1. Cambodia – $1 to $2 dollar tip in hotel, restaurants and taxis are the norm. Tour guides get $10 to $20 tip for a whole day's work.
2. China – tipping is not allowed because service charges are added at the bills. If you must tip, make sure it is out of employers' sight.
3. India – Paying in Rupees is appreciated more than dollars. Fifteen percent tip is standard in restaurants.
4. Indonesia – Ten percent service charge is added to hotel and restaurant bills. Tipping is not necessary but giving a dollar here will not hurt.
5. Japan – tipping is not required. If you do tip, pay in yen. To be safe, always place tip in an envelope. 5,000 yen tip is customary in hotels.
6. Malaysia – ten percent service charge is already included in the bill. Tipping is not necessary but it does not hurt to give a dollar or two.
7. Pakistan – The standard tip rate is 5 percent. But it is not required.
8. Philippines – a 10 percent service charge is already included in hotel and restaurant bills. Leaving additional tip is discretionary.
9. Singapore – a 10 percent tip is the acceptable standard.
10. Thailand – $1 to $2 tip will suffice.
In Australia and New Zealand, 10 to 15 percent is the standard tipping rate.
1. Belgium – a 10 percent tip is customary.
2. Czech Republic – a 15 percent tip is standard.
3. Estonia – a 5 to 8 percent tip is acceptable.
4. France – service charge is already added to the bill. However, if you must tip, 10 percent is the standard rate.
5. Italy – a 10 percent tip is expected.
6. Germany – 10 to 15 percent is customary. They also prefer to be paid in Euros rather than dollars.
7. Greece – just round up the bill. If the bill is 17 dollars then make it 20 dollars.
8. Switzerland – a 15 percent service charge is already added to the bill. However, if the service is excellent, you can always opt to add a little more around 5 to 10 percent.
9. UK – service charges are already included in the bill. If not, 10 to 15 percent tip is acceptable.
1. Canada – 15 to 20 percent is expected since service charge is not included in the bill.
2. USA – tipping is required. The standard rate is between 15 and 20 percent.
Contributed by ezCater. ezCater is the easiest, most reliable way to find and order Seattle Catering.


text:
Spaces to Places
Transforming Public Spaces into Vibrant Places for the Community.
Make 2023 the Year You Apply for an NAR Placemaking Grant
Increased funding and expanded options for projects make applying for a grant even easier.
Trails and Greenways, Community Outreach, Smart Growth
By: Catherine Mesick
The Community Outreach team and the Leadership Team of the National Association of REALTORS® have listened to your feedback and made some significant changes to the NAR Placemaking Grants.
Starting on January 3, 2023, funding for the Level 1 Placemaking Grant will increase from $1,500 to $3,000. Funding for the Level 2 Placemaking Grant will increase from $5,000 to $7,500. The increases in funding will help to cover the rising costs of labor and materials for construction projects. In addition, the guidelines for the grant have now been expanded so that more projects will be eligible for grants. Previously, Placemaking Grants could only fund the creation of an entirely new gathering space. The Placemaking Grant now allows for the funding of new gathering spaces and the funding of community asset improvements such as street benches, lamps, and wayfinding signs, as well as improvements to existing spaces.
All state and local REALTOR® associations are eligible to apply for NAR Placemaking Grants.
So if you are interested in learning more about the grant, read on!
NAR Placemaking Grants are used to transform unused or underused sites into vibrant new gathering places. So if there is a plot of land in your community (a vacant lot, a parking lot, an alley, an underpass, etc.) that gets no use or sparse use—or is an eyesore—you can use a Placemaking Grant to help change that space into something new and welcoming like a dog park, pocket park, playground, community garden, pedestrian plaza, or a trail or trailhead. Placemaking Grants can also be used this year to add standalone amenities to existing sites, such as benches/seating, lights, and wayfinding signs. Rehabilitation projects and improvements to existing spaces are also eligible.
Key points to remember:
The site used for the Placemaking Grant must be on public land, and it must be outdoors.
The site must be accessible to everyone, and the site should not charge admission.
Associations can apply for one grant per level per year. So each association can apply for one Level 1 grant and one Level 2 grant in 2023.
Temporary projects and permanent projects are eligible, and it is also possible (and encouraged!) to convert a temporary project into a permanent project.
New public gathering places should have at least three amenities so that people of all interests and abilities can enjoy the site. For example, a dog park will automatically have a space for dogs to run and exercise. It is helpful to include benches and landscaping (or plantings), for example, so that people without dogs can also enjoy the park. Artwork is another potential amenity that can be added to many projects.
Public works projects like pools are not eligible. If the project is something that would typically be offered by your local Parks and Recreation department, it would likely not be eligible for a Placemaking Grant. The purpose of the grant is to create small "gems" throughout a community.
Examples of Placemaking Projects
1. Community Gardens
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS®
2. Pocket Parks
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Beaver Creek Area Association of REALTORS®
3. Dog Parks
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Space Coast Association of REALTORS®
4. Playgrounds
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Latah County Board of REALTORS®
5. Alley Activations
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Mark Twain Association of REALTORS®
6. Trails and Trailheads
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Greater Hartford Association of REALTORS®
7. Safety and Walkability Projects
Photo credit: Courtesy of the MIBOR REALTOR® Association
The above are some of the most common examples, and more examples can be found on the Spaces to Places blog. In addition, we are always open to new and creative ideas, and projects don't have to be limited to what is shown here! If you have any ideas you would like to discuss, please reach out to Catherine Mesick at cmesick@nar.realtor.
Placemaking Grants are also a wonderful way to boost your association's advocacy goals. Offering to partner with local officials on a new gathering space for the benefit of the entire community can help you build long-term relationships and demonstrate the value of the REALTOR® brand. Placemaking projects can also help spur economic development—once there is one new bright spot in a community, others often follow.
State and local REALTOR® association staff can apply for a Level 1 or Level 2 Placemaking Grant on the REALTOR® Party's Placemaking Grant page.
Please direct questions to PlacemakingGrants@nar.realtor or Catherine Mesick, cmesick@nar.realtor.
Catherine Mesick
Catherine Mesick is a freelance writer and a member of the National Association of REALTORS® Advocacy Group.
Content by Catherine Mesick
Content with Catherine Mesick
Search Spaces to Places
NAR Spire Mentorship Program - Aspire to Inspire
It's Now Trendy to Hide Kitchenware
Pending Home Sales Show Month-to-Month Gain in December
Encounter Inspires Florida Agent to Be Source of Hope
Kenny Parcell is Riding with the Brand
Existing-Home Sales Fell Steadily Throughout 2022
Home Stager Shares 5 Hot Trends She's Watching for 2023
Former US Senator Helps Omaha REALTOR®'s Cancer Efforts
2022 Commercial Real Estate Top Performers
5 Home Improvement Trends to Watch
Hot Home Trend: Gothic Glam
Florida REALTOR® Gives Sick Horses New Purpose
Existing-Home Sales Fall to the Lowest Level Since 2011
Housing Opportunity Grant
Housing Opportunity Grants support state and local REALTOR® Associations' affordable housing activities. The goal of the program is to position REALTORS® as leaders in improving their communities by creating affordable housing
Smart Growth Grant
Smart growth is an approach to development that encourages a mix of building types and uses, diverse housing and transportation options, development within existing neighborhoods, and community engagement. The Smart Growth Program offers state and local REALTOR® Associations to way to engage with government officials, community partners and the general public in planning and designing community's future.
Planned diversity initiatives makes good business sense. REALTOR® Associations with well-planned diversity programs create a stronger sense of community, particularly in neighborhoods with high concentrations of foreign-born and minority residents who are moving up the socioeconomic ladder and are buying homes.
NAR Placemaking Resources
Placemaking Guide: A Guide to Transform a Public Space into a Community Place
REALTORS® and state and local association staff can learn the details of Placemaking, the kinds of projects placemaking entails, how to organize them, and where to go for assistance and resources.
Placemaking Webinar Series
Our Placemaking Webinar Series will provide more in depth information on the various types of Placemaking and how REALTORS® were involved in Placemaking activities in their communities.
Placemaking Grant
The Placemaking Grant funds the creation of new public spaces, like pocket parks, trails & gardens, in a community. The grant focuses on "lighter, cheaper, quicker" placemaking projects, which can be built under a year and cost less than $200,000.
The opinions expressed in reader comments sections on this website are those of the reader and not NAR or REALTOR® Magazine.
The healthier a community, the better the environment for REALTORS®. Keeping a community attractive, livable and functioning well is a complex task.
Placemaking Project Brings the Fun to Viola, Idaho

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Hedge funds helped wreck Puerto Rico by Aengus mac Og.
It's another symptom of the way things are within this corrupt and untethered political and economic system.
ECONOMICS WG MEETING. 'SAVAGE MONEY' BY ANDY CONIO.
I have been asked to speak again to my paper on Debt 'Savage Money' this Friday.
Describing the Co-op Bank "recapitalisation" plan as a "rescue" is like saying Somali pirates have "rescued" an oil tanker from the Persian Gulf.
Since the appalling news of a Co-op Bank takeover by US hedge "vulture" funds (Aurelius Capital and Silver Point Capital) a growing body of Co-op members and bank customers are rallying to restore co-operative control and underpin the bank's commitment to ethical investment.
You will know it as the most expensive spot on the Monopoly board. But did you know that this upmarket area of west London has the highest concentration of hedge funds and private equity firms in Europe?
Germany is destroying the Euro!!


One Investment Group was founded in 2009 as a new entrant to the Australian funds management industry to provide independent responsible entity and trustee services.
Today, whilst competitors have been consolidating, One Investment Group has achieved organic growth year on year to become the third largest independent provider of outsourced responsible entity and trustee services in the Australian market. One Investment Group services more than 200 funds and over $25 billion in assets and is the largest provider of Corporate Trust and Fund Administration services in Australia.
The founders of OIG together have in excess of 40 years' experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, funds management and corporate governance. The executive team are supported by OIG's independent directors who each have in excess of 20 years' experience in areas including trust administration, funds management, investment banking, capital markets and chartered accounting.
Please read below a brief history of how the business came together.
One Investment Group was founded in 2009 as a new entrant to the Australian funds management industry to provide independent responsible entity and trustee services. The vision was born following the identification of the limited number of players and the quality of service the incumbents were providing in the market. One Investment Group was established by focusing on distressed fund managers who were seeking alternatives to winding down their existing funds. The objective was to build the infrastructure that would attract managers seeking to establish new funds that we could grow our business with.
Following the establishment of One Investment Group, the founders were quickly frustrated by the service and expense of the registrars maintaining the funds' unit registers. One Registry Services was established with the objective of providing friendly and efficient registry services. Its flexible and professional approach allows the One Registry Services team to actively support its clients in managing their investors. One Registry Services is involved throughout the life of a fund and is often the first point of call for investors. By taking responsibility for investors' administrative issues, it allows clients to focus on their investment and asset management responsibilities.
One Investment Group had taken on the management of in excess of 30 funds and was increasingly disappointed with the level of service it was receiving from its external providers of fund accounting services. One Investment Group had to devote significant resources to ensuring that monthly net asset values (NAVs) were correct. Unity Fund Services was established to provide bespoke, accurate and efficient fund accounting services. By employing highly competent and experienced staff and using world class software, Unity Fund Services has earned a reputation for being one of the top fund administrators in Australia, especially in dealing with more complex and difficult funds.
Unity Tax Services was added to enable One Investment Group to provide tax services to its clients. Unity Tax Services is able to prepare and lodge BAS statements and income tax returns. It is also able to review and sign off on investors' annual tax statements. Working closely with the Unity Fund Services team, Unity Tax Services is often able proactively to identify and solve tax issues as they arise, unlike external service providers who often have to deal with them retroactively under the pressure of a lodgement deadline. Unity Tax Services is also able to work with external tax agents in preparing tax returns.
One Corporate Trust was established to provide custody, security trustee, escrow and employee share trustee services. Since its establishment, it has taken on new roles at an increasing pace, and in a number of instances, it has multiple engagements for the same client. The One Corporate Trust team plays an important role in holding the legal title or security interest in assets for its clients. They are often involved in complex transactions where the experience of the One Investment Group team and its ability to provide a boutique and nimble service is brought to bear. One Corporate Trust's clients include both local and international fund managers and financial institutions. Significantly, with the creation of the One Corporate Trust team, One Investment Group became the only fund administration business within Australia able to provide a complete "one stop shop" outsourced solution to fund managers. Alternatively, we are able to offer a bespoke set of fiduciary and/or administrative services designed to meet our client's requirements.


text:
Alpro Announces 30m euro Investment and New Sustainability Goals
by Admin | Sep 19, 2020 | News & Updates | 0 comments
Alpro has unveiled a new five-year health and sustainability action plan, as well as plans to invest €30m in two of its production sites.
The objectives laid out by the company, which is celebrating 40 years since its foundation, encompass measures to limit water use, reduce environmental impact and provide consumers with greater transparency.
The report, titled 'Feeding the Future With Plants', includes the ambition to promote the transition to a circular economy with 100% recyclable Alpro packs (the company is currently at 76%). In addition, Alpro aims to introduce plant-based alternatives to yogurt in paper-based packaging.
The plant-based producer also said that it would define clear action plans for a transition to regenerative agriculture, with a focus on biodiversity and water use, while reducing its water footprint per product by 60%.
"The diets we have adopted are no longer sustainable for the planet, so we have to change the way we look at food production and consumption," said Alpro general manager, Sue Garfitt.
"Millions of people are more aware of the personal and environmental benefits of plant-based foods and our mission is to achieve a fundamental dietary shift to more plant-based eating by 2025. This new report translates this mission into concrete commitments."
Other objectives include bringing more diversity into the brand's portfolio by using at least nine different plant-based ingredients, and applying transparent, easy-to-read front-of-pack nutrition labelling to 100% of Alpro products.
Alpro said that its newly announced €30 million investment in its production facilities in Kettering, UK and Wevelgem, Belgium will support its ambitions for 2025.
The UK site, which employs 200 people, will receive a significant proportion of the investment to develop a new high-speed packaging line to produce 75 million extra packs of soya, oat, rice and coconut drinks per year.
According to Alpro, its products are regularly purchased by one in three UK households, and the investment reflects the rapidly growing demand for plant-based products.
The brand recently expanded its Big Pot range in the UK with the addition of a 100% oat-based yogurt alternative
Also Read:- Nestlé and Dawn Foods Enter Sweet Bakery Partnership


text:
History of the L. A. Roadster's Show and Pewter Mug
By Bob Neal, June 21, 2009
Bob Neal has been attending the L. A. Roadster Show, in the same roadster
(1923 T-Bucket), since 1971. He has a proud collection of 38 pewter mugs, and thought it would be interesting to document and share the history of the famous L. A. Roadster show and it's pewter mugs with other roadster enthusiasts.
The first 3 shows that participant pewter mugs were passed out were at the Hollywood Bowl in 1960, 1961 and 1967.
The next 12 shows the pewter mugs were passed out at the Great Western Exhibit Center in 1968-1979.
The next 30 shows the pewter mugs were passed out at the Pomona Fairplex from 1980-2009.
For 45 years the pewter mugs have been passed out to participants.
1967 was the first year the event was to be titled "L. A. Roadster Exhibition and Swap Meet" and was the first show held of Father's Day.
1985 the event was increased to a 2-day show.
1995 the total number of roadsters on display were 750 and 2,200 dash plaques were issued.
2000 a new roadster record was achieved, 800 roadsters were on display.
1977 was the Club's 20th Anniversary.
1998 was the first year the Roadster (car) was engraved on the mug.
2009 over 850 roadsters were on display at the show.
Thank you Bob for this great piece of history!


On-Shore Technology, Inc. (OST) founded in 1988, headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, is a leading international supplier of interconnect products to the computer, control, telecom and other electronic industries.
OST offers customers a variety of thousands of products. The most popular of these include terminal blocks, sockets, USB, headers and other interconnect products.
Our technological expertise and emphasis on service has enabled OST to provide quality products to some of the largest and most demanding companies in the world.
On-Shore Technology's sales network include independent sales representatives covering the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Asia. Our representatives are trained professionals offering on location support for your interconnection applications. In addition, our friendly and knowledgeable nationwide network of distributors provide local stock, kitting and other value added services.
LED light guides are optical (see-through) channels that transmit light from one end to the other. Light guides can be found in medical devices, security systems, small space accent lighting such as automated teller machine card slots, and communications and industrial controls. They are ideal for mounting on surfaces or through-hole LEDs and can be paneled, or PCB (Printed Circuit Board) mounted. LED light guides hold leverage in terms of design flexibility, easy installation, efficient optical layout, standardized illumination and minimized glare. They are also affordable.
Light guides are rigid and are constructed of solid plastic material with a vertical or right-angled structure. They are thus able to transmit light with little intensity lost. Such guides are complimentary to LEDs fixed upon boards.
-Single layer, ultra thin design, height is only 8.6mm.
-Designed with light guide columns, which indicates a turn-on signal.
-Smallest pitch that can mate with 3.50mm pitch male header series.
-Wire contact parts can be operated easily with screw driver.
-Phosphor bronze & stainless steel riveting within the molding.
-Developed with testing hole which can match 0.64mm test pin.
2- For the contact we have a special design, which is phosphor bronze & stainless steel riveting in 1 die.
-Designed to be used to connect PCB-based LED modules in many applications.
-Solid wires easily push in while stranded wires require use of push button for easy insertion. Removal of wires uses same push button.
-For use in many applications such as LED modules and light controls, emergency lighting, and signage. It can also be utilized in a variety of other electronic applications where SMT/low profile is a mandated.
WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OST?


Buzz Tarpley grew up in the music business. His grandmother was selling pianos as early as 1917 in West Texas. The Tarpley family officially opened a music store in 1927 in Pampa, Texas. Buzz recalled growing up in the late 1930s and 40s and the many radio sets his father would sell. He also remembers loading and unloading many a piano as a teenager, before entering the business after finishing school. Buzz and his older brother Bill were equal owners in the business which expanded to several locations including Lubbock and Amarillo. His son and nephew took over the business when Buzz retired in the 1990s.


text:
For the best HTML e-mail delivery results, CSS should be inline. This is a
huge pain and a simple newsletter becomes un-managable very quickly. This
script is my solution.

* CSS styles are converted to inline style attributes
  - Checks `style` and `link[rel=stylesheet]` tags and preserves existing inline attributes
* Relative paths are converted to absolute paths
  - Checks links in `href`, `src` and CSS `url('')`
* CSS properties are checked against e-mail client capabilities
  - Based on the Email Standards Project's guides
* A plain text version is created (optional)

## Premailer 2.0 is coming

I'm looking for input on a version 2.0 update to Premailer. Please visit the [Premailer 2.0 Planning Page](https://github.com/premailer/premailer/wiki/New-Premailer-2.0-Planning) and give me your feedback.

## Installation

Install the Premailer gem from RubyGems.

```bash
gem install premailer
```

or add it to your `Gemfile` and run `bundle`.

## Example

```ruby
require 'rubygems' # optional for Ruby 1.9 or above.
require 'premailer'

premailer = Premailer.new('http://example.com/myfile.html', :warn_level => Premailer::Warnings::SAFE)

# Write the HTML output
File.open("output.html", "w") do |fout|
  fout.puts premailer.to_inline_css
end

# Write the plain-text output
File.open("output.txt", "w") do |fout|
  fout.puts premailer.to_plain_text
end

# Output any CSS warnings
premailer.warnings.each do |w|
  puts "#{w[:message]} (#{w[:level]}) may not render properly in #{w[:clients]}"
end
```

## Ruby Compatibility

Premailer is tested on Ruby 1.8.7, Ruby 1.9.2, Ruby 1.9.3, and Ruby 2.0.0 . It also works on REE. JRuby support is close; contributors are welcome.  Checkout the latest build status on the [Travis CI dashboard](http://travis-ci.org/#!/premailer/premailer).

## Premailer-specific CSS

Premailer looks for a few CSS attributes that make working with tables a bit easier.

| CSS Attribute | Availability |
| ------------- | ------------ |
| -premailer-width | Available on `table`, `th` and `td` elements |
| -premailer-height | Available on `table`, `tr`, `th` and `td` elements |
| -premailer-cellpadding | Available on `table` elements |
| -premailer-cellspacing | Available on `table` elements |
| data-premailer="ignore" | Available on `style` elements. Premailer will ignore these elements entirely. |

Each of these CSS declarations will be copied to appropriate element's attribute.

For example

```css
table { -premailer-cellspacing: 5; -premailer-width: 500; }
```

will result in

```html
<table cellspacing='5' width='500'>
```

## Contributions

Contributions are most welcome.  Premailer was rotting away in a private SVN repository for too long and could use some TLC.  Fork and patch to your heart's content.  Please don't increment the version numbers, though.

A few areas that are particularly in need of love:

* Improved test coverage
* Move un-repeated background images defined in CSS for Outlook

## Credits and code

Thanks to [all the wonderful contributors](https://github.com/alexdunae/premailer/contributors) for their updates.

Thanks to [Greenhood + Company](http://www.greenhood.com/) for sponsoring some of the 1.5.6 updates,
and to [Campaign Monitor](http://www.campaignmonitor.com) for supporting the web interface.

The web interface can be found at [premailer.dialect.ca](http://premailer.dialect.ca).

The source code can be found on [GitHub](https://github.com/alexdunae/premailer).

Copyright by Alex Dunae (dunae.ca, e-mail 'code' at the same domain), 2007-2012.  See [LICENSE.md](https://github.com/alexdunae/premailer/blob/master/LICENSE.md) for license details.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


On first glance, a site that collects people's opinions about whose life an autonomous car should favor doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know. But look closer, and you'll catch a glimpse of humanity's dark side.
The MIT team launched the Moral Machine in 2016, and more than two million people from 233 countries participated in the survey — quite a significant sample size.
On Wednesday, the researchers published the results of the experiment in the journal Nature, and they really aren't all that surprising: Respondents value the life of a baby over all others, with a female child, male child, and pregnant woman following closely behind. Yawn.
It's when you look at the other end of the spectrum — the characters survey respondents were least likely to "save" — that you'll see something startling: Survey respondents would rather the autonomous car kill a human criminal than a dog.
While the team designed the survey to help shape the future of autonomous vehicles, it's hard not to focus on this troubling valuing of a dog's life over that of any human, criminal or not. Does this tell us something important about how society views the criminal class? Reveal that we're all monsters when hidden behind the internet's cloak of anonymity? Confirm that we really like dogs?
The MIT team doesn't address any of these questions in their paper, and really, we wouldn't expect them to — it's their job to report the survey results, not extrapolate some deeper meaning from them. But whether the Moral Machine informs the future of autonomous vehicles or not, it's certainly held up a mirror to humanity's values, and we do not like the reflection we see.


If you haven't downloaded Magic School Story yet, now is the time!
Also, be sure to check out our new FAQ page here!
Singapore, Sep 25, 2018 – Happy Labs, a mobile game developer and publisher based in Singapore, is pleased to announce the launch of Magic School Story! Build your own magic school, go on quests and adventures, make friends, and gather materials to upgrade your classes by playing puzzle games. Download the game for free now on App Store (coming soon) and Google Play!
Launched in 2013 and now 4 years old, Happy Pet Story is still delighting players all over the world!
Happy Pet Story is now being featured in the 'Today' tab of App Store, in selected regions. If you haven't tried the game yet, download now!
Create your own pet, level up and expand your home, and play mini games. Visit friends and check out their decorations. You can also collect unique seasonal furnitures and costumes!
If you lost your account on Happy Pet Story, you can recover it if you have secured your game! This guide teaches you how to secure your game and how to restore your game.
If you lost your account on Happy Mall Story and Hotel Story, you can recover it if you secured your game! This guide teaches you how to secure your game and how to restore your game.
Reminder: Old Server closes in End Feb!
If you've lost your account recently, contact us immediately to recover and restore your account! This is because we will be closing all old servers in February 2018, and if you didn't migrate your account to the new server, then your data would be lost.
How to migrate my account to the new server?
Simply download V2.0 from App Store and Google Play.
Read more to find out what this means for you!
Toriko won the IMGA SEA Award for Best Multiplayer Game!
It's with great honor that Toriko won the IMGA SEA award for Best Multiplayer Game on 13 October, 2017!
You can now play Pet Hotel in Google Allo! Attract cute hotel guests, take care of them and earn their favor!
Singapore, Aug 14, 2017 – Independent mobile game developer Happy Labs is pleased to announce the Beta launch of Monster Raiders, a location-based raiding game where players can summon and defeat Raid Bosses together with anyone in the vicinity. A Raid supports up to 1000 players.
Ramadan observance in Restaurant Paradise!
In conjunction with Google Play's 2017 Ramadan Campaign, we are proud to offer up to 50% off in-app diamond purchases in Restaurant Paradise!
Ramadan observance in Hotel Story!
In conjunction with Google Play's 2017 Ramadan Campaign, we are proud to offer up to 50% off in-app diamond purchases in Hotel Story!
TORIKO has been selected for Indie Prize Showcase at Casual Connect Asia! Don't miss out on your only chance to get Happy Labs merchandises here!
Happy Pet Story Sales happening now!
Happy Songkran! In conjunction with Google Play's Songkran 2017 Sales, we're having up to 50% discount off In-App Purchases in Happy Pet Story!
Please note that prices on Android and iOS may be slightly different as they are handled differently by each platforms. Thank you!
Singapore, Mar 10, 2017 – TORIKO, Happy Labs' latest match-3 game is now in Open Beta on Google Play! TORIKO is a unique Puzzle PVP game where two players can fight together in real time.
TORIKO is a fun and exciting gaming experience never before seen on mobile platforms! Its' puzzle gameplay draws inspiration from a popular arcade game in the 90s, Magical Drop. Fans will appreciate how Happy Labs seamlessly translated the gameplay to fit the mobile screen. Simply swipe down to collect birds, and swipe up to match them!
Southeast Asia's Premier Game Convention is back for its 3rd edition on 7 – 9 October 2016!
They've welcomed over 17,000 visitors from Singapore and the region in 2015, and this year is set to bring back favourites as well as new and exciting content for everyone, including game showcases and previews, e-sports, indie games, retro gaming, cosplay and more!
We're excited to be there and showcasing our latest games at Gamestart 2016, so don't forget to come say Hi to us!
Double Ninth Festival has begun in Happy Pet Story!
Basically, it's a day to show respect to the seniors, climb mountains and enjoy Chrysanthemum-everything! It is also known as Chongyang Festival, Height Ascending Festival or Chrysanthemum Festival. In China, the number nine has the similar pronunciation with the word meaning 'forever', symbolising longevity.


text:
Bonnieux è un comune francese di 1.464 abitanti situato nel dipartimento della Vaucluse della regione della Provenza-Alpi-Costa Azzurra.

Geografia fisica
Bonnieux è un villaggio arroccato, che si trova sul versante nord del Luberon, di fronte al villaggio di Lacoste.
Esso controlla l'ingresso settentrionale della valle di Bonnieux, che si apre sulla Comba di Lourmarin. La valle rappresenta il passaggio principale attraverso il massiccio del Luberon rappresentandone il confine tra i 2 sottogruppi del Grande e Piccolo Luberon.

Storia
Nei pressi del villaggio sono presenti resti romani, tra cui il Pont Julien costruito nel 3 a.C. che si trova 3 chilometri più a nord.
Nel VI secolo fu costruito un monastero e nel X secolo il villaggio era dotato di mura.
Dal XIV secolo al 1791 fu parte del territorio pontificio legato ad Avignone.

Monumenti e luoghi d'interesse

Architetture religiose
La chiesa vecchia, o chiesa alta, del XII secolo

Architetture civili
Pont Julien, ponte romano del 3 a.C.

Aree naturali
Il direzione di Lourmarin è presente una foresta di cedri di 250 ettari estesa anche sui vicini comuni di Lacoste e Ménerbes. Provenienti dall'Atlante marocchino sono stati piantati nel 1862.

Cultura

Musei
Il Museo della Panetteria è ospitato in un edificio del XVII secolo in cui troviamo un vecchio forno per il pane, in funzione fino al 1920.

Società

Evoluzione demografica

Amministrazione

Nei media
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Crime & Thrillers /
Fever City
Tim Baker
9780571323876 Published
Paperback Price
Nick Alston, a Los Angeles private investigator, is hired to find the kidnapped son of America's richest and most hated man.
Hastings, a mob hitman in search of redemption, is also on the trail. But both men soon become ensnared by a sinister cabal that spreads from the White House all the way to Dealey Plaza.
Decades later in Dallas, Alston's son stumbles across evidence from JFK conspiracy buffs that just might link his father to the shot heard round the world.
Violent, vivid, visceral: FEVER CITY is a high--octane, nightmare journey through a Mad Men-era America of dark powers, corruption and conspiracy.
Nick Alston, a Los Angeles private investigator, is hired to find the kidnapped son of America's richest and most hated man.Hastings, a mob hitman in search of redemption, is also on the trail. But both men soon become ensnared by a sinister cabal that spreads from the White House all the way to Dealey Plaza.Decades later in Dallas, Alston's son stumbles across evidence from JFK conspiracy buffs that just might link his father to the shot heard round the world.Violent, vivid, visceral: FEVER CITY is a high--octane, nightmare journey through a Mad Men-era America of dark powers, corruption and conspiracy.
BUY FROM Hive ↗ Foyles ↗ Waterstone's ↗ Amazon ↗ Blackwells ↗ Bookshop.org ↗
Born in Sydney, Tim Baker lived in Rome and Madrid before moving to Paris, where he wrote about jazz. He has worked on film projects in India, China, Mexico, Brazil and Australia, and currently lives in the South of France with his wife, their son, and two rescue animals, a dog and a cat. His debut novel, Fever City, was published in 2016 and went on to be shortlisted for the CWA's John Creasey New Blood Dagger award and nominated for the Private Eye Writers of America's 2017 Shamus Award.
"A novel packed with tough-guy poetry, deeply felt emotions and startling images ... [a] superb debut novel. A direct hit."
- Spectator
"Missing Mad Men? Tim Baker's sprawling, ambitious and atmospheric Fever City is the thriller for you. Moving from the early Sixties to the present day via the bizarre abduction of a hated billionaire's son, this debut author is the natural successor to such hallowed crime writers as Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy. Hard-nosed private eyes, cynical femme fatales and heartbroken hitmen jostle for space against a backdrop of some of the 20th century's most iconic names and moments (the Kennedys, actress Lana Turner and Watergate all make appearances) ... [S]tory-telling at its most ambitious."
- Stylist
City Without Stars


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Africa, Somalia
Somalia: The hidind history's you will know
August 17, 2017 News Editor	Leave a comment
http://www.mercenary-wars.net
MERCENARY WARS
To enlage click onto photo repeat to shrink
Map source
600s Arab tribes establish the sultanate of Adel on the Gulf of Aden coast.
1500 – 1600 Portuguese traders land on the east coast of Africa and start intermittent power struggles with the Sultanate of Zanzibar for control of port cities and surrounding towns.
1840 The British East India Company signs treaties with the Sultan of Tajura for unrestricted trading rights.
1860s France acquires foothold on the Somali coast, later to become Djibouti.
1875 Egypt occupies towns on Somali coast and parts of the interior.
1887 Britain proclaims protectorate over Somaliland after reaching a final agreement with the local King Menelik and various tribal chiefs and draws a boundary with neighbouring Ethiopia to form British Somaliland. Besides trading interests, the British protectorate serves as a counterweight to the growing Italian influence in the key port city of neighbouring Zanzibar.
1888 Anglo-French agreement defines boundary between Somali possessions of the two countries.
1889 Italy sets up a protectorate in central Somalia, later consolidated with territory in the south ceded by the sultan of Zanzibar.
1897 – 1907 Italy makes several agreements with tribal chiefs and the British to finally mark out the boundaries of a separate Italian protectorate of Somaliland.
1908 The Italian Government assumes direct administration of Italian Somaliland, giving the territory a colonial status.
1925 Territory east of the Jubba river detached from Kenya to become the westernmost part of the Italian protectorate.
1936 Following decades of expansionism, Italy captures Addis Ababa and Ethiopia to form the province of Italian East Africa.
June 1940 Italian troops drive out the British garrison and capture British Somaliland.
1941 British recapture British Somaliland and most of Italian Somaliland.
1941- 1959 Meanwhile, British Somaliland sees a period of colonial development as the territory moves towards a gradual development of local institutions and self-government.
1947 Following Italy's defeat in World War II, Italy renounces all rights and titles to Italian Somaliland.
1950 The U.N. General Assembly adopts a resolution making Italian Somaliland a U.N. trust territory under Italian administrative control.
1956 Italian Somaliland renamed Somalia and granted internal autonomy.
1960 British and Italian Somaliland gain independence and merge to form the United Republic of Somalia.
1960 – 1969 Two successive democratically elected governments attempt to balance the expansionist interests of pro-Arab, pan-Somali factions with interests in Somali-inhabited areas of Ethiopia and Kenya, and "modernist" factions whose priorities include economic and social development.
1963 Border dispute with Kenya, diplomatic relations with Britain broken until 1968.
1964 Border dispute with Ethiopia erupts into hostilities.
1967 Abdi Rashid Ali Shermarke beats Aden Abdullah Osman Daar in elections for president.
October 1969 Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre seizes power in a coup. Democratically elected President Abdi Rashid Ali Shermarke is assassinated.
1970 Siad declares Somalia a socialist nation and undertakes literacy programs and planned economic development under the principles of "scientific socialism."
1972 – 1977 A period of persistent border clashes with Ethiopia for control of Ethiopia's Ogaden region, which also sees a severe drought in the region that leads to widespread starvation.
1974 Somalia and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of friendship. Somalia also joins the Arab League.
1974-75 Severe drought causes widespread starvation.
1977 Somalia invades the Somali-inhabited Ogaden region of Ethiopia.
1978 Following a gradual shifting of Soviet favour from Somalia to Ethiopia and the infusions of Soviet arms and Cuban troops to Ethiopia, Somali troops are pushed out of Ethiopian territory.
1978 – 1990 A period of growing cooperation and strategic alliance between Somalia and the West begins. The United States becomes Somalia's chief partner in defence and several Somali military officers are trained in U.S. military schools.
1981 Opposition to Barre's regime begins to emerge after he excludes members of the Mijertyn and Isaq clans from government positions, which are filled with people from his own Marehan clan.
1988 Peace accord with Ethiopia.
1991 At the end of a period of growing domestic factionalism, insurgency and an open war with clans in northwest Somalia that have left the country in economic shambles and forced thousands of Somalis to flee their homes, Siad is ousted by opposition clans and forced to flee to Nigeria, where he ultimately dies.
1991 Former British protectorate of Somaliland declares unilateral independence.
December 1992 U.S. troops lead a U.N. peacekeeping mission to Somalia, under Operation Restore Hope, which begins with the arrival of 1,800 U.S. Marines landing at night on a Mogadishu beach. The peacekeeping mission included providing humanitarian assistance to Somalis and bringing peace to the troubled country. But while the humanitarian mission is quickly achieved, the peacekeeping force finds itself dragged into Somalia's internecine battles.
October 1993 For the United States, Operation Restore Hope reaches its nadir when members of the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force and the Army Rangers are used to raid warlord headquarters and abduct them. In one such raid, the U.S. forces are dropped into a Mogadishu neighbourhood to snatch two lieutenants of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. While the snatch and grab operation is successfully accomplished, trouble starts when two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters are shot down by rocket-propelled grenades. As U.S. Army Rangers attempt to rescue the crews of the downed helicopters, a mob of armed militiamen and angry Somalis descend on the site. A horrific carnage follows that ends only 15 hours later when a combined U.S./U.N. armoured convoy manages to reach the trapped Rangers and Delta operators. But for the world, the mission in Somalia would forever be gruesomely remembered for the 18 U.S. Army Rangers killed and footage of the exultant crowds dragging naked, mutilated bodies through the streets of Mogadishu. Despite domestic outrage, the U.S. continues to play a major role in the mission until 1994.
1994 President Bill Clinton orders the withdrawal of the 30,000 U.S. troops on Somali soil.
1995 Following the withdrawal of U.S. forces, the vanguard of the 21-nation Operation Restore Hope, the U.N. peacekeepers leave after an unsuccessful operation amidst charges of cruelty and even the murder of Somalis. By the end of the operation, dozens of U.N. peacekeepers were killed and hundreds of Somalis died at the hands of U.S. and U.N. forces.
1996 Warlord Muhammad Aideed dies of his wounds and is succeeded by his son, Hussein.
1997 Following a complete administrative collapse, chiefs of some rival clans meet in the Egyptian capital of Cairo and agree to convene a conference to look into rival claims to Somalia.
1998 Puntland region declares autonomy.
August 2000 In the 13th such attempt to form a government, Somali warlords and militiamen meet in neighbouring Djibouti for peace talks organized by Djibouti President Omar Guellah. They elect Abdulkassim Salat Hassan president of Somalia. Hassan appoints Ali Khalif Gelayadh as his prime minister. But even as the new government attempts to start the parliamentary process in exile in Djibouti, some powerful warlords, notably Hossein Mohammed Aideed and Mohamed Ibrahim Egal do not recognize Hassan's election. But Mogadishu's most powerful clan leader, Ali Mahdi Mohamed, promises his support.
October 2000 Hassan arrives in Mogadishu to a hero's welcome and tight security. Gelayadh puts together a Cabinet of ministers, Somalia's first government in 10 years. But Hassan's administration has difficulty establishing control outside Mogadishu.
March 2001 Aideed announces that he has patched up his differences with clan leaders Muse Sudi Yalahow and Osman Hassan Ali Atto and calls for a replacement of Hassan's transitional government following a meeting between the leaders in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Meanwhile, opposition to Hassan has seen fighting rage on in the southern parts of the country as drought, security concerns and the criminalization of refugee camps along the Somali-Kenyan border periodically compels Kenya to halt cross-border trade, thereby further crippling the economically crumbling East African country.
April 2001 Somali warlords, backed by Ethiopia, announce their intention to form a national government within six months, in direct opposition to the country's transitional administration.
August 2001 UN appeals for food aid for half a million people in the drought-hit south.
August 2004 In 14th attempt since 1991 to restore central government, a new transitional parliament inaugurated at ceremony in Kenya. In October the body elects Abdullahi Yusuf as president.
December 2004 Tsunami waves generated by an undersea earthquake off Indonesia hit the Somali coast and the island of Hafun. Hundreds of deaths are reported; tens of thousands of people are displaced.
February – June 2005 Somali government begins returning home from exile in Kenya, but there are bitter divisions over where in Somalia the new parliament should sit.
November 2005 Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi survives an assassination attempt in Mogadishu. Gunmen attack his convoy, killing six people.
February 2006 Transitional parliament meets in Somalia – in the central town of Baidoa – for the first time since it was formed in Kenya in 2004.
March – May 2006 Scores of people are killed and hundreds are injured during fierce fighting between rival militias in Mogadishu. It is the worst violence in almost a decade.
June – July 2006 Militias loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts take control of Mogadishu and other parts of the south after defeating clan warlords.
July – August 2006 Mogadishu's air and seaports are re-opened for the first time since 1995.
September 2006 Transitional government and the Union of Islamic Courts begin peace talks in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Somalia's first known suicide bombing targets President Yusuf outside parliament in Baidoa.
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Certain fabrics simply hold up better on the road, and the latest generation of wrinkle-resistant synthetic blends are one example. They look just as classy as wool and cotton and they smell better after multiple wearings. Ad man, road warrior Bruce Turkel is particularly enamored of L.L. Bean's mail-order line of wrinkle-resistant polyester-and-cotton-blend dress shirts. He claims they look wrinkled when you take them out of your bag, but then the heat from your body smoothes them out [source: Hanks].


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Visit Porthcurno and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:
Porthcurno, Cornwall, has an exceptional beach of almost white sand, and would be worth visiting just to see the open-air Minack theatre, even if you cannot attend a performance. The Minack is the nearest thing in Britain to an ancient Greek theatre and probably even the Greeks never managed a grander site, hewn from the face of granite-slab cliffs, some 200 ft above the waves. Its creation was the inspiration of Miss Rowena Cade, whose little terrace rock garden, older than the theatre, is also cut out of the cliffs beside it, and was largely built by her and two men in six months in 1932. In that year the theatre staged The Tempest. Its summer season productions since have ranged from King Lear, to The Hostage, to West Side Story. Some later, concrete additions to the theatre have been made, but so well has it been cut and weathered that it is often hard to distinguish from stone. All box-office takings and sixpences in the box provided go to maintenance and expenses.
About ½ mile West of the Minack, the parish church, St Levan's, is pretty, with some finely carved 15th century bench-ends and lower half of a rood-screen, and several crosses in its churchyard made beautiful by grey-green lichen.
Porthgwarra 4 miles further West but about 2¾ miles round by car, is as undefaced as any cove accessible by car on the Penwith peninsula. A tunnel through the cliffs leads from its few and attractive cottages to the base of a steep hard, up which small boats are winched. About ¼ mile West is a great crater in the cliff-top about 100 yds across and 80 ft deep.
From Treen, a nice hamlet about 1½ miles East of Porthcurno, a walk of about 1 mile leads to a famous logan stone on the cliffs. In 1824 a boisterous naval lieutenant unperched it and was made to replace it at his own expense. It now takes some moving; but the cliffs make the walk worthwhile.
One mile North of St Buryan is the Boscawen-un, the most famous of Cornish prehistoric stone circles, with 19 stones standing round a leaning pillar. It is where the Gorsedd of the Bards of Cornwall is sometimes held. A footpath South from the A30 leads in about ¼ mile to it.
Near Drift, 1½ miles North West of here, is Cam Euny, an ancient ruined settlement and fine fogou.
Nearby towns: Newlyn, Penzance, St Just in Penwith
Nearby villages: Botallack, Gulval, Lands End, Lower Boscaswell, Ludgvan, Madron, Marazion, Morvah, Mousehole, Paul, Pendeen, Perranuthnoe, Sancreed, Sennen, Sennen Cove, St. Buryan, St. Levan, Towednack, Treen, Zennor
Have you decided to visit Porthcurno or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:
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Elimination Schmelimination
To quote Britney, "Oops, I did it again." I confess, I didn't believe.
Back in the winter, when the Habs were down 2-0, then 3-1 in the third to a Devils team and goaltender whose name has been an oath around my house for years, I didn't believe they could come back and win. Why would I? They never would have before. Too often, my little spark of hope had been quenched by defeat, only to be relit for the next game, then extinguished again. Yet, they got it together in that Devils game and clawed back to beat New Jersey at home for the first time since the invention of the shootout.
Then in February, I watched them go down five to nothing to the Rangers. I turned away, again never believing a comeback possible. I was wrong again, as Michael Ryder found his scoring touch, Kovalev took over and Cristobal Huet was spectacular in the shootout.
So I should have believed last night. Despite the lousy performances in the previous two games, and the fact that the Bruins had imposed their game on the Canadiens for the previous five. I should never have doubted the Habs could pull it together when it really counted. But I have been too many years a fan without a team...a real team...for which to cheer. Sure, there's been a group of guys skating around with the CH on their chests and making the money that goes along with that. But they've rarely been a team that can find depths inside themselves to counter adversity or beat long odds. It's been a long time since we could look at that group of men in red and see not Saku Koivu and a supporting cast, but instead see the lines blur and the individuals merge into a single entity. Like the old story about a single stick being easy to snap, while a bundle of sticks remains unbroken, the Canadiens remembered last night that they are a team. And a team is a lot harder to break than a group of individuals.
I remember reading in "The Game" how, for Bob Gainey, the team was everything. He learned the lessons of strength in numbers and sacrificing individual glory to win back in his junior days in Peterborough. When he went free agent shopping last summer, I think he really wanted to bring home a big name. But when that didn't work out, he went for smaller parts, but parts that shared his ideal of what "team" means. Tom Kostopoulos would go through a wall for his teammates and thinks the greatest smell in the world is "the smell of victory." Bryan Smolinski is a warrior who cranked it up when it counted, after what looked like a lazy regular season. Patrice Brisebois is, by all accounts, a great teammate who still gives it his all when called upon. (The fact that I think he's called upon too often and his all often results in unfortunate giveaways is beside the point.) The point is, Bob Gainey has built a real team. Watching Saku Koivu, Chris Higgins, Mike Komisarek, Carey Price and Tomas Plekanec fight for that win last night is making me forget the days of disappointment.
They may still go down, maybe even in the next series. But I've learned not to stop believing. Because this is a team that can find a way, even when it looks like all the odds are against them.
Silver in 16 said...
Well, well, well – as R.L. Burnside, would say. So, you didn't believe. Well, maybe you're learning, just the way Les Boys are learning. It was a pretty wild day out here in the West. We're on Day 4 of a snowstorm that's dumped about 6 inches on Edmonton and the white stuff is still falling, which is very bad for my summer tires. So bad so that my girlfriend had to come pick me up in her Nissan Pathfinder and take me to her place to watch the game (I don't' have a TV). I've teased her about the size of that boat, but no more – never again will I call it 'The Good Ship Lollipop'. I shovelled her front walks.
And stranger than the weather was the first time in a long time that I agreed with Don Cherry. I watched a little of him at the end of the game because I wanted to laugh. But he called it right: the bruins shot their bolt in G 6. The Habs just plain wore the bears down (my words, not his).
On a more jovial note, I deal with the media here in Edmonton and some folks around town know me as being a Habs fan, so, the CBC Radio drive-home show had me on yesterday. The host and I talked around noon to do the background thing and I found out he was a Habs fan growing up in Nanaimo. So, I wasn't surprised when we went on air and what was supposed to run 5 or 6 minutes stretched out to closer to 10 – we were having fun. I made sure to get in a couple digs at Cherry about how its admirable the way he recycles drapes and turns them into wearing apparel, and I also made mention of his lingering bitterness over the May 10, 1978 OT loss that was brought on by the too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty – stressing that that is a coach's penalty. No bold predictions about our winning, but I offered that we'd be "loaded for bear". However, most amazing thing of the day was CP – 'Mr. Ice'. Two shutouts. And more to come, I wager.
Finally, a couple observations: Chara and his 56-inch stick vs our powerplay – we won't see them again and I hope our power play looks as good as it did when he was in the penalty box. Also, did anyone else notice that Cherry wore black and yellow for the first and last games of the series? I wonder if we could pay him to wear team colours for our next opponents…theirs, not ours.
Yesterday was a great day, and today's pretty good, too. Even with all the snow. Thanks for taking my post.
Bleeding red, white and blue
The Penultimate...or not
The goalie giveth and the goalie taketh away
A test of character
Universal inspiration
Get your hate on
Nearer My God to Thee
Where there's life...
Ewwwww
Building a mystery
Make way for Mo'
Wherefore art thou, Saku?
Ten things I hate about the NHL
Hammer time
Jive Talkin'
News and random views from the trenches
We're Number One!
To sit or not to sit
Gorgeous Gorges


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Emerging Nations
The Little Coup That Couldn't – October 9, 1989
Posted in: 1980's, Americana, Border wars, Broadcast Journalism, Broadcasts, Cities, Civil War, Cold War, Communists, Conflicts, Day in history, Democracy, Dictator, Diplomacy, Disputes, Emerging Nations, Foreign Policy, Gun violence, Holidays, Independence Movements, News reports, Newscast, Past Daily, Police, Politics, Pro-Democracy, Radio, Riots, Social Commentary, Socialists, Society, Solidarity, Soviet Union, The Fourth Estate, The Press, U.S. Intervention, Uncategorized, Unreleased recordings, Vintage Recordings, Violence, Week In History, World News.	Tagged: CBS World News Roundup, East Berlin, East German, East German government, East German police, East Germany, Erich Honecker, Gordon Skene, Manuel Noriega, Oakland Athletics, Panama City, San Francisco Giants.	Leave a comment
Click on the link here for Audio Player – CBS World News Roundup – October 9, 1989 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
News for this October 9th in 1989 had to do with the growing protest movement in East Germany and the rioting going on in East Berlin. The riots erupted when East German police broke up a demonstration urging reforms from the hardline regime of Erich Honecker. Western Press were barred from the goings on, but word leaking from eyewitnesses said the Police reaction was swift and deadly. Demonstrations had been going throughout East German all week, as a reaction to the 40th anniversary celebration of the East German government. A mass exodus of some 50,000 East Germans to the West was an embarrassment to the Honecker regime and this latest round of repression of demonstrations was a brutal reaction to what many observed as a loss of any international as well as domestic credibility the East German government had.
Meanwhile, Hungary officially became independent of Moscow and quickly established themselves as committed to multi-party elections and a market-based economy. Reformers were still urging more changes, since the "shiny-new non-Communist government" was still run by the same faces as before. Old Leopards – new spots.
Elsewhere in the East. Violence had broken out in Armenia and bloody fighting was taking place in Azerbaijan, the result of a ban on transport strikes and railroad workers defying that ban. Azerbaijan guerrillas took to the streets and the Soviet army was called out to counter the protests and attacks.
On this side of the hemisphere. Panamanian strongman Col Manuel Noriega was consolidating his power since thwarting an attempted coup that had taken place in Panama City just six days earlier. U.S. troops were on alert and poised to join in, but were told not to . . .for now, anyway. And Manuel Noriega was unscathed for the time being.
All that and it was looking like a Commuter World Series with the Oakland A's winning the American League pennant. It would mean the first time a World series would be played between two Bay Area teams – The Oakland Athletics and The San Francisco Giants.
This day in a nutshell for October 9th 1989, as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
A conversation with Angela Merkel: remembering her rise to power (telegraph.co.uk)
Berlin Wall Fast Facts (cnn.com)
Berlin:1989 (nforbes89.wordpress.com)
Does the Berlin Wall still exist? (bbc.co.uk)
Henry Wallace Has A Word Or Two About America – October 4, 1948
Posted in: 1940's, Broadcasts, Capitol Hill, Civil unrest, Cold War, Communist China, Communists, Conflicts, Congress, Corporate America, Day in history, Democracy, Democrats, Diplomacy, Disconnect, Disputes, economy, Education, Eisenhower, Emerging Nations, FDR, Foreign Policy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Henry Wallace, History, Independence Movements, Mc Carthy era, Mid-Century America, Middle Class, New Deal, Past Daily, Politics, Post World War 2, Poverty, Presidential Elections, Presidents, Pro-Democracy, Protest Movements, Quality of Life, Radio, Red Scare, Republicans, Social Commentary, Socialists, Society, Solidarity, Soviet Union, The Fourth Estate, The Press, U.S. Intervention, Uncategorized, United Nations, Vintage Recordings, War, Week In History.	Tagged: Democratic, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Henry Wallace, Henry Wallace Campaign Address, Progressive Candidate Henry Wallace, Soviet Union, Tea Party, Thomas Dewey, United States, Wallace.	Leave a comment
Had more than a few prophetic words for our state of affairs, even in 1948.
Click on the link here for Audio Player – Henry Wallace Campaign Address – October 4, 1948 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
October of 1948, aside from everything else going on in the world, was also a Presidential campaign month. The Democrats had Harry Truman running for re-election (actually, election since he had assumed the Presidency when Franklin Roosevelt died in office in April 1945) and the Republicans had Thomas Dewey, running again after a devastating loss to FDR in 1944. Henry Wallace was FDR's vice-President in 1940 and prior to that was Secretary of Agriculture.
But Wallace broke with the Democratic Party over Truman's leadership and struck out on his own as a third party candidate. Since Third parties have never really been recognized much in the mainstream media, or even considered viable alternatives by the D.C. establishment, Wallace had an uphill battle.
But there was always that hope something would change, some miraculous event that would alter the course of history. In the case of 1948, it was the stunning upset by President Truman over Thomas Dewey – but that was the DC establishment.
Wallace followed his own course, and was roundly lambasted by both established parties as being pro-Socialist, pro-Moscow, a subversive bent on destroying the fragile fabric of American politics with radical ideas.
Trouble was, we were rapidly falling into a Cold War with the Soviet Union, coupled with a wave of newly independent nations and we needed some new thinking of our Foreign Policy to go along with these new problems. The danger was, there were many on Capitol Hill who were urging an armed confrontation, and the possibility that this new confrontation would inevitably lead to nuclear war was a terrifying prospect to most Americans.
So in this campaign talk, Wallace discussed the issue of America in danger of losing the peace and what could be done about it. As someone who didn't feel Russia was either equipped or had the desire to engage in another war, Wallace felt it was urgent to engage in negotiation, to find a settlement to the question of Germany and to find some enduring path to peace not based on armed aggression.
Needless to say, Wallace's case made great fodder for both Democrats and Republicans who felt strongly that Wallace was playing into the Communist hands and he was largely dismissed as being a Communist sympathizer.
But for all the accusations of Wallace's motives and ideas, the one fact remained true; we were rapidly growing into the Military-Industrial complex Eisenhower would later warn us about, and our fear of Communist domination blind-sided us from the real issues taking shape and into a state of perpetual fear and anxiety, and it shaped our society and our political motives for decades.
If Wallace had, by some miracle, won the Presidency, his vision would have been almost impossible to accomplish just by the sheer frustration of having a Congress uniformly against you. If Truman complained of a "do-nothing Congress" in 1948, Wallace would be relegated to figurehead status, since a third party majority in both houses, or in either house, would have been practically impossible to achieve. Which may give some indication as to why certain fringe parties, like The Tea Party, decided it was best to join an established base (like the Republicans) and hijack that party, rather than establish themselves as a Third Party, realizing what the outcome would be.
I suppose that says something about the Two-Party system. But even more, it gives some idea how difficult it is to promote real change, particularly in Washington, and why subverting an established political party is easier than slugging it out on your own.
And in 1948 we had some indication just how impossible that could be.
Here is that address by Progressive Candidate Henry Wallace, given on October 4, 1948.
Isn't history something?
Esquire:History Is A Stern Mistress (esquire.com)
Excursions Into Darkness – Recognition Of Red China And A Steel Strike – October 3, 1949
Posted in: 1940's, AF of L, American Labor Movement, Americana, Broadcast Journalism, Broadcasts, Capitol Hill, Civil unrest, Civil War, Cold War, Commentators, Communist China, Communists, Conflicts, Congress, Corporate America, Day in history, Democracy, Democrats, Diplomacy, Disconnect, Disputes, economy, Emerging Nations, Foreign Policy, France, Harry S. Truman, History, Independence Movements, Italian Politics, Italy, Labor, New Deal, News reports, Newscast, Past Daily, Politics, Post World War 2, Presidents, Pro-Democracy, Protest Movements, Quality of Life, Radio, Red Scare, Republicans, Riots, Social Commentary, Socialists, Society, Soviet Union, The Fourth Estate, The Press, U.S. Intervention, Uncategorized, Union Busting, Unions, United Nations, Veterans, Vintage Recordings, Violence, War, Week In History, World News.	Tagged: ABC Radio, Associate Justice William O. Douglas, Balkan, China, Gordon Skene, John L. Lewis, Leland Olds, Moscow, Senator Sherman Minton, Sherman Minton, Supreme Court, Washington, West Berlin, William O. Douglas.	1 Comment
Who was this Mao and what did he want?
Click on the link here for Audio Player – ABC Radio: Baukhage Talking – news for October 3, 1949 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
A nervous October day in 1949. News of strikes dragging on, news of a creeping paranoia over Communists, news of Capitol Hill gamesmanship.
Starting off was news that Associate Justice William O. Douglas was recovering from a fall while riding his horse on a steep trail near his home. Thirteen broken ribs and a punctured lung, but still he was expected back in Washington for the opening of Supreme Court later on in the day. The Senate Judiciary Committee was engaged in hearings over the appointment of Senator Sherman Minton, as replacement for the late Associate Justice Rutledge. His appointment was assured, but he still had to answer questions regarding his former role as a New-Dealer, much as hearings over the reappointment of Federal Power Commissioner Leland Olds. Seems the past is always a popular subject on Capitol Hill.
The big worry was recognition of the newly-formed People's Republic of China by neighbor Russia, which would mean Nationalist China would be expelled from the United Nations and the Communists would have one more voting member. There was also some speculation, bordering on fear that recent changes and upheavals in the French government could see that country falling in line with Moscow. And there was the question of Yugoslavia and the Balkan region coming under Communist influence. All those new revelations could possibly lead to a Communist majority voting block at the UN – and that was cause for a few sleepless nights around Washington.
And there was always the matter of Germany to consider. Seems the move to create an Eastern Germany, under direct influence of Moscow was imminent. The matter of Berlin and the Peace Ceremony staged by Moscow to celebrate the alignment of eastern Germany had an underwhelming reaction. Seems Moscow decided to open the border between eastern and western zones, allowing West Berliners to come and see what was going on. The result was a mass exodus by East Berliners to West Berlin in search of food and relocation.
All this lead up to calls for some sort of peace settlement between Russia and the West, or one of the biggest arms races in history was about to take place.
And The Cold War raged on.
Meanwhile, the labor situation in the U.S. wasn't looking hopeful. The Steel Strike was continuing. Labor leader John L. Lewis ordered his hard coal miners back to work, but it didn't do any good, since it left some 400,000 soft coal miners on strike, and without soft coal, the steel mills couldn't operate. Catch 22. The Auto industry was siding with the Steel Industry and the railroads were laying off workers. And Dock workers were joining in. A mess was rapidly taking shape.
So the air on this October 3rd in 1949 was filled with politics – both domestic and foreign. And not a lot of it was not very good.
And that's how this day rolled as presented by ABC Radio's Baukhage Talking with commentator H.R. Baukhage for October 3, 1949
This Day in Black History: Oct. 3, 1949 (bet.com)
Rumble On 46th Street – Communists And The Congo – September 23, 1960 – Past Daily Reference Room
Posted in: 1960's, Africa, Broadcast Journalism, Broadcasts, Day in history, Diplomacy, Disconnect, Disputes, Emerging Nations, Foreign Policy, History, Independence Movements, Past Daily, Past Daily Reference Room, Post World War 2, Protest Movements, Radio, Socialists, Society, Soviet Union, The Fourth Estate, The Press, Uncategorized, United Nations, Unreleased recordings, Vintage Recordings, Violence, War, Week In History, World News.	Tagged: Africa, Congo, Cuba, cuban president fidel, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fidel Castro, Libya, nbc radio network, nbc radio news, Nikita Khrushchev, Politics, president fidel castro, Soviet Union, United Nations.	Leave a comment
The doves were window dressing.
Click on the link here for Audio Player – Special Report on the United Nations – September 23, 1960 – NBC Radio Network – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
September, 1960 was a milestone year for The United Nations. With Africa going through Independence upheavals, Cuba flexing its newly gained Communist muscle and the Soviet Union tossing around the infamous U-2 Spy Plane incident, it was a pretty dramatic, and worrisome time for the cause of peace – however tenuous and fragile it all seemed at the time.
During this week of September, the focus was on the situation in The Congo, a former Belgian colony going through cataclysmic changes on its way to achieving independence.
On hand to lend his two cents was the inimitable Nikita Khruschev, premier of the Soviet Union and a host of African dignitaries.
On his way to join the proceedings was Cuban President Fidel Castro, and another wave of controversy to take place later on in the week.
But this latest burst of activity and debate was covered in a special report by NBC Radio news, giving highlights of the proceedings and previews of coming attractions.
Never a dull day it seems, where the UN is concerned.
And that's how it went on September 23rd, 1960.
DR Congo neighbors call for quick accord with rebels (congoayuk.wordpress.com)
Fighting for DR Congo's cash cow to secede (bbc.co.uk)
From the archive, 17 August 1960: Lumumba declares martial law (theguardian.com)
How Will History Judge Itself – A Word From Barbara Tuchman – 1974 – Past Daily Reference Room
Posted in: 1970's, Broadcasts, Education, Emerging Nations, History, Middle East, New Technology, Past Daily, Past Daily Reference Room, Politics, Popular Culture, Quality of Life, Social Commentary, Society, Uncategorized.	Tagged: Barbara Tuchman, Barbara W. Tuchman, Climate, gaming, History, Libya, Middle East, Politics, Roman Empire, videogames, Vietnam War, World War, World War I.	1 Comment
No doubt, we'll be judged a lot differently than we imagine.
Click on the link here for Audio Player – Barbara Tuchman address at UC Berkeley – NPR Options – July 22, 1974 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
It's always an interesting idea to consider; how will history judge what is going on now in the grand scheme of things? Will those innovations we found so revolutionary at the time be even considered important in the long run? Will the current state of upheaval and strife be considered a pivotal moment in our culture? Will our Popular Culture have any long-term last effect on the society and the world in general?
Listening to this address, given by noted author and historian Barbara Tuchman, I came away with the feeling not very much will weigh in as far as milestones go in the future. Certainly the development of the Computer will be considered significant, just as printing when it came about in the late 1400's became a lasting and significant contribution to our culture.
But the politics, the wars, the movements in popular culture? Maybe not so. And sometimes it's the historians, the interested individuals, who rescue otherwise forgotten episodes in history and rejuvenate them for future generations.
True, with communication as it is now, events occur quicker than before. It must be remembered that the supposed-perceived overnight Fall of the Roman Empire took some 500 years to happen. That the situation we are currently in turmoil over, namely the Middle-East, was something that began a little less than 100 years ago (as the result of World War 1), and that perhaps three hundred years from now won't even be considered as cataclysmic as it does now. If, in fact there still is a planet Earth 300 years from now (that's a definite consideration).
But things that seemed so momentous and earth-shattering at the time faded into obscurity over time. Likewise, things considered obscure at the time came to be rediscovered and reevaluated and were found to have lasting and enduring qualities for generations after.
Take for example Popular Culture – it's worth noting that Mozart died in obscurity and Bach was forgotten about a generation after his death. And only in the last 100 years have both been rediscovered and reevaluated and were found to have qualities that have lasted for many generations. But at the time . . . .no.
All this points up to the fact that history and how it's judged is never what you imagine it may be. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing is for time to decide. We're just here for the ride.
So on July 22nd 1974, while we were in the midst of Watergate, the slow end to the Vietnam War and the ever-present turmoil in the Middle East, Barbara Tuchman posed some thought-provoking questions.
Luckily, National Public Radio, as part of their Options series, considered it relevant enough to preserve it. That's something we don't really do much of late.
Here's that address.
Books are the c… (meganswailesliteraturereviews.wordpress.com)
The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman (Review) (davehershey.wordpress.com)
World War 1 and the Europe we left behind (telegraph.co.uk)


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Ashley Cappetta
Watching the Washington Capitals play hockey, volunteer firefighting, being outdoors.
Hometown East Berlin, PA
Occupation Marketing Agent
Birthday 10/4
Behind The Helmet
Ashley Cappetta is a second generation racer following her uncles footsteps who just started her racing career in 2012. It was her first year piloting her own race car but certainly not her first exposure to the sport. She was introduced to racing by her father, he was the crew chief for Steve Smith. Her uncle, Rob Cappetta was also involved in the sport driving his own #89 sprint car and went on to be a gas man for Robert Yates Racing. Ashley is making her own way by being the first female in her family to set center stage as a driver. Ashley has had a couple years sprint car experience with various teams, starting our as a crew member doing such simple tasks as scrapping mud to advancing her skills into doing maintenance for her own race car. Ashley showing her success with not only her abilities working on her race car but also by winning a Hard Charger Award in only her first season racing. Ashley feels she has the best of both worlds by not only knowing how to race but by having the knowledge of the mechanics and being able to provide detailed feedback to her team. Her goal is to continue to grow as a racer and work her way up through the sprint car division.
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Transportation headlines, Thursday, May 14
by Steve Hymon , May 14, 2015
Have a transportation-related article you think should be included in headlines? Drop me an email! And don't forget, Metro is on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
ART OF TRANSIT: That's the 770 Rapid as seen from Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights. Yeah, a little creepy although the cemetery provides a glimpse into our area's rich history for those who have never visited. Also accessible from the Local 30 and 68 buses and the Gold Line's Indiana Station. There's a nice walking path around the outside perimeter of the cemetery that is very popular, especially in the mornings and evenings. Photo by Steve Hymon/Metro.
Coalition calls for 10 percent of future L.A. sales tax measure go to walk-bike (Streetsblog LA)
More than 30 groups say that the potential 2016 ballot measure under consideration by Metro should set aside 10 percent of its funding to walk-bike projects with several groups leading the way, including Investing in Place and the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition. The groups also want 20 percent of any local return money in a ballot measure to be set aside for walk, bike and Safe Routes to Schools programs.
Very interesting development. Under Measure R's expenditure plan, 15 percent of sales tax revenues are returned to the 88 cities and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County on a per capita basis. The cities or county can then use that money for a variety of transportation projects, including pedestrian and bike ones. But it's no guarantee that the money gets used for such projects.
The standard reminder: Metro staff have been studying and doing surveys for a potential ballot measure — which may include a new half-cent sales tax and/or an extension of Measure R. But the Metro Board of Directors has not made a decision to go forward. This is certainly an interesting development.
Technology that could prevent accident was absent (New York Times)
The top of the story sums it up:
For the second time in two years, a passenger train traveling well above its speed limit has derailed, leaving a trail of death and injuries. And for the second time, existing technology that might have prevented the accident was missing.
Amtrak has installed the technology, known as positive train control, on parts of its rail network in the Northeast Corridor. But the technology, designed to automatically slow or stop a train to prevent accidents, was not available on a critical stretch of track in Philadelphia where Train No. 188 derailed on Tuesday night, killing at least seven and injuring more than 200.
A National Transportation Safety Board official makes it pretty clear that he believes that PTC would have slowed the train, which was traveling more than 100 mph in a section of track where the speed limit is 50 mph.
As many of you know, Metrolink has been installing PTC, a direct response to the 2008 head-on collision with a freight train in Chatsworth that killed 25. Congress has imposed a national deadline of 2015 but is considering pushing that to 2020 at the request of many railroads who say time and money are an issue.
Separately, in what amounts to partisan bickering, a House committee yesterday denied expanding funding for Amtrak, reports the Times. For a lot of reasons, Amtrak remains a tough sell to many parts of the country, among them rural areas where the railroad doesn't provide much service, thereby making Amtrak an easy target for lawmakers wanting to target government spending. Hmm.
BikeSnob: the problem with Bike to Work Week (Time)
A guest post from the BikeSnob can be summed up with this graph:
If anything, cyclists are cynical about Bike to Work Week because we want bicycle commuting to be more inclusive. We don't want it to be something people do once a year out of a sense of obligation, like paying your taxes or calling grandma on Mother's Day. We want people to discover the joy and practicality of cycling, and for riding a bicycle to become a default mode of transport for lots and lots of people in cities and towns all over America.
I'm not huge on anniversaries or weeks commemorating this or that either although I don't think there's any harm that comes from them. I do tend to think that in terms of bicycle awareness, the CicLAvia events may serve the masses better (they're designed to be big events) and perhaps get people to dust off their bikes and ride them more often.
There are a lot of nice people on the train (Zocalo Public Square)
Candice Byers. Photo: Zocalo Public Square.
The latest in Zocalo's ongoing series of profiles of Metro riders.
Why it's a bad idea to tax people every mile they drive (Grist)
Ben Adler doesn't like the idea of replacing the gas tax with a per mile tax — something many people want as a way to increase transportation tax revenues. The gist of his argument:
A VMT tax makes all users pay equally for their usage if you define usage in the narrow sense of miles traveled. But drivers of gas guzzlers are using, and abusing, public goods such as roads and air far more than drivers of efficient cars are. Bigger, heavier cars take up more road space, damage roads more, and cause more harm to other drivers in accidents. And road repair is a minor cost and inconvenience compared to the effects of catastrophic climate change.
There's probably a lot of people who feel the same way — that the biggest problem with the gas tax is simply that it hasn't been raised in more than two decades and that it's not indexed to inflation. The other thing about the gas tax that may be a plus: it provides an incentive of sorts to purchase a fuel efficient vehicle.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter and Instagram for my less-transity tweets and pics.
Tagged as: active transportation, Amtrak, art of transit, ballot measure, Bicycle, bike, Boyle Heights, CicLAvia, Congress, Evergreen Cemetery, gas tax, Measure R, pedestrian, positive train control, transportation funding, vehicle mileage tax
How you can be part of the artwork along the future Crenshaw/LAX line
All-door boarding test begins Monday on 720 Rapid Bus
LAX Frequent Flyer says:
"The other thing about the gas tax that may be a plus: it provides an incentive of sorts to purchase a fuel efficient vehicle."
And how does government supposed to collect gas tax when Toyota will be launching the Mirai soon (the world's first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle) and has opted to make the technology royalty free for other automakers to use?
http://www.toyota.com/mirai/fcv.html
http://www.popsci.com/how-hydrogen-vehicles-work
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/toyota-release-5680-fuel-cell-patents/
You can't collect gas taxes from cars that don't run on gas. It's basic grade school math: 0 times 18 cents or 50 cents per gallon is still zero.
Gas taxes are outdated, I'm all for replacing it with a mileage tax. Trouble is, it has to be nationwide, not statewide. You can't have CA doing mileage tax but not NV or AZ. Should mileage be charged to a CA registered vehicle on trips that involve road use in Nevada when going to Vegas or in Arizona when going to the Grand Canyon? Not an easy answer. And I doubt "all CA cars must now have GPS devices" will be a popular idea either: people do not like government tracking people where they go (hint: NSA spying).
Pretty simple. They can tax hydrogen just like gasoline. That is like asking how can diesel be taxed.
Paul C. says:
Pretty tough to tax something that makes up 75% of the universe. Fossil fuels are rare, has to be dug out, has refinery costs and cause environmental damage and pollution. Hydrogen is plentiful and the only byproduct of hydrogen fuel cells is water.
http://mail.colonial.net/~hkaiter/1AAAImages/periodictablebigbang.png
Taxing hydrogen will be like taxing the air you breathe. If we get to that point, the government has gone too far.
James Lampert says:
What truly amazes me about Amtrak being "a tough sell" in "rural areas where the railroad doesn't provide much service" is that a lot of those areas are areas where the scheduled airlines provide no service whatsoever.
Then again, there really is, to quote an old Amtrak jingle, "something about a train that's magic." It's easy for those in the big cities, and those in "flyover states," to dehumanize each other when they're either not brought together at all, or the "city slickers" pass through the "hick towns" encased in ambulatory tin cans, stopping only for gas and food, and it's also easy for strangers on an airliner, even when they share common origins and destinations, but have been put on the defensive by being searched in minute detail, then packed into a somewhat larger tin can with no elbow room, to go out of their way to ignore each other. It's not so easy when you're spending many hours with a constant parade of strangers, in comfortable, relaxing surroundings, many of them either coming from or going to places you've never been, especially when you're sharing a meal with as many as three of those strangers.
Air and highway travel divide people; rail travel unites them. And there are a lot of politicians who would like to keep people divided.
A different perspective says:
If they don't want it, why should we pay taxes to run services to them? We don't force "city life" to them, neither do they force "rural life" to us.
If they want to live a life of driving Ford F150s, horseback riding in the sunset, enjoying the Great American outdoors, fishing and hunting and not force that lifestyle to us, that's good for them. And I respect that.
And inversely, it should be the same way the other way around that we want to live a life of driving hailing Uber and Lyft, taking mass transit, sipping on lattes, and picking up a copy of Japan Up! magazine for the latest foodie trends and crazes here and not force that lifestyle to them either. And that life is respected by them also.
If the GOP red states, mainly rural states, say they do not want Amtrak or put more funding to them, all fine with me. We need to respect that that's what they want. Instead, Amtrak can just as easily downsize to places where they work like CA and the NE Corridor.
If they don't want it because they see no need for it and we rather want to see it focused to where it should be (for intra-city travel in densely populated corridors), what's the problem? Why should we force "our way of life" to them when they don't want it?
This whole notion of the keeping the "Great American train experience" is nothing more than 1950s nostalgia and refusal to accept that times have changed. A far better use and more profitable business for Amtrak will be cut long haul routes that the red states do not want and instead increase Pacific Surfliner frequencies between LA and San Diego instead.
With the way the CAHSR project keeps falling behind and likelihood of federal funding being cutback, that's a better and more realistic solution to get trains and frequencies running between LA and San Diego, generate lots of revenue that stays right here in CA to upgrade the CA's own train tracks and build the HSR train to San Francisco and Sacramento using revenues generated from Amtrak revenues coming from Amtrak running within CA.
http://i.imgur.com/mb8tC8V.jpg
"Then again, there really is, to quote an old Amtrak jingle, "something about a train that's magic."
Amtrak isn't the Hogwart Express and neither is there a Hogsmeade either. A train is a train, nothing more, nothing less.
"It's easy for those in the big cities, and those in "flyover states," to dehumanize each other" "
I find it disturbing that you believe that way. Maybe you're the intolerant "city slicker" yourself who thinks you're better than "hick town" people and that you should be deciding what's best for them and forcing that they should have Amtrak service when they do not want it.
"It's not so easy when you're spending many hours with a constant parade of strangers, in comfortable, relaxing surroundings, many of them either coming from or going to places you've never been, especially when you're sharing a meal with as many as three of those strangers." "
And do you represent the people who thinks that way? It seems the representatives in Congress elected by their constituents do not see any benefit of Amtrak at all, even in places where Amtrak serves them and wish that less funding goes to them and they could careless that Amtrak serves their community or not.
Who made you the ultimate decider that you think that that's what people living in rural areas want? We're you elected by ruralites?
In this imaginary world that you believe that that's really what people want today, we would still have steamships carrying prospective immigrants from all over the world and spending months at sea instead of flying on jumbo jets that whisks immigrants from all over the world and landing at LAX in mere hours.
Travel is just a means to get from point A to point B, in the most cheapest and most efficient way possible and always has been. Meeting "new" people is far low the priority and was just a residual effect that was provided in times when transportation wasn't as fast back then.
Furthermore, if you want to meet lots of new people, feel free to experience rail travel in India. Nothing is stopping you to book a plane ticket (or go by steamship if you want the "get to know people" experience) to Delhi and travel around in trains like these:
http://www.apnaahangout.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/indiantrainovercrowded.jpg
I'm sure you'll have PLENTY of people to get to know of on a personal level.
K Town Commuter says:
When people say stuff like train travel is "magical" and it's a great way to "meet new people" and while enjoying the beautiful landscape, they envision this:
http://i.imgur.com/ecS1xmX.jpg
Reality hits them hard when this is what it's more like:
Truth is, no one cares. The Seoul Metro isn't anything remotely "magical" nor a place to "meet new people." It's just a train that is able to hold lots of passengers and transport them efficiently from one place to another.
Reality sucks says:
Trains are "magical" and a place to "meet new people" huh?
Try Tokyo during morning rush hour:
https://youtu.be/WnkVuyuosQ4
Trains filled to 193% of capacity in morning rush hour, despite rail cars 10 cars long and frequencies coming less than a minute apart, the last thing the do is talk to other and meet new friends. They're all quiet, not talking to each other, staring at their cell phones, doing their routine everyday for the rest of their life as commuters.
But note the manners. No yelling, no loud talking, people standing to the side when the train comes to let passengers off.
Libertarian Metro Rider says:
So many people, but so quiet that I can hear birds chirping! With everyone shutting up not babbling about useless stuff, announcements are heard loud and clear!
More Japan rush hour videos.
This is what you want, right? Everyone taking transit in a mass transit oriented society, all happy, being friendly with each other, making new friends, something special in the air?
https://youtu.be/FE1ELxzmUic
https://youtu.be/XwNaagHY6kk
https://youtu.be/1-Er1ouBwWU
https://youtu.be/vKP_nYDc9zQ
https://youtu.be/Bkglp6TtaaM
Your utopia crushed and not what you've expected, huh?
BTW, this is why it's stupid to build rail at-grade. When you get to Tokyo levels, the railroad crossing bars never open!
https://youtu.be/9D28UOcUdBU
https://youtu.be/Os4DInrh8rs
And rail operators have to deal with this too
https://youtu.be/N7pxmsuuD0E
https://youtu.be/5n2ozPRfrkE
https://youtu.be/rg34WKHxjuU
L J says:
I hate to be the train operator in the last video who had to witness the final moments of someone taking his own life. Must be why they have suicide barriers.


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Home » Linux Gaming News » The Pillars of the Earth releases from Daedalic
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The Pillars of the Earth releases from Daedalic
August 16, 2017 Linux Gaming News
Daedalic Entertainment just their highly anticipated interactive novel, The Pillars of the Earth. Since the games now available on Linux, Mac, Windows and Xbox One. An adaption of the best-selling historical book of the same name by Ken Follett. The Pillars of the Earth is a one-of-a-kind 2D interactive novel. Which is one of the more epic releases.
So players follow Jack, Aliena, and Phillip, the games three playable main characters. As they contend with envy, murder and politics in their quest to build a gothic cathedral in Kingsbridge. While trying to revitalize the town economically, socially and politically.
Therefore the game will be released in three "books". Each consisting of seven chapters. So Book 1 "From the Ashes" is now available. Since players can purchase a season pass. This will automatically give them access to the books 2 and 3 as they become available.
"It was both an honor and challenge adapting such a beloved source material as The Pillars of the Earth. We focused on staying true to the scope and spirit of the story while incorporating the more immersive aspects that the interactive novel format allows." Matt Kempke, author and game designer. Kevin Mentz, also author and game designer, noted: "Utilizing the interactivity of the game lets us to pull the player into the story and involve them emotionally so the core story beats and decisions feel more impactful and meaningful throughout."
The Pillars of the Earth Release Trailer:
Such aspirations draw the ire of the the town's rivals Bishop Waleran and William Hamleigh. Hence the vengeful noble rejected by Aliena. Who see's the town and its rise to importance as a thorn in their flesh. They want to see Kingsbridge burn. So this epic tale crosses decades and immerses readers in medieval life. Yet enthralls them in tales of heart-rending intimacy and humanity along the way.
The original novel by Ken Follett has sold more than 26 million copies to date.
The Pillars of the Earth Features:
21 chapters depicting the famous thousand-page novel
Interactive storyline events that can be changed, influencing the fates of its characters
Key decision points with meaningful, emotionally-engaging story choices
Over 200 hand-painted backgrounds featuring faithful rendition of 12th century life
Three main playable protagonists, plus two extra playable characters
An orchestral soundtrack by the FILMharmonic Orchestra, Prague
The Pillars of the Earth releases on Linux, Mac and Windows. Yet available for all platforms via Steam and DRM-Free from GOG.
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