When French film actress Brigitte Bardot began a campaign to spare the thousands of stray dogs in Romania’s capital from being put down, she did it with a US$150,000 donation scheme.
A similar campaign is being waged by Ana-Maria Ciulcu, a 13-year-old schoolgirl with braces on her teeth who uses Facebook to appeal to dog lovers all over Europe — and to make sure the dogs go to the right homes.
Ciulcu was a baby when Bardot started her sterilization campaign in 2001. Now she speaks fluent German and has a grasp of the Internet, and she has used both to rescue 150 strays and ship them to Germany, Austria and Belgium since September last year.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透社
Bucharest’s state-funded wards, however, now hold 2,800 dogs, and 2,000 dogs have been euthanized in the past two months, according to Romania’s Authority for Animal Surveillance and Protection. About 60,000 strays roam Bucharest.
Ciulcu collects strays on the street. They go to a temporary private shelter, or to the backyard of her home. She has a veterinarian vaccinate them and give them microchip identification tags and eventually gets international passports for them.
All costs, from medicines, vaccines and neutering to identification chips and passports, are covered by Ana-Maria’s family — about 150 euros (US$209) per dog. Transporting the animals to their destinations is covered by the new owner.
(Reuters)
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透社
當法國女影星碧姬.芭杜展開一場讓羅馬尼亞首都數以千計的流浪狗免遭撲殺的運動時,她的經費來自於一項十五萬美元的捐款計畫。
安娜─瑪莉亞‧丘爾庫正進行類似的行動,這位戴著牙套的十三歲女學生利用臉書,求助於全歐洲的愛狗人士,並確定狗狗被送到適當的家庭。
當芭杜於二零零一年展開她的流浪狗絕育行動時,丘爾庫還是個嬰兒。現在她說得一口流利的德語,並熟諳網路,她利用這兩項優勢從去年九月起,搭救了一百五十隻流浪狗,將牠們送到德國、奧地利與比利時收養。
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透社
然而,據羅馬尼亞動物監控與保護管理局統計,布加勒斯特的國營收容所現在有兩千八百隻流浪狗,而過去兩個月有兩千隻被安樂死。約有六萬隻狗在布加勒斯特流浪。
丘爾庫接走街上的流浪狗。牠們被安置在臨時的私人收容所,或她家後院。她讓一名獸醫師給牠們打疫苗,植入識別晶片,最後為牠們取得國際護照。
所有的費用,從醫療、疫苗、結紮到識別晶片與護照,皆由安娜–瑪莉亞的家人支付—每隻狗約一百五十歐元(兩百零九美元)。運送這些動物到目的地的費用則由新飼主負擔。
(路透/翻譯:魏國金)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang As with many aspects of Japanese culture, there is etiquette to follow when you enjoy noodles. To fully experience noodles like a local on your next visit to Japan, consider these simple guidelines. First, be careful where you put your chopsticks. Don’t leave them sticking up in the broth or set them at the side of the bowl. When you have finished eating or if you’re taking a break, place them on the chopstick rest next to the bowl. Also, it is impolite to wave chopsticks around or bring them above mouth-level. Second, don’t take too