Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao are part of the Leeward Islands. They are near Venezuela. Saint Martin, Sint Eustatius, and Saba are part of the Windward Islands. They are near Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Of these, the island Sint Maarten is in fact part of two countries: the northern part belongs to France (as Saint Martin), but the southern part is Dutch (as Sint Maarten).
Aruba left the Netherlands Antilles in 1986. When Curaçao and Sint Maarten did the same thing on 10 October 2010, the country no longer existed. The remaining BES Islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba now belong to the Netherlands and are called the Dutch Caribbean islands.
Because the Netherlands Antilles was a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands proper was also the Queen of the Netherlands Antilles, but the islands' residents had a government of their own. Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are now separate countries within the Kingdom. All of these places still have King Willem-Alexander as their monarch today.
The last Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles was Emily de Jongh-Elhage. The last Governor was Frits Goedgedrag, who is since the 10 October 2010 the first Governor of Curaçao.
Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel () (October 21, 1833 – December 10, 1896) was a Swedish scientist, engineer, and weapons manufacturer. He is well known for the invention of dynamite and for creating the Nobel Prize.
He left instructions in his will that his money should create the Nobel Prize after reading an article in a French newspaper that called him the "merchant of death" and said that he would be remembered for his invention of dynamite and its ability to kill more people than ever before. Nobel left 31 million kronor (the Swedish currency) to the awards after his death on December 10, 1896. The artificial element Nobelium is named for him.
Nobel was born on October 21, 1833. His father, Immanuel Nobel, was an engineer and inventor. His mother was Andriette Ahlsell Nobel. In 1833, Immanuel Nobel was forced into bankruptcy due to losses in his construction company.
Pharmacy
A pharmacy is a shop where therapeutic drugs are sold. Sometimes a pharmacy is also called a "drug store or chemist and druggist store". The people working in a pharmacy are called pharmacists, druggist or chemists (British English). These people can recognise simple diseases and formulate or dispense drugs for some of them.
Certain drugs are special, because they can be addictive, or they change the way other drugs act, or they need to be taken in a special way. These drugs cannot simply be bought at a pharmacy. A prescription is necessary to get them. Medical doctors give out prescriptions, which can then be used to get the drug.
Many pharmacies do not sell drugs only. They also sell beauty products and hygiene-related products, like tampons for women and contraceptives.
Pharmacy is also a branch of chemistry that studies the molecular structure of drugs to find better drugs.
Kiss
People kiss each other, usually by using their lips and mouth to touch each other. However, there are many different types of kiss, with different meanings. Also, the meaning of kissing may be different in different cultures. Most often, people kiss to show love or affection for each other. Sometimes, people kiss as a sign of friendship, sometimes it is a ritual performed to greet someone.
Greeting kisses are not given for sexual passion, but simply a sign of friendship. In many parts of the world, women often kiss on meeting female friends, but men do not. And the female greeting kiss may not actually touch the friend's face. In the past of many western countries men used to kiss the back of a woman's hand when being introduced. This suggests that a direct kiss from a man to a woman was too intimate to be just a greeting.
There are different ways of kissing. People might kiss on the cheeks to greet someone, or to bid them farewell. Depending on the culture it usually does not mean that the kisser loves the person he or she kissed. Kissing when female friends meet is usual in many countries, with some interesting variations. Parisian females often do a rapid double 'air kiss' or 'cheek kiss': a kiss on each side twice, but without lips touching flesh.
French kissing is an erotic gesture. It involves touching tongues while kissing. It is more intimate than other forms of kissing.
A kiss may be a ritual, that is, a symbolic or social gesture showing devotion, respect or greeting. Temples, religious books or icon are sometimes given a ritual kiss. A bride and groom kissing at the end of a wedding ceremony or national leaders kissing each other in greeting, are examples.
It is possible to spread diseases through kissing, but it is also possible to exaggerate the danger. Exotic diseases like herpes and mononucleosis can be spread, but that is rare, and spreading HIV this way is almost unknown. Colds and the flu are much more likely to be spread. Mononucleosis is well known for being spread through kissing. Many diseases that can be spread by sharing drinks can also be spread by kissing.
The upside to this is that, usually, kissing makes people happier. That has health benefits.
Brothel
A brothel is a bar, nightclub or hotel where sex workers are found. People go there to buy sex for money. Different countries have different regulations as to sex work.
Some countries where prostitution is legal allow it to happen in a brothel, others allow it to happen "on the street", still others allow both forms. Generally, sex work in a brothel is seen as safer for the worker than sex work on the street.
In some countries operating brothels is legal, in other countries it is illegal. Examples of countries where brothels are illegal are Canada and most of the United States. Brothels are legal in some countries from Europe, for example. A country which has permissive laws regarding sex work is the Netherlands. Laws can be unclear on whether brothels with sexbots are legal or not.
Most of the time, where legal, brothels need to be registered like other businesses. However even if it is legal to run a brothel, there may still be conflicts with the law. Examples of problem cases are:
Brothels have been known for most of recorded history. At first there was temple prostitution in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.
In Ancient Greece and Roman civilizations, brothels were established. Sometimes they were licensed institutions. This was first recorded in Athens in 594 BC. Public sources of the time said it was good that Solon installed the brothel. People said this would reduce the problems caused by sexually unfulfilled sailors and workers. It would also fill money into the public purse. This first official brothel was soon followed by many others, and also influenced the creation of special schools in which various classes of prostitutes (from slavegirls to future courtesans) were trained for their profession. In 2017, a brothel was opened with sexbots instead of human workers.
Brothels use a variety of business models:
The third option (the brothel owner renting space and facilities to sex workers) gives some way for the brothel owner to say they did not know what is going on. This is especially the case where sex work is forbidden or restricted. Brothel owners often disguise their actions as running a massage parlor, a bar or a similar venue.
Allowing such places (while forbidding se work) can also give politicians a way to save face when they do not want to put laws against sex work into practice.
Latitude
The latitude of the Earth gives the distance north or south of the equator. It is measured in degrees. Latitude is represented by the Greek letter phi, formula_1. It is usually used along with a measurement of longitude in order to pinpoint a location on Earth.