The Guardian British couples should consider having no more than two children to help reduce the environmental impact of the rising global population, doctors have said.

aqian100319 An editorial in the British Medical Journal today calls on GPs to encourage the view that bigger families are as environmentally dubious as owning a patio heater or driving a gas-guzzler.

Here is a worldclock that shows the constant growth of population: worldclock Here is what I imagine is a typical reply – don’t tell ME what to do Nicholas Lezard: Why are doctors urging Britons to stick to two children?

guardian.co.uk God, am I tired of doctors telling us what to do. First they tell us not to smoke. Then they tell us not to drink a bottle of wine a night. And now they’re telling us how many times men can impregnate their partners.I think that time is the most precious gift, because time is the greatest teacher.

Given time we all come to a greater understanding eventually. I think over-population takes away time from future generations – because it causes deforestation, lack of drinking water, lack of food, and eliminates so many species (more than 50,000 species become extinct PER YEAR due to human interference)…  Time is the most precious gift.  And I am glad the discussion has started.If you are new to this Diary I would like to point out the Binaural video we recorded last Summer. You can find the quicktime version here and a flash version here. 

The same packaging concept is also applied to a pudding ??” to be seen here.

aqian100317 Flamenco Blanca (Blanca/white means that the back and sides were made from Cypress, while Negra/black means that the sides and back were made from Rosewood) with ebony pegs by Lester DeVoe. This is also the guitar on the cover of The Scent of Light.While Lester usually puts a one-piece tap plate (golpeador) on his guitars, I always request two pieces, leaving the area underneath the strings unprotected. I think it allows the top to flex better and sounds more “open”.

Flamenco Blanca (Blanca/white means that the back and sides were made from Cypress, while Negra/black means that the sides and back were made from Rosewood) with ebony pegs by Lester DeVoe. This is also the guitar on the cover of The Scent of Light.While Lester usually puts a one-piece tap plate (golpeador) on his guitars, I always request two pieces, leaving the area underneath the strings unprotected. I think it allows the top to flex better and sounds more “open”.When an Aspen resident asked our manager whether she would have her “Chico move the bus”,

Teach the Starlings Eugene Scheiffelin being the incredibly short sighted fellow who decided to introduce the birds of Shakespeare to the United States in the late 19th century. One of which is the European starling.

Though many of Scheiffelin???s introduced birds never really took off, those beloved little starlings virtually spread like wildfire across North America, displacing staggering numbers of native birds from their niches. With a North American population of more than 200 million, it is now the most common bird on the continent. Nice going, Scheiffelin. 

I decided to put her in a shawl I made last year. It’s the Autumn Lace Shawl, pattern and yarn from Kiparoo Farms. It’s a heavier, less delicate shawl than most of the ones I’ve made. That’s one reason I like it. The yarn is a deep, beautiful red although the strong late afternoon light in these photos washes it out a bit.Taking pictures with Lucy was great! She didn’t complain that it was windy, she didn’t mind being fussed with, and she even let me stick some pins in her.Thank you again, Kim!!! Also in the oversize novelty box were these slippers, knit for me as a surprise by my big sister:

aqian100315 I’m wearing them right now, although I suppose I should decorate them. Thank you, Susan! As for the Peacock Shawl, I’m almost finished with Chart 7, which is the last chart before the edging. I should finish it this week. I think Lucy will look lovely in it. PS from Susan — I guess mine will have to be Ethel!!

This will be a quick update. I’ve just started Chart 7 of the Peacock Shawl, which is the section with the large feathers (before the edging). I’m posting a photograph although there’s not much to see yet — always the case with pre-blocked lace.The color is deeper and richer than it looks here.I don’t think mine were looking all that attractive apart from the slanting problem, so I will replace that with a different double decrease. Finally, there is no strong center line up the middle of the shawl. I’m going to insert one. As long as I have to rewrite some of the charts, I may as well.

In the meantime, I felt like knitting on a shawl but I just didn’t have it in me to start this one for the third time right this minute. So I’m doing another head start project: the glorious Peacock Shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting. Photographs of it can be found here and here. I started this shawl a loooong time ago. It was the first time I’d ever knit lace. Yeah. I chose this as my very first lace project. It seemed daunting, so I put it away. Well, when I pulled it out yesterday, I realized that it’s a very easy and manageable project. It doesn’t take much lace experience to suddenly be able to read your knitting as well as the charts. Reading your knitting is a big help always, but especially with lace. It’s nice to see that I’ve actually learned something. I don’t think mine were looking all that attractive apart from the slanting problem, so I will replace that with a different double decrease. Finally, there is no strong center line up the middle of the shawl. I’m going to insert one. As long as I have to rewrite some of the charts, I may as well.

In the meantime, I felt like knitting on a shawl but I just didn’t have it in me to start this one for the third time right this minute. So I’m doing another head start project: the glorious Peacock Shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting. Photographs of it can be found here and here. I started this shawl a loooong time ago. It was the first time I’d ever knit lace. Yeah. I chose this as my very first lace project. It seemed daunting, so I put it away. Well, when I pulled it out yesterday, I realized that it’s a very easy and manageable project. It doesn’t take much lace experience to suddenly be able to read your knitting as well as the charts. Reading your knitting is a big help always, but especially with lace. It’s nice to see that I’ve actually learned something.

Iraqi song and he hoped there were no Syrians in the room – except for his wife, who is Syrian. She told me later, when Rahim took his cigarette break, that it was a Syrian song for sure…  Rahim was fired up by Souhail Kaspar and played beautifully. An amazing evening.

aqian100212 Stephen and I got together yesterday for Monday Night Flamenco (pizza ‘n’ beer, discuss Flamenco, watch YouTube, make fun of, admire, bitch and kvetch…) and came up with this idea for our Guess this Noise game.  HERE is the solution.  If you are new to this game, you can find the first two noises HERE and HERE.Wired News: IPod Will Be the New CD These cheap album iPods could be sold at bus stations and airports: instant music,

Children will ask how did you do without multi-touch the same way I asked my parents how they got by using a hand-pump to draw water from a well. How did you take a bath? We went to the well with a bucket, several times, and then heated water on a wood-stove…

A Red Cat’s Journey, Enhanced by iTunes – New York Times Then Mr. Cooder noticed something else: When he burned a copy of the album using Apple’s iTunes software, it sounded fine. He didn’t know why until one of his younger engineers told him that the default settings on iTunes apply a “sound enhancer.”(It’s in the preferences menu, under “playback.”) Usually, that feature sweetens the sound of digital music files, but Mr. Cooder so liked its effect on his studio recordings that he used it to master 

Children will ask how did you do without multi-touch the same way I asked my parents how they got by using a hand-pump to draw water from a well. How did you take a bath? We went to the well with a bucket, several times, and then heated water on a wood-stove…

A Red Cat’s Journey, Enhanced by iTunes – New York Times Then Mr. Cooder noticed something else: When he burned a copy of the album using Apple’s iTunes software, it sounded fine. He didn’t know why until one of his younger engineers told him that the default settings on iTunes apply a “sound enhancer.”

(It’s in the preferences menu, under “playback.”) Usually, that feature sweetens the sound of digital music files, but Mr. Cooder so liked its effect on his studio recordings that he used it to master.

Kangaroo taking the gold medal and the three-wheeled glory. Then there was several heats for two-wheelers and Thorsten Rentel beat Hans Fogh by a spoke in the final. In both disciplines the riders rode first without cargo and then had to put three tyres on the bikes to finish.

aqian100309 There were many Bullitts from Larry vs. Harry, a good number of Dutch Bakfiets and quite a few Belinkys. Add to that Christiania Bikes, Longjohns, Short Johns and the aforementioned Kangaroo. Baisikeli was present with one of their ambulance bikes from their African workshops.

You know that I am all about pushing bikes and cycling,My dad, who contemplated buying a Segway in his late Eighties, would have loved this machine. He could have used it instead of a car for most of his daily errands.

Because a knee was failing him when he was 91, he had to drive a car to the grocery store that was about a mile from his apartment. I am perfectly able-bodied to use a bicycle, but this GM/Segway product pictured is fantastic for the elderly and people with a physical handicap.Come of your high horse bicycle advocates. 

My dad, who contemplated buying a Segway in his late Eighties, would have loved this machine. He could have used it instead of a car for most of his daily errands.

Because a knee was failing him when he was 91, he had to drive a car to the grocery store that was about a mile from his apartment. I am perfectly able-bodied to use a bicycle, but this GM/Segway product pictured is fantastic for the elderly and people with a physical handicap. Come of your high horse bicycle advocates.

government should mandate funding for music education beginning in fourth grade, when most kids develop the attention span and coordination necessary to learn an instrument, all the way through high school.

aqian100308 This will not only contribute to a strong base of musical performers, but the kids who lack the talent or drive to pursue music as a lifelong hobby will at least learn to appreciate the skill it takes for others to pursue it–just like youth sports creates lifelong sports fans.And professional musicians should be able to take classes in new areas–theory, audio production–without having to pay the entire tuition out of their own pockets.Tax breaks. Bars, restaurants,

Same with radio stations that play a certain percentage of music from local or unsigned musicians. (Big corporate radio with its narrow audience-tested playlists has done far more to devalue music–and harm sales–than the Internet.)Cities should be encouraged to create music-nightlife zones with less-stringent noise restrictions and the appropriate level of police protection.Stipends for musicians. 

Same with radio stations that play a certain percentage of music from local or unsigned musicians. (Big corporate radio with its narrow audience-tested playlists has done far more to devalue music–and harm sales–than the Internet.)Cities should be encouraged to create music-nightlife zones with less-stringent noise restrictions and the appropriate level of police protection.Stipends for musicians.

Then he surprised the world by unveiling another timepiece which was more accurate, and it reached 1/50 th of a second. Soon Heuer gained world wide reputation for his obsession with precision.

aqian100305 In 1920, the chronographs stood out among other brand Tag Heuer watch and were appointed as the official timepiece of the Antwerp Olympics for their high precision as well as excellent quality. Heuer has been working heart and soul to manufacture these high precision timepieces.

And he has won a lot of patents for creating some unique mechanical functions such as the Time of Trip feature, which can be applied into the dashboards of planes and cars. And the oscillating pinion developed by him is still be applied into watch production by many watchmakers today.

With ever improving technologies and excellent craftsmanship as well as high quality materials, Heuer had created more and more innovative watches in the years followed.The year 1969 might be regarded as a milestone for Heuer 

which helped the brand established a solid position in the luxury brand watch industry. In 1985, the Tag Heuer watches company was officially established after its purchase by Tag. Since then, the new company has been engaged in manufacturing the best timepieces, which help the brand maintain a great position in the world luxury brand industry.Founded in 1853, Tissot watches were well known for their distinguished taste and ever improving craftsmanship. They quickly gained popularity and were well received all over the world both for the collectors and the public since the launch of the first watch. The infusion of high quality materials together with advanced technology have ranked the watch in the forefront of the watch industry.Tissot has been involved in sports such as hockey, cycling and cricket for decades, and it has been in partnership with a lot of sports teams. 

which helped the brand established a solid position in the luxury brand watch industry. In 1985, the Tag Heuer watches company was officially established after its purchase by Tag. Since then, the new company has been engaged in manufacturing the best timepieces, which help the brand maintain a great position in the world luxury brand industry.

Founded in 1853, Tissot watches were well known for their distinguished taste and ever improving craftsmanship. They quickly gained popularity and were well received all over the world both for the collectors and the public since the launch of the first watch. The infusion of high quality materials together with advanced technology have ranked the watch in the forefront of the watch industry.Tissot has been involved in sports such as hockey, cycling and cricket for decades, and it has been in partnership with a lot of sports teams.