A ‘drive-thru cinema’ is launching in Sheffield – street food will be delivered to your car and NHS staff can go for free
An events company launched by a Sheffield entrepreneur is setting up the perfect socially-distanced entertainment venue in the city – a drive-in cinema.
The Village Screen has been popping up to show films at unusual places, such as the outdoor pool in Hathersage, Ecclesall Woods and Castleton's Peak Cavern, since 2015.
Over the past five years the venture has gained momentum, with screenings being held across the country for more than 35,000 people.
But, as the Covid-19 pandemic has made public gatherings more complicated, organisers have come up with a new way of showing movies by launching the Drive Thru Cinema.
“This summer, we’re bringing Drive Thru Cinema events to a number of secret and special locations across Sheffield, Manchester and further afield,” The Village Screen said.
“Expect cult films, quirky locations and epic street food, all delivered to your car.”
The drive-in will be ‘just as original’ as before, it is promised, with ‘live music and DJ entertainment’ as well as drink deliveries, ‘all while following social distancing rules’.
“Audiences will be able to choose from a number of cult classics, all of which will be screened in the evening using state of the art projection and proper cinema screens, with sound being delivered straight to your car.
“We will be donating a number of free tickets each night for NHS staff. You will also be able to thank the NHS staff by buying and donating a Hero ticket. Dates and tickets will be released soon.”
The Village Screen was established by Claire Atkinson as part of her company, Village Green Events. Claire grew up in Millhouses and began the pop-up cinema after moving back to Sheffield from London, where she worked first as a lawyer, and then for the Science Museum’s corporate sponsorship team.
“I went to outdoor screenings in London and loved them,” she said in 2015. “I remember thinking ‘I’d love to do this in Sheffield’.”
Normally audiences view films while wearing headphones and lounging on vintage deckchairs.
Visit www.thevillagescreen.com to register for updates.


Recently, the Olympian Editorial Board raised the idea of consolidating the cities of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater. The board concludes that consolidating the three cities would achieve “an economy of scale” that would lead to some perceived cost savings. The board implores us to “choose efficiency, simplicity and rationality over plainly outdated and dysfunctional divisions.”
If economy of scale were the logical choice to those ends, we should consolidate all 19,500 municipalities in the United States under one “efficient, simple and rational” government. In my lifetime, I have rarely seen “bigger” equate to “efficient, simple and rational.”
The Editorial Board claims that public funds could be saved by consolidating the departments of the three cities. History does not support that conclusion. The first cost that is always underestimated is the actual cost of consolidation. According to Justin Marlowe, Endowed Professor of Public Finance and Civic Engagement at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington, this is not the case. Based on Census Bureau data of the 20 city consolidations in the last 30 years, he writes, “In fact, for the majority of citizens directly affected in these cases, consolidation has meant higher taxes and spending.”
The board envisions a “bigger Home Fund” and “expanding parks, trails and other amenities,” all to be paid for by that elusive “economy of scale.” When those economies don’t pan out, the result is either greater taxes and spending or less effective programs.
Marlowe also identifies other consolidation costs including layoffs and the “legacy costs” of pension and health care costs related to those layoffs.
The board identified the unique differences in each of our cities. These differences play out in the respective city workforces as well. Employees, generally, take pride in the direction of a department or unit when they can influence that direction. A larger entity will not be as receptive to ideas emanating from the “boots on the ground,” leading to lower morale and commitment of the employees.
The board’s vision also fails to consider numerous other losses, not the least of which would be accountability of our elected officials. As a government grows and moves farther away from the people, accountability is always lost. Many years ago, this community came together in creating the LOTT system to manage our regional sewage waste problems. It was a messy and difficult merger, but it has left the people of each of the cities with no accountability at the polls.
A larger government is less nimble and would lead to lost opportunities, particularly in economic development. Currently, the cities can decide the manner in which they grow and seek the economic development that fits. Can you imagine significant economic opportunities being lost as the many factions of the “Grand Council” argue over the location, incentives, development fees and regulations of economic growth?
Our county enjoys a good reputation for winning state and federal grants. All our cities are good at this. The cities are successful at different grants because of the differences in the three cities. That advantage would be lost by a consolidation.
The Editorial Board concludes that “the name of the city is the least important question.” Each city would have a claim to the name. Olympia would argue the name must be Olympia because it is the capital of the state. Lacey would argue that, as the largest city of the three (as of the next census) the name should certainly be Lacey. Tumwater, as the first of the cities, has the historical claim to the name. But, if in fact, a name is the least important question, I believe The Olympian could show the way forward and rename the publication “The LOTT Tribune.” After all, “a rose is a rose is a rose” – and it smells the same.


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“…[W]e sat that way for hours. Long enough for me to feel my own density settle more and more completely into the chalky dust. Aeons had made it, out of dissolving mountains, out of endlessly rocking metamorphosis. The things of the world knew so much more than we did and lived them more truly. The thorn trees had no grief or fear. The constellations didn’t fight or hold themselves back, nor did the translucent hook of the moon. Everything was momentary and endless. This time…would fade, and it would last forever.” Paula McLain, Circling the Sun
From the Publisher
Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal bestseller The Paris Wife, now returns with her keenly anticipated new novel, transporting readers to colonial Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman—Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.
Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share his estate. Her unconventional upbringing transforms Beryl into a bold young woman with a fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature’s delicate balance. But even the wild child must grow up, and when everything Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous relationships.
Beryl forges her own path as a horse trainer, and her uncommon style attracts the eye of the Happy Valley set, a decadent, bohemian community of European expats who also live and love by their own set of rules. But it’s the ruggedly charismatic Denys Finch Hatton who ultimately helps Beryl navigate the uncharted territory of her own heart. The intensity of their love reveals Beryl’s truest self and her fate: to fly.
Set against the majestic landscape of early-twentieth-century Africa, McLain’s powerful tale reveals the extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time, the exhilaration of freedom and its cost, and the tenacity of the human spirit.
If I hadn’t loved McLain’s THE PARIS WIFE, I still would have picked up CIRCLING THE SUN based on the cover alone: so warm it glows with the heat of the African sun, moody with the distant silhouette of the acacia tree, and the brooding woman with bobbed hair wearing slacks and riding boots when women didn’t typically wear slacks. The cover could enfold a Hemingway story–something Kilamanjaro-esque–and my high expectations were met in every way.
Set in Kenya in the 1920s, CIRCLING THE SUN represents the best in historical fiction. It tells the tale of a little known corner of history in beautiful, vivid prose that not only enlivens the period, but will send the reader searching for more information on the people and places depicted in its pages.
Like Hadley Hemingway in THE PARIS WIFE, the protagonist of CIRCLING THE SUN, Beryl Markham, is a complicated woman. Unlike Hadley, however, Beryl takes bold charge of her own destiny. Her decisions are sometimes selfish, often honorable, and occasionally deplorable, but Beryl’s strength of spirit, honesty, and courage redeem her.
Fans of period fiction, family drama, and tragic love stories will be mesmerized by CIRCLING THE SUN. I give it my highest recommendation.
It’s hard to believe a year has passed since GRAND CENTRAL: ORIGINAL STORIES OF POSTWAR LOVE AND REUNION was published. It seems like just a few weeks ago that my fellow anthology authors and I were donning our 40s attire, getting Victory Curls, and standing under the constellations at Grand Central Terminal. Working on that project was both personally and professionally rewarding, and we all continue to keep in touch.
To celebrate our anthology turning one, I am giving away a copy of GRAND CENTRAL. To enter, please leave a comment below by Friday, July 3rd at 9 PM ET with your favorite novel by one of the contributing authors, or your favorite WWII novel. Please share on social media (US only), and good luck!
My novel, The House of Hawthorne, releases in less than two weeks, and I am eager to share the enchanting world of Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne with readers. For the first time I do not use a fictional narrator to tell the story, but only the “true characters” from history. From Emerson, to Thoreau, to Franklin Pierce, to Elizabeth Browning, the well-known cast and luscious settings contribute to the rich canvas of the Hawthornes’ lives.
Christina Baker Kline, #1 NY Times Bestselling author of Orphan Train, says this aboutThe House of Hawthorne: “The timeless questions of identity and creative self-expression facing women today are explored in this richly imagined novel about the marriage of Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne. Insightful and transportive.”
- Vanity Fair has selectedThe House of Hawthorne for its “Hot Type” feature in June, and DuJour Magazine is featuring the novel in its recommendations for Mother’s Day Gifts.
- I would love to see you (and your book club, if you are in one) at my launch party on Friday, May 8th, 7 PM, at Barnes and Noble in Annapolis, MD. There will be goodies and a giveaway. If you are not able to make the launch or do not live locally, a list of my events may be found here.
- If you use an ereader or would prefer to pre-order a copy of the book, a list of links may be found here.
- I’m delighted to report that audio rights forThe House of Hawthorne have been sold, and the audiobook will be released on May 5th.
- If you are on Goodreads or any online book sites, I would greatly appreciate if you add the book to your “To Read” lists and consider reviewing it once you finish reading.
- If your book club would like to schedule a visit with me (in person or on Skype) please contact me here.
- Finally, for news and oodles of historical fiction giveaways, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or Pinterest.
The House of Hawthorne is especially close to my heart, and will be my first hardcover release. It fills me with joy and gratitude to think of the progress from selling that first box of self-published books out of my car at a wine festival to now. Your support and encouragement have made this possible, and I am so thankful.
In honor of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne’s love of beauty, art, nature, and family, I am hosting a Mother’s Day giveaway of 2 signed copies of The House of Hawthorne. Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10th, so I will run the giveaway for one week to allow ample time to mail the books in time for the holiday, if you choose to use it as a gift. US residents have until 9 PM ET on Wednesday, April 29th to enter. Comment below about your favorite Hawthorne story, or a reflection on motherhood and family, and please share the post on social media. Good luck!
“Jackman writes well, with great atmosphere…The hard realism and violence, combined with the evocative prose, will intrigue readers of Cormac McCarthy and James Lee Burke.”
Tracing a group of ruthless outlaws from its genesis during the American Civil War all the way to a final bloody stand in the Oklahoma territories, The Winter Family is a hyperkinetic Western noir that reads like a full-on assault to the senses.
Spanning the better part of three decades, The Winter Family traverses America’s harsh, untamed terrain, both serving and opposing the fierce advance of civilization. Among its twisted specimens, the Winter Family includes the psychopathic killer Quentin Ross, the mean and moronic Empire brothers, the impassive ex-slave Fred Johnson, and the dangerous child prodigy Lukas Shakespeare But at the malevolent center of this ultraviolent storm is their cold, hardened leader, Augustus Winter—a man with an almost pathological resistance to the rules of society and a preternatural gift for butchery.
From their service as political thugs in a brutal Chicago election to their work as bounty hunters in the deserts of Arizona, there’s a hypnotic logic to Winter’s grim borderland morality that plays out, time and again, in ruthless carnage.
With its haunting, hard-edged style, The Winter Family is a feverishly paced meditation on human nature and the dark contradictions of progress.
“[A] blood-soaked historical western covering over three decades of mayhem, from the Civil War to 1900 Los Angeles. There are no good guys here…The strength of the story is Jackman’s vivid portrayal of men who choose violence and lawlessness as their way of life, and the justifications they create to rationalize their immoral behavior. This is a chilling tale. “
— Publisher’s Weekly
If these reviews get you excited, I might have a copy of THE WINTER FAMILY for you. I have a hard time with books of extreme violence, so I chose not to read it, but I can tell you, if Chapter One is a reflection of the larger style, THE WINTER FAMILY is gripping and well written.
The publisher of sent me a hardcover. If you’d like to win it, please comment below about your favorite novels that tackle tough subjects, and share the giveaway on social media. US residents have until Tuesday, April 21st at 9 PM ET to win. Good luck!
“Hemingway learned to believe that stories only become whole when the writer’s words…are allowed to collide with the reader’s own experiences and interpretation.” Robert Wheeler, HEMINGWAY’S PARIS
Walk through the Streets of Paris with Ernest Hemingway.
In gorgeous black and white images, Hemingway’s Paris depicts a story of remarkable passion—for a city, a woman, and a time. No other city in any of his travels was as significant, professionally or emotionally, as was Paris. And it remains there, all of the complexity, beauty, and intrigue that Hemingway described in the pages of so much of his work.
It is all still there for the reader and traveler to experience—the history, the streets, and the city. Restaurants, hotels, homes, sites and favorite bars are all detailed here. The ninety-five black and white photographs in Hemingway’s Paris are of the highest caliber. The accompanying text reveals Wheeler’s deep understanding of the man; his torment, talent, obstacles and the places of refuge needed to nurture one of the preeminent writers of the twentieth century.
Moved by the humanistic writing of the man—a writer capable of transcending his readers to foreign settings and into the hearts and minds of his protagonists—Wheeler was inspired to travel throughout France, Italy, Spain, Africa, and Cuba, where he has sought to gain insight into the motivation behind Hemingway’s books and short stories. As a teacher, lecturer, and photojournalist, he set out to capture and interpret the Paris that Ernest Hemingway experienced in the first part of the century. Through his journal and photographs, Wheeler portrays the intimate connection Hemingway had with the woman he never stopped loving, Hadley, and with the city he loved most, Paris.
I met Robert Wheeler at New Hampshire’s River Run Bookstore where he attended a book talk for my novel, HEMINGWAY’S GIRL. He and his wife, Katherine, warmly welcomed me to the city, and we spent the evening discussing our mutual appreciation for the work of Ernest Hemingway. It was during dinner that Robert revealed a series of stunning black and white photographs he had taken in Paris from “Hemingway’s perspective.” As he passed the pictures to me and described–with great passion and exuberance–the meaning of the photos and their connections to Hemingway’s work, I was overcome by his unique exploration in understanding Hemingway.
It gives me tremendous joy these years later to hold HEMINGWAY’S PARIS, a photo journal of Wheeler’s images and reflections on the famous writer and his beloved city. As clean as the prose of Hemingway himself, the nearly one hundred photographs progress like the sketches of Hemingway’s A MOVEABLE FEAST. HEMINGWAY’S PARIS has inspired me to reread the classic, and has deepened my desire to visit Paris.
Whether you are a lover of Hemingway, Paris, photography, or art, you will find great inspiration on the pages of HEMINGWAY’S PARIS. It would make an excellent gift, display book, or artistic companion, and I will be sure to pack it on my first trip to Paris so I might walk the routes of Ernest Hemingway.
The publisher will provide one copy of HEMINGWAY’S PARIS for a giveaway. Please comment below with your favorite Hemingway story or Paris memory, and share on social media. US residents have until Monday, April 20th at 9 PM ET to win. Bonne chance!
“[S]he is a cautious creature. Given to bone-shattering honesty. Believe all her words…she does nothing by accident. Nor is she careless, like her sister. Virginia would set the house on fire just to watch everyone come running out in pyjamas.” Priya Parmar, Vanessa and Her Sister
What if Virginia Woolf’s sister had kept a diary? For fans of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank comes a spellbinding new story of the inseparable bond between Virginia and her sister, the gifted painter Vanessa Bell, and the real-life betrayal that threatened to destroy their family. Hailed by The New York Times Book Review as “an uncanny success” and based on meticulous research, this stunning novel illuminates a little-known episode in the celebrated sisters’ glittering bohemian youth among the legendary Bloomsbury Group.
Full disclosure: I first bought VANESSA AND HER SISTER for my ereader, but after forty pages, I was confused by the characters and their nicknames, and could not sink into the very specific rhythm of the story that I sensed was there. Books have a funny way of whispering in my ear, however, so after a few weeks, I purchased the hardcover. Within ten pages I was spellbound by the gorgeous prose, the unique structure, and the very real women and men peopling the story.
Assembled as a series of letters, diary entries, and telegrams, Parmar’s writing is literary, witty, visceral, and captivating. I struggled to find just the right quote to include in this post because I underlined, starred, and dogeared at least a third of the book. (Another plug for paper: one cannot vandalize an ebook in such a satisfying way!) Whether one pauses in a sitting to savor the language, or grows full from devouring large portions of text, either case will leave the reader satisfied and eager for more.
If you do not know anything about Virginia Woolf’s family (as I did not), do not seek out information. Allow this book to begin your education on the fascinating Stephens siblings; allow it to surprise, thrill, anger, and move you as the novel unfolds. If you do have knowledge of the family and the artists of the Bloomsbury Group, enter their space as you never have before to gain new understanding of their movement.
At one point in VANESSA AND HER SISTER, a character says this about art:
“Yes, the public are disconcerted, but that is how art must happen. It cannot be a comfortable, smooth transition from one aesthetic to another. It must bump and jostle and disrupt and shake the ground until the ground gives way…The old does not politely move over to make way for the new; it must be roughly shouldered aside.”
Priya Parmar does just this through her experimental style. She disrupts the common form of the novel and presents us with a telling of such intimacy and immediacy, it is as if the characters are whispering in our ears, conspiring with us. I did not want this book to end, and when it did, I went back to the beginning and started re-reading it. I will keep VANESSA AND HER SISTER close at hand, revisiting the story often for enjoyment and for craft study.
I shudder to think that format almost kept me from enjoying one of my new, all-time favorite novels. If you are a fan of historical fiction, of literary fiction, or of being moved by spectacular writing, I highly recommend VANESSA AND HER SISTER.
**(I do love my ereader; don’t see this as an indictment of the format. It is just that some books are meant to be read on paper, and this is one of them.)**
Part of being a book blogger is receiving more novels than you could ever read, especially when you’re on deadline. (Ahem.) One that intrigues me, that I plan to pick up in the future, is a new period piece called THE JAZZ PALACE by Mary Morris, which releases today. It looks like it would appeal to those who enjoyed THE GOOD AMERICAN by Alex George, or either of Renee Rosen’s historical Chicago-set novels.
Acclaimed author Mary Morris returns to her Chicago roots in this sweeping novel that brilliantly captures the dynamic atmosphere and the dazzling music of the Jazz Age.
In the midst of boomtown Chicago, two Jewish families have suffered terrible blows. The Lehrmans, who run a small hat factory, lost their beloved son Harold in a blizzard. The Chimbrovas, who run a saloon, lost three of their boys on the SS Eastland when it sank in 1915. Each family holds out hope that one of their remaining children will rise to carry on the family business. But Benny Lehrman has no interest in making hats. His true passion is piano—especially jazz.
At night he sneaks down to the South Side, slipping into predominantly black clubs to hear jazz groups play. One night he is called out and asked to “sit in” on a group. His playing is first-rate, and the other musicians are impressed. One of them, the trumpeter, a black man named Napoleon, becomes Benny’s close friend and musical collaborator, and their adventures together take Benny far from the life he knew as a delivery boy. Pearl Chimbrova recognizes their talent and invites them to start playing at her family’s saloon, which Napoleon dubs “The Jazz Palace.”
But Napoleon’s main gig is at a mob establishment, which doesn’t take too kindly to freelancing. And as the ’20s come to a close and the bubble of prosperity collapses, Benny, Napoleon, and Pearl must all make hard choices between financial survival and the music they love.
The publisher sent me one hardcover copy I’ll provide for a giveaway. To be entered in the drawing, simply comment below with your favorite novel set in the early twentieth century, and share on social media. You have until Friday, April 10th at 9 PM ET. US residents only, please. Good luck!
In the first Penguin Classics translation in 40 years, Victor Hugo’s powerful novel of the June Rebellion of 1832 receives a compelling new treatment from Christine Donougher, winner of the Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize.
The Times Literary Supplement praises the book as “a magnificent achievement. It reads easily, sometimes racily, and Hugo’s narrative power is never let down…[an] almost flawless translation, which brings the full flavour of one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century to new readers in the twenty-first.”
The Herald Scotland says, “Christine Donougher’s seamless and very modern translation of Les Misérables has an astonishing effect in that it reminds readers that Hugo was going further than any Dickensian lament about social conditions … [Les Mis] touches the soul.”
The cover of this Penguin Classics Graphic Deluxe Edition is a marvel in itself. It is illustrated by celebrated artist Jillian Tamaki, a Caldecott Award winner and contributor to the New York Times Book Review.
I have one copy of Les Misérables to give away. Simply comment below on whether you have read or seen Les Misérables, and share on social media by Thursday, March 5th at 9 PM ET. (US residents only, please.) Bonne chance!
Today marks the paperback release of Marci Jefferson’s fabulous novel, GIRL ON THE GOLDEN COIN. In it, Royalist exile Frances Stuart must walk a fine line between pleasing kings and protecting her family’s secret. Jefferson has received heaps of praise (including my own) for this passionate, historically rich novel, including:
“This small leap from the Tudors is a must-read for Alison Weir-Philippa Gregory fans.” – Booklist
“Jefferson’s intoxicating first novel superbly draws readers into the mischief and maneuverings, loyalties and treacheries, and lust and hostility of powerful 17th century kings and scheming court sycophants.” – Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
“Written with spirit and insight, the novel reveals both the glamour and the dirt of court life while peering into the soul of a woman who is one of the unsung heroines of English history.” – Historical Novels Review
I have one copy to give away. If you would like to win, please comment below on your favorite historical fiction author or time period by 9 PM ET on Thursday, February 26th, and share on social media. (US residents only, please.) Good luck!
“A wave arced over the slate waters and broke the stone at the edge of the property. One violent tempest and the cottage floor would be engulfed. She relished the wild beauty of the sea, the push and pull of currents, and the whirling eddies of cold water…She lowered herself to the short drop-off to the sea, removed her boots, and dangled her legs over the surf. Auguste was an unavoidable force. Warring against her emotions grew tedious and tiring…Dieu, she missed him.” Heather Webb, RODIN’S LOVER
A mesmerizing tale of art and passion in Belle Époque France
As a woman, aspiring sculptor Camille Claudel has plenty of critics, especially her ultra-traditional mother. But when Auguste Rodin makes Camille his apprentice—and his muse—their passion inspires groundbreaking works. Yet, Camille’s success is overshadowed by her lover’s rising star, and her obsessions cross the line into madness.
Rodin’s Lover brings to life the volatile love affair between one of the era’s greatest artists and a woman entwined in a tragic dilemma she cannot escape.
Consumed. This novel consumed me.
Webb’s powerful writing matches her passionate and tragic heroine, sculptor Camille Claudel. The conflicts and frustrations of a female artist at a time of rampant discrimination bring the pages to life, and the beautiful writing and narrative momentum make the book impossible to put down.
The cast of artists, writers, and notable historical figures will send one in search of photographs and images for hours, and Claudel will forever haunt the reader. Webb’s depiction of Claudel’s love affair with Auguste Rodin is cautionary, sympathetic, and wholly absorbing.
Look into Camille’s eyes on the cover, and see if you can resist her intense and untamed world…

domain: library


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Handmade silver miniature globe
The globe is exceptionally detailed and handmade. Provided with beautiful details such as:
Protractor, sphere can rotate, stands on a four-legged frame, etc.
Beautifully assayed and marked with silver hallmarks of a fineness mark and maker’s mark.
Has a width of 3.3 cm and a height of 4.2 cm.
The weight is 22.5 grams.
The object is in exceptionally beautiful and intact condition without dents or scratches and is very detailed.
This is a striking and very decorative object due to its beautiful shape and detailed decoration.
Will be carefully packaged and shipped by registered mail.
- Handmade silver miniature Globe.
- Estimated Period
- Mid 20th century
- Country of Origin
- Excellent condition - barely used with minimal signs of aging & wear

domain: design


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The IV International Cassava Conference brought together over 300 cassava scientists, farmers, private sector, government and donor representatives in Cotonou, Benin from June 11 – 15. Convened by the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21), the triennial event presented a unique opportunity for a diverse set of stakeholders to exchange scientific, technical and industrial information about cassava.
The event was opened on Monday 11 by the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Benin, Dr Gaston Dossouhoui, who applauded the event, adding that he hoped it would help overcome some of the barriers restricting the cassava sector on the continent. His comments were followed by a keynote address by Dr Martin Fregene, Director of Agriculture and Agro-Industry at the African Development Bank who emphasized their aim to double the productivity of cassava over the next eight to 10 years.
Dr Fregene also commended the work of the Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System in Nigeria (BASICS) project to adapt Semi-Autotropic Hydroponics (SAH) for cassava. The technology allows for the rapid multiplication of cassava planting material, helping to overcome the typically slow and low multiplication ratio of the crop. This has historically been one of the major bottlenecks restricting the widespread adoption of improved varieties.
“We need robust seed system of improved cassava varieties, including biofortified varieties,” emphasized Dr Fregene.
Martin Fregene of @AfDB_Group: “We need a robust seed system of improved #cassava varieties, incl. biofortified varieties. Excellent to see @gatesfoundation financing SAH rapid multiplication system.” Learn more on #BASICSproject website: https://t.co/uCGdzQfqDU #GCP21BENIN2018 pic.twitter.com/H3G3XRhKDJ
— RootsTubersBananas (@RTB_CGIAR) 11 June 2018
Research and projects under the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) featured prominently at the event in both plenary and breakout sessions, including a study by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) that used DNA fingerprinting to accurately assess the adoption of improved cassava varieties in Nigeria, which is the world’s largest producer of the crop. The project surveyed 2500 households from states responsible for 80% of the cassava production in the country, finding that while 60% of respondents stated they were cultivating improved varieties, DNA fingerprinting revealed this to actually be 66%.
Developments in cassava processing were also presented, including by CIRAD Researcher on Food Process Engineering, Dr Arnaud Chapuis, who gave an update on improved energy-efficient designs for small-scale cassava flash dryers. The production of cassava starch and flour requires drying the product from a moisture content of 40% down to 13% to ensure a long shelf-life. Small-scale producers often do this by drying the starch under the sun, which is both a time consuming and risky method that requires a large area of land, posing a barrier to the growth of processors. The team of researchers from CIRAD and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) successfully designed and built an energy-efficient pilot dryer that is suitable for small-scale processors, and which will be scaled in sub-Saharan Africa.
“There are also environmental benefits to the technology,” added Arnaud. “The first is reducing the overall energy demand for drying, and if the unit is using fossil fuels this will reduce its carbon footprint. Another area that we are focusing on is using renewable energy sources to power the flash dryers, which would be an even bigger improvement,” he explained.
Similarly, another new processing technology to turn cassava peels in to an ingredient for animal feed will simultaneously increase the incomes of cassava value chain actors while benefiting the environment. The processing technique was introduced in a presentation titled ‘From Want-Not to Waste-Not’ by Iheanacho Okike of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Each year, nearly 36 million tonnes of cassava peels litter the environment and pollute underground water, with attempts to dispose of the waste by burning equally polluting the air. A new innovation developed by IITA can quickly dry the peels and eliminate harmful toxins, unlocking the potential to create new products and a new industry in the cassava value chain that could employ half a million people each year.
“Real progress came when the main constraint to the use of cassava peels was overcome by CGIAR scientists – drying. The typical method of drying the peels in the sun takes about three days during the dry season, and in the wet season it is almost impossible. To have a technology that shortens the time from three days to only eight hours is a huge leap,” said Iheanacho, who added that it will be particularly beneficial for women who provide the majority of labor in this area.
In fact, this is one of the technologies that will receive funding and support for scaling through the RTB Scaling Fund. Efforts by the program to expand the reach of research innovations was unpacked in a plenary presentation by Dr Michael Friedmann, RTB Science Officer, who introduced the Scaling Readiness Approach used by the program. RTB is building evidence for stepwise thinking about innovation and scaling pathways to support decision-making on the type of research, capacity development and partnership investments that need to be put in place to ensure innovations create lasting impact.
During the event, an award was presented to Dr Claude Fauquet, the outgoing Executive Director of GCP21 in recognition of his life-long dedication to cassava research, while the Golden Cassava Prize was awarded to Dr Hernan Ceballos of CIAT and Dr Alfred Dixon of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture IITA.
The event concluded with proposals for countries to host the V International Cassava Conference in 2021, including Brasil and France, which will be organized under the leadership of the incoming GCP21 Executive Director, Malachy Akoroda.

domain: agronomy


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NEW YORK (Dec. 14)
After decades of intractability on the question of compensation to victims of Nazi crimes, the Austrian Parliament passed legislation Wednesday that will enable Jews forced to flee Austria to receive social security benefits.
The 48th Amendment to the Austrian Social Insurance Law will make it possible for Holocaust survivors who were born in Austria before 1930 — eight years prior to the Anschluss — to claim social security benefits.
Whereas previous legislation had set the cutoff date at 1924, the new amendment will allow thousands of former Austrian citizens to receive an ongoing monthly payment of approximately $400.
The Austrian government estimates that this provision will cost it between 2 billion and 8 billion Austrian schillings, or approximately $165 million to $665 million.
“This is a tremendous breakthrough,” said Israel Miller, president of the Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria. “For years, the Austrians have claimed that they were not part of the Nazi empire, that they were a victim country” and therefore were not responsible for compensation payments.
FAILURE TO COMPENSATE SURVIVORS
But according to Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress, such legislative actions hardly fulfill Austria’s obligations to its former citizens.
“This is a positive step, but it doesn’t address the central issue of Austria’s refusal to face up to its role regarding Nazi war crimes, and its failure to adequately compensate survivors of those crimes,” he said.
There were approximately 181,000 Jews in Austria prior to the Nazi Holocaust. Between 60,000 and 80,000 are estimated to have perished.
Although compensation plans were initiated in the mid-1950s, the one-time award of a few thousand dollars was considered inadequate by world Jewish organizations.
“The legislation,” said Steinberg, “simply does not meet the repeated four-decade-old demand of the Jewish world that Austria recognize its responsibility as West Germany has, and as East Germany in principle has said it would.”
The Committee for Jewish Claims on Austria agrees that the Austrian legislation is not comparable to West German reparation payments to Nazi victims, but nevertheless feels that a great step forward has been taken.
“What has emerged out of this effort is that Austrian victims of Nazi persecution will receive acceptable benefits,” said Saul Kagan, executive director of the committee.
“This is an additional measure to provide a degree of compensation to groups of former Austrian Jews who were heretofore not eligible to receive pensions under the Austrian social insurance system as victims of Nazi persecution,” he said.
The WJC has taken various steps in the past to pressure Austria to recognize its responsibility and compensatory obligations. Most recently, it has been the leading force of a movement in Europe to ban Austria from the European Community.

domain: sociology


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A scent of self ~ on why sensuality is vital to identity
I can tell when Christmas is coming not by the increase in advertising on television but rather by the escalation of my shouts of protests at the content of those adverts. Or for that matter by the degeneration of my vocabulary and my reduction to a spluttering rage. I’ll leave much of the fury alone as it’s the same old frustration at blatant consumerism. I’ve said it before and others have said it better, so the overall feeling of exploitation is worth noting but not exploring. Christmas is so much more than an orgy of consumer spending after all. ‘Nuff said.
But the ads that really frustrate and puzzle me are the fragrance ones. They baffle me. How can you sell a perfume via television or the printed page? Very occasionally I buy glossy magazines; I only do so when there is a free gift attached that is worth more than the magazine. Once in a blue moon a full page ad for a perfume comes with a tiny vial or a sachet. That makes some sense to me. Try before you buy.
If you’ve caught any of the ads they tend to follow various themes and memes. Impossibly beautiful men and women, dressed in exclusive, sky-rocket expensive clothes, glaring arrogantly at the camera from eyes enhanced by every cosmetic trick known to mankind, striding confidently around oozing so much sex appeal that one feels instantly so much less of a man/woman. Crashing waves, glittering diamonds, fashion shoots, high heels, messed up satin sheets, fields of flowers under immense stormy skies. When I am in a good mood, I can admire the artistry. But usually all I can think is, “Huh?? So, what does it smell like??”
Perfume advertising is almost totally divorced from the actual sense of smell. It’s all about image, celebrity endorsement, aspirations and a lot of other things that have no smell at all. The ads are simply there to get you to the store and buy. By the time someone has got that far, become seduced by the brand, there’s a very good chance they’ll buy because they’ve subliminally and subconsciously identified with the iconography of the ads. Unless the perfume smells like horse piss, they will probably buy it anyway.
Perfume is something that is seen as an indulgence by many and I can understand that. Good perfume isn’t cheap. It shouldn’t be, if it’s made from hard to produce essences, and blended by trained and highly skilled ‘noses’. Yet so many wear perfumes they don’t (deep down) like and which don’t enhance their personalities. There’s a concept of a signature scent, something by which you are recognised. I’ve heard of women, daggers-drawn at parties on discovering another woman is wearing ‘her’ scent. A single notable perfume is chosen to define the self. It’s this mentality that aids and abets the marketing machine. What does this fragrance say about a woman? Cue the crashing waves, the sculpted cheekbones and the designer dresses.
It’s clear that a person’s own unique fragrance, that is to say, how they smell without perfumed products, is implicated in the process of sexual attraction. Pheromones are present in our skin, our hair and our secretions (sorry!) and they are probably among the first things that people respond to. It’s an unconscious reaction and often instantaneous. It may even be the most vital ingredient in that phenomenon, Love at first sight; it might well be love at first sniff.
Do you know what you smell like? Could you recognise your own scent? Do you actually like it? Perfume is not about covering up one’s natural scent but rather about enhancing and complimenting it, of deepening that vibrant signature of the self. Like a pen and ink line drawing your natural scent is the bare bones of that identity. Adding to it is like taking a preliminary sketch and filling in the colours. The sensual awareness of the self is a very powerful thing, a part of learning to love oneself perhaps. Being aware of the texture of one’s skin, the feeling of the hair, the grace of movement, are deeper ways of knowing the self than that gaze into the mirror that tells us what we look like but not who we are.
To seek a scent of self is perhaps to also find a sense of self, a dimension that we sometimes lack. If you were to seek a perfume, don’t look for the things the advertisers want to sell you, but rather seek blindly, using other senses. First sniff is the start. Instant recoil, step back and see how it makes you feel. Memories maybe long hidden may be at the root of dislike, but also it may simply be anathema to you, incompatible. Try a few, follow your instincts. Ask yourself: is this perfume ‘me’? Does it fit you? Take your time. Try it all day, try it at different times of day. There may be just one or there may be many. You may love one for years, then one day, it’s no longer you. That’s OK, you’ve changed (and it might also have changed too. Manufacturers do change formulas).
But explore. The soul is a magical, evolving being, and knowing and understanding it may be the key to truly loving the self. And it’s vital we love ourselves, because that’s when we can really start to love others.

domain: psychology


text:
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domain: entertainment


I was looking through a lot of questions and answers about ONVIF compliant solutions for raspberry pi, but most of them provide incomplete solutions to my problem. I am looking for a way to make the Raspberry Pi Camera (Not an USB camera) into an ONVIF compliant camera which streams out in RTSP when needed.
Here is a similar question on how to implement ONVIF compliant interface that I've already tried to answer, but since in this case I guess you just want the video stream and using gSoap or anything would violate the third party software limitation, here is what I would do:
1) For an ONVIF client to be able to retrieve your stream URL, you need to implement a response to the GetStreamUri ONVIF request - through that you can return the actual RTSP link and if you have some sort of RTSP server running (I guess live555 is the most common choice these days) then the client will continue connecting to the RTSP server and will get the stream. I assume there are some out-of-the-box RTSP streaming solutions for Raspberry Pi so I won't talk about how to setup live555.
2) For the GetStreamUri to work, the client needs to know a profile token for this specific stream. This is why you need to implement the GetProfiles request. I assume since you are writing a solution for an exact use case, just predefine the xml response to this request and with a single profile and a hardcoded token. The GetProfiles request itself does not depend on any input parameters so you should be safe here. The ONVIF client may as well send some authorization headers, but you might for start just as well ignore them and implement authorization when the actual streaming is running. The ONVIF client may as well send a lot of other requests like capabilities etc., but you could ignore those for now. One important request is GetSystemDateAndTime - ONVIF clients query this since the timestamp is used in the authorization token.
What I would do is create a simple C/C++ web server with predefined xml answers for these 3 requests, take a general ONVIF client like ODM (Onvif Device Manager) and try to connect to the camera from it and see what happens, if any other requests are issued that block the flow or not. My guess is that it could actually work with these three in the following order: GetSystemDateAndTime -> GetProfiles -> GetStreamUri. I could be wrong and the client might query something else and not receiving an answer could make it stop from taking any further actions, but I am not sure about this.


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👋 Good Monday morning!
A long-stalled Holocaust education bill is finally set to come up for a vote today in Albany, N.Y., after the legislation was scuttled by Democratic Assembly leaders last year and quietly removed from a Ways and Means Committee agenda in late April.
The bill— now slightly amended — is included on the agenda for a Ways and Means meeting scheduled to be broadcast live at 1:30 p.m. If approved, it will advance to the Rules Committee, the last stop before a floor vote, according to Democratic Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, who sponsored the legislation. “We made technical changes and should be in good shape,” she told JI in a text message on Friday afternoon, adding: “Expect it to move.”
Elsewhere in New York, state Sen. Michelle Hinchey announced she will not run for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-NY), who last week was tapped by Gov. Kathy Hochul as the state’s lieutenant governor following the resignation of Brian Benjamin. Hinchey’s decision to stay in Albany sets up a likely November battle between Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, a Democrat, and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, the GOP’s 2020 gubernatorial candidate, to represent the state’s 19th Congressional District.
Conor Lamb calls for ‘delicate balance’ on U.S.-Israel relations in Pa. Senate bid
With just over a week to go until Pennsylvanians head to the polls, Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA), who has lagged in the polls in his effort to secure the Democratic nomination for Senate in the Keystone State, was blunt in his assessment of how the race is going: “Not too great,” he recently told Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel.
Staying out: This cycle, pro-Israel organizations have largely stayed out of the Senate race, in which Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is leading in the polls, with Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta trailing. J Street and the JDCA are not making official endorsements, while Democratic Majority for Israel’s political action committee isn’t weighing in because it has concluded that Lamb and Fetterman are both suitable choices. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has also refrained from making an endorsement.
Striking a balance: Lamb’s messaging on at least one major Middle East foreign policy issue has, perhaps unexpectedly, put him somewhat to the left of Fetterman and Kenyatta. As the primary enters its final stretch, Lamb is calling for a more nuanced if actively critical approach to American engagement with Israel, particularly amid increased settlement expansion that, he warns, has dimmed hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “That’s where I think we have to strike this delicate balance,” Lamb said, “of maintaining our commitment to it, maintaining our support for Israel, especially right now, as they’re being attacked yet again, but not being afraid to say when the settlement activity goes over the line and therefore jeopardizes what it is we’re trying to pursue in the two-state solution.”
On the other side: In the crowded Republican primary, Dr. Mehmet Oz and David McCormick are currently locked in fierce competition for the nomination. Oz notched a coveted Trump endorsement last month and appeared alongside the former president at a rally outside Pittsburgh over the weekend. Lamb said it was difficult to judge whom he would prefer to go up against. “It’s not that I don’t want to answer that, I just don’t have an answer, to tell you the truth,” he told JI. “It’s at a level of craziness on their side that it’s very hard for me to draw a distinction, so we’ll let it run its course.”
Elsewhere: The Philadelphia Inquirer announced its endorsement of Lamb on Sunday, calling the congressman “the best choice in a talented field.”
keep your friends close
Israel is the only Middle East country the U.S. can fully trust, candidate Wesley Hunt tells AIPAC
The U.S. has “really one true ally” in the Middle East, Republican congressional candidate Wesley Hunt, a combat veteran who served three tours in the region, said on Friday, reports Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod. “And it’s Israel.” Hunt, who is running for Texas’ redrawn 38th Congressional District seat near Houston, made the comments during a virtual event on AIPAC’s app.
Quotable: “We’re friendly with everyone — I get it, I understand that — but that Judeo background that this country was founded upon is the only one in that region,” said Hunt, who served a combat tour in Iraq and two tours in Saudi Arabia. “And we have enemies, actually all over that region, particularly Iran. And let’s be honest, most of the 9/11 attackers were born in Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden was from Riyadh. And so I learned a lot about what our interests need to be and who we need to be in the business of supporting for the future, because that’s our one true ally in the region.”
History: Hunt is a West Point graduate who went on to fly 55 combat missions as an Apache helicopter pilot in Baghdad in 2006, followed by two tours in Saudi Arabia facilitating Apache helicopter training and sales. After his military service, Hunt earned three master’s degrees from Cornell University.
Untrustworthy: Hunt praised the Abraham Accords and said “every country in that region” should join the normalization agreements, but, “We should always remain leery and always make sure we have our guard up,” he cautioned. “Some of these countries are bad actors. They’re rogue nations, some of them,” he continued. “Just because we have something set up like the Abraham Accords — which I think is good for the entire world, especially for the region — we cannot let our guard down.”
MEPPA board member: Peace act signals shift in U.S. policy on Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (MEPPA), with its strong bipartisan support in Congress and focus on people-to-people relations, signifies a clear shift in U.S. policy in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Heather Johnston, a MEPPA board member who was visiting Israel in her role as founder and executive director of the U.S. Israel Education Association, told Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash.
Grassroots programs: Johnston, whose organization fosters communication between American and Israeli leaders, said the strength of the $250 million aid package is that it circumvents the Palestinian Authority and goes directly to the nonprofit organizations that are facilitating on-the-ground grassroots programs. “It doesn’t take a two-state solution off the table,” Johnston, who led a congressional delegation to Israel last week, told JI. “What it does is to prioritize grassroots and economic developments.”
Desire for success: “It’s an incredible opportunity – it is one of the largest aid packages for people-to-people programs,” said Johnston, who was appointed by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) to MEPPA’s board, which met last month for the first time and is charged with offering guidance and suggestions on potential projects but does not get to vote on which projects are ultimately approved.
New approach: “Right now, a political solution [to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] is off the table, so the question is what can we do?” explained Johnston. “The answer, we believe, as do many in the U.S. Congress now, is economic.” Johnston pointed to the handful of joint industrial zones that dot the West Bank, which her group visited during its weeklong trip, and emphasized how they enabled Israelis and Palestinians to work alongside one another and develop businesses together. She said they were a good model that must be developed further. “Congress is looking at it that way now and so is the Israeli government,” she continued. “So now everybody’s sort of now looking at it the same exact way.”
Mideast trends: Wheat shortages, energy spikes, crypto
Parts of the Middle East are at risk for famine in the near-term amid shortages resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, risk manager Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder of Cornerstone Global Associates, told The Circuit’s Jonathan H. Ferziger.
What’s at stake: “Basically you’re talking about potential riots, with collapsing economies, collapsing politics and collapsing societies,” Nuseibeh said. “Bread is the main food staple. If countries run out of wheat, food becomes more expensive and people have less to eat.”
Common ground: Nuseibeh said addressing food insecurity and renewable energy have become key areas for cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and Israel since they normalized relations in 2020. He added that both countries have worked diligently to prevent their new alliance from being derailed by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which threatened to erupt again last month in East Jerusalem. “The opportunities are there and many people are starting to look at Israel as just another country in the region,” Nuseibeh said.
🗺 Regional Realignment: In The Atlantic, former Ambassador Dennis Ross proposes how the Biden administration can solidify alliances as it works to counter Russia in a post-Ukraine conflict world. “Perpetuating a Middle East that is shaped by conflicts may serve Russian and Iranian interests, but it does not serve ours. Thankfully, a growing coalition that includes the Saudis, Emiratis, Egyptians, Jordanians, Moroccans, Bahrainis, and Israelis is already cooperating to counter Iranian plans for the region. America’s Central Command provides both a mechanism to support their security needs and an umbrella under which they can integrate their intelligence, counterterror, and early-warning-, cyber- and missile- and drone-defense activities — making them collectively more secure than they would be on their own. The more we encourage the sort of economic cooperation and trade that Israel and the UAE are now establishing, the stronger a basis for regional peace we will create, and the more we will foster a robust coalition supporting the rules of the game we seek internationally.” [TheAtlantic]
🛰 Deadly Drone: In The New Yorker, Stephen Witt spotlights the Bayraktar TB2, a UAV developed by the son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that has over the last six years been sold to more than a dozen countries and has brought “the tactic of the precision air strike to the developing world and revers[ed] the course of several wars” and is now being used by Ukraine. “The Bayraktar TB2 is a flat, gray unmanned aerial vehicle (U.A.V.), with angled wings and a rear propeller. It carries laser-guided bombs and is small enough to be carried in a flatbed truck, and costs a fraction of similar American and Israeli drones. Its designer, Selçuk Bayraktar, the son of a Turkish auto-parts entrepreneur, is one of the world’s leading weapons manufacturers. In the defense of Ukraine, Bayraktar has become a legend, the namesake of a baby lemur at the Kyiv zoo, and the subject of a catchy folk song, which claims that his drone ‘makes ghosts out of Russian bandits.’” [NewYorker]
🎓 Campus Beat: In Common Sense, author Dara Horn, an alum of the Harvard Crimson, writes about the editorial board’s decision to endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, and relays the experiences she’s had on college campuses throughout the country. “At Swarthmore, Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, where I spoke at a joint event a few weeks later, I had the pleasure of viewing videos recorded at a rally earlier that semester, during which dozens of students chanted, ‘From Swarthmore to Gaza, globalize the Intifada.’ I had to explain to my audience, most of whom were infants during the Second Intifada, that the Second Intifada consisted of suicide bombers deliberately murdering and maiming hundreds of Jews in restaurants, nightclubs, supermarkets, buses, hotels, and of course, college campuses in Israel. The Jewish students in my audience, while perhaps unfamiliar with these historic details, had nonetheless received their peers’ message loud and clear. When I asked one of them afterward how many Jewish students were at her school, she made me realize I’d asked a stupid question, one even more pointless than ‘What are your politics?’ ‘It’s really not about how many Jewish students are here,’ she casually informed me. ‘It’s about how many Jewish students are out.’” [CommonSense]
👨 Koch’s Complexities: The New York Times’ Matt Flegenheimer and Rosa Goldensohn delve into the personal life of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who, friends and family say, was not public about his sexuality. “He denied as much for decades — to reporters, campaign operatives and his staff — swatting away longstanding rumors with a choice profanity or a cheeky aside, even if these did little to convince some New Yorkers. Through his death, in 2013, his deflections endured…Now, with gay rights re-emerging as a national political tinderbox, The New York Times has assembled a portrait of the life Mr. Koch lived, the secrets he carried and the city he helped shape as he carried them. While both friends and antagonists over the years have referenced his sexuality in stray remarks and published commentaries, this account draws on more than a dozen interviews with people who knew Mr. Koch and are in several cases speaking extensively on the record for the first time — filling out a chapter that they say belongs, at last, to the sweep of history.” [NYTimes]
Around the Web
💰 The Riyal Deal: Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners will invest some of the $2 billion it raised from Saudi Arabia in Israeli firms, the first publicized occurrence of Saudi money going to Israeli companies.
⚠ Turkey Trouble: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has endorsed David McCormick for Senate in Pennsylvania, cautioned that voters “need to understand the scope and depth of [Dr. Mehmet Oz’s] relationship with the Turkish government.”
🗳 Ballot-bound: A Georgia judge ruled that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) can run for reelection, despite efforts from activists seeking to remove her from the ballot.
📘 Tough Jews: A new book, Gangsters v Nazis: How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis in Wartime America, spotlights efforts by Jewish gangsters to intimidate and attack Nazi supporters in the U.S.
👮 Apprehended: A freelance journalist in the Portland, Ore., area was charged with vandalizing two synagogues and setting fire to a local mosque.
⚖ Behind Bars: Aaron Mostofsky, the son of a New York City judge who entered the Capitol dressed as a caveman during the Jan. 6 riot, was sentenced to eight months in prison.
🕵 Bias Crime: The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating an attack on an Orthodox man in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood on Friday afternoon.
🚒 Chabad Blaze: The Chabad House at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla., was destroyed by fire over the weekend.
✡ Fighting Hate: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the members of the state’s recently created Commission to Combat Antisemitism, including former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
⛪ Across the Pond: The Church of England issued an apology for the enacting of laws that expelled Jews from the country eight centuries ago.
🌎 Diplomats in Disarray: Al Arabiya reports on growing frustration among State Department officials over Foggy Bottom’s handling of issues involving China, Iran and the Horn of Africa, citing a number of high-level departures in recent months.
🚓 Suspects Nabbed: Israeli security forces arrested two Palestinian men suspected of killing three Israelis in the central city of Elad last week.
Pic of the Day
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll races Sunday during Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Notable attendees on the grid prior to the start of Sunday’s race included Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Stephen Ross, Karlie Kloss, Josh Kushner, Aryeh Bourkoff, Barry Sternlicht, Estee Portnoy and Mila Kunis.
Budapest-born philanthropist and social activist, she marched in Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965, Eva Haller turns 92…
Owner of St. Louis-based Harbour Group Industries, former U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Sam Fox turns 93… Academy Award-winning director, producer and screenwriter, James L. Brooks turns 82… Guitarist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock-pop-jazz group “Blood, Sweat & Tears,” Steve Katz turns 77… Co-founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yoel Bin-Nun turns 76… Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and a professor of structural biology at Stanford University, Michael Levitt turns 75… Pianist, singer-songwriter and one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, Billy Joel turns 73… Physician in Burlington, Vt., she was the first lady of Vermont from 1991 until 2003 when her husband was governor, Judith Steinberg Dean turns 69… Sharon Mallory Doble turns 69… Co-founder and CEO of PlayMedia, Brian D. Litman turns 68… Film director and producer, Barry Avrich turns 59… Staff writer at The Atlantic, Mark Leibovich turns 57… Co-managing partner of Bain Capital and owner of a minority interest in the Boston Celtics, Jonathan Lavine turns 56… VP of global public policy at Facebook, Joel D. Kaplan turns 53… Deputy director of AIPAC’s leadership institute, Lesli Rosenblatt turns 49… Special assistant to the secretary of veterans affairs, Aaron Scheinberg turns 41… Founder and managing member at Revelstoke PLLC, Danielle Elizabeth Friedman turns 39… Opinion columnist and podcast host at The New York Times, Ezra Klein turns 38… Jenna Weisbord turns 34… Investor for Blackstone Growth Israel, Nathaniel Rosen turns 32… J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School, Mikhael Smits turns 26…

domain: news


text:
This Packaged Facts report explores the expanding "solo female" market, defined as never-married female consumers with no children. The number of solo females has grown rapidly in recent years, a trend that is expected to continue as more women choose to delay or forgo marriage as they pursue career goals, financial independence, and levels of education that exceed those achieved by their male peers. The current aggregate income of single women in the United States is $400 billion. Marketers must adopt new strategies to reach this independent and individualistic group, who are becoming increasingly comfortable with making their own major purchasing decisions and have money to spend on themselves.
This new report provides key data and analysis for this rapidly expanding class of consumers: what they like, how they spend their hard-earned money, and what messages appeal to them. The report features focus sections covering both traditional areas for female consumers, including household shopping, apparel and accessories, and leisure and recreation, as well as nontraditional or emerging areas, including home, auto, and electronics; financial management; and Internet trends. Focus sections are based largely on recent Simmons Market Research Bureau data on U.S. consumer purchasing, ownership, and product usage patterns.
Scope And Methodology
This report examines the solo female market, with solo females defined as never-married women between the ages of 25 and 44 with no children. This definition includes lesbian women without children. In some cases, data used in this report may also encompass single females, defined as never-married, divorced, widowed, or separated women who may or may not have children, or single-person female households, defined as women living alone, regardless of their marital or childbearing status.
Following a "Statistical Overview" chapter on the solo female demographic, this report provides focus chapters on Household Shopping; Apparel and Accessories; Home, Auto, and Electronics; Travel, Leisure, and Fitness; Financial Management; and the Solo E-Consumer.
The information contained in this report was obtained from primary data and secondary research. The analysis of consumer demographics primarily derives from the Simmons Market Research Bureau (New York, NY) fall 2000 consumer survey, based on 31,576 respondents. Secondary research entailed data-gathering from relevant trade, business, and government sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau.
Women projected to control $1 trillion -- or 60% of the nation’s wealth -- by 2010
New York, November 15/PRNewswire - Aggregate income of solo female consumers is up an estimated 17% from 1997 levels, according to The US Market for Solo Female Consumers, a new market research study published by Packaged Facts and released by MarketResearch.com. According to the report, the economic influence of this demographic will continue to expand as a new generation of women, less wedded to traditional female roles, matures and achieves independence. Marketers have only scratched the surface of this explosive market that now claims an aggregate income of $166.1 billion, and with more and more attention focusing on this untapped sales source, information on how single women are spending their money and what messages they respond to is crucial.
The U.S Market for Solo Female Consumers delivers an in-depth demographic profile of the 17 million never-married female consumers between the ages of 25 of 44 who have no children, including their consumer and shopping behavior, educational and employment patterns. The report explores the following markets, which have all seen a recent spike in sales to the solo female consumer: household shopping; home, auto, and electronics; travel, leisure, and fitness; financial management; and e-consumer.
“Solo females are not just young women biding their time until they find someone to settle down with,” said Meg Hargreaves, VP of Research Publishing for MarketResearch.com. “57% of single women currently own their own home, making it clear that women are now making the money that allows them to buy their own homes, plan their future financial security, and live fully independent lives.”
Appendix I: Examples Of Consumer Advertising
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domain: economics


text:
Use of this information is subject to copyright laws and may require the permission of the owner of the information, as described in the ECHA Legal Notice.
EC number: 923-725-2
CAS number: -
In a sub-acute gavage study in male and female Wistar rats oral application of up to 1000 mg/kg bw/day (related to dry mass) for 14 days did not result in clinical signs, effects on body weight or food consumption, in relevant macroscopical changes at necropsy or effects on organ weights.In a sub-chronic gavage study according to OECD Guideline 408 in male and female Wistar rats no effects of toxicological relevance were detected even at the high dose level of 1000 mg/kg bw/day (related to dry mass).
In a subacute 14 -Days dose range finding study with Biofert Plusz, dose
levels of 100, 300 and 1000 mg/kg bw/day (related to dry mass) were
administered once daily by gavage to Wistar rats of both sexes (n=5 per
sex per dose). Parameters investigated were clinical signs, body weights
and food consumption, organ weights and macroscopic findings. None of
these parameters was changed by the test item at any of the dose levels
Oral administration of undiluted test item via gavage to male and female
Wistar rats (n=10 per dose per sex; once weekly, 7 days per week) at
dose levels of 100, 300 and 1000 mg/kg bw/day (related to the dry mass
corresponding to 0, 356, 1068, 3559 mg/kg bw/day of the liquid test
item), for 91 days resulted in no mortality, no clinical signs (daily or
weekly), no changes to the functional observational battery, no changes
in mean daily food consumption or body weight development, no effects
upon hematology, clinical biochemistry or urinalysis parameters, no
changes in mean absolute or relative organ weights, and no
toxicologically relevant macroscopical or microscopical changes. Based
on the results of this study, the NOEL and NOAEL are > or = 1000 mg/kg
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domain: biology


text:
Photo Credit: @ sweet_emilykay
When I travel to a new place, I immediately jump on social media to ask friends and family for tips and tricks. I trust my friends and family to give me the best inside scoop on how to maximize my trip.
So if you’re traveling to Universal Orlando Resort, why not ask the real experts — Universal Orlando Passholders. The UOAP family is not only made up of passionate individuals, but they are so knowledgeable. I know what you’re thinking, what if I don’t know any Passholders? Don’t worry, I got you covered.
I jumped to the Official Universal Orlando Passholders Facebook Group and asked, “What are the must-do, can’t-miss attractions you would recommend at Universal Orlando Resort?” We received hundreds of replies and here are just a few for your next visit.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter | Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida
With two unique lands — Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure and Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida — there are plenty of can’t-miss things to do in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Two of the must-do rides here are Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, but don’t take my word for it. Remember, we asked the experts….
Jennifer-Paul Moore “Hagrid’s [Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure] is a ride like no other. You get 2 different ride experiences when you ride the motorcycle and in the sidecar. Love the surprises too!”
Melissa Hagler “Visit Hogwarts, duh!!”
Xerxes Zaim D. Samadan “Going to The Wizarding World and forgetting about all your problems from the real world.”
Sarah Christine Morris “The NUMBER ONE attraction that keeps my heart jumping is Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.”
Corinne Blastick “Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts!!!!”
Michelle Marie Majka “Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts! & watching the dragon’s fire, of course!”
Steven Buehler “Of course The Wizarding World of Harry Potter… the immersion is insane.”
Heather Deaton-Randall – “Go walk through Diagon Alley and let yourself whoa!”
MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack | Universal Studios Florida
Ready to defend the galaxy? Then don’t miss MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida and try to get the high score, 999,999. It’s harder than it looks but if you can max out, you’ll get instant insider cred.
Ronald Gardner “MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack! A must-do every single trip!”
Allen Sheplee “I Recommend MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack 😎😎✨🕴🏻🕴🏽🐸🐛🪲🪳🦟🐜🪰🕷”
Amanda Lee Irizarry “Defending the galaxy’s our fam favorite”
Jurassic Park River Adventure | Islands of Adventure
Need a little bit of fear and a whole lot of water action? Then this prehistoric adventure at Universal Islands of Adventure is a must.
Zack Back “One of my ‘can’t-miss’ attractions is definitely the Jurassic Park River Adventure.”
Jenna Brannen “Jurassic Park and E.T. [Adventure] are a must if you are a nostalgic junkie like myself 😍😍😍.”
E.T. Adventure | Universal Studios Florida
This was one of the original rides when Universal Studios Florida opened, and the Universal pros love it — myself included. If you don’t believe me, just try to suggest replacing this ride in the Passholder Facebook Group, I dare you.
Karissa Brodeur “Visit E.T.”
Savannah Reece “E.T., Jurassic Park, and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure are my favorite must-do attractions whenever we visit!! 🤩 And you can’t forget a refreshing drink from The Watering Hole!!”
The Incredible Hulk Coaster | Islands of Adventure
If you miss this attraction in Universal Islands of Adventure, you might go home and get mad, and you wouldn’t like it if you were mad. As you can see below, a night time ride is what the experts prefer.
Barbara St Pierre “Ride The Incredible Hulk Coaster at night.”
Samantha Mincik “Hulk, Hagrid’s [Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure], Spider-Man, Butterbeer & we must always visit our 🔥 friend!”
Revenge of the Mummy | Universal Studios Florida
Every theme park has a local favorite, and for many years the hype — and curse — has been real with this one.
Jessica Bryant “The Mummy is always a must do! It’s always a fun time escaping from the curse!”
Paul Thomas “The Mummy is a must! Can’t go to Universal and NOT ride it!”
RJ Mehrer “Revenge of The Mummy is the one ride we all love!”
Jurassic World VelociCoaster | Islands of Adventure
Universal Orlando’s newest roller coaster is a thrill-seeker’s dream. Passholders alike can agree that this new breed of coaster is a cannot miss on your next trip.
Gabrielle McDaniel “This is our fifth time riding Velocicoaster, and riding it at night is an absolute game changer!! I had the time of my life and could not stop smiling and laughing!! Highly recommend trying to hop on at night!”
Bonnie Flook “Very intense, but smooth. I loved the launches. Excellent theming on the coaster itself, as well as the queue. Well done, Universal, Velocicoaster lives up to the hype!”
Christopher Murphy “1 word. EPIC”
Volcano Bay is Universal’s water theme park and boy is it beautiful. There are unique yummy food items and 18 attractions at this water theme park just waiting for you to ride.
Julianne Sterbutzel “Volcano Bay!!! It is a must.”
Marina Thompsonn “Volcano 🌋Bay!!”
Katie MF Schmidt “Krakata Aqua Coaster at Volcano Bay is one of the BEST Universal roller coasters and I LOVE it. Oh and that jerk mac n’ cheese at Volcano Bay is what dreams are made of.”
Kendall Miller “Showing some love for Volcano Bay 🌊♥☀. In my opinion, this is easily the best water park around. The TAPU TAPU is a GAME CHANGER. Being able to go on the Running Rapids or grab lunch while “in line” for a slide/aquacoster makes it so worth it to go. I love taking my daughter who has NO fear when it comes to the slides and LOVES the lights you can play with INSIDE the Volcano. This park is why we got annual passes and saw Universal / IOA as the added bonus.”
I know we couldn’t list all the attractions Universal Orlando has to offer (it would be a very long list) so here are a few honorable mentions.
Courtney Curlee “Seuss Landing with the kiddos!” (Islands of Adventure)
Rachel Foster “Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges, you will get wet! Nice way to end a hot summer day.” (Islands of Adventure)
Kissimmee Crum “Racing Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon is such an underrated gem!!” (Universal Studios Florida)
Becca Mae “You HAVE to visit SpongeBob StorePants and explore! So many hidden fun things for the mini humans to enjoy!” (Universal Studios Florida)
There are plenty of awesome shows that will make you laugh, cry, and just leave you in awe, like the Horror Make-up Show, Beat Builders, Animal Actors on Location!, Blues Brothers, Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees, and many more! But again, let’s see what the pros have to say…
Alexander Saravia “Definitely the Horror Make-Up Show!” (Universal Studios Florida)
George Smith “Horror Make-Up Show. It’s a must see on every visit. Sometimes twice.” (Universal Studios Florida)
Anne McDade “Enjoy the Ragtime Gals inside the Jimmy Fallon queue!” (Universal Studios Florida)
MUST-DO FOOD & RESTAURANTS
Oh I’m sooo glad we’re finally talking about the MUST-DO tummy teasers, (snacks) and restaurants. With Universal CityWalk having numerous restaurants and multiple food options at all three theme parks around Universal Orlando, it’s going to be reallyhard to choose just a few, but here are some recommendations from our experts.
Sam Finley “Voodoo Doughnut” (Universal CityWalk)
Cherrie Sludock “Lard Lad Donuts for sure!” (Universal Studios Florida)
Jessica Huckabey “Everyone should dine at Lombard’s Seafood! We made a special trip to Universal just for the lobster roll!” (Universal Studios Florida)
Tiffany Stewart “Hot Butterbeer in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.” (Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure)
Diana Smith “A meal at Mythos is an absolute must-do!” (Islands of Adventure)
Olivia Lynn Ensminger “Have a frozen Butterbeer and cry at how much you love Harry Potter😂💗.” (Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure)
Rachel Guffey “Start the day with avocado toast and a latte at TODAY cafe.” (Universal Studios Florida)
Michelle Marie Majka “Buffalo Chicken Tots from Green Eggs & Ham Cafe!” (Islands of Adventure)
Ashley Kimsey “Be silly and enjoy ALL the snacks!!!!” (ALL the places!!!!)
TAKING ALL THE PHOTOS IS A MUST-DO
OK, you’ve learned about fan-favorite attractions, shows, and tummy teasers (snacks, c’mon guys lets make this a thing). Now let’s talk about the ever-lasting memories. You cannot come back from vacation without having a few fun photos, so lucky for you, the Passholder family has a few recommendations for you.
There are a bunch of character meet and greets at Universal Orlando and these are a few insider favorites.
Traci Lynn Alban “Become a Minion, and then MEET a Minion!” (Universal Studios Florida)
Heather Deaton-Randall “Hang out with your favorite Super Heroes and chat” (Islands of Adventure)
Alexis Salem “Character photos!!!” (Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure)
Thomas Schrom “Solve mysteries with Scooby and the gang.” (Universal Studios Florida)
Jess De Pasqualé “Share a Squishee with your favorite clown.” (Universal Studios Florida)
Ashley Fuson “DreamWorks Destination definitely is where the party’s at! 🥳” (Universal Studios Florida)
Hogwarts Castle in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade
Aspiring witch or wizard or not, gazing upon Hogwarts castle is a constitution and therefore needed to be added to this list.
Shiloh Muethel “Butterbeer on the bridge overlooking Hogwarts castle!”
Kayla Davidson “Taking a photo in front of the castle is a must for everyone! Plus who can forget about riding on Hagrid’s [Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure]!”
Megan Henry “The castle at night!”
Sherilyn Milagros Reyes “Get a good view and Snap a lovely photo of the castle from the Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure queue”
Here is a hidden gem that some travelers miss but it’s a total blast and makes for a great souvenir — The Dark Room. Located at Universal Studios Florida, this is no ordinary photo booth but it does allow you and your party to take photos with immersive backgrounds. It’s very fun!
Jess De Pasqualé “Explore the green screens in the dark room photo-shop with your family!”
Brie Reyes “Taking photos in The Dark Room!”
The most famous globe. This is a photo everyone expects you to take and bring back, and rightfully so because a wise person once said “If you didn’t pose with the Universal globe, did you even go?” – Unknown.
Jaymi Spiker Poindexter “The iconic globe picture.”
Here are some other photo ops that deserve an honorable mention.
Stephanie Michele Chitwood “The E.T. photo experience. By far my favorite photo experience. Pictures always turn out perfect and so fun!” (Universal Studios Florida)
Nicole Ketterman “Shutterbutton’s photo experience.” (Diagon Alley – Universal Studios Florida)
Bailey Gifford “We love to act like kids again and have some fun with the photo ops!”
Oh the Universal Orlando events. What can I say? As an Orlando native, these are what dreams are made of. Sure, I can ride our favorite rides multiple times, and eat our favorite — say it with me — tummy teasers multiple times, but the events at Universal Orlando Resort are always a little different, so let’s see what the experts have to say.
Every winter, Universal Orlando gets a little more jolly, there’s a little more cheer and a little more of that holiday spirit — and that’s the way we like it! Holidays around here bring an extra dose of magic and mischief.
Marie Anglani Redonda “I love Universal everyday but “Grinchmas” is a favorite time of year for our annual girls trip”
The floats, the food, the music, and all amongst roller coasters? C’mon, Mardi Gras at Universal Orlando is like no other!
Cathy Rogers “We look forward to Mardi Gras!”
Tiffany Williams Paiva “Mardi Gras is always a blast!”
Jarrett Fosberg “Get dat selfie with the King and Queen of the festival!!
Happy Belated Mardi Gras!”
OK, I’ve been saving my one favorite must-do pick for this event. Ladies and gentlemen, the world’s premier Halloween event, Halloween Horror Nights. I’m not just saying that because I used to be a scareactor, but because the fandom by insiders and scare fanatics is real. With the phenomenal detail in every Haunted House, the terrifying frights found in every Scare Zone, and some of the biggest names in horror it is no wonder that this event is a definite MUST-DO.
Cheryl Thomas “HHN is worth the ticket price every time!”
Dana Boyer “Fun events, like Mardi Gras, HHN, Christmas events are wonderful at Universal and IOA!! My favorite is always HHN!!🎃👻”
What about just general tips? You know… just tips that will elevate any trip? Here you go:
Liz Bombardier “Take the time to enjoy the details.”
Armand Turner “Utilize the hotels [for Early Park Access] so you can be the first ones in Diagon Alley!”
Michelle Edwards “Anything in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We always start there (try to get in for early entry) and hit all [The Wizarding World of] Harry Potter rides first. Our other favorites are Spider-Man, MIB, TRANSFORMERS [The Ride 3D], Cat in the Hat, Seuss Trolley Train, and of course ET [Adventure].”
Stephanie Michele Chitwood “Jurassic Park at night! The views and ambience is so breathtaking. Plus, you have to be brave to walk through Jurassic at night.”
I want to thank all the Passholders that contributed to the amazing recommendations and I hope you found it helpful. If you’re ready to sport that Passholder status and to see what keeps our Passholders coming back, learn about how you can become a Passholder yourself!
…hm, you know what? We’re missing something. I think we need some wise and final words from a Passholder to close this out, how about from RJ?
RJ Mehrer “Take it all in and enjoy the adventure!”
So, what do you think? Did our Passholders include your favorite must-do or not? Leave a comment below with your best tips and tricks for a vacation at Universal Orlando!

domain: travel


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Bone conduction Sentence Examples
Who is a bone conduction hearing aid suitable for?
Both air conduction and bone conduction of sounds are evaluated by audiometry.
The results of a bone conduction test determine how soft a sound an individual can hear over several frequencies or pitches.
Since those with hearing losses often cannot hear sounds at normal decibel levels, intensities as high as 115 dB are used to assess the extent of air conduction loss and as high as 70 dB for bone conduction loss.
The difference between bone conduction loss and neurosensory hearing loss is called the air-bone gap.Advertisement
The patient wears headphones when air conduction is tested and a vibrating earpiece behind the ear next to the mastoid bone or along the forehead when bone conduction is tested.


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MUMBAI: Rupee suffered a sharp setback against dollar on Wednesday and ended at 40.52/53, reacting negatively to restrictions on external commercial borrowings (ECBs) imposed by the government.
In a knee jerk reaction to new ECB norms aimed at curbing excessive foreign capital inflows, the rupee opened sharply lower at 40.75/77 a dollar and touched the 40.84 level in late morning deals.
The local currency later recovered losses in highly volatile trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market on dollar sales by exporters and a strong rally in equity markets. The rupee moved in a wide range of 40.46 and 40.84.
The rupee, which hit a nine-year peak of 40.20 in July, suffered a setback due to the government's announcement of fresh restrictions on ECBs.
Dollar selling by exporters and a sharp rally in equity markets helped the rupee to bounce from the day's low, forex dealers said.
As per the changes, a company raising $ 20 million of External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) would have to seek prior permission of RBI to remit such funds into India.
Accordingly, companies raising ECBs of more than $ 20 million would have to park the proceeds overseas for use as foreign currency expenditure. This modification is applicable under both automatic and approval routes.
The BSE benchmark Sensex soared by 375 points. Asian markets also ended up by one to 3.5 per cent on Wednesday.


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Beijing Economic Private Tour
Most travelers prefer to have a less expensive or low price Beijing private tour. Part of travelers call it budget Beijing private tour. Beijingservice team make it possible to let our client to enjoy the private vehicle, driver and tour guide with the best price. Please find the main factor of the economical private tour.
Vehicle and driver
The vehicle and driver for economical private tour is same with normal Beijing private tour. But the deluxe vehicle is not available to be arranged. The vehicle is available from 5 seats car to 55 seats tour coach. Part of travelers prefer to walk between hotel and attractions, sometimes use subway or taxi on the tour date of downtown tour. Then only tour guide is requested on this day. It is absolutely possible, and the downtown tour cost will be lower than using private vehicle. But travelers need to wait when they can not find taxi in time.
Beijing Three Days Private Tour
will make full use of your time in Beijing. And the hotel may be arranged by yourself.
If you prefer to include hotel, please use the three star hotel option of this Beijing 4 days private tour including hotel
. Or contact our tour advisor to tailor your own economic Beijing private tour: firstname.lastname@example.org
Actually there is no different on tour guide service. We also use the excellent tour guide in Beijingservice team.
Beijing economical private tour use 3 star economical hotel in the itinerary. Beijingservice also can use 2 star hotel or even good hostel for this economical tour. All hotel are in good condition, safe, clean and decent.
Pick up place and time
Your private vehicle, driver and tour guide will meet you from your hotel lobby on the morning. And we will transfer you back to your hotel after the tour. Usually the tour is is from 08:30 am to 17:00.
Beijing economical private tour often use tourism restaurant. This kind of restaurant is clean with low price. And you do not need to wait in line during the lunch or dinner time. Travelers also can talk about the meal arrangement with tour guide during the tour. Sometimes the meal can be arranged in local restaurant and even the local snack according to the request of travelers.
There is no difference with normal Beijing private tour. Popular Beijing attractions will be covered, such as Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Great Wall, Ming Tomb and Lama Temple.
To cut down the tour cost, we suggest economical tour clients to manage their transfer from Beijing International Airport
by taxi, which will make the tour cost at the lowest level. The taxi is easy to find in airport or near the hotel. We will take care of the sightseeing section of the tour.
Some travelers have request on hotel, dinning and visit timetable.
Please contact your tour advisor of Beijingservice team to tailor your own deluxe Beijing tour: email@example.com


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Craig Minett’s review published on Letterboxd:
Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey changed the way science fiction was portrayed on film, before 2001 sci-fi was B movie material, it wasn't taken seriously, Kubrick wanted to change this, not only did he change cinema forever, but he paved the way for other directors to portray serious sci-fi on screen.
The film shows pivotal points of humanity's evolution and a profound look at mankind's future. Don't expect easy answers, it's a film that demands your attention.
The story is told through visual imagery, It's like a visual poem with minimal dialogue, every frame in the film is captured in such an artistic way that it's deemed by many as high art.
The best way to experience this film is on the biggest screen you can find, I can guarantee that it will change the way you look at cinema forever.

domain: artistic


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Clear iPhone Case
little brown bat asleep on a branchby Sarah Knight
20% Off + Free Worldwide Shipping on Phone Cases Today!
Shop clear iPhone cases featuring brilliant patterns and designs on frosted, transparent shells - created by the world's best independent artists.
ABOUT THE ART
little brown bat asleep on a branch - illustration by Sarah Knight. Image of a bat sleeping upside down on a tree branch. Bat, animal, critter, creature...


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With six bowl games down and 28 to go post-Christmas, one thing is for certain:
The Mountain West Conference is more than BCS worthy.
The conference is already 3-0 in the postseason, with Air Force vs. Houston and Texas Christian University vs. Boise State still to come.
Most impressively, have you seen how the Mountain West has handled the supposedly superior Pac 10 of the BCS?
How about QB Max Hall and the Brigham Young Cougars running all over Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl?
Or what about true freshman QB Jordan Wynn and the Utah Utes whipping Jeff Tedford’s California Bears in the Poinsettia Bowl?
On top of that, Wyoming beat heavily-favored Fresno State to start the postseason in the New Mexico Bowl.
The BCS does not automatically include the Mountain West, so there’s only one way to make a statement.
The BYUs and Utahs will just have to keep beating the Oregon States and Cals.

domain: sports


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Enjoy a NYC Dining Experience and Stay at The Standard Hotel
Experience an incredible New York City dining expereince and overnight stay at The Standard Hotel High Line.
Your package includes:
- 1-night stay in a Standard room for two including breakfast at The Standard Hotel High Line
- Reserve Cut: Dinner for 2
- Fine and Rare: Private whiskey tasting for (4) guests. Guest will receive a signature welcome cocktail, light appetizers and 6 drams of whiskey presented by their in-house whiskey expert.
- Wayfarer: Dinner for 2
- The Pool: Dinner for 2
- Taco Dumber: Dinner and drinks for 2
- Crosby Street Hotel: Champagne afternoon tea for 2 at the Crosby Bar in the Crosby Street Hotel
Two compassionate teens volunteering their time started The Special Children's Center (The Center) in 1996 with the mission to provide children and adults with developmental disabilities the opportunity to maximize their growth and development while enhancing their families' ability to nurture them within the support of the local community.
The Center offers unique and exemplary services that provide round-the-clock, year-round services at any stage of a special child's life.
Under our caring home away from home, special needs children thrive upon individually focused and therapeutically guided attention. Our teachers, trained aides and volunteers use creative resources to stimulate optimum individual growth and achievement to help every child and adult maximize their independence so that they can lead a fuller and more productive life within the family and the community.
With love and nurturing attention, special children smile and find their inner essence. They are able to reach higher and conquer more challenges. We aim to see them succeed. We love them and watch them soar.
We get to know all the children and their families. We develop a close relationship that enables us to facilitate what is right for each child and each family. But more than this, our mutual concerns and love for each child, bond us for life. We are in this together.
As the children grow up, new needs develop. The Center provides continuing support, including transition services. Families with special children are never alone.