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oti-blog1 · 7 months ago

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Sport Venue and Event Management

Entry 4 – Olympic Legacy’s

Introduce the Olympic and what the legacy is

Olympic legacy is the major talking point after the commencement of the games. The Olympic legacy includes the long-term effects that the Olympic Games have created for the host city, community and government (International Olympic Committee2024). Furthermore, the term ‘Sports event legacy’ is significant concept for committees of mega sporting events as it is connected to the outcome associated with hosting an event. The growing importance of legacies in sport events has increased as to the interest of various stakeholder such as Olympic Committee (IOC) host cities, communities and governments (Leopkey & Parent, 2012).

(Birds Eye View of Olympic Park and surrounding area)

Olympic legacies can create essential infrastructural resources and support to host cities, communities and government. According to Chappelet (2019). it is imperative to organise a successful game, but that does not justify hosting the event. For the games to be a success it must also leave behind a positive legacy. The 2012 Olympic Games held in London is a exemplary example of a positive legacy. Tony Blair the prime minster during the bid for the 2012 Olympics placed an emphasis on driving environmentally friendly rejuvenation of East London. However, these were not the only sights to be updated as capital was injected into areas of Central London and Thames/Greenwich (Climate Home News, 2012). The introduction of the Thames Gateway provided 140,000 new homes. Whilst the development of the Olympic Park created sustainable urban areas and provided an additional 10,000 homes, 8,000 jobs and during construction of Olympic Park the reduction and materials used reduce the overall emissions of the games whilst creating urban parts into natural/green areas. (Brownill, et al., 2013). Highlighting the positive Olympic Games can create when executed correctly leaving behind positives legacies.

(Police officer in Favelas, 2016)

Nevertheless, Olympic legacies do not always benefit the host city and local communities. During the 2016 Rio Olympics the government implemented cable carts transporting tourists to and from the highest points of the favelas, however, at the commencement of the games the cable cars were removed. Additionally, during the games, the installation of thirty-eight police force points were included to maintain peace which at first local communities within the Favelas were pleased with. However, misconduct by the police in multiple areas of the favelas created further resentment between local communities and the authorities (Derks et al., 2020). Another demonstration of unsuccessful legacy was the 2004 Athens Olympics, which spent significant sums on infrastructure, however, the money spent on these Olympic arenas was not included within the budget. This resulted in no available funding for upgrades and maintenance prior to the games. Furthermore, the cost of the infrastructure equated to 8.5 million according to the Greek finance minster (Inside the games, 2024) highlighting the poor management. A prime example of this is the 2004 Olympic beach volleyball centre which has been completely abandoned and destroyed (News.comn.au, 2024). Both of these Olympics highlighting the potential for negative impacts to occur creating destructive legacies.

(The abandoned beach volleyball stadium in Athens, 2024)

Reference:

Brownill, S., Keivani, R., & Pereira, G. (2013). Olympic legacies and city development strategies in London and Rio; beyond the carnival mask?. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 5(2), 111-131.

Chappelet, J. L. (2019). Beyond legacy: Assessing olympic games performance. Journal of Global Sport Management, 4(3), 236-256.

Derks, S., Koster, M., & Oosterbaan, M. (2020). Olympic legacies. City & Society, 32(1), 184-202.

Inside the games. (2024). Athens 2004, the squandered legacy. Inside the game. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1144355/athens-2004-the-squandered-legacy

Climate Home News. (2012) London 2012 Olympics: A story of sustainable architecture.

International Olympic Committee. (2024) Olympic Legacy. International Olympic Committee https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-legacy

Leopkey, B., & Parent, M. M. (2012). Olympic Games legacy: From general benefits to sustainable long-term legacy. The international journal of the history of sport, 29(6), 924-943. https://www.u-orme.fr/images/pdf/Olympic-Games.pdf

News.com.au. (2024). Lessons of the 2004 Athens Olympics? Resist the building urge. News.com.au.https://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/lessons-of-2004-athens-olympics-resist-the-building-urge/news-story/715dad98f01775398ea4d72c4f3e458b

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starrwulfe · 1 year ago

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Good news everyone! Georgia has federal passenger train study funding!

In combination with some great news about funding a lot of sorely needed railroad projects and studies at the federal level, Georgia’s U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock announced new grants to explore three new Georgia passenger rail corridors, made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The new rail routes would connect major economic centers in Georgia and neighboring states, providing additional public transit options, increased mobility, and a sustainable, clean-energy future.

Starting from Atlanta, the routes being studied are:

A route heading northward with stops likely in Marietta, Cartersville, Dalton and points north into Tennessee that would connect with Chattanooga and efforts in that state to create a line from there to Nashville.

Extending south and eastward, a route that would likely have intermediate stations in McDonough, Macon and end in Savannah with a connection to the Amtrak route linking Florida and DC on the east coast. There’s also the potential to create a branch that would go due south out of Macon, through Valdosta and link with Tampa or Orlando. It would be nice to get some two-state talks going with Florida on doing something together since Brightline is already plying the rails down there and its now a known quantity.

Perhaps the most interesting and likely first to get going is a high-speed line between Atlanta and Charlotte. The in-state routing on this one is not known, but it’d be very strange if Athens was missed. The growing South Carolina towns of Greenville/Spartanburg definitely and perhaps Anderson/Clemson would get stops depending on routing.

Another point of discussion is where exactly in Atlanta would these routes be emanating from; ATL’s current train station for Amtrak service on the thrice weekly Crescent service from DC to New Orleans is basically a glorified waiting room with rails and stairs that lead to Peachtree Rd just north of Midtown. There were some efforts to build a new multimodal station Downtown right across from the Five Points MARTA station, right where a bunch of railroad tracks pass through a trench. While we do need a world-class rail terminal for a world-class city like Atlanta (especially to help get a commuter rail service off the ground — more on that later,) let’s not ignore our 900-pound gorilla lying 8 miles south: Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Literally the World’s Busiest Airport for 20+ years definitely needs to be tied into any long-distance (and commuter!) rail options here. The catchment area of passengers includes not just the entire state but anything that would beat a car ride from an area of about 200 miles in diameter around us. Every time I’ve been in one of Hartsfield’s parking garages, I’ve seen cars with South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee tags that are definitely not rentals. With frequent enough service, it could be very possible to simply leave the car and take the train to the airport and catch a flight. Most Americans can’t realize this convenience right now but take it from me after living in Japan for almost 20 years, being able to just hop a train even in the most remote parts of the area and get to Haneda, Narita, Kansai and Nagoya Centrair airports without worrying about long-term parking or begging for a ride from friends is a great thing.

According to Axios, how much of the $8.2 billion will wind up in Georgia for its rail project — or the timeline for the project’s start and completion is a big question mark. One thing I’d like to know is does some of this money help look into a regional rail solution here around Atlanta that’s desperately needed. Just like NYC, LA and Chicago, whatever helps the commuter rail network, would ultimately be good for the longer distance trains as well since they could share the tracks. That ATL Trains idea is still the best idea I’ve ever seen and really, REALLY needs to be formally studied with this money. Check out the 146-page prospectus yourself, it’s that good!

Just like the Eisenhower Interstate Highway projects of the 1960s, the US really needs a rail renaissance in order to help face this brave new world of climate change, population and demographic shifts into sunbelt cities that didn’t keep up infrastructure-wise (building another lane isn’t cutting it Chief!) and the simple paradigm shift of decentralization in our metro areas in general– How many people do you know BEFORE the pandemic that worked “downtown?” OK, now how many people actually even go to an office every day? Our transportation network needs to be more dynamic and flexible to account for these shifts and overlaying a decent rail network, both nationally and locally, is paramount. This is in addition to dealing with improving road and air travel; those need to be sorted as well.

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katarh-mest · 11 months ago

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In Georgia it is awful. My city, Athens, is an hour east of Atlanta.

We have been begging for 30 years to have a short rail connection to the MARTA station 50 miles away in Doraville. It would let us get to the ATL airport without having to take a bus, car, or van. It would let us go to museums, the zoo and the aquarium, and to visit family and friends, without having to use a car. It would free up thousands of cars of traffic from people who commute along that corridor daily.

And the NIMBYs in Gwinnett county keep saying no.

The good news is we're now part of a long term high speed rail plan, finally, but this train line probably won't be built before I'm dead. (This particular line would also let me visit my in-laws in SC without having to use a car on I-85; they could pick us up at the Greenville-Spartanburg airport 5 miles from their house. It would be a bidirectional train for us from Athens at least twice a month, and that's not even touching on being able to go to Charlotte for a weekend!)

I want this so bad. The gas to get to Dunwoody Station (to take the train to the airport) in my car is about $30 round trip. The parking at Dunwoody station is $5 a day. MARTA from Dunwoody to the airport is $5 round trip, per person. So a weekend trip that involves a plane flight is at minimum $50 for two people by car, and goes up from there if we stay longer. That's the cheapest, most hassle option. There are more expensive, less hassle options (van ride to the airport for $120 round trip per person, or airport parking itself for $10/day minimum.)

NOT TO MENTION THAT I HAVE TO DRIVE ON I-85 AND/OR I-285 HELLSCAPES IN THE CURRENT CHEAP SCENARIOS.

If I could get a train ticket to the airport, round trip, for a reasonable rate ($50-75 per person would be swell for high speed) and it could get me there in about an hour, and I could avoid I-85 entirely, I'd pay it in a heartbeat.

I don't think people in the Northeast realize how bad the transit is outside the Northeast. Like let's say you live in Cincinnati and want to visit a friend in Louisville. These 2 cities are about 90 miles apart as the crow flys. Your only options are to drive, take one of 3 daily busses from Greyhound and Baron busses, or fly.

In comparison, if you wanted to get from Baltimore to Philadelphia which are about the same distance, you get 17 daily busses from Flixbus, Megabus, Greyhound, and Peterpan Busses as well as 36 amtraks

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theteasetwrites · 3 years ago

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The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning

Chapter 1: In the Dark

❧ Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader ❧ Era: Season 1 ❧ Pronouns: she/her ❧ Warnings: mild swearing, scary situation, typical TWD ❧ Word Count: 1.3k

❧ In This Chapter: You are faced with the harsh reality of the impending apocalypse, caused by a strange infectious disease that brings the dead back to life. On a mission to find your brother, you instead find some equally as frightened strangers, and lead them to a safe place when things go bad in Atlanta.

❧ A/N: So this is my first foray into fan fiction in general, and I’m pretty nervous. I’m starting with a Daryl Dixon x Reader series because honestly that’s been my favorite thing to read as of late. I just love that man so much. It’s funny cuz I wasn’t super into him at first but he just kept getting better and better… and now here I am, writing reader insert fan fiction about him. It’s a slippery slope, my friends, a slippery slope. Anyway, hope you all enjoy it! I’m planning on taking this throughout the whole series (so yes, Reader is gonna live through it all). Also I’m aware Daryl isn’t in this chapter — he will be introduced in chapter 2 so stay tuned 👀

Shit, shit, shit.

You nervously tapped your thumbs against the steering wheel as chaos ensued outside of your parked car on the gridlocked highway. The distant whirring of the helicopters grew louder and louder as they passed over.

Abandoning all hope of the traffic clearing up anytime soon, you reluctantly took the key out of the ignition and observed your surroundings to see several equally as worried citizens with their frightened faces illuminated only by the bright vermillion beams cascading down from the circling aircrafts.

This can’t be happening, you thought as you checked the time on your watch. It had been only thirty minutes since you began your journey from Athens to Atlanta in an attempt to seek some sort of refuge from whatever in God’s name was happening.

People were turning into horrible, grotesque creatures with cannibalistic tendencies. You had been hearing about some breakouts of this strange new disease in other places for about a month now, but the first you had seen of it was at the library you worked at. A deathly pale young man with a limp and a giant bloodied gash in his leg had stumbled in through the automatic glass doors and taken a bite out of one of your coworkers at the front desk.

Not too long after you had bashed the man’s head in self-defense (with a twenty pound book, no less), the woman he had bit seemed to bleed out, but she soon rose from the dead before your very eyes, biting a few other people who dared to get in her way as she lunged towards you.

The Athens police stopped answering phone calls, so yourself and the other administrators agreed it might be wise to go into lockdown before anymore deranged individuals could enter the building.

Before long, the place was overrun with these… people. You had to get out. Getting into your car, you stopped by your apartment to pick up the essentials and then headed west to Atlanta where the radio broadcast promised sanctuary and protection from whatever it is that was turning these once ordinary people into cannibalistic monsters. It just so happened that your older brother was also in Atlanta. Although you weren’t on the greatest terms with him, he was the only family you had nearby. To make matters worse, neither him nor your parents were answering your phone calls. You were beginning to feel well and truly alone.

So here you were. Stuck in traffic, with no idea what was ahead of you, and surrounded by people who were just as confused and scared as you were.

Desperate for answers, you stepped out of your car and approached the first person with a friendly enough face, a middle-aged woman with short grey hair and what looked to be her young daughter.

“Hey, do you know what’s going on?” you asked shakily.

The woman turned to you with a frightened expression on her face. She shook her head worryingly and clung tighter to her little girl.

Another woman and her son emerged from the other side of the car the grey-haired woman was standing next to. She was followed by a man in a police officer’s uniform.

“I’ve got no idea,” the woman spoke in a light southern accent, “We were on our way to Atlanta and everything just jammed up.”

“Maybe they’re not letting anyone in the city,” you sighed, looking into the distance at the city skyline.

You looked over at the man in the police uniform. “Do you know anything?”

“I’m just as in the dark as everyone else,” he said.

It seems we’re all in the dark.

There was a deafening silence as your mind moved a million miles a minute. You felt so vulnerable being outside the city, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by strangers (and other potential dangers). You thought it wouldn’t hurt to make friends while you were waiting for information.

“Well, I’m (Y/N),” you outstretched your hand awkwardly to the woman with the little boy, who seemed the most receptive to you. You weren’t the best at introductions. Hell, you weren’t the best at socializing in general. You loved talking to people but you always worried you came on a little strong. At least these people didn’t seem horrible.

The woman offered a small but friendly smile and shook your hand gingerly, “I’m Lori. That’s my son Carl,” she said as she gestured towards her son, who was now playing checkers with the other little girl, “and this is Shane,” she pointed to the police officer behind her.

“Carol,” the other woman peeped, “my daughter Sophia,” she nodded towards the girl, who gave you a shy wave when she heard her name.

The social niceties were interrupted by a sudden burst of explosions coming from the city. You whipped your head toward the sound and saw a hellish profusion of red and orange lighting up the sky as clouds of fire and smoke swallowed up the landscape.

“Jesus Christ,” you gasped.

“Carl, Lori, get in the car, we’re getting outta here,” Shane bellowed.

“Ed!” Carol called out as a big man smoking a cigarette emerged from their old Cherokee.

“Where the hell we gonna go?” Ed asked gruffly.

You looked around panicked, suddenly feeling so alone and afraid again. The only place you knew to go, the only family you had, the only promise of safety… it just went up in flames. It must have become overrun, why else would they bomb it?

As every possible thought ran through your head, you came back down to reality and focused on the present moment. We can’t be too far from the old quarry we used to camp at, you thought as you grabbed your old hiking backpack from the trunk of your car.

“There’s a quarry not too far from here, I know it pretty well. We could camp out there until we figure out what’s going on,” you said, handing Lori and Shane flashlights, keeping one for yourself. You might not have been the most outdoorsy, but damnit if you weren’t prepared.

Shane nodded his head, seemingly only concerned with keeping Lori and Carl safe. “All right, let’s go.”

“Come on, Carol,” you gestured to her and her family, trying to smile slightly to calm the nervous woman. You could tell she seemed particularly on edge, and your judge of character sent you big red flags as you noticed her husband’s body language. He yelled something about not trusting you and wanting to keep to themselves, but you largely tuned him out.

Leading the way, you and your group trudged through weeds and trees as you all made your way away from the highway.

You finally made it to the area overlooking the water-filled quarry. You could just barely make it out in the dark, but you knew it well enough since you had spent a lot of time there vacationing with your family as a child. It was part of the reason you and your brother moved to Georgia in the first place. It had been like a second home to the both of you.

In this strange turn of events that the world had taken, your second home would become your only home. Complete strangers would become your family. Nightmares would become your waking reality.

As you took in the city skyline from the quarry, the tears streaming down your cheeks had turned cold from exposure to the cool night air. Explosives dropped in quick succession, and you swore you could hear screams of agony somewhere amidst the blaze, but you convinced yourself it was just your imagination.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment if you want, I'm always up for friendly criticism.

Series Masterlist Next Chapter ➳

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abookishdreamer · 2 years ago

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Worldbuilding Intro- Welcome to New Olympus!

In Olympius (where my fantasy series Kingdom of Ichor takes place), its capital is New Olympus, which is also the country's largest city! The inspiration/aesthetic of the city is an amalgamation of real world locations like Modern day Greece, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Modern day Rome, Modern day Italy, NYC (New York City), LA (Los Angeles), Miami, London, & many more other places!

Here's some general info about the city:

Overlooking New Olympus and situated on Ombrios Canyon is the city's sign- spelling out the word "New Olympus" in 50-foot-tall (15.2 m) shimmering gold uppercase letters and is 450 feet (137.2 m) long.

Near the Lightning Harbor stands a 600 ft glittering Imperial Gold statue of King Zeus (holding his iconic lightning bolt in one hand and an aegis in the other). It's called the Panhellenios Statue, commissioned & built by his son Hephaestus (god of the forge).

It's the most diverse, in terms of population!

Grand Thunder Station is a commuter rail terminal having a connection to the New Olympus Subway. It's a mode of transportation not just throughout the country, but also some direct lines to the Underwater Realm & a single direct line to The Underworld. The terminal's Main Concourse is often used as a meeting place. Grand Thunder Station contains a variety of stores & food vendors- including upscale restaurants, bars, three food halls, and a grocery marketplace. It's a tourist attraction! Grand Thunder covers more than 50 acres & has 45 platforms.

Other modes of transportation include ferries, cabs, buses & trains (courtesy of the NOTA- New Olympus Transit Authority), and even through use of a chariot (pulled by a pegasus).

The Three Kings Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in New Olympus. It's of course inspired by the three main rulers & most powerful gods with each section of the bridge being built out of a different material. One section is built out of Imperial Gold (inspired by Zeus), the middle section being built out of Oceanic Metal (inspired by Poseidon), with the last section built out of adamantine (inspired by Hades).

The governor of the city is a mortal woman named Corinna Sotiropoulou while the mayor is the first of its kind- a satyr named Stathis Spiridakis.

There's the Pantheon Walk of Fame- where five pointed Celestial Bronze & Imperial Gold stars contain the names of the major and minor gods & goddesses. They're embedded in the sidewalks along several blocks of Eaglepoint Boulevard and five blocks of Bolt Street in Downtown New Olympus.

The hearth goddess Hestia's eternal red flame (which never goes out) is a symbol of strength and hope is situated (seemingly juxtaposed) on a 20 ft. torch in Acropolis Square.

Acropolis Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center, & neighborhood in Midtown New Olympus. Brightly lit by numerous billboards, neon signs, and advertisements, it's often referred to as "The Crossroads of Olympius." It's the second most visited tourist attraction in Olympius (right after the palace on Mt. Olympus) & is the busiest pedestrian area. Notable locations in Acropolis Square includes Acropolis Square Garden (a multi-purpose indoor arena), Mall of Olympius (the largest retail shopping mall in the country), and The Parthenon Theater (the largest movie theater in the city)

* not to be confused with The Parthenon (an architectural feat & temple built to honor the goddess Athena, located in Athens.

Eaglepoint Park is New Olympus' largest urban park, located between the Queenstown & Skyline neighborhoods. It covers over a thousand acres of land- home to the New Olympus Zoo, among other attractions. Another statue of Zeus (built out of marble) with an eagle perched on each of his shoulders is here as well. The Summer Solstice Music Festival also takes place here. All the people of the city and its visitors know better than to mess with the stymphalian birds (carnivorous birds known for their bronze beaks, sharp metallic feathers, & poisonous dung).

Olympus Drive is a two mile long street in New Olympus. It's a shopping district famous for designer label and haute couture fashion. The name generally refers to a three-block long stretch of boutiques and shops but the street stretches further north and south.

Nyctelius Strip is a 1.5-mile stretch of Nyctelius Boulevard in West New Olympus, Olympius, known for its nightlife, entertainment, and outdoor advertising.

Some notable things to eat in New Olympus:

Gyro hot dog- a beef frank folded into two slices of pita bread & topped with tzatziki sauce, feta cheese, cucumber slices, and sliced plum tomatoes.

A bag of spiced olives!

Loukoumades- small fried dough balls usually covered in honey & topped with cinnamon and chopped walnuts

Koulouris- a ring shaped bread garnished with sesame seeds

A bag of assorted dried fruits (usually containing raisins, figs, apricots, & pears) lightly drizzled in honey and dusted with a bit of cinnamon.

Frozen yogurt with a variety of toppings.

A box of mini honey cakes!

Dolmades- wrapped grape leaves stuffed with rice, onions, fresh herbs, & pine nuts. Comes with tzatziki dipping sauce & other sauce options.

*The next post will go more in depth into the individual neighborhoods of New Olympus!

#my writing #writing community #writeblr #writeblr community #worldbuilding #my worldbuilding #modern greek mythology #greek myth retellings #greek myths #greek mythology

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usafphantom2 · 2 years ago

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The Hellenic Air Force receives two more Rafale fighters from France 🇫🇷

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 11/14/2022 - 15:07 in Military

Greece received two more Rafale fighters from France according to a Twitter post from the Hellenic Air Force (HAF).

The number of Rafale fighters belonging to Greece increased to eight with the new delivery. It was also reported that the two aircraft with serial numbers 450 and 451 are new, unlike the second-hand Rafales received in previous months. The new Rafale fighters have a seat configuration.

Greece ordered 24 Rafale fighters from France in 2021 for 2.32 billion euros, and the first batch of these aircraft arrived in Greece in early 2022. A large delegation received the first batch of six second-hand Rafale fighters at Tanagra Air Base. Two of the six Rafales delivered so far were two-seater, while the remaining four were one-seat. The Hellenic Air Force stated at the time that the two-seater aircraft would be used in the training of new Rafale fighter pilots, while the remaining four aircraft would be operational. These aircraft were later assigned to the 332nd Squadron of the 114th Air Force Combat Wing of the Hellenic Air Force. These two new aircraft will be parked at Tanagra Air Base, along with the six second-hand Rafale already in service, which have been operational since January 2022. Other Rafale aircraft, which will be delivered to the Greek Air Force in lots, will arrive in Greece at the end of 2022, 2023 and 2024.

By receiving new Rafale aircraft, Greece is also upgrading 85 F-16 Block 52+ Fighting Falcon aircraft to the F-16 Block 72 configuration under the terms of a 2017 agreement signed with the United States. In this context, the Hellenic Air Force received the first two F-16 fighters updated to the "Viper" standard in collaboration with Lockheed Martin and Hellenic Aerospace Industry (EAB) last September. Greece is expected to receive six additional F-16s updated to the "Viper" standard by the end of this year. It is estimated that it will take until 2027 for all aircraft to be modernized and delivered to the Hellenic Air Force.

While in Washington last May, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also met with U.S. President Joe Biden. During this visit, Mitsotakis made a declaration of intent to Joe Biden to buy a fleet of F-35 fighters from the United States. Two months after this announcement, Kyriakos Mitsotakis reported that his country had officially submitted a letter of request for the purchase of 20 F-35s. Speaking to reporters after the NATO summit in Madrid, Mitsotakis said he expected the deliveries of the F-35 to begin between 2027 and 2028, with the long process providing Athens with “the fiscal space that allows us to make this purchase”.

youtube

While tensions between Ankara and Athens have increased rapidly in recent years, with the long dispute over the Aegean islands in the foreground, Greece began to gain aerial superiority over Turkey as a result of recent investments in the air force. Turkey, on the other hand, is still awaiting the approval of the U.S. Congress to buy 40 F-16 Block 70 aircraft, as well as almost 80 modernization kits for existing aircraft. Turkish authorities have repeatedly stated that if the sale of US F-16 and modernization kits is prevented, Turkey will seek other options. Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft are known to be the most emphasized of these options. Anyway, after Turkey's removal from the F-35 program, it seems that the recovery of air power in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean will take some time.

Tags: Military AviationDassault RafaleHAF - Hellenic Air Force / Greek Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. It has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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uriagii · 4 years ago

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Thomastair Youtube AU

Hello! So I started writing a thomastair youtube au, and i need to put it out into the world, so here you go. I intend to write more.

part 2, part 3

1.4k word count, fluffy boyfriend things, some language 1: Get to Know Us!

Two men, one tall and pale, one short and tanned, sat side by side in front of a brown couch in a cozy looking living room

“Hey guys! I’m Thomas,” said the taller.

“And I’m Alastair,”

“And today we’re going to be doing a little Q&A!” Thomas said excitedly

The shorter of the two--Alastair--hugged a pillow to his chest, while Thomas examined the screen of his phone.

“Okay, let’s get started. Question number one,” Thomas said, “When and where did you first meet?”

Alastair adjusted his seating a bit as he started speaking, “Ah, we actually met in secondary school. Thomas and I are the same age, but Thomas was held back one year because he had a bad case of pneumonia and missed a bunch of school.”

“Yes, but actually my friends and Alastair didn’t get along very well--”

“Not even a little bit.” Alastair interrupted quietly.

“--And because of that the two of us didn’t really properly get to know each other until several years later.”

“Next question.” Alastair took the phone from Thomas’s hand and read, “When was your first date?”

Both men paused, looked at each other and furrowed their brows in confusion.

They looked back to the camera and said in unison, “It depends.”

“Officially, it was about a year ago,” Thomas began, “But we sort of had an accidental weekend date in Paris about two years ago.”

“Yes, we were both in Paris alone, and we ran into each other outside of the Louvre, and we just kind of spent the next few days together exploring Paris.” Alastair finished. “You read the next one, Tom.”

“Okay,” Thomas read. “How long have we been together?”

“About a year, since our first official date.” Alastair responded. Thomas nodded along in silent agreement.

“That was easy,” Alastair muttered while he grabbed the phone. “Moving on, what is your favorite feature of your significant other?”

“Everything.” Thomas said immediately.

“No, babe, you gotta pick something,” Alastair chuckled.

“Just one? How am I supposed to do that? You’re immaculate.” Thomas whined

Alastair just laughed and looked at Thomas expectantly.

“Hmm, fine. Probably…” Thomas looked up in thought, before finally answering, “Your elegance. You’re built so delicately, yet so powerfully.”

Alastair smiled. “Oka--”

“And your hair.”

“Oka--”

“And your eyes.”

“Okay!” Alastair smiled and rolled his eyes affectionately. “Next one,”

“Wait, you’re not going to answer?” Thomas turned his body toward Alastair in protest.

“Nope.” Alastair looked at him smugly.

“You have to! That’s the law according to the rules.”

“Fine. Your ass.” Alastair deadpanned.

Thomas’s jaw dropped, and he spluttered while Alastair laughed. “You-- but-- I-- pick something else!”

Alastair only laughed harder.

“Alastair! Pick something else!” Thomas whined.

“Alright alright,” Alastair’s chuckles died out and he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “I like your shoulders. They’re fucking huge.”

“Oh my God,” Thomas muttered as he took the phone from Alastair to read the next question. “What is your biggest pet peeve?” Thomas asked quickly, then said “Oh here we go.”

“Let me tell you,” Alastair emphasized his words by putting both his hands down onto the coffee table in front of them, then began listing; “When people don’t know the words to a song but they still try to sing along,” He counted off one of his fingers. “Stupid people.” Another finger. “Homophobes. When someone is erasing something and they miss a spot, slow walkers who take up the entire sidewalk, people who sneeze into their hands, people who clap when a plane lands or at the end of a movie, people who use the word ‘literally’ when they’re not being literal--”

“Okay, wow. That’s a lot of things.” Thomas’s eyes were wide.

“People do lots of stupid things.” Alastair said matter-of-factly.

“Okay, well my biggest one is probably people who say ‘no offense, but’ right before they say something they know is offensive, as if it will make it less offensive.”

“Ooh, good one,” Alastair puts his finger to his mouth in a thinking gesture.

“I think we should move on before you get going again, love” Thomas suggested, holding the phone out. “How about you read the next question?”

Alastair sighed, but took the phone from Thomas’s waiting hand. He read the question and smiled wickedly before saying, “Who said ‘I love you’ first?

Thomas took the pillow Alastair had been holding, set it down on his lap, and put his face in it.

“Tell the story, babe.” Alastair teased, nudging Thomas. Thomas’s answering groan was muffled by the pillow.

“Come on, it’s a cute story Tom.” Alastair encouraged while snickering.

“No, it’s embarrassing.” When Thomas picked his head up, his face was bright red.

“It’s endearing, tell the story.” Alastair insisted.

Thomas closed his eyes, “Oh, God. Okay.” He began, “So we were on a date at this amusement park, and all day I was trying to figure out how I was gonna tell Alastair that I loved him, and I was understandably nervous, so I was kind of a wreck all day.” Alastair smiled at Thomas affectionately as he spoke, as if he were reminiscing on the moment. Thomas studiously avoided eye contact with both Alastair and the camera. “It was getting close to closing time, and I still hadn’t said it, so I started panicking, and decided it was now or never.” Thomas sighed before continuing.

“Well, we were walking past this dunk tank right near the exit, so I stopped, I turned to Alastair and I said ‘Hey, I love you’ and immediately some little twelve-year-old wanker ran by me, knocked me off balance, and pushed me into the dunk tank!” He exclaimed. “I mean, why do they even make dunk tanks that low to the ground?!”

Thomas had been getting gradually more worked up as he told the story, and was practically seething at the thought of this child ruining his moment. Alastair however, was cracking up.

“I’m glad my public humiliation is so entertaining to you.” Thomas said, unamused as Alastair wiped a tear from his cheek.

“It was perfect,” Alastair said seriously, before grinning. “Very on-brand.”

“Oh, bugger off.” Thomas gently shoved Alastair’s shoulder, but smiled despite his embarrassment.

“And of course after helping him out and drying him off while he stewed in his awkwardness, I told him I loved him too. And he smiled the biggest smile. So it really was perfect.” Alastair told the camera.

Thomas’s face was still visibly red, but he rolled his eyes and smiled as he took the phone to read the next question.

“What’s your dream vacation destination?” Thomas read.

“Ooh, we have lots of these.” Alastair said excitedly, bouncing a little in place on the floor. “Namely, we both want to visit Greece. Athens, Crete, Mykonos, all the places.”

Thomas had somewhat recovered from his embarrassment, and nodded his agreement. “It’s a lovely country from the pictures, and we think it would be a fascinating place to explore.”

“Plus the food.” Alastair added.

“Yes, can't forget that.” Thomas agreed. “Hopefully within the next few years we’ll be able to go.”

“How many more questions are left?” Alastair asked.

“Just one,” Thomas responded, displaying the screen of the phone to his boyfriend. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Alastair read the question and smiled before saying out loud, “What are you most passionate about?”

The two looked at each other for a long moment before Alastair looked back to the camera and responded.

“Music. I love being able to express myself without needing to search the obscure sides of the dictionary for proper terms.” Alastair said. “You, Thomas?”

“You.” He said softly, looking into Alastair’s brown eyes. “Taking care of you, being the best I can be for me and for you.”

Alastair scoffed, but blushed and looked away from Thomas’s smile and loving gaze. Thomas’s smile turned devious.

“And your ass.”

“Oh my God, Thomas.”

Comments

>cordeliacarstairs: tom, alastair this is adorable

3,321 likes, 102 dislikes

>lucie the reader: can confirm thomas does, in fact, have huge shoulders.

4,039 likes, 32 dislikes

>lightwoodfanclub replying to @lucie the reader: OMG DYING

>thomastair4eva: this is the cutest thing i’ve ever seen omg

1,387 likes, 14 dislikes

>fangorl117289: let me just *sobs*

1,150 likes, 26 dislikes

>carstairssiblings: they’re so sassy omg “your ass” PF

973 likes, 12 dislikes

#thomas lightwood #alastair carstairs #thomastair #thomastair au #thomastair fic #tlh #the last hours tlh #tlh fanfiction

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fivestarparking · 8 days ago

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s4g2world · 4 years ago

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royalbloodedbastards · 4 years ago

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self-para // inconveniences

DATE: Saturday, December 26, 2020 CHARACTERS: Roy, Sefa, and Linnaea ABOUT: Roy meets Linnaea. Sefa is there.

Give me a minute to unburden myself here. It is so damn inconvenient to be the son of a loa.

Even all the way over in New Orleans, I heard all about these demigods living in New Athens, this metropolitan city on Long Island that was built by the gods. Freakin’ nature spirits have been gossiping about it from coast to coast, saying the streets are paved with marble and there are fountains of youth. And you know what? I believe it. The Greek gods love to meddle in the affairs of their children, cause them problems and then make up for it by giving them all these extravagant gifts. Probably makes them feel young again, like they’re more than just pretty figureheads sitting on golden thrones.

But there’s no metropolitan haven like that for the kids of the loa. There aren’t even that many of us to begin with, definitely not enough to stand up to spirits that have way better things to do than spoil their kids. And you know what? It’s better that way. I don’t need a rich god daddy to build cities and subsidize my living for me. Nah. I love living high-flood-risk, mold-infested, landlord-controlled housing.

Freakin’ love it.

The real inconvenience is all the crap I inherited from my dad.

Like, take this guy for instance, the one that’s staring me down from the other side of his blinding headlights. First of all, inconsiderate. Turn off your damn headlights, asshole, you’re gonna give me eye damage. Secondly, why is this guy looking at me like I’m going to kill him? I’m literally standing here in a parking lot, completely unarmed, while he’s staring me down from the driver side of a literal automobile. In terms of danger, I would say the redhead’s got the upper hand. But even so, I can’t totally blame him. I know the look he’s giving me.

My dad—er, sorry. My sperm donor’s got a real intense look about him. Makes sense, with him being the Master of the Dead and whatever, but it’s not really a look I wanted for myself. I try really hard to dress nice and carry myself well, but these freakin’ purple eyes and the comically-on-the-nose skull-shaped vitiligo across my face really don’t help my cause. The kids in middle school used to say that it was a tattoo, that I applied bleach on my skin in the shape of skull to look cool and that it probably messed up my eyes in the process. The rumors got so bad the principal pulled me aside to ask if I was engaging in ‘potentially harmful cosmetic procedures’. I told him to go fuck himself.

Oh, that’s the other thing too. I can’t control what comes out of my mouth sometimes. I’ll be thinking one thing and something completely unrelated, and oftentimes pretty vulgar, will just come flying out. I’m not even much on cursing, it just happens. Another thing I get from my dad, apparently.

“I have her,” the ginger calls out to me from behind the beams of light. “She’s in the backseat.”

It takes a full ten seconds for my eyes to adjust from the vicious assault of his headlights. Then, the shape of a person starts forming through the backseat window. “Holy fuck.” Pardon my French. “You really went for it. I didn’t ask you to break her nose.”

“Yeah, well…” He trails off into a mumble, like he’s embarrassed about it. “She deserved it.”

If this guy didn’t have a chick tied up in the backseat of his car, I would’ve pegged him for a total soft body. One of those only-drinks-bottled-water types.

Eh, I still do.

“Bring her inside,” I instruct. I don’t stick around to see how he’s planning to get her out of the car without looking suspicious. Whatever. Not my job. I key card my way into the motel room and wait for him to bring the girl in. I watch as he slings her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and waddles his way toward the door. “You can set her down on the bed.” He does as he’s told and drops her down onto the nasty bedding. A little blood smears onto the sheets, probably adding another layer to the hooker blood and cum that’s already baked into the bed. “Does she need medical attention?”

“Nah,” the ginger responds. “I mean… Probably not. They’ll just give her some ambrosia back at camp.”

Ambrosia, wow. The literal food of the gods and they just give it out to their kids like cough drops. Freakin’ Greeks.

“Well, I need her awake to talk.”

“She was awake half an hour ago.”

“And now she’s unconscious.”

“Yeah, but she was awake before.”

“And now,” I repeat slowly, “she is un-con-scious.”

Ginger sighs and kneels by the bed. He slaps her unceremoniously across the face a few times. “Be gentle,” I plead in a tone that sounds very unintentionally sarcastic. “You already broke her nose.”

“Hey,” he barks. “Wake up.” Jesus Fictional Christ, this guy is a brute. “Hey, do you hear me? Wake up.”

The girl stirs and pushes his hand away. “What do you want?”

“You’re awake,” I state, reiterating the obvious. “Good. I wasn’t in the mood to dig a grave tonight.”

The girl lifts her head and grimaces at me. “Are you Gabriele?”

“No, you’ve got the wrong number. I’m Roy.” I stick out my hand for her to shake, but hers are tied. “Oh yeah. Sorry.” I drop it.

“What the fuck do you want with me?”

“I heard from a little birdie that you’ve become quite the budding, young necromancer.”

“She’s what?” Ginger looks at me concernedly.

“A necromancer,” I repeat. “Reeling spirits back from the dead like a nasty little fisherman.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she spits.

“Au contraire, I have friends in all sorts of places. Cities, villages, the woods outside of New Athens.” The color drains from her face. Well, all the color except for the crusty red stain around her nose. “Nobody is ever truly alone, you see. Even the most desperate of men, on their last dying breaths, as they succumb to the fear that not even God is watching over them… There is somebody watching. It may not be their god, but someone is watching.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Right to the point, then. Good.” I sit down on the opposite end of the bed, giving enough distance to make sure that none of the blood she’s spitting gets onto my jeans. “The gods are not happy with you.”

“Hades?” Ginger chimes in.

“Yes, that’s one,” I respond with a nod. “And Hel, the Norse goddess. And the Shinigami. Ever heard of them? In fact, Chitragupta, Xipe Totec, King Yama, Xorn—all of the gods are pretty mad.”

“Why are they mad at me?” The girl’s voice cracks as she speaks. I can tell I’m getting into her head. “I I have nothing to do with them.”

“But you do. You see, when you disrespect the laws of one god, you disrespect them all,” I explain. “The laws of life and death are sacred, no matter which theology you subscribe to. The living belong in the land of the living, and the dead belong in the Underworld, the afterlife, Heaven and Hell—whatever you want to call it. But if one underworld starts giving out free passes to the land of the living, then all of the spirits in all those other places I mentioned are going to start to get jealous. Suddenly, you have millions, if not billions, of undead hearing about this one girl who managed to get her brother a second chance, and they all start to think, why shouldn’t I get one too. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

The room is silent for a moment. I think that means my explanation worked.

Thank freakin’ god.

A bit of a sidetrack confession here—I’m totally lying my ass off. All the other gods probably don’t give a shit, it’s not like the dead are going to form an uprising against their literally omnipotent, all-powerful overlords. In fact, one of the gods I mentioned was actually an X-Men and I’m so freakin’ relieved neither of them seemed to pick up on that. If I’m being real here, I’m just doing this because I was hired to.

The third reason it’s inconvenient to be the son of a loa: all the gods suddenly assume that just because I have these powers that I’m entitled to use them to help others.

Look, all I ever wanted to do was listen to classical music and play Animal Crossing in bed, eating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Arizona Iced Tea. Hades was the one who sought me out and thought, ‘hey, wouldn’t it be a great idea to ruin this kid’s life by making him into a mercenary for all these tiny deities and death spirits to use at will?’ And, like I said before, spirits and gods love to gossip. One death god heard that there was a mercenary willing to do the dirty, busy work and they recommended him to a friend, who recommended him to another friend, who recommended him to another friend, et cetera and so forth. And all the while, my New Horizons island is in freakin’ shambles because nobody is giving me a free day to clean up all the weeds that have sprouted all over my outdoor-waterfall-patisserie.

“So what do you want from me,” the girl repeats, “if not just to kill me?”

“What I want…” I lean in close so she can see right into the lavender glint of my irises. These eyeballs are a pain in the ass for grocery shopping but for times like this, I swear there’s no better weapon. “Is relief.”

#mus.roy #mus.linnaea #mus.sefa #rel.linnaea&roy #rel.roy&sefa #frm.selfpara

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newstfionline · 4 years ago

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Headlines

More than 50% of parents expect to lose income when school starts: survey (Yahoo) With back-to-school season right around the corner, many parents are contemplating whether to send their children back to school or keep them at home due to the health risks of the coronavirus pandemic. And for parents who choose to keep their children at home over COVID-19 concerns, a staggering 54% say that they expect to lose up to half of their income, according to a new survey from Debt.com. Childcare has always been a major expense for parents of young children and is cited as the top-ranking unexpected cost by new parents, followed by diapers and formula, the Care.com survey found. Over half of American families spend at least $10,000 annually on childcare. Currently, it’s cheaper to pay for your teenage child to attend college than it is daycare—the average annual cost of in-state college tuition is $9,410, according to College Board. But there are also big financial implications to staying at home with their children. Over 50% of the parents surveyed by Debt.com expect to lose anywhere from 11% to 51% of their income once school begins.

House holding rare Saturday vote on postal changes, funds (AP) The House is convening for a rare Saturday session to address mail delivery disruptions, poised to pass legislation that would reverse recent changes in U.S. Postal Service operations and send $25 billion in emergency funds to shore up the agency ahead of the November election. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Postal Service will be “election central” as she recalled lawmakers to Washington in a highly unusual election year as millions of Americans are expected to opt for mail-in ballots to avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic. The daylong Saturday session comes as an uproar over mail interference puts the Postal Service at the center of the nation’s tumultuous election year, with Americans rallying around one of the nation’s oldest and more popular institutions.

Loss From Wildfires Grows in California (NYT) From the Southern California deserts to the Sierra Nevada to the vineyards and movie sets and architectural landmarks left by modern mortals, little of California has been left unscathed by wildfire. In the past several years, infernos have scorched the Yosemite National Park, blackened the Joshua Tree National Park’s palm-strewn Oasis of Mara, damaged the Paramount Ranch and eviscerated Malibu summer camps beloved for generations. Scars now pockmark the state, with more to come, according to fire officials. Burning across more than 771,000 acres, this week’s fires have largely stemmed from an extraordinary spate of dry lightning. As of Friday, there were some 560 blazes, about two dozen of them major. Smoke has worsened an already oppressive heat wave, the electrical grid has struggled to keep up with demand and the coronavirus has threatened illness in evacuation shelters. At least five deaths have been linked to the fires, which have forced more than 100,000 people out of their homes, filled the skies with thick smoke and consumed hundreds of dwellings.

2 tropical storms a potential double threat to US Gulf Coast (AP) Two tropical storms advanced across the Caribbean Saturday as potentially historic threats to the U.S. Gulf Coast, one dumping rain on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands while the other was pushing through the gap between Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. Tropical Storms Laura and Marco were both projected to approach the U.S. Gulf Coast at or close to hurricane force. The current, uncertain track would take them to Texas or Louisiana. The projected track from the U.S. National Hurricane Center would put both storms together in the Gulf on Tuesday, with Marco hitting Texas and Laura making landfall a little less than a day later, though both tracks remain uncertain.

Lights dim on cafe life in Buenos Aires, as Argentina grapples with Covid-19 and a grim future (CNN) It’s a rather unusual sight. Felipe Evangelista is sitting down at the café he has owned for nearly four decades and all he can see are upside-down chairs stored atop empty tables. It is one of the hundreds of cafés, bars and restaurants in Buenos Aires that have been forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic. Their demise is a troubling new chapter for Argentina’s battered economy, which was roiled by runaway inflation and stagnant growth even before Covid-19 slammed the door on businesses. The pandemic has been brutal for small and medium-size businesses around the capital Buenos Aires. According to the Commerce and Industry Federation of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (FECOBA, by its Spanish acronym), 24,200 of those businesses, roughly 22% of the total, had permanently shut their doors by mid-July. Jonatan Loidi, a financial analyst, author and economics professor, says the pandemic and the implementation of a lockdown aggravated an economy that was already in a recession. “Argentina hasn’t grown since 2011. In the last three years there has been not only lack of growth but also a fall in the country’s GDP.” Loidi pointed out the annualized inflation rate in Argentina, even before the pandemic, was 55%. “Uncertainty is the word that best describes life in Argentina nowadays,” Loidi said.

Turkish navy, air force drills in Aegean Sea amid tensions (AP) Turkish air and naval forces conducted joint training exercises in the Aegean Sea, the country’s Defense Ministry said Saturday, amid strains with neighbor Greece over hydrocarbon discoveries. The announcement came as NATO members Turkey and Greece are facing off in the eastern Mediterranean Sea over gas and oil exploration and a day after Turkey declared significant gas discoveries in the Black Sea. Two weeks ago, Turkey sent a warship-escorted research vessel to prospect in waters where Greece claims exclusive rights to the underlying seabed. Athens responded by sending its own warships to the area and placing its military on alert. France also sent warships and planes to join drills with Greek forces. Relations between Greece and Turkey have traditionally been tense. The two have come to the brink of war three times since the mid-1970s, including once over drilling exploration rights in the Aegean Sea that separates the two countries.

Belarus leader blames US for chaos, vows to end protests (AP) Authorities in Belarus detained a leader of striking factory workers and threatened demonstrators with criminal charges Friday in a bid to stop the massive post-election protests challenging the country’s authoritarian president, who accused the United States of fomenting the unrest. Protesters are demanding that Lukashenko resign, accusing him of stealing a sixth term in office by rigging the country’s Aug. 9 presidential election. Many are fed up with sinking living standards and the lack of opportunities under Lukashenko, and their disgust grew deeper as he dismissed the coronavirus pandemic and refused to order a lockdown. Unfazed by government threats, thousands of demonstrators on Friday formed “chains of solidarity” across the capital of Minsk before marching to the central Independence Square as post-election protests entered their 13th straight day. Motorists honked and slowed down to block traffic in a show of solidarity.

Xi Declares War on Food Waste, and China Races to Tighten Its Belt (NYT) Chinese regulators are calling out livestreamers who binge-eat for promoting excessive consumption. A school said it would bar students from applying for scholarships if their daily leftovers exceeded a set amount. A restaurant placed electronic scales at its entrance for customers to weigh themselves to avoid ordering too much. China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has declared a war on the “shocking and distressing” squandering of food, and the nation is racing to respond, with some going to greater extremes than others. The ruling Communist Party has long sought to portray Mr. Xi as a fighter of excess and gluttony in officialdom, but this new call for gastronomic discipline is aimed at the public and carries a special urgency. When it comes to food security, Mr. Xi said, Chinese citizens should maintain a sense of crisis because of vulnerabilities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. It’s part of a broader message from the leadership in recent weeks about the importance of self-reliance in a time of tensions with the United States and other economic partners. The concern is that import disruptions caused by the global geopolitical turmoil, the pandemic and trade tensions with the Trump administration, as well as some of China’s worst floods this year, could cut into food supplies.

S. Korea imposes strict measures to stem spread (AP) South Korea is banning large gatherings, closing beaches, shutting nightspots and churches and removing fans from professional sports in strict new measures announced Saturday as it battles the spread of the coronavirus. Health Minister Park Neung-hoo announced the steps shortly after the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 332 new cases—the ninth straight day of triple-digit increases. While most of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, which has been at the center of the viral surge in recent weeks, infections were also reported in practically every major city and town.

Antarctic winds trigger rare snowfall across southeast Australia (Reuters) Antarctic air reaching Australia’s south east triggered snowfall down to low altitudes across several states on Saturday, with many people out enjoying the rare event despite wild winds and heavy snow that closed some roads. Pictures of snowy towns and landscapes across New South Wales (NSW), Victoria, the Australia Capital Territory and the island state of Tasmania flooded social media as locals rushed to capture the surprise early spring snowfall. Over one metre (3.3 feet) of snow had fallen in a number of alpine regions, and the cold weather would likely remain for several days, the weather bureau said.

Beirut needs billions of dollars it doesn’t have to rebuild after massive blast (Washington Post) With reddened eyes, 90-year-old Henri Azar surveys what remains of his family home. The traditional wooden-frame windows have been ripped out. Plaster was cleaved from the walls. Sunlight shines through gaps in the bedroom ceiling. A team of engineers tell him he needs to make repairs before the winter rains. Beirut officials have estimated that the damage from the enormous blast that shook the city two weeks ago could reach $15 billion, though the true extent of the destruction remains unknown. At least 25,000 homes are so badly damaged that they are uninhabitable, according to the Beirut government. There are myriad hurdles for rebuilding, including a months-old financial crisis that has sent the value of the Lebanese currency plunging and prompted draconian banking restrictions that limit withdrawals even by those with money in their accounts. Only a few homeowners have insurance, and they are being told they can’t receive a payout until the cause of the explosion is established by the government’s investigation, since damage due to war or terrorism is not covered. They say they have little hope of ever being compensated. In the meantime, landlords and long-term tenants are fighting over who should pay for repairs. No one expects assistance from the bankrupt government, which has been largely absent from cleanup efforts. Private funding of repairs is hamstrung by the banking restrictions, put in place last year after it emerged that as much as $100 billion is missing from the banking system, a sign of the country’s chronic mismanagement and corruption.

Thousands in Mali’s capital welcome president’s downfall (AP) Thousands marched Friday in the streets of Mali’s capital to celebrate the overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, as the West African nation’s political opposition backed the military’s junta plan to eventually hand over power to a civilian transitional government. But as opponents of the former regime moved ahead with plans for the future, the international community continued to express alarm about the coup that deposed Mali’s democratically elected leader this week. There are concerns that the political upheaval will divert attention away from the more than seven-year international fight against Islamic extremists who have used previous power vacuums in Mali to expand their terrain.

#headlines #news

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seopro · 4 years ago

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Outsourcing SEO Services

When a company undertakes a search engine optimization program, whether it is performed in-house or outsourced to an SEO service, most of the attention (and rightly so) is focused on the company website. This is the one aspect where there is a feeling of control--once a website is released into the wild, the company will have to see how its site fares against all the other websites out there, whether the other sites are using ethical SEO tactics or not.

Apart from changes made to the company website, the assumption is often that the company and, if it is using one, its SEO service, has zero control over what appears in search engine results. However, this is not usually the case. Often, you or your SEO service can have a direct effect on search engine results by monitoring your competitors and reporting them to the major search engines when the SEO techniques used on their site fall outside what is popularly referred to as ethical SEO. (Please note that while I believe that the word "ethical" is tossed around too often, "ethical SEO" has become the standard phrase to describe white hat techniques, and so it is the phrase I use throughout the article.)

Primary Competitors

To start with, let's define competitors. Almost every company has at least a handful of other companies that it considers to be primary competitors--the ones that sell the same products and services, that are of similar size, and so on. It is important that the SEO efforts (or lack thereof) of these competitors, whether they are using ethical SEO techniques or not, be monitored on a routine basis. If they have not hired an SEO service of their own, or if they have not started doing SEO in-house at all, you will have peace of mind knowing that the use of this channel, for the moment, is yours. If your competitors begin an SEO campaign, with or without an outside SEO service, you can learn much about their sales and marketing tactics by evaluating the keyphrases that they target. And you can also investigate whether they are using ethical SEO practices in their campaign.

Your Online Competitors

It's important to keep in mind that it is unlikely that searchers are going to decide only between you and the primary competitors you have listed. They are going to consider any company that matches their particular needs and that shows up for their search term. This is why your criteria for a competitor online should broaden to encompass any company that offers products or services like yours that outranks you for any of your targeted keyphrases. If your in-house staff or your SEO service not only continually monitors your search engine positions but also analyzes the companies that appear above you in search results, you can often identify forward-looking competitors of which you were previously unaware--your primary competitors of tomorrow.

Violations

This brings us to the key issue of ethical SEO. Search engine optimization is still a very new concept to most companies. Even the most respected companies can make mistakes in this arena, either by choosing the wrong SEO service, or by trying to avoid hiring an SEO service altogether by bringing it in house with well-intentioned but unqualified people. For example, BMW's German site was recently removed temporarily from the Google index for using doorway pages--something that is not considered an ethical SEO practice. It stands to reason that your competitors are also not immune to violations.

Bad Firms

There are very notable examples of otherwise smart and established companies hiring an SEO service that put them in a worse situation than before they pursued SEO--by getting their site removed from major search engines for violating the engine's terms of service, for example. Not long ago, there was a well-publicized example where most of the clients of a Las Vegas SEO service were penalized. Almost all of the clients claimed that they were not informed that the firm was not practicing ethical SEO and that they were therefore at risk.

SEO firms are generally divided into two camps--those called "White Hats" (those that use ethical SEO practices and will never knowingly violate a search engine's terms of service) and those called "Black Hats" (those that do not use ethical SEO practices and that will attempt to unravel the latest algorithms and exploit any loopholes to achieve rankings at any cost). Neither approach is invalid--it is not against the law to violate the terms of service of a search engine. Moreover, black hat techniques can be quite effective. However, the tactics are risky, and anyone hiring an SEO service that wears a black hat and does not use ethical SEO practices should definitely be apprised of this risk up front.

Internal Resources

Firms are often tempted to avoid hiring an SEO service by performing SEO in-house, and the project almost always falls onto an already overburdened IT department. The problem with approaching SEO from a strictly technical mindset is that the strategies employed, such as the keyphrases targeted, will not necessarily be in line with the goals of the marketing and sales departments. In addition, an IT resource will usually approach SEO from a purely technical standpoint, without being aware of ethical SEO practices, and this can lead to trouble. Penalization is a very real possibility, and it is hard to get back onto an index once your site has been removed.

Monitoring

A thorough SEO service will monitor not only the handful of competitors that you deem crucial but also the sites that appear higher than you for any of your chosen search phrases. This may be somewhat controversial, especially to any SEO service or webmaster that uses tactics forbidden by the search engines' terms of service. However, many white hat SEO service firms consider it an obligation to their clients to routinely monitor the sites of any competitor found on the engines to be sure it is using ethical SEO techniques.

There is a reason that every major search engine has a form to report sites who do not use ethical SEO tactics and who violate the terms of service so that these sites can be subsequently penalized or removed. Spam filters cannot catch all violations without also removing a large number of good sites. Search engines rely on their users to help them to keep their indexes clean and free of sites not using ethical SEO tactics. There are many techniques to spam an engine--far too many to list. However, a good SEO service not only knows what all of these techniques are but knows how to identify them when it sees them so they can be reported to the engine accurately.

The End Result

Business is business, and your interests often run directly counter to that of your competitors. When you report a website that is not using ethical SEO, it is very likely that it will be removed. This means there is one less company that you need to worry about in the online arena, at least for the time being. If the site in question outranked yours, you also get the added benefit of seeing your rankings improve as the violating pages are removed--provided, of course, that you are using ethical SEO techniques and steering clear of violations yourself, or you may be reported by a competitor of yours or its SEO service!

The engine also benefits from users reporting violations. Engines do not like people trying to trick their indexes, since there might then be pages showing up for particular search terms that are not actually relevant to those terms. Clearly, search engines understand this benefit--if the engines thought they could weed out all the spam themselves, they would not provide a reporting system. Supporting such a system, after all, is not free. Real people employed by the engine have to visit the offending pages to confirm that they are not using ethical SEO tactics.

In the notable example cited earlier of the firm that got most of its clients penalized, the owner of the SEO service in question was quoted as saying, "Google can kiss my ass. This is the Wild Wild West." He may be right--maybe it is the Wild Wild West. But there are a whole bunch of new sheriffs in town--and they are wearing white hats.

Scott Buresh is the founder and CEO of Medium Blue, which was recently named the number one search engine optimization company in the world by PromotionWorld. Scotts articles have appeared in numerous publications, including ZDNet, WebProNews, MarketingProfs, DarwinMag, SiteProNews, SEO Today, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide. He was also a contributor to Building Your Business with Google For Dummies (Wiley, 2004). Medium Blue is an Atlanta search engine optimization company with local and national clients, including Boston Scientific, Cirronet, and OneSource. Visit MediumBlue.com to request a custom SEO guarantee based on your goals and your data.

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#SEO SERVICE MASTER #GOOLE #MARKETING

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nehetisingsforhekate · 5 years ago

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Epithets: Apanchomene

The Hanged One, The Strangled, She Who Hanged Herself

Mostly associated with Artemis.

(by special request)

Farnell tells a story of a woman in Ephesus who offended Artemis, and was turned into a dog. After a time, she was returned to her natural form, but the shame was such that the woman then tried to suicide by hanging. This time, Artemis returned her to life, and named her Hekate.

In the village of Caphyea, some children were playing around a statue of Artemis. They took a rope and looped it around the icon’s neck, and joked that Artemis had hanged herself. Some elders saw this and were horrified. The village stoned the children to death as punishment and disposed of their bodies as criminals. The Goddess was so offended by the deaths that the women of the village suffered from stillbirths and infertility. Things were bad enough that they consulted the Pythia at Delphi, who told them what they must do to stay the wrath of the Gods. They gave the children proper burials and gave offerings to Artemis, and the curse was lifted. From that day forward their Artemis was known as Apanchomene, The Hanged One.

Helen King believes that the epithet alludes to feminine health issues, as Hippocratic writings refer to the absence of the menses with terms like ‘strangulation’ or ‘choking’. They also associate the condition with a variety of hallucinations and suicidal behaviors. As a Goddess, of course, Artemis is immune to such health concerns, but the theory is that Apanchomene emphasizes Her virginal state.

Icarius, a student of Dionysus, was one of the first to make wine. He gave it to some shepherds who believed that they had been poisoned. In a fit, they murdered the hero and buried him. His daughter, Erigone, finding her father’s grave, hanged herself, and Maera, her dog, threw herself down a well. This enraged the God of Life, Dionysos, who inflicted madness on Attika. A plague struck the land, and the maidens of Athens hanged themselves. Icarius, Erigone, and Maera became the constellations Bootes, Virgo, and Procyon. Attika instituted the festival Aiora to placate Dionysos, in which the Athenians hung offerings from trees. Another version makes Erigone the victim of Dionysos’ seductions. She was also described in one story as the daughter of Clytemnestra, involved in a quest for vengeance against Orestes. Denied satisfaction, she hangs herself in grief, or else, she is threatened by Orestes, and rescued by Artemis, becoming Her priestess. Kerenyi explores the symbolism of swings and femininity in his book on Dionysos, with little mention of Artemis Apanchomene.

Thanks to Clement, we know that Artemis Apanchomene was called Condylitis in Arcadia in a town named Condylea. Condylitis translates as ‘She Who Injured Herself.’ It is fascinating that these two epithets share a similarity in nature. Was Artemis Condylitis also understood to be hanged? The imagery also seems to be found in Methymna. So at the least, Artemis Herself was associated with hanging and potentially with self-harm.

Outside of the one reference from Farnell, I haven’t seen much to suggest that Hekate Apanchomene was widely known or worshipped. With the level of conflation and syncretism between Artemis and Hekate, it seems likely to me that if the ancient world referred to the Threefold Goddess as ‘The Strangled’, it was rare and localized. Further, that it didn’t carry quite the same emotional weight as our conception of hanging. That isn’t to say that one’s current practice can’t include this particular form of Hekate’s nature, but that one must be thoughtful about what might be the central theme of Hekate under this epithet. Ultimately, it seems for the ancient world Artemis Apanchomene was a recognition of a particular story, as well as a possible nod to the emphasis on Her status as Parthenos and a lack of feminine maturity (the absence of menstruation, which for the Greeks, was also an indication of feminine health.)

In my personal praxis, I do my best to embrace all the various aspects and domains of my Patron Goddess, no matter how distanced I feel I am in my day to day. That said, I’m not sure how I can easily connect with this epithet. Perhaps I should make a model of a hangman’s noose for the altar and spend some time with Hekate Apanchomene and see what happens? Or maybe I should take a page from Kerenyi’s discussion on swings and the story of Erigone to visit my local park to honor the tragic heroine? Both? What would you do to explore Apanchomene?

Hekate Apanchomene, Virgin Maid, Kourotrophos, Kind to children, Guardian Goddess, Your mysteries evade me, Let your torches banish this ignorance from me.

While sitting here, trying to write this to Her, my mind goes to my struggles with infertility, and I find myself wondering if Artemis Apanchomene could not be the Goddess to ask for help with that. I’m not sure that I would beseech Hekate the Strangled for that, but perhaps for help with suicidal ideation?

This is one of the ways that I look to the history of these epithets to inspire how I approach the Gods. I look at the history of the Name, at the legends around Them, and sit with the energies that it stirs up in me. Where does my mind gravitate? What themes do I sense? How does that mesh with the epithet in question? Other practitioners might go about this a different way, but I prefer to connect with the epithet in my mind and heart first before going into a ritual with a new epithet’s energies.

From a modern perspective, could one use the Hanged Man tarot card symbolism as a connection for this epithet? Plenty of witches were hanged for their crimes in the past, too. Could one connect with such a thing for their personal mythology with Hekate Apanchomene? (So long as you’re clear about it being a new idea, that is. No running around pretending that Hekate Apanchomene is historically associated with dead witches in that way.) A lot of crossroads were also the places for criminals to be hanged in the past, or at least, the symbolism has stuck, and while not a Greek thing, one could potentially honor a particular crossroad with that history as being a site for Hekate Apanchomene, I think. That makes me sad that I don’t know of any crossroad with that kind of history in my area! The more I sit with that, the richer I am finding the connection between contemporary lore on hangings and this epithet! I’m sure you all will find amazing things that are unique to you.

Sources:

Cole, Susan Guettel. “Domesticating Artemis,” in The Sacred and the Feminine in Ancient Greece, edited by Sue Blundell and Margaret Williamson, Routledge, 2005, p. 24-41.

Farnell, L.R. “Hekate’s Cult,” as published in Stephen Ronan’s The Goddess Hekate, Chthonios, 1992.

Johnston, Sarah Iles. Restless Dead, University of California, 2013.

Kerenyi, Karl. Dionysos, Princeton, 1976.

Stephens, Susan, Callimachus: Aetia. Dickinson College, 2015. http://dcc.dickinson.edu/callimachus-aetia/uf/strangled-artemis

Images:

Bonzagni, Aroldo. “The Hanging Tree,” tempera on cardboard, 1911, now in the Galleria Antologia. Via wikicommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonzagni_-_Der_Baum_der_Erh%C3%A4ngten_-1911.jpeg

#epithets #Artemis #Hekate #Hecate #Apanchomene #tarot #upg #my process #hanging #tw: suicide #tw: hanging

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urbanspacegamingespoo2020 · 5 years ago

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Tuesday 4 February

We had to make sure to be at the bus stop at the latest by 9 AM at the Aalto University for a day trip ‘magical mystery bus’ tour in Helsinki and surroundings and all the way up to Porvoo. The idea of course was to get everyone acquainted with the urban layout of Helsinki, the centre, the harbour, coastline, parks, government buildings etc… Ulla-Maija Rouhiainen was our guide. She did an amazing job, especially telling fascinating stories about people in the past and present in Helsinki. From Alexander, the Czar, to the Swedes, to the current president of Finland Sauli Niinistö who has a 29 years younger wife Jenni Haukio (a poet and the Programme director of the Turku International Book Fair) and a 2-year old ‘little prince’ Aaro in the country of Finland. Another story of the Presidential couple gone viral, is about their dog called Lennu, their Boston terrier. Lennu is also a celebrity in and outside Finland. Ulla-Maija also pointed out the impressive history of gender equality in Finland. Finland was the third country in the world (after New Zealand and Australia) and the first country in Europe in 1906 to give full rights to women to vote regardless of their social status, income or age. The 1906 Parliament Act established the unicameral parliament of Finland and both women and men were given the right to vote and stand for election. Ulla-Maija also introduced Tarja Halonen, the first female president, who served two terms (12 years) in the post during the years 2000-2012 and Finland´s current government, which consists of 12 female ministers including the Prime Minister Sanna Marin, and 7 male ministers. Four of the twelve female ministers are under 35 years old.

We first drove to the coast, to stop at the Sibelius Monument, a public space sculpture dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) and created by Eila Hiltunen. The sculpture, titled “Passio Musicae”, was unveiled on 7 September, 1967.

Later, we visited the modern giant wood public sauna named Löyly (Löyly = Steam = Soul). The building is a masterpiece of modern architecture, designed by Avanto Architects. It also afforded some strong views of the city and harbour. Of equal interest was a 700-meter long wall of mural-style illustrations facing the sauna building. The illustrated fence communicates on 24 hours in the life of Helsinki, masterfully illustrated in colourful street art style by Armi Teva and Miia Puustinen.

Next stop was the Senate Square and the adjacent 200-year old National Library, the oldest and largest scholarly library in Finland. Administratively the library is part of the University of Helsinki. The National Library is responsible for storing the Finnish cultural heritage. By Finnish law, the National Library is a legal deposit library and receives copies of all printed matter, as well as audio-visual materials excepting films, produced in Finland or for distribution in Finland. The Library's main building is designed by architect C.L. Engel in 1836 and was built in 1840-45. The main building of the National Library of Finland is one of the most renowned landmarks of the early 19th century Empire architecture and is also significant among the public libraries of its time at a European level.

In addition, there was a great small exhibition of a Finnish comic book and graphic artist Petteri Tikkanen on display in the library.

Our next visit was to the greatest and the most beautiful library in the world, the City of Helsinki Central Library Oodi, designed by a Finnish ALA Architecture Studio and located behind the Kiasma building in the Railway Station district. The library was selected to be the best new public library of the year at IFLA’s (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) World Library and Information Congress in Athens in August 2019. The building is hard to describe in words, however, the attached photos surely showcase the greatness of it. The huge front of the giant wooden wing defies gravity. Inside, on different levels, there are eg. DNA staircases and sloping floors to climb. An impressive feature is the ceramic snow in the windows to reflect the light. A huge terrace, a full restaurant, co-working spaces, meeting rooms, studios, class rooms, are all available to the public. As well as all facilities for 3D printing, holography, printing, etc. are impressive. We also admired eg. the comfortable beautiful chairs designed by Yrjö Kukkapuro, one of the former Deans of the University of Art and Design, as well as the “Ball Chairs”, Finnish industrial design classics, designed by Eero Aarnio.

Interestingly despite their different ages both buildings exhibit fantastic interplay between, lights, levels, shapes; and further the combination of real living library, public communal space and tourist attraction.

We then visited a ruggedly beautiful granite building complex in Hakaniemi, known today as Paasitorni, which was designed by the architect Karl Lindahl. At the time of its completion in 1908, it served as Helsinki Workers’ House. In terms of its architectural style, the oldest part of Paasitorni, completed in 1908, represents late Art Nouveau. The extension from 1925 represents the Nordic Classicism of the 1920s.

Then a one and half an hour-trip with the bus to Porvoo, where we had reservations at Zum Beispiel restaurant for a nice lunch, with chicken, fish or vegetarian food. Vegan and vegetarian in eco-conscious Finland is far advanced.

In Porvoo we tried and bought some candy at Brunberg shop and factory. Not everyone’s favourite taste but some people like the combination of liquorice snacks with chocolates and all kinds of flavours. It just might leave your teeth and tongue black though. A walk around this quaint picturesque old town with mostly wooden buildings is like a trip back in time, to the origins of this part of the world, when it was just a mere fisherman’s town. Our guide Ulla-Maija told a story of warning to the dangers of heavy metal music combined with heavy doses of alcohol. As one member of a Finnish metal band accidentally set a church on fire, and still has to pay for the rest of his life for the costs of rebuilding. As the insurance only covered a small part of the four-million-euro court settlement costs.

Our tour took us to Haikko Manor, one of the many manor houses scattered through this countryside, where the old aristocracy or industry owners spent their summers or their leisure time. This manor in particular was owned by a rich heiress, who had a remarkable collection of art and tapestries. However, it was now turned into a Hotel. The classical style of the building, frontispiece, pillars etc. and a large terrace overlooking the lake were quite impressive. Beautiful old trees reminded of paintings by Caspar David Friedrich. Sam Rees, our tutor from Iceland, on the other hand was fascinated by the world of the infinitesimal small vegetation and of macro photography of lichens.

Our last stop was at Arabia (on the outskirts of Helsinki), a ceramic factory building and the former location of the University of Art and Design (the predecessor of the Aalto Arts), which includes a design and crafts museum, where we could admire objects in the Finnish ceramic design tradition: the Arabia brand. Also renowned Finnish design brands Finlayson, Iittala and Hackmann are presented in the building. In the Arabia shop, we also saw the Moomins, fantastic and cute characters from the illustrated children’s books by Tove Jansson (1914-2001), which forms a whole industry by itself.

We thanked our guide Ulla-Maija Rouhiainen for a trip that was very helpful for students and tutors alike to spark ideas about the diversity of urban space environments and their use, and consequently the upcoming concepts and projects that need to be developed.

Later that evening the tutors Ausra, Tarja, Wulf and Lode had a late dinner at the pizza place around the corner from our hotel: Skiffer Restaurant. The restaurant serves amazing thin crust oval artisan pizzas with fresh local fish or seasonal veggies and cheese.

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