#( traversing london in general is stressful for me )

[daybreakrising]

very sensible of me to stand in the park for two hours when i am already exhausted and in pain, knowing i'm gonna be having a long and stressful day tomorrow that involves lots of walking or standing-

gonna collapse with some dinner and then we'll see if i can summon the energy for an ask or two

[kevincauthorportfolio]

How You Can Use AI To Make Travel More Affordable and Accessible

Traveling can be such a hassle. Who wants to stand in airport security lines, hope their flight is on time, and have to worry about your schedule while you're on vacation? Thanks to the power of AI, these hassles might be eliminated (or at least minimized) soon. In this article, we'll look at all the ways AI solutions are changing the face of travel. 

First, what exactly is AI? For our purposes, artificial intelligence (AI) can be defined as "...the simulation of human intelligence by machines, especially computer systems" [1]. Use cases for AI include natural language processing, speech recognition, and machine vision. Don't worry if these terms and phrases are a bit foreign to you; you won't need to be an expert on AI to harness its powers for yourself.  Here are some uses AI may have to make travel more accessible and affordable for those on a budget.  

Nix The Tour Guides:  Buying an expensive tour package not in your budget? Why not let AI help design your itinerary? Roam Around is a simple web-based tool powered by ChatGPT [2]. All you need to do is navigate to roamaround.io and enter the city you'd like to visit and how much time you have there [2]. ChatGPT will then generate an easy-to-read itinerary for you [2].  

For instance, the AI software suggests spending time at the Colosseum and traversing the historic neighborhood of Tivoli for a hypothetical five-day expedition to Rome. Arguably even cooler, the names of key sites are hyperlinked to pages that provide budget tours of the corresponding area. No tour guide needed!  

Time Your Purchases:   If you're one of those people constantly checking flights to grab the best prices, AI has got you covered. Hopper is a travel booking app that uses artificial intelligence to predict flight prices [3]. Hopper looks at historical price changes and predicts when prices are likely to increase or decrease based on past data [3]. The app can save you up to 40% on travel costs [3]. It works for hotels, rental cars, and flight costs, likely your biggest three expenses when you travel [3]. Hopper even plants two free trees when you travel to offset the carbon footprint from your travel [3]. Friendly for the planet and your wallet! 

Do Your Homework with Chatbots:  Sure, you could research all the data you need to plan your trip. However, that could take hours and add stress to your vacation. Why not let AI pull the info you need for you? The Kayak app contains a chatbot that can grab information at the click of a button [4]. The bot will give you details on flights, rental cars, and itinerary options and give you some activities to try [4]. It can also help you budget, as you can specify things like "Get me a flight from New York City to London for under $150" or ask where you can go with $300 this weekend [4].  

Know Before You Go:   We've all been there: you see a luxurious-looking property with gorgeous photos, only to book something that's nothing like what you were promised. Tools like Magpie use something called sentiment analysis to scope out emerging trends and adjust their search algorithms accordingly [5]. In other words, it combs through data like reviews to determine whether they're positive, negative, or neutral and uses that data to rank reviews. Destinations with worse reviews should get knocked to the bottom, saving you time and money when it comes to searching. After all, there's no better way to get destination info than from someone who's already been there.  

Virtual Vacations?  Got more of a staycation in mind? AI can help with that too. Virtual Reality or VR is a technology that simulates an immersive 3D world all around you. AI can create "physically and emotionally immersive travel that is unique to each user [5]." After AI chooses a site for you according to your needs, you can enjoy an immersive experience through companies like First Airlines [5]. This includes first-class service with four-course meals and virtual sightseeing [5]. If you're a "try before you buy" type of person, these immersive experiences can help you learn about a destination inside and out without ever having to physically go there. You can also search YouTube for 3D travel experiences you can view inside Google Cardboard and other VR headsets if you own one.  

These are just some of the ways AI is making travel more affordable, convenient, and accessible. With the advent of the internet and modern solutions such as chatbots, ChatGPT, virtual reality headsets, and artificial intelligence apps, it's easier than ever to find stays and times that work for you and your budget. You don't have to dent your bank account (or even leave your living room) to see the world, and much of it can be organized and planned out for you. As these tools and solutions evolve, it's possible they will further democratize the travel experience, making the same cultural expeditions more readily available to everyone.  

Burns, Ed, and Nicole Laskowski. "What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?: Definition from TechTarget." Edited by Linda Tucci, Enterprise AI, TechTarget, 24 Feb. 2023, techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/AI-Artificial-Intelligence. 2. Patkar, Mihir. "5 Free Travel Planning AI and Chatgpt Apps to Get an Instant Itinerary." MUO, 19 Feb. 2023, makeuseof.com/free-travel-planning-ai-chatgpt-apps/ 3. Germán. "Ai Travel Apps You Can Use Right Now (That Are Not Chatgpt) [2023]." AirLapse, 20 Feb. 2023, airlapse.net/blog/ai-travel-apps 4.Bulanov, Alexandr. "How Machine Learning and AI Can Improve Travel Services." Medium, Towards Data Science, 26 Feb. 2019, https://towardsdatascience.com/how-machine-learning-and-ai-can-improve-travel-services-3fc8a88664c4 5."5 Ways AI Will Revolutionize Travel." CATALYST, CATALYST, 15 Feb. 2023, catalyst.cm/stories-new/2023/2/14/5-ways-ai-will-revolutionize-travel

This article is also available to purchase on Constant Content here: https://www.constant-content.com/MoreDetails/1912373-Ways_Ai_is_Making_Travel_More_Accessible_and_Affordable.htm. Once purchased, you can change the byline and use it for your own blog or website. 

[dearlazerbunny]

Jane Eyre AU (untitled, Ch 1 of ?)

Pairings: Kylo x Reader

Genre/Ratings: Jayne Eyre AU

Words: 4000

Summary: someone requested a Jane Eyre AU and for some reason my brain refused to keep it a ficlet. I have very little written for it so far, but many ideas. Currently also untitled, but if I don’t post it to give me motivation I’m afraid I will never finish it. 

I have always thought that carriage rides were much conducive to thinking. The pit-pat of the horses’ hooves, the gentle crunch of wooden wheels on dirt and cobblestone, an occasional punctuating crack of the riding crop. Such intricate monotony lends itself to the mind wandering where it pleases. I have never been apt at daydreaming in times of stress, so my thoughts as of now tend to list towards the more practical- taking stock of my situation and surroundings, and putting my thinking into orderly, manageable rows.

I come to the conclusion that my current surroundings have never been so nice as this. The carriage is functional, but with plush detailing that whispers of wealth and elegance the likes of which I have never seen before. My seat is cushioned and covered in a soft fabric; the curtains drawn to the sides of the windows are velvet, if my limited knowledge of the finer things in life rings true. The scenery passing outside may as well be a painting on some artist’s easel: green grass dotted with the most delicate flowers wave in the light breeze, topped by a sky bluer than a newborn’s eye. Clouds float by lackadaisically, as though they have all the time in the world to get wherever they might be going to, and one would think you could lie back and wish the world away curled amongst their feathery fingers.

I take a breath and marvel at how easy and light the air is this far from the city. It tastes of honeysuckle and a babbling brook; cotton warmed by sunshine on a summer’s day, sensations I have only read about in books or dreamt of in the dead of night. The hour’s journey has already purged the ash and soot of home from my lungs. Indeed, I find it hard to recall what it was like to not breathe so easily, so intrinsically. The matched pair of horses drawing my coach whinny with pleasure, in time to my admiration of the surrounding lands.

My fingers find the worn handle of my suitcase to clutch. I would be lying if I said I did not feel out of place in such an idyllic countryside. I was born to an industrious cityscape, surrounded by brick and stone, coal and human filth. A place where it is nigh impossible to wash all of the grit out of your hair, or avoid the noise of the bustling crowds. My ears ring with the absence of market chatter and factories clanging in the distance- that harsh dissonance is now replaced with birdsong and the rustling of foliage. I shake my head. How abruptly my life has changed in just a few days.

The notice, written on paper much too fine to be tacked onto the warped message board as it was, called for a governess- full time and live-in- for the child of a master I had never heard of. But as I passed, the address caught my eye. So remote, so far from the city and its struggles, and further still from the war and its efforts that continuously cripple the entirety of the country along with its people. I have no formal training, really, and no specific qualifications that would give me the authority to nurture a child. But I read and write as well as anyone, perhaps better, since the time most women my age spend working in the war factories I in turn spend in libraries and my cozy attic, consuming stories and penning whatever thoughts come to mind. I could teach sufficiently, I think, if the pupil would be willing to listen, and given adequate books on various subjects. So I went home and wrote a response, offering my services, posted it to the address stated with a few coins dug from the bottom of my bag, and prepared myself to wait in cautious optimism.

Imagine my surprise when not even the day after next a letter arrived for me, in the same hand as that illustrious address that first drew my attention. My application- could you even call it that, bare bones and plain as it was?- had been accepted. A coach would arrive for me the next morning.

I suppose in that moment it was a strange sort of blessing that I had little to pack. A few sets of clothes and an extra pair of boots; what little writing materials I had managed to scrounge up the past few years. They all fit easily into my little suitcase, with room to spare. My satchel, in contrast, was heavy and filled to the brim with every book I had ever acquired. I refused to leave any behind- they were hard won and much loved, despite most of them having cracked spines and wrinkled pages. Besides, I supposed any sort of teacher worth their salt would most likely arrive with some sort of collection of novels.

And so here I sit, in a carriage I fear I am contaminating with the dust permanently ground into my clothes from the city’s smog, my meager life packed into only two bags, with no idea what lies ahead other than an address and what I could glean from the handwriting of my new employer- which was not much. I never claimed to be a detective, after all. But the view is more exquisite than I had even hoped for; my worries bleed out of my person and mix into the fragrant air. I think I could survive any assignment set in such a place. Should I, god forbid, find myself beaten and bloodied by a madman, at least my soul will rest in a place with lasting happiness.

I scold myself for being so morbid. How bad could this possibly be?

At this very thought, the carriage creaks to a halt. I risk a look outside the window. The manse before me is stately, with rich brickwork contrasting the pastels of the grounds on which it sits. Vines climb their way up to the second story windows, worming their way into the nooks and crannies that have been weathered away as the years have passed. The lawn and its walkways are generally neat, with only a hint of overgrowth beginning to creep through the cobblestone. Balconies dot the upper-story.

In short, it looks like a fairy-tale; the home of a shut away princess condemned to roam the hills barefoot for the rest of her days, or a faerie house magicked to grow ten sizes, large enough for humans to live in. I am sure the house is far from the most impressive in this countryside- I have seen renderings in the papers of castles that could house all of London within its walls- but this estate holds much more character than those extravagant flauntings of wealth. I can practically hear each brick singing with its own stories to weave and whisper into my ear. My fingers are already itching for my pen.

The coachman opens my door, seeing as I have not emerged myself; too charmed by the villa to move. I shoulder my satchel, ignoring the muscles that strain under the weight of my books, and take my suitcase by the handle. Stepping into the fresh air feels as though I’ve dived into a clear river for the first time. My skin prickles as the breeze winds its way around me and lifts the corners of my skirts; a child wishing to play.

“The Master is expecting you, ma’am,” says the driver, and I nod at him in thanks. Rather than lead me up to the door, he simply sits back on his perch and turns the horses away, trotting back down the path we just traversed. All right then, I suppose introductions are up to me. Shouldn’t I feel anxious, as my boots click along the stone path, carrying me towards this unknown new life? That would probably be the rational response to the complete upheaval of one’s life in less than a week. Despite all that, my heart feels at ease and indeed almost at peace- far more than it ever was in my old home. Perhaps some sort of guardian star has led me to this place, knowing that my destiny, whatever it might be, awaits here.

The door is twice my height, with a carved brass knocker the size of my head hanging in the center. I go to let it fall against the wood, but think better of it. If I am going to live here, I will not put up any ideas of pretentiousness or good breeding, as I have none of that and furthermore no use for it. I shall come just as I am, and they will have to decide if that is sufficient enough for them. I ignore the wrought brass and instead rap my knuckles against the door succinctly, eager to see who or what will greet me first on this new adventure I have stumbled into.

As it turns out, it is a boy. He looks to be around ten to my unfamiliar eye, with untamed hair and sharp green eyes that look at me with cautious curiousness. It is a gaze of intelligence, and he holds himself well amongst the soaring architecture. Despite his size, he isn’t swallowed up by the surrounding space. “Who are you?”

Straight to the point, then. I believe I like him already. “Well, my name Jayne Ruth Linton, though you can call me Jayne if you like. Who are you?”

“Ben.” He doesn’t seem to want to offer any further information as he studies me closely, from my scuffed boots to the bag slung over my shoulder and in my hand. His shoulders sag. “He went and hired another one, then.”

“Beg pardon?”

“You don’t really look like a proper governess though. I guess he’s getting desperate.” Loud footsteps approach from further inside the house, and the boy- Ben- turns to address I would assume the person responsible for them. “I’ve told you, I don’t need a bloody nanny! Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“Benjamin, language,” a tired voice scolds, as though he has done it ten times today already, and then the door opens wider to reveal a tall man with worry lines furrowed between his brow. “You must be Miss Linton.”

“I prefer Jayne, please.” I shift my luggage to the opposite hand and hold out my right to him. “Mr. Ren, I presume?”

For a moment he looks at my outstretched hand as though it is an alien thing come to life. I am about to apologize for overstepping some invisible boundary when he stands aside from blocking the entrance. “Please, come in.”

The second I do, Ben is off, running to who knows where. I suppose I shall find out soon enough. I study his retreating form. He is by all accounts a handsome boy, and though I’m not sure where serpentine green eyes were inherited from in the family genealogy- possibly his mother?- it is clear that his dark curls, his sharp features, and cool gaze come from the man now leading me further into the house. They must be father and son, or otherwise the younger is some outrageous science fiction clone of the elder. I have to keep myself from giggling at the thought.

We emerge into,  by all accounts, a well-loved sitting room. Books and papers are strewn about, along with oddities that might attract a child’s attention and just as quickly lose it. To my relief, the furniture is not gilded and upholstered in finery- the sofas are meant to be sat upon; the coffee table has scratches at the corners. It is far more utilitarian than one might expect from the exterior of the house, but I find that to be a comfort. At least I have most probably not walked into a place where manners the likes of which the Queen uses are mandatory.

“Please, sit.” Mr. Ren gestures to a seat and after relieving myself of my baggage, I do so. He remains standing, pacing the room slowly but efficiently a few practiced times before he speaks. His spine is ramrod straight, his shoulders back, his footfalls heavy and sure. Military, a voice in the back of my mind says, but the assessment doesn’t make much sense- why would a military man of some obvious rank be so sequestered in the countryside?

“I trust your journey was comfortable?” His tone of voice indicates he most likely does not care, but I answer nonetheless.

“Extremely. The coach was very fine, and the weather is excellent today.” He nods, but does not respond, his mind seemingly elsewhere. After a minute of glancing around the room, noting this and that, I clear my throat. “Well, Mr. Ren, I see you are not a man to mince words. Perhaps we should start with your intention on hiring a governess?”

He sighs heavily, and for an instant, despite his posture, I can almost envision the heavy load that weighs upon his shoulders. “Ben,” he says simply, as though that answers every question a philosopher might ever pose. “He is an extraordinary child, and he needs more than just I in the house. I have my strengths, but giving a child a proper education is not one of them.”

“I see. And I take it you have hired help before?”

Mr. Ren nods. “Several. Benjamin can be… contradictory, at times.” He eyes me wearily, as though these few words will already send me running for the hills. “And he doesn’t take to new people well.”

“Indeed, I don’t believe I should be entirely thrilled for a strange woman to be moving into my house.” I rise and straighten my skirt. “Well, then, if you will point me in his direction, I shall make proper introductions, yes?”

Brown eyes take in my face, as though searching for some unseen agenda. But I am apparently deemed satisfactory, because he simply nods and holds a hand out for my case. “I will take your things to your room. It is down the hall from Ben’s- up the stairs and to the left.”

And so while my new employer turns into the depths of another hallway with my things, I part from him in search of my ward. It isn’t hard to find him- scuff marks and crumbles of dirt lead to a well-worn door that has clearly been slammed one too many times for its hinges. I knock lightly on the wood. “Benjamin? It’s me, Jayne. May I speak with you a moment?”

There is a long pause, then some shuffling, and finally the boy cracks his door just a hair, so that I might not see what lies within. His glare is stony. “What.”

“Well, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I did not mean to upset you.”

Benjamin opens his mouth in order to what looks like give a fiery retort, but the words never pass his lips. “A- apologize?”

“Indeed. Might I come in? Only for a moment, then I shall leave you be.”

Many gears appears to be turning in his head- the gleam in his eyes gives it away- but finally he stands back a little, allowing me entrance.

His room is what I might imagine a wizard’s lair should look like. Books strewn across every surface, shoved onto shelves and teetering in giant stacks in the corners of the room. Lamps are strewn haphazardly in seemingly no order. Tinkering projects- gears and oil smudges on the desk, bits and bobs set about like they have been forgotten- dot the room. The small wizard must dance and turn in order to avoid knocking over this or that covering the floor to get to his bed, which mimics the rest of the room in its untidiness. Still, it has a sort of charm about it, or a coziness- a little hideaway from the rest of the world, full of oddities the owner sees loveliness in. It quite reminds me of my little attic, in fact.

Benjamin sits on his bed, cross legged, and shifts a few times to make himself comfortable. It occurs to me that he most likely does not let just anyone into his sanctum. “I’m quite fond of your room, I must say.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Really? You’re just saying that. Everyone else just nags at me to keep it clean or to shelve my books correctly.”

“Often I find rooms like these are indeed organized, but rather than by normal methods, by the owner’s specific and unique standards.” I tilt my head, taking in an oddly shaped pile of tomes under the nightstand. “For example… do you know what books lie in this stack? Without looking,”

“Mostly ecology books. Geology and the like. I was studying the rocks I found by the pond.”

I give him a small smile. “See? So long as you know where things are located, I see no reason to upend your personal space.”

“Hm.” He looks down at his hands, clasped in front of him, and I get a look at his features illuminated in the lamplight. I would guess he is eleven or twelve, certainly no more than thirteen. “Maybe you are different.”

“I can assure you I am, even without knowing what I am being compared to,” I tease, and I am pleased when I am rewarded with a small grin. “Different than…?”

“The others father has hired.” He glances at me, and I can see the worry in his eyes. “They were all horribly overbearing. Never leaving me alone, telling me to do this and that and always exactly their way. And most of them were stupid as well. They never listened,” he mumbles, and his fingers twist.

“Well that sounds perfectly horrible. I can see why you were upset.” Holding up my skirts so I don’t trip, I lithely jump from empty space to empty space on his floor until I can reach the bed. He watches me with razor precision. I have a feeling if I were to misstep, some delicate trust that has been forged would all be lost. And so, I do not fall. Instead, I land next to him and pat my skirt, as though the effort was nothing. “Now then, Benjamin- or do you prefer Ben? I would like to make a deal with you, if you will hear my terms. I think you will find them quite agreeable, but I am always open to negotiation.”

“Ben.” He vaguely gestures with his hand. “Go on.”

“Well, Ben. I have been hired to give you an education. Education is important, even when we must study the things we do not like. However,” I say, glancing around the room, “I can see you have already found more than enough interests that please you, and I am happy to explore them with you as our time allows.”

“Really?”

I nod. “In addition, I promise to always recognize that you are your own person with your own boundaries. If we are going to work together, we both need our space from time to time. I will not encroach on yours if you do not encroach on mine. Does that seem reasonable?”

For an instant, I am afraid I have overstepped, because his face is blank and unreadable. But then, in a moment of sunshine, a smile splits his face, and he holds out his hand as though we have signed and sealed an official document. “I think that sounds perfect.”

The handshake is firm. “Excellent. I believe we will get along famously, don’t you?”

To my delight, he giggles, a happy sound that contrasts with his serious face. “Won’t father be surprised.”

“Hm. Indeed he might be.” I give him a conspiratorial wink. “Let’s see if we can make that a habit, yes? He looks as though he could use a good shock every once in a while.”

Ben dissolves into muffled laughter and steals my heart right in the very same moment.

A/N: I’ve imagined the story in sort of a steampunk era. Their technology and society is more advanced then ours of the eighteenth/early nineteenth century, but they still use petticoats and carriages. 

Jayne is named for Jane Eyre and Catherine Linton in Wuthering Heights

[darkpaladinchris]

Of PMA and Pancakes, Ch. 1

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters. All rights belong to our lord and master Sean William “Jacksepticeye” McLoughlin. 

Summary: Anti is used to having it easy. Outside of doing videos for Jack, he has no life. But when an accident happens while everyone is away, how will Anti react to having a huge responsibility shoved on his shoulders? Will he crack under the pressure? Or will he grow closer to one of the only beings in the universe he can bring himself to harm? Read to find out. This is my first fanfiction. Let me know what you think. No flames please.

Normal speech

Anti’s thoughts

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti woke up this morning looking forward to the next couple of days and began going through his morning routine of push-ups, VR knife target practice, showering, and cleaning and checking his neck scar.

I’m glad this thing finally healed, but I’m almost going to miss it. With all the time I spent in Schneeps med lab and Marvin’s library trying to get it to heal the three of us really bonded, compared to when I first showed up and Sean accidentally stabbed Gerald the pumpkin in the head. Poor guy thought he was going crazy. Not to mention the others looked like they  wanted to immediately murder me.

Leaving the bathroom with the towel wrapped around his waist, Anti went to his dresser pulling out an outfit for the day deciding on wearing his usual black pants with the first, and only, Christmas gift he had ever received which just so happened to be an Overwatch shirt with the character Reaper on it that was given to him by Sean. His outfit decided, Anti proceeded to get dress and set about making breakfast for himself, deciding on pancakes while also thinking on what to do with his time the next couple of days.

With Sean in L.A. and no filming for any of the egos planned, the boys had all decided to follow Sean’s lead and take some time for their own lives. Schneep had gone to attend a medical conference in Australia and wouldn’t be back until next week. Jackie and Marvin were in London for the weekend, touring the city, visiting Signe, and attending a showing of Wicked at the Royal Albert Hall and weren’t set to return home until Sunday. Jameson had gone to Ireland with a local animal organization to help at a fundraiser for the local dog shelter as well as oversee the opening of the second site of his new antique store and didn’t know when he would return.The whole process had thankfully been made easier by the fact that Marvin and Schneep had finally found a way to allow Jameson to physically speak. 

Sean had obviously been on tour for a while and was currently finishing up his much needed vacation in L.A. The YouTube creator had become so overworked and mentally unstable in the weeks before the start of summer that even Anti himself was encouraging Sean to take some time to himself and to go visit Mark, Ethan, and the rest of his friends in L.A. if only to reduce everyone’s stress levels, especially Chase’s.         

I keep telling Sean he needs to take better care of himself. Then again maybe pranking him with multiple nightmares of walking in on Jackie and Marvin defying gravity together was a little to much.

Having thought of Chase Anti’s thoughts turned toward the bro average star and all he had gone through over the past few months. The poor man had it almost as hard as Sean. Chase had gotten a call from Angus, Stacey’s new husband who also happened to be a survival trainer in the American armed forces. This was no surprise to anyone since when Angus had first called, he explained that even though it seemed Stacey wanted to keep Chase as far away from their kids as possible, Angus felt Chase had a right to know how they were doing and had started calling Chase around the start of first segment of Sean’s tour. Angus would call periodically since then to inform Chase of what they had been up too, sometimes even sending him pictures or videos of the kids which everyone could tell Angus had been careful to ensure Stacey wasn’t in any of them. It had even been on the second or third call that Chase had learned that a couple months after Angus met Stacey she had birthed a third child, a son named Trey. It didn’t take long for the men to put two and two together and figure out whose son Trey was. According to Angus, at 19 and attending college Trey was “exactly like his father”.

Sadly the most recent call two months ago hadn’t gone so well. According to Angus had called two nights before Sean left for L.A. and informed Chase with some bad news. Apparently one of the girls hadn’t been feeling so well and asked to go to the doctors. What Angus told Chase next was so shocking that he would have fallen down the stairs he was traversing had Sean not caught him. Chase later explained to everyone that Stacey had been diagnosed with leukemia. Thankfully they had caught it early on though and thus treatment had really good chances of succeeding according to the doctor. Sean had immediately made last minute arrangements for Chase to come and stay with him while in L.A. so that he could be close to his family whilst Stacey went through treatment.

Anti gave a small chuckle at this thought.

Even after all that she put him through, he still cares for her.

Since then Chase had checked in periodically with the others to inform them of what was going on. He told everyone that all the time he spent in L.A. finally forced him and Stacey to work out their problems with some help from Angus. Though things would never be what they once were between the two, they had both agreed upon staying good friends and keeping in contact with each other more mainly for the benefit of the kids. During this time, Angus had also taken Chase to the college in California where Trey was currently attending school over the summer to become a forensic scientist for law enforcement. Though a little unsure at first, Trey finally opened up to Chase after a couple of hours of them talking, eventually breaking down in his father’s embrace from emotional stress of worrying about Stacey’s condition and his sisters.

I swear  Chase can make anyone break down in his arms crying. Heck, he’s even had me bawling into his shoulder a few times back when my neck was still freshly sliced, not to mention when Schneep and Robbie made me believe that I actually killed Sean when we filmed the Kill JSE video. Anti smirked a little at this thought while flipping a few of the pancakes as his thoughts returned to the recent developments Chase had told them all about.

Over the weeks Chase told everyone how he had spent more time with Trey, being the father to the boy he always wanted to be ever since he learned of the kid’s existence, and spending more time with his daughters. At the insistence of Stacey and Angus, after having told both father and step-father to do as much as they could to keep the kids from worrying about her, Chase took Trey and the girls to the beach for Fourth of July where Chase learned just how much like him Trey was. The boy was almost Chases equal when it came to being a daredevil, even showing his knack for surfing by doing multiple backflips on his board while riding a few waves. It was also that day that Stacey told Chase over video chat who one of their children’s role models was besides Chase himself. A few weekends later around the start of August, Stacey was given a clean bill of health to which the whole family went out to dinner to celebrate both that and Trey’s birthday. Unbeknownst to Stacey and the kids, Chase and Angus had made a call earlier that day, and when they got to the restaurant to the girls excitement and Trey’s bewilderment, they found waiting outside to meet them none other than Sean who Chase introduced as his friend and business partner. Later in the evening Sean, Angus, and Stacey surprised both Trey and Chase. Sean had apparently worked some magic and got the pair two VIP All Access Passes to PAX West in a couple of weeks. Chase’s latest call to Sean and the egos a couple days ago had him describing all of the fun Trey and him had at PAX. In addition to that Angus and Stacey joined in with Chase in telling Sean and the egos that at the end of the year Stacey and Angus were going to be moving to Brighton due to Stacey’s job. Due to Angus’s work with the armed forces, he would be allowed more leave to spend time with his family and take care of the kids, but would still be gone months at a time. As a result Angus and Stacey had both started working on getting part custody of the children back to Chase so that they could have some one they trust watching the kids while they were away. This would prove to be difficult however since not only had Stacey been on a rampage when she claimed full custody the first time and wanted to make it next to impossible for Chase to fight the court order, but they were all worried that Chase’s recent past as an alcoholic would complicate matters even more. When they mentioned this Anti merely snapped his fingers announcing, to everyone’s surprise, that any records of Chase that would complicate the matter had just been deleted from all global databases. Knowing the general scope of Anti’s powers, Sean and Chase told everyone to just drop the matter before either anyone could ask any questions.

I hope everything goes well with their case, Chase really deserves this win. Anti then poured himself a glass of orange juice, picked up his plate of pancakes that he had just doused with syrup and proceeded to the living room where a large 48 inch 4k plasma screen television, which somehow was a gift from a group of super fans at one of Sean’s recent shows, awaited him.  Just as he was about to sit on the sofa, Anti paused for a second before setting his food on the table in front of the sofa and proceeding out of the living room down the hallway.

“Know what, I don’t feel like being alone today,” Anti spoke aloud to himself as he proceeded towards the elevator that led to Schneepelstein’s lab and medical bay where, unbeknownst to Anti, a certain someone was in need of a little company and PMA.

[chryso71]

LN2001 2020/21 – Identity Project

Blog Task: Discussion of my Project

Prof. Luke White

Chryso Yiallouridou

For my final animation I decided to show my hand holding my phone and scrolling on Instagram whilst a comet is falling from the sky in the background and a UFO traverses the earth atmosphere alongside it. On the screen of my phone, flashing briefly, I put all the things I like to see on my wall when I log into my account. That includes celebrities, such as Angelina Jolie, contemporary art collages, illustrations and art in general, clothes from different stores, food recipes and quotes about mental health. The phone is the central object in my animation because it’s at the foreground and in the center. The viewer can also see that I’m drawn to it, I keep scrolling no matter what happens around me. It is a part of me that I cannot be without even if it was the end of the world. Which brings us to the background of my animation: the comet does not necessarily have to be a comet falling from the sky. It can represent any event happening outside of me that I do not pay enough attention to. Like, recently there have been elections in the US and the whole world has been preoccupied with it but for me, news about it seems just like a comet coming and going. The UFO could be somebody close to me or even an acquaintance who seems like an “unknown flying object” in my universe. My whole world is concentrated in my phone in a way that makes people that exist outside of it almost indifferent to me or unrecognizable. Because most of my interactions even with my closest friends are now done through my phone, the food I eat I find online either by looking at recipes or ordering food, most of the stuff I share with friends and family is also things I find on the Internet, and my schoolwork is done online. In this way I used symbolism to portray the concepts of my project: the phone symbolizes my identity, the comet symbolizes the world, the events that happen around me, and the UFO symbolizes the people that seem foreign to me.

Some of the concepts from the papers I read can be relevant to my project. For example, Woodward (2000) mentioned in her essay that in some cases our identity is chosen for us by an external structure, in my case, the Internet and technology. The Internet itself defines me, the images that I look at everyday made me who I am over the years, and I set my own standards through the pictures that I see from my social media accounts. If there wasn’t an Internet or a device to connect myself with it, I would probably be constructing my identity differently.

Just like Edward Hopper, I tried to represent my feelings at the time being, feelings of alienation and isolation. The quotes about mental health describe the situation that I’m currently in and the stress I have from online classes (and how can I not feel alienated when I only interact through a screen with my teachers and peers at the moment when I was so excited to live a true college experience); the food recipes help me when I meal prep in order to have food ready every day because it is really hard to balance studying and eating well. Furthermore, the online clothing shops show my addiction to shopping, the art pages I follow show my interest in art and specifically contemporary art, and the famous actress, Angelina Jolie, simply shows the beauty standards that every female girl looks up to. Using Althusser’s concept of “interpellation” I can say that these are the things that “call me” to identify with, the things I recognize myself in. Like, there are many more things on Instagram but I find myself identifying with clothing because I like being fashionable and up-to-date with the fashion standards. Again, this is an example of structure and agency. I have the freedom to choose my clothes and present my identity as I like myself to look, but fashion itself (or the marketing that takes place through Instagram) presents me with specific types of clothing that I choose from.

Finally, I would like to close my essay by reflecting on the concept of “cyborg” that Turkle (2011) talked about in her book “Alone together”. I identify with Turkle’s theory the most because I, too, cannot see myself without this piece of technology and it is almost as if I am one with it. You will never see me without my phone whether I'm outside with my friends, at the mall or at the table eating dinner with my family. In conclusion, “I” (myself, my identity) cannot be imagined outside of my device, my phone is an extension of my body and my mind, a part of myself.

References

Woodward, K. (2000). “Questions of identity” in Woodward, K. (ed.) Questioning identity: gender, class, nation. London: Routledge, pp. 6-41.

Turkle, S. (2011). “Always on” in Turkle S. Alone together: why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York, pp. 151-170.

[some-thoughts-and-crosses]

And so it begins...

Week 1 in Rome and at the WFP

Alternative title: Things Jon Snow and I have in common…

Context: I have left South Africa in a complete whirlwind to take up my 6 month post with the World Food Programme. I cannot quite believe my luck. I am working in the IRM-O team (Integrated Roadmap - Operations). The IRM is a huge initiative that will change the way the WFP functions and touches every country office it operates in. It is aligned to meet the WFP’s aim of zero hunger by 2030. Among other things, it looks at creating sustainable models focusing on drives like food security and placing more control in the hands of the local country offices. 

I arrived in Rome on Saturday afternoon, 15th July. Took a shuttle from the airport to my address, where my landlord and his family were waiting for me. Since the wifi hadn’t been installed, they took me to get a local SIM card and train and tram tickets for the work week. Turns out I bought 10 extraneous train tickets since the tram ticket is valid on the train, so long as it’s within 100 minutes.

Getting around is not quite as seamless as in London for example. To get to work I walk 5 minutes to my tram stop, catch the tram for 5 stops, get to Trastevere station (train not metro / tube equivalent), and take the train to a stop that’s a 5 minute walk to the office. It usually takes around 45 – 50 minutes one way. Unless I walk to where I’m going, any trip will use a combination of these modes. This is true for most people who use the public transport. Driving is difficult (not that I plan on), as the streets are busy and usually single, narrow lanes.

Also bought an iron, hairdryer, and some grocery necessities. By the time I got back to the apartment, I felt sick and tired. After a cereal supper, I called it quits for the day. Sunday I decided to take a trial trip to work to make sure I wasn’t lost and flustered on work day 1. More groceries and errands, and that was day 2.

On Monday morning I realised I wouldn’t be sitting at head office but next door, since the project I’m working on has a large team, and there wasn’t room enough for all of them in one location. Security traded me a temporary access card for my passport and brought me into the offices. I was met by the lovely Sabrina, across from whom I’m sitting. She took me for coffee, showed me to the main building, got me my access card, and had lunch with me. Since then she’s been my go-to person for office matters and Italian vocab queries – all of which she has been unfailingly gracious about. It has struck me just how nice everyone is. Uber polite and friendly. All of them. It’s lovely…albeit a little unexpected. I was warned to be vigilant, especially around Termini train station in Rome central. I should be aware that gypsy thieves operate there! One ruse is to have a baby thrust upon you! While you stagger in confusion you are robbed. Good to know…

Between the dictionary app on my phone and pictures of what I need, I’ve been getting by. But a working knowledge of Italian would definitely make life easier. Thankfully everyone works in English but the majority of the WFP shops and canteen employees only speak Italian. Outside the WFP, I use my dictionary even more.

I completed my mandatory security training (hectic – based on if I was in remote locations on missions…there was stuff on how to recognise land mines! Luckily not much risk in Rome…). There are apparently other mandatory courses I should complete in a 6 week timeframe. I’ll get to them – there’s been loads of other admin. Tuesday I met my manager, and started going through meeting notes and compiling questions and acronyms for clarification. There are a lot of these. The UN has its own, very specific language. 

About this time I started feeling pretty stressed about ever being able to understand this world, this huge and seminal project, and being able to contribute anything worthwhile. Coupled with missing my people and not knowing how anything worked, the local unknown language, getting lost (was there ever any doubt), physically not at peak, and a clogged shower, I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed. Wednesday I had a chat with a colleague which helped ease the sense that I was supposed to be delivering immediately (a throwback from Consulting where you need to justify your existence and start delivering from the first).

Thursday dawned a lot brighter. Sat in on a cool “gazebo” session at head office with the Deputy Exec Director and the Country Manager for Ecuador, where they discussed the project, followed by a good meeting with my manager. Also applied for my compulsory Italian ID card and Fiscal Code. Also had coffee with 3 colleagues from the Gender Office who I met on the train home on Tuesday. They live in Trastevere too and gave me a google map printout with highlighted places to look out for, what to avoid, and some WFP insight too. Also went to the WFP doctor – both the medical centre and pharmacy are on site. Upon making the appointment I realised I was covered by a medical aid for my contract duration – bonus!

It is a very international community. This is a little borrower’s library nook I found. You can take a book and leave one if you can. I spotted English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.

I also signed up for beginner Italian language classes at the office. They are twice a week until mid August. I’ve missed 4 lessons already but the teacher doesn’t seem like this is a problem. I’ve started a vocab list on my phone and love when an Italian word has roots I can recognise. E.g. Porta (portal) is door; portare via (is takeaway); attraversiamo (cross over – traverse). I said my first full sentence yesterday, “Uno cappuccino porta via per favorre”. The coffees come smaller than we’re used to and are very good J

My ‘hood

I live in Trastevere, which is a hip and happening area (referred to as mo vida!) that has medieval roots. Many parts are absurdly pretty! I have to remind myself that it’s not staged (like Monte!). The landmark closest to my apartment is Piazza de S’ Cosimato. There’s a screen set up to show movies in the evenings (all Italian). Mondays to Saturdays the square has fruit and vegetable vendors in the morning. The square also has a lovely little play area along one side.

Down the street is a gelateria I found and have been to twice. The gender trio rated this very highly and I found it on my own. Good to know I still have my instincts! Note the name on the cup…

Like the rest of Italy, this area has many little specialty food shops: one for cheeses and breads, one for meats etc. The grocery shops have limited stocks and brands. (The Polizia cordon is for construction…the cheese shop is not a crime scene).

In the parts of Rome I’ve been travelling around, people dress very casually and colourfully. The WFP dress code seems very relaxed too. What I find myself enjoying is the lack of self-consciousness from everyone…very much a live and let live kind of place. It’s one of the traits I’m adopting J The pace is also slower in general. You don’t catch Italians running to catch the train! Though it can be an undignified mob to get on and off public transport.

There’s an afternoon / early evening tradition called ‘aperitivo’. You have drinks with friends at restaurants and they bring you at the least small snacks – but often larger portions that end up serving as dinner.

My apartment is lovely! It’s spacious – rare considering the many other pics I’ve seen during my search. It’s painted white, has high ceilings, is airy, and gets lots of light. Tours will be conducted on request.

The apartment (as most do apparently) has a very strict recycling policy. There’s a camera in reception to monitor people don’t transgress! Using the wrong bins on wrong days etc. It’s a little odd considering the streets have litter and smoking isn’t as criminalised as I’m used to. (Remember this if you sit outside at a restaurant – actually any outside space is fair game to smoke).

This is a sign outside my street that gave me pause…

I went exploring a bit yesterday evening…herewith obligatory pasta pic (which was delicious!)

On the way back, just some guys sitting around a square…

After work today I will aim to get to a cheap home ware shop called “Flying Tiger”…a Copenhagen import. For the weekend I’m aiming for more exploring and settling in and eating gelato.

Despite some anxious moments, it’s been a good week overall. Ciao for now[1]

[1] Credit: Aatish

Disclaimer: “The information posted on this blog reflects my personal views and opinions and does not necessarily represent those of my employer.”

[dragnews]

The Personal Wake-up Call to Prayers, a Ramadan Tradition, Is Endangered

New Delhi — For nearly 60 years, Mohammed Shafiq has braved New Delhi’s hot temperatures, a bad knee and evil spirits to wake up his neighbors for morning prayers and a final meal before sun rise during the holy month of Ramadan.

But nothing prepared him for the rise of New Delhi’s electricity grid and its many cellphones.

The 68-year old Mr. Shafiq is known here as a town crier. The job has been made gradually obsolete by the arrival decades ago of the city’s electricity supply and recent improvements to the grid, powering up smartphones throughout the night and their alarm clocks that wake people up for prayer.

Mr. Shafiq’s sense of religious duty compels him to soldier on, adding his special, personalized touch, he said. He prefers to wake up neighbors by shouting out their names, rather than leave them to the clanging of alarm clocks.

From a cramped one-room apartment, Mr. Shafiq explained the hazards of the job — including fending off those evil spirits, a headless man and a beautiful vampire — as he sat on the floor, the walls painted a bubblegum pink. His shock of white hair burst out in tufts from a black skullcap adorned with rhinestones and sequins from every hue of a neon-colored rainbow, his protruding belly covered by a mustard-yellow tunic.

This year will be Mr. Shafiq’s first making the rounds alone. His brother used to make the rounds with him but he died eight months ago. His son decided he wouldn’t carry on the tradition, he recalled as his wife looked on solemnly.

In his neighborhood of Old Delhi — the original city center of the capital, New Delhi — Mr. Shafiq was once one of dozens of other town criers servicing thousands of homes, each assigned a zone. Today he is one of a handful.

“As children working with my father we covered 70 lanes, hundreds of houses,” he said. “Today, my bad knees don’t allow me to do more than four lanes. It’s lonely work and when I go, the tradition will die, too.”

He starts his duties at 2:30 a.m., armed with the verses he has memorized from the Quran to ward off the evil spirits and a stick for the wild dogs.

Traversing Old Delhi’s windy, narrow alleyways one recent morning, underneath a canopy of exposed electricity wires and a tangle of thick, fiber optic internet cables, Mr. Shafiq relentlessly rang — and kept ringing — neighbors’ doorbells and banged on metal doors with a wrinkled fist.

“Those who are fasting, wake up! Nassim, wake up!” he yelled, calling a neighbor by name.

“All the neighbors, front and back, wake up! It’s the night for prayers!”

His wails reverberated along the alleyway.

A gaggle of children emerged on the street mocking him. “It’s the night for prayers!” they mimicked, before lining up to shake his hand.

The holy month of Ramadan marks the start of the prophet Mohammed’s Quranic revelations from God, one of the five pillars of Islam, an obligation the devout must fulfill.

In much of the Middle East, Mr. Shafiq’s job is called “the suhoor drummer” or “musharati,” and the waking up of the neighborhood is done not with the incessant ringing of doorbells as in New Delhi, but with a large drum. The musharati call for the devout to wake up, eat their suhoor — a predawn meal — and perform prayers.

But that tradition, too, is dying, replaced by reliable alarm clocks or the rise of megacities, making the door-to-door wake up call impossible as individual homes make way for high-rise apartments.

A lot has changed since Mr. Shafiq began making the rounds with his father and brothers when he was 10. Troupes of Quran-memorizers once walked these alleyways reciting verses from their holy book. But people became fatigued with their expectation of nightly alms and stopped giving.

Electricity has also transformed Old Delhi’s peaceful but eerily quiet streets into a bustling jumble of night markets. Under the glare of bare light bulbs, shoppers buy greasy fried chicken and juice from stalls and purchase gifts for loved ones or groceries for the home.

Electricity, Mr. Shafiq grumbled, has meant not just the death of his work, but of the sacrifices expected of all Muslims during Ramadan.

With a constant power source, Muslims have shifted their hours. They sleep in the day and move around at night, allowing them to skirt the expected struggle: to abstain from food and drink during daylight.

Mr. Shafiq’s work — as a volunteer, he stressed — means the solace he once found crisscrossing the winding, quiet alleyways is now an exercise in dodging screeching motorbikes and boys playing cricket in the streets, a festive atmosphere that he finds less than holy.

The streets quiet down as he finishes his rounds and walks home. Vendors and families rush back to perform their prayers and eat the last meal they can before the sun emerges.

And that is when he gets the most trouble from the evil spirits.

A beautiful woman waits for him on dark street corners, her anklets adorned with bells that jingle merrily, until you notice that her feet are reversed and she speaks through her nose, he explained.

“I’ve seen things that would scare most, but I recite the suras, and they go away,” Mr. Shafiq said, referring to chapters in Quran. “But that woman! She is made beautiful so men look at her, allowing her to suck their blood from her eyes.”

As Mr. Shafiq walked toward his home, down an alley with a canopy of colorful paper lanterns and silver and gold metallic streamers, he continued to cry out to the remaining houses. It was now just after 3 a.m., but the temperatures were stubbornly high and Mr. Shafiq was drenched with sweat and wheezing from the guttural cries he had been emitting nonstop.

He walked by a bunch of young men, lounging on benches and the seats of their idle motorbikes. They greeted Mr. Shafiq respectfully.

“We’ve seen him since our childhood, so we have an attachment to him,” said Mohammed Kashif, 23. “He’s not just an alarm on our phone.”

When asked why his generation wasn’t interested in keeping alive the tradition and taking the reigns from Mr. Shafiq, he shrugged.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to go around, yelling at people to wake up,” Mr. Kashif said. “People now have alarms on their phones.”

As if on cue, the nearby mosque’s speakers blared a deafening, elongated wail, similar to the alarm that once reverberated across London during the blitz in World War II, to warn citizens to take cover under enemy bombardment.

“And now we also have that,” Mr. Kashif said, wincing with the earsplitting noise.

He then went home to eat and pray.

The post The Personal Wake-up Call to Prayers, a Ramadan Tradition, Is Endangered appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2t5wVrv via Today News

[party-hard-or-die]

The Personal Wake-up Call to Prayers, a Ramadan Tradition, Is Endangered

New Delhi — For nearly 60 years, Mohammed Shafiq has braved New Delhi’s hot temperatures, a bad knee and evil spirits to wake up his neighbors for morning prayers and a final meal before sun rise during the holy month of Ramadan.

But nothing prepared him for the rise of New Delhi’s electricity grid and its many cellphones.

The 68-year old Mr. Shafiq is known here as a town crier. The job has been made gradually obsolete by the arrival decades ago of the city’s electricity supply and recent improvements to the grid, powering up smartphones throughout the night and their alarm clocks that wake people up for prayer.

Mr. Shafiq’s sense of religious duty compels him to soldier on, adding his special, personalized touch, he said. He prefers to wake up neighbors by shouting out their names, rather than leave them to the clanging of alarm clocks.

From a cramped one-room apartment, Mr. Shafiq explained the hazards of the job — including fending off those evil spirits, a headless man and a beautiful vampire — as he sat on the floor, the walls painted a bubblegum pink. His shock of white hair burst out in tufts from a black skullcap adorned with rhinestones and sequins from every hue of a neon-colored rainbow, his protruding belly covered by a mustard-yellow tunic.

This year will be Mr. Shafiq’s first making the rounds alone. His brother used to make the rounds with him but he died eight months ago. His son decided he wouldn’t carry on the tradition, he recalled as his wife looked on solemnly.

In his neighborhood of Old Delhi — the original city center of the capital, New Delhi — Mr. Shafiq was once one of dozens of other town criers servicing thousands of homes, each assigned a zone. Today he is one of a handful.

“As children working with my father we covered 70 lanes, hundreds of houses,” he said. “Today, my bad knees don’t allow me to do more than four lanes. It’s lonely work and when I go, the tradition will die, too.”

He starts his duties at 2:30 a.m., armed with the verses he has memorized from the Quran to ward off the evil spirits and a stick for the wild dogs.

Traversing Old Delhi’s windy, narrow alleyways one recent morning, underneath a canopy of exposed electricity wires and a tangle of thick, fiber optic internet cables, Mr. Shafiq relentlessly rang — and kept ringing — neighbors’ doorbells and banged on metal doors with a wrinkled fist.

“Those who are fasting, wake up! Nassim, wake up!” he yelled, calling a neighbor by name.

“All the neighbors, front and back, wake up! It’s the night for prayers!”

His wails reverberated along the alleyway.

A gaggle of children emerged on the street mocking him. “It’s the night for prayers!” they mimicked, before lining up to shake his hand.

The holy month of Ramadan marks the start of the prophet Mohammed’s Quranic revelations from God, one of the five pillars of Islam, an obligation the devout must fulfill.

In much of the Middle East, Mr. Shafiq’s job is called “the suhoor drummer” or “musharati,” and the waking up of the neighborhood is done not with the incessant ringing of doorbells as in New Delhi, but with a large drum. The musharati call for the devout to wake up, eat their suhoor — a predawn meal — and perform prayers.

But that tradition, too, is dying, replaced by reliable alarm clocks or the rise of megacities, making the door-to-door wake up call impossible as individual homes make way for high-rise apartments.

A lot has changed since Mr. Shafiq began making the rounds with his father and brothers when he was 10. Troupes of Quran-memorizers once walked these alleyways reciting verses from their holy book. But people became fatigued with their expectation of nightly alms and stopped giving.

Electricity has also transformed Old Delhi’s peaceful but eerily quiet streets into a bustling jumble of night markets. Under the glare of bare light bulbs, shoppers buy greasy fried chicken and juice from stalls and purchase gifts for loved ones or groceries for the home.

Electricity, Mr. Shafiq grumbled, has meant not just the death of his work, but of the sacrifices expected of all Muslims during Ramadan.

With a constant power source, Muslims have shifted their hours. They sleep in the day and move around at night, allowing them to skirt the expected struggle: to abstain from food and drink during daylight.

Mr. Shafiq’s work — as a volunteer, he stressed — means the solace he once found crisscrossing the winding, quiet alleyways is now an exercise in dodging screeching motorbikes and boys playing cricket in the streets, a festive atmosphere that he finds less than holy.

The streets quiet down as he finishes his rounds and walks home. Vendors and families rush back to perform their prayers and eat the last meal they can before the sun emerges.

And that is when he gets the most trouble from the evil spirits.

A beautiful woman waits for him on dark street corners, her anklets adorned with bells that jingle merrily, until you notice that her feet are reversed and she speaks through her nose, he explained.

“I’ve seen things that would scare most, but I recite the suras, and they go away,” Mr. Shafiq said, referring to chapters in Quran. “But that woman! She is made beautiful so men look at her, allowing her to suck their blood from her eyes.”

As Mr. Shafiq walked toward his home, down an alley with a canopy of colorful paper lanterns and silver and gold metallic streamers, he continued to cry out to the remaining houses. It was now just after 3 a.m., but the temperatures were stubbornly high and Mr. Shafiq was drenched with sweat and wheezing from the guttural cries he had been emitting nonstop.

He walked by a bunch of young men, lounging on benches and the seats of their idle motorbikes. They greeted Mr. Shafiq respectfully.

“We’ve seen him since our childhood, so we have an attachment to him,” said Mohammed Kashif, 23. “He’s not just an alarm on our phone.”

When asked why his generation wasn’t interested in keeping alive the tradition and taking the reigns from Mr. Shafiq, he shrugged.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to go around, yelling at people to wake up,” Mr. Kashif said. “People now have alarms on their phones.”

As if on cue, the nearby mosque’s speakers blared a deafening, elongated wail, similar to the alarm that once reverberated across London during the blitz in World War II, to warn citizens to take cover under enemy bombardment.

“And now we also have that,” Mr. Kashif said, wincing with the earsplitting noise.

He then went home to eat and pray.

The post The Personal Wake-up Call to Prayers, a Ramadan Tradition, Is Endangered appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2t5wVrv via Breaking News

[newestbalance]

The Personal Wake-up Call to Prayers, a Ramadan Tradition, Is Endangered

New Delhi — For nearly 60 years, Mohammed Shafiq has braved New Delhi’s hot temperatures, a bad knee and evil spirits to wake up his neighbors for morning prayers and a final meal before sun rise during the holy month of Ramadan.

But nothing prepared him for the rise of New Delhi’s electricity grid and its many cellphones.

The 68-year old Mr. Shafiq is known here as a town crier. The job has been made gradually obsolete by the arrival decades ago of the city’s electricity supply and recent improvements to the grid, powering up smartphones throughout the night and their alarm clocks that wake people up for prayer.

Mr. Shafiq’s sense of religious duty compels him to soldier on, adding his special, personalized touch, he said. He prefers to wake up neighbors by shouting out their names, rather than leave them to the clanging of alarm clocks.

From a cramped one-room apartment, Mr. Shafiq explained the hazards of the job — including fending off those evil spirits, a headless man and a beautiful vampire — as he sat on the floor, the walls painted a bubblegum pink. His shock of white hair burst out in tufts from a black skullcap adorned with rhinestones and sequins from every hue of a neon-colored rainbow, his protruding belly covered by a mustard-yellow tunic.

This year will be Mr. Shafiq’s first making the rounds alone. His brother used to make the rounds with him but he died eight months ago. His son decided he wouldn’t carry on the tradition, he recalled as his wife looked on solemnly.

In his neighborhood of Old Delhi — the original city center of the capital, New Delhi — Mr. Shafiq was once one of dozens of other town criers servicing thousands of homes, each assigned a zone. Today he is one of a handful.

“As children working with my father we covered 70 lanes, hundreds of houses,” he said. “Today, my bad knees don’t allow me to do more than four lanes. It’s lonely work and when I go, the tradition will die, too.”

He starts his duties at 2:30 a.m., armed with the verses he has memorized from the Quran to ward off the evil spirits and a stick for the wild dogs.

Traversing Old Delhi’s windy, narrow alleyways one recent morning, underneath a canopy of exposed electricity wires and a tangle of thick, fiber optic internet cables, Mr. Shafiq relentlessly rang — and kept ringing — neighbors’ doorbells and banged on metal doors with a wrinkled fist.

“Those who are fasting, wake up! Nassim, wake up!” he yelled, calling a neighbor by name.

“All the neighbors, front and back, wake up! It’s the night for prayers!”

His wails reverberated along the alleyway.

A gaggle of children emerged on the street mocking him. “It’s the night for prayers!” they mimicked, before lining up to shake his hand.

The holy month of Ramadan marks the start of the prophet Mohammed’s Quranic revelations from God, one of the five pillars of Islam, an obligation the devout must fulfill.

In much of the Middle East, Mr. Shafiq’s job is called “the suhoor drummer” or “musharati,” and the waking up of the neighborhood is done not with the incessant ringing of doorbells as in New Delhi, but with a large drum. The musharati call for the devout to wake up, eat their suhoor — a predawn meal — and perform prayers.

But that tradition, too, is dying, replaced by reliable alarm clocks or the rise of megacities, making the door-to-door wake up call impossible as individual homes make way for high-rise apartments.

A lot has changed since Mr. Shafiq began making the rounds with his father and brothers when he was 10. Troupes of Quran-memorizers once walked these alleyways reciting verses from their holy book. But people became fatigued with their expectation of nightly alms and stopped giving.

Electricity has also transformed Old Delhi’s peaceful but eerily quiet streets into a bustling jumble of night markets. Under the glare of bare light bulbs, shoppers buy greasy fried chicken and juice from stalls and purchase gifts for loved ones or groceries for the home.

Electricity, Mr. Shafiq grumbled, has meant not just the death of his work, but of the sacrifices expected of all Muslims during Ramadan.

With a constant power source, Muslims have shifted their hours. They sleep in the day and move around at night, allowing them to skirt the expected struggle: to abstain from food and drink during daylight.

Mr. Shafiq’s work — as a volunteer, he stressed — means the solace he once found crisscrossing the winding, quiet alleyways is now an exercise in dodging screeching motorbikes and boys playing cricket in the streets, a festive atmosphere that he finds less than holy.

The streets quiet down as he finishes his rounds and walks home. Vendors and families rush back to perform their prayers and eat the last meal they can before the sun emerges.

And that is when he gets the most trouble from the evil spirits.

A beautiful woman waits for him on dark street corners, her anklets adorned with bells that jingle merrily, until you notice that her feet are reversed and she speaks through her nose, he explained.

“I’ve seen things that would scare most, but I recite the suras, and they go away,” Mr. Shafiq said, referring to chapters in Quran. “But that woman! She is made beautiful so men look at her, allowing her to suck their blood from her eyes.”

As Mr. Shafiq walked toward his home, down an alley with a canopy of colorful paper lanterns and silver and gold metallic streamers, he continued to cry out to the remaining houses. It was now just after 3 a.m., but the temperatures were stubbornly high and Mr. Shafiq was drenched with sweat and wheezing from the guttural cries he had been emitting nonstop.

He walked by a bunch of young men, lounging on benches and the seats of their idle motorbikes. They greeted Mr. Shafiq respectfully.

“We’ve seen him since our childhood, so we have an attachment to him,” said Mohammed Kashif, 23. “He’s not just an alarm on our phone.”

When asked why his generation wasn’t interested in keeping alive the tradition and taking the reigns from Mr. Shafiq, he shrugged.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to go around, yelling at people to wake up,” Mr. Kashif said. “People now have alarms on their phones.”

As if on cue, the nearby mosque’s speakers blared a deafening, elongated wail, similar to the alarm that once reverberated across London during the blitz in World War II, to warn citizens to take cover under enemy bombardment.

“And now we also have that,” Mr. Kashif said, wincing with the earsplitting noise.

He then went home to eat and pray.

The post The Personal Wake-up Call to Prayers, a Ramadan Tradition, Is Endangered appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2t5wVrv via Everyday News

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 5/30/2018

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Wednesday, 30th May 2018. Mid-Week Nation Newspaper (MWN), via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS).

CABINET MEETS FOR THE FIRST TIME – GOVERNMENT ENGAGED in its second straight day of meetings yesterday as Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Cabinet met for the first time. From around 9:30 a.m. affiliates of the 26-member group could be seen making their way into Government Headquarters ahead of the planned 10 a.m. start. While most, including Mottley, declined to comment, Minister of Labour Colin Jordan briefly told the MIDWEEK NATION that a proposal for the Social Justice Committee, which was mentioned in the Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) manifesto, would soon be on the way. “You know we have some issues to deal with and so they engaged with the Social Partnership yesterday [Monday] and they’re doing it again on Friday,”  he said. There was also a pledge in the BLP manifesto to broaden the Social Partnership framework to include a Social Justice Committee which would see the inclusion of groups such as the church and civil society in the discussions. “There are non-governmental organisations, religious organisations, community organisations that are not a part of the tripartite arrangement right now, but in a few weeks they should have a proposal on how they are going to incorporate them,” he added. Meanwhile, Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Kirk Humphrey said yesterday’s meeting would see a number of logistical matters addressed. He said he was pleased to be heading that new ministry and underscored the importance it was taking worldwide. “The blue economy is a very interesting portfolio; I’m very happy to have it,” Humphrey said. “If you follow what’s happening in the United Nations and across the world, issues with the blue economy are starting to take precedence. In fact, in the G7 Summit, one of the things that came out was the need to address the blue economy,” he added. According to the World Bank, the blue economy involved “the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health”. It added this encompassed renewable energy, fisheries, maritime transport, waste management, climate change and tourism. (MWN)

MINISTER LOOKING TO CHANGE BLOCK CULTURE – A transformation of the block culture will be among the priorities of new Minister of Youth and Community Empowerment, Adrian “Medic” Forde. After arriving for his first day on the job Monday at his Sky Mall, Haggatt Hall, St Michael office, Forde said he was excited to be involved in such a ministry. “I really have an interest in redefining the blocks because persons believe that block life is just about guys sitting down in the ghetto doing nothing. I want to see the blocks being economic centres [and become an] oasis of businesses,” he said. The Christ Church West Central parliamentary representative, who toppled former Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth Stephen Lashley, said the business strategies he successfully initiated in that constituency would be expanded to wider Barbados. He added he planned to traverse the country with the objective of turning blocks into businesses. “I really think we have to get those blocks working. I will be going around Barbados to ensure that the blocks don’t just remain a block culture where people believe that they sit down and do absolutely nothing, but that there are businesses on the block,” he reiterated. Forde said this vision would be combined with the creativity of young people. “We have to give them the wherewithal so that they can develop and become self-sufficient and global citizens. That’s my dream, so I will work with alacrity to ensure that we have a change in the direction and meaning  of the blocks. “Obviously, it will have an impact on the community at large because if you redefine the blocks, inadvertently you change the concept of community life, where persons have more respect for each other and there is growth,” the former community leader noted. The pharmacist also emphasised economic equality in Barbados. “There must be fairness across the board where persons from the bottom of the spectrum feel that they have a sense of entitlement. There must be social justice,” he said, while making reference to the Barbados Labour Party’s manifesto proposal of assisting small business people within communities. The former secondary school teacher said it was a “surreal” feeling to be chosen by Prime Minister Mia Mottley to head the Youth ministry. “It is something that I have been doing for the past 20 years, working with young people. I believe young people will provide the wheels for the new millennium, in terms of whether it is the green economy, the innovative sector or e-commerce,” he said. “I think there is an untapped potential with young persons and there is no better creative mind than the young people of this country. Barbados must be able to be gassed by the efforts of the young people in terms of the engine. “So I am happy to be involved in a ministry that will transform Barbados because I think that we have to build a creative economy, and we can only do that by using the tentacles of young people, the creative imagination of young people,” he added.  (MWN)

ANOTHER ADAMS IN THE MIX - RAWDON ADAMS, the son of Barbados’ second Prime Minister, Tom Adams,  has finally been baptised in the politics of Barbados. He is among the 12 Government senators named by new Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Saturday. The 49-year-old Adams, who was 16 when his father died in 1985 of a heart attack while in office, returned to Barbados from France in 2017 to head the financial technology company Bitt Inc. as chief executive officer. Educated at Harrison College, Adams was based in France for 20 years. He holds degrees in economics and political sociology from the University of South Carolina and the London School of Economics. He has an impressive career background in finance, having worked as an expenditure analyst in Britain’s Finance Ministry. He also worked for Rank Xerox in the United Kingdom and General Electric Medical Systems in France in finance roles, ranging from revenue analysis, research and development cost control, and inventory management. In 2000, he co-founded Sparrow Holdings LLC, an investment company focused on finding undervalued companies quoted on the United States and UK stock markets.  Adams has been a keen observer of developments in Barbados. In 2010 he delivered the annual Tom Adams Memorial Lecture, in which he demonstrated the charismatic oratorical flair which his father and grandfather, Sir Grantley Adams, the first Premier of Barbados, were known for. He has an older brother, Douglas, while his mother, Genevieve, also lives here in St Philip. (MWN)

BANISH OLD GUARDS – The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) needs “a cleansing and a purge” to rid itself of the old boys’ club who have kept it back, a member of the old guard has said. In a frank assessment of the state of the party, former Minister of Social Transformation Hamilton Hammie LaLashley charged that too many of the old guard were determined to hang on despite the embarrassing loss in last Thursday’s general election. “I know I am going to get cursed for it but I am accustomed to it. The party needs a cleansing and a purge,” Lashley told journalists at a news conference at the Marcus Garvey Resource Centre in The Pine, St Michael. The social activist, who held the St Michael South East seat for both the DLP and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) between 1994 and 2013, said the time had come for a complete overhaul of the party, along with a change in thinking from “the old traditional way of doing things”. He called on those who hold positions of power in the DLP to put country before party and step aside, even as he expressed scepticism that they would willingly relinquish control. “There would be a number of the older members who have already resigned their official position and it gives us a pathway forward into the future. However, you would meet up on the old heads who believe that they have a God-given right to make the final decision,” he said. “It is quite obvious to me that a number of the old boys and girls have to sit back in an advisory capacity and let younger, brighter persons take the lead. The Democratic Labour Party has to be very serious. It can’t be the old boys club anymore. We need a new dynamic force going forward in the future,” he stressed. Joining Lashley at the news conference was his protégé Rodney Grant, the losing DLP candidate in St Michael South East. Grant suggested that his party had lost its soul, claiming it had moved away from the principles established by its founding father, Errol Barrow. Grant was seen as one of the DLP’s brightest prospects after he was hand-picked by the hierarchy to contest the seat which the BLP’s Santia Bradshaw had won by only ten votes in 2013 over  Patrick Tannis, who since switched allegiance to the Bees. However, he became a victim of the near 30 per cent swing against the DLP, suffering a massive loss by 2,704 votes. He attracted just 1,099 votes, or 21.84 per cent, to 3,803 by Bradshaw, who garnered 75.56 per cent of the votes cast. The smaller parties, Solution Barbados and United Progressive Party (UPP) polled 131 votes between them. Today, Grant argued that the party needed to return to its core principles of people-centred politics if it wished to become relevant again. “There has to be a return to the social democratic stance on which Barrow built the Democratic Labour Party,” he told journalists at a news conference at the Marcus Garvey Resource Centre in The Pine, St Michael. “We have to find a way to get back there and the party has to find a way to get back to that point on how it engages with people going forward into the future. This is the key thing that must engage the party going forward, it can’t be anything but people-centred,” Grant stressed. In a stinging commentary of the DLP’s performance in the election, in which it polled just 33, 985 votes, or 22 per cent of the 153,745 ballots cast, Grant suggested that the Dees had been relegated to virtually third party status. “This defeat almost puts the Democratic Labour Party on the same platform as the UPP, BIM [Barbados Integrity Movement] and some of the other parties. The thing that sets the Democratic Labour Party apart from the others is its history,” he said. It was only yesterday that the man in charge of the DLP’s disastrous election campaign, Robert Bobby Morris, said the party would do some introspection, while pointing out that defeated Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had already served notice of his intention to quit. Morris said party officials would therefore put their heads together and bring about a transition of leadership to take the DLP into the next poll. The party took the initial step toward preparing for the future when the various organs met yesterday to review the outcome of last Thursday’s general election. “Agencies of the party were discussing and getting views on the experiences of what happened in the election,” General Secretary George Pilgrim told Barbados TODAY. He added that the executive council would meet tomorrow to set a date for a post mortem which would involve DLP members who sat in the last Parliament. (BT)

‘HAMMIE LA’ WANTS DLP TO ACCEPT OFFER OF SENATE SEATS – A member of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) old guard and his protégé have stopped just short of ridiculing stalwart Robert Bobby Morris’ advise to the party to reject any offers to take up seats in the Senate. Former Minister of Social Transformation Hamilton Lashley and the man who sought to mimic his every political move, Rodney Grant, today said it would be a dereliction of duty if the DLP does not accept the seats, which would open up through a proposed constitutional amendment. As matter of fact Lashley identified Grant, the losing DLP candidate in St Michael South East, and Henderson Williams, who was whipped in The City, as his picks to take the offer extended by Prime Minister Mia Mottley. Lashley, who assisted the campaigns of both Grant and Williams, argued that to reject the offer would be an insult to voters who maintained their faith in the DLP despite the massive nationwide shift in support. “There are obviously persons who had faith in the DLP and put their support behind them and to miss this opportunity would be to dismiss those persons who went out to the polls and this would make us guilty of the same old behaviour of which we have been accused,” Lashley said as he offered his views on the way forward for the DLP after Thursday’s humiliating loss to the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in the general election in which it mustered just 22 per cent of the approximately 153,745 votes cast, compared by 72.63 per cent by the BLP. At a news conference at the Marcus Garvey Resource Centre in The Pine, St Michael, Lashley, who jumped from the DLP to the BLP and back to the DLP before he retired from active politics, told reporters the DLP must focus on rebuilding the party through young talent. Therefore, he said, it was only fitting that the newcomers be given the opportunity to serve in Opposition, albeit in the Senate.the newcomers be given the opportunity to serve in Opposition, albeit in the Senate. “The Democratic Labour Party has to be very serious now. It can no longer be an old boys club, and it is a new dimension. I know the old boys and old girls club would like to pick from among themselves. I strongly believe that one of those persons has to be Rodney Grant. The other should be a young person like Henderson Williams,” the former representative for The Pine said. Like Lashley, Grant jumped from the DLP to the BLP and back to the DLP in order to contest the recent poll in the seat which Lashley first won in 1994 while still a member of the Dees, before jumping ship to join the then Owen Arthur administration during the period of Arthur’s so-called politics of inclusion. He held onto the seat until his retirement in 2013, but returned home to the DLP after it defeated Arthur in 2008. Grant, who has been a Lashley disciple, today shared his mentor’s position on the Senate issue, as he admonished his party to grab the opportunity with both hands. “If there is an opportunity to represent the country I believe that they [DLP] should take it. Although the electorate dismissed the entire DLP candidacy, I believe that any opportunity to speak on behalf of the people is good for democracy. I think democracy would be weakened without any opposing voice,” Grant said, while going on to state that he would also respect the DLP’s decision to fight on behalf of the people outside of Parliament. With just 33, 985 votes, the Dems suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the BLP, failing to win a single seat in the 30-member House of Assembly, meekly surrendering even its bedrock, St John, in the process. Had it won at least one seat, it would have had the opportunity to name two senators as provided for in the Constitution, which makes provision for the Opposition to appoint two senators in the 21-member Upper Chamber. However, in the absence of an official opposition, newly-appointed Prime Minister Mia Mottley revealed on Saturday she had discussed a proposed amendment with Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, which would allow the party securing the second largest number of votes in the election to name the two Opposition senators. However, Morris quickly shot down the idea telling Barbados TODAY in a interview yesterday, such an arrangement was unnecessary since his party would prefer to earn its place in Parliament. “My view is the Democratic Labour Party would be getting back their seats and claiming rightfully by that action, their place in the legislature in due course. I think that is going to happen. So I don’t think there is any necessity to create a position specially at this point in time. The Opposition in Parliament is not the only type of opposition that is possible. But I don’t think the Democratic Labour Party wants to be compromised in terms of their participation,” the former campaign manager said. (BT)

NEW MINISTER GETS UPDATE ON SEWAGE CRISIS – Two days after he was sworn in as Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams got down to work today on the worrying sewage crisis on the south coast. Abrahams met with General Manager of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) Ketihroy Halliday to discuss the sewage leaks that have been plaguing the commercial and tourism belt between Hastings and Worthing, Christ Church for well over a year now. “I would be a negligent minister if I didn’t,” Abrahams told Barbados TODAY when asked if he had reached out to the BWA on the vexing problem which has forced the closure of some businesses on the south coast. However, he declined to provide any details of the talks, saying a statement would be issued shortly. The talks came on the same day that the Mia Mottley-led 30-member Cabinet met to address critical issues affecting the country. The previous administration led by former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had said a lasting solution to the chronic sewage flare-ups was the construction of a new treatment plant, and that it was approaching the Inter-American Development and the Caribbean Development for financial assistance. Even so, the BWA had begun to dig a number of injection wells to facilitate repairs to the compromised sewer lines, Charles Leslie, the BWA’s director of engineering had said the wells would have been ready by the middle of this year. (BT)

EXPANDED SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP UNDER WAY, JORDAN SAYS – Newly elected Minister of Labour Colin Jordan today promised that the Mia Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration would stick to its campaign pledge to expand the Social Partnership. The BLP said in its 76-page manifesto for the May 24 general election it would invite additional members to the partnership, including non-governmental organizations.   Following yesterday’s meeting of the Social Partnership at Government Headquarters, which was described as upbeat by those who were present, Jordan, who has responsibility for Social Partnership relations, told Barbados TODAY the inclusion of more partners was still on the cards. “There are ongoing matters that the Ministry of Labour and the Social Partnership will look after. The one I can tell you about right now is from our campaign manifesto, which seeks to include and expand the Social Partnership to include religious and non-governmental organizations. “At this point it is tripartite – we have Government, unions and the representatives of business – but one of our early areas of focus in terms of transforming Barbados is to include some others in the dialogue,” Jordan stressed. However, Jordan, who comfortably won the St Peter seat in last week’s general election, admitted he was still unsure how the inclusion of the new members would proceed. “We just have to work through the mechanics of it to see how it will be done. The Social Partnership is a main area of focus. We met with them and we are in focus immediately. We are not sure what form it will take but we will work through that in the coming weeks,” he said. “It is clear in our manifesto and that is what we will be proceeding with. We have always seen our manifesto as a social contract with the people of Barbados. They elected us based on that and we are going forward with the implementation of policies based on the manifesto,” Jordan stressed. The Social Partnership is set to meet again on Friday. (BT)

NO QUICK EASE – The island’s private sector is warning consumers not to expect an immediate fall in prices after Government removes the hated National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL) on imported and locally produced goods. President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Eddy Abed, who yesterday joined the Social Partners in talks with Prime Minister Mia Mottley, said he was confident the newly-appointed leader would keep her campaign promise to repeal the onerous tax. However, Abed cautioned that it could be up to five months following the repeal before prices begin to fall. “Therein lies the problem because although the NSRL may be repealed today the adjustment of the prices would only occur when the inventory is replaced. One must be realistic,” he told a news conference at the offices of the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) where the private sector body signed a memorandum of understanding with the BIDC to increase collaboration over the next two years. It was in his 2017 Budget presentation that then Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler announced a 400 per cent rise to the NSRL introduced the previous September – from two per cent to ten per cent of the customs value of imported and locally produced goods  – as part of an austerity package as the administration sought to curb a burgeoning deficit problem. During the campaign for the May 24 general election the BLP pledged to repeal the tax, a decision Abed said would cost the Treasury $141 million which “will have to be made up somehow”. The BCCI head said the private sector and the labour movement had been tasked to come up with a means of making up for the shortfall. “We have been asked as part of the private sector association and the trade unions, to give suggestions as to how the shortfall in revenue will be made up,” said Abed, who refused to give details, only adding that “surely it will be made up”. Asked how businesses would be kept in check once the tax was removed, Abed suggested that competition would take care of that. “There is nothing more wonderful than competition, frankly. If you are prepared to lose market share or if you are prepared to get the wrath of irate customers going on social media then I say to you, carry on,” he said. The BCCI head said now that the general election was out the way there was a general “feel good” atmosphere within the business community with some indicating that the “dark clouds have cleared”, despite the continuing economic problems. “The reality is that we are still in the same mess we were in before. We may have a new driver driving the bus but quoting from our new Prime Minister ‘many hands make light work’. This is a job that will require all of us to participate in,” Abed said while describing the economic situation as sad, and calling for urgent implementation of the necessary corrective steps. “So from that point of view I think people are a little resistant. They would like to get a greater sense of the short-term measures that will be implemented and the medium and long-term measures as well, and that causes a bit of hesitance.” However, he said many businesses had made it clear they intended to proceed with some of the plans they had placed on hold for at least the last six months. “I fully expect not necessarily within a day or week, but within three to six months, you will see activity. I am absolutely certain that we will see activity,” he insisted. The business executive said that in addition to the struggling economy the lengthy wait for the general election to be called was a main reason for the lack of confidence and uncertainty which led to little or no investment. However, he said with a new Government in office, confidence was returning. “People want to have a greater sense of how things will be solved. We are all aware that there will be some pain but it must be gain with that pain. It can’t just be pain,” he said, adding that businesses were aware that a lot of work had to be done in order to turn things around and protect the value of the Barbados dollar.  (BT)

PRIVATE SECTOR WANTS TAX RELIEF FOR FUNDING START-UPS – The Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) has revealed plans to apply to the newly elected Mia Mottley-led administration for tax write-offs to established businesses that invest in start-up companies. BCCI President Eddy Abed said the private sector grouping had raised the issue with the last administration but there had been no action. Explaining that capital was a critical component to new businesses, Abed said established companies could help to provide the funds needed if there were tax incentives. “We see our role . . . as assisting some of the capital requirements of the young start-up companies who historically have been yearning for finance by way of debt or equity, and we would like, with the assistance of the incoming Government, perhaps to look at a tax write-off that our members can use to invest in these smaller companies,” Abed told journalists at the signing today of a memorandum of understanding with the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC). “A lot of them are starved for finance and frankly, a good idea is only as good as getting it into the marketplace and we see our role in assisting in that,” he said. The business executive said the BCCI was in the process of putting together a proposal to present to the new administration, making its case for a tax break in those circumstances. “The idea is quite simple. If you are putting out venture capital you do so because you are expecting a greater return than what the banks are currently giving you and equally because it is a start-up that capital could be lost. So you need to know the downside is covered, you can write off the capital should you lose it and if you don’t the advantage or attraction is for the greater return,” he explained. Abed said this would “free up Government” from having to provide financing for those businesses, adding that the private sector understood how to run businesses and the approximately $8 billion sitting in the banking system here needed to be invested. The two-year agreement between the BCCI and the BIDC provides a framework for the two organizations to collaborate in a number of areas, including sharing of resources, training, promotion and market research. It also has as its objective, the facilitation and promotion of cooperation within the business community and increased commercial activities for businesses locally and internationally. Sonja Trotman, the chief executive officer of BIDC, said the intention was to grow local companies and increase exports. “We know that the chamber here can use their resources and their membership and relationship with chambers throughout the region and throughout the world . . . so we can see using that kind of relationship to help us to touch base and develop relationships with persons in the international arena so that we can collect information, identify market opportunities and promote Barbadian products and services,” Trotman said. (BT)

SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE COMING SOON – With the Social Partnership meeting yesterday and set to meet again this Friday, Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations Colin Jordan says the Social Justice Committee could soon be established. Jordan was speaking to the DAILY NATION before the start of the first meeting of Cabinet this morning when he made the announcement. “You know we have some issues to deal with and so they engaged with the social partnership yesterday (Monday) and they’re doing it again on Friday,” Jordan said. “There is also a pledge in their manifesto to broaden the social partnership framework to include a social justice committee. “Because there are Non-Governmental Organisations, religious organisations, community organisations that are not a part of the tripartite arrangement right now, but in a few weeks they should have a proposal on how they are going to incorporate them,” he added. The Social Justice Committee was one of the agenda items which the Barbados Labour Party announced in its manifesto. According to the manifesto, that committee would see the inclusion of additional groups such as the church and civil society added to social discussions.  (MWN)

MORE SECURITIES SERVICES NEEDED – Amid a growing need for quality security services, a senior police officer is suggesting security guards regard themselves as another arm of law enforcement. The observation came from Assistant Commissioner of Police Oral Williams, as he highlighted a shortfall in the police force of just over 200 officers. “The increase in demand for police services by private persons and organisations has stretched our police resources,” Williams said in a feature address to the recent 30th anniversary awards dinner of A&C Security Services. He reminded the audience that the role of a watchman or unregistered security guard was a punishable offence under Barbados’ laws and such services were “a thing of the past”. Williams said over time there had been a general increase in crimes committed against property, to include burglaries, theft and trespass. “This list is by no means exhaustive. We need the assistance of private persons and security to assist us in preventing and detecting crime, arresting and prosecuting offenders,” the Assistant Commissioner said. He identified the market for security services while underscoring the importance of building a professional security outfit for Barbados. Williams asked whether insurance coverage was provided for employees, whether a code of discipline, job descriptions, a speedy grievance procedure as well as “reasonable rates of pay” and other considerations to encourage employment as a security guard were in place. “Have you done background checks on existing [people] and do you intend to have them done on prospective employees?” he queried. The importance of loyalty and professional service, as well as risks on the job and attempts of inducement by criminals, were underscored by the senior police officer. “Just remember that if you are paying nuts as wages, you will attract monkeys,” Williams stressed. (MWN)

LEGAL LASHES – A week ago, he was the minister in charge of the transport ministry and it was under his watch that an ugly incident occurred on May 3 in the River Terminal that led police to bring criminal charges against two public service vehicle (PSV) workers. However, as fate would have it, Michael Lashley’s Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Government was swept from office in the May 24 election in which the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was catapulted into office. Immediately, the Queen’s Counsel sought solace in his legal practice, and today made his first court appearance on behalf of the two embattled PSV employees. In fact, while in the past Lashley would have had reason as minister to complain about the behaviour of these private transport operators, today he stood solemnly in defence of 34-year-old PSV driver James Anthony Andrews, of No 236, Apple Hall Terrace, St Philip, and 30-year-old conductor Travis Tremaine Brathwaite, of Sealy Hall, St Philip, who are facing separate charges following the recent incident with police, which was caught on video and made the rounds on social media. It is alleged that on May 3 around 8:45 a.m. Andrews, the driver of ZR42, loitered in the area of the Nursery Drive Road for the purpose of soliciting passengers and was not properly attired with boots, shoes or sandals and such apparel approved by the Licensing Authority. He is also accused of assaulting Police Constable Donette Cadogan, as well as threatening to rob and kill her. Andrews pleaded not guilty to the charges. Brathwaite also denied obstructing, assaulting and resisting Police Constable Denis Murray in the execution of his duties on the aforementioned date, as well as damaging a shirt belonging to the Crown. The duo was remanded to HMP Dodds on May 4 when they first appeared before Magistrate Graveney Bannister who had deemed the allegations against them to be “serious”, given that they were reportedly committed against officers in the line of duty. However, today the two accused were granted $2,000 bail each when they appeared before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant, with Lashley stating he was not ruling out filing a charge against one of the  officers involved in a violent clash with his clients. “I believe given the instructions from my clients I certainly will have to look at bringing a cross charge against the police officer,” he revealed, adding that he was concerned about the current trend of accused persons being tried on social media. “I find that a lot of matters that are sub judice are being tried on social media. Accused men are being tried and convicted on social media and even with this matter there was a lot of hue and cry and persons making conclusionary statements about the matter and I think it is wrong,” he said. The former Minister of Transport and Works said presiding judicial officers “should really send a warning to people on social media to really leave these cases out. “Because some of them could be indictable matters that have to go before judge and jury and if you are out there on social media and you are influencing persons who likely will make up a jury, the question is whether this person will have a fair trial under the Constitution,” he added. The matter is due to come back up in court on June 7. In the meantime, following last week’s humiliating general election defeat, Lashley, the former Member of Parliament for St Philip North, said he was currently concentrating on his law practice and not his political future. Lashley, who lost his St Philip North seat by just about 1,600 votes to BLP first-timer Dr Sonia Browne, said it was early days yet. “But I am back in the courtroom now, so I feel good. I am not ready to talk [about the election] I am concentrating on my practice. I spent years in here before Parliament so it is a natural step back for me. I appeared in many criminal assizes so it’s just a natural transition,” he told reporters on the precincts of the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court. He thanked the people of his constituency for their confidence in him for the past three election cycles. “I am concentrating on my practice . . . . All I can say is that it will continue to help the people in St Philip, particularly in my practice of law, and assist those who need help, particularly the needy and of course the schools and other organizations. “I just want to thank the people of St Philip North for reposing their confidence in me from since 2003 and want to thank them for their support,” he said.  (BT)

SKEETE SENTENCED TO NINE MONTHS IN JAIL – A 29-year-old man who was unable to compensate his victim has been sentenced to nine months in prison. Jamal Ahmal Skeete, of Bedford Lane, Greenfield, Roebuck Street, St Michael, had previously pleaded guilty to damaging a car window belonging to Ivan Roachford on February 14 without lawful authority or reasonable excuse. Skeete needed to compensate Roachford $300 for the damage. However, when he reappeared before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant yesterday he was unable to pay the sum and was sent off to jail. However, his three months and 11 days on remand will be taken into consideration. (BT)

NO BAIL FOR CLARKE – A 24-year-old man, who allegedly escaped police custody while being charged for an offence, has been remanded to prison. Rodney Darian Clarke, of 6B Bottom Close, Wildey, St Michael, was not required to plead to the charge of sending the menacing message, “I gine kill you. Everyone in the Pine will know me. It gonna be war”, via computer to Shameka Blanche on April 26. The offence allegedly occurred in the District ‘B’ jurisdiction. He is therefore due to appear before the magistrates’ court there on May 31 to answer the charge. Today Clarke was also not required to plead to the offence of escaping police custody along Constitution Road without the use of force on May 16. However, Prosecutor Sergeant Cameron Gibbons objected to his bail based on the strengthen of the evidence against him and the need to protect Blanche from the accused as there was already another matter pending before the court pertaining to the alleged victim. “I don’t have a computer. I ain’t message nobody because I ain’t got no computer. I feel frustrated, I trying to get my little girl,” Clarke said in his application for bail, which was denied. He returns before the No.1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on June 26. (BT)

BISHOP YET TO FIND A SURETY – A 19-year-old man will spend a second night at HMP Dodds after he was again unable to find a surety. Anthony Junior Bishop, 19, of Chapman Village, St Thomas, yesterday pleaded guilty to loitering at the Cheapside Terminal, The City, on May 27 with intent to commit theft, as well as to possession of cannabis. He was interviewed by a probation officer and was offered bail but was unable to get someone to sign on his behalf. There was little change to the teen’s situation today and he was again remanded to HMP Dodds for another night. He will get a third chance at bail tomorrow. (BT)

OFF TO DODDS - A 28-year-old man is currently on remand at Dodds prison, charged with murdering Nicholas Blagrove. Richard Barry Boyce, of 2nd Avenue Kellman Land, Black Rock, St Michael, appeared before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant for the second time in less than 48 hours, accused of committing the indictable offence on May 19. Blagrove, 34, of Promenade Road, Bush Hall, St Michael, was reportedly among a group of men who were liming and playing a game of dominoes at Seales Avenue, Tudor Bridge, when they were approached by a man armed with a gun who fired several shots. Nicholas was hit and died at the scene. Boyce was not required to plead to the capital charge after the magistrate read it out to him in the presence of his attorney Naomi Lynton.     It was only yesterday that he appeared in the No.2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court charged with five other men for a number of offences under the Firearms Act. His co-accused were remanded to the St Philip penal institution for the next 28 days but Boyce was kept in police custody. He returns to the No. 1 District ‘A’ Court on June 25 with his co-accused. (BT)

FAMILY DEVASTATED OVER VAGRANTS DEATH – Police and family members have identified the decomposing body of a male found at Trents, St James as that of a well-known vagrant, who has been living on the streets for years. It was around 9 o’clock this morning that the gruesome discovery was made of the body of 60-year-old Trevor Clavier Marshall, alias Jungle, whose last known address was 1st Avenue, Jackson, St Michael. Lawmen say Marshall’s lifeless body was found on the ground under a canopy of trees. The discovery was made in a track, about 50 metres from the main roadway opposite the Frederick Smith Secondary School, by a man who was rummaging the area for bottles. When Barbados TODAY visited the Jackson, St Michael home of Marshall’s sister Joan Greenidge this afternoon, she was too devastated to speak. However, his nephew Dwayne Cave said he was at work when he got the tragic news “that Jungle had passed away”. He also revealed that his uncle was briefly hospitalized last week, but later discharged himself and had not been seen since. Cave also said that while he was close to his uncle when he was a child, the two had drifted apart after Marshall decided to live on the streets. “Everyone has their habits and I guess he had a habit too and I guess that could be one of the reasons [that he went on the street],” Cave, said suggesting that his uncle was battling drug addiction. “At the end of the day, the family still looked out for him when he would come by, but there is so much you can tell a person and you cannot make them do something that they would not like to do,” he said, adding that Marshall death had hit the family hard. Junior Lampkin, who is Greenidge’s boyfriend, also explained that Marshall, who lost his mother a year ago, frequented their Jackson, St Michael residence from time to time. “He would come and go. . . . He is always on the west coast, St Peter areas and in Garden Land.  . . . That is where he hangs out. That is where he actually lives, down that side.” However, he said the circumstances surrounding Marshall’s death remained a mystery. “No one really knows what happened, but a woman called and said he passed out somewhere, where no one knows [and] then a man claimed that all he did was to drop him to the highway and tell him to go by his close relatives, so if anything happens someone would be there to take care of him and look after his interests. But he never, ever came,” Lampkin said. Police investigations are continuing with an autopsy due to be performed to determine the cause of the vagrant’s death.  (BT)

FATAL BLOW – The untimely death of Omari Jabari Bynoe, of Glebe Land, St George, has cast a dark cloud over the Farm Road, St George community. The 26-year-old was pronounced dead last Saturday, less than a week after he fell from a truck during a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) sponsored motorcade on May 21. Bynoe was reportedly sitting on the railing of a Toyota Hiace pick-up, driven by 57-year-old Ken Forde, of Sargeant Road, Ellerton, St George, when he lost his balance and fell into the road as the motorcade, given by St George South candidate Dr Esther Byer Suckoo, was returning to her constituency office. He was subsequently admitted to hospital in serious condition and despite a brave battle, eventually succumbed to his injuries, after reportedly suffering major brain damage. Even though they were bracing for the worst, members of Bynoe’s family, including his mother Joycelyn, were hoping and praying for the best. With their worst fears now materialized, his aunt Sonia explained today that his death had been particularly difficult for his mother, who has lost her only son. She also said that his older sister Tiffany was devastated by the tragedy. “Everybody break up . . .  . It is a sad, sad situation,” Sonia said. “He gone, gone. There is no coming back. We ain’t seeing he at all, unless it is in the box [casket],” she said with grief written all over her face. Residents in the close knit St George community, including Collin Moore who knew Bynoe from the time he was a child, were also stunned to learn of his passing. Moore, a friend of the family, described Bynoe as “pleasant” and “productive”, adding that he was always willing to offer assistance. He also said that his death had thrown a pall over the entire area. “After we heard he was in the hospital  . . .   [a cloud came] over the community, and even after he passed, you could still feel and know that something really serious has happened in the area,” Moore told Barbados TODAY. “It is a sad loss. All of us are going to miss him,” he added. (BT)

FIFA’S HOME – Barbados is now officially the home of the FIFA Caribbean Development Office. Presidents from 23 regional member associations including Barbados Football Association head Randolph Harris, attended the inauguration ceremony held this morning at Welches, Christ Church. Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football Association [CONCACAF] president Victor Montagliani along with Director of FIFA Member Association Development, Veron Mosengo-Omba and former Manchester United and Trinidad and Tobago-born legend Dwight Yorke, joined FIFA’s first female Secretary General Fatma Samoura in cutting the official ribbon. Shortly after the opening and a brief tour led by the manager in charge of the FIFA development office, Marlon Glean, Samoura said Barbados was specifically chosen because of its central location and infrastructural development. She also thanked the Barbados government for its support. (BT)

DEVONISH MAKING BIG STRIDES – Barbadian quarter miler Anderson Devonish has qualified for the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene Oregon to compete in the 400-meter dash. On Saturday Devonish ran a personal best of 45.97 seconds to place second in his heat to 400M Indoor World record-holder Michael Norman in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Round. The runners-up finish meant that Devonish secured an automatic qualifying spot to the Championships slated for between June 6-9.  It means the 24-year-old Illinois State Red Birds senior now becomes the first Redbird to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Games since 2016 when Ryan Rutherford did the same feat. It will be only his second appearance on a national stage after he competed in the same 400m event back in 2015 at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Also representing Barbados at the meet will be Lisa Ann Barrow and former CARIFTA gold medallist and Harrison College sprinter Mario Burke. (BT)

BEST: TIME FOR SELECTORS TO GO - TINO BEST is calling for the heads of the Barbados cricket selectors. Angered by some of the choices, or more specifically, the non-selection of others during last week’s draft for the 2018-19 Professional Cricket League, the outspoken former Barbados and West Indies fast bowler feels the time has come for Hendy Wallace, Sherlon Greaves and Hendy Broomes to make way. Arguing that that the selectors lacked vision, Best proposed former Barbados captain Ryan Hinds as his choice as chairman of selectors and another ex-West Indies player Corey Collymore as head coach. While expressing his concern as a fan and commentator, Best was especially vocal about the omission of all-rounder Roshon Primus and the selectors’ preference of two wicket-keepers, Mario Rampersaud and Tevyn Walcott among their five draft picks for Barbados Pride for the next regional season. Roshon Primus is 22 years old. He bowls quickly. He bowls a heavy ball. He has the ability to score 60. Last year he beat Barbados single-handedly. The opportunity comes up to pick this young man. It is a crying shame. I honestly believe that the selectors are very emotional,” Best told MIDWEEK SPORT. “I believe the BCA should hold an emergency meeting and fire all of that panel. They are not moving off of talent and match winners. They are moving off of emotion. Last season, we lost a game to Leeward Islands in two days. That is the most embarrassing thing ever in Barbados’ cricket. I am a former player. I was hurt and devastated that the Leewards came to Barbados and we were bounced out by Jeremiah Louis and Gavin Tongue.” During last Wednesday’s draft in Antigua, Primus, a beefy all-rounder, was left out in the cold after two solid seasons for Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in which he averaged 23.50 with the bat and took 33 wickets at 25.87 apiece. His most impressive effort was a match-winning performance against Barbados Pride in 2017 when he scored two half-centuries and took nine wickets in a day/night match at Kensington Oval. While Best welcomed the selections of the young fast bowling trio of Keon Harding, Dominic Drakes and Chemar Holder, he also argued a case for the inclusions of batsmen Aaron Jones, Rashidi Boucher, Craig St Hill and off-spinner Chaim Holder. Citing his own non-selection as an example, Barbados said the selcetors’ policy appeared to be one to look to players they viewed as West Indies hopefuls. “You had a situation where a year and a half, two years ago, you get rid of me and Fidel Edwards because you basically said West Indies don’t want us. you don’t want us,” he said. “We didn’t have a problem with that. When you have guys in the squad that CPL [Caribbean Premier League] doesn’t look at, West Indies don’t look at, why are they still playing? Why not bring young Primus in to replace some  of those guys.” Since the introduction of the PCL, Barbados Pride have never won the title as Guyana Jaguars swept to the championship for four successive seasons. In the circumstances, Best is calling for new blood, both on the selection panel and coaching staff. “The panel should be removed after the season Barbados had. I honestly believe Ryan Hinds should be chairman of selectors and Corey Collymore the head coach. You have two young men who know the young players and who are winners in their own right,” he said. “We are not going in the right direction. We picked two wicket-keepers in a draft and left out Roshon Primus. You can’t tell me that those people deserve to be running Barbados’ cricket.  Collymore is a top professional, he knows how to coach people.” (MWN)

HALF PIG, HALF MONKEY ON ST LUCY FARM – Some sort of monkey business has gone on in the pig sty of a Cave Hill, St Lucy farm. And it has produced a half pig-half monkey baby, being referred to as a “porkey”. That was the shocking sight which confronted pig farmer Daphne Boyce when she went to check on her sow, which had given birth to 12 piglets last Saturday. One of them was acting strange, not mixing with the others, and when Boyce turned it over to see what was going on, she just could not believe her eyes. “I say this pig ain’t look right to me. I take a stick and try to turn it over ’cause it was keeping ’pon one side; and when I turn it over, I say no, this got to be a monkey face. I call my brother and I say, ‘Roger, Roger, this pig look like a monkey’.” Boyce said its eyes were close to the forehead like a monkey’s, while it had one pig ear and a monkey’s ear. “It don’t have no snout; it got a mouth just like a monkey,” she said, mimicking the animal’s mouth movements. The little “porkey” also refused to nurse from its mother or mix with the other piglets. Boyce’s brother, Roger Feliciano, who took photos of the strange-looking pig with his cell phone, said he tried to feed it milk with a baby bottle, but that was not successful. The animal died yesterday morning. Boyce said she could not stop the monkeys from “monkeying around” with her pigs since they were rampant in her neighbourhood. “They all ’pon the roof. I got a mango tree there and they does eat all the mangoes. When people ask me if I ain’t got no mangoes in the tree, I does tell them the tree belong to the monkeys.” The 75-year-old woman said this was not the first time monkeys had dabbled with other animals. She recalled one of her friends having a “monkey sheep” a few years ago. (MWN)

TWO NEW JUNIOR MONARCHS FOR 2018 – Two new junior monarchs will be crowned this year. There are no defending champions as they have both aged out of their categories. Last year’s 7-12 Monarch Kiara Carrington ‘Mhizz Kibabba’ will now be competing in the 13-18 category (the winner in the senior category was Teri Sparkle T Williams.) When registration closed on April 20, 2018, the Scotiabank Junior Calypso Monarch Programme in association with IGM Stage Lighting showed record numbers of 48 in the 7 to 12 category, a 50 % increase on the previous year, while there was a marginal increase to 30 in the 13-18 category, up from 21. The results in the preliminary round revealed that three tied for 9th place in 7-12 category and there are six first-timers. In the 13-18 category, two tied for 12th place and there is one first-timer.   (MWN)

CAMP TRANSITION 2018 TO FEATURE JUNIOR AND SENIOR CAMPS – Students making the transition from primary to secondary school are invited to register for Camp Transition, which will be held at The St Michael School, Martindales Road, St Michael, from Monday, August 13, to Friday, August 17.  This year, the camp will again cater to two groups – junior and senior campers – to equip them from orientation to graduation and beyond. The programme for junior campers is intended to help build their confidence while jumpstarting them with techniques for overall success. There will also be a heavy focus on life skills development to help campers overcome the social, physical, academic and emotional challenges that are commonly experienced by students new to the secondary school life. Senior campers will be part of the second Career Success Summer Camp which will comprise students who have already spent two or more years at secondary school. This camp will target teenagers only (13 to 19 years old), ranging from those entering Third form to those who are leaving Sixth form. The emphasis for senior campers will be on career planning to give them a sense of direction through career testing and point them towards the path of success in their respective subjects, skills and careers. Camp Transition 2018 is also intended to ease the transition process for parents/guardians, helping them to build a healthy home-school partnership. As an added bonus, there will be a free seminar, dubbed the Parents’ Empowerment Seminar, on Tuesday, August 21, at The St. Michael School from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Common challenges encountered by parents and children at the different transitional points throughout secondary school will be explored and techniques to overcome these will be shared.  Registration for Camp Transition and the Parents’ Empowerment Seminar will be held on Saturday, June 30, Tuesday, July 31, and Thursday, August 9, at The St. Michael School between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Each camper will receive a copy of the book, Entering Secondary School:   A Survival Kit For Students With Helpful Tips For Parents, along with other relevant resources, while the senior campers will receive additional career-related and educational planning material. For further information, parents or guardians may call Margaret Grant at 250-1960, or e-mail camptransition@gmail.com. (BGIS)

OPEN DAY AT DEIGHTON GRIFFITH SECONDARY SCHOOL – The Deighton Griffith Secondary School is inviting members of the public to its Best Practices in Sustainable Organic Agriculture Open Day, which takes place at the school this Friday, June 1, at 10 a.m. The event is the culmination of a three-year agricultural science project spearheaded by the school’s Parent-Teacher Association and its Science Department. The project was funded by the Global Environmental Facility’s Small Grants Programme and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. It was designed to reinforce the aspects of the current Agricultural Science curriculum at the school and to expose students to new techniques in crop husbandry. (BGIS)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 216 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles  #dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

[andrea-cristina-travel-blog]

Collecting moments on the island of Menorca, Spain

“London is a splendid place to live in for those who can get out of it.” — Lord Balfour of Burleigh, 1944 The thought first came on the Tube. The 18:09 Jubilee line from London Bridge to Stratford, to be exact. It began as a niggling feeling. The type you can’t quite identify yet but you know is there; like a crick in the neck after sleeping funny. I think it was somewhere between curtailing the need for air and stepping into the claustrophobia; yoga’ing into the last available pocket of air, between the balding businessman and the snarling teenager blasting death metal. Sometime before the daily prayer that the masses rocking side to side around me would buoy me, or after the ever-polite British voice reminded us all, again, to ‘mind the gap, please’. Hurtling beneath the streets of London in a grey tin can, it materialised between yet another long day at work and yet another long night of freelance work to come that evening. We were desperately in need of a holiday. It’s probably a strange thing to comprehend. Two people who make their living by living the non-stop travel dream, in need of a getaway. Yet there we were, having arrived in London 8 months before, straight from a hectic year of full-time travel and blogging, and launching straight into full-time work, full-time freelance, and full-time just trying to work out where the heck we were going in this chaotic new city of unfamiliarity. Combine this with constant travel for work, and you end up with us: two utterly exhausted, drained of enthusiasm, and generally flat humans. It’s probably why, when the opportunity to visit Menorca – Spain’s lesser-known, slower Balearic Island – presented itself, we didn’t even pause for thought. Google told us it was the ‘true home of slow’, full of idyllic Mediterranean beaches and long lunches, and two weeks later, we were hurtling out of London in another tin can. This time, watching the sun rise from pink skies en route to Mahon, ready to shift down a gear, recalibrate, and collect those small holiday moments that would help us find ourselves again. COLLECTING MOMENTS ON THE ISLAND OF MENORCA, SPAIN  the salt water cure. The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea. — Isak Dinesen 3… 2… 1… Deep breath. The sudden cool of the water sends tiny shocks along my skin, warm from a morning spent kayaking Menorca’s coastline under the sun’s gaze. Everyone always comes back from holiday exclaiming they ‘saw the bluest water, like, everrrrr’, but really, truly, they can’t have seen Menorca’s. It’s a blue that names like turquoise, azure, cerulean, can’t do justice. Gliding along the surface had been a test in patience, fighting the urge to ditch off the side into its inviting waters. So when we pull up inside the cave for a swimming stop, it takes all of two milliseconds to set aside the oars and dive straight in. It’s been a long time since we last felt the refreshing touch of salt water. For a second I seriously consider becoming a mermaid so I can live under here forever. After a youth spent swimming competitively, there’s always a sense of comfort in returning home to the water; surrendering to the ocean and just letting go. Under the rolling blue there’s nothing to focus on but your breath and thoughts; a natural meditation of sorts. Breaking through the surface to the sound of our friends whooping and splashing about, the happiness bubbles over. In this place of white cliffs and clear waves, there’s nothing to do but lie back and laugh to the bright blue skies as the stress dissolves away.   roll on under the sun.  “There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” ― Jack Kerouac Windows down, the wheels roll on. There are five* of us today, piled into a rental car, on one of life’s great simple pleasures: a road trip with dear friends. We do have destinations in mind, Menorca’s medina-like port town of Ciutadella and the beach cove of Macarelleta, but today the freedom of the open road is just as much a part of the plan. I’ve always been fond of long car drives, and that delicious feeling of really going somewhere, both literally and metaphorically, that they invoke. Under a brilliant summer sky, we sing at the top of our lungs and wind along quiet country lanes fringed by long grasses and wildflowers. Menorca’s gentle landscape is peppered with ancient dry stone walls that criss cross fields of green, whitewashed stones farmhouses of times past, and wooded valleys that run towards white bays and sparkling seas. This is an island totally at ease with itself. Leisurely, beautifully natural, and content with having avoided the grasp of the modernising world. We’re a long way from the queues, skyscrapers, and blustery chaos of London. We make it to Ciutadella and wander the cobblestones, twisting and weaving down narrow lanes and getting distracted by market stalls. We stumble into a quaint café only to discover we’re actually in one of Menorca’s finest boutique hotels, and scramble up a flight of iron stairs to the best 360* view of Ciutadella we could imagine. We continue to Macarelleta and flop on our beach towels in the sun, feeling both totally relaxed and a little awkward due to a sudden encounter with the more relaxed European attitudes towards beach nudity. By the time we swing back into the carpark of our hotel as the stars have begun to twinkle overhead, we’re people refreshed, our troubles left behind in the lines of the road. *shout out to our favourite roadie buddies Girl vs Globe, Peter Parkorr, and Polkadot Passport!     breaking bread.  “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” – J.R.R. Tolkien Legend has it that centuries ago, an unknown man came from the sea. A shipwreck survivor, an escapee – no one knows. He took refuge in a cave, lifting supplies from nearby houses. From one house, a young woman already betrothed disappeared. Years passed with no sign of her return, until footprints left in an unexpected snow led armed men into the cave, to the couple and their three sons. Cornered, the man, Xoroi, leapt from the cave, returning to the sea, leaving the imposing cliffs to guard their love story forever. Today, Cova D’En Xoroi is one of Menorca’s glittering bars. I say glittering, because as the sun goes down over the cliffs to our right, the walls glow and champagne glasses flash with golden light as they clink. It’s from this magical viewpoint that we watch that vivid sunset in the company of our best friends, and contemplate the beauty and simplicity of nature. Meals of the freshest seafood and salty olives become some of our favourite moments on this island. Lunches are long, dinners a multi-course tapas-style affair. We have no choice but to slow down and savour life. To make each bite deliberate and intentional; to be fully present, instead of scarfing pizza down wordlessly in front of Netflix. More than that, each meal becomes a reminder to smile between mouthfuls, to belly laugh with friends over a heady mix of new tastes and local wine. To nourish our souls as we nourish our stomach. After all, nourishing souls is what Menorca does best.   Need to book accommodation? Here’s £30 off your first AirBnb booking Check out Hotel’s Combined for the best hotel deals Love Spain? You might like these posts: Why Menorca should be your next summer escape How to spend the ultimate weekend in Santander, Spain The best things to do in Santander, Spain FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURES ON FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | PINTEREST LIKE THIS POST? PIN AND SHARE IT! JOIN OUR TRIBE & WANDER WITH US Join 30,000+ people and receive travel stories, tips + hacks, and stunning photography to inspire your wanderlust. Straight to your inbox We hate spammers. We'll never be those people. We were hosted in Menorca Spain by Spain Tourism, Jet2.com, Visit Menorca, and Traverse as part of the #MustSeeMenorca campaign. A big thank you to the team for making our stay memorable. As always, all views are our own. Check out #MustSeeMenorca on Twitter or Instagram. The post Collecting moments on the island of Menorca, Spain appeared first on The Common Wanderer.

https://www.thecommonwanderer.com/collecting-moments-island-menorca-spain/

[marysaldevar]

Late last year, myself and my two girlfriends decided to take on an impromptu Europe trip, as you do. With just 2 months of planning we managed to get ourselves on a plane on the 27th of December 2016 and would not touch Aussie soil for the next 5 weeks. It was without a doubt one of the most crazy things I’ve ever endeavoured to do and the best times of my life. With an insane itinerary, stressful transport timetables and multiple check ins and check outs, we traversed 6 countries and 11 cities to explore the world and ultimately find ourselves (so cheesy but true- soz not soz) Here are some of the highlights…

Germany

I think one of the best things about going when we did was the fact that it was the winter holidays. It means everything was beautiful, lighted and decorated. Also we got to see this massive real Christmas tree in the middle of the Marienplatz in Munich….

We were lucky enough to be able to visit the tallest snowy mountain in Germany, Zugspitze. Needless to say, we were not prepared for this winter wonderland and were on the brink of frostbite. However, the adrenalin filled bobsleds and a hearty German dinner afterwards sure did keep us warm!

We spent New Years in Berlin and it was a night I will never forget. The fireworks, the people, the friendship good times…..We were situated in the middle of a crossroads and so although we weren’t at the main fireworks display we didn’t care because there were literally fireworks going off all around us! (TBH not really safe practice.. umm quite dangerous actually..but good times nonetheless!)

We spent the next few days exploring the East Side Gallery and Checkpoint Charlie

Processed with MOLDIV

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was without a doubt one of my favourite cities. So beautiful, so picturesque, like out of a children’s book 🙂

Processed with MOLDIV

We rode along the canals at sunset…..

And visited ‘that famous sign’

Paris

Mmmmm Paris; cheese, wine and pastry…..

Oh and escargot. Yeah, I ate that and had no idea how to but was actually quite tasty!

The view from Sacré-Cœur was so amazing that the photos didn’t do it justice so here’s a pic of me standing outside it…

We also visited the Notre-Dame (and no we couldn’t find quasi-modo unfortunately)

The day we visited the Eiffel Tower was actually a slow day (yay! no lines!)

Processed with MOLDIV

We finished off our stay with a visit to the Arc de Triomph and a shopping day along the Champs-Élysées…

Our last dinner in Paris was one of (if not the) best meals of my life EVER. NO JOKE. I CAN’T. EVEN. DEAL

It was ravioli with tomato and this creamy foam that just melted in your mouth…and paired with the perfect white wine

Barcelona

Ok so bit of a deep and meaningful coming up (just FYI in case you want to opt out)

On the train trip to Barcelona my entire suitcase was stolen (sad times…. or was it?!?!….) Although it was a harsh lesson, it was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me on the trip. Looking back on it, there is something truly freeing about being little old me- literally just me- in the big world. At the end of the day, it’s just a whole lot of stuff. People, memories, experiences- these are the things which are irreplaceable and I wasn’t going to let a thief ruin my life journey. I mean, I was in freakin beautiful Barcelona gosh darn it!! My besties and I ate a lot of paella and sangria that night…

Of course when you’re in Barcelona you HAVE to visit all of the beautiful Gaudi buildings 🙂

Sagrada Família

Casa Batlló

And last but not least!

Park Güell

Madrid

It’s always hard to follow Barcelona, but Madrid was still a lovely city.

We took a lazy stroll down Buen Retiro Park and ate more paella and sangria (duh)

One night we watched a traditional flamenco performance with live musicians and got all dressed up fancy 🙂

London

We then flew across the water to London and after a treacherous train ride (like the human version of sardines), we arrived at our swanky apartment. The first night we had a chilled home cooked meal. Just look at who I got to eat with all the time! #babe

The next day we got all the sites ticked off our bucket list!

Of course we had to stop to make a few very important phone calls…

One of my fondest memories in London was being surprised by a bunch of very friendly squirrels. Some a bit too friendly as Lucy found out when one mistook her for a tree and decided to go for a run up her leg! haha They had a lot of swag…

We also got our nerd on at the Natural History Museum..

On one of the last days we had a very posh high tea (free flowing prosecco say what?!?)

and then and there decided we HAD to go see a musical because why not. So we frantically booked Phantom of the Opera. And after a few cocktails at The Shard we left terrifyingly late to get to the theatre. But alas, we only missed the intro. Phantom of the Opera got us feeling all kinds of emotions!

Processed with MOLDIV

Italy

Milan

Our first stop in Italy was Milan!

We stopped by the beautiful Milan Cathedral and gazed at all the super expensive fashions.

We spent a quiet afternoon walking around Leonardo’s Vineyard and learning all about the history of the house.

The inside of the house

Leonardo’s Vineyard 

Venice

One of (if not THE) best days of my life took place in Venice. Nothing in particular happened, it was simply a PERFECT day with my perfect date 🙂 (Lucy you know I love you girl!) From a romantic gondola ride

The best seafood (with the best view)

And wondering around the canals to find hidden shops and cranky old dogs (Lucy learnt this lesson the hard way haha)

To finish off with a beautiful meal and numerous glasses of spritz

One of the best things about Venice is you’re only one boat ride away from another island. Because of this we took a day trip to visit, Murano and Burano, islands known for amazing glass blowing. Needless to say we spent a lot of money here (no regrets- I mean look a them!)

We also had the best most authentic pasta in this tiny restaurant. If there’s one thing you take away from reading this post it’s that ALWAYS go far away from the tourist spots and if it looks a little run down and unpopular, GO IN. That restaurant has probably been in the family for generations and they’ll feed you like family

Florence

I had been to Florence before and it was one of my favourite cities. The second time round; STILL ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE CITIES. 🙂

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that our air BnB had our very own private terrace which we made sure to make the most of. I mean just look at that view!

We visited my favourite building

The Duomo

And also the wonderful Uffizi Gallery

And had the cheesiest gnocchi ever…

Rome

Ahhhhh Rome   I mean our apartment was a 5 minute walk away from the Colosseum. I can’t really complain

The Roman Forum

The Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

The Vatican and Vatican Museums 

One of the highlights was getting to visit Pompeii for the second time and recreating this photo

The Tiber River at night was also to die for….

Coming home….

I was away 41 days and it’s fair to say that it was quite an adventure! From watching fireworks in Berlin on New Year’s Eve, seeing snow for the first time, bike riding in Amsterdam, gondola rides in Venice and visiting Pompeii for the second time as well as a few mishaps along the way; it was all a part of the tapestry of travel and life. All the while I had two of my best girlfriends by my side. Thank you Karla and Lucy for the DnMs, late night dinners, laughing till we couldn’t breathe and making the unbearable bearable. This trip has had many highs and lows and I couldn’t have done it without your friendship and humour (and photography skills) I love you ladies  My time in Europe was a roller coaster of emotions and I embraced it all in a way that brought out the best in me during the hardest times. I’ve seen sides of me and an inner strength that I didn’t know I had before. And for that I am truly grateful for the experience. But at the end of the day, I was so ready to come home to Sydney, Australia as Mary 2.0 

Europe 2016/17 Late last year, myself and my two girlfriends decided to take on an impromptu Europe trip, as you do.