellor," even if there's no immediate danger for the government, says Oskar Niedermayer, who heads a center for political sociology at Berlin's Free University.
The government may even lose its majority in the conservative and liberal mainland of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, where recent opinion polls show that a coalition led by the Green Party for the first time has a chance to win state elections in March. Conservative-led governments had held the key state for almost six decades.
Herbert Mertin, who leads the party into elections in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate state in late March, earlier this week said that Mr. Westerwelle needs to explain at the party meeting how he wants to start a new "offensive" to counter the loss of voter trust caused by the way he presents politics.
The FDP's performance in the federal government has handicapped the party in state and local politics, Mr. Mertin said. No one in his state so far has issued the wish for Mr. Westerwelle to participate in the Rhineland-Palatinate state election campaign.
"Opinion polls are not good. We need a new beginning," Mr. Mertin said, stopping short of demanding Mr. Westerwelle's resignation of party leader.
Responding to his critics Thursday, Mr. Westerwelle portrayed the FDP as key to preventing center-left successes at the state level, and later on a nationwide basis.
"We need to fight, if Germany isn't to be left over to the left," said Mr. Westerwelle, who also is Germany's foreign minister.
His warning was directed at speculation that Ms. Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats will dump its enfeebled junior government partner in favor of the resurgent Green Party. Some commentators also said Ms. Merkel might want to restore her previous coalition with the center-left Social Democrats, the pairing the governed Germany from 2005 to 2009.
chancellor angela merkel, christian democratic union, herbert mertin, guido westerwelle, angela merkel, elections in germany, free democratic party, election pledge, political sociology, vice chancellor, state elections, general elections, coalition partner, southern germany, federal states, niedermayer, deficit reduction, opinion polls, coalition government, rank and file
qtdz
Online.wsj.com
Damas de blanco
Damas de blanco
Como salidas de un cuadro de Sorolla.
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damas de blanco
women
mujeres
playa
mar
sea
beach
sand
sable
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blanco
white
blanche
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byn
bw
black and white
blanco y negro
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