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Friday, January 20, 2012
Review: Incipio SILICRYLIC case with kickstand for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
“The Incipio SILICRYLIC case with kickstand is ideal for anyone who wants decent protection without excessive bulk, but really wants the ability to quickly prop their iPhone up for easy
Huffington Post to land in Italy with L'Espresso (Reuters)
MILAN (Reuters) ? Influential U.S. online publisher Huffington Post Media Group has teamed up with L'Espresso on an Italian edition.
L'Huffington Post Italia has started to hire editorial staff and will launch this year, according to a joint statement on Thursday.
L'Espresso publishes la Repubblica, which competes with Corriere della Sera to be the country's top-selling newspaper, and is Italy's leading online information site.
The Huffington Post, purchased by AOL for $315 million last February, has launched sites in Canada and Britain.
The French edition of the U.S. news and opinion website, to be directed by the wife of former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, will announce its launch on Monday.
(Reporting By Danilo Masoni; Editing by David Hulmes)
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Sunday, January 15, 2012
Business-friendly SC may forgive Romney's job cuts (AP)
LEXINGTON, S.C. ? At first glance, South Carolina seems like a place where attacks on Mitt Romney's experience at the helm of a venture capital firm that cut jobs would resonate in the GOP primary.
The state's unemployment rate hasn't been below 9 percent in three years and a third of its manufacturing jobs have disappeared in the last decade.
But from South Carolina's urban centers to its old mill villages, many workers still view their employers paternalistically, even when their bosses' decisions hurt them. And that may blunt the criticism that Romney is a greedy fat cat who squashes employees while lining his own pockets.
In South Carolina, people have little sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Low wages and lack of unions are the norm, so much so that economic developers refused to even recruit companies to the state in the 1960s and 1970s if they allowed unions. Less than 5 percent of the state's workers belong to a labor union, one of the lowest rates in the nation, and income per person is just over $33,000, about $7,000 below the national average.
"Once you get hired, the employer has done his part," Kenneth Dock, 59, said outside the unemployment office in Lexington County, a heavily Republican area on the outskirts of Columbia. He was filing for unemployment a few weeks after losing his job in the produce department at a nearby Walmart.
Dock plans to vote in the Jan. 21 GOP primary in South Carolina, but he hasn't decided which candidate to support. Romney is still a possibility.
"People get laid off. People lose their jobs," he said. "It's just a part of business."
Romney, fresh off back-to-back victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, hopes that mindset will have South Carolina Republicans dismissing attacks on his tenure at Bain Capital as he campaigns ahead of the state's primary.
Over the past few days, Romney has faced intense criticism by rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry as they worked to undercut the central rationale of his candidacy ? that his experience in private business makes him the strongest Republican to challenge President Barack Obama on the economy.
Perry likened the private equity firm to "vultures" that ruin workers' lives. And Gingrich has demanded answers about how many jobs were lost under Romney.
The criticism is certain to make its way into hard-hitting TV advertisements in the coming days, with outside groups aligned with the candidates ? called super PACs ? doing most of the dirty work. One supporting Gingrich plans to spend $3.4 million to run ads on this subject as well as air part of a documentary about Bain called "When Mitt Romney Came to Town." In the film, former employees of four companies bought by Romney's firm talk about how they lost their homes, their livelihoods and their dreams as jobs were cut.
Romney's opponents also have the story of a South Carolina company to use against him.
A photo frame factory in Gaffney in what used to be the manufacturing center of the state was owned by a company Bain controlled. It closed in 1992 just four years after it opened. A hundred workers lost their jobs, while the move helped the Bain subsidiary go from a $12.4 million loss to a $3 million after-tax profit the year after the closing.
Rivals also are seizing on a couple of missteps Romney made in the closing days of the New Hampshire campaign.
At one point, Romney said, "There were a couple of times when I was worried I was going to get pink-slipped." Neither he nor his aides provided specifics.
And at another, he said, "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me." The former Massachusetts governor later emphasized he was talking about health insurance and how people should have choices with their health care.
For all the criticism, there's been a collective shrug in South Carolina so far, perhaps because of the way many workers view employers in the state.
It's only about a generation removed from a time when companies essentially created villages by building the houses, schools, ball fields, dance halls and churches their employees used. Wages were low and these companies provided almost everything, creating a society where even surviving outside of an employer's benevolence may have seemed impossible.
Malissa Burnette has seen such bonds between employers and workers in her 35 years as a labor attorney who has represented workers suing their employers in the state.
"When employees come to me, I see a lot of shock and disillusionment and disappointment in their employers because they did have the belief that employers were there to treat them well, look after them, to have their best interest at heart," Burnette says.
Further evidence of how the people in South Carolina view businesses can be found on the Facebook page of Gov. Nikki Haley, who endorsed Romney last month. She spent her first year in office fighting unions and encouraging businesses find to come to the state.
"South Carolina continues to be one of the lowest union participation states in the country," Haley wrote on Facebook in November. "The reason is that our companies understand that they have to take care of those that take care of them. Our employees appreciate the direct honest relationship that they have with their employers. It will continue to be a winning combination."
To be sure, there are voters in South Carolina who are angry with the way businesses operate these days. Just ask Wayne Ott, 64, who was applying for unemployment for the first time in his life after being laid off after 40 years as a truck driver.
"I believe in capitalism. I just don't think we've been doing it right," Ott said. He is deciding between Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum because he thinks Romney is part of a greater problem of people who get rich without earning it.
Others are taking a more pragmatic approach.
Angela Frost, 41, lost her job as an insurance underwriter in September. She blames Obama for the stagnant economy and has decided to support Romney because she thinks he has the best chance of winning back the White House.
"Cutting jobs and closing businesses are a part of the system," Frost said. "The system has failed a lot of people. You can't blame one person for the system."
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Saturday, January 14, 2012
French journalist, several others killed in Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria?? A French journalist was among several people killed in Syria's central city of Homs on Wednesday, becoming the first Western reporter to have died in 10 months of unrest in the country.
Gilles Jacquier, of France 2 TV, was on a rare Western reporting trip authorized by Syria's embattled government amid a 10-month uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad. Another France-2 reporter was uninjured.
News director Thierry Thullier of France Televisions, the parent station of France-2, told French TV BFM that Jacquier appeared to have been killed by a mortar or rocket as part of a series of attacks.
Attacks in Syria kill western journalist and?several others-
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A report on Addounia TV said eight people were killed and at least 25 people wounded, but the circumstances were unclear.
'Odious act'
A witness in Homs, who asked not to be named, said the casualties were caused by rocket-propelled grenades fired during a pro-Assad rally. The witness said he had seen three bodies.
It was the first known instance of a Western journalist dying in Syria amid the unrest. Syrian authorities have denied many efforts by Western journalists to enter the country since the uprising began.
Video: Syrian president vows to use ?iron fist? (on this page)French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in a statement that Jacquier, who had previously reported from Iraq and Afghanistan, had been killed "in an attack" in Homs.
He called it an "odious act" and demanding an investigation into the killing.
"It's up to Syrian authorities to ensure the security of international journalists on their territory, and to protect this fundamental liberty which is the freedom of information."
"France 2 television has just learned with a great deal of sorrow the death of reporter Gilles Jacquier in Homs," France 2 said in a statement, adding it did not have details of the circumstances of his death.
In a live blog about events in Syria Wednesday, The Guardian newspaper posted a video in French about Jacquier, which was taken in 2009 when he won an award for a piece on girls attending school in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The chief judge described his report as "un reportage de verite" or "a work of truth."
The U.N. estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed in the uprising.
Earlier, Assad joined thousands of his supporters Wednesday in an extremely rare public appearance, telling a pro-regime rally in the capital that the "conspiracy" against his country will fail.
Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000, has blamed the revolt on foreign-backed terrorists and conspirators. On Tuesday, he gave his first speech since June and said he would strike back at those who threaten his regime with an "iron hand."
On Tuesday, Arab League monitor said he had resigned because the mission was powerless to prevent what he said were the "scenes of horror" he had seen in the Homs.
"The mission was a farce and the observers have been fooled," the Algerian told Al Jazeera English television. "The regime orchestrated it and fabricated most of what we saw to stop the Arab League from taking action against the regime...
"The regime isn't committing one war crime but a series of crimes against its people," he added.
Malek's resignation was the latest blow to a mission already criticized for inefficiency and whose members have come under attack this week from both Assad supporters and protesters.
Syria has barred most independent media, making it difficult to verify conflicting accounts of events on the ground.
There was no immediate comment on Malek's remarks from the Arab League, which decided on Sunday to keep monitors in place at least until they report again on their mission on Jan. 19
Opposition groups have been deeply critical of the Arab League mission, saying it is giving Assad cover for his ongoing crackdown. The observer mission's Sudanese chief has raised particular concern because he served in key security positions under Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for crimes against humanity in Darfur.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45957075/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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Friday, January 13, 2012
Scottish politicians fend off accusations of being 'anti-Scottish'
The long-simmering debate on Scottish independence has boiled over in Edinburgh, with one politician accusing colleagues of being 'anti-Scottish' for not supporting independence.?
Fierce debate surrounding an upcoming referendum on Scottish independence took an ugly turn when a Scottish nationalist politician labeled the parliamentary members who oppose independence "anti-Scottish," claiming they had formed a political alliance to "defy the will of the Scottish people."
Skip to next paragraphJoan McAlpine's remarks sparked an angry response in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, which passed a motion 67-56 stating that the Scottish legislature is responsible for making arrangements for the controversial referendum on the country's independence from the United Kingdom.?(For a full explanation of the independence referendum issue, see our earlier story.)
"I absolutely make no apology for saying that the Liberals, the Labour Party and the Tories are anti-Scottish in coming together to defy the will of the Scottish people, the democratic mandate the Scottish people gave us to hold the referendum at a time of our choosing, which the first minister said would be the latter half of the parliament," Ms. McAlpine told the Scottish Parliament.
Their opposition to independence is the only policy that the three main unionist parties ? the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats parties ? can be sure to be in more or less total agreement. Though the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats share power in the UK coalition government in London, it is an alliance of political convenience and their politics diverge greatly.
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond derided the parties' decision to join forces on the independence issue as an unholy alliance between Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband (who are otherwise political foes), formed merely to dismiss calls for independence. A Labour member of the Scottish parliament, Neil Findlay, led the unionist retort, calling McAlpine's outburst an "utter disgrace."
"I think the member should seriously consider what she is saying. Given the views that opinion polls suggest of the vast majority of the Scottish people, is she suggesting that they're not patriotic and do not love their country?" he said.
As the Monitor reported earlier this week, the most recent polls indicate that only 38 percent of Scots support outright independence.?Another released Thursday suggested support was as low as 33 percent.
Conservative Scottish parliament member Jackson Carlaw, calling himself "a proud Scot and an elected member of the chamber," accused Ms. McAlpine of "political racism."
Salmond, who appeared to be trying to distance himself from the argument, reiterated the Scottish government's stance that the referendum should be "organized in Scotland, built in Scotland for the Scottish people, discussed with civic Scotland, and brought to the people in 2014 for a historic decision on the future of this nation."
On Friday, he invited Mr. Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg to Edinburgh for "constructive dialogue" about the the issue. Cameron's UK government prefers a vote "sooner rather than later," possibly within the next 18 months, and disputes Edinburgh's constitutional right to hold a legally-binding referendum without new powers being devolved by London. The British government's perceived interference in what Scots consider a domestic issue is what touched off this week's spat.
Although Ms. McAlpine later tried to tone down her comments by saying they were directed only at the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Dem leaderships, her clarification came with a stinging addendum. The unionist parties, she said, "should not be ganging up" in what would seem to be an alliance "against Scotland's democratic right to decide our own future."
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Leafs' Kessel, Lupul make NHL All-Star roster
OTTAWA (AP) ? Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul have been added to the roster for this month's NHL All-Star game in Ottawa.
The league on Thursday began announcing players for the Jan. 29 showcase.
Kessel is second in league scoring with 48 points. Lupul, his linemate, has 47 points.
Also placed on the roster were NHL leading scorer Claude Giroux and Kimmo Timonen of Philadelphia; Chicago's Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane; Dustin Byfuglien of Winnipeg; Brian Campbell of Florida; and Jamie Benn of Dallas.
Four players for the host Senators were previously voted in by fans ? Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Milan Michalek and Erik Karlsson, along with Toronto's Dion Phaneuf and Boston goaltender Tim Thomas.
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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Can a Vaccine Cure Haiti's Cholera?
Features |
Health
Two years after the earthquake and thousands of deaths later, the debate about whether to use the cholera vaccine in Haiti continues
?| January 12, 2012
Persistant plague: Two years after the earthquake Vibrio cholerae is well established in Haiti. Now advocates and policy makers are looking for the best tools to banish it.
Image: Wikimedia Commons/Tom Kirn/Ron Taylor/Louisa Howard/Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility
The cholera epidemic in Haiti has cast a stark light on deep development holes and disagreements about whether a short-term patch?in the form of a cholera vaccine?can help in the long-term fight for better health.
A developing nation, Haiti has long struggled to maintain modern public-health projects. Even before the January 12, 2010 earthquake, the country was already falling behind. In 1990 more than a quarter of the population had access to sanitary facilities, but by 2008 only 17 percent of Haitians did. The earthquake brought further destruction to the country's limited infrastructure. Almost before the dust from the devastation settled, however, the international outpouring of support and aid seemed to signal a new opportunity to bring the most basic of health tools?clean water and decent sanitation?to Haitians.
Now, two years after the earthquake, Haiti is backsliding again. In the first half of 2010, about half of people in settlement camps in Port-au-Prince had clean drinking water, but by the end of the year only 7 percent did. And even as the cholera epidemic subsides to a couple hundred cases a day between rainy seasons, experts anticipate a spike in illness and deaths as soon as the rains return, starting next month.
Since the first cases of cholera appeared in October 2010, some 7,000 people have died from the diarrheal disease (caused by the pathogen Vibrio cholerae, which is transmitted via unclean drinking water) and at least 520,000 have suffered symptoms. Treatment is simple (oral rehydration salts), and prevention is basic (clean drinking water and proper sanitation). But for impoverished Haiti, these solutions are still largely out of reach.
That is why many advocates argue for the distribution of the cholera vaccine, which has passed clinical trials and received approval by the World Health Organization (WHO) for global use. But many groups, such as the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), are taking a wait-and-see approach and are not yet ready to back a full rollout of the vaccine.
Prevention imperfect?
The two existing cholera vaccines, Dukoral and Shanchol, are taken orally in two doses two weeks apart, and immunity takes about a week to kick in and lasts for two or three years. They are about 60 to 90 percent effective.
Those at Partners In Health, a health care organization, say that imperfect efficacy should not matter in Haiti. "If you have a vaccine that was about 80 percent effective compared to 0 percent effective of drinking stool-laden water, which would you choose?" asks Paul Farmer, co-founder of the organization and a professor at Harvard University. "It's not as good as the polio vaccine, but neither is the flu vaccine." Indeed, the cholera vaccines are roughly as effective as flu vaccine, and are "pretty frickin' good," says Farmer. Shanchol has emerged as the favorite, as unlike Dukoral it does not need to be diluted with water.
Partners In Health is collaborating with the Haitian NGO Gheskio to start distributing Shanchol in two locations?in the rural area of Bocozel in the Artibonite River Valley and the more urban Port-au-Prince slum Cit? de Dieu. They have 200,000 doses of Shanchol on order from the Indian manufacturer, Shantha Biotechnics, and hope to start the pilot program next month?although Farmer says they had hoped it would start last year.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a208549f79addf0c2b382e6df906018a
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
[OOC] Love Never Dies
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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Love Never Dies?. Anything posted here will also show up there.Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "Love Never Dies"
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Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Global shares and euro rise (Reuters)
TOKYO (Reuters) ? Asian shares and the euro rose on Tuesday, but concerns over funding of euro zone sovereigns ahead of key auctions this week and of the debt crisis spilling into the wider financial system kept investors cautious about taking riskier positions.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 1.4 percent following a modest gain in global stocks as the materials sector (.MIAPJMT00PUS) outperformed after Alcoa Inc (AA.N), the largest U.S. aluminum producer, gave a positive outlook for world demand.
Alcoa, seen as a bellwether of broader economic growth because of aluminum's role in producing many goods, on Monday posted a fourth quarter loss due to a steep plunge in aluminum prices, but its revenue beat expectations.
Alcoa partly helped lift Australian shares and also Japan's Nikkei (.N225), which gained 0.4 percent. (.T)
China's exports and imports grew at their slowest pace in more than two years in December as foreign and domestic demand ebbed, putting export growth in December at 13.4 percent compared with a year earlier.
But immediate market reaction was limited, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (.HSI) up 0.6 percent and Shanghai shares (.SSEC) up 1.5 percent.
With European woes overshadowing recent positive economic data from the United States, market players were looking for signs of how the euro zone debt crisis might affect Asian growth.
Chinese policymakers are expected to offer stimulus to underpin growth but downside risks remain that could make growth lower than the consensus forecast, such as side-effects from the slowdown in the property market, said Andrew Pease, Sydney-based chief investment strategist at Russell Investments Asia Pacific.
"It's very hard to make a clear prediction until we start to see the shape of Europe," he said.
"Asia being a high-beta market, if the world goes into a risk-off phase on the back of Europe, Asia will underperform. If Europe resolves its problems, Asia will outperform," he said.
Pease said the current environment calls for a neutral stance in allocations and being opportunistic in hunting for bargains, such as a 10-15 percent drop in equities markets, or corporate credit.
He said investors should avoid markets that performed strongly in the past couple of years, such as U.S. Treasuries, and they should be cautious about commodities until China's growth prospects are clear.
EURO VULNERABLE
The euro was up 0.1 percent at $1.2773, lifted by a short squeeze after hitting 16-month lows of $1.2666 on Monday, as players pared extremely bearish bets against the single currency ahead of key events in Europe this week. But the single currency remained vulnerable given no fundamental reasons for its recovery.
"EURUSD continues to trade below $1.2800, and prospects for EUR remain bleak," analysts at BNP Paribas said.
Italian and Spanish debt auctions this week are the focus of the market as the two big euro zone economies are seen as most at risk from the crisis.
A plunge in euro zone government bond prices on concern about financing ability eroded capital at European banks which own large amounts of such bonds. Problems faced by a top Italian bank only underscored the difficulties of recapitalizing and raised fears about the debt crisis unsettling the financial system.
Shares of UniCredit (CRDI.MI), Italy's largest bank by assets, plunged again on Monday as it began a rights issue to bolster its capital. Its stock has lost 45 percent since it priced the cash call at a big discount last Wednesday and its market capitalization has nearly halved.
The bank is the first big lender to tap the market to repair its balance sheet since new capital targets were imposed.
A meeting between the German and French leaders on Monday also added to jitters, as Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Greece it won't get more bailout funds until Athens agrees with creditor banks on a bond swap and pressed for an early deal to avert a potential default in the euro zone's most debt-stricken nation.
Merkel and Sarkozy also said they aimed to wrap up negotiations among euro zone countries this month on a new fiscal pact tightening budget discipline, to be signed at the latest on March 1.
Asian credit markets were on the defensive side on Tuesday, with spreads on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment grade index sticking to late Monday levels.
(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
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Ben_Howe: @COwNewt he did not ask to send troops in Iraq to fight anything. This was about bases in Iraq. Bases.
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@COwNewt he did not ask to send troops in Iraq to fight anything. This was about bases in Iraq. Bases. 
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Sunday, January 8, 2012
Why are older people happier?
ScienceDaily (Jan. 6, 2012) ? Older people tend to be happier. But why? Some psychologists believe that cognitive processes are responsible -- in particular, focusing on and remembering positive events and leaving behind negative ones; those processes, they think, help older people regulate their emotions, letting them view life in a sunnier light. "There is a lot of good theory about this age difference in happiness," says psychologist Derek M. Isaacowitz of Northeastern University, "but much of the research does not provide direct evidence" of the links between such phenomena and actual happiness.
In a new article in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, Isaacowitz and the late Fredda Blanchard-Fields of Georgia Institute of Technology argue for more rigorous research.
Researchers, including the authors, have found that older people shown pictures of faces or situations tend to focus on and remember the happier ones more and the negative ones less. Other studies have discovered that as people age, they seek out situations that will lift their moods -- for instance, pruning social circles of friends or acquaintances who might bring them down. Still other work finds that older adults learn to let go of loss and disappointment over unachieved goals, and hew their goals toward greater wellbeing.
What's missing, say the authors, are consistently demonstrated direct links between these strategies and phenomena and changes of mood for the better. One reason, Isaacowitz suggests, is that lab tests yield results that are not straightforward. "When we try to use those cognitive processes to predict change of mood, they don't always do so," he explains. "Sometimes looking at positive pictures doesn't make people feel better." A closer review of the literature also reveals contradictions. Some people -- younger ones, for instance -- may make themselves feel better by accentuating the negative in others' situations or characteristics. And whereas some psychologists find that high scores on certain cognitive tests correlate in older people with the ability to keep their spirits up, other researchers hypothesize that happiness in later life is an effect of cognitive losses -- which force older people to concentrate on simpler, happier thoughts.
More rigorous methods probably won't overthrow the current theories, says Isaacowitz, but they will complicate the picture. "It won't be as easy to say old people are happier. But even if they are happier on average, we still want to know in what situations does this particular strategy make this particular person with these particular qualities or strengths feel good."
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Journal Reference:
- Derek M. Isaacowitz and Fredda Blanchard-Fields. Linking Process and Outcome in the Study of Emotion and Aging. Perspectives on Psychological Science, January 2012 vol. 7 no. 1 3-17 DOI: 10.1177/1745691611424750
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120106135950.htm
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asymco: Moto was acquired, Sony-Ericsson too. LG is in play, RIM may be too. Rumors about Nokia. HTC on the rocks. Anyone see a pattern?
Moto was acquired, Sony-Ericsson too. LG is in play, RIM may be too. Rumors about Nokia. HTC on the rocks. Anyone see a pattern? Source: http://twitter.com/asymco/statuses/155753146222772225
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Saturday, January 7, 2012
Camp_Series: South Carolina: Nick St. Germain talks commitment http://t.co/on8QDNEr #NCAA
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South Carolina: Nick St. Germain talks commitment bit.ly/AbUvsc #NCAA 
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Will Apple Drop the iPad 2 to $299?
The iPad 3 rumor mill is at full tilt right now, with speculation running wild about the tablet's improved specs and when Apple Inc. will announce the next-generation tablet. But along with rumors about the iPad 3 there are also reports about what will happen to Apple's current tablet, the iPad 2.
According to a Digitimes source, Apple will continue selling the iPad 2, but at a much discounted price. Along with the iPad 3, which will be Apple's high-end tablet, the iPad 2 will be sold as the company's lower-tier product. Apple applied the same strategy when the iPad 2 was first released. It continued to sell the first-generation iPad, albeit discounted by $100 alongside the iPad 2, until the iPad units ran out. Currently Apple offers three iPad 2 models: $499 for 16 Gb, $599 for 32 Gb and $699 for 64 Gb. If Apple prices the iPad 3 at $499 the iPad 2 could be priced at $299 to make it more acceptable for the low-end tablet market.
Of course this is all speculation at this point, but analysts are wondering how a $299 iPad 2 could impact the market. A $299 iPad 2 will impact Amazon the most. Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire tablet is doing well, with Amazon claiming that it sold millions of units since the Kindle Fire debuted. With just $100 separating the Kindle Fire from an iPad 2, low-end users could opt for the more expensive Amazon tablet, with its?better specs.
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But would Apple still produce more iPad 2 units with a new iPad 3 on the shelves? The iPad 2 supply could be limited and there are rumors that Apple is already slowing down production of the iPad 2 in preparation for the iPad 3. Apple could just slash the price of the iPad 2 to move remaining units.
Amazon and Barnes & Noble shouldn't worry too much about a discounted iPad 2. Apple won't gain much by targeting the low-end of the tablet market. Amazon attracted consumers with its Amazon Kindle Fire because of its low price but it's doing so at a loss, sacrificing profit from the device to make the money back from app prices. ?Apple would not use such a strategy. A cheaper iPad 2 would only threaten the more expensive iPad models. Amazon and other low-end tablet markets are safe for now.
Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/277354/20120105/ipad-2-price-drop-299.htm
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Friday, January 6, 2012
Greek PM to meet with labor union, business reps (AP)
ATHENS, Greece ? Greece's prime minister discussed the sensitive issue of labor costs Wednesday in a series of meetings with unions and trade federations before a crucial visit by the country's debt inspectors.
Lucas Papademos' meetings come a day after government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis warned that Greece could have to leave the euro if the struggling country fails to finalize the details of its second international bailout, for euro130 billion ($169 billion), and that more tough austerity measures may be needed.
Debt inspectors from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission are expected in Athens in mid-January. Collectively known as the troika, the inspectors have previously said Greece needs to reduce its labor costs as part of efforts to make the country more competitive.
Dimitris Daskalopoulos, who heads the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, said his industry federation would do "whatever it can" to ensure the minimum wage is not lowered.
"We must discuss how we will formulate the average labor cost, so that both employment and competitiveness are favored," Daskalopoulos said.
Greece has been kept solvent by an initial package of euro110 billion ($142 billion) bailout loans, which began being disbursed in May 2010. In return, the government imposed deeply resented austerity measures to contain a bloated budget deficit, including cutting salaries and pensions and introducing repeated tax hikes.
The measures have led to frequent and often violent demonstrations over the past two years.
Yiannis Panagopoulos, the head of the GSEE union, which represents mainly the private sector, said talks with the prime minister focused on concerns over competitiveness in the labor market.
Panagopoulos insisted that the national collective wage agreement, which includes minimum wage provisions and those of holiday pay known as the 13th and 14th salaries, were not up for negotiation. The extra two salaries per year have been trimmed in the public sector as part of austerity measures.
The second rescue package was agreed to in October. However, key details of that deal are still being negotiated ? most crucially a provision under which private creditors such as banks and investment firms would take a 50 percent cut in the face value of the Greek bonds they hold.
Greece has been struggling to get private creditors to agree to key aspects of the haircut, which it has to implement ahead of the March 20 maturity date of euro14.4 billion worth of bonds. Athens would not be able to make the repayment without the second bailout, while the bond writedown would also reduce and delay the amount that would be due.
The Institute of International Finance, which has been leading the negotiations on the debt restructuring on behalf of Greece's private creditors, said late Tuesday that some progress had been made in the discussions in recent days. However, indicating the urgency of finding a solution, the IIF stressed a deal had to be found "in the days ahead."
Negotiating the details of the second bailout and ensuring Greece gets the funds is the main mandate of the temporary coalition government headed by Papademos, a former central banker appointed in November after a political crisis forced the country's socialist prime minister to resign.
On Tuesday, Kapsis warned Greece would be unable to stay in the euro without the new bailout deal.
"This famous loan agreement must be signed, otherwise we are outside the markets, out of the euro and things will become much worse," he told private Skai TV.
____
Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels contributed to this story.
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RIM Cancels 2 BlackBerry 10 Phones, Now Working on Just 1 [RUMOR] (Mashable)
Things aren't looking so good for BlackBerry. Amidst speculation on the phone company's future, rumors are starting to surface that Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian company that makes BlackBerry has cancelled two of its next generation smart phones. The news, first reported by Boy Genius Report, is that RIM has cancelled two next-gen smartphones, the BlackBerry Colt and the BlackBerry Milan. The Colt was supposed to be RIM's first smartphone on its new operating system, BlackBerry 10 (originally called BBX), while the Milan was expected to work on the current operating system, BlackBerry 7.
[More from Mashable: Facebook Shower Curtain Lets You Clean Up With Your Favorite Site]
If the report is true, there is now just one BlackBerry 10 phone in the works. The phone, shown above and nicknamed "London" will have a tough road ahead as it fights with iPhones and Androids, both of which have become more popular for business and power users, BlackBerry's once-core demographic.
[More from Mashable: Instagram Photos Now Show Up Full Size on Facebook]
To boot, the next generation of BlackBerry phones won't come to market until the latter half of 2012. RIM is reportedly waiting on production of a processor that won't be available until later in the year.
The BlackBerry London hasn't had an official release but leaked images from The Verge give an idea of its design.
Mashable has reached out to RIM but hasn't heard back.
Cancelling two phones isn't a nail in the coffin by any means. The fact that RIM is waiting for the right processors for its new phone bodes well for its quality. The London, however, will need to be a huge hit if RIM wants to stay competitive. Is the London set for success? Does the company even need a smash hit BlackBerry phone? Sound off in the comments.
Update: A representative from RIM responded with: "RIM doesn't typically comment on rumors or speculation about specific products or projects ... " although it will continue to develop both its BlackBerry 7 and BlackBerry 10 platforms.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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Thursday, January 5, 2012
Cee Lo Green Angers John Lennon Fans With 'Imagine' Lyrics
Green changed a key line in Lennon's song during his New Year's Eve performance.
By James Montgomery
Cee Lo Green
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
How did you spend your New Year's Eve? Well, if you were Cee Lo Green, you began by royally ticking off John Lennon fans, then briefly apologizing for your transgressions before finally agreeing to disagree.
Yes, Green caught some heat after changing a key line to Lennon's 1971 classic "Imagine" during his performance on NBC's New Year's Eve telecast — he turned the pointed "And no religion too" into the far more, uh, inclusive "And all religion's true" — a move that drew criticism from longtime Lennon fans. In a flurry of tweets, they chastised him for everything from messing with the song's true message to causing the late musician to roll over in his grave, a response that had Green on the defensive.
After his performance, he took to his Twitter account to apologize, writing, "Yo I meant no disrespect by changing the lyric guys ... I was trying to say a world where u could believe what u wanted, that's all." Of course, soon after, Green apparently had a change of heart, deleting his mea culpa (and all related tweets), and replacing them with a simple "Happy New Year Everyone!"
In a follow-up tweet, he took a subtle jab at his detractors, writing that he was currently listening to "We Just Disagree" by Dave Mason, though, in response to a fan's question, he said that his playlist choice had nothing to do with the "Imagine" flap and everything to do with "indifference in general." Of course, Lennon fans will probably be happy to know that, according to Green's latest tweet, he's also been listening to "I'm Only Sleeping," a Beatles track from their seminal Revolver album.
A spokesperson for Green could not be reached for comment on the matter by press time.
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676660/cee-lo-john-lennon-imagine-lyrics.jhtml
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German President Spares Merkel Crisis After ?Terrible? Error
| Coordinates | 38?53?51.61?N77?2?11.58?N |
|---|---|
| name | Berlin |
| image photo | Berlin Montage.png |
| state coa | Coat of arms of Berlin.svg |
| coa size | 70 |
| map | Berlin in Germany and EU.png |
| map size | 270 |
| map text | Location within European Union and Germany |
| flag | Flag_of_Berlin.svg |
| area | 891.85 |
| population | 3468900 |
| pop ref | |
| pop date | 31 March 2011 |
| pop metro | 4,429,847 |
| elevation | 34 - 115 |
| demonym | Berliner |
| gdp | 94.7 |
| gdp year | 2010 |
| Gdp ref | |
| website | berlin.de |
| leader title | Governing Mayor |
| leader | Klaus Wowereit |
| leader party | SPD |
| ruling party1 | SPD |
| ruling party2 | The Left |
| votes | 4 |
| divisions | 12 boroughs |
| nuts | DE3 |
| state | Berlin |
| vorwahl | 030 |
| kfz | B (for earlier signs see note) |
| iso region | DE-BE |
| plz | 10001?14199 |
| coordinates display | displayinline, title |
| date | September 2010 }} |
Berlin (; ) is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45?million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union. Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has 4.4?million residents from over 190 nations. Located in the European Plains, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.
First documented in the 13th century, Berlin was the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701?1918), the German Empire (1871?1918), the Weimar Republic (1919?1933) and the Third Reich (1933?1945). Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world. After World War II, the city became divided into East Berlin?the capital of East Germany?and West Berlin, a West German exclave surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961?1989). Following German reunification in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of Germany, hosting 147 foreign embassies.
Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media, and science. Its economy is primarily based on the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, media corporations, and convention venues. Berlin also serves as a continental hub for air and rail transport, and is a popular tourist destination. Significant industries include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, electronics, traffic engineering, and renewable energy.
Berlin is home to renowned universities, research institutes, orchestras, museums, and celebrities, as well as host of many sporting events. Its urban settings and historical legacy have made it a popular location for international film productions. The city is well renowned for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts, public transportation networks and a high quality of living.
History
The origin of the name Berlin is unknown, but it may have its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of today's Berlin, and be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- "swamp".
The earliest evidence of settlements in the area of today's Berlin is a wooden beam dated from approximately 1192. The first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and K?penick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920. The central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. C?lln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document, and Berlin, across the Spree in what is now called the Nikolaiviertel, is referenced in a document from 1244. The former is considered to be the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties and eventually merged in 1307 and came to be known as Berlin.
In 1435, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. His successor, Frederick II Irontooth, established Berlin as capital of the margraviate, and subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and eventually as German emperors. In 1448, citizens rebelled in the "Berlin Indignation" against the construction of a new royal palace by Frederick II Irontooth. This protest was not successful, however, and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic privileges. In 1451 Berlin became the royal residence of the Brandenburg electors, and Berlin had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran.
17th to 19th centuries
The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and the city lost half of its population. Frederick William, known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots. More than 15,000 Huguenots went to Brandenburg, of whom 6,000 settled in Berlin. By 1700, approximately 20 percent of Berlin's residents were French, and their cultural influence on the city was immense. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg.
With the coronation of Frederick I in 1701 as king (in K?nigsberg), Berlin became the new capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (instead of K?nigsberg); this was a successful attempt to centralize the capital in the very outspread Prussian Kingdom, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740?1786), came to power. Under the rule of Frederick II Berlin became a center of the Enlightenment. Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806, but granted self-government to the city. In 1815 the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg.
The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main rail hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, outlying suburbs including Wedding, Moabit, and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire. On 1 April 1881 it became a city district separate from Brandenburg.
20th century
At the end of World War I in 1918, a republic was proclaimed in Berlin. In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. This new area encompassed Spandau and Charlottenburg in the west, as well as several other areas that are now major municipalities. After this expansion, Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era, Berlin became internationally renowned as a center of cultural transformation, at the heart of the Roaring Twenties.
On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power through the Machtergreifung. Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which had numbered 170,000 before 1933. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp or, in early 1943, were shipped to death camps, such as Auschwitz. During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed in the 1943?45 air raids and during the Battle of Berlin. Among the hundreds of thousands who died during the Battle for Berlin, an estimated 125,000 were civilians. After the end of the war in Europe in 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to the occupation zones into which Germany was divided. The sectors of the Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom and France) formed West Berlin, while the Soviet sector formed East Berlin.
All four allies shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when the Western allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift, conducted by the three western allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from 24 June 1948 to 11 May 1949. In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British, and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist-Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany. West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but politically it was very closely aligned with Federal Republic of Germany despite Berlin's geographic location within East Germany. West Berlin issued its own postage stamps, which were often the same as West German postage stamps but with the additional word 'Berlin' added. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British, and French airlines.
The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory and East Germany proclaimed East Berlin (described as "Berlin") as its capital, a move that was not recognized by the western powers. Although only half the size and population of West Berlin, East Berlin included most of the historic center of the city. The West German government, meanwhile, established itself provisionally in Bonn.
As a result of the political and economical tensions brought on by the Cold War, on 13 August 1961, East Germany began building of the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin and similar barriers around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie on 27 October 1961. West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany.
Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass from one to the other only through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was no longer possible. In 1971, a Four-Power agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany and ended the potential for harassment or closure of the routes.
In 1989, with the end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, and was subsequently mostly demolished, with little of its physical structure remaining today; the East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain near the Oberbaumbr?cke over the Spree preserves a portion of the Wall.
On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became the official German capital. In June 1991, the German Parliament, the Bundestag, voted to move the seat of the (West) German capital back from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999.
Geography
Berlin is located in eastern Germany, about west of the border with Poland in an area with marshy terrain, and is surrounded by the federal state of Brandenburg. The Berlin?Warsaw Urstromtal (ice age melt water flow), between the low Barnim plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by water flowing from melting ice sheets at the end of the last ice age. The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, Berlin's westernmost borough, the Spree meets the river Havel, which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and Gro?er Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Gro?er M?ggelsee in eastern Berlin.
Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim plateau, while most of the boroughs Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Sch?neberg, and Neuk?lln lie on the Teltow plateau.
The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Urstromtal and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. The highest elevations in Berlin are the Teufelsberg and the M?ggelberge. Both hills have an elevation of about . The Teufelsberg is in fact an artificial pile of rubble from the ruins of World War II.
Climate
Berlin has a humid continental climate according to the K?ppen climate classification system. The city features a temperate climate.Summers are warm with average high temperatures of and lows of . Winters are cold with average high temperatures of and lows of . Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings. Temperatures can be higher in the city than in the surrounding areas.
Annual precipitation is with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Light snowfall mainly occurs from December through March, but snow cover does not usually remain for long. The recent winter of 2009/2010 was an exception as there was a permanent snow cover from late December till early March.
Cityscape
Berlin's history has left the city with a highly eclectic array of architecture and buildings. The city's appearance today is predominantly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the 20th century. Each of the national governments based in Berlin?the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunified Germany?initiated ambitious (re-)construction programs, with each adding its own distinctive style to the city's architecture. Berlin was devastated by bombing raids during World War II, and many of the buildings that had remained after the war were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s in both West and East Berlin. Much of this demolition was initiated by municipal architecture programs to build new residential or business quarters and main roads.
The eastern parts of Berlin have many Plattenbauten, reminders of Eastern Bloc ambitions to create complete residential areas that had fixed ratios of shops, kindergartens and schools to the number of inhabitants.
Architecture
The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at . Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its high observation floor. Starting here the Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism Style of the Joseph Stalin era. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. In front of it is the Neptunbrunnen, a fountain featuring a mythological group of Tritons, personifications of the four main Prussian rivers and Neptun on top of it.
The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division. It has recently undergone a restoration.
The Brandenburg Gate is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany. It also appears on German euro coins (10?cent, 20?cent, and 50?cent). The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament, renovated in the 1950s after severe World War II damage. The building was again remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of the city.
The Gendarmenmarkt, a neoclassical square in Berlin whose name dates back to the quarters of the famous Gens d'armes regiment located here in the 18th century, is bordered by two similarly designed cathedrals, the Franz?sischer Dom with its observation platform and the German Cathedral. The Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), home of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, stands between the two cathedrals.
The Berlin Cathedral, emperor William II.'s ambitious attempt to create a Protestant counterpart to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, is located on the Spree Island across from the site of the Stadtschloss and adjacent to the Lustgarten. A large crypt houses the remains of some of the earlier Prussian royal family. Like many other buildings, it suffered extensive damage during the Second World War. St. Hedwig's Cathedral is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral.
Unter den Linden is a tree lined east-west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street and part of Humboldt University is located there. Friedrichstra?e was Berlin's legendary street during the Roaring Twenties. It combines 20th century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.
Potsdamer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995 after the Wall came down. To the west of Potsdamer Platz is the Kulturforum, which houses the Gem?ldegalerie, and is flanked by the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Berliner Philharmonie. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a Holocaust memorial, is situated to the north.
The area around Hackescher Markt is home to the fashionable culture, with countless clothing outlets, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes the Hackesche H?fe, a conglomeration of buildings around several courtyards, reconstructed around 1996. Oranienburger Stra?e and the nearby New Synagogue were the center of Jewish culture before 1933. Although the New Synagogue is still an anchor for Jewish history and culture, Oranienburger stra?e and surrounding areas are increasingly known for the shopping and nightlife.
The Stra?e des 17. Juni, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as central East-West-Axis. Its name commemorates the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately half-way from the Brandenburg Gate is the Gro?er Stern, a circular traffic island on which the Siegess?ule (Victory Column) is situated. This monument, built to commemorate Prussia's victories, was relocated 1938?39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.
The Kurf?rstendamm is home to some of Berlin's luxurious stores with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at its eastern end on Breitscheidplatz. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and left in ruins. Nearby on Tauentzienstra?e is KaDeWe, claimed to be continental Europe's largest department store. The Rathaus Sch?neberg, where John F. Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech, is situated in Tempelhof-Sch?neberg.
West of the center, Schloss Bellevue is the residence of the German President. Schloss Charlottenburg, which was burnt out in the Second World War and largely destroyed, has been rebuilt and is the largest surviving historical palace in Berlin.
The Funkturm Berlin is a tall lattice radio tower at the fair area, built between 1924 and 1926. It is the only observation tower which stands on insulators, and has a restaurant and an observation deck above ground, which is reachable by a windowed elevator.
Politics
Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany and is the seat of the President of Germany, whose official residence is Schloss Bellevue. Since German reunification on 3 October 1990, it has been one of the three city states, together with Hamburg and Bremen, among the present 16 states of Germany.
The Bundesrat ("federal council") is the representation of the Federal States (Bundesl?nder) of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords. Though most of the ministries are seated in Berlin, some of them, as well as some minor departments, are seated in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. The European Union invests in several projects within the city of Berlin. Infrastructure, education and social programs are co-financed with budgets taken from EU cohesion funds.
City state
The city and state parliament is the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus), which currently has 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is the Senate of Berlin (Senat von Berlin). The Senate of Berlin consists of the Governing Mayor (Regierender B?rgermeister) and up to eight senators holding ministerial positions, one of them holding the official title "Mayor" (B?rgermeister) as deputy to the Governing Mayor. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left (Die Linke) took control of the city government after the 2001 state election and won another term in the 2006 state election.
The Governing Mayor is simultaneously Lord Mayor of the city (Oberb?rgermeister der Stadt) and Prime Minister of the Federal State (Ministerpr?sident des Bundeslandes). The office of Berlin's Governing Mayor is in the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Since 2001 this office has been held by Klaus Wowereit of the SPD. The city's government is based on a coalition between the Social Democratic Party and Die Linke.
The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2007 exceeded ?20.5 ($28.7) billion including a budget surplus of ?80 ($112) million. The figures indicate the first surplus in the history of the city state. Due to increasing growth rates and tax revenues, the Senate of Berlin calculates an increasing budget surplus in 2008. The total budget includes an estimated amount of ?5.5 ($7.7) bn, which is directly financed by either the German government or the German Bundesl?nder. Mainly due to reunification-related expenditures, Berlin as a German state has accumulated more debt than any other city in Germany, with the most current estimate being ?60 ($84)bn in December 2007. In 2011, the very high level of public sector debt prompted the Stabilit?tsrat von Bund und L?ndern (Council for Fiscal Stability of the Federal and Local States) to declare a possible fiscal emergency for the city.
Boroughs
Berlin is subdivided into twelve boroughs (Bezirke), down from 23 boroughs before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. Each borough contains a number of localities (Ortsteile), which often have historic roots in older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920 and became urbanized and incorporated into the city. Many residents strongly identify with their localities or boroughs. At present Berlin consists of 95 localities, which are commonly made up of several city neighborhoods?called Kiez in the Berlin dialect?representing small residential areas.
Each borough is governed by a borough council (Bezirksamt) consisting of five councilors (Bezirksstadtr?te) and a borough mayor (Bezirksb?rgermeister). The borough council is elected by the borough assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). The boroughs of Berlin are not independent municipalities, however. The power of borough governments is limited and subordinate to the Senate of Berlin. The borough mayors form the council of mayors (Rat der B?rgermeister), led by the city's governing mayor, which advises the senate.
The localities have no local government bodies, and the administrative duties of the former locality representative, the Ortsvorsteher, were taken over by the borough mayors.
Sister cities
Berlin maintains official partnerships with 17 cities. Town twinning between Berlin and other cities began with Los Angeles in 1967. East Berlin's partnerships were canceled at the time of German reunification and later partially reestablished. West Berlin's partnerships had previously been restricted to the borough level. During the Cold War era, the partnerships had reflected the different power blocs, with West Berlin partnering with capitals in the West, and East Berlin mostly partnering with cities from the Warsaw Pact and its allies.There are several joint projects with many other cities, such as Copenhagen, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Seoul, Sofia, Sydney, and Vienna. Berlin participates in international city associations such as the Union of the Capitals of the European Union, Eurocities, Network of European Cities of Culture, Metropolis, Summit Conference of the World's Major Cities, Conference of the World's Capital Cities. Berlin's official sister cities are:
| * 1967 Los Angeles, United States | * 1987 Paris, France | * 1988 Madrid, Spain | * 1989 Istanbul, Turkey | * 1991 Warsaw, Poland | * 1991 Moscow, Russia | * 1991 Budapest, Hungary | * 1992 Brussels, Belgium | * 1993 Jakarta, Indonesia | * 1993 Tashkent, Uzbekistan | * 1993 Mexico City, Mexico | Beijing, People's Republic of China>China | * 1994 Tokyo, Japan | * 1994 Buenos Aires, Argentina | * 1995 Prague, Czech Republic | * 2000 Windhoek, Namibia | * 2000 London, United Kingdom |
Economy
In 2009, the nominal GDP of the citystate Berlin experienced a growth rate of 1.7% (?3.5% in Germany) and totaled ?90.1 (~$117) billion. Berlin's economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 80% of all companies doing business in services. The unemployment rate had steadily decreased over the past decade and reached a 13-year low in 2008; unemployment was at 14.2% (German average: 7.9%).
Fast-growing economic sectors in Berlin include communications, life sciences, and transportation, particularly services that use information and communication technologies, as well as media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, and medical engineering.
The Science and Business Park of Berlin-Adlershof is among the 15 largest technology parks worldwide. Research and development have high economic significance for the city, and the Berlin?Brandenburg region ranks among the top-three innovative regions in the EU.
| 2007 EUROSTAT | Area | Population | Nominal GDP in billion | Nominal GDP per capita | |
Companies
Siemens, a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the 30 German DAX companies, has a headquarter in Berlin. The state-owned railway, Deutsche Bahn, has its headquarters in Berlin as well. Many German and international companies have business or service centres in the city.
Among the 20 largest employers in Berlin are the Deutsche Bahn, the hospital provider, Charit?, the local public transport provider, BVG, and the service provider, Dussmann and the Piepenbrock Group. Daimler manufactures cars, and BMW builds motorcycles in Berlin. Bayer Schering Pharma and Berlin Chemie are major pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the city. The second largest German airline Air Berlin is also headquartered in Berlin.
Tourism
Berlin has 746 hotels with 112,400 beds as of the end of 2010. The city recorded 20.8?million overnight hotel stays and 9.1?million hotel guests in the same year. Berlin has a yearly total of approximately 135 million daily visitors, which puts it in third place among the most-visited city destinations in the European Union.Berlin is among the top three convention cities in the world and is home to Europe's biggest convention center, the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC). Several large scale trade fairs like the IFA, Gr?ne Woche, InnoTrans, Artforum and the ITB are held annually in the city, attracting a significant number of business visitors.
Creative industries
Industries that do business in the creative arts and entertainment are an important and sizable sector of the economy of Berlin. The creative arts sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software, TV, radio, and video games. Around 22,600 creative enterprises, predominantly SMEs, generated over 18,6?billion Euro in total revenue. Berlin's creative industries have contributed an estimated 20% of Berlin's gross domestic product in 2005. The German headquarter of Universal Music is based in Berlin.Infrastructure
Transport
Berlin's transportation infrastructure is highly complex, providing a very diverse range of urban mobility. A total of 979 bridges cross 197 kilometers of innercity waterways, of roads run through Berlin, of which are motorways ("Autobahn"). In 2006, 1.416?million motor vehicles were registered in the city. With 358 cars per 1000 residents in 2008 (570/1000 in Germany), Berlin as a German state and as a major European city has one of the lowest numbers of cars per capita.
Long-distance rail lines connect Berlin with all of the major cities of Germany and with many cities in neighboring European countries. Regional rail lines provide access to the surrounding regions of Brandenburg and to the Baltic Sea. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest crossing station in Europe. Deutsche Bahn runs trains to domestic destinations like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and others. It also runs an airport express rail service, as well as trains to international destinations like Moscow, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Malm?.
The and the Deutsche Bahn manage several dense urban public transport systems.
| System | Stations/ Lines/ Net length | Passengers per year | Operator/ Notes |
| 166 / 15 / | 376?million | ||
| 173 / 10 / | 457?million | BVG/ Mainly underground rail system. 24hour-service on weekends. | |
| 398 / 22 / | 171?million | BVG/ Operates predominantly in eastern boroughs. | |
| 2627 / 147 / | 407?million | BVG/ Extensive services in all boroughs. 46 Night Lines | |
| 6 lines | BVG/ All modes of transport can be accessed with the same ticket. |
;Airports
Berlin has two commercial airports. Tegel International Airport (TXL), which lies within the city limits, and Sch?nefeld International Airport (SXF), which is situated just outside Berlin's south-eastern border in the state of Brandenburg. Both airports together handled 22,3?million passengers in 2010. In 2011, 88 airlines serve 164 destinations in 54 countries from Berlin. Tegel Airport is the European hub of Air Berlin, whereas Sch?nefeld services mainly low-cost airline travel.
Berlin's airport authority plans to transfer all of Berlin's air traffic in June 2012 to a newly built airport at Sch?nefeld, to be renamed Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). City authorities want to establish a European aviation hub with a gateway to Asia.
;Cycling
Berlin is well known for its highly developed bike (cycle) lane system. It is estimated that Berlin has 710 bicycles per 1000 residents. Around 500,000 daily bike riders accounted for 13% of total traffic in 2009. Riders have access to of bike paths including approx. mandatory bicycle paths, off-road bicycle routes, of bike lanes on the roads, of shared bus lanes which are also open to bicyclists, of combined pedestrian/bike paths and of marked bike lanes on the sidewalks.
Energy
Berlin's energy is mainly supplied by the Swedish firm Vattenfall, which relies more heavily than other electricity producers on lignite as an energy source. Because burning lignite produces harmful emissions, Vattenfall has announced its commitment to transitioning to cleaner sources, such as renewable energy. In the former West Berlin, electricity was supplied chiefly by thermal power stations. To facilitate buffering during load peaks, accumulators were installed during the 1980s at some of these power stations. These were connected by static inverters to the power grid and were loaded during times of low energy consumption and unloaded during periods of high consumption.
In 1993 the power grid connections to the surrounding areas, which had been cut in 1951, were restored. In the western districts of Berlin, nearly all power lines are underground cables; only a 380?kV and a 110?kV line, which run from Reuter substation to the urban Autobahn, use overhead lines. The Berlin 380-kV electric line was built when West Berlin's electrical grid was not connected to those of East or West Germany. This has now become the backbone of the city's energy grid.
Car maker Daimler AG and the electric utility, RWE AG, are going to begin a joint electric car and charging station test project in Berlin called "E-Mobility Berlin."
Health
Berlin has a rich history of discoveries in medicine and innovations in medical technology. The modern history of medicine has been significantly influenced by scientists from Berlin. Rudolf Virchow was the founder of cellular pathology, while Robert Koch developed vaccines for anthrax, cholera, and tuberculosis.
The Charit? hospital complex is the largest university hospital in Europe, tracing back its origins to the year 1710. The Charit? is spread over four sites and comprises 3,300 beds, around 14,000 staff, 8,000 students, and more than 60 operating theatres, and has a turnover of over one billion euros annually. It is a joint institution of the Free University of Berlin and the Humboldt University of Berlin, including a wide range of institutes and specialized medical centers.
Among them are the German Heart Center, one of the most renowned transplantation centers, the Max-Delbr?ck-Center for Molecular Medicine and the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics. The scientific research at these institutions is complemented by many research departments of companies such as Siemens, Schering and Debis.
Demographics
As of March 2010, the city-state of Berlin had a population of 3,440,441 registered inhabitants in an area of . The city's population density was 3,848 inhabitants per km? (9,966/sq?mi). The urban area of Berlin stretches beyond the city limits and comprises about 3.7?million people, while the metropolitan area of the Berlin-Brandenburg region is home to about 4.3?million in an area of . In 2004, The Larger Urban Zone was home to over 4.9?million people in an area of 17,385?km?.
National and international migration into the city has a long history. In 1685, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France, the city responded with the Edict of Potsdam, which guaranteed religious freedom and tax-free status to French Huguenot refugees for ten years. The Greater Berlin Act in 1920 incorporated many suburbs and surrounding cities of Berlin. It formed most of the territory that comprises modern Berlin. The act increased the area of Berlin from to and the population from 1.9?million to 4?million. Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s. Currently, Berlin is home to about 250,000 Turks (especially in Kreuzberg, Neuk?lln and Wedding, a locality in the borough of Mitte), making it the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey.
In the 1990s the Aussiedlergesetze enabled immigration to Germany of some residents from the former Soviet Union. Today ethnic Germans from countries of the former Soviet Union make up the largest portion of the Russian-speaking community. The current decade experiences an increasing influx from various Western countries. Especially young EU-Europeans are settling in the city. Additionally, Berlin has seen a rise of African immigrants during the last two decades.
In December 2010, 457,806 residents (13.5% of the population) were of foreign nationality, originating from 190 different countries. The largest groups of foreign nationals are those from Turkey (104,556), Poland (40,988), Serbia (19,230), Italy (15,842), Russia (15,332), France (13,262), Vietnam (13,199), the United States (12,733), Bosnia and Herzegovina (10,198), the United Kingdom (10,191), Croatia (10,104), and Israel (estimated 10,000) . An estimated 394,000 citizens (12.2%) are descendants of international migrants and have either become naturalized German citizens or obtained citizenship by virtue of birth in Germany. All in all, about 25%?30% of the population is of foreign origin
As of 2010, there were approx. 900,000 (approx. 27%) persons with a migrant background resident in Berlin. However, there are significant differences in the distribution of minorities. For Instance, in the West-Berlin areas of Wedding, Neuk?lln and Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, foreign nationals and German nationals with a migrant background make up nearly 70% of the population, whereas areas and localities in former East Berlin have much lower percentages. The immigrant community is quite diverse, however, Middle Easterners (e.g. Turks, Arabs etc.), Eastern Europeans and smaller numbers of East Asians, Sub-Saharan Africans and other European immigrants form the largest groups.
| Percentage of people with migrant background | ||
| class="hintergrundfarbe5">Germans without migrant background | ~73 % (2,500,000) | |
| class="hintergrundfarbe5" | Germans with migrant background (including non-German nationals) | ~27 % (900,000) |
| Muslim/Middle Eastern origin (Turkey, Arab League, Iran etc.) | ~9,0 % (300,000) | |
| Non-German European origin (Russia, Poland, Great Britain, Greece, Serbia, Spain, France etc.) | ~9.0 % (300,000) | |
| Others( East Asians, Afro-Germans, USA | Americans, Israelis, Sub-Saharan Africans, Latin Americans etc.) | ~9,0 % (300,000) |
This list is based on official statistics and not on ethnicity; hence, there might be a lower percentage of Germans without a migrant background/ethnic Germans. The percentage of children and teenagers who have a migrant background is 50%. In Neuk?lln it is nearly 80%.
Additionally, Berlin has up to 100,000 to 250,000 illegal immigrants mostly from Africa, Asia, the Balkan region and Latin America. Following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union, there has been an influx of Romani people. Estimates vary, however, and there could have been up to 200,000 vagrant Romas in Berlin in recent years.
The most common foreign languages in Berlin are Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Polish, Kurdish, Vietnamese, English, Serbian, Croatian, Greek and other Asian languages. Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Serbian and Croatian can be heard more often in the western part, due to the large Middle-Eastern and ex-Yugoslavian immigrant communities, whereas Vietnamese, Russian and Polish have more native speakers residing in the eastern part of Berlin.Religion
More than 60% of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation and Berlin has been described as the atheist capital of Europe. The largest denominations are the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (a united church within the Evangelical Church in Germany) with 19.4% of the population as of 2008, and the Roman Catholic Church with 9.4% of registered members. About 2.7% of the population identify with other Christian denominations and 8.8% are Muslims. Approximately 80% of the 12,000 Jews now residing in Berlin have come from the former Soviet Union.
Berlin is seat of a Roman Catholic bishop (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin) and a also a Protestant bishop (Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia). The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church has eight parishes of different sizes in Berlin.
There are 36 Baptist congregations, 29 New Apostolic Churches, 15 United Methodist churches, eight Free Evangelical Congregations, six congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an Old Catholic church and an Anglican church in Berlin. Berlin has 76 mosques, eleven synagogues, and two Buddhist temples. There are also a number of humanist and atheist groups in the city.
Education
Berlin has 878 schools that teach 340,658 children in 13,727 classes and 56,787 trainees in businesses and elsewhere. The city has a six-year primary education program. After completing primary school, students progress to the Sekundarschule (a comprehensive school) or Gymnasium (college preparatory school). Berlin has a special bilingual school program embedded in the "Europaschule". At participating schools, children are taught the curriculum in German and also in a foreign language, starting in primary school and continuing in high school. Throughout nearly all boroughs, nine major European languages can be chosen as foreign languages in 29 schools.
The Franz?sisches Gymnasium Berlin, which was founded in 1689 to teach the children of Huguenot refugees, offers (German/French) instruction. The John F. Kennedy School, a bilingual German?American public school located in Zehlendorf, is particularly popular with children of diplomats and the English-speaking expatriate community. In addition, four schools ("Humanistische Gymnasien") teach Latin and Classical Greek, and are renowned for highest academic standards. Two of them are state schools (Steglitzer Gymnasium in Steglitz and Goethe-Gymnasium in Wilmersdorf), one is Protestant (Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Wilmersdorf), and one is Jesuit (Canisius-Kolleg in the "Embassy Quarter" in Tiergarten).
Science
The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region is one of the most prolific centers of higher education and research in the European Union. The city has four universities and 27 private, professional and technical colleges (Hochschulen), offering a wide range of disciplines. 135,327 students were registered at the 31 universities and colleges in 2008/09. The three largest universities combined have approximately 100,000 enrolled students. They are the Humboldt Universit?t zu Berlin with 35,000 students, the Freie Universit?t Berlin (Free University of Berlin) with ca. 35,000 students, and the Technische Universit?t Berlin with 30,000 students. The Universit?t der K?nste has about 4,300 students.
The city has a high density of research institutions, such as the Fraunhofer Society, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and the Max Planck Society, which are independent of, or only loosely connected to its universities. A total number of 62,000 scientists are working in research and development. The city is one of the centers of knowledge and innovation communities (Future Information and Communication Society and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
In addition to libraries that are affiliated with the various universities, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is a major research library. Its two main locations are near Potsdamer Platz on Potsdamer Stra?e and on Unter den Linden. There are also 108 public libraries in the city.
Culture
Berlin is noted for its numerous cultural institutions, many of which enjoy international reputation. The diversity and vivacity of the Zeitgeist Metropolis led to a trendsetting image among major cities. The city has a very diverse art scene and is home to around 420 art galleries. Many young people and international artists continue to settle in the city, and Berlin has established itself as a center of youth and popular culture in Europe.
The expanding cultural role of Berlin is underscored by the 2003 announcement that the Popkomm, Europe's largest annual music industry convention?previously hosted for 15 years by Cologne?would move to Berlin. Shortly thereafter, the Universal Music Group and MTV also decided to move their European headquarters and main studios to the banks of the River Spree in Friedrichshain. In 2005, Berlin was awarded the title of "City of Design" by UNESCO.
Media
Berlin is home to many international and regional television and radio stations. The public broadcaster RBB has its headquarters in Berlin as well as the commercial broadcasters MTV Europe, VIVA, and N24. German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle has its TV production unit in Berlin, and most national German broadcasters have a studio in the city. American radio programming from National Public Radio is also broadcast on the FM dial.
Berlin has Germany's largest number of daily newspapers, with numerous local broadsheets (Berliner Morgenpost, Berliner Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel), and three major tabloids, as well as national dailies of varying sizes, each with a different political affiliation, such as Die Welt, Junge Welt, Neues Deutschland, and Die Tageszeitung. The Exberliner, a monthly magazine, is Berlin's English-language periodical focusing on arts and entertainment. Berlin is also the headquarter of the two major German-language publishing houses Walter de Gruyter and Springer, each of which publishing books, periodicals, and multimedia products.
Berlin is an important center in the European and German film industry. It is home to more than 1000 film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year. The historic Babelsberg Studios and the production company UFA are located outside Berlin in Potsdam. The city is also home of the European Film Academy and the German Film Academy, and hosts the annual Berlin Film Festival. Founded in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978. With over 430,000 admissions it is the largest publicly attended film festival in the world.
Nightlife and festivals
Berlin's nightlife is one of the most diverse and vibrant of its kind in Europe. Throughout the 1990s, people in their twenties from many countries, particularly those in Eastern and Central Europe, made Berlin's club scene the premier nightlife destination of Europe. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many historic buildings in Mitte, the former city center of East Berlin, were illegally occupied and re-built by young squatters and became a fertile ground for underground and counterculture gatherings. Mitte and surrounding boroughs are also home to many nightclubs, including Kunst Haus Tacheles, techno clubs Tresor, WMF, Ufo, E-Werk, KitKatClub and Berghain. The techno-music club, Linientreu, near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, has been in business since the late 1980s. The LaBelle discoth?que in Friedenau became widely known as the location of the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing. Berlin is notable for the length of its parties. Clubs are not required to close at a fixed time on the weekends, and many parties last well into the morning, or all weekend. Berghain features the Panorama Bar, so named because the bar opens its shades at daybreak, allowing party-goers a panorama view of Berlin after dancing through the night.The SO36 in Kreuzberg originally focused largely on punk music, but today has become a popular venue for many dances and parties. SOUND, located from 1971 to 1988 in Tiergarten and today in Charlottenburg, gained notoriety in the late 1970s for its popularity with heroin users and other drug addicts as described in Christiane F.'s book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo.
The Karneval der Kulturen, a multi-ethnic street parade celebrated every Pentecost weekend, and the Christopher Street Day are both supported by the city's government. Berlin is also well known for the cultural festival, Berliner Festspiele, which include the jazz festival JazzFest Berlin. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, including Transmediale and Chaos Communication Congress.
Gay life
Berlin has a long history of gay culture and influence on popular entertainment, and according to some authors, in the 1920s the city was the Gay Capital of Europe. Today, the city has a huge number of gay clubs and festivals, such as Easter fetish week (Easter in Berlin), Christopher Street Day (Berlin Pride)?central Europe's largest gay-lesbian pride event celebrated on the last weekend of June?Folsom Europe and Hustlaball. Berlin is also leading Europe in the number of fetish clubs. "Easter in Berlin" and "Folsom Europe Berlin" are the biggest gay fetish festivals in Europe. Annual gay highlights in Berlin are also the gay and lesbian street festival in Berlin-Sch?neberg (Lesbisch-schwules Stadtfest) and Kreuzberg Pride in June. The largest gay areas in Berlin are located in Sch?neberg close to Nollendorfplatz and in Prenzlauer Berg at the Sch?nhauser Allee subway station.Galleries and museums
Berlin is home to 153 museums. The ensemble on the Museum Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is situated in the northern part of the Spree Island between the Spree and the Kupfergraben. As early as 1841 it was designated a "district dedicated to art and antiquities" by a royal decree. Subsequently, the Altes Museum (Old Museum) in the Lustgarten displaying the bust of Queen Nefertiti, the Neues Museum (New Museum), Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), Pergamon Museum, and Bode Museum were built there. While these buildings once housed distinct collections, the names of the buildings no longer necessarily correspond to the names of their collections.
Apart from the Museum Island, there are many additional museums in the city. The Gem?ldegalerie (Painting Gallery) focuses on the paintings of the "old masters" from the 13th to the 18th centuries, while the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) specializes in 20th century European painting. The Hamburger Bahnhof, located in Moabit, exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. In spring 2006, the expanded Deutsches Historisches Museum re-opened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history through the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Bauhaus Archive is an architecture museum.
The Jewish Museum has a standing exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history. The German Museum of Technology in Kreuzberg has a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The Museum f?r Naturkunde exhibits natural history near Berlin Hauptbahnhof. It has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a brachiosaurus), and a preserved specimen of the early bird Archaeopteryx.
In Dahlem, there are several museums of world art and culture, such as the Museum of Asian Art, the Ethnological Museum, the Museum of European Cultures, as well as the Allied Museum (a museum of the Cold War) and the Br?cke Museum (an art museum). In Lichtenberg, on the grounds of the former East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi), is the Stasi Museum. The site of Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most renowned crossing points of the Berlin Wall, is still preserved and also has a museum, a private venture which exhibits comprehensive documentation of detailed plans and strategies devised by people who tried to flee from the East. The Beate Uhse Erotic Museum near Zoo Station claims to be the world's largest erotic museum.
Performing arts
Berlin is home to more than 50 theaters. The Deutsches Theater in Mitte was built in 1849?50 and has operated continuously since then, except for a one-year break (1944?45) due to the Second World War. The Volksb?hne at Rosa Luxemburg Platz was built in 1913?14, though the company had been founded in 1890. The Berliner Ensemble, famous for performing the works of Bertolt Brecht, was established in 1949, not far from the Deutsches Theater. The Schaub?hne was founded in 1962 in a building in Kreuzberg, but in 1981 moved to the building of the former Universum Cinema on Kurf?rstendamm.
Berlin has three major opera houses: the Deutsche Oper, the Berlin State Opera, and the Komische Oper. The Berlin State Opera on Unter den Linden opened in 1742 and is the oldest of the three. Its current musical director is Daniel Barenboim. The Komische Oper has traditionally specialized in operettas and is located at Unter den Linden as well. The Deutsche Oper opened in 1912 in Charlottenburg. During the division of the city from 1961 to 1989 it was the only major opera house in West Berlin.
There are seven symphony orchestras in Berlin. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world; it is housed in the Berliner Philharmonie near Potsdamer Platz on a street named for the orchestra's longest-serving conductor, Herbert von Karajan. The current principal conductor is Simon Rattle. The Konzerthausorchester Berlin was founded in 1952 as the orchestra for East Berlin, since the Philharmonic was based in West Berlin. Its current principal conductor is Lothar Zagrosek. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt presents various exhibitions dealing with intercultural issues and stages world music and conferences.
Cuisine
Berlin is home to a diverse gastronomy scene reflecting the immigrant history of the city. Twelve restaurants in Berlin have been included into the Michelin guide, which ranks the city at the top for the number of its restaurants having this distinction in Germany.
Many local foods originated from north-German culinary traditions and include rustic and hearty dishes with pork, goose, fish, peas, beans, cucumbers or potatoes.
Typical Berliner fares include Currywurst, invented in 1949, Eisbein, the Berliner known as a , and Leber Berliner Art (Berlin-style liver).
Turkish and Arab immigrant workers brought their culinary traditions to the city; for example, the d?ner kebab, falafel and lahmacun, which have become common fast-food staples. The modern fast-food version of the d?ner was invented in Berlin in 1971.
Recreation
Zoologischer Garten Berlin, the older of two zoos in the city, was founded in 1844, and presents the most diverse range of species in the world. It was the home of the captive-born celebrity polar bear Knut, born in December 2006. The city's other zoo is Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, founded in 1955 on the grounds of Schloss Friedrichsfelde in the Borough of Lichtenberg.
Berlin's Botanischer Garten includes the Botanic Museum Berlin. With an area of and around 22,000 different plant species it is one of the largest and most diverse gardens in the world. Other gardens in the city include the Britzer Garten, site of the 1985 Bundesgartenschau, and the Erholungspark Marzahn, promoted under the name Gardens of the world.
The Tiergarten is Berlin's largest park located in Mitte and was designed by Peter Joseph Lenn?. In Kreuzberg the Viktoriapark provides a good viewing point over the southern part of inner city Berlin. Treptower Park beside the Spree in Treptow has a monument honoring the Soviet soldiers killed in the 1945 Battle of Berlin. The Volkspark in Friedrichshain, which opened in 1848, is the oldest park in the city. Its summit is man-made and covers a Second World War bunker and rubble from the ruins of the city; at its foot is Germany's main memorial to Polish soldiers.
Berlin is known for its numerous beach bars along the river Spree. Together with the countless
Source: http://article.wn.com/view/2012/01/05/German_President_Spares_Merkel_Crisis_After_Terrible_Error/
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