Constantinople – The lost city of Greece

This city is calling now Instabul,that means “in the City” ,the city had till then the name Constantinopolis ,that means in greek ,the city of Constantinos.Constantinos the great was the greatest King of the Eastern Empire ,”Byzantium” .I was in this magnificent city twice and I have to admit that my heart was breaking in pieces when I realised that this jewlerry of Bospurus is ruined by many millions of Barbarians who live there.The hidden dream of every Greek ,is to see this city again greek.Its the dream of everyone who feels Greek ,to see the greek flag in the roof of Hagia Sofia in Constantinopolis.Here you can see the history of this amazing city

Constantinopolis is the largest city in Turkey and is among the 25 largest urban areas in the world. It is located on the Bosporus Strait and covers the entire area of the Golden Horn – a natural harbor. Because of its size, Constantinopolis extends into both Europe and Asia. The city is the world’s only metropolis to extend into more than one continent.

The city of Constantinopolis is important to geography because it has a long history that spans the rise and fall of the world’s most famous empires. Due to its participation in these empires, Constantinopolis has also undergone various name changes throughout its lengthy history.

History of Constantinopolis

Byzantium

Though Constantinopolis may have been inhabited as early as 3000 BCE, it was not a city until Greek colonists arrived in the area in the 7th Century BCE. These colonists were led by King Byzas and settled there because of the strategic location along the Bosporus Strait. King Byzas named the city Byzantium after himself.

The Roman Empire (330-395 CE)

Following its development by the Greeks, Byzantium became a part of the Roman Empire in the 300s. During this time, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great undertook a construction project to rebuild the entire city. His goal was to make it stand out and give the city monuments similar to those found in Rome. In 330, Constantine declared the city as the capital of the entire Roman Empire and renamed it Constantinople.

The Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire (395-1204 and 1261-1453 CE)

After Constantinople was named the capital of the Roman Empire the city grew and prospered. After the death of the emperor Theodosius I in 395, however, enormous upheaval took place in the empire as his sons permanently divided the empire. Following the division, Constantinople became the capital of the Byzantine Empire in the 400s.

As part of the Byzantine Empire, the city became distinctly Greek as opposed to its former identity in the Roman Empire. Because Constantinople was at the center of two continents, it became a center of commerce, culture, diplomacy, and grew considerably. In 532, though, the anti-government Nika Revolt broke out among the city’s population and destroyed it. After the revolt however, the Constantinople was rebuilt and many of its most outstanding monuments were constructed- one of which was the Haghia Sophia as Constantinople became the center of the Greek Orthodox Church.

The Latin Empire (1204-1261)

Although Constantinople significantly prospered during decades following its becoming a part of the Byzantine Empire, the factors leading to its success also made it a target for conquering. For hundreds of years, troops from all over the Middle-East attacked the city. For a time it was even controlled by members of the Fourth Crusade after it was desecrated in 1204. Subsequently, Constantinople became the center of the Catholic Latin Empire.

As competition persisted between the Catholic Latin Empire and the Greek Orthodox Byzantine Empire, Constantinople was caught in the middle and began to significantly decay. It went financially bankrupt, the population declined, and it became vulnerable to further attacks as defense posts around the city crumbled. In 1261, in the midst of this turmoil, the Empire of Nicaea recaptured Constantinople and it was returned to the Byzantine Empire. Around the same time, the Ottoman Turks began conquering the cities surrounding Constantinople, effectively cutting it off from many of its neighboring cities.

The Ottoman Empire (1453-1922)

After being considerably weakened by constant invasions and being cut off from its neighbors by the Ottoman Turks, Constantinople was officially conquered by the Ottomans, led by Sultan Mehmed II on May 29, 1453 after a 53-day siege. During the siege, the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, died while defending his city. Almost immediately, Constantinople was named as the capital of the Ottoman Empire and its name was changed to Constantinopolis.

Upon taking control of the city, Sultan Mehmed sought to rejuvenate Constantinopolis. He created the Grand Bazaar (one of the largest covered marketplaces in the world), brought back fleeing Catholic and Greek Orthodox residents. In addition to these residents, he brought in Muslim, Christian, and Jewish families to establish a mixed populace. Sultan Mehmed also began the building of architectural monuments, schools, hospitals, public baths, and grand imperial mosques.

From 1520 to 1566, Suleiman the Magnificent controlled the Ottoman Empire and there were many artistic and architectural achievements that made it a major cultural, political, and commercial center. By the mid-1500s, the city’s population also grew to almost 1 million inhabitants. The Ottoman Empire ruled Constantinopolis until it was defeated and occupied by the allies in World War I.

The Republic of Turkey (1923-today)

Following its occupation by the allies in World War I, the Turkish War of Independence took place and Constantinopolis became a part of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. Constantinopolis was not the capital city of the new republic and during the early years of its formation Constantinopolis was overlooked and investment went into the new centrally located capital Ankara. In the 1940s and 1950s though, Constantinopolis re-emerged new public squares, boulevards, and avenues were constructed. Because of the construction though, many of the city’s historic buildings were demolished.

In the 1970s, Constantinopolis’s population rapidly increased, causing the city to expand into the nearby villages and forests, eventually creating a major world metropolis.

Constantinopolis Today

Constantinopolis’s many historical areas were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985. In addition, because of its status as a world rising power, its history, importance to culture in both Europe and the world, Constantinopolis has been designated the European Capital of Culture for 2010 by the European Union.

 

Quit smoking.Read the full story

If we look around us we will see more and more people who are smokers.Its sad that even people who re diagnosed with health problems insist to smoke.Its really very sad ,because they cannot realise the most important thing.That their health is the most valuable asset in their life.They think that the only that they need is a way to relax ,to enjoy ,to avoid stress and to make some fun.They forget that cigarette is a poison and that it can kill.The see only how to make some fun and nothing else.Here I will post you an interactive article about the ways of quitning smoking ,there is always the positive side of the moon

Would you like to quit smoking? Quitting smoking can be a drag, but you can successfully quit when you know what to expect, are motivated, have social support, and create a personal game plan.  Stopping smoking requires desire, determination, and commitment, but the more you learn about your options and prepare for quitting, the easier it will be. While some smokers successfully quit by going cold turkey, most people need a plan that involves a gradual reduction in smoking and different rituals for satisfying your needs. You may be surprised to discover other things in your life that are as pleasurable as smoking. It is possible to learn how to replace your smoking habits, manage your cravings, and join the millions of people who have kicked the habit for good!

In This Article:

• Why quitting seems so hard
• Creating your personal stop smoking plan
• Tips to quit smoking and manage cravings
• Finding help to quit smoking
• What to do if you relapse
• Related Links

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Why quitting seems so hard

The pleasures of smoking

It’s not easy to let go of something that’s been such an integral part of your life for so long. That little stick of tobacco has stuck with you through thick or thin, rain or shine, day or night. With minimal effort it has provided hours of comfort and activated the pleasure centers in your brain. No wonder the thought of quitting seems so daunting. Who wants to give up something that can temporarily make sadness, stress, and boredom evaporate into thin air? Just thinking about it can stop you in your tracks. But that’s exactly what’s needed. Stop for a moment and think about why smoking is in your life. What purpose does it serve?

How to get your smoking needs met without smoking

Whatever your reasons are for having smoking in your life, there is an alternative behavior you can  substitute in place of smoking which will achieve the same result in the end. Only you can determine what will work for you. Some examples include:

Purpose of Smoking	Sample Substitute Behaviors
Relaxation or stress reduction	Deep breathing exercises, meditation, massage or exercise
Boredom or Loneliness	Find something you’re passionate about such as art, music, or literature
To feel more comfortable in social situations	Counseling, enroll in a public speaking class, join a support group or splurge on a makeover
A meal doesn’t feel quite complete without a cigarette	Eat a healthy meal and then top it off with a delicious dessert

Tips for creating your personal stop smoking plan

Designing your personal game plan

Tailoring a personal game plan to your specific needs and desires can be a big help. A good place to start is with the online guide from smokefree.gov. They recommend thinking about why you want to quit and then writing down all your reasons. The site goes on to give you helpful tips and options. Some of your choices include: quitting smoking cold turkey, systematically decreasing the number of cigarettes you smoke, reducing your intake of nicotine gradually over time, using nicotine replacement therapy or non-nicotine medications to reduce withdrawal symptoms, utilizing nicotine support groups, trying hypnosis, acupuncture, or counseling using cognitive behavioral techniques.

Questions to ask yourself

To successfully detach from smoking, you will need to identify and address your smoking habits, the true nature of your dependency, and the techniques that work for you. These types of questions can help:

• Do you feel the need to smoke at every meal?
• Are you more of a social smoker?
• Is it a very bad addiction (more than a pack a day)? Or would a simple nicotine patch do the job?
• Is your cigarette smoking linked to other addictions?
• Are you open to hypnosis therapy and acupuncture?
• Are you someone who is open to talking about your addiction?
• Are you interested in getting into a fitness program?

Take the time to think of what kind of smoker you are, which moments of your life call for a cigarette, and why. This will help you to identify which tips, techniques or therapies may be most beneficial for you.

Stop smoking plan (START)

S = Set a quit date.

T = Tell family, friends, and co-workers that you plan to quit.

A = Anticipate and plan for the challenges you’ll face while quitting.

R = Remove cigarettes and other tobacco products from your home, car, and work.

T = Talk to your doctor about getting help to quit.

For a more info see the Surgeon General’s Tobacco Cessation Help Pages

How Jerry quit

Jerry kicked a 1/2 pack a day habit by reducing his intake, one cigarette at a time. First he cut out the morning cigarette that he always had with his coffee by substituting a warm cinnamon bun. After two weeks he dropped the mid-morning cigarette break. Then every other week he dropped another scheduled smoke time until he was totally smoke-free. Because he weaned himself off the nicotine so slowly he was able to quit without feeling any severe withdrawal symptoms.

Laura’s motivation to stop smoking

Laura smoked more than a pack a day for 10 years. She had tried quitting a few times over the years but always ended up retrieving the crumpled cigarette pack from the wastepaper basket. Nothing seemed to work until the day she got the jolt of her life; her doctor told her she had cancer. This event forced her to take stock of her life and started her on the path to quitting again. That was three years ago and she hasn’t lit up since. When you ask her how she did it, she’ll tell you it was sheer willpower and the support of family and friends.

Fear is a powerful motivator but you don’t have to wait until something frightening happens to stop smoking.

Tips to quit smoking and manage cravings

Cravings associated to sugar levels

When you stop smoking, your body reacts very quickly to the lack of nicotine in your system. Over the course of three to five days, you are likely to experience a number of the following physical symptoms as the toxins are flushed from your body:

• Increased irritability, frustration, or anger
• Anxiety, tension or nervousness
• Restlessness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Trouble sleeping
• Increased appetite and weight gain

As you smoke, nicotine is absorbed into your bloodstream and within 3 minutes, chemical reactions cause your body to trigger the release of sugar.  After quitting, you may feel dizzy, restless, nervous or even have strong headaches. This is because you are lacking the immediate release of sugar that cigarettes provide – and why you may have a bigger appetite. These sugar-related cravings should only last a few days until your body adjusts to this new smoke-less state of being. So, for the first 3 or 4 days after you quit, make sure you keep your sugar levels a bit higher than usual by drinking plenty of juice. It will help prevent the craving symptoms triggered by a lack of sugar and help your body re-adjust back to normal.

Smoking cessation and high sugar levels

When you quit smoking try eating healthier. Cravings can lead to over-eating to make up for the lack of instant sugar that was released in your body when you were smoking. Speak to a nutritionist if you are concerned, high sugar levels can be dangerous.

For more information, read Tips for a Healthy Diet : Guidelines for developing a plan for healthy eating

How to manage cigarette cravings

Remnants of old habits such as smoking with your morning coffee, after meals or business meetings, and while you’re stuck in traffic can trigger cravings. There are ways to anticipate those moments and deal with the possible withdrawal symptoms.

Cravings associated with meals

For some smokers, having a cup of coffee after a meal goes hand-in-hand with lighting up, and the idea of giving that up may look like a hard prospect. People have been able to successfully replace that special moment, at least in the early stages, with something that works for them. It could be a piece of fruit, a dessert, or a piece of dark chocolate. Eventually, you will re-discover the real savor of a good meal or a nicely brewed cup of coffee and will find that cigarette smoke spoils its taste.

Alcohol and cigarettes

Many people have a habit of smoking when they have an alcoholic drink. If you feel cravings after drinking with friends or family you may have to try non-alcoholic drinks. Nuts and chips to munch on are also great cigarette substitutes.

Social Smoking

When friends, family, and co-workers smoke around you, you are in risk of never being able to give up smoking. If you don’t address this directly it can increase your risk for relapse. Talking about your decision to quit is the first step, your social circles need to know that you are changing your habits. It may involve a change of habit on their part too, for example, they won’t be able to smoke when you’re in the car with them or in your presence.

Know that in every social circle there are non-smokers, sometimes former smokers, and people that can be of some inspiration in finding new and better habits. In your workplace, don’t take all your coffee breaks with smokers only, do something else instead, and find other non-smokers to have your breaks with. Your decision to quit could be a good role model for your friends and give them the incentive to quit as well.

The main thing is to stay strong and not compromise. This is a crucial change in your life. Let others around you know that you are serious about quitting.

Tips to deal with common cravings and withdrawal symptoms

• Stay active: Keep yourself distracted and occupied, go for walks.
• Keep your hands/fingers busy: Squeeze balls, pencils, or paper clips are good substitutes to satisfy that need for tactile stimulation.
• Keep your mind busy: Read a book or magazine, listen to some music you love.
• Find an oral substitute: Keep other things around to pop in your mouth when you’re craving a cigarette. Good choices include mints, hard candy, carrot or celery sticks, gum, and sunflower seeds.
• Drink lots of water: Flushing toxins from your body minimizes withdrawal symptoms and helps cravings pass faster.
• Look for new ways to relax and to cope with depression or anxiety: There are a lot of ways to improve your mood without smoking. See Depression Self-Help for some ideas. For tips on ways to deal with stress, visit Coping with Stress.

Keep a craving journal

For a couple of weeks make entries into a log book to monitor your daily progress. Think about different moments in your life when you enjoy having a cigarette, these are your triggers to smoking. Are there certain people or environments that trigger your cravings? How do you feel when you smoke? Jot down some other things you can do to feel that way. After you quit, if you’re having a bad day, you can look back at the comments you wrote in week one to get perspective on how far you’ve come.

Get support from others

Quitting smoking is challenging, and having the right people around you can make all the difference. Let your friends and family in on your plan to quit smoking and tell them you need their support and encouragement to stop. Look for a quit buddy who wants to stop smoking as well. You can help each other get through the rough times.

Keep the pounds off

Weight gain is a common concern when quitting smoking. While it’s true that many smokers put on weight when they stop smoking, the gain is usually small, on average 3-5 pounds. Weight gain occurs because the oral gratification of smoking is replaced by the self-soothing mechanism of eating. Don’t let the fear of putting on a few pounds weigh you down. Eating a healthy diet and staying active can help you maintain your current weight. See Healthy Weight Loss.

Finding help to quit smoking

Finding the right combination of things to help you stop smoking is as individual as you are. Medication can provide support in your effort to stop smoking by easing withdrawal symptoms, reducing cravings, and improving your chances of successfully quitting.

Medication therapy

Smoking cessation medications are most effective when used as part of a comprehensive stop smoking program monitored by your physician. Talk to your doctor about your options and whether an anti-smoking medication is right for you. U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved options are:

Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Nicotine replacement therapy involves “replacing” cigarettes with other nicotine substitutes, such as nicotine gum or a nicotine patch. It works by delivering “small and steady doses” of nicotine into the body to relieve some of the withdrawal symptoms without the tars and poisonous gases found in cigarettes. This type of treatment helps smokers focus on breaking their psychological addiction and makes it easier to concentrate on learning new behaviors and coping skills.

Non-Nicotine Medication

Non-nicotine medications help you stop smoking by reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Currently, bupropion (Zyban) and varenicline (Chantix) are the only two medications that don’t contain nicotine which are approved as smoking cessation aids. These anti-smoking pills are intended for short-term use.

Non-medication therapies

There are several things you can do to stop smoking that don’t involve nicotine replacement therapy or prescription medications:

Hypnosis

A popular option that has good results. Hypnosis works by getting you into a deeply relaxed state where you are open to suggestions that strengthen your resolve to quit smoking and increase your negative feelings toward cigarettes. Ask your doctor to recommend a qualified smoking cessation hypnotherapist in your area.

Acupuncture

One of the oldest known medical techniques. Acupuncture is believed to work by triggering the release of endorphins (natural pain relievers) that allow the body to relax. As a smoking cessation aid, acupuncture can be helpful in managing smoking withdrawal symptoms.

Behavioral Therapy

Nicotine addiction is related to the habitual behaviors (the “rituals”) involved in smoking. Behavior therapy focuses on learning new coping skills and breaking those habits. The American Lung Association offers a free online smoking cessation program that focuses on behavioral change.

Motivational Therapies

Self-help books and websites can provide a number of ways to motivate yourself to quit smoking. One well known example is calculating the monetary savings. Some people have been able to find the motivation to quit just by calculating how much money they will save after they quit. One person saved enough money to pay his annual car insurance premiums.

What to do if you relapse

Quitting smoking didn’t work, now what?

Two steps forward, one step back is a common pattern when you’re trying to replace unwanted habits with new positive ones. Having a small setback doesn’t mean you’re a smoker again. Most people try to quit smoking several times before they kick the habit for good, so don’t beat yourself up if you start smoking again. Turn the relapse into a rebound by learning from your mistakes. Identify the triggers or trouble spots you ran into and create a new and improved stop smoking plan.

• You’re not a failure if you slip up. It doesn’t mean you can’t quit for good.
• Don’t let a slip become a mudslide. Throw out the rest of the pack. It’s important to get back on the non-smoking track now. Remember, your goal is no cigarettes – not even one puff.
• Look back at your quit log and feel good about the time you went without smoking.
• Find the trigger. Exactly what was it that made you smoke again? Decide how you will cope with that issue the next time it comes up.
• Learn from your experience. What has been most helpful? What didn’t work?
• Find a quit buddy. You can quit smoking together and gain strength from each other.
• Are you using a medicine to help you quit? Call your doctor if you start smoking again. Some medicines cannot be used if you are smoking at the same time.

Related links for quitting smoking

Ways to Quit Smoking and Stop-Smoking Plans

Online Guide to Quitting – Step-by-step guide to quitting describes how to make a plan to quit, cope with cravings, manage withdrawal symptoms, and avoid relapse. (Smokefree.gov)

Quit Smoking Action Plan – 3-step plan for quitting smoking. Provides additional resources for support. (American Lung Association)

Double Your Chances of Quitting Smoking. Ways to improve your chances of quitting smoking. (American Cancer Society)

Helpful Hints to Kick the Smoking Habit – Provides advice on how to successfully quit smoking. Includes a list of smoke-free suggestions. (University of Maryland Medical Center)

Quit Meter – Calculate how much extra money you’ll have after quitting. (Defeataddictions.org)

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

Nicotine Alternatives / Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) – Provides an overview, general warnings, and side effects of NRT. (American Heart Association)

Nicotine Replacement – Comprehensive fact sheet on nicotine replacement includes a discussion of specific methods, dosages and side effects.  (American Lung Association)

Preventing Weight Gain after Quitting

You Can Control Your Weight as You Quit Smoking – Provides suggestions for what to do before, during, and after quitting smoking to prevent weight gain. (National Institutes of Health)

Coping with Nicotine Cravings and Withdrawal

Help For Cravings and Tough Situations – A list of tips to cope with cigarette cravings. (American Cancer Society)

Nicotine Dependence Coping Skills – A comprehensive guide to developing alternative coping strategies when quitting smoking. (Mayo Clinic)

Support for Smoking Cessation

Quitlines – Call 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669) to get the number of your local quitline.  (North American Quitline Consortium)

Smoking Cessation Programs – Searchable database of smoking cessation programs that you can locate by state or zip code. Also offers links to free support groups. (Quitnet)

Freedom From Smoking® Online – Provides a seven module program that supports you and walks you through a smoking cessation program. (American Lung Association)

Nicotine Anonymous Meetings – Search for local meetings of Nicotine Anonymous, a 12-Step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous. (Nicotine Anonymous)

Tips for Friends and Family

Helping A Smoker Quit: Do’s and Don’ts – Provides a general list of “do’s and don’ts” for supporting someone who is quitting smoking.  (American Cancer Society)

How Can I Help My Friends and Family (PDF) – Describes appropriate ways to help a friend or family member who is quitting smoking. (California Smokers’ Helpline)

 

The Serbian Athens

Apart from Belgrade ,I have also visit another one serbian city.It is called Novi Sad.It is located north of Serbia and its almost 1 hour away from Belgrade ,the capital of the country.Its rich in culture ,monuments and its considered the religious center of Serbia.Its a magnificent city ,with great architecture and its the best decorated city in Serbia.You feel like you are lost in an austrian city in the Middle Age.Here we can see the history of this amazing city

Stolen from the ponds and fens in the beginning of its founding, this small settlement around the Petrovaradin trenches in 1720 had the first one story house! Seven years later, the commander of Petrovaradin wrote a letter to Vienna saying that the Racka town is well populated and rich. A school in the trenches had opened in 1731, and according to the map from 1745 the settlement started to develop contours of Novi Sad as it today.

The Chamber/border government was constantly repressing the endeavours of people who lived in the trenches and who wanted to develop their town. That was the main reason that the whole idea of the liberation process was started.

Persistent in their exertion, backed by their property and sure of their own capabilities, the citizens made a deal  in 1747.  They agreed that in the Magistracy of the future liberated town, they will have the same number of representatives, equal rights in choosing senators and clerks, freely practice their own religion, build churches, schools, etc.

A delegation of citizens from the trenches – Racković, Vujić, Bogdanović, Rasković, Hajl and Anderle – was travelling to Vienna and borrowing money to pay for liberation diploma. Paying 80,000 rain forint in silver, our predecessors, noble merchants and craftsmen, bought their independency and freedom and widely opened the door of progress for them and their descendents. The loan was paid off when the city sold its meadows and wastelands to its citizens.

On February 1st, 1748 empress Maria Theresa declared that the town will become free royal city and names it in Latin – Neoplanta, Hungarian – Új-videk, German Neu-Satz and in Serbian – Novi Sad.

In the spring of 1748 Novi Sad begins its life following the example of other free cities of that time.  From 1748 to the end of 18th century the number of inhabitants grew, assets multiplied and children went to school. In the 1770’s the city had its own silk factory, brewery and tobacco mill. Everyday trade, religion and fun characterized life: the trade involved many European and Asian countries, and by the end of the century the city became the strongest economic centre in the south of Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Life in the crossroads and the will to continue living in accordance with the spirit of this city had its price and in 1849 Novi Sad was bombed for the first time. Out of 2812 buildings there were only 808 left.

In the second half of the 19th century the city started rapidly growing and rebuilding, which is where today’s old city architecture has its origin. From then on, to the World War I and the City Hall, Episcopal House and Catholic Church were built in the centre of the town; today’s secondary school “Jovan Jovanović Zmaj”, Iodine spa, Matica Srpska, etc. In the last years of the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century, the Central railway station, bridge, slaughterhouse, gas factory, electric power plant were built and street car transport was established.

In the mid 19th century, under the Austro-Hungarian reign, on the border towards the Turkish Empire, Novi Sad grew into a significant centre of culture and politics for all Serbs. It also had a strong economy and the cities poets named it Serbian Athens.

At that time in Novi Sad had 56 magazines and newspapers issued on Serbian language and in 1864 Matica Srpska, the oldest Serbian institution of science and culture, moved from Budapest to Novi Sad.  In 1861 the Serbian national theatre was founded, which is the oldest professional theatre in our country. The first Serbian national school was also built in Novi Sad in 1703, first high school in 1791 in Sremski Karlovci and the first hospital in 1746.

After World War I the Serbian army marched in Novi Sad on November 8th 1918.  The Big People’s Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevac and other Slavic nations on November 25th Banat, Bačka and Baranja joined to the Kingdom of Serbia. Just one day before, in the Assembly in Ruma the same thing happened with Srem region.

In Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Novi Sad became centre of Danube Banovina (province). At the same time the first boulevard is being built, building of Banovina and the new bridge. In 1936 there are already 69 000 people living in Novi Sad.

The Second World War brought about the round up of Horty’s fascist army, when Novi Sad lost 3000 inhabitants in three days, mostly Serbs and Jews. During the Second World War several thousands inhabitants of Novi Sad were killed and Novi Sad’s partisan squad liberated the city on October 23rd, 1944.  After the liberation Novi Sad, capital of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, experiences huge growth as an economic, cultural, scientific, political and administrative centre of the Province.

In the, so-called, Anti-bureaucratic revolution in 1988, political relations in the country were changed and Novi Sad loses some of its jurisdiction.  A few years later, rises in inflation and poverty affected its population and in the wars on the territory of former Yugoslavia, 72 people from Novi Sad died.  Many young and educated people left the city, and in the following years Novi Sad served as a shelter for tens of thousands of refugees.

The period after the war and especially years 1996 – 1997 were marked by student demonstrations against the regime of Slobodan Milosović. NATO bombing in 1999 left the city without the bridges, communication, and water. After the NATO war operations, an already exhausted city begins to rebuild itself and included a temporary pontoon bridge.  In an undefined atmosphere of hope and extreme boundaries of endurance, citizens of Novi Sad finally celebrate the victory of the opposition at the September elections in 2000.

 

History of Belgrade

I have visit this wonderfull city and I have the best memories.This city has something special.It transmits you positive energy ,hope ,determination and for sure ,you will never forget the “White City” .Beograd means white city in serbian.Its the capital of Serbia ,a city full of young people ,great buildings ,tradition and sport spirit.It is considered one of the metropolitan cities of sports .If someone want to visit Belgrade he has to see and to admire a really enjoyable and adorable city .Here you can read the history of this great city

The History of Belgrade

The first human settlements on Belgrade soil developed as far back as 7000 years ago. This is borne out by numerous archaeological sites with material evidence, ranging from the culture of the Old Stone Age and other prehistoric cultures, to the Middle Ages. Vinča, 14 km away from Belgrade, is a prehistoric tell on the very bank of the Danube, with the remnants of the material culture of the prehistoric man (the Neolithic plastics). There were discovered numerous houses, sod houses with the remnants of material culture of the prehistoric man. Each of the settled prehistoric levels, which mark individual stages of life in Vinča (in the period from around 4500 to 3200 BC), contains real treasures of a wide variety of artifacts: implements and weapons made of stones and bones, earthenware for everyday use, elaborately decorated ritual vases, a great number of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines of exceptionally impressive stylization, jewelry made of different kinds of rare and precious materials, and countless other objects and works of art made in the very Vinča or procured from distant regions – from the Central Europe, the Lower Danube river basin or from the Mediterranean.

Ancient Period

In c. 600 B.C. the Thracian-Cimmerian and Scythian tribes moved across this area, while the Celtic tribes crossed this territory in the III century B.C. The founding of Singidunum is attributed to the Celtic tribe, the Scordiscs. As a fortified settlement, Singidunum was mentioned for the first time in 279 B.C. The first part of the word – Singi – means “round” and dunum means “fortress” or “town”. The name of the settlement was preserved throughout the Roman rule. The Romans conquered Belgrade in the beginning of the I century A.D. and it has been under their rule for full four centuries. Singidunum was most prosperous in 86 A.D., when the IV Legion of Flavius arrived. As an important Roman military camp, Singidunum gained municipal rights in the II century A.D. during the rule of emperor Hadrian. Its military importance became even higher in the III century. In that period, Singidunum was the center of the Christian diocese. Some time later, it was the place of birth of the Roman emperor Flavius Jovianus. After the division of the Roman Empire into the Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire in 395, Singidunum became a border town of the Byzantine Empire. This new position of the town determined its later fate, for it became not only a linking point of various cultural influences, but, before all, a communication and strategic key of the Byzantine Empire.

Byzantine Empire

The disintegration of the Roman Empire was followed by invasion of barbarian peoples: Eastern Goths, Gepidaes, Sarmatians, Avars, Slavs and others. Because of its advanced position at the border, Belgrade suffered frequent attacks and destructions. The attacks coming from the north, across Pannonia, the Danube and Sava, were so hard that even Singidunum, an important military stronghold, could not resist them. The Huns captured it and completely destroyed it in 441. Singidunum lost its Roman inhabitants then. After the fall of the Huns, the town became a part of the Byzantine Empire once again in 454, but it was soon conquered by the Sarmatians, and later the Eastern Goths. However, already in 488, it became a Byzantine town again. Byzantine emperor Justinian I rebuilt Singidunum in 535, restoring the fortress and city to its former military importance. At the end of the VI century, while the Byzantines were occupied with wars in Africa and Asia, the Mongol tribes of Avars appeared in front of the walls of Singidunum, and after them came the first groups of the Slavs. The name Singidunum disappeared after this barbarian invasion and the destruction of the town and it has never appeared again in the whole history afterwards. The city would re-emerge later, mentioned as Beograd, a Slavic word meaning “white fortress” (due to the color of the stone it was built from), in a letter written on April 16, 878 by Pope John VIII to Bulgarian prince Boris I Mihail. With its new name, Beograd, would eventually be restored to the same strategic significance it had held throughout its history, but never again would it be mentioned as Singidunum. Several centuries after the first mentioning of Belgrade as a Slavic town, various armies and conquerors control it by turns. The Franks were the first to reach Belgrade and destroy the Avars under the command of Charles the Great. The rule of the Franks was replaced by Bulgarians, and they gave place to Hungarians. Already in 1018, it once again became a border stronghold of the Byzantine Empire. During the XI and XII centuries, the rival forces of Hungary, Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria fought for it. After the Crusades of 1096 and 1147, 190,000 people pass through Belgrade in 1189, led by Frederick Barbarossa. This leader of crusaders saw Belgrade in ruins.

Middle Ages

The Serbian rule over Belgrade began in 1284, when the Serbian king Dragutin, son-in-law and vassal of the Hungarian king Ladislav IV was given rule over Belgrade. It was a period of intensive settling of Serbian population and increasing influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church. After Dragutin’s death, his brother Milutin came to the throne, but he has ruled over Belgrade for a short time, for in 1319 it was captured and totally destroyed by the Hungarians. Demolished and abandoned town became a border foothold of Hungarian resistance to expansion of the Serbian state from the south, in the time of Czar Dušan. In that condition Belgrade enters the XV century, when the Turks, a new conquering force, appeared on the historical stage of Europe. In strong desire to get as prepared as possible to resist Turkish invasion and to have a powerful stronghold on the Sava and Danube, the Hungarians allowed construction of Belgrade during the rule of Despot Stefan Lazarević. He ruled over Belgrade from 1403 until 1427 and that was the time of a real prosperity of this town. Belgrade was not only the capital of the Serbian state, but also the most important economic, cultural and religious center. Belgrade is supposed to have had about 40-50,000 inhabitants in that period. The Despot’s successor Đurađ Branković was forced to surrender the town to the Hungarians. During the hundred years of Hungarian rule the whole population structure was changed as well as shape of the very town.

Turkish Conquest

The Turks knew that Belgrade was the greatest obstacle in their campaigns towards Central Europe. After the fall of Smederevo in 1440 the Belgrade fortress was under siege by the Turkish army with over 100,000 soldiers. For almost a century Belgrade has resisted Turkish attacks. Finally, under the command of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, on August 28, 1521, the Turks managed to conquer Belgrade – the rampart of Christianity and the key of defense of whole Hungary. The town was demolished and burnt down, and the way to Western Europe open. With the moving of border to the north, the strategic position of Belgrade also changes, and in the next 150 years, it was relatively peaceful town with a more significant commercial and communication function. However, it was affected by a major Serb rebellion in 1594, which was crushed by the Turks, who burned churches and the relics (mortal remains) of Saint Sava on the Vračar plateau, an event the Temple of Saint Sava was built to commemorate in more recent times. Its highest progress under the Turks Belgrade makes in the XVII century, when it counts population of 100,000 and becomes the second-largest town, right after Istanbul.

After the Turkish defeat under the walls of Vienna in September 1688, the Austrians conquered Belgrade. Two years later, the Turks regained control over it, but these conflicts left Belgrade destroyed and its population killed, persecuted and robbed because of its cooperation with Austrians. Occupied by Austria three times (1688–1690, 1717–1739, 1789–1791), it was quickly recaptured and substantially razed each time by the Ottomans. After signing the peace treaty of Svishtov in 1791, the Austrians retreated to Zemun, and the janissaries were forbidden entrance to the Belgrade Pashalik (district). After Moustapha-pasha was killed in 1801, the janissaries established their own rule over the town and surrounding villages. That was a period of total anarchy, violence and robberies made by the janissaries. It was finished by the notorious slaughter of the Serbian knezes and other famous Serbs, which was the cause for organizing the insurrection.

Liberation of Belgrade

Awakening of national consciousness and events related to the slaughter of the knezes led to organization of the First Serbian Insurrection in 1804. The insurrection led by Karađorđe from the very beginning was also aimed at liberation of Belgrade. After two years of fight, the town was conquered on January 8, 1806. It became the capital of recently liberated part of Serbia and a symbol of freedom-loving tradition of its population. After renewal it also became an important economic, trade and cultural center. The dynamic development of Belgrade was interrupted by Turkish conquest in 1813, and the repressions which followed led to the insurrection in 1815. The leader of the insurrection, Knez Miloš Obrenović, managed to introduce more of diplomacy into relations with the Turks. Granting certain privileges, he moves Serbian population from the south to Belgrade, causing the Turks to sell their land and houses at prices far below real value. After 346 years of rule, the Turks left Belgrade for good on April 18, 1867, and Knez Mihailo Obrenović moved the capital from Kragujevac to Belgrade. That was a new stimulus to faster economic and cultural development of the town. In the second half of the XIX century it was brought closer to Europe in the aspect of city planning etc. The Kneza Mihaila Street had the central position and it was the shortest connection between the fortress and the town. It soon became the most important trade and business center of Belgrade and it has kept that role until today.

World War I

The intensive development of Belgrade which started after its final liberation from the Turks continued in the first years of the XX century. However, the further development of the city was hindered by a fact that Belgrade was a border city and an obstacle to Austrian expansionistic policy against Balkan. In planning of Austrian and German expansion to Balkan, an excuse was sought to attack Serbian by military force. It was found in the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian crown-prince Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo. World War I started with the ultimatum, and later the attack on Serbia. During World War I, Serbia lost 28% of its whole population, while Belgrade was the most destroyed town in Serbia. Immediately after the liberation, Belgrade became the capital of the newly-created Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which gave it even stronger impulse for faster development. Numerous buildings were constructed in the old city center, which gave Belgrade the shape of a European city.

World War II

The city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe on April 6, 1941, killing thousands of people. Yugoslavia was invaded by German, Italian, Hungarian and Bulgarian forces and the western suburbs were incorporated into a Nazi puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia. During the summer and fall of 1941, in reprisal to guerrilla attacks, the Germans carried out several massacres of citzens from Belgrade; in particular, members of Belgrade’s Jewish community were subject to mass shootings at the order of General Franz Böhme, the German Military Governor of Serbia. Böhme rigorously enforced the rule that for every German killed, 100 Serbs or Jews would be shot. Following the Nazi example, the Independent State of Croatia established extermination camps and perpetrated an atrocious genocide killing over 750.000 Serbs, Jews and Gypsies. This holocaust set the historical and political backdrop for the civil war that broke out fifty years later in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and that accompanied the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991-1992.

The city was bombed by the Allies as well, on April 16, 1944, killing about 1,600 people. Both bombings happened to fall on Orthodox Christian Easter. Most of the city remained under German occupation until October 20, 1944, when it was liberated by Communist Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army. On November 29, 1945, Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaimed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Belgrade. In the post-war period Belgrade grew rapidly as the capital of the renewed Yugoslavia, developing as a major industrial centre.

The Capital of Serbia

Many unsolved national, ethnical, political, economic and other problems in the country led to disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991, which marked the end of the longest period of peace in Balkan in the XX century. Since 1992 Belgrade has been the capital of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, consisting of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro. As of February 2003, Belgrade has been the capital of the newly formed State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Since May 2006 Belgrade has been the capital of the Republic of Serbia.

 

Benefits of gmail

Are you looking for an email solution ?Do you need a calendar ,an agenta and many others including in one ?Do you need something convenient ?Here I present you gmail.Its the ultimate email solution.I use gmail since 2006.At that time ,it wasnt free at all ,you had to have an invitation from someone sender.I have send no more than 500 invitations to my friends.Some of them post in newspaperes ,other are doctors or scientists ,the point is that everyone who use gmail can have only benefits.Lets see why  …

by Matt Bacak

Size does matters: Sure it does and with 2 GB e-mail space; you don’t need to worry about another email bouncing back for quite some time. I am sure you have heard about this key feature of Gmail more often that not and it has been one of the unique selling points of the Gmail email service.

The days of deleting emails as soon as they land in your inbox in fear of having important emails bounce back, are a thing of the past thanks to the generous inbox size of Gmail.

Powered by Google: Thanks to the fantastic search technology of Google, setting up folders and marking of emails is a thing of the past. You can search the entire account quickly and with highly accurate results with Google search.

Mail management tools: it must have been one frustrated online email user who developed the feature list for Gmail email management tools. All features are developed to remove the aggravation faced by users when using an online free email account. With Gmail, you don’t need to manually create folders; you can create labels for them and dump them there. Gmail also lists emails in contextual form when searched and in chronological order.

If you have emails which you need to keep on record, you can store it and not worry about using up precious space since you already have over 2000 MB to take care of your email back up requirements. It is almost like having an external hard disk available to you and a number of Gmail users actually use it to store critical documents as well.

Kill the spam: Span is the bane of existence for all email users and Gmail tackles this issue with ease of use which you wish other email providers had. All you have to do is report the SPAM and that email address is blocked once and for all.

No ads to clutter your space: Gmail is not 100% ad free (It has to earn revenues some how you know!). Yet it is not cluttered with mindless advertising. Google’s AdSense comes into focus here and delivers only relevant adverts to users and that too in a non-obstructive way. So you are spared spending precious bandwidth on downloading heavy advertising banners…Google select ads are featured as text links in a preset area of the screen which you can just ignore if you are not interested in it.

 

Protests in Greece.The new social answer is here.Its obvious…

Here I will post you an article about apartheid.All of us we know more or less what Apartheid was.It was a social racism phenomenon in South Africa.White people versus black and the opposite.In Greece we will have something simmilar but with different words.It would be poor vs rich and the opposite.After many decades of fake hopes ,after many decades since the last civil war ,after many decades of “we will see”  ,”we will ” , “we are ready to” ,”we will do this or another” ,the greek society have lost every sense of hope and confidence.The answer is in the streets ,they have to pay for what they did to us these decades,we cannot wait every liar to save the country.We cannot afford these lies and this social humiliation.2 millions people live under the limits of poverty,Athens is the most expensive capital in europe in terms of first need products ,the wage of greeks is the lowest ammong the top Europe of 16 ,low educational level ,high unemployment rates ,expensive prices ,more and more taxes ,the church instead of help the people ,they want to buy banks and buildings in London even the Ecumenical Patriarch is speechless ,”we dont know what else will happens ,the society is out of control ,we have to act right now ,otherwise the people will start to kill eachother ,the responsibilities are very heavy for everyone ,the world is in an unbalanced and mad situation”These are words from a previous interview of the ecumenical patriarchate Vartholomaios.You will also see below what Apartheid was and maybe you will see many simmilarities what happens ,or will happen in Greece soon.Just replace the words.Instead of black and white people ,use rich and poor

by Alonford James Robinson, Jr.

The term apartheid (from the Afrikaans word for “apartness”) was coined in the 1930s and used as a political slogan of the National Party in the early 1940s, but the policy itself extends back to the beginning of white settlement in South Africa in 1652. After the primarily Afrikaner Nationalists came to power in 1948, the social custom of apartheid was systematized under law.

The implementation of the policy, later referred to as “separate development,” was made possible by the Population Registration Act of 1950, which put all South Africans into three racial categories: Bantu (black African), white, or Coloured (of mixed race). A fourth category, Asian (Indians and Pakistanis), was added later. The system of apartheid was enforced by a series of laws passed in the 1950s: the Group Areas Act of 1950 assigned races to different residential and business sections in urban areas, and the Land Acts of 1954 and 1955 restricted nonwhite residence to specific areas. These laws further restricted the already limited right of black Africans to own land, entrenching the white minority’s control of over 80 percent of South African land. In addition, other laws prohibited most social contacts between the races; enforced the segregation of public facilities and the separation of educational standards; created race-specific job categories; restricted the powers of nonwhite unions; and curbed nonwhite participation in government.

The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 and the Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959 furthered these divisions between the races by creating ten African “homelands” administered by what were supposed to be reestablished “tribal” organizations. The Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act of 1970 made every black South African a citizen of one of the homelands, effectively excluding blacks from South African politics. Most of the homelands, lacking natural resources, were not economically viable and, being both small and fragmented, lacked the autonomy of independent states. Though the implementation and enforcement of apartheid was accompanied by tremendous suppression of opposition, continual resistance to apartheid existed within South Africa. A number of black political groups, often supported by sympathetic whites, opposed apartheid using a variety of tactics, including violence, strikes, demonstrations, and sabotage – strategies that often met with severe reprisals by the government. Apartheid was also denounced by the international community: in 1961 South Africa was forced to withdraw from the British Commonwealth by member states who were critical of the apartheid system, and in 1985 the governments of the United States and Great Britain imposed selective economic sanctions on South Africa in protest of its racial policy.

As antiapartheid pressure mounted within and outside South Africa, the South African government, led by President F. W. de Klerk, began to dismantle the apartheid system in the early 1990s. The year 1990 brought a National Party government dedicated to reform and also saw the legalization of formerly banned black congresses and the release of imprisoned black leaders. In 1994 the country’s constitution was rewritten and free general elections were held for the first time in its history, and with Nelson Mandela’s election as South Africa’s first black president, the last vestiges of the apartheid system were finally outlawed.

 

Depression ,you can overcome it.Throw it out…

I think that many of us sometimes we have feel sometimes that we cannot achieve our goals and we feel sometimes inferior.Even though ,I think that we can find some ways to tackle depression.Here I will present you some ways.

Managing the stress levels

Stress, anger and anxiety

How we habitually deal with stress plays an important role in our vulnerability to depression. Certain depressed thinking habits make us particularly vulnerable also to anxiety or anger spirals, which in turn contribute to the depression habit spiral.

Control – the holy grail

Anxiety and anger spirals arise mainly from the kinds of depressed thinking which focus on imposing unrealistic control over life: rule-bound thinking, control freakery, catastrophising, hyper-vigilance and avoidance. See the page on stress, anxiety and anger for more details.

Managing stress better

Stress itself cannot be avoided, and certain levels of ‘anxiety’ are necessary in order for us to function in the world. If you had no anxiety about your exams you probably wouldn’t bother with any revision at all! Anger is also important for helping us defend ourselves from attack, for example. The key is to learn how to manage your stress levels better, so that anxiety and anger are channelled constructively.

Strategies

• Identify relevant depressed thinking habits

  • Anxious and angry spirals work in the same way as the depression habit spiral, with anxious and angry thinking habits having an effect on your behaviour, brain chemicals and mood.
  • Use the strategies for challenging depressed thinking to identify whether your attempts to impose control in your life have led to any of the habits relevant to anxiety and/or anger.

• Learn about constructive control

  • Having a constructive approach to control in life is like riding a bicycle…
  • If you don’t try to steer and never use the brakes you give yourself a pretty dangerous ride. But if you brake too hard (ie. want to impose too much control) you’ll probably get thrown over the handlebars!
  • If you let yourself balance without thinking about it too hard, and use the brakes and gears appropriately, the bike becomes an extension of your body and riding it can feel almost effortless.
  • Try to practise “going with the flow” of life in the same way, putting effort in when needed, freewheeling when there’s a downhill stretch and “putting the brakes on” gently and in good time without panicking…

• Apply this to control-focused thinking habits

  • Make a list of the “shoulds” and “oughts” you impose on yourself and the world.
  • Practise changing these from demands you make of yourself and the world to “preferences” which may or may not be fulfilled.
    “I have to pass this exam or my life will be ruined” becomes “I would really like to pass this exam, but if I don’t I will have to explore other options like re-sits, or re-doing the year. That won’t be great, so I’ll do what I can now to try to pass.”
  • Think about practical ways you can help yourself manage the disappointments when your preferences are not met. See also challenging disappointment insurance.

• Learn breathing and relaxation techniques

  • Deep breathing techniques intervene directly into the anxiety/anger spiral by countering the hyperventilation which causes light-headedness, slowing down the heart beat and giving your brain more relaxed rather than anxious/angry messages.
  • Learn more about deep breathing and make a daily habit of practising the techniques on the relaxation page. This helps you to manage stress on a daily basis as well as honing your skills for use when you are feeling particularly stressed.

• Address your fears

  • Make a list of your fears and grade them in order of difficulty.
  • Starting with one of the more manageable ones, challenge yourself to have a go at dealing with it constructively instead of avoiding it.
  • Ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen and plan for how you would deal with it in practical ways if it did happen.
  • Notice which depressed thinking habits are getting in your way.
  • Make sure you are properly supported. Either ask a friend or get professional support, especially as you proceed to more difficult things on your list.
  • Read Feel the fear and do it anyway (see books page)

• Learn anger management skills

  • Make a list of the things that make you angry and grade them in order of importance.
  • Starting with one of the less important ones, think about what you can control in the situation. Usually at the very least you can choose your own attitude or response to the situation.
  • Consider how you might let go of the need to control the aspects that you can’t control.
  • Notice whether depressed thinking habits are getting in your way.
  • Think about practical ways to communicate the anger effectively or else channel the adrenalin in other ways, like through exercise.

• Practise positive habits for channelling strong feelings

  • Build more exercise into your life so as to use up some of the adrenalin you produce through hyper-vigilance or high anger levels.
  • Learn about assertive communication and put it into practice in your life in general, not just when you are angry or anxious.
  • Use the energy to go and make a difference in the world! Volunteer to help others less fortunate, get together with other students to campaign against depression-inducing practices (or anything else that bugs you)… Try out things that might give a sense of meaning to your life.

Increasing Exercise

Exercise affects mood chemicals

Even very moderate exercise can make a big difference to your mood. Exercise raises the levels of endorphins (a mood chemical) in your brain, giving feelings of pleasure and raising mood. It also contributes to a sense of achievement.

Reversing the depression habit spiral

Exercise therefore helps to address the depression habit spiral at the biological and psychological level. If you exercise with friends or meet new people that way, then it can also help at the social level (see why me? for more on the effect of different factors on depression).

What exercise did you use to enjoy?
What could you do with the support and company of others?

Good depression-busting exercise ideas

• Walking

  Easy and cheap, can be fitted in to daily routines. Especially good when done in pleasant outdoor surroundings, but even 5 minutes around the block can make a difference. Can be enjoyable to share with someone else.

• Yoga or pilates

  Gentle, non-competitive exercise. Teaches relaxation techniques, useful for managing stress or anger levels, sorting out sleep patterns and generally raising mood levels. Often offered at university sports centres.

• Swimming

  Can include vigorous or gentler, more relaxing elements. Immersion in water can be very soothing. Choose a time when the pool isn’t too busy, so that you can go at your own pace and benefit from the relaxation effects as well as the exercise.

• Team sports

  Any team sport, especially if undertaken for fun and socialising purposes. Check at your students union for clubs.

• Martial arts

  Gentler martial arts which focus on internal control, breathing and mental discipline can be especially useful for combating depressed thinking.

• “Green gym”

  The green gym concept is about exercising in a constructive way by participating in organised outdoor, “green” projects such as tree planting or dry stone walling. See other useful websites for more info.

 

Benefits of Mediterranean Cuisine

If you look carefully around us ,more and  more people prefer junky food and they think that eating a cheap and good tasty food is enough.They consider their pocket and their senses more important than their health.I think that we  have to see much further and to think our future seriously.It is noticed that the percentages of cancer are increasing year per year with big intensity.I think that there is always a positive view to seethe world around.I hope that you will find the following article interesting.It is written by Ray Darken a famous nutriti0nist.

“The Mediterranean diet is sometimes mistaken for another fad diet or something someone has dreamed up who likes spaghetti and meatballs. The truth is that it has a significant history which has helped and stimulated extensive research to be undertaken by many authority entities such as universities and foundations. The description below is brief however, does pin point the fundamental of the mediterranean diet in a nutshell. If you would like to know more about recipes, cook books or modified version you will find a link at the bottom of the page which will take you there. Enjoy”

You will quickly learn that the Mediterranean diet differs somewhat from country to country that surround the Mediterranean sea. With this in mind, it becomes clear that it is specific to the region not to any one particular country. The basic food groups remain almost the same even though recipes differ.

* extensive intake of fruits, vegetables, bread and cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds * olive oil is a source of mono-unsaturated fat – common to the Mediterranean area

* some dairy products, goats milk (feta), fish and even poultry are consumed in sparing to moderate amounts, and even some red meat (not much)

* eggs are consumed in low to moderate amount say 1 to 4 eggs a week

* fortunately wine is acceptable but in low quantities ie. 1 – 3 glasses per day (more often red)

A good question to ask is – Does a Mediterranean diet follow American Heart Association dietary guidelines?

Mediterranean diets are often close to US dietary guidelines, but not exactly.

People who follow the average Mediterranean diet eat less saturated fat than those who eat the average American diet. In fact, saturated fat consumption is well within US dietary guidelines. More than half the fat calories in a Mediterranean diet come from mono-unsaturated fats (mainly from olive oil). Mono-unsaturated fat doesnt raise blood cholesterol levels the way saturated fat does.

The incidence of heart disease in Mediterranean countries is lower than in the United States. Death rates are lower, too. However there are some who feel this may not be entirely due to the diet. Lifestyle factors (ie. more physical activity and extended social family support structures) may also play a part. At this stage this is just a theory. However, the research tells all – the Mediterranean diet has existed for umpteen years.

If you would like further proof of the Mediterranean diet benefits resulting from research and qualified researchers you could try http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/348/26/2599 or http://my.webmd.com/content/article/67/80070.htm. Both of these sites give good food for thought (excuse the pun).

“Olive oil plays a central role, but it is not alone,” says Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, of Harvard School of Public Health. A researcher on the Mediterranean Diet.

“It’s among the divine mix of several factors that, when used in combination, help provide strong evidence of something that is very important — eating the proper diet can significantly reduce your risk of early death.”

He and researchers from Greece studied some 22,000 adults, aged 20 to 86, from all regions of that country; most previous studies tracked only older people who were more likely to die during the study. The participants answered detailed questionnaires about their eating habits throughout the four-year study. Then they were rated on how closely they followed the key principles of the Mediterranean diet.

Sticking to the Mediterranean diet cut the risk of death from both heart disease and cancer. For every two points higher on this 0-to-9 scale — with top numbers going to those most closely following the Mediterranean diet — the death rate dropped by 25%.

The findings by Trichopoulos may also help explain why Asians, who typically use these other cooking oils, also have lower disease and death rates. Although they rarely use olive oil, they traditionally follow other principles of the Mediterranean diet — lots of produce, legumes, nuts, and minimally processed grains, with little saturated fat.

“The message remains the same, and is consistent with other findings: A diet lower in saturated fats and higher in monounsaturated fats, and potentially, polyunsaturates, will result in better health outcomes,” says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, of Tufts University and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.

“If the main message that Americans get is to just increase their olive or canola oil consumption, thats unfortunate because they will increase their caloric intake and they are already getting too many calories. What they need to do is eat more fruits, vegetables, and legumes and fewer foods rich in saturated fats as is done in the Mediterranean Diet.”

Some of this information has been referenced from The New England Journal of Medicine, June 26, 2003. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology, Vincent L. Gregory Professor of Cancer Prevention, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, senior scientist and director, Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Researcher Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston; spokeswoman, American Heart Association.

So in a nutshell, there is sound evidence that the Mediterranean Diet can help reduce heart disease, cancer, weight gain and of course reduce the risk of early death. However, it would be a mistake to think this outcome is based on the use of Olive Oil alone. The diet is diverse and allows for taste and creativity which is often lacking in most other diets. This alone warrants further investigation from those who seek a healthy, easy diet that has flavour and is fullfilling. Remember too that just as in all worthwhile diets, moderate level exercise should not be overlooked.”

 

New books

I bought today two new books from the greek artistical group ,”Έλευσις” .Elefsis ,means arrival in greek.This group represents some young artists from Tripolis and they have create many films and documentaries of short and medium length.They are a non profitable organisation and the only way to get some funds is to sell some books which they are written from the members of the group.The name of the books that I bought today are “Poets of the world” – “Ποιητές του Κόσμου” and “The missing moon” – “Το λειψό φεγγάρι” .Unfortunately this artistic group doesnt have a website yet ,I hope that in the next months they will have at least their own blog page.I always help and support artistic groups because I think that art is the way of expression and freedom

 

Moja Devojka

Here I present you the person who changed my life forever

My only one Suzana

The best gynaika and mitera in the universe