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Photo by K. Emily Bond… or so goes the yearly patio-fest, officially known as the Battle of the Flowers, in Cordoba, Spain -- about a 45-minute train ride away from where I live.
The contest, sanctioned by City Hall, began in 1918. The Ayuntamiento’s thinking, I suppose, was let’s give the locals something to brag about. Tricked out with stone mosaics, ceramic décor, and a cornucopia of flowers, the patios of Cordoba beckon visitors from far and wide.
They win. Theirs are the best patios I have ever seen.
What’s more, during the battle floral, scents of jasmine and orange blossom seep out into the narrow alleyways and streets, making for a very pleasant walk, indeed.
In America, our concept of the patio is a bit different than that of our Spanish counterparts. Sure, everyone loves a good patio, especially with some deck chairs and an umbrella. But the patios in Spain? Hombre, to give you more of an idea, think of it as the Spaniard’s equivalent of a really good lawn. Like TruGreen good.
Because of the hot and dry climate in these parts, homes and apartment buildings are traditionally built with a central patio. It’s an architectural feature that dates back to the Roman days. Therefore, the patio is often the centerpiece of the home, literally, and a cool place to chill when temperatures rise.
For multi-unit dwellings, patios are maintained by the community who, in turn, issue rules about what kind of plants are allowed and who waters what when. Our landlord recently issued a decree about what color pots residents are allowed to use. As such, I’m boycotting.
But if you wanted to create a Spanish-inspired patio of your own, experiment with some decorative wall planters. Construct a latticed wall covered with some climbing hydrangea. For the truly ambitious, install a soothing outdoor fountain.
Yours could end up being the best patio in your barrio. Take that.


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Free Dog Training Tip – Successful Suggestions for Train Any Dog
Every pet owner at once or another will quickly realize the need to use some sort of behavior modification techniques when training their prized pet. In your look for FREE DOG TRAINING TIP, you will discover that there are lots of different dog training techniques which are out there today. But you might ask which is the better free dog training tip that will help me to coach my dog.
Another free dog training tip is to understand that the main thing is to possess positive dog training techniques once you start training your pet esa letter. Positive dog training way to never be concerned in hitting, spanking, scolding, or punishing your dog in virtually any manner whatsoever. It is very essential that you understand that dogs don’t do well with any form of negative dog training and that is an essential free dog training tip to take into consideration. Quickly, you need to get in the habit of rewarding your dog anytime that he does something he is supposed to complete during dog training. This is often when it sits, stays, eliminates where he should, fetches, etc. That is an essential free dog training tip to take into consideration.
Unfortunately, there are several instances once you do need to reprimand your dog. One of many biggest items that often confuses people with regards to dog training is when to reward your dog and when to reprimand him. You will need to ascertain when to reprimand him or reward your dog during dog training. Make sure to show patience because your dog is learning and trying his far better please you, which can be another free dog training tip.
Another extremely important free dog training tip is to ensure everyone at home acts consistently once you are training your dog. It is very essential that you make sure that everyone inside your home knows that which you are doing during the dog training, and how to provide supportive measures whenever needed.
One of many items that you will need to consider once you are trying to train your dog is how does he act whenever he is around you? Is your dog easily distracted whenever you will find other dogs around? You should teach your dog to concentrate on you and that which you are trying to teach him. Also how does your dog react whenever you will find other folks around? Does he allow another person to take care of him? Again is he easily distracted around other folks? Another free dog training tip is to begin the dog training at quiet places which are familiar to your dog. Make certain that you will find very few things and people around that could distract him. Then once you feel that the dog has learned to concentrate on that which you are trying to teach him, then you can certainly gradually move the training to places with increased and more distractions so he will learn how to obey your commands despite those distractions.
Another free dog training tip is to use a leash when training your dog. Anytime you’ve trouble getting your dog to pay for attention while learning the basics of dog training (sit, stay, fetch, come, etc.) you will quickly see that teaching him to achieve this while on a leash is frequently helpful. Should you make use of a leash to coach your dog, then the very first thing you must do is always to teach him how to walk on a leash.
Learning how to manage your animal using dog leash training is an essential respect lesson for both of you, and should be used regularly to accomplish the highest results. Soon your will learn the significance of training your dog and learn to utilize any free dog training tip that you learn.

domain: pet


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Lets Make Love From "Dirty Hari" - Single
Here you can freely listen to preview tracks from Lets Make Love From "Dirty Hari" - Single. Album was composed by Manisha Eerabathini / Mark K. Robin and was released on July 24, 2020. Soundtrack consists of 1 tracks tracks with duration over about 5 minutes. Album was released by Mango Music.
Lets Make Love (From "Dirty Hari")Manisha Eerabathini & Mark K. Robin

domain: artistic


Spot rate losses by carriers are self-inflicted and will undermine annual Asia-Europe contract negotiations with shippers later this quarter, believes one leading analyst.
Entering the fourth quarter, it was clear that the introduction of new IMO 2020 low-sulfur fuels, a rise in oil prices following drone attacks on Saudi oil fields and the ongoing U.S.-China trade war would prove disruptive, with carriers expected to continue their strategy of heavy blanked sailings to prop up rates during the traditional slack season.
However, analysis by Drewry claims some lines, certainly on Asia-North Europe trades, have misjudged the market this year, undermining their own efforts to generate profits. It points to ample evidence that carrier rate cutting has resulted in them missing out on the benefits of stronger than expected demand growth.
"The disconnect between supply and demand fundamentals and freight rates is indicative of a return to predatory pricing on the part of some carriers within the trade, undermining the positive demand story," said the analyst in a note.
"Unless lines match pricing discipline to that shown for capacity it will be for nothing."
Drewry's case is persuasive. Westbound demand on the Asia-North Europe container trade has exceeded expectations this year, a trend that should have helped to counteract the influx of big new ships and maintained load factors at roughly the same levels as last year, in the mid-80% range.
Headhaul demand on Asia-North Europe trade was up by 5.9% in the first eight months of the year, according to data from CTS. This compares to the 2.9% annual growth registered last year.
"The trade appears to be benefiting from trade diversion related to the U.S.-China trade war, with Chinese exporters looking to Europe to fill the shortfall of U.S. traffic," noted Drewry.
Even though growth has slowed in the second half of the year, westbound volumes still expanded by 3.4% and 3.8% in July and August, respectively, and Drewry believes lines enjoyed 12-month rolling growth rates of nearly 6% through August.
However, despite the positives, spot market freight rates have not recovered from a first-quarter slump and are currently tracking at their lowest levels this year. The Freightos Baltic China/East Asia to North Europe 40-foot container index dropped 1.15% in the week to Oct. 13, for example, while the Freightos Baltic Daily Index tracking the cost to ship a box on the China-to-North Europe route (SONAR: FBXD.CNER) is down 17% year-on-year, and the Freightos index covering the China-to-Mediterranean lane (SONAR: FBXD.CMED) is down 6% year-on-year.
For its part, Drewry believes the demand up cycle enjoyed on the trade for much of the last 12 months is now drawing to an end. "The third-quarter peak season did not witness any rolling of containers and given the amount of capacity that is being withdrawn it would appear that the lines themselves are not expecting any cargo surge," it said.
Drewry noted that while liner capacity retrenchment has helped westbound utilization gradually rise since February, spot market freight rates have not responded positively. "There was clearly an element of rate cutting going on and if that hasn't been eradicated, lines are unlikely to realize the full benefit of the planned capacity reductions," Drewry added.
With both demand and spot rates expected to be tepid in the coming weeks, lines will be at a disadvantage in Asia-Europe annual contract negotiations with shippers.
"The concern now among carriers must be that with the annual beneficial cargo owner service contract negotiations looming on the horizon, whatever gains are made in terms of higher bunker surcharges will be negated by lower ocean rates for 2020 contracts," concluded Drewry.
The only positive? "An earlier Chinese New Year, beginning Jan. 25, might offer some assistance to contract negotiations by boosting activity in December," said the analyst.
FreightWaves articles by Mike
Image Sourced from Pixabay
© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


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It is winter and St. Mark's Square is puddled, although it hasn't rained for days. The water has come roiling up through the drains, seeping through the stones, creeping over the banks of the canals. Plywood platforms on metal legs are stacked, school table-like, around the square; when the water is inches deep, as it often is, Venetians line them up and walk along them to keep their feet dry.
I am on my way to see Maria Teresa Brotto, a civil engineer who thinks she knows the answer to Venice's flooding problems. But then, almost everyone in Venice thinks they know the answer to the flooding. Few subjects here arouse such passion, not least because which solution you favor reveals much about what, and whom, you think Venice is for.
At the beginning of the last century, St. Mark's Square flooded on average 10 times a year. Now water seeps into the square more than 100 times each winter, and its paving stones are cracked and pulling apart. Venetians keep a pair of waders at home and another at the office. Their calendars show the height of the tides. There are phone lines for weather updates, and sirens warn them of "exceptional" (waters 110 cm above sea level) or "extreme" (140 cm above) events. They manage to go on living in their beautiful, drowning city. Or those who are left do; the population has halved since the '50s.
But everyone agrees that something has to be done. Saltwater is eating into the buildings as the lagoon follows its natural destiny, which is to be absorbed back into the sea. Without human intervention, Venice would eventually find itself isolated in a marine bay, exposed to wild waves. The city is subsiding, and always has been, as coastal sediment settles and the movement of the Earth's crust (on a geological time scale) pushes this part of Italy under the Alps. In the past, the Venetians simply piled new buildings on the ruins and foundations of earlier structures, creating a city like a lasagne. Most people would accept that this is no longer an option: In the words of Anna Somers Cocks, chairwoman of Venice in Peril: "The Venice we've got is the Venice we want."
The process of subsidence sped up in the 20th century as the result of the pumping out of water for industries on the nearby mainland. Too late it became apparent that the aquifers under the lagoon and the islands were a kind of cushion, buoying Venice. In the last century the land dropped 23 cm in relation to the sea, and although the pumping has stopped, the damage is done.
Natural changes in the surrounding landscape, such as erosion of salt marshes, along with man-made ones such as the cutting of a deep navigation channel for oil tankers, have conspired to exacerbate the tendency for the lagoon to take in water from the sea. And then there is global warming. The eyes of the world are on Venice not simply as the repository of some of the most stunning art and architecture ever created, nor merely as an area of outstanding biodiversity, but also because the city faces problems that may soon confront many other places as waters rise around the globe.
Brotto is a glamorous figure in suede trousers and high heels, with a deep tan, a ready smile and perfect English. Brotto is the coordinator of the final design of the Venice barrier, and her name arouses strong reactions in Venice.
The Venice flood barrier has been decades in the planning, has been endlessly debated and remains intensely controversial. Unlike in London and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where the barriers created anxieties but the population was broadly willing to trade some environmental impact for safety, the Venice barrier (or, strictly speaking, four barriers, which will be strung between the islands that separate the lagoon from the Adriatic) has split the city down the middle. Opinion polls sometimes show Venetians broadly in favor, sometimes against (depending, usually, on how the question is framed). Brotto assures me most people want the barrier, but acknowledges that "those who are against it are very noisy." They have, she says, created a false dichotomy between the barrier and other, more gradualist measures to deal with flooding. Both are necessary, she insists; and the consortium of engineering and construction companies that is building the barriers is also raising canal banks in the city, restoring salt marshes in the lagoon and dealing with the legacy of industrial pollution.
Brotto admits there will be some environmental disruption during construction -- "but we are taking mitigating measures, such as using an ecological dredger to reduce turbidity." She is adamant, however, that the gates remain necessary. They will be closed, she anticipates, five to seven times a year. "With this solution, we will solve all problems for Venice and the other settlements around the lagoon. Definitely."
"So," says Gherardo Ortalli, professor of medieval history at Venice University, "are you going to write that the barriers will solve all the problems for Venice? That is what the world wants to believe. A lovely story with a happy ending." I have come to meet Professor Ortalli at a palazzo close to the Grand Canal, the headquarters of an ancient institute of arts, letters and science, of which he is the administrator. In the fading light of a winter afternoon there is something gloomy about the building, an impression that Ortalli's mood does nothing to dispel. "This town is ending," he says. "When I arrived here 30 years ago, there were 130,000 inhabitants. Now we are half that. But the numbers are not so important. Young people are being priced out of the city, and those of us left behind are old and exhausted."
Venice is not being saved for its people, Professor Ortalli believes, but for the tourist trade, which is not owned by Venetians. His institute recently bought a palazzo across the square to prevent its falling, like so many others, into the hands of an international hotel group. Every year, 15 million visitors pour into Venice, where they buy fake Murano glass and carnival mask souvenirs that Ortalli says "are all made in Taiwan." In his view, business interests are dictating the future for Venice in a way that leaves Venetians with very little control.
Venice woke up to the grave threat it faced in the first week of November 1966, when a violent storm surge from the Atlantic swept into the city, flooding it to nearly two meters above sea level. The population was left with no electricity, with black oil oozing out of cisterns and with alleyways strewn with rubbish and the corpses of pigeons and rats.
The Italian government designated the safeguarding of Venice a national problem. The possibility was mooted of a barrier against the sea (something that had initially been suggested as early as the 17th century), and a "competition of ideas" was instituted. The winner was an underwater barrier, which would be invisible most of the time but could be lifted to resist the tide as necessary. Then, in 1984, a group of Italian construction and engineering companies was amalgamated into the Corsorzio Venezia Nuova (CVN), or Consortium for a New Venice, and charged with planning and executing the project.
CVN is the organization for which Brotto works. Depending on your point of view, it is either (as the Italian government insists, and the European competition commission appeared to accept in May of this year) the only body capable of managing such a complicated scheme or a private-sector monopoly whose responsibility for planning the solution is in conflict with its role in carrying it out.
Opposition to the barriers divides broadly into three camps. Some Venetians consider the gates unnecessary and believe that other, less radical measures could prevent most of the flooding. Others argue that the "softer" measures should at least be tried first. And some, who are not necessarily against a barrier in theory, are nevertheless opposed to the way in which the current barrier system has been handled. "The safeguarding of Venice was handed over to a private group with a monopoly," says Ortalli. "They are legal interests, not bandits, but they are working for themselves. And they have come up with a solution that is enormously expensive. If it had been possible to find a more expensive solution, they would have done it. The expense is part of the attraction."
Many share Professor Ortalli's view that Venice is "no longer a self-determining town." (CVN, Brotto is quick to point out, is not a law unto itself but comes under the jurisdiction of the Venice Water Authority, the local branch of the Ministry of Public Works. Its opponents argue that this group of private companies is so wealthy, is so powerful and has so much leeway to act that this nominal local control is more or less irrelevant.) For Venetians, with their history as a glittering, world-dominating republic, the sense that matters are out of their hands is particularly painful. Venetian politicians have always had an uneasy relationship with Rome, not helped at present by the fact that Venice is center-left, and the government, under Silvio Berlusconi, is not.
The following morning I take a boat out to the northernmost of the three inlets through which the lagoon flushes into the sea, and the sea washes back into the lagoon. The Lido inlet is the closest to Venice, and the largest; it's so large, in fact, that it will be divided into two when the barriers are built, with a man-made island in the middle. Work was given the go-ahead in April 2003, but there still isn't much to see: a small cement batching plant on the island in the distance, a caterpillar truck moving stones along one of the groines. We bob about in the motorboat near where the man-made island will be. Brotto has told me that three different architectural teams at the University of Venice are working on schemes to make the island attractive. But to some locals, that isn't good enough. The island will be built over a sandbank where, traditionally, Venetians like to come on weekends in summer and fish for razor clams. That this ancient tradition in the lagoon is about to disappear symbolizes for many Venetians the way that they are being discounted. "None of those people in the Consorzio is Venetian," one local told me. "I don't suppose they've ever been out there. They have no idea of the real pleasures of the lagoon: They aren't connected to Venetian culture."
The barrier design features 78 hinged gates that will normally lie flat on the seabed, filled with water. When required -- when Venice is about to experience a flood tide -- they will be pumped full of air and rise to an angle of 30 degrees to hold back the sea. Figures for the cost of this change all the time, but Brotto told me the scheme is currently budgeted at $5.3 billion. It is estimated the barrier will cost $10.6 million a year to maintain. This is an enormous amount of money, and many in Venice are suspicious of such a large investment in something that has never been tried before, that poses enormous engineering challenges and that cannot be modified. Giorgio Sarto is a Green Party politician who represented the Venice metropolitan area as a senator in Rome from 1996 to 2001. "First," he says, "we should have had medicine, then surgery."
In his view, there were simpler strategies that could have been explored first, such as making the three inlets to the Adriatic shallower; positioning breakwaters against the sirocco wind, often a major factor in flooding; and strengthening groines. This, he argues, would have reduced the water level by 20 cm, so buying time for Venice to explore alternative schemes that were adjustable and reversible. (One much-discussed option would be ships moored at the inlets, which could be filled with water and sunk when flooding threatened.)
Environmentalists are worried about the effect that closing the gates might have on the lagoon. They fear that raising the barriers (in a 1966-type event, they would be shut for about 20 hours) will reduce the tidal flushing system and damage a complex ecology. More commonly, the barriers would be shut for four to five hours, which most scientists agree would have around the same impact as a low tide in summer -- in other words, not much. But some scientists take a gloomier view and, until it happens, no one can be completely sure. The barrier, meanwhile, will be embedded in concrete, and irreversible.
There is no doubt that the engineering challenges are formidable. No other barrier scheme like this has been tried anywhere in the world. CVN has experimented with a prototype gate and is constantly working on refining the design in the laboratory. Brotto is entirely confident that the barriers will work, but not everyone agrees.
In 1996, the Italian government commissioned two reports on the project: one from the Environmental Impact Study and a shadow report from an "International College of Experts," including scientists from Brussels, the Netherlands and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I happen to be reading the EIS report when Andreina Zitelli, associate professor of environmental evaluation at Venice University, and a key member of the study, joins me at a table by the Grand Canal. She turns up her nose. "This College of Experts represented nothing in terms of legal procedure," she says. "On the national commission, we had 40 members, of whom 10 dedicated two years to evaluating all the points. We read about 11,000 pages and wrote 400 pages. This is the judgment." It thuds down in front of me like a telephone directory.
The national commission came out against the barriers; the International College found in favor. Zitelli is still smarting at the fact that her group's objections were not taken seriously. She argues that the environmental impact of the construction will be very high, because deep, transverse channels must be excavated for the gates' foundations. She enumerates several technical objections, such as that 20,000 pilings must be sunk 30 meters into the mud, "and must stay in a straight line to resist the weight that will be put on them. But the bottom is not flat. There are small, discontinuous lumps of limestone at different levels. How do you get these pilings straight? And if the substrata are not stable, the gates could move apart."
She gestures to some gondolas, bobbing about in front of us on the water. "You see those? They don't move in the same way, at the same rate; they don't reach the same height. This is called disharmonic wave resonance, and this disharmony could be so strong in windy conditions that the gates could pull apart." She is worried too about biological encrustation under water, which she estimates will be "around 30 kg per square meter per year." I ask if this could stop the gates from working; she shrugs.
She also points to what she believes are uncertainties in forecasting when to raise the gates. "Computer models predicting high tides currently have a margin of error of plus or minus 20 cm. Only last week the sirens failed to predict how high the tide would go." (Brotto disputes these figures, citing a 10 cm margin of error.) "That means that if you decide to close for tides of 110 cm, the actual tide could be 90 cm or 130 cm. During winter, this includes all medium-high tides in Venice. Today, high tide is 90 cm, and there is no flooding. So you can't accurately predict the tide until an hour and a half beforehand, but they will have to decide before that, in order to warn shipping."
Brotto does not accept these figures: She says that the first information comes in 48 hours before a high tide, and that "it is possible three hours before the high tide to have a forecast that is within 10 cm of error, 97 percent of the time." She adds that mathematical modeling is improving all the time.
Zitelli concludes that even the International College of Experts said the project would need to be reviewed in 2050. "Yet this is being sold to us as a project with a 100-year technical life."
If the Venice barriers are completed on schedule, they will be finished in 2011, nearly half a century after the 1966 flood. For Dominic Standish, a British academic and journalist who lives near Venice (and who has connections with an international think tank that has been linked to the Bush administration's position on the environment), this represents an inexcusable delay. "I feel a little bit jealous of London for having got its barrier before these things became such a political issue," he says. "It's a sign of our times that we feel so hesitant about protecting something that is so important in the history of the world. Governments have now adopted the precautionary principle: There is a desire to prove that any action is risk-free before proceeding. It's a way for them to seem to be interested in emotive issues: a way of connecting with people."
No doubt the sums of money involved have troubled successive Italian governments. But Italy's often sclerotic politics has not helped: In the '70s, there were doubts that Italy would even survive as a state; in the '80s, shifting coalitions were preoccupied by their internal state, as Christian democracy and communism faded and declined. In 1998, a Green environment minister halted the project; the Amato government subsequently revived it with conditions that took account of some of the environmentalists' concerns. It is finally happening now because Berlusconi has based his plan for economic recovery on the implementation of a number of grand projects.
Throughout this, as Green M.P. Giorgio Sarto admits, the center-left has been hopelessly divided, not only on the wisdom of having the barrier at all (which, given the technical arguments raging around it, is understandable) but also on whether to oppose the role of CVN. As water seeps into the city, life is draining out of it. Today, CVN rents a palace belonging to General Insurance. There are no insurance companies working in the city anymore -- few major employers at all, in fact. Even the public-private partnership responsible for urban maintenance is moving out to the mainland. Somers Cocks, of Venice in Peril, believes all this is directly related to the flooding, and that if the waters could be controlled, businesses might start investing once more. "How acceptable is it for Venice to flood? My view is not at all. It is damaging not just to the buildings but to the way the city is lived in. The only way you can deal with Venice in the short term is to close the gates relatively frequently. Then do you get a stinking, rotting lagoon? The data differs."
For some environmental groups, that's too big a risk, certainly at this stage. Some would rather see pavements raised first, although pavements have already been raised as far as most architects and art historians are comfortable with, and any further lifting would spoil the proportions of the architecture, making doorways impossibly low.
Until recently, until postwar industrialization and port development, environment and architecture have lived in symbiosis in Venice. But that point of equilibrium appears now to have passed, and what needs to give depends on one's priorities. The trouble, though, is that tampering with one end of things affects everything else: Venice is only Venice thanks to the vigorous natural dynamics of the lagoon system. Most scientists, it is probably fair to say, think that the gates are a solution, certainly for the time being. Brotto argues that they will work "up to a 60 cm rise in sea levels. There is considerable dispute about how far global warming will cause sea levels to rise, but if it is as much as 60 cm, we will also lose Ferrara and Ravenna. Venice will be the only dry place in the northern Adriatic." For Somers Cocks, too, the argument that global warming may make the gates obsolete by the middle of the century is a red herring, "because what happens between now and then? Flooding 80 times a year and the constant worry of another extreme event?"
A three-year collaboration between Cambridge University and Corila, the Venice-based lagoon research consortium, resulted this autumn in the publication of a book, "The Science of Saving Venice" by Caroline Fletcher and Jane da Mosto, summarizing everything currently known about the ecology of the Venice lagoon. A wonderfully clear statement of what scientists currently understand, this eschews the political posturing of so much of the debate about the barrier. The authors do, however, note rather tartly: "It is remarkable that an enormous amount of data collected by numerous institutions (but mainly by the Venice Water Authority) has not been circulated nor made readily accessible to the scientific community, nor the public at large. This has obstructed the comparison of research results and findings from different modeling approaches and the development of a non-ideological, constructive, science-based debate."
So much money has been funneled through CVN and the Venice Water Authority into research that it is difficult to find scientists locally who are genuinely independent. And with the fruits of all this research not widely disseminated, there remain engineering and ecological uncertainties. For Somers Cocks, though, much of the opposition -- whether it takes the form of environmental or engineering objections -- is rooted in ideology: "an objection to private companies, a sense that there is a capitalist plot." She thinks that antipathy to the barriers is symptomatic of Venetians' failure to face up to the reality of their future. Since the lagoon would, left to its own devices, merge with the sea eventually, Venice is faced with an unpalatable choice: Abandon itself to the tides, or wall itself off and turn the lagoon into a lake.
"The greens say if you fix the lagoon, you fix the problem," says da Mosto. "But it's not an either/or, not least because one day we're almost certainly going to have to turn the lagoon into a lake. We need to know everything we can about its ecology by then. The more we know, the more we realize we need to know, especially given the decreasing role of natural dynamics in the lagoon."
The barriers will almost certainly be built, even though no one yet knows who will operate them, nor how the government will manage the funding (currently being allocated only on a year-by-year basis). Romano Prodi, who will oppose Berlusconi in the next election, recently came out in their favor. Venice will hold back the tides for a little longer -- and after that, who knows? (Engineers in London are already working on the successor to the Thames Barrier; in Rotterdam, they are planning for the next barrier but one.)
The tides of economic globalization are another matter. At present, Venice is a city close to being swamped by the international tourist trade, and finding no other identity it can assert. If it is to avoid being turned into merely the museum quarter of the Venice metropolitan area, it has to engage with globalization, not avoid it. In theory, it ought to be easy enough for Venice (rather as Dubai has done) to offer incentives for appropriate businesses, those based mainly on computers and the exchange of ideas, to set up in the city. But it remains to be seen whether there is the political will to engage with modernity in this way. For Professor Ortalli, the city is already becoming like Babylon. "Venice cannot survive," he says, standing on the palazzo steps. "I think it has died already. I am spending a lot of time fighting this barrier not to save Venice, but to save my soul."

domain: geography


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I agree JAFO, now becasue of that guy that should have been still locked up anyways, a mother has to find the words to exsplain to her kids that there daddy isnt coming home, on top of everything else and all of the lives he has destroyed, I hope there is some new charges at his court hearing this afternoon
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Statistics paint an incomplete picture of the crime's true impact on Kitsap County.
100% of the dollars donated are distributed to local food banks.
IV drug use in Kitsap County surges to record levels

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The Greek god Apollo. Rare, never released publicly by Intel. Crowthers, Doug October 11, Aimed at the high-performance computing segment. Based on the Barton Hills controller.
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Following is a list of code names that have been used to identify computer hardware and software products while in development. Pentium D series and Pentium Extreme Edition series processors.
List of Intel codenames – Wikipedia
Itanium 2, the fourth-generation Itanium but still called Itanium 2. Zappa’s estate was displeased by the use of his name, prompting a change in Intel’s naming policy.
Well that was the first place I looked at! Intel products Revolvy Brain revolvybrain.
Reference unknown; see Smithfield disambiguation for possibilities. GParted has been updated to 0. Reference unknown; see Prescott disambiguation for possibilities.
tiswan’s space | Just another site | Page 3
Reference unknown; see D945plnj disambiguation for possibilities. Bottom view of a Sandy Bridge ik Top of a Sandy Bridge i5 Sandy Bridge is the codename for the microarchitecture used in the “second generation” of the Intel Core processors Core i7, i5, i3 – the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture is the successor to Nehalem microarchitecture.
Reference unknown; see Auburndale disambiguation for possibilities. A computer is like a small city. Based on the PI controller chip Tabor 3. The three most common dividers built in to motherboards are: This is by far the most comprehensive list anywhere: Intel EB Ethernet controller.
Intel WX58BP workstation motherboard. Intel MSGX workstation motherboard. Deschutes CountyOregon or, more likely, Deschutes Riverwhich runs through it. Kaby Lake is an Intel codename for a processor microarchitecture Intel announced on August 30, Member feedback about Intel X Without doubt, this is the best site for Anyone with a Gigabyte MB.
Also called White Swan.
It is designed to connect an Intel processor through a DMI 2. Except for the lack of a memory interface, the X58 is similar to the traditional northbridge: Possibly cancelled or renamed. Intel’s large manufacturing and design facilities in Oregon are located in the Tualatin Valley. The exception to this is found in servers. NianticA goldrush-era inntel shipwrecked under the city of San Francisco.
Kikayon is the Jntel name of a plant mentioned in the Biblical Book of Jonah.
Also applies to server systems containing these motherboards. I will upload to another server. The fact that the memory does two cycles for every cycle that the bus helps makes up for the two signals a cycle difference. In order to run this beta, simply install SpeedFan 4.
CoupevilleWashington, USA. Dual-core and quad-core Atom processors aimed at a wide range of applications.


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ELISABETH SCHNEIDER / LOOK AT SCIENCES / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY ELISABETH SCHNEIDER / LOOK AT SCIENCES / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Experimental rooftop garden, Paris, France. This garden is on the roof of AgroParisTech, the Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Sciences. The test area covers 600 square metres and is intended to test methods of sustainable farming in cities. The project is also part of INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research. Photographed in October 2012.
Model release not required. Property release not required.

domain: agronomy


Reconfigurability in an antenna system is a desired characteristic that has been the focus of much research in recent years. In this work, ohmic contact cantilever RF-MEMS switches are integrated with self-similar planar antennas to provide a reconfigurable antenna system that radiates similar patterns over a wide range of frequencies. The different issues encountered during the integration of the MEMS switches and the overall system design procedure are described herein. The final model radiates at three widely separated frequencies with very similar radiation patterns. The proposed concept can be extended to reconfigurable linear antenna arrays or to more complex antenna structures with large improvements in antenna performance.


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Minnesota State Patrol
Two people are dead and a three-year-old child is seriously injured after a head-on crash Tuesday morning in Carlton County. The Minnesota State Patrol says a Chevy Impala crossed the centerline of Highway 45 near Interstate 35, striking an Oldsmobile 88 head-on at about 8:24 a.m.
A Twin Cities man was seriously injured in a rollover crash in Maple Grove Sunday afternoon, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Authorities responded at about 4:15 p.m. Sunday to the area of eastbound Interstate 694 on the ramp to southbound Highway 169 on a report of a rollover crash.
Two Minneapolis women were seriously injured Friday night after their vehicle collided with a Metro Transit police squad car in downtown Minneapolis. The Minnesota State Patrol says the crash happened at about 10:30 p.m. at the intersection of Park Avenue and 8th Street South.
A 14-year-old girl is dead after a crash on a Brown County road late Thursday afternoon. The Minnesota State Patrol says a Chevy Malibu and a Ford Edge collided on Highway 4 and County Road 29 at about 4:49 p.m.
A man was struck and killed by a vehicle on a rural county road Friday night. The Chisago County Sheriff’s office says the incident happened at about 10:22 p.m. on Stark Road in Fish Lake Township.
A man was hit by a vehicle early Saturday morning on Interstate 394 at 12th Street North in Minneapolis. The Minnesota State Patrol says the pedestrian was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center with serious injuries.
More than 300 law enforcement agencies across the state are on the lookout for drivers who are texting.
A Brooklyn Park man is in jail after a weekend police chase reached speeds of 150 miles per hour. Jorell Coppage, 27, faces one felony charge of feeling a peace officer in a motor vehicle. Coppage is accused of taking law enforcement on a nearly hour-long chase that lasted about 80 miles and wound through several metro area towns.
A State Patrol officer and a Blaine Police officer are OK after being involved in a crash Sunday. According to the accident report, around 1:50 a.m. the State Patrol squad car and the Blaine Police squad car sideswiped each other while in pursuit on Interstate 35W at 95th Avenue NE.
One person was killed Saturday and another was hurt after a two-car crash in southern Minnesota, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Authorities were called to the crash at about 5:38 p.m. on Highway 60 at Dalton Avenue in Faribault.
The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating a deadly crash involving three people in Rice County. Police say the accident happened on Hwy 60 just west of Faribault at around 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
At least one person is death after a crash in Chisago County Thursday evening, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. The crash happened at about 6 p.m. just south of Harris on Interstate 35.
A driver in northwest Minnesota had an unusual sight in her rearview mirror late Tuesday morning — a small plane catching up to her on the road.
Authorities are on the scene of a fatal accident on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis that will cause major delays for the evening commute. The accident happened just after 3 p.m. Monday on eastbound I-94 at Highway 280 in Minneapolis.
At least one person is dead after a head-on crash in Wadena County Saturday morning. The Minnesota State Patrol says the accident happened at about 11:25 a.m. on Highway 71 near Wadena.
After weeks of spring-like weather, Minnesotans got another shot of winter Sunday afternoon. It arrived a little later than expected, but heavy snow hit central and southern Minnesota, making travel difficult on several highways.
A South Dakota man is dead after a rollover crash early Saturday morning in Scott County. The Minnesota State Patrol says the crash happened just before 4 a.m. on Highway 169, south of Marystown.
A South Carolina man is dead in a single-vehicle rollover crash in Otter Tail County. The crash happened shortly before 8 p.m. Friday on westbound Interstate 94 near Cascade Street.
Two people died after a head-on collision in Cloquet late Thursday night. Minnesota State Patrol said 54-year-old Fay Dahlman, of Alborn, and 49-year-old Mark Laine, of Saginaw, both died.
A Twin Cities motorists suffered minor injuries but had quite the scare after chunks of ice came crashing through his windshield Tuesday morning, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
A crash in South St. Paul Tuesday morning shows just how dangerous it can be for emergency workers responding to accidents. A car hit a squad car, pinning the state trooper inside and throwing a tow truck driver onto a busy road.
A semi-truck carrying “an explosive agent” crashed into a car in Cass County on Tuesday. The driver of the car, Pearl Bisson, 86, of Cass Lake, Minnesota, was seriously injured.
A 22-year-old Minneapolis man was injured after he was hit by a Minnesota State Patrol squad car early Saturday morning. The state patrol says the accident happened at about 2:42 a.m. at the intersection of Dale Street and St. Anthony Avenue in St. Paul.
A Minnesota State Patrol officer in northwestern Minnesota is being hailed as a “Super Trooper” after an encounter with an elderly man earlier this week.
At least one person was injured Wednesday morning when three Minnesota Department of Transportation snowplows were rear ended. MnDOT officials say the accidents occurred within three hours of each other on roads in the southeastern part of the state. Visibility has been an issue on these roads due to windy conditions and light-weight snow.


A multimillion-dollar contract for a new train station at Frankston will kick of works this month to be completed by the end of 2018.
The project contract was awarded by the Victorian Government to an alliance led by John Holland and KBR. This contract is part of the Victorian government’s $63 million Frankston Station Precinct Redevelopment.
To minimise disruption, the Level Crossing Removal Authority will oversee the project and coordinate work with the nearby Skye/Overton Road level crossing removal.
The architectural design contract was won by Genton Architecture in March 2017, taking out the competition of 39 other architectural companies. The design has been developed and refined with the government to include a distinctive new canopy and buildings with upgrades to the entrance and subway access.
The new Frankston Station will include:
- New station building and comfortable waiting room
- Improved access for people with a disability
- MYKI gates and customer service office
- Passenger information displays
- Customer kiosk
- Improved lighting, gearing loops and security cameras
- Improved screens and landscaping
To create a thriving, modern shopping and transport hub, other improvements to the area include new public plazas and walkways. As a result, a safe, modern and welcoming gateway will be provided for the revitalised Frankston and Mornington Peninsula.
To being construction, the utility service relocation and technological surveys will begin works this month, followed by all major construction work and a temporary station closure from mid-year. While the station is demolished and rebuilt, temporary station facilities and rail replacement buses will transport commuters along the line.
Keep up to date with the upcoming and latest project news by subscribing to PlantMiner’s blog today and receive industry news straight to your inbox.Source: Construction Advisor, Level Crossing.


The vertical conveyor system is a device designed for the automatic delivery of goods to various levels. Our company is engaged in the manufacturers of conveyors, as well as further customization, taking into account your requirements and wishes.
The vertical lift conveyor can be continuous and intermittent. The former are spiral and L-shaped or platform lifter or lifting product, supplemented with a fork.
The continuous vertical conveyor is represented by several main components:
- Knot of tension
- Vertical conveyor belt
- Conveyor frame
Type of vertical conveyor
The main advantage of these types of products are simple application. A minimum software set is sufficient for management. Compared to devices belonging to the type of vertical, it takes quite a lot of space. Therefore, it is not recommended for use in small rooms. Vertical transportation takes a lot of time because it involves many cycles performed by the conveyor belt.
Designed for vertical transportation of loads. The name is due to the design features of the product. It will be a great option if you need to save space. The product takes up less space than the above. Needs more control during operation.
It is a device that allows you to transport the load from the conveyor to the conveyor. It can be used to position or remove the load at a 90-degree angle. Due to the design features, the device can be used as a vertical type sorting system. The key advantage of the forklift is energy saving, versatility, and simple operation.
The carrying capacity of vertical reciprocating conveyors primarily depends on the height, motor power, belt width, etc.
Advantages of the application
The drive of vertical conveyors is additionally equipped with special devices that exclude spontaneous movement of the conveyor belt with cargo. In addition, structural modifications are possible, for example, of a load-bearing base.


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Cost of living in Newcastle, Australia
Expatistan is a collaborative effort. Comparisons improve with every new price that you enter.
We need your help! Tell us about prices in Newcastle.
Change the currency:
These prices are lacking data. It provides a decent estimate, but they are not yet reliable. They are based on 94 prices entered by 7 different people.
Latest price update: November 22, 2017.
Do you live in Newcastle? We need your help!
Recent Prices Added
- Weekly rent - 2 bedroom (85m2) furnished accommodation in expensive area in Delhi costs ₨129,000 (13 minutes ago)
- Public transport in Yaoundé costs 16,070 Franc (31 minutes ago)
- Weekly rent - 2 bedroom (85m2) furnished accommodation in expensive area in London costs £3,655 (about 1 hour ago)
- Volkswagen golf 1.4 tsi 150 cv (or equivalent), with no extras, new in Prague costs 137 Kč (about 1 hour ago)
- Utilities, monthly for 2 people in 900 sqft in Washington D.C. costs $1,017 (about 2 hours ago)
- Basic lunchtime menu (including a drink) in the business district in Shenzhen costs 元80 (about 2 hours ago)

domain: finance


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Scripps Ranch Braces & Orthodontics
Creating Beautiful Smiles for Scripps Ranch, including Poway, Mira Mesa, San Diego, and Surrounding Areas
At MOD Squad Dental, we see both children and adults for orthodontic treatment. After suffering with braces for five long years, Dr. Greg Friedman became passionate about finding an easier, shorter, and more comfortable way to straighten children's teeth. In certain cases, we use retainers when teeth are growing in to expand the mouth, making room for all of the teeth to fit instead of extracting teeth at a later age. By developing the dental arch with retainers, we can reduce the time braces have to be worn by up to two years, in many cases!
Early orthodontic intervention for our children could be key to a healthy ideal bite for them later in life. If you have questions about your child's orthodontic issues, call today for your complimentary consultation.
For adults, Invisalign® is becoming a very popular and conservative alternative to traditional braces or veneers. With Invisalign clear braces, patients can straighten their teeth inconspicuously and in a short timeframe. We will also often recommend ZOOM! whitening following Invisalign or orthodontic care to complete your smile makeover.
Invisalign® Clear Braces for Scripps Ranch
Advancements in technology now offer patients a different choice to correct misaligned teeth. Dr. Friedman is a preferred provider for Invisalign, the clear choice for braces. With the advances in CAD/CAM technology, patients are able to straighten their teeth with clear aligners by changing the aligners biweekly. This technique enables Dr. Friedman's patients the ability to move their teeth without the conventional wires and brackets, allowing them the freedom to brush and floss easily, as well as not have a restricted meal plan. The good news is that NO ONE will know you are wearing braces!
Dr. Friedman integrates computer technology into his practice to "GO GREEN" by using the Apple I-pad for patients to update their health history and fill out their new patient paperwork.
Serving families in San Diego, Mira Mesa, Poway and Rancho Penasquitos
Do you want a more presentable smile?
Do you interact with people on a daily basis?
Would the appearance of braces make you uncomfortable?
Invisalign clear braces fit over the teeth to gradually align them into proper formation. They can be removed for special events but are most effective at permanently changing the alignment of teeth, making the bite more functional and improving the overall appearance of the face.
Most people don't want to flaunt metal smiles. Models, actors, waiters, or anyone self-conscious about their looks might prefer to have their dental corrective devices hidden. Additionally, most adults would rather not have metal braces showing at work or social events. That's where Invisalign can help.
Invisalign braces are effective with a number of orthodontic issues. They can help with teeth that are overcrowded, too widely spaced, crossbites, overbites, and underbites. Invisalign clear braces can restore beauty, form, and function to misaligned teeth in a way that is more comfortable and less embarrassing than regular metal braces. Many people in Scripps Ranch already wear Invisalign invisible braces, but you probably never noticed! That's the beauty of the method – long-lasting results that cause less discomfort and awkwardness in the long run.
Additionally, Invisalign invisible braces are far more comfortable than metal braces that require spacing, adhesive, wires, and bands that can be uncomfortable and inconvenient. With Invisalign, teeth are corrected easily and comfortably.
Invisalign braces can help you become more confident, smiling at the troubles life throws your way. You'll feel less anxious when talking, laughing, or eating because you won't be concerned about what people are thinking of your teeth – no more covering your mouth when you smile! You can concentrate on the conversation, become a better listener, and engage with ease.
Creating a beautiful and healthy smile for you is important to us. We know it will give you the confidence you need to face the challenges the world throws at you. With Dr. Friedman's help, you can show the world you’re in charge and face it with a smile.
Contact MOD Squad Dental of Scripps Ranch, CA to discuss your treatment with Dr. Friedman and discover if Invisalign® is right for you.

domain: medical


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Who is in peterborough prison?Asked by: Elisa Treutel
Score: 4.3/5 (19 votes)
HMP Peterborough is the UK's only prison holding both male and female inmates, although the two are kept separate at all times. It's a category B local prison and has capacity for 480 males and 360 females in total. The prison opened in 2005 and is managed privately by Sodexo Justice Services.
What category is Peterborough prison?
About HMP YOI Peterborough. Built on the former site of Baker Perkins engineering works, HMP YOI Peterborough opened in March 2005 and comprises a local category B prison, a closed women's prison and a category C extension, operated by Sodexo Justice Services.
How many prisoners are in HMP Peterborough?
The prison, which has a population of 320 inmates, comprises four large wings, each with a separate housing arrangement for female detainees and male detainees.
How can I find out if someone is in jail UK?
To locate a prison you can in the U.K you can search via the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Prison Finder or use the NOMS Prison Map. The website allows you to search and find any prison in England and Wales, by name, category or area.
Where is the biggest prison in the UK?
1. Wandsworth prison. With a large capacity of 1,655, Wandsworth prison in London is the largest prison in the UK.
Peterborough prison serco
What prison do murderers go to?
Medium security prisons are the standard facilities used to house most criminals. They feature cage-style housing, armed guards, and a much more regimented daily routine than minimum security. High security prisons are reserved for the most violent and dangerous offenders.
How do you get cat D in prison?
Category D prisoners are defines as “Those who can be reasonably trusted not to try to escape, and are given the privilege of an open prison.” It take some time to progress through the various categories; if it is your first offence and it is was a non violent or drug related crime, such as fraud, you may be categories ...
Which prisons are Category A?
- HMP Belmarsh.
- HMP Frankland.
- HMP Full Sutton.
- HMP Long Lartin.
- HMP Manchester.
- HMP Wakefield.
- HMP Whitemoor.
- HMP Woodhill.
What does HMP mean?
HMP is an acronym that means both hit my phone and help me please.
What crimes are Category B prison?
They're serving a sentence for an offence involving threat to life or violence, threat of arson, robbery, drugs, sexual offences or firearms offences. They were previously incarcerated in a category A prison.
What are the 4 types of prisons?
- Minimum security. These prisons, sometimes called Federal Prison Camps (FPCs), have the lowest level of security and are used to house non-violent offenders with a relatively clean record. ...
- Low security. ...
- Medium security. ...
- High security. ...
What's the worst prison in the UK?
Wakefield Prison holds approximately 600 of Britain's most dangerous people (mainly sex offenders and prisoners serving life sentences). Accommodation at the prison comprises single-occupancy cells with integral sanitation.
What does it mean when a girl says Hmph?
HMPH means "Expression of Scorn or Dissatisfaction."
How many HMP prisons are there in the UK?
There are 117 prisons in England and Wales. Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) runs most of these (104) while three private companies operate 13: G4S and Sodexo manage four prisons each, and Serco manages five. Private prisons are newer than those operated by the public sector and tend to be larger.
What does PPS mean in texting?
"Post-Post Script" is the most common definition for PPS on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
What is a cat C prisoner?
Cat C – Prisoners who cannot be trusted in open conditions but who have neither the resources nor the will to make a determined escape attempt. Cat D – Prisoners who present a low risk, can be reasonably trusted in open conditions and for whom open conditions are appropriate.
What does VP mean in prison?
Vulnerable prisoners. Staff are trained to spot prisoners at risk of bullying, suicide or self-harm. The prisoner may get their own case manager who will make sure they: are asked about their mental health, for example if they're feeling depressed.
What type of prison is Brixton?
HMP Brixton is a category C/D prison in Brixton, inner south London. It holds adult male prisoners from the local Brixton area.
What is an e List prisoner?
Prisoners who have made active attempts to escape from custody are placed on the holding prison's Escape List. These prisoners (sometimes referred to as "E men" or "E List men") are required to wear distinctive, brightly coloured clothing when being moved both inside and outside of the prison and are handcuffed.
How long is a whole life sentence UK?
In England and Wales, the average life sentence prisoners serves are around 15 to 20 years before being paroled, although those convicted of exceptionally grave crimes remain behind bars for considerably longer; Ian Huntley was given a minimum term of 40 years.
What is white collar prison?
White Collar Prison, White Collar Crimes,
White Collar Prison is usually refered to for people getting charged with Money Laundering which is the process where the individual has made steps to filter the money that was 'illegally' gained and attempt to now make it look legit.
Is jail as bad as prison?
Jail and prison are two separate entities that are often mixed up. The difference between jail and prison is mostly the length of stay for inmates. Jail is more for a short-term sentence, while prison is for those with a long-term sentence. ... This is because prison is thought to be much worse than jail.
How do you reply to Hmph?
Bring it back!” I complain. “Hmph rmph dunnodmph blmph.” Translation: “Your eyeliner is under one of these piles of clothes on my floor but I don't feel like looking for it.” “You're not going anywhere with your room such a mess,” declares Dad. “Hmph rmph shmph okayokaywmph.” Translation: “You're getting on my nerves.”
What does HML mean in text?
HML is an internet acronym short for hate my life or hit my line.
What does Pfft mean in slang?
PFFT is "An Expression Of Dismissal." The interjection PFFT (pronounced "pufft") is used to dismiss something that someone has said or typed. When used as a direct response to a statement by another person, PFFT can often be considered quite rude.

domain: law


text:
Friday, November 28, 2008
Edgefest becomes pop
photos © Mark M. Hancock and The Dallas Morning News
Colt Guthrie of Stephenville (bottom, center) snags a new baseball cap during Edgefest at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008.
Drummer Blake Dixon (left) of the Mississippi-based band Saving Abel signs an autograph on the arm of Christina Dutcher of Ponder during Edgefest.
(Above) Painted and dirty baby dolls remain tied to the microphone stand of Shaun Morgan, Seether's front man, during Edgefest.
(Left) Dale Stewart of Seether plays bass during an Edgefest.
Shaun Morgan of Seether plays guitar at Pizza Hut Park.
(Above) A fan crowd surfs during a concert in Frisco.
(Right) Austin Gibson of Allen sports a spiked mohawk during Edgefest.
John Humphrey of Seether plays drums during an Edgefest concert at Pizza Hut Park.
(Above) Fans reach for givaways during Edgefest.
(Left) Shaun Morgan of Seether plays guitar during an Edgefest concert at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco.
Please read, "Edgefest at Pizza Hut Park not very edgy" by Matt Weitz.


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Nitish Deshpande wins AIChE Travel Award
Graduate student Nitish Deshpande (Brunelli Group) will attend the AIChE annual meeting in Pittsburgh this October thanks to winning an AIChE Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Division Travel Award.
The award includes the opportunity to present a paper, a stipend for travel costs, and a ticket to the Division dinner, where Deshpande and the additional 19 award recipients will be formally recognized for their achievements.
Deshpande's paper, "Selective glucose isomerization to fructose using immobilized tertiary amines," demonstrates the design and development of silica supported tertiary amine catalysts for the selection (~70%) conversion of glucose to fructose.
Converting glucose to fructose is an important step in upgrading dry plant matter to high-valued products such as high fructose corn syrup, bio-based polymers and fuel additives.
Investigations by the Brunelli Group reveal that various catalyst design parameters including amine loading, amine structure support-pore characteristics affect catalytic performance significantly. Through tuning these parameters, researchers have been able to achieve fructose yields comparable to homogeneous catalysts.
In notifying Deshpande that he had been chosen for the award, committee chair Eranda Nikolla, associate professor at Wayne State University, wrote that Deshpande was selected from "a large pool of extremely good nominees, which did not make things easy for the selection committee."
The AIChE Annual Meeting will be held October 28-November 2, 2018.


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Enjoy a private island holiday with JustSeychelles
The deal of the month from JustSeychelles is on holidays to Denis Island, a luxury private island which has just 25 cottages to offer the ultimate feeling of seclusion.
United Kingdom (PRUnderground) August 10th, 2015
By booking through JustSeychelles, you can experience a holiday of a lifetime for a fraction of the usual price.
The deal of the month from JustSeychelles is on holidays to Denis Island, a luxury private island which has just 25 cottages to offer the ultimate feeling of seclusion. Surrounded by white sand beaches and vibrant coral reefs beyond, there’s every chance you’ll fall in love from the moment you arrive!
By booking through JustSeychelles, a 7-night Full Board stay on Denis Island can be yours from just £2798 per person – a huge saving of £2600 per couple! This price is based on staying in a deluxe beach cottage and is inclusive of a 25 per cent discount and one night completely free of charge. If you don’t want to miss this opportunity, just make sure you’ve made your booking by 31 August 2015.
With decades of experience in holidays to the most exotic destinations on Earth, the team at JustSeychelles can help you discover the Seychelles in the best possible way. Offering paradise in every sense of the word, the white sand beaches, coconut palms and pleasant tropical temperatures are just three of the countless reasons why so many make the Seychelles their holiday destination.
To book your sunbathing spot on the beach at Denis Island, or even to find out about other special offers available from JustSeychelles, be sure to check out their website today or call their team on 01707 371000.
About Just Seychelles
Just Seychelles is a dedicated, specialist tour operator offering Seychelles holidays. Our experienced team regularly visit Seychelles to review hotels and resorts, so we have first hand knowledge to share with you to help you select the right Seychelles holiday package.

domain: travel


In a state of law, judgments are respected when they are enforceable, but nothing prevents them from being discussed. Especially when, as in the present case, a fundamental value of democracy is put at risk, such as freedom of the press.
It is therefore necessary to express full support to colleagues from “Report”, who intend to appeal to the Council of State (and then perhaps also to the European Court of Human Rights) against the sentence of the TAR which requires them to hand over to the lawyer Andrea Mascetti all the documentation concerning the episode entitled “Vassalli, valvassori and valvassini”, aired on October 26, 2020.
Mascetti, as an applicant, was granted the right to make a “Access to documents” on the data that allowed the editorial staff of Siegfried Ranucci to prepare a service that concerned him, as a professional who has carried out consultations to public entities. To those who know even a little superficially the law, the formula “Access to documents” it will certainly have caused a jolt: this right is in fact recognized to anyone interested in an administrative procedure, who requests it, having a legitimate interest in it.
Let’s take an example: if a Public Administration issues a notice for the supply of computers, I participate as a manufacturer and I am the loser, I have every right to do the aforementioned “Access to documents” to check the offer of those who have won and all the other cards connected to the competition, so as to ensure that there have been no favoritism. This is clearly right and, indeed, would be the case with extend this right to any citizen who requests it, because if it is public money we are all equally involved. This is not the case at the moment, but that’s another story.
In this speech, it is truly disconcerting that a news report is considered as an administrative act: they are two completely different activities, governed by different rules, and the fact that the publisher of “Report” both Mamma Rai, who is obviously a public entity. With all due respect, journalistic activity has its own specific legislation, regardless of who the publisher is: if not, we should conclude that in Rai it is not possible to carry out investigations while protecting the sources, while in Mediaset or La7 yes!
The protection of sources, on the other hand, is fundamental for journalism, especially if it makes uncomfortable inquiries: professional journalists (publicists don’t) have the right to oppose the Professional secret not to disclose their sources, even by refusing to testify in the course of a trial. Furthermore, last October the aforementioned European Court of Human Rights has set a further stake by specifying that, pursuant to Article 10 of the European Convention on Freedom of Expression, no Member State can force a journalist to disclose their sources, despite this it could be useful to the judicial authority to identify the perpetrator of a crime.
Why the protection of sources is so important is easy to understand: without this certainty, no one would disclose to journalists recordings, photos, videos, documents and other essential materials for let public opinion know the truth, with a very strong violation of the citizens’ right to receive correct information.
It should be remembered that, again last October, Italy only came in 41st place in the press freedom ranking drawn up annually by Reporter Without Borders: worse than Jamaica, Namibia, Costa Rica, Ghana and Burkina Faso, but better than the previous two years, in which we had a rating even more scarce.
Also for this reason, it is necessary to support a battle that is not only of “Report” and that clearly disregards both the judgment that is made of the program, and from the episode and the service in question: at stake is the freedom of the press and therefore democracy.


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Apparently, there is news happening today that is not coming from the Supreme Court. No, I’m not talking about the impending contempt vote on Attorney General Eric Holder — which is going to look really partisan after what Roberts did today.
I’m talking about news from one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. Evan Chesler, presiding partner of Cravath Swaine & Moore is at the end of his term. Chesler will now be “Chairman” of Cravath, and the firm has elected a new presiding partner.
Who will lead Cravath as it establishes the “new normal,” post-recession?
The new Vault Rankings are out. It’s a fun day for large law firms — a day when their prestige is matched against that of their peers.
The day is even more significant this year, since it appears that so-called “top” Biglaw firms are now paying bonuses largely in “prestige points.”
Vault ranks the prestige of firms based on nearly 17,000 surveys sent to law firm associates all across the country. Just by looking at the top ten firms, I think we can agree that associates who fill out these surveys have no memory and have really enjoyed this period of salary stagnation.
As I mentioned last week when talking about associate hours, it seems Biglaw partners really know what they’re doing. Whether we’re talking about prestige or associate hours, partners have figured out that associates will take less money and like it….
Californians tend to be quite protective of the state’s reputation as a progressive paradise. Where equality is important for everyone, no matter your race, gender, sexual orientation, whatever. Where organic food is simply better, no matter how much it costs. Where the earthquakes are a fine price to pay for an entire year of temperate weather.
So, when the New York Times ran an extensive article this weekend about an accomplished female attorney who sued the major venture capital firm where she is a partner for sex discrimination, it puts a real fly in the state’s — and specifically the tech industry’s — collective ointment.
The Times’s extensive story concerns Ellen Pao, a graduate of Harvard Law School and a former associate at Cravath. She has sued Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a major VC firm.
Let’s take a look at the specifics of the suit, as well as what it might mean for attorneys who work within the emerging “brogrammer” culture in Silicon Valley…
As we mentioned last week, the American Lawyer recently released its highly influential, closely watched Am Law 100 law firm rankings. And despite all the doom and gloom permeating the legal profession, as well as the stagnant bonuses for associates lucky enough to make it into Biglaw, partners at large law firms are living just as large as ever.
In a way, the recovery in Biglaw is not unlike the recovery in America in general. If you were already well-off, you’re doing great now. It’s just not trickling down to anybody else. See, e.g., anemic spring bonuses.
Interestingly enough, the division of the world into “haves and have-nots” continues even into the world of major law firms. Partners at super-top-tier firms are putting even more distance between themselves and partners at less high-powered or less profitable firms.
Lat here. In late March, I wrote a story with this title: “Sullivan & Cromwell Will Pay Spring Bonuses — But Will They Be Too Small To Be Worth Matching?”
I’m sad to report that my prediction has come to pass. Sullivan & Cromwell has announced spring bonuses, but they’re nothing to write home about. They are probably too modest for other firms to bother matching. The spring bonuses of Quinn Emanuel will surely exceed the S&C amounts.
It’s time to crown February’s Lawyer of the Month. Yes, we realize that it’s a little late to be conducting a poll for February, but we’d still like to give our candidates a chance to extend their 15 minutes of fame (or infamy).
Last month, we saw some wacky antics from judges and former Biglaw associates, and some lawyering that has the potential to rock the world of legal education for the rest of time.
That being said, let’s check out our nominees for the month of February….
A college graduate without student loan debt is akin to reading a kind quote about Kim Kardashian in a tabloid—it’s rare.
In the past eight years, student loan debt has nearly tripled to a whopping $1.1 trillion, and in the past 10 years, the percentage of 25-year-olds with such debt has risen from 25% to 43%
It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that New York Fed economists warned last month that the burden of student debt could stilt consumer spending by twentysomethings, as well as further hamper the recovery of the housing market and economy.
To get a better idea of what massive student loan debt (we’re talking over $100,000 massive) looks like, we talked to an attorney who graduated with a large student loan debt. We also consulted LearnVest Planning Services CFP® Katie Brewer to see just how their repayment plans stack up.
S. Fischer, 36, Attorney Graduated: 2001
How Much I Borrowed: $100,000
What I Still Owe: $45,000
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Ed. note: The Asia Chronicles column is authored by Kinney Recruiting. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates, counsels and partners in Asia than any other recruiting firm in each of the past six years. You can reach them by email: firstname.lastname@example.org.
Deal flow has clearly picked recently up for most US associates, counsels and partners in Hong Kong/China and Singapore. We are on the phone with a lot of these folks on a daily basis, many of whom we have known for years. Further, the head of our Asia team, Evan Jowers, and Kinney’s founder and president, Robert Kinney, frequently meet in person with leading US partners in Asia to assess their needs and keep on top of the inside scoop at as many firms as possible. The need for legal recruiting help in Asia from experienced recruiters appears to be live and well. In March, Evan and Robert were in Beijing at such meetings, in April, Evan was in Hong Kong, and for half of June Evan will be in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Thus its pretty easy for us to tell when there has been an across-the-market pick up in capital markets and corporate work.
On an average day in Asia when Evan and Robert visit firms, they typically have 5 to 9 meetings a day, mostly with US partners in the market. The reason they have these meetings is not simply because Kinney makes a lot of US attorney placements in Asia and that a particular firm may have openings; instead these are just visits with friends. After years of working together as business partners, the folks at Kinney are actually these peoples’ friends. The firms Kinney work closely with in Asia (which is just about every law firm – call us if you want to know the one firm in the world we will never place anyone with again, ever, and why) look forward to the visits, or at least act like they do. After seven years in the market, many of the client partners are former associate candidates. Also, these US partners see Kinney as a very good source of market information as well, because they know how deep their contacts are in the market and how frequently they are speaking to counterparts at peer firms.
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Hello designers, and welcome to this month's Spotlight!
Halcraft Collection is excited to announce Amy Chebat as our November Spotlight Designer. This East Coast lady magically mixes gemstones and Czech glass to create inspiring jewelry designs. Armed with round nose pliers and wire cutters in hand, she is a design force! Her creations are organic and earthy, with the perfect mix of sparkle.
Read on to learn more about Amy and captivating creations featuring Bead Gallery® beads by Halcraft Collection.
When did you first start beading? Tell us about yourself.
I know the precise moment when I started creating jewelry. My best friend was celebrating her fortieth birthday. I wanted to give her something unique and from the heart... I decided to make her a set of gemstone bracelets with charms of initials with her two sons' names. I had so much fun with it that I also made a pair of earrings. She was so thrilled and impressed with the gift she urged me to continue creating. I started posting my designs on social media and eventually open my own online shop. Having always loved decorating and fashion… creating accessories felt very natural for me.
Tell us about your jewelry business.
I have an online jewelry shop through Etsy. The name of my shop is CAC JewelrybyAmy. CAC stands for my two children Chase and Charlize. I started selling through Etsy because it was a platform that I was familiar with as a customer. Also, I liked what Etsy had to offer me as a seller. Not having a lot of website knowledge when I started selling, Etsy made it relatively easy, and I felt comfortable with the website. I direct my traffic to my Etsy site from my Instagram account.
What is your favorite project that you've recently finished and why is it your favorite?
One of my favorite projects was working with a customer who contacted me via my Etsy shop. She asked me to create a custom bridal and bridesmaids earrings for her wedding. She gave me swatches of their dresses and complete creative control. It was an enjoyable experience, and the bride was thrilled with the outcome.
What are your favorite beading techniques and materials?
I love to change up my techniques from time to time. Currently, I really enjoy wire wrapping. Wire wrapping Czech or gemstone beads around hoop earrings that feature unique focals seems to be my go-to right now. I am also obsessed with individually wrapping an array of organically shaped gemstones to make a long necklace. These necklaces are usually accompanied with a gemstone or brass focal accent piece. These pieces are wrapped with bronze or deep brass metal hues (they are my favorite metals to design with during the fall months.)
What are some of your favorite beads or components on the Halcraft Collection website?
I could spend hours on the Halcraft Collection website admiring the yummy natural gemstone beads and focals. Some of my favorites are the faceted moonstone and natural precious faceted stones. Another favorite collection of mine is the incredible selection of Czech fire-polished beads. There are so many styles with a rainbow of colors. I always find what I need on the Halcraft Collection website!
Where do you get your beading inspiration? What most inspires you?
What most inspires me most are the seasons and nature. I reside in Western New York, and I look forward to the changing of the seasons. When it's spring, and the flowers are starting to bloom, I admire the greens and light spring hues. I am inspired to design with cooler metals and pastel stones. The excitement of summer draws me to vibrant gemstones. Now is my time to create fun dangle earrings and arm candy stacking bracelets. In fall/winter months, I gravitate towards neutral colors and metals. It's fun to make long beaded necklaces to wear with cozy sweaters in the winter and fall seasons.
Do you have any tips for the readers regarding building their social media reach? The best advice I can give to my creative friends is to be yourself. Do not try to build a significant following by buying followers. Be patient and grow your account organically (this is how I grew my Instagram account.) Create content that showcases your strengths. Customers and other artists will gravitate towards your talents. I've met some fantastic, supportive artisans on Instagram. I continue to meet and collaborate with other artisans. Hopefully, I will have more opportunities in the future. I would like to thank Halcraft Collection for being a part of this incredible spotlight experience!!
Amy was born, raised, and continues to reside in Buffalo, New York. with her two children Chase and Charlize.
She enjoys all four New York seasons and loves nature walks on beautiful days.
Summer is her favorite season... Lazy days by the pool.
Sometimes she sets up her workspace outside to be inspired by her surroundings.
She has 44.2K followers on Instagram!
Are you interested in being in our Designer Spotlight?
Join our Beaded Jewelry Facebook group today and tag us in your projects on Instagram with @halcraftcollectionbeads, #Halcraftcollection #beadgallery #halcraftprettypalette #prettypalette!
We choose a new designer to spotlight each month and would love to celebrate you!
Denise Yezbak Moore is a self-taught artisan. She is a senior jewelry designer for Halcraft Collection and loves to create jewelry with bohemian flair. Denise resides in Orange County, California, and enjoys hearing from fellow beaders worldwide. Be sure to follow her on Instagram @deniseyezbakmoore


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A small crop of new climate bills is sprouting up in Congress, and none too soon.
Earlier this month, a number of influential energy execs called on Congress to regulate industrial greenhouse-gas emissions. And earlier this week, the EPA quietly released dismal new figures showing that U.S. emissions are steadily rising.
The new bills are intended to tackle these challenges, but will they go as far as environmentalists — or even business bigwigs — think they should?
Leading the pack of new proposals is the Strong Economy and Climate Protection Act sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), which she is expected to introduce soon after Congress returns from spring recess next week. A longtime ally of the green community, Feinstein has repeatedly voted for strong mandatory carbon caps. That’s why some enviros are disappointed to see her pushing a proposal that is cautiously middle-of-the-road — indeed, that may take the climate debate as many steps backward as forward.
Her bill would establish a mandatory cap-and-trade system — much like that called for by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) in their Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act — which would allow industry to buy and sell the right to pollute in the form of carbon credits. But while the McCain-Lieberman bill, for which Feinstein has voted in the past, would require carbon dioxide emissions to be cut to 2000 levels by 2010, Feinstein’s would extend the timeframe by a decade, calling for emissions to be 7.25 percent lower than today’s levels by 2020.
Still, that’s a more ambitious target than the one in Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s (D-N.M.) climate bill, introduced last June, which proposes to merely slow and then halt the growth of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020, without actually reducing them. Bingaman’s bill has become the center of the climate-policy debate and is being revised with Energy Committee Chair Pete Domenici (R-N.M.); if anything, a new version is expected to relax this goal even further.
David Doniger, policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Climate Center, applauds Feinstein for introducing a so-called “declining cap” that shrinks over time, requiring reductions of half a percent per year for five years, and then 1 percent per year thereafter. “This is a very important new idea,” says Doniger. “If the annual decline in the cap were extended indefinitely past 2020, then at some point it would do more than McCain-Lieberman.”
Other enviros, though, stress that Feinstein’s target, as currently articulated in the draft proposal, doesn’t adequately address the urgency of the climate crisis (never mind Bingaman’s). “The science overwhelmingly shows that we have to reduce emissions by at least half by mid-century to avoid catastrophic consequences,” says John Stanton, vice president of National Environmental Trust. “This isn’t gonna get us even close, or started on the right foot.”
Doniger is more optimistic that Feinstein’s strategy could yield meaningful reductions, but he does raise concerns. A key one is that the bill would allow industrial polluters to meet emissions goals by buying unlimited carbon-offset credits from the agriculture and forestry sectors, whose flora-rich lands act as sinks for carbon dioxide. The apparent aim is to attract political support for the bill from farm-state senators such as Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.).
While McCain and Lieberman would allow companies to meet just 15 percent of their emission-reduction goals by buying carbon credits, Feinstein would let them meet 100 percent with credits, meaning companies could achieve standards without reducing their direct emissions at all. And they wouldn’t have to buy those credits from other industrial facilities that have cut their emissions more than required because there would be an unlimited supply of carbon credits available from farmers and foresters who take steps such as protecting forest and wildlife habitat from development, using tilling methods that release less carbon from the soil, planting trees on low-value rangelands, and growing crops like corn and switchgrass that can be made into ethanol.
Some wildlife advocates are delighted by this approach, reasoning that protected forestland means protected creatures. Says Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation, “We applaud Sen. Feinstein and are pleased to see a provision to protect wildlife” in her bill.
Doniger acknowledges that forest preservation and conservation tillage are good outcomes, but worries that using carbon credits to promote these activities would come at the expense of crucial investments in clean technology. “Many of these methods would be parlayed into incredibly low-cost offsets, as low as $1 to $2 [per ton of carbon dioxide] — far cheaper than the carbon credits that could be purchased from utilities in the market-based trading program,” he says. This would drive down the cost of all carbon credits — lower even than the $7-per-ton price limit proposed in the Bingaman bill, which is itself more than five times lower than the current price on the European carbon-trading market, about $36.
Doniger also points out that many of the activities that would qualify for farm offsets — such as planting corn and using better tilling methods — are being undertaken by farmers anyway. “It would simply be a waste of dollars to invest in farming practices that are already under way,” he says — dollars that could otherwise be invested in next-generation technologies that would lay the foundations for a new energy system.
In the Mix
Other climate bills expected to be unveiled or resurface in the coming months are a mixed bag, say enviros.
McCain and Lieberman have indicated that they plan to seek a vote on their climate legislation this spring or summer, but they are not expected to remove the hefty subsidies for the nuclear-power industry present in the last version of the bill.
On the House side, Reps. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) and John Olver (D-Mass.) have a bill on the table similar to McCain-Lieberman, only without the nuclear component. This is the legislation getting the highest praise from enviros.
Less popular is Rep. Tom Udall’s (D-N.M.) Keep America Competitive Global Warming Policy Act, introduced on March 29. Not only would it cap prices for greenhouse-gas credits at about $7 per ton, it fails to actually set an emissions cap, instead giving the U.S. EPA three years after the date of enactment to set one. “That’s called a punt,” says Stanton. “This bill has no details in it. There’s no reason to take it seriously.”
Stanton says he’s disappointed to see green allies offering red meat to skeptical lawmakers, whether it’s in the form of ag incentives or nuke incentives or ambiguous caps. “There’s a race to the bottom going on,” he says. “Because of the ‘just say no’ attitude in Congress, you have lawmakers trying to get to ‘yes’ by negotiating compromises so great they no longer offer meaningful climate solutions.”
Counters Doniger, “Some of the people who used to say ‘no’ are now saying ‘maybe,’ and that’s a very good thing. Sure, some people have been trying to find the support for legislation by making it weaker. But there are also efforts under way to make it smarter, so that it solves the global-warming problem but in a way that provides stability and incentives for business.”
Feinstein spokesperson Scott Gerber defends Feinstein’s effort to do just that. “Right now in the Senate, it’s very difficult to move any kind of climate initiative forward,” he says. “The bottom line for the senator is that she wants some kind of action to be taken, and she believes it’s possible to find a middle ground that a critical mass can agree on.”
Still, many activists think now is the time to put forward aggressive proposals, not to offer further concessions. Within the last year, public opinion has shifted markedly in favor of action to stave off climate change. Americans are reacting to a steady barrage of new scientific evidence, to an increasing number of media outlets that are finally reporting global warming as fact instead of disputed theory, and to climate and weather changes people can see with their own eyes, from devastating hurricanes to melting glaciers to out-of-whack seasons.
“Why, at a time when there has never been more public support for ambitious climate-policy initiative, would climate-policy advocates lower the bar for acceptable solutions?” asks Stanton. “It’s too early in the game for that. They need to stand their ground.”
Sierra Club policy analyst Brendan Bell agrees. “Even if climate advocates defy the odds and manage to break through the congressional impasse, it’s all but inevitable that Bush is going to veto whatever they manage to push through,” he says. If that’s the case, why not push the debate in a greener direction and try to build support for the kind of legislation that could actually make a difference?
Doniger is more optimistic about prospects for consequential global-warming legislation, arguing that the climate in Washington is changing as fast as that of the atmosphere: “You can’t underestimate the growing support from industry leaders for meaningful climate policy. We’ve even got Murkowski talking about how bad global warming is for her state,” he says, referring to Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
As for the possibility of President Bush coming on board, Doniger adds, “Never say never.”


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Enchantresses, curses, and magical mayhem—this year’s witchy fiction delivers in spades. Let’s dive broom-first into the latest tales of potions, hexes, and love triangles.
A Ruinous Fate by Kaylie Smith is one bewitching tale that will leave you gripping your armchair. Calliope Rosewood, a witch cursed with both bad luck and terrifying powers, seeks to rewrite her destiny and avoid the Final War. Smith cleverly weaves a story where magic and fate intertwine, leading us deep into the deadly Neverending Forest. The ex-boyfriend drama and the enigmatic older brother make for a charming if somewhat predictable, love triangle. Overall, I’d say this book is worth a read, but don’t expect any groundbreaking revelations.
Next up, The Buried and the Bound by Rochelle Hassan whisks us to the magical town of Blackthorn, Massachusetts. Aziza El-Amin, the town’s only hedgewitch, teams up with cursed wanderer Leo Merritt to combat a dark entity threatening both their world and the fairy realm. This novel’s strength lies in its enchanting portrayal of the hidden world of fairies and its compelling cast of characters. Aziza and Leo’s dynamic is a breath of fresh air, and their alliance with a mysterious necromancer adds an intriguing layer of complexity. I highly recommend this book for those seeking a fresh take on witchcraft and curses. It’s truly a magical read.
Finally, Laura Thalassa’s Bewitched introduces us to Selene Bowers, an aspiring witch hoping to join the prestigious Henbane Coven. Her South American adventure to unlock her powers leads to an encounter with Memnon the Cursed, a tragic figure who mistakes her for his treacherous wife. Thalassa’s choice to use memory loss as a plot device is unique and well-executed, but the story occasionally slips into melodrama. Despite that, Selene’s journey from novice witch to entangled pawn in a dangerous game is captivating. Bewitched is certainly worth a read, but I advise readers to approach it with a pinch of salt—or perhaps eye of newt.
Well, there you have it… this new witchy fiction offers a delightful array of stories filled with magic, romance, and adventure. While not every book may be a literary masterpiece, each delivers a dose of enchantment that is sure to beguile fans of the genre. So, dust off your grimoires and get ready to be spellbound by these witchy new reads!

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Tiger tower could be too tall
Plans for the re-development of the Balmain Leagues Club into a towering complex appear to have hit a major snag.
The Department of Planning has reportedly written to the developer, Rozelle Village, saying that the plan is unacceptable and the height of the towers should be reduced.
A spokesman for a community group opposing the plan, David Anderson, says it is very welcome news.
"The Department of Planning staff should be commended for doing this job, the detail they've gone into raising a number of issues in forcing the developer now to respond to the community concerns I think is a very positive result," he said.