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PayPal, Bitcoin, and More!
This week, PayPal made headlines as they welcome cryptocurrency on its trading platforms, including Venmo! With the help of Paxos Trust Company, PayPal and cryptos combine. As a result, this opens a new frontier for digital trading that lets crypto owners use their currency in more ways than ever. This might be the green light for crypto traders to finally use cryptos on a day-to-day basis. As of right now, PayPal shall support cryptos including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. This feature is only accessible in the US. But, PayPal also announced future expansion of this feature in other countries, with more cryptocurrencies, coming in 2021.
Although other fintech companies allow their users to trade with cryptocurrencies, PayPal’s global reach greatly ushers in a brighter future for digital currency. The day after this announcement, Bitcoin’s price spiked to a peak that hasn’t been seen since July 2019. This week, Bitcoin’s price extended beyond $13,000 after only beginning the week around $11,760.
The first two months of the third quarter were the best months for D1 Capital Partners’ public portfolio since inception, that’s according to a copy of the firm’s August update, which ValueWalk has been able to review. Q2 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more According to the update, D1’s public portfolio returned 20.1% gross Read More
Furthermore, Ethereum, LiteCoin, and Bitcoin Cash were all up as a result of this news.
Enigma Securities’ Head of Trading, Jordan Ettedgui, noted:
“As the crypto market matures over time, institutional clients’ demand for risk management and liquidity alternatives away from spot products continues to grow at an accelerated pace.”
Because Paypal and cryptos are together at last, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and more cryptos have the space to further take root and grow. This new frontier can potentially help stabilize cryptocurrencies and make them less volatile. In case you didn’t know, what affects Bitcoin price is basically supply and demand. Now that Bitcoin has the potential for use in more common commerce, Bitcoin’s price may continue to rise from demand. But, eventually, it may stabilize as it becomes a more regular currency.
What Is Paxos?
One of the first questions you may be asking is what is Paxos?
Paxos Trust Company began in 2012 with the focus to “re-build the infrastructure of finance.” Basically, this pioneer seeks to bring more power to the individual consumer to offer equal access and establish a more fluid economic system.
Paxos’ first incredible achievement was launching iBit exchange in Singapore. Later, in 2015, the NY State Department of Financial Services gave them a limited-purpose trust charter to set up Paxos as the first company both approved and regulated for offering cryptocurrency products. Thanks to this massive achievement, Paxos today is a recognized name of the blockchain industry as a trustworthy source for investors and major institutions. In Paxos’ official statement from their blog, they said:
“Blockchain technology has forever changed financial markets and the way we conceive of monetary assets, but is still in its early days. As companies like PayPal enter the space, they need a performant and trustworthy partner. We are proud to power this historic development in financial technology as we move society toward a brighter and open financial future.”
Additionally, Paxos offers its own gold-backed token as of November 2019: PAXG. Although this is not currently offered with the new PayPal and cryptos expansion, there is room for it to join the ranks. The benefit for PAXG is that it is easy to liquidate or exchange for gold since it is a digital token that represents gold ownership. LBMA-accredited London Good Delivery gold backs every token, making it much less volatile than other cryptocurrencies.
Why Do Businesses Typically Not Accept Cryptocurrency?
Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency to ever succeed and become an established alternative currency. Established in 2009, its blockchain technology paved the way for other cryptocurrencies to be born as well. However, before PayPal and cryptos were even on the menu, it has been slow for businesses and financial institutions to widely accept cryptocurrency. Why?
First of all, although Bitcoin and other cryptos are at least a decade old, their volatility posed a significant threat to businesses and consumers alike. As it begins to turn into a more familiar form of monetary exchange, its volatility will most likely calm and trade at a regular rate.
Another reason why businesses often refuse cryptos is because of slow transaction rates, and the rates are more expensive than credit or debit cards. Consequently, few businesses bothered to try cryptos. This formed a cycle that inhibited cryptocurrency’s accessibility as a universal currency. Now that PayPal and cryptos unite, using Bitcoin for more regular purchases is a possible future. On top of that, exchange rates may further develop into faster, but still secure, rates like that of regular fiat currency.
Lastly, cryptocurrency is simply not as well understood by the general public than fiat currency or physical assets like gold and silver. Because cryptos are not government-issued, they seem to be elusive concepts for the general consumer. While people usually make more card payments than cash, it is still understood that you are spending physical money. But, as people see cryptocurrencies take off with PayPal, more consumers may learn and start using them more often. However, you can already buy gold with Bitcoin on Bullion Exchanges’ website.
How to Buy Crypto with Paypal
PayPal now steps in to combat the major issues of exchange time and fees with the help of Paxos. Together, this new system also tackles regulating volatility and exchange time and fees through the incorporation of traditional currencies. What this means is, PayPal will have control of private keys in your cryptocurrency wallet, not you. An even finer print to make note of is that you can only hold cryptocurrencies in your PayPal account. Therefore, you cannot transfer your crypto to another wallet on or off PayPal.
Additionally, PayPal takes on the volatility risk so businesses can receive cryptocurrency payment from their consumers. However, most importantly, PayPal is the first company that NYS Department of Financial Services granted the conditional cryptocurrency license. So, PayPal begins its authorized process with Ethereum, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin.
When it comes to buying and selling with PayPal and cryptos, the purchase/sale amount affects fees directly. Between $1.00 and $24.99 USD, the fee is only $0.50 USD. Percentages of the fees for using PayPal and cryptos vary as the amount increases. (Source: PayPal)
- $25.00 to $100.00 USD = 2.30% of the purchase/sale amount
- $100.01 to $200.00 USD = 2.00% of the purchase/sale amount
- $200.01 to $1000.00 USD = 1.80% of the purchase/sale amount
- $1000.01 USD and above = 1.50% of the purchase/sale amount


For every 100 patients admitted to US hospitals in 2002, 4.5 patients developed a nosocomial infection.1 On October 1, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will stop reimbursement to hospitals for the cost of treating nosocomial catheter-associated urinary tract infections, vascular catheter-associated bloodstream infections, and surgical site infections following certain elective procedures, including mediastinitis, certain orthopedic surgeries, and bariatric surgery.2 This regulation arises from the Deficit Reduction Act, signed by the president on February 8, 2006. The goal is to reduce the increases in Medicare and Medicaid spending by stopping payments for conditions that result in the assignment of a higher-cost diagnosis related group and, in the opinion of the regulators, are “reasonably preventable” by the application of evidence-based guidelines. The standard for “reasonably preventable” was intentionally not defined.2(p48474)
Graves N, McGowan JE. Nosocomial Infection, the Deficit Reduction Act, and Incentives for Hospitals. JAMA. 2008;300(13):1577–1579. doi:10.1001/jama.300.13.1577
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Najam Sethi is the editor in chief of the Friday Times and Dunya TV in Lahore Pakistan. He has written a prescient essay articulating how the United States ought to develop a grand strategy in dealing with both Pakistan and Afghanistan via India.
Simply put, the road to Kabul runs through Islamabad!
Pakistan has always thought of India as a mortal threat, to give itself strategic depth against India it has always tried to develop ideologically favorable interests in Afghanistan. This is the origin of the Taliban. Although India is expanding its military capability and regional influence it ought not to be considered as Pakistan has conceived it. The key to this bilateral reality is in the Northern Baluchistan province along the Durand Line. This is the line that creates the Punjab region that separates Pakistan from India. The Durand Line was developed artificially by British colonial interests as it created the partition creating Muslim Pakistan in 1947. Mr. Karzai possesses Indian interests which threaten Pakistan. My own belief is that the United States ought to call the bluff on Pakistan and overtly favor Indian interests in the AfPak theatre. This is very dangerous for it would open a front in Pakistan to be thwarted by Russian or Chinese interests, complicating a very messy ideologically driven battle of international interests. Nevertheless, someone or thing must spook Islamabad to fly straight.
General Petraeus is correct in assessing that Pakistan must be part of any long term solution to Afghanistan. This may mean bringing parts of the Taliban back into Afghan governance isolating al Qaeda and allowing Pakistan to help train Afghani intelligence and security personnel to assist in state building efforts. American’s must understand that nothing less than a pro-Pakistani Kabul will please Islamabad.
What’s becoming clearer by the minute is Pakistan’s double dealing the U.S., a totally nonexistent political culture to govern Afghanistan and a wayward U.S. public skeptical to a military solution to ‘the long war.’
Stay tuned, this one’s not over for a long while.

domain: news


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It can sometimes be messy, but composting with kids helps introduce them to sustainable living—and makes it feel like less of a chore in the process.
Composting with kids is possible—even fun.
Photography by Bridget Shirvell.
My toddler and her friend looped across the yard in the half run, half skip that only kids can seem to do. Watching them squealing in delight, hands gripped tightly to their watermelon rinds, shouting, put it in the compost, put it in the compost, I was suddenly glad I had spent the previous week struggling to assemble the blue metal compost bin.
Once upon a time, composting was such an ingrained habit for me that I scooped food scraps into a countertop bin after meals or while cooking without even noticing I was doing it. But like swiping on Olio E Osso cheek and lip balm before I left home, composting was a routine that quickly disappeared from my life in the early days of the pandemic.
When New York City officially shut down in March 2020, I was visiting my parents in Mystic, Connecticut. They don’t regularly compost, so neither do I while staying with them. Without a reason to go back to our New York City apartment, and with a thousand reasons not to, we stayed. As March turned into April and then May, my daughter and I moved into the house, located in the same village, that I had slowly been restoring for more than five years. There, I struggled to compost again. Part of that was due to just how overwhelming starting a compost felt. New York City, after all, makes it easy with its free composting program. If your building is signed up for curbside compost collection, you can collect food scraps and put them in your building’s brown bin. You can also take your own scraps to one of the many conveniently located dropoff sites.
Outside of the city, I would have to maintain my own compost pile, making sure to layer food waste with organic yard waste, turning the pile and watering it. But another aspect of why I dragged my feet with composting in the suburbs was an unwillingness to accept this new life—maybe we’d move back to New York City or perhaps we wouldn’t, but maybe we wouldn’t stay here either. To compost was to commit. It was putting down roots.
Yet not composting nagged at me. It was an item on my internal to-do list I was failing to accomplish. And the organic waste we were tossing in the bin—which I knew would end up buried beneath trash in a landfill, rotting and emitting greenhouse gases that harm the planet—left me feeling anxious and guilty. As my daughter got the hang of which items to recycle and which to trash, and as we reached our second pandemic spring, it seemed essential that she also learn how and what to compost. She quickly fell in love with the idea of how her trash could help create new soil to keep the three trees we planted in the yard healthy. She loves those trees, and she wants to water them and check to see how they’re growing on a daily basis.
Actually composting was the part I was most intimated by. I considered one of the many different countertop compost bins on the market, but in my new-to-me old home, I have yet to find one that meets my aesthetic needs and doesn’t smell. So I use compost bags that stay in the freezer until they’re full, at which point we take them to the yard bin.
As for the actual system we were to use, I looked at a ton of different options, from burying it to the popular Subpod Compost System. Yet, I wanted my daughter to be able to observe the process of composting, and it gets cold in our little part of the world; I wasn’t convinced a worm-based system would work well year round. So, wanting a nonplastic yard compost bin, I opted for the Demeter Metal Compost Bin, which, other than being a challenge to assemble, has worked well. One to two times a week, we dump our food scraps in it, alternating layers with yard waste we collect, and she loves watering it almost as much as watering her trees.
Composting with a toddler is messy, but it’s a great task to start at any age, whether you’re two or 42. It can be as straightforward or as complicated as it needs it to be. For children, it’s one more way for them to connect with nature and give them agency over the environment. Plus, it helps them learn how to be a contributing household member through the responsibility of chores.
As we started talking about soil and how it helps the trees she loves to grow, composting felt less like one more to-do item and more like creating a home. We talked about how organic material such as her beloved blueberries can help break down into soil. Throughout the day and especially on walks, I’d point at different things and ask if it was something that she thought could become soil or not. It became a type of game. With older kids, you could talk more in terms of organic versus non-organic material. And if you’re prone to creative organization, another way to do this is to make different bins labeled with pictures such as a strawberry for the compost bin or separate them by different-color bins for dried leaves and twigs, food scraps and non-compostable materials.
As my daughter gets older, I’ll have her cut up the scraps of organic material with a designated pair of compost scissors, but for now, I do the cutting while explaining how, just like we need to chew our food, the compost needs small pieces to work well. As she grows and watches the waste decompose, I’m hoping it will fuel her curiosity, leading her to want to compost more and learn more about the world around her. At the very least, throwing compostable snacks in the bin with a friend has become a joyful activity to look forward to, of which there were few during the peak lockdown days.
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domain: agronomy


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from Think Journal, Winter 2010
In The Western Canon (Macmillan, London, 1995) Harold Bloom expresses the view that Western literature as we once knew it is approaching its last end. In an elegiac opening chapter, he maintains that the reign of aesthetic value is in terminal decline, while the reign of political and moral values has begun in earnest and is now effectively triumphant. Plato's new republic is upon us, at least at the cultural level, which is to say that art and literature have been brought fully within the sphere of influence of all those ubiquitous ideologues who know what is good for us and who are remorseless in imposing their vision of the good on us. We are, he claims, destroying all intellectual and aesthetic standards in the humanities and social sciences, "in the name of social justice" (p. 35). The grand old idea of aesthetic, artistic, or literary worth has given way to the triumphalist new idea of moral and political worthiness. By way of exemplifying the extent to which ideological reading can go, he refers with not a little incredulity to Frank Lentricchia's claim that Wallace Stevens's "Anecdote of the Jar" may be interpreted as a political poem, a poem about power, a poem that supposedly gives expression to the program of the dominant social class, because "the art of placing a jar was, for Stevens, allied to the art of flower arranging" (p. 32).
Determined to go down fighting, Bloom declares the existence of an absolute opposition between ideology and aesthetics, insisting that ideologues do not make good readers, regardless of how worthy their moral or political convictions may be. Ideologues are in fact the worst kinds of readers, at least as far the reading of literature is concerned, mainly because they are unable to give literature its full and proper due. By their own account, ideologues are as concerned as they are with ideology because it is so socially and culturally pervasive that nothing is immune to its influence, not even art and literature, from which it follows (for them) that art and literature should be judged ideologically as well as aesthetically, and certainly cannot be judged on aesthetic grounds alone. To respond merely aesthetically is to respond irresponsibly, unethically, antisocially, even inhumanly. In defiance of this position, Bloom argues that the aesthetic is always an individual rather than a societal or ideological concern. The good reader, unlike the ideologically motivated reader, does not read "in order to expiate a social guilt, but to enlarge a solitary existence" (p. 518). Bloom goes so far as to suggest that to read ideologically "is not ... to read at all" (p. 29). A poem cannot be read as a poem if it is read primarily as a social document of some sort. The greater the work, the greater should be the irrelevance of any ideological considerations. In the case of King Lear, for example—which Bloom places at "the center of centers" of canonical excellence—we should find that "the flames of invention burn away all context and grant us the possibility of what could be called primal aesthetic value, free of history and ideology and available to whoever can be educated to read and view it" (p. 65).
Bloom's ideology-sensitive critics will say that he is naively oblivious of the nature and extent of his own ideological assumptions and commitments. They will remind him that an ideology is at its most effective when it is working unconsciously or when it remains implicit in texts and practices. Most of Bloom's critics would identify his unacknowledged but implicit ideology as liberal humanism, and they would have no difficulty in hermeneutically scanning the text of The Western Canon for evidence of its presence. These critics have a point. Despite the fact that Bloom believes himself to be providing a purely aesthetic, non-ideological conception of literature, it is surprisingly easy to show that his conception is an aesthetically impure one. It may look as if Bloom is thinking in terms of a high-minded aestheticism or formalism when he speaks of the final aim of literary study as "the search for a kind of value that transcends the particular prejudices and needs of societies at fixed points in time" (p. 62). It may look as if he is defining this transcendent value as purely and formally aesthetic when he declares that works of such excellence as Lear "burn away all context" and bring us to a state of "primal aesthetic value, free of history and ideology." But there are other passages in which it soon becomes clear that he is not just endorsing purely formal aesthetic values but also endorsing the sorts of humane or humanistic values that are integral to the ideology of liberal humanism. We find that literature is important to Bloom not merely or primarily because it is an ecstatic or disinterested escape from life, but because it makes a real difference to the life of the individual mortal self—a difference to the life of the sort of reader who is interested in "enlarging a solitary existence" (p. 518). What he values in Shakespeare especially is not just the playwright's formal or linguistic achievements but also the human truths that these achievements serve to tell. The formal effort is ultimately in the service of the telling of human truths, and is recognized as the great achievement it is precisely because it enables such truths to be so effectively—so dramatically, so poetically—told. Bloom, when he lets slip his aestheticist mask, explicitly states that the peculiar magnificence of Shakespeare lies not simply in his command of language, impressive as it is, but "in his power of representation of human character and personality and their mutabilities" (p. 63). The effect of such representation is to show us how to talk to ourselves and how to endure ourselves:
The true use of Shakespeare or of Cervantes, of Homer or of Dante, of Chaucer or of Rabelais, is to augment one's own growing inner self. . . All that the Western Canon can bring one is the proper use of one's own solitude, that solitude whose final form is one's confrontation with one's own mortality (p. 30).
Theorists of ideology will be quick to scan such a passage with a view to exposing its barely-concealed ideological assumptions. They will be quick to demonstrate the extent to which Bloom himself is indeed an "interested" rather than a disinterested reader after all—that he has values that are not just formally aesthetic ones. These theorists will cheerfully point out that the very value that Bloom attaches to the concept of the self has its origins in the ideology of liberal humanism. Even while Bloom declares that to read in the service of any ideology is not to read at all, his critics will turn the tables on him and argue that he too reads in the service of an unacknowledged ideology—that very ideology that values the human self and seeks to preserve it from subsumption in larger social forces. The liberalism of liberal humanism consists in its assuming the existence of a relatively free and autonomous self, a self that has rights vis-à-vis the larger community. It is assumed that the self, even as it is formed in and by society, will function at its best if it is determined to remain relatively autonomous and resist absorption into larger collectives. The humanism of liberal humanism consists in the assumption that there is a universal human nature that pre-exists or transcends social, cultural, and historical constraints, and that is the subject-matter of all great literature, whether it hails from classical Greece, from eighth-century China, from medieval England, or from modern America. Uniquely individual selves are able to communicate, albeit sometimes with difficulty, because they share certain recognizably human needs, dispositions, and vulnerabilities, regardless of the extent to which these have been refracted through culture, history, and individual inheritance. The irreducible difference and individuality of the self, emphasized in the liberal part of Bloom's implicit ideology, is positively and necessarily compromised in the second part. Selves are unique and differ necessarily from each other, but they are human selves all the same; literature itself begins as an expression of unique subjectivity and self-difference but succeeds in communicating as much as it does precisely because it is grounded in a dramatically recognizable repertoire of universal human experiences and yearnings.
Let us assume that the ideology-detectors are correct. Let us assume that liberal humanism is indeed an ideology, and that Bloom's (impure) aesthetic is deeply informed by it. Let us assume that Bloom is to some extent naive about the pervasiveness of his preferred ideology, especially about the extent to which it has shaped his own views. Would Bloom have to completely surrender his conception of literature if he were to acknowledge the thoroughgoing influence of a liberal humanist ideology on this defense of the canon? No, I want to argue. It is perfectly possible for a defender of the canon to accept that the aesthetic that lies behind the Western canon is ideological after all—in other words, that the ideology in question is indeed liberal humanism, and that there is an "elective affinity" between the Western canon (and some other canons, arguably) and liberal humanism. It is arguable that the world's emerging literary canons, as we now understand and value them in our Western institutions, have been largely shaped by liberal humanist assumptions—to such an extent, indeed, that we can no longer even define what a poem or a novel is without resorting at some point to liberal humanist criteria and values. The aesthetic and the literary are indeed ideological in the sense that—and to the degree that—there is a mutually supportive rapport between literary practice and a network of assumptions about the nature of the self and humanity. A critical supporter of Bloom can go so far as to argue that liberal humanism is the only ideology that gives literature its due, just because it is the only ideology that values the self and primal human experience as the sources and subject-matter of literature—that highlights the all-too-recognizable human strengths and weaknesses, the virtues and vices, lurking behind, for example, the masks and posturings of kings or queens in a Shakespearean play, or behind the unspeakable disappointments of officers or officials in a Chekhov story, or behind the hard lives of the dispossessed in a Dickens novel.
In a world troubled by divisively anti-humanist ideologies such as racism, sexism, and religious sectarianism literature reminds liberal humanists of their commitment to the concept of a shared nature and a shared human fate, albeit in fairly broad senses of those already broad terms. Liberal humanism in turn makes literature politically as well as culturally relevant to the extent that it succeeds in presenting readers with powerful and poignant reminders of their shared humanity, thus counteracting the appeal of more sectional or sectarian philosophies, including the kinds that make their way into lesser forms of popular art and literature. Instead of abandoning the high moral ground to the campaigners for social justice, the liberal humanists should stake a claim there, the better to oppose any ideology that would absorb the human self into larger wholes or that would seek to introduce vicious new divisions into human thinking. Liberal humanism does not, of course, have the answer to everything, but it does have a uniquely honorable and defensible position on some things, especially matters cultural, artistic and literary.
A postscript on literature and selfhood
There is one important respect in which Bloom's defensiveness about the Western canon does not quite square with his implicit liberal-humanist conception of selfhood. I have already acknowledged that there is a necessary tension within liberal humanism itself between the individualistic, self-regarding focus of the liberal part of the ideology and the universalist, other-regarding tenor of its humanistic part. Ironically, the part to which Bloom gives insufficient attention is the liberal, self-regarding part. When he focuses on particular works, such as King Lear, he waxes liberal; but when he considers the canon as a whole he waxes humanist. When he is in this latter mode he is at his most didactic, presenting the canon as an all or nothing affair that will benefit everyone who comes into contact with it. The more we enter into the canon the more enlarged will our selves become. But this unqualified defensiveness about the canon ignores the difference and individuality of the very selves about which Bloom is so defensive in other contexts. By giving due attention to this tension he would come to realize that the canon as a whole cannot be equally meaningful, equally pertinent, equally enriching for every uniquely individual self who engages with it. Precisely because different readers bring different unique clusters of biological, psychological, and social elements to bear on the variety of texts that constitute the local canon, they cannot be expected to respond uniformly to the canon as a whole. Individually unique selves are very certainly not clones of some underlying Platonic human form, which is what they would have to be in order to have a uniformly or universally appreciative response to the contents of the canon. It is clear that individual, self-enlarging readers will find themselves responding variously, both interpretively and appreciatively, to the texts of the canon, and are likely therefore to differ on what should be placed at its "center of centers." There is, of course, enough shared humanity to make communication possible across linguistic, cultural, and generational boundaries, but not so much as to compromise the sometimes irreducible differences that exist between selves, including selves who emerge out of the same culture or community. This is why we have people who strongly prefer Emily Dickinson to Walt Whitman, and vice versa; or people who prefer Thomas Hardy to Henry James, and vice versa; or people who prefer fiction to poetry, and vice versa. All are drawing from the canon according to their individual needs and quests, but it would be a denial of selfhood for any reader to think that he or she must respond with equal appreciation to everything in the canon, or to agree on what should lie at its center, or even to confine themselves within the boundaries of one canon.
About the Author
Thomas Duddy teaches Philosophy in the School of Humanities at the National University of Ireland, Galway. His publications include A History of Irish Thought (Routledge, 2002) and, as editor, A Dictionary of Irish Philosophers (Continuum, 2004). He has published poems in Irish and British periodicals, including Poetry Ireland Review, Smiths Knoll, The Dark Horse, and The Rialto. In 2006, his poetry chapbook, The Small Hours, was published by Happenstance Press.
Editor: Christine Yurick

domain: library


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By James E. Casto For Daily Mail WV
In the middle of the Ohio River lies an island steeped in early American history. It’s where an Irishman and his bride hid from scandal, then built the grandest home west of the Alleghenies, a paradise enmeshed in treason, love, betrayal, political intrigue and the “Trial of the Century.”
Diana Sole-Walko loves to tell stories.
Over the past 30-plus years, MotionMasters, her Kanawha County video production company, has turned out an almost-bewildering array of titles, ranging from television shows and commercials to educational videos and full-length documentaries. Sole-Walko takes particular pride in the documentaries her company has produced that explore people or subjects that have played important roles in West Virginia history.
“I love telling stories about West Virginia.” Sole-Walko said. “West Virginians haven’t told their stories very well or very often, especially in visual form. So, as a history buff, it’s been my passion to tell those stories.” Her latest documentary, “The Blennerhassetts” is set to debut at 9 p.m. Monday on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. There will also be a free, open-to-the public screening two days earlier, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28, at the Smoot Theatre in downtown Parkersburg.
Irish couple builds mansion
In 1794, Harman Blennerhassett, a wealthy Irish aristocrat, met and fell in love with Margaret Agnew, his niece who was nine years younger than he was. Their families strongly disapproved of the couple’s marriage, which they viewed as incestuous and sinful. To escape the scandal, the couple fled Ireland and made their way to this country and, ultimately, to the Ohio Valley, where in 1796 they settled on a then-nameless island lying two miles downstream from Parkersburg. There they first built a modest house, but then embarked on construction of a magnificent mansion designed in the Palladian style (like George Washington’s Mount Vernon). The house contained 7,000 square feet of floor space. Its rooms were furnished with furniture purchased in London and Baltimore, oriental carpets, oil paintings and porcelain made in Paris. Their island home was soon known as Blennerhasssett Island.
In 1773, Harman Blennerhassett, a wealthy Irish aristocrat, joined the Society of United Irishmen, a secret group which advocated the overthrow of English government in Ireland, which meant he could have been arrested.
The horseshoe-shaped house, with Eden-like surrounding gardens, was a showplace where the happy couple regularly entertained travelers who made their way down the river. One such guest, who arrived in 1806, was Aaron Burr. Two years earlier, Burr had killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. With warrants out for his arrest, Burr was plotting an invasion of Mexico with the idea of setting himself up as its ruler. Seeking financial backers, he urged Harman to join in the scheme. Harman eagerly threw in his lot.
An outraged President Jefferson ordered both men arrested and imprisoned on charges of treason. Burr’s subsequent trial — deemed the “Trial of the Century — saw him acquitted, which also brought Harman’s release. However, he and his wife never saw their island paradise again.
From mansion to park
After its brief brush with history, Blennerhassett Island led a sleepy existence. In 1774, Harman Blennerhassett, met and fell in love with Margaret Agnew, his niece who was nine years younger than he was. Their families strongly disapproved of the couple’s marriage, which they viewed as incestuous and sinful. To escape the scandal and avoid Harman’s possible arrest for his anti-English views, the couple made their way to this country and ultimately to the Ohio Valley. The mansion burned to the ground and the island was divided into farms. Later, it was the site of a small amusement park, sometimes used for sporting events. Heavyweight boxer Gentleman Jim Corbett is believed to have boxed there, and early baseball teams, such as a forerunner of the Cincinnati Reds, are thought to have played there. As early as the 1920s, there were calls for making the island a state park and reconstructing the mansion. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that serious work began on that idea, In 1973, archaeologists unearthed the mansion’s foundation. Subsequently, the state of West Virginia spent nearly $1 million and 18 years recreating the house. The reconstructed mansion was built in the same spot as the original foundation, but the ground under the new mansion was elevated to lift the home off the flood plain.
In 1991, the island was opened to the public for tours and now attracts more than 50,000 visitors each year. Small sternwheelers pick up visitors at a Parkersburg river landing and carry them out to the island, where they can visit the reconstructed mansion. The trip to the island takes about 20 minutes.
The park is open from May through the last weekend of October each year. For more information, call 304-420-4800 or email firstname.lastname@example.org.
Making the film
“The Blennerhassett story has interested me for a long time,” Sole-Walko said. “It’s always been in the back of my mind that I might explore the topic in a documentary. Early in my career, more than 30 years ago, we did a 10-minute video for the Blennerhassett Museum. That was before they had even completed the restored mansion.” The old video is still shown at the museum today. “It looks badly outdated. We’re going to use excerpts from the new documentary to put together a new, short-form video to replace the old one, so it can finally be retired,” Sole-Walko said.
“Three years ago, when we were winding up work on our documentary about NASA’s Katherine Johnson, I decided that our next project would be the Blennerhassett story. I knew that doing it would be a real challenge. We had never done a project where we couldn’t rely on photographs to illustrate the topic. But the Blennerhassett story unfolded long before photography was invented.” The new documentary features interviews by several historians familiar with the Blennerhassett story, including: Dr. Ray Swick, historian emeritus for Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park; William Reynolds, with the Campus Martius and Ohio River museums in Marietta; and Pamela Douglas Brust, author of “The Hendersons,” which tells the story of a family that played a role in thwarting Burr’s treasonous exploit.
The COVID-19 pandemic made scheduling interviews difficult. “For months, we were unable to book people for interviews. And we also ran up against the fact that libraries were closed to the public.” Research into the Blennerhassett story proved immensely rewarding, Sole-Walko said. “We were excited to learn that Harman kept a journal during his time in prison and even more excited to find we could scan pages of his actual handwriting for use in our film. We hired a voice actor to read some of what he wrote.”
Country music star and West Virginia native Kathy Mattea narrates the documentary. “We had never used a female narrator in any of our documentaries before but a female seemed just right this time. Kathy’s voice lends such grace to the story. Significantly, she donated her time and talent, and I’m very grateful for that.” Wesley Poole, who has been with MotionMasters for more than 20 years, is the production’s principal videographer and editor. “Wesley is a Parkersburg native and so Blennerhassett Island is literally in his backyard. He spent hundreds of hours weaving together the soundtrack and visuals, and it may just be our best work yet,” Sole-Walko said.
Fund-raising during a pandemic
MotionMasters’ documentaries are supported through grants and individual donations. “No one commissions us to do them. We embark on a project and then raise funds as we work on it. For ‘The Blennerhassetts’ the Covid-19 pandemic has made fund-raising difficult, but we’re fortunate to have enlisted some generous funding partners.”
With a grant of $50,000, the Blennerhassett Historical Foundation signed on as the project’s title sponsor.
Major sponsors include the Wood County Commission, with a grant of $25,000, the Bernard McDonough Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council, with grants of $20,000 each. The City of Parkersburg contributed $10,000. The Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Marietta Community Foundation, the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation and Regional Affiliates, and United Bank each contributed $5,000. The budget for “The Blennerhassetts” is $217,000, a figure that was reduced in light of the pandemic and a reduced ability to raise funds. Thus far, more than $147,000 has been raised and funding is still being sought.
For information about aiding the project, go to email@example.com.
James E. Casto is the retired associate editor of the Huntington Herald-Dispatch and the author of a number of books on local and regional history.


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Are you planning your dream wedding and wondering how much average wedding photographers cost? Capturing the special moments of your big day is crucial, and hiring a professional wedding photographer ensures that those memories are beautifully preserved for years to come. From candid shots to posed portraits, a skilled photographer can provide you with a stunning visual narrative of your wedding day.
When it comes to hiring a wedding photographer, there are several factors that influence the cost. The experience level of the photographer, the location of your wedding venue, and additional services offered all play a role in determining the final price. Understanding these factors can help you make an informed decision on how much to budget for your photography needs.
In this article, we will explore the various factors that affect the cost of wedding photography, ranging from the average prices based on experience levels to how location can impact pricing. We will also discuss additional services offered by wedding photographers and provide some tips on budgeting and negotiating with potential photographers.
By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of how much to invest in your wedding photography to ensure you get the best value for your money.
Factors That Influence the Cost of Wedding Photography
When considering hiring a wedding photographer, it is essential to understand the factors that influence the cost of their services. The prices can vary significantly based on several key elements that play a role in determining how much you will pay for your photography needs. Here are some factors to consider when budgeting for your wedding photography:
- Experience and Skill Level: One of the primary factors that determine how much average wedding photographer cost is their experience and skill level. More experienced photographers who have a strong portfolio and reputation in the industry typically charge higher rates compared to beginners or amateurs.
- Package Inclusions: The type of package offered by the photographer will also affect the overall cost. Some photographers may include engagement sessions, album prints, or additional editing services in their packages, which can increase the price.
- Equipment and Technology: High-end camera equipment, lighting gear, and editing software are essential tools for producing high-quality wedding photos. Photographers who invest in top-of-the-line gear may charge more to cover these expenses.
Aside from these factors mentioned above, other considerations such as location, number of hours needed for coverage, and the demand for the photographer’s services can also impact how much you will pay. By understanding these elements, you can better assess your budget and negotiate with potential photographers for a fair price that suits your needs and expectations.
Average Cost of Wedding Photographers Based on Experience
When it comes to hiring a professional wedding photographer, one of the key factors that influence the cost is their level of experience. Typically, wedding photographers with more experience and a solid reputation in the industry will charge higher rates for their services. These seasoned professionals have honed their craft over the years, developed a keen eye for capturing special moments, and know how to navigate various lighting conditions and settings to deliver stunning images.
On average, beginner or entry-level wedding photographers may charge anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 for their services. While they may not have as much experience as seasoned photographers, they can still produce high-quality photos that capture the essence of your special day.
Mid-level wedding photographers with a few years of experience under their belt typically charge between $3,000 to $5,000. They often have a more refined portfolio and can offer a more extensive range of services compared to beginners.
For those seeking top-tier or luxury wedding photography services, expect to pay upwards of $5,000 or more. These highly experienced and sought-after photographers have worked on numerous weddings and are known for their exceptional skill in capturing intimate moments, stunning portraits, and breathtaking landscapes.
While investing in an experienced wedding photographer may increase your budget, the quality of the photos produced and the overall experience they provide can be well worth it in creating lasting memories of your special day.
How Location Affects the Cost of Hiring a Wedding Photographer
When it comes to hiring a wedding photographer, one of the key factors that can significantly impact the cost is the location of your wedding. The cost of wedding photographers can vary greatly depending on where you are tying the knot. In metropolitan areas or popular wedding destinations, the demand for photographers may be higher, leading to higher prices. On the other hand, in rural areas or less sought-after locations, you may find more affordable options.
For example, in cities like New York City or Los Angeles, where there is a high demand for wedding vendors and a higher cost of living, you can expect to pay more for a wedding photographer compared to a smaller town in the Midwest. Additionally, destination weddings in exotic locations can also come with additional costs such as travel expenses for the photographer.
|New York City
|$3,500 – $6,000
|Midwest (e.g. Chicago)
|$2,000 – $4,000
|Southern States (e.g. Atlanta)
|$1,500 – $3,000
Keep in mind that these are just estimated averages and actual prices may vary based on individual photographers and their level of experience and expertise. When considering how location affects the cost of hiring a wedding photographer, it’s essential to research local professionals and compare quotes to find one that fits both your budget and vision for your special day.
Additional Services Offered by Wedding Photographers and Their Costs
When hiring a wedding photographer, couples often look beyond just capturing the moments of their special day. Many photographers offer additional services that can enhance the overall experience and create lasting memories. These additional services may come at an extra cost, but they can truly add value to the photography package.
One common additional service offered by wedding photographers is engagement photo sessions. These sessions give couples the opportunity to get comfortable in front of the camera before the big day and capture some beautiful images to use for save-the-dates or wedding invitations. The cost of engagement sessions varies depending on the photographer’s experience and location, but it is typically an affordable add-on to the overall wedding photography package.
Another popular service that some wedding photographers offer is creating custom albums or prints. Instead of receiving digital copies alone, couples can choose to have their favorite photos printed in a high-quality album or as wall art for their home.
These custom creations can be a wonderful way to relive the magic of the wedding day and showcase the images for years to come. The cost of custom albums or prints will depend on the size, style, and number of photos included, but it is a worthwhile investment for many couples looking to treasure their memories in physical form.
A less common but increasingly sought-after service offered by some wedding photographers is drone photography or videography. Drones can capture stunning aerial shots of outdoor venues or unique perspectives of the couple’s portrait session. While drone services do come with an additional cost due to equipment and licensing requirements, they can provide breathtaking imagery that adds an extra level of creativity and sophistication to the wedding photography collection.
|Engagement Photo Sessions
Tips for Budgeting and Negotiating With Wedding Photographers
When it comes to planning a wedding, one of the most crucial aspects is hiring a professional photographer to capture all the beautiful moments of your special day. However, finding the right photographer within your budget can be a challenging task. Understanding how much average wedding photographers cost and knowing how to budget and negotiate effectively can help you make an informed decision without compromising on quality.
Setting Your Budget
Before you start searching for a wedding photographer, it’s essential to determine how much you are willing to invest in photography services. Consider your overall wedding budget and allocate a specific amount for photography based on its importance to you. Research the average costs in your area to have a realistic idea of what to expect when negotiating with photographers.
Negotiating With Photographers
When reaching out to potential wedding photographers, don’t hesitate to discuss your budget upfront. Many professionals are open to customizing packages or offering special deals depending on your needs and financial limitations. Be clear about what you want in terms of coverage, printed photos, albums, or additional services, so photographers can provide you with accurate quotes that fit within your budget constraints.
Choosing Quality Over Price
While it’s tempting to opt for the cheapest option available, keep in mind that wedding photography is an investment in capturing memories that will last a lifetime. Look for photographers who offer high-quality work and match your style preferences rather than solely focusing on price. Remember that experienced photographers with exceptional skills may charge more but often deliver superior results that are worth every penny spent.
Real Wedding Photography Cost Examples From Different Budget Ranges
When it comes to planning a wedding, one of the essential aspects that couples need to consider is hiring a professional wedding photographer. Capturing those special moments and memories from the big day is crucial, and investing in a skilled photographer can ensure that these moments are preserved for a lifetime.
But how much should you budget for wedding photography? Let’s delve into some real wedding photography cost examples from different budget ranges to give you an idea of what to expect.
Low Budget Range
For couples on a tight budget, there are still opportunities to find talented wedding photographers who offer affordable packages. In this low budget range, you may find photographers who are just starting their careers or looking to build their portfolios.
Prices in this category could range from $500 to $1,500 for basic coverage of the ceremony and portraits. While you may not get all the bells and whistles with additional services like albums or engagement shoots, you can still find quality photographers who can capture your special day beautifully.
Couples willing to invest a bit more in their wedding photography can explore the mid-range budget options, which typically range from $1,500 to $3,000. At this price point, you can expect more experienced photographers with a solid portfolio and additional services such as engagement sessions or prints included in their packages. These photographers have honed their craft and are capable of delivering stunning images that truly capture the essence of your wedding day.
For those with a larger budget allocated for wedding photography, there are high-end options available ranging from $3,000 and upwards. In this category, you will find top-tier professional photographers with years of experience, exceptional technical skills, and an artistic eye for capturing unique moments.
Additional services such as second shooters, custom albums, or destination photo sessions may be included in these premium packages. Couples opting for high-end photography can expect nothing short of perfection when it comes to documenting their special day.
By understanding the different cost ranges for wedding photography and considering your priorities and budget constraints, you’ll be better equipped to make an informed decision when selecting a photographer for your wedding day. Always remember that investing in quality photography is an investment in preserving your memories for years to come.
Hiring a Wedding Photographer
When it comes to hiring a wedding photographer, there are a few key questions you should ask to ensure that you are making the right choice for your special day. It is important to have a clear understanding of what services are included in their packages, as well as any additional costs that may arise. Here are some questions to consider asking potential wedding photographers:
- What is included in your wedding photography packages?
- Do you offer engagement photo sessions as part of the package?
- How many hours of coverage are included in the package?
- Do you provide both digital images and prints, or is that an additional cost?
- What is your turnaround time for delivering the final edited photos?
In addition to asking these questions, it is also important to be aware of any red flags when hiring a wedding photographer. Some warning signs to watch out for include:
- Unprofessional behavior or lack of communication
- Inflexibility with pricing or services offered
- Lack of references or online reviews
- Poor quality portfolio or inconsistencies in style
By being diligent in asking the right questions and being mindful of red flags, you can ensure that you are making an informed decision when choosing a wedding photographer for your special day.
Remember that while budget is an important factor in hiring a wedding photographer, it should not be the only consideration. Investing in a talented and experienced professional can make all the difference in capturing the precious moments of your wedding day. Make sure to prioritize finding a photographer whose style and personality align with your vision for your wedding day, rather than solely focusing on how much average wedding photographers cost.
In conclusion, investing in a professional wedding photographer is essential to capture the precious moments of your special day. While the cost of hiring a wedding photographer can vary based on several factors such as experience, location, and additional services offered, it is crucial to understand the value that skilled photography brings to your wedding memories. From candid shots to expertly posed portraits, a professional photographer can truly elevate the quality of your wedding photos.
When considering how much average wedding photographers cost, it is important to remember that you are not just paying for someone to click a button on a camera. You are investing in someone who will skillfully document one of the most significant days of your life with creativity and expertise.
By understanding the various components that influence pricing, such as experience levels and location-specific rates, you can make an informed decision on how much to budget for your wedding photography.
Ultimately, when it comes to hiring a wedding photographer and determining how much to invest in this aspect of your wedding planning, remember that quality should be prioritized over price. Do thorough research, ask important questions during consultations, and trust your instincts when selecting the right photographer for you. By carefully considering all aspects of cost and services offered, you can ensure that you have stunning photographs that will be cherished for years to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do You Tip a Wedding Photographer?
It is customary to tip a wedding photographer as a gesture of appreciation for their hard work and dedication on your special day. The amount typically ranges from 10-20% of the total cost, but ultimately it depends on your satisfaction with their services.
What Is a Good Budget for a Wedding?
Setting a good budget for a wedding depends on various factors such as location, number of guests, and personal preferences. On average, couples in the US spend around $25,000 to $35,000 for their wedding. However, it’s important to establish a budget that you are comfortable with and stick to it to avoid unnecessary financial stress.
Is It Normal to Pay a Photographer in Full Before the Event?
Paying a photographer in full before the event is not uncommon within the wedding industry. Many photographers require a deposit upfront to secure their services, with the remaining balance due prior to or on the day of the event. This practice helps ensure that both parties are committed and prepared for the big day without any last-minute payment issues.
I have been involved in marriages for over 20 years helping couples and singles understand more about them.

domain: economics


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Winter beach art prints of a lifeguard station to help us to remember to see the quiet beauty of the season. The white snow and soft grey sky are soothing while the red of the lifeguard station gives a place to rest and meditate. Breathe in the crisp cool air, fill your lungs full, and exhale all that ails you.
The minimalism of Port Stanley #4 looks great as a large piece of art above a couch, on an accent wall in an office, or in an entry way to share your love for both hot and cold adventures.
– Location: Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada
– Open edition prints keep my photographs affordable
– Images are UNMATTED and UNFRAMED so you can choose the perfect combination for your stylish space
– Photographs are professionally printed to make the very best images possible
Printing DetailsYour photograph will be professionally giclee printed on a gorgeous matte paper to make the very best image possible. That means it will be made using an archival inkjet printer on paper that maintains a lovely depth to the tones.
FramingFraming is available for shipping to Canada and the continental USA
- Wired and ready to hang
- Perfect to give as gifts!
- Lightweight, shatter-resistant, non-glare UV filtering acrylic for easy viewing
- Because frames are custom made they’re final sale
- 8x10 inch prints have a 12x14 inch frame
- 11x14 inch prints have a 17x20 inch frame
- 16x20 inch prints have a 22x26 inch frame
- 24x30 inch prints have a 31.5 x 37.5 inch frame
- 40x50 inch prints have a 47.5 x 57.5 inch frame
- 8x10 inch prints have a 1.5 inch mat
- 11x14 inch prints have a 2.5 inch mat
- 16x20 inch prints have a 2.5 inch mat
- 24x30 inch prints have a 3 inch mat
- 40x50 inch prints have a 3 inch mat

domain: design


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FrieslandCampina is cutting nearly a thousand jobs because of the coronavirus crisis. Employees in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany are particularly affected.
Fear for the future
Dairy producer FrieslandCampina is facing severe cost cuts: due to the coronavirus crisis, turnover in the foodservice and hospitality industry has plummeted, while the closed border between Hong Kong and China is also causing export problems. In an earlier interview with RetailDetail, Belgian CEO Jeroen Van de Broek indeed confirmed that the out-of-home market had collapsed. He even fears "the hospitality sector will never return to what it used to be". The milk producer was planning to invest in cost savings over the next few years anyway, but is now accelerating and increasing its efforts.
Some thousand jobs are being cut, both in management and in production. Employees in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany are particularly affected, as profit margins are under most pressure in these core markets. The company tries to avoid forced departures as much as possible, for example by not replacing employees and through transfers, but dismissals cannot be ruled out completely.
The perfect storm
CEO Hein Schumacher believes the dairy producer is facing a "perfect storm" and calls the interventions necessary, even to continue offering a reasonable price to its member dairy farmers. The reorganisation should have no impact on farmers: the volume of milk is supposed to remain the same. However, no long-term bonuses will be paid to senior management this year.
Operating result in 2020 will however be "negatively impacted" by the restructuring costs, Schumacher admits. The exact location of the redundancies has not yet been announced: FrieslandCampina has some 24,000 employees in 36 countries. In the Netherlands the company has almost 8,000 employees, in Belgium some 1,500 people are employed.


Los Angeles Plastic Bag Ban Goes Into Effect
Paper Bags Will Cost 10 Cents Each
As of January 1, Los Angeles will become the largest city in the United States to implement a ban on plastic bags. Consumers shopping in supermarkets and stores in Los Angeles that are larger than 10,000 square feet or have more than $2 million in annual sales will have to bring their own reusable bags or pay 10 cents for each paper bag they need. Beginning July 1, the bag law will apply to smaller stores such as mini-marts, as well.
“I think we have all seen a push throughout the world to get rid of disposable items like these plastic bags,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian. “We use them for about 15 minutes and then it takes hundreds of years for them to break down. In the United States, we use about 200,000 plastic bags every hour. And the city has to spend millions to clean up the damage caused by the bags through litter or clogging up storm drains or in the water. We shouldn’t be squandering that money, which can be spent on other things.”
Los Angeles, which is one of about 90 cities or counties in California alone that have passed plastic bag ordinances, has also been working to educate residents of the coming changes. The city’s Bureau of Sanitation has been handing out nearly 500,000 reusable bags and hosting a series of events leading up to the January 1 change. “There is a need for education and we know there are going to be people who come into the stores who will be caught by surprise,” said Enrique Zaldivar, head of Los Angeles’ sanitation department. “There are always going to be people who have not heard about it or thought it was coming later.”
Large supermarkets in the city are also counting on reusable tote bags to help educate their customers. “We will do reusable bag giveaways around the launch of the ban and we will be reminding customers to bring bags on their next shopping trip,” said Kendra Doyel, spokeswoman for the Ralphs grocery chain.


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BAIC BJEV plans for 6 new models by 2021
BJEV, the electric car subsidiary of the Chinese manufacturer BAIC, is planning six new models based on three BEV platforms by 2021. Daimler also holds a minority interest in the company.
The new models will be sedans, SUVs and vans. The company has not yet provided any more detailed information. In the first half of 2019, the Beijing-based company sold 65,159 electric cars, an increase of 21 per cent over the same period last year.
In addition, BAIC BJEV commissioned a 50,000 square-metre development centre for electric automotive components this week and inaugurated a laboratory that was built together with 14 partners, including Daimler. The plant will not only be used to develop electrical components, but also to improve car body construction with lightweight construction measures. The investment amounted to just over 2 billion yuan, the equivalent of around 260 million euros.
Beijing Electric Vehicle (BJEV) was founded in 2009 by BAIC as a development platform for New Energy Vehicles. The main business segment in China comprises research and development, production, sales and service for New Energy Vehicles and NEV core components. Daimler acquired 3.93 per cent in March 2018. As was announced this week, BAIC acquired a five per cent stake in Daimler.


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In the early 19th century, an ecstatic John Ruskin described the Lune Valley, seen from the heights near Kirkby Lonsdale in south Cumbria, as ?one of the loveliest scenes in England?. Following the course of the river southwards, his eye would have lit on a grand Georgian mansion set among trees, two miles downstream.
This was Burrow Hall , built on the site of a Roman fort in 1740, and still considered one of the finest early-Georgian houses to be found anywhere in the north of England. Now, following an intensive 10-year restoration programme, the historic Hall, listed Grade I, with its idyllic 205-acre estate, is for sale through Savills (020?7499 8644) and Davis & Bowring (015242 71711) at a guide price of £3.5 million.
In the 13th century, the estate was owned by the De Burgh family, before passing to the Tunstalls of nearby Thurland Castle. Sold in the early 1600s to the staunchly royalist Girlington family, the estate was later confiscated and passed on to a Parliamentarian officer who built the first house on the site; in 1690, it was bought by John Fenwick, a lawyer from Northumberland.
In 1740, Robert Fenwick, Attorney General and MP for Lancaster, as well as being a keen amateur archaeologist, commissioned the architect Westby Gill to rebuild the house in its present form. In 1945, the Fenwicks sold Burrow Hall to the 6th Earl Temple of Stowe, who restored much of the interior. On the death of his widow in 1974, the estate was sold again and, in 1996, was bought by the present owners, who have made further major improvements, including the addition of a spectacular atrium linking the house to its original, Grade II*-listed stable block. The latter has planning permission for two apartments.
The elegance of Burrow Hall?s Classical Georgian exterior is mirrored in the Baroque ceilings by Vassalli and Quadri, the marble fireplaces and the delicate cornicing of its five grand reception rooms; the sumptuous master suite, seven further bedrooms, three further bathrooms and a gym are all on the first floor.
The gardens and grounds are a romantic mix of small walled gardens, lawns, herbaceous borders and meandering paths, with views towards Leck Fell and Ingleborough. The rest of the estate comprises parkland, woodland, the 146-acre let Parkside Farm (for sale separately), and 510 acres of single-bank fishing on the Lune.
The dramatic landscape around Der- went Water and Borrowdale in western Lakeland is the setting for Millbeck Place at Millbeck, two miles north of Keswick, currently on the market through Carter Jonas (01539 722592) at a guide price of £850,000. Millbeck Place and its original wool-drying barn, both listed Grade II, stand in five acres of picturesque gardens and grounds.
It has four reception rooms, three bedrooms, a family bathroom, a guest suite and two attic rooms.
Nearby, Derwent Lodge, in the popular village of Portinscale, 1? miles west of Keswick, is a substantial seven-bedroom Georgian house, with equally splendid lake and fell views. Built by Joseph Pocklington in 1780, it stands in 11 acres of beautifully laid out gardens, and is on the market through Penrith Farmers? and Kidd?s (017687 74546) at a guide price of £975,000.
Wordsworth wrote no fewer than 34 sonnets about the waterfalls, hills and woodlands of the gentle Duddon Valley in Lakeland?s south-west corner. A mere £295,000 will buy a taste of gracious living within the walls of early-18th-century Duddon Hall near Broughton-in-Furness, formerly home to the lords of the manor of Dunnerdale and Seathwaite.
Currently for sale through Davis & Bowring (015394 47240), 17, Duddon Hall is one of four light and airy apartments in the main house, which has been painstakingly renovated by local builders A. W. Bowness. It has a large sitting room, a dining kitchen, three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and there are wonderful views of the Duddon, the surrounding woodland and the fells beyond.

domain: geography


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• The Bar Harbor Express, which left Lewiston at 12:35 Saturday afternoon, then 20 minutes late, was wrecked at Rice’s Crossing, which is two miles east of Oakland. No one was killed but several were injured.
• At the L. & A. Bowling Alleys a five dollar gold piece will be given to the bowler who rolls the three highest strings from July 1st to the 14th. As these alleys are now kept cool by a number of electric fans, one need have no fear of the heat outside making him uncomfortable while bowling. Many of the bowlers have already decided to enter the contest and some large scores will probably be made during the two weeks.
50 years ago, 1957
• The waning winds of dying Hurricane Audrey caused minor disturbances in the Twin Cities over the weekend. Tree limbs were blown down and the mercury took a 13-degree tumble in one hour yesterday afternoon from the high reading of 78 degrees.
• Many thrills will be in store for the spectators who view the Water Ski Show at Rangeley Lakes on Thursday, July 4. Jumping trick riding, flying saucer exhibitions and numerous double acts will make up the program of the show. The water show is the main attraction of the day-long Fourth of July celebration the Lions club is sponsoring this year in the Rangeley Lakes Region.
25 years ago, 1982
Years ago, you could only find them off the beaten path, tucked away in corners of sprawling mills that dominate the blue-collar factory towns that tourists seldom visit. But today, they’ve become a common sight in tony resort villages, as familiar as the clam shacks and fillings station that dot the major tourist route of Maine.
The factory outlet store, a magnet for budget-conscious shoppers, has come a long way during the past decade. Nowhere is this more evident than in Wells, the popular oceanfront resort that claims to be “the factory outlet capital of Maine.”


His research interests include application performance management, software reliability, and autonomic computing
for cloud computing systems.
(iii) We formally analyze the capability of abnormal behavior monitoring and implement all of these data security monitoring models based on autonomic computing
. A large number of experiments are carried out in the simulation environment using prepared dataset, and the results show that our system achieves the desired goals.
Yin, "VCONF: a reinforcement learning approach to virtual machines autoconfiguration," in Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Autonomic Computing
, ICAC '09, pp.
refers to the self-managing characteristics of distributed computing resources that are adapting to unpredictable changes while hiding intrinsic complexity to operators and users.
Figure 6 shows the HMI we created for the testbed developed in the Autonomic Computing
Lab (ACL) in the University of Arizona.
The movement towards autonomic computing
Kephart and Chess (2003) has led to the development of systems that can add, remove, and replace their own components at runtime.
(2003): "AutoMate: enabling autonomic applications on the grid", Autonomic Computing
He covers the evolution of networks and of network management, theories and techniques for network management, managing emerging networks and services, and autonomic computing
The cloud model will also feature autonomic computing
. The automated functionality will enable virtual cloud services to be managed remotely and provide capability for the cloud infrastructure to constantly retune itself for optimal performance.
International Journal of Autonomic Computing
, Inderscience Publishers


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7-22 Nov 2022
Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Main Stage
2:30, incl. 1 interval
A striking portrait of a black family
Opera has rarely been as topical as Blue. In Harlem, a black couple anticipates the birth of its first-born son, with both hope and anxiety. The mother worries about her son’s future as she watches him become a young man and enter the world of activism. Meanwhile, the father tries to open his son’s eyes to the realities of 21st century America, whilst simultaneously struggling with his own identity as a police officer, a ‘Black man in blue’. When the parents’ deepest fears come true, they have to find a way to cope with reality.
Photo: Marta Syrko
Opera in two acts
Sung in English
The Father Kenneth Kellogg
The Mother Aundi Marie Moore
The Son Darius Gillard
The Reverend Will Liverman
Girlfriends / Congregants
Policemen / Congregants
Residentie Orkest The Hague
Blue was commissioned by The Glimmerglass Festival and premiered in July, 2019.
Co-production: The Glimmerglass Festival, Washington National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago
This performance makes references to child loss and depicts scenes of grief that some audience members may find distressing.
Along with the printed programme book, we also offer online programme information for this performance. The online programme will take you behind the scenes with in-depth stories, articles, and interviews with the creators and cast.
An opera that is inclusive and diverse, topical and moving, musically and textually overwhelming, and manages to bring in new audiences.
Tesori composed theatrical and beautiful music and is familiar with Puccini's tricks to touch the mood.
Aktueller kann Oper nicht sein! (...) Die Handlung ist messerscharf konzipiert und entfaltet sich wie ein Fernsehkrimi.
Blue embodies the essence of great opera: It unites a deeply moving story with music that stirs the passions and touches the heart. There’s no filler, no moment where composer or librettist lingers too long or self-indulges. It’s a stunning achievement that deserves a permanent place in the repertory.
Composer Jeanine Tesori knows how to cook merriment, how to cook sadness. That she was nominated several times for a Tony Award: it is immediately afterthought.
5 reasons to look forward to Blue
Residentie Orkest The Hague
Residentie Orkest The Hague is over 100 years old and is one of the most eminent symphony orchestras in the Netherlands. Led by principal conductor Anja Bihlmaier, this innovative orchestra performs in prominent concert halls in the Netherlands and abroad. Most recently, it has collaborated with Dutch National Opera on Dialogues des Carmélites, Madama Butterfly and Denis & Katya. In November 2022, it provided the musical accompaniment to Blue.
Photo: Wouter Vellekoop

domain: artistic


Leading the Sacramento Kings Summer League in scoring is impressive, but it is only the beginning of an explanation of the skills of Josh Akognon. I spoke with Josh today about his prospects for reaching the NBA and the balance of chasing a dream and maturing with a family.
Akognon continues to impress fans with his skillful shooting and efficient numbers.
He averaged 19.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game this summer with Sacramento. His whirlwind of scoring came in limited minutes off the bench, making the statistic even more significant.
Josh provided countless feats as the starting point guard for Cal State Fullerton and has been playing professionally overseas in Estonia and China. His quickness to pull up for jump shots before any defender can react makes him a deadly threat to score from distance.
We talked about his time playing with Jimmer Fredette, friendship with Jeremy Lin and prospects of making an NBA roster this year.
Josh acknowledges that, although his play-making needs improvement to meet the standards of the professional ranks in the NBA, his scoring is what sets him apart as a top prospect.
Crowded rosters and world-class competition make the road to the NBA the biggest challenge he has faced in his career—after the draft proved disappointing following his college graduation.
Beyond the court, Akognon’s disposition is that of an intelligent and thoughtful individual.
He has as good a head on his shoulders as he has arc on his jump shot. His strong work ethic has served him well in his career and bodes well for his future, as he now ponders the offer from Mark Cuban to visit with the Mavericks.
Akognon understands the difficulty of achieving his dream, yet his pursuit is unceasing.
His talent and potential to score has been proved, and he waits for the right opportunity to present itself to showcase his talent on the next level. He will undoubtedly be ready should the offer arise.
You can listen to the entirety of our interview from my podcast.


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The Pixel four prototype from Relab.
The entrance of the Pixel four.
The underside has one of many stereo audio system (the opposite is the earpiece) and a USB-C port. No headphone jack.
Google’s new diagram of the Pixel four. FaceID and Soli know-how are in there.
Google has despatched out invitations for the newest “Made by Google” occasion. On October 15, the corporate will formally launch the Pixel four and doubtless a slew of different . The livestream is already registered on YouTube, with a launch time of 10am ET.
The Pixel four is the worst-kept secret of the yr. Along with leaks from the standard suspects and Google’s personal public announcement of gadget options, any semblance of secrecy was killed final week when a number of Vietnamese YouTubers received maintain of a Pixel four prototype and began posting full video evaluations.
Key options of the Pixel four embrace a 90Hz OLED show (similar to the OnePlus 7 Professional), two rear cameras and a time-of-flight sensor (the primary multi-rear digicam setup for a Pixel telephone), and a thick prime bezel full of sensors for issues like face recognition (apparently the one supported type of biometrics) and air gestures. Air gestures—which requires you to wave your hand above the telephone display screen to regulate it—have been tried on telephones earlier than, often with poor outcomes. For the Pixel four although, Google is utilizing a “Soli” radar sensor that it developed in home, which can hopefully make the function extra helpful.
As typical, we’re anticipating two telephones, this yr packing 5.7-inch and 6.Three-inch OLED shows. The specs are a bit behind the competitors, with the Snapdragon 855 as a substitute of the quicker Snapdragon 855+, solely 6GB of RAM as a substitute of the 8GB of RAM you get from different telephones on this value vary, and batteries that appear on the small aspect.
Google’s Pixel telephones have at all times been about software program, although. With this launch, you will get Android 10 and doubtless the “Subsequent gen” Google Assistant that was introduced at Google I/O 2019 as “coming to new Pixel telephones.” There’s additionally the Pixel’s top-shelf digicam setup, which this yr features a give attention to astrophotography.
Alongside the yearly smartphone launch, Google can also be within the behavior of launching a plethora of different . This yr, the expectations are a second-gen Google Dwelling Mini (in all probability rebranded the “Google Nest Mini”) with higher sound and an aux jack, and possibly even a Google Pixelbook 2, codenamed “Atlas,” which popped up on the FCC in July. With Wi-Fi 6 prepared for units it is also time for a brand new Google Wi-Fi, and numerous Chromium commits have been hinting at a next-gen model of Google’s mesh router. With Google’s monitor report for leaks, we’ll in all probability hear much more about these units within the time between now and the launch occasion.
We’re already signed up for the occasion, so we’ll convey you the newest on no matter Google declares on October 15.
Itemizing picture by ReLab