having a break...

hope to continue someday, cause we all need tha knowledge :)

meanwhile dreaming of summer...








start reading this world, you might enjoy it :)

basketball vs. kitchen

Constitutia Romaniei - Principii generale

CONSTITUŢIA ROMÂNIEI

TITLUL I - Principii generale

ARTICOLUL 1: Statul român

(1) România este stat naţional, suveran şi independent, unitar şi indivizibil.
(2) Forma de guvernământ a statului român este republica.
(3) România este stat de drept, democratic şi social, în care demnitatea omului, drepturile şi libertăţile cetăţenilor, libera dezvoltare a personalităţii umane, dreptatea şi pluralismul politic reprezintă valori supreme, în spiritul tradiţiilor democratice ale poporului român şi idealurilor Revoluţiei din decembrie 1989, şi sunt garantate.
(4) Statul se organizează potrivit principiului separaţiei şi echilibrului puterilor - legislativă, executivă şi judecătorească - în cadrul democraţiei constituţionale.
(5) În România, respectarea Constituţiei, a supremaţiei sale şi a legilor este obligatorie.

ARTICOLUL 2: Suveranitatea

(1) Suveranitatea naţională aparţine poporului român, care o exercită prin organele sale reprezentative, constituite prin alegeri libere, periodice şi corecte, precum şi prin referendum.
(2) Nici un grup şi nici o persoană nu pot exercita suveranitatea în nume propriu.

ARTICOLUL 3: Teritoriul

(1) Teritoriul României este inalienabil.
(2) Frontierele ţării sunt consfinţite prin lege organică, cu respectarea principiilor şi a celorlalte norme general admise ale dreptului internaţional.
(3) Teritoriul este organizat, sub aspect administrativ, în comune, oraşe şi judeţe. În condiţiile legii, unele oraşe sunt declarate municipii.
(4) Pe teritoriul statului român nu pot fi strămutate sau colonizate populaţii străine.

ARTICOLUL 4: Unitatea poporului şi egalitatea între cetăţeni

(1) Statul are ca fundament unitatea poporului român şi solidaritatea cetăţenilor săi.
(2) România este patria comună şi indivizibilă a tuturor cetăţenilor săi, fără deosebire de rasă, de naţionalitate, de origine etnică, de limbă, de religie, de sex, de opinie, de apartenenţă politică, de avere sau de origine socială.

ARTICOLUL 5: Cetăţenia

(1) Cetăţenia română se dobândeşte, se păstrează sau se pierde în condiţiile prevăzute de legea organică.
(2) Cetăţenia română nu poate fi retrasă aceluia care a dobândit-o prin naştere.

Way of the Warrior - Way of the Samurai [p1]

world wonders - The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

This is the statue of the god in whose honor the Ancient Olympic games were held. It was located on the land that gave its very name to the Olympics. At the time of the games, wars stopped, and athletes came from Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Sicily to celebrate the Olympics and to worship their king of gods: Zeus.

Location
At the ancient town of Olympia, on the west coast of modern Greece, about 150 km west of Athens.

History
The ancient Greek calendar starts in 776 BC, for the Olympic games are believed to have started that year. The magnificent temple of Zeus was designed by the architect Libon and was built around 450 BC. Under the growing power of ancient Greece, the simple Doric-style temple seemed too mundane, and modifications were needed.

The solution: A majestic statue. The Athenian sculptor Pheidias was assigned for the "sacred" task, reminiscent of Michelangelo's paintings at the Sistine Chapel.

For the years that followed, the temple attracted visitors and worshippers from all over the world. In the second century BC repairs were skillfully made to the aging statue. In the first century AD, the Roman emperor Caligula attempted to transport the statue to Rome. However, his attempt failed when the scaffolding built by Caligula's workmen collapsed. After the Olympic games were banned in AD 391 by the emperor Theodosius I as Pagan practices, the temple of Zeus was ordered closed.

Olympia was further struck by earthquakes, landslides and floods, and the temple was damaged by fire in the fifth century AD. Earlier, the statue had been transported by wealthy Greeks to a palace in Constantinople. There, it survived until it was destroyed by a severe fire in AD 462. Today nothing remains at the site of the old temple except rocks and debris, the foundation of the buildings, and fallen columns.

little fun...for blondes

today in history

========::Events::========

* 293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus (mythology) was founded, starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica.
* 1201 - The city of Riga is founded.
* 1541 - A Portuguese ship drifts ashore in the ancient Japanese province of Higo (modern day Kumamoto Prefecture).
* 1572 - Wedding in Paris of the Huguenot King Henry IV of Navarre with Marguerite de Valois, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics.
* 1587 - Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Gov. John White of the Colony of Roanoke, becomes the first English child born in the Americas.
* 1634 - Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, burned alive in Loudun, France.
* 1775 - The Spanish established a presidio (fort) and the town came to be called Tucson, Arizona.
* 1848 - Camila O'Gorman and Ladislao Gutierrez executed on orders by Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas.
* 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern - Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Weldon Railroad.
* 1868 - French astronomer Pierre Jules César Janssen discovers helium.
* 1870 - Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought.
* 1877 - Asaph Hall discovers Martian moon Phobos.
* 1903 - German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright Brothers.
* 1909 - Tokyo mayor Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.
* 1917 - A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
* 1938 - The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York State, United States with Ontario, Canada over the St. Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
* 1941 - Adolf Hitler orders a temporary halt to Nazi Germany's systematic euthanasia of mentally ill and handicapped due to protests.
* 1946 - Around 70 people died in the Vergarolla explosion.
* 1963 - American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
* 1965 - Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins - United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.
* 1966 - Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Tan occurs, when a patrol of Royal Australian Regiment encounter the Viet Cong.
* 1969 - Jimi Hendrix plays the unofficial last day of Woodstock.
* 1971 - Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
* 1982 - Japanese election law is amended to allow for proportional representation.
* 1992 - NBA basketball player Larry Bird announces his retirement after winning an Olympic gold medal as a member of the U.S. Dream Team.
* 2004 - In Dublin, Ireland the Dublin Port Tunnel excavation works are completed.
* 2005 - Massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people.

========::Borned this day::========

1685 - Brook Taylor, English mathematician
1692 - Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prime Minister of France
1830 - Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria
1930 - Liviu Librescu, Israeli professor, killed in the Virginia Tech massacre
1933 - Roman Polanski, French-born director and actor
1936 - Robert Redford, American actor
1952 - Patrick Swayze, American actor
1969 - Edward Norton, American actor
1969 - Christian Slater, American actor

========::Holidays::========

* International Lighthouse Day
* Australia - Long Tan Day (also called Vietnam Veterans' Day) named after the Battle of Long Tan
* Roman Catholic Saints - Saint Helena of Constantinople, and Saint Alberto Hurtado
* Buhe in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

difference between boys and girls

How a BOY withdraws cash from a bancomat:

1. Park the car
2. Go to ATM Machine
3. Insert card
4. Enter PIN
5. Take money out
6. Take ATM Card out
7. Drive away

How a GIRL withdraws cash from a bancomat:

1. Park the car
2. Check makeup
3. Turn off engine
4. Check makeup
5. Go to ATM
6. Hunt for ATM card in the purse
7. Insert card
8. Hit Cancel
9. Hunt in purse for chit with PIN written on it
10. Insert card
11. Enter PIN
12. Take cash
13. Go to car
14. Check makeup
15. Start car
16. Stop car
17. Run back to ATM
18. Take ATM card
19. Back to car
20. Check makeup
21. Start car
22. Check makeup
23. Drive for 1/2 mile
24. Release handbrake
25. Drive on.

world records

♠ The heaviest apple weighed 1.849 kg (4 lb 1 oz) and was grown and picked by Chisato Iwasaki at his apple farm in Hirosaki City, Japan October 24, 2005.

♠ The world's heaviest lemon weighed 5.265 kg (11 lb 9.7 oz) on January 8, 2003 and was grown by Aharon Shemoel (Israel) on his farm in Kefar Zeitim, Israel.

weired facts

• Clothes that are dried outside DO smell better because of a process called photolysis. What happens is this: sunlight breaks down compounds in the laundry that cause odor, such as perspiration and body oils.

• Clouds fly higher during the day than the night.

• Dirty snow melts faster than clean.

• Some early TV screens did emit excessive X-rays, as did computer monitors, but that was fixed long ago. Doctors suggest that at worst, sitting too close might cause some temporary eye fatigue—the same for reading with insufficient light—but no permanent damage, no matter what your mother claimed.

• A "fulgerite" is fossilized lightning. It forms when a powerful lightning bolt melts the soil into a glass-like state.

• STASI, the East German secret police organization, devised a devilishly clever way to prevent someone from giving them the slip during the Cold War: they managed to synthesize the scent of a female dog in heat, which they applied to the shoes of the person under surveillance. Then they simply had a male dog follow the scent.

How to clean a cat

1. Thoroughly clean the toilet.
2. Add the required amount of shampoo to the toilet water, and lift both lids.
3. Take the cat and soothe him while you carry him toward the bathroom.
4. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids. You may need to stand on the lid so that he cannot escape. Caution: Do not get any part of your body too close to the edge, as his paws will be reaching out for anything they can find.
5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a "power wash and rinse" that I have found to be quite effective.
6. Have someone open the door to the outside and ensure that there are no people between the toilet and the outside door.
7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.
8. The now-clean cat will rocket out of the toilet and run outside, where he will dry himself.

Sincerely, the Dog

Romania intr-o seara ...

Moneda naţională

Moneda naţională oficială în România este (din 1867) leul (leul românesc). Numele (omonim cu denumirea animalului leu) vine de la Löwentaler (care avea figura unui leu pe revers), moneda de argint pusă în circulaţie în Olanda începând cu secolul al XVI-lea, după care a devenit moneda de evaluare. Subdiviziunea leu-ului este ban-ul, 1 leu = 100 de bani. Începând cu 1991, inflaţia a scos practic din uz această subdiviziune a leului. Convertibilitatea internă a leului a fost introdusă în noiembrie 1991. Rata de schimb pentru leu este variabilă. Actuala liberalizare monetară a intrat în vigoare din februarie 1998. Orice cetăţean român este liber să efectueze tranzacţii valutare pentru orice sume de bani.
Începând cu data de 1 iulie 2005, a fost introdus în circulaţie leul nou, obţinut prin tăierea a patru zerouri din coada leului vechi (1 leu nou = 10.000 lei vechi). De asemenea, a fost reintrodusă subdiviziunea leului - banul. Există monede de 1, 5, 10 si 50 bani şi bancnote de 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 si 500 de lei.

Ziua naţională
În 1990, 1 decembrie a fost proclamată ziua naţională. Această zi reprezintă aniversarea Marii Unirii de la Alba Iulia, din 1918, când s-a votat unirea Transilvaniei cu România, moment care marchează unirea tuturor românilor într-un singur stat şi realizarea unităţii statului-naţiune român.

Sărbători legale
1 şi 2 ianuarie (Anul Nou), a doua zi de Paşte, 1 mai, 1 decembrie - Ziua naţională, şi 25 si 26 decembrie (Crăciunul).

Ora oficială
Ora Est Europeană (GMT + 2 ore). Din 1979, fusul orar de vară (GMT + 3 ore) se aplică începând cu ultima duminică a lunii martie până în ultima duminică a lunii octombrie. România are acelaşi fus orar ca şi Republica Moldova, Finlanda, Grecia, Israel, Egipt şi Republica Sud Africană.

Forma de guvernământ: republica;
Statut: membră NATO; membră UE

Preşedintele României: Traian Băsescu
Preşedintele este ales prin vot universal, poate deţine cel mult două mandate de 5 ani, este comandantul suprem al forţelor armate.

Puterea legislativă: Parlamentul României ales prin vot universal pe o perioadă de patru ani (485 de membri în legislatura 2000-2004) este bicameral: Senatul României (140 de membri), Camera Deputaţilor (345 de membri).
Preşedintele Senatului României: Nicolae Văcăroiu
Preşedintele Camerei Deputaţilor: Bogdan Olteanu

Puterea executivă: Guvernul României, condus de un prim ministru numit de Preşedintele ţării şi supus Parlamentului prin jurământ şi în faţa căruia răspunde.

Principalele partide politice reprezentate în Parlament:
Coaliţia la putere: Alianţa "Dreptate şi Adevăr" formată din Partidul Naţional Liberal şi Partidul Democrat a câstigat alegerile din 28 noiembrie 2004, atrăgând de partea lor in coaliţia de guvernare Uniunea Democrată a Maghiarilor din România şi Partidul Umanist din România.
În opoziţie: Partidul Social Democrat şi Partidul România Mare

good to know: our amazing body

♣ In one hour, your heart works hard enough to produce the equivalent energy to raise almost 1 ton of weight 1 yard off the ground.

♣ Scientists have counted over 500 different liver functions.

♣ In 25 square milimeters of skin there lies 3.6 meters of nerve fibers, 1300 nerve cells, 100 sweat glands, 3 million cells, and 2.7 meters of blood vessels.

♣ The structural plan of a whale's, a dog's, a bird's and a man's 'arm' are exactly the same.

♣ The world's first test-tube twins were born in June 1981.

♣ In a year, a person`s heart beats 40,000,000 times.

♣ Most people blink about 25 times a minute.

♣ Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour.

♣ Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest itself.

♣ 50,000 of the cells in your body will die and be replaced with new cells, all while you have been reading this sentence!

[ deci aproximativ 600.000 de celule citind tot articolul, inclusiv asta :) (cronometrat) ]

in the lights...Larry Bird

usefull latin sayings...

Do you want to dance? I know the Funky Broadway - Visne saltare? Viam Latam Fungosam scio.

May conspirators assassinate you in the mall! - Utinam coniurati te in foro interficiant!

My dog ate it. - Canis meus id comedit.

I don't want a toaster. - Furnulum pani nolo.

I think some people in togas are plotting against me. - Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare.

today in history

========::Events::========

* 1717 - George Boone, the grandfather of pioneer Daniel Boone sails to America from Bradninch, England
* 1807 - Robert Fulton's first American steamboat leaves New York City for Albany, New York on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.
* 1862 - Indian Wars: The Lakota (Sioux) Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as desperate Lakota attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
* 1863 - American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter.
* 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Gainesville - Confederate forces defeat Union troops near Gainesville, Florida.
* 1883 - The first public performance of the Dominican Republic's national anthem, Quisqueyanos valientes.
* 1907 - Pike Place Market, the longest continuously-running public farmers market in the US, opened in Seattle.
* 1914 - World War I: Battle of Stalluponen - The German army of General Hermann von François defeats the Russian force commanded by Pavel Rennenkampf near modern-day Nesterov, Russia.
* 1918 - Bolshevik revolutionary leader Moisei Uritsky is assassinated.
* 1942 - U.S. Marines raid the Japanese-held Pacific island of Makin (Butaritari).
* 1943 - World War II: The U.S. Eighth Air Force suffers the loss of 60 bombers on the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission.
* 1943 - World War II: The U.S. Seventh Army under General George S. Patton arrive in Messina, Italy, followed several hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
* 1943 - World War II: First Québec Conference of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and William Lyon Mackenzie King begins.
* 1945 - Indonesian Declaration of Independence.
* 1959 - Quake Lake: Quake Lake was formed by a 7.5 rated earthquake in Montana.
* 1960 - Gabon gains independence from France.
* 1962 - East German border guards kill 18-year-old Peter Fechter as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin becoming the first victim of the wall.
* 1970 - Venera Program: Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
* 1978 - Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
* 1998 - Monica Lewinsky scandal: US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony that he had an "improper physical relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the same day he admits before the nation that he "misled people" about his relationship.
* 1999 - A 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes İzmit, Turkey, killing more than 17,000 and injuring 44,000.
* 2004 - The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Boze Pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.

========::Birthdays::========

1601 - Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician
1893 - Mae West, American actress
1932 - V. S. Naipaul, West Indian writer, Nobel Laureate
1943 - Robert De Niro, American actor
1960 - Sean Penn, American actor and director

========::Holidays::========

* Independence Day – observance in Indonesia.
* Rastafari movement - celebration of the birth of Marcus Garvey, considered a prophet.
* Día del Libertador - observed in Argentina, on the day when José de San Martín died.
* Slovenia: Slovenians in Prekmurje Incorporated into the Mother Nation Day

Romania, in a doua dimineata

Împărţirea administrativă

Conform articolului 3 din Constituţie, teritoriul României are o organizare administrativă pe comune, oraşe şi judeţe.
Comuna, unitatea elementară de organizare administrativă, este formată dintr-unul sau mai multe sate şi este condusă de un consiliu local şi un primar ales. România are 2 685 de comune însumând 13 285 de sate, respectiv cu o medie de cinci sate pe comună.
Oraşul este unitatea administrativă condusă de un consiliu local şi un primar ales. Oraşele mai importante pot fi declarate municipii. România are 263 de oraşe, dintre care 82 sunt municipii.
Judeţul este unitatea administrativă condusa de un consiliu judeţean şi un prefect. Consiliul judeţean este ales pentru a coordona activitatea consiliilor comunale şi orăşeneşti, având ca scop concentrarea interesului asupra serviciilor publice de importanţă la nivel judeţean. Guvernul numeşte un prefect în fiecare judeţ pentru a fi reprezentantul său local. România are 41 de judeţe plus municipiul-capitală Bucureşti, care are un statut similar cu acela de judeţ. Un judeţ are, în medie, o suprafaţă de 5 800 m.p. şi o populaţie de 500 000 de locuitori.

Capitala
Bucureşti este cel mai important şi cel mai populat oraş al României, fiind centrul politic, administrativ, economic, al ţării. Este situat în S-SE României. Oraşul se întinde pe o suprafaţă de 228 kmp şi are 2 016 000 de locuitori (reprezentând 9% din totalul populaţiei ţării şi 15% din populaţia urbană), fiind al treilea oraş ca numar de locuitori din regiune, dupa Atena şi Istanbul. Oraşul Bucureşti a fost prima oară menţionat în 1459, ca cetate de scaun a Ţării Româneşti sub domnia lui Vlad Ţepes, deşi aşezarea datează încă din secolul al XIV-lea. Între secolele XVII-XIX, Bucureşti a fost capitala Ţării Româneşti, iar în 1862 a devenit capitala României.

Oraşe
Din 263 de oraşe, 25 au peste 100 000 de locuitori. Opt dintre ele au mai mult de 300 000 de locuitori, printre care capitala Bucureşti (peste 2 000 000), Iaşi (350 000), Constanţa (327 000), Braşov (316 000) şi Craiova (314 000).

Populaţia: 21.680.974 (1 martie 2003; sursa: Institutul Naţional de Statistică)
Ca populaţie, România este a 43-a ţară în lume şi a 9-a în Europa. 55% din populaţie locuieşte în oraşe şi localităţi şi 45% în zona rurală. Populaţia masculină reprezintă 48.7% şi cea feminină 51.3% din totalul locuitorilor.

Naţionalităţi: români 89,5%, unguri (inclusiv secui) 6,6%, rromi (ţigani) 2,5%, alţii 1,4%

Religia: ortodocşi: 86,8%, romano-catolici 4,7%, reformaţi 3,2%, penticostali 1,5%, alţii 3,8%.

Limba oficială: limba română, limba maternă pentru 91% din populaţia ţării.
Minorităţile etnice sunt libere să-şi utilizeze limba maternă în şcoli, administraţie, sistemul juridic, presă, cultură etc. Limba maghiară este vorbită de cea mai numeroasă minoritate etnică, iar limba germană de minoritatea germană (saşi şi şvabi). Principalele limbi străine care circulă în prezent în România sunt engleza, franceza şi germana.

you lady will push this button, or else...

world wonders - The Temple of Artemis at Epheseus

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Is it simply a temple? How could it take its place among other unique structures such as the Pyramid, the Hanging Gardens, and the Colossus of Rhodes? For the people who actually visited it, the answer was simple. It was not just a temple... It was the most beautiful structure on earth... It was built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature. That was the Temple of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesus.

Location
The ancient city of Ephesus near the modern town of Selcuk, about 50 km south of Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey.

History
Although the foundation of the temple dates back to the seventh century BC, the structure that earned a spot in the list of Wonders was built around 550 BC. Referred to as the great marble temple, or temple D, it was sponsored by the Lydian king Croesus and was designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron. It was decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of their time: Pheidias, Polycleitus, Kresilas, and Phradmon.

The temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution. For years, the sanctuary was visited by merchants, tourists, artisans, and kings who paid homage to the goddess by sharing their profits with her. Recent archeological excavations at the site revealed gifts from pilgrims including statuettes of Artemis made of gold and ivory... earrings, bracelets, and necklaces... artifacts from as far as Persia and India.

On the night of 21 July 356 BC, a man named Herostratus burned the temple to ground in an attempt to immortalize his name. He did indeed. Strangely enough, Alexander the Great was born the same night. The Roman historian Plutarch later wrote that the goddess was "too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to send help to her threatened temple". Over the next two decades, the temple was restored and is labeled "temple E" by archeologists. And when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, he helped rebuild the destroyed temple.

When St Paul visited Ephesus to preach Christianity in the first century AD, he was confronted by the Artemis' cult who had no plans to abandon their goddess. And when the temple was again destroyed by the Goths in AD 262, the Ephesians vowed to rebuild. By the fourth century AD, most Ephesians had converted to Christianity and the temple lost its religious glamor. The final chapter came when in AD 401 the Temple of Artemis was torn down by St John Chrysostom. Ephesus was later deserted, and only in the late nineteenth century has the site been excavated.

The digging revealed the temple's foundation and the road to the now swampy site. Attempts were recently made to rebuilt the temple, but only a few columns have been re-erected.

first aid lesson: Burns

Burns: First aid

To distinguish a minor burn from a serious burn, the first step is to determine the degree and the extent of damage to body tissues. The three classifications of first-degree burn, second-degree burn and third-degree burn will help you determine emergency care:

First-degree burn
The least serious burns are those in which only the outer layer of skin (epidermis) is burned. The skin is usually red, with swelling and pain sometimes present. The outer layer of skin hasn't been burned through. Treat a first-degree burn as a minor burn unless it involves substantial portions of the hands, feet, face, groin or buttocks, or a major joint.

Second-degree burn
When the first layer of skin has been burned through and the second layer of skin (dermis) also is burned, the injury is termed a second-degree burn. Blisters develop and the skin takes on an intensely reddened, splotchy appearance. Second-degree burns produce severe pain and swelling.

For minor burns, including second-degree burns limited to an area no larger than 2 to 3 inches in diameter, take the following action:

• Cool the burn. Hold the burned area under cold running water for at least 5 minutes, or until the pain subsides. If this is impractical, immerse the burn in cold water or cool it with cold compresses. Cooling the burn reduces swelling by conducting heat away from the skin. Don't put ice on the burn.
• Cover the burn with a sterile gauze bandage. Don't use fluffy cotton, which may irritate the skin. Wrap the gauze loosely to avoid putting pressure on burned skin. Bandaging keeps air off the burned skin, reduces pain and protects blistered skin.
• Take an over-the-counter pain reliever. These include aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), naproxen (Aleve) or acetaminophen (Tylenol, others). Never give aspirin to children or teenagers.

Minor burns usually heal without further treatment. Watch for signs of infection, such as increased pain, redness, fever, swelling or oozing. If infection develops, seek medical help.

Caution

• Don't use ice. Putting ice directly on a burn can cause frostbite, further damaging your skin.
• Don't break blisters. Broken blisters are vulnerable to infection.

Third-degree burn
The most serious burns are painless and involve all layers of the skin. Fat, muscle and even bone may be affected. Areas may be charred black or appear dry and white. Difficulty inhaling and exhaling, carbon monoxide poisoning or other toxic effects may occur if smoke inhalation accompanies the burn.

For major burns, call for emergency medical assistance (112 for Romania). Until an emergency unit arrives, follow these steps:

1. Don't remove burnt clothing. However, do make sure the victim is no longer in contact with smoldering materials or exposed to smoke or heat.
2. Don't immerse severe large burns in cold water. Doing so could cause shock.
3. Check for signs of circulation (breathing, coughing or movement). If there is no breathing or other sign of circulation, begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
4. Cover the area of the burn. Use a cool, moist, sterile bandage; clean, moist cloth; or moist towels.