#daniels family holiday part 5 thousand

[faofinn]

15. Sick in an Inconvenient Place

The Daniels always tried to give the family a nice summer holiday, something to get away for a bit and spend time as a family. Often, it had been whatever Fred’s research dictated, but not always, and this year they’d chosen to camp in the new forest. Abroad was nice, too, but Finn’s seizures weren’t super controlled, and it was easier being closer to home, in a country they knew could manage properly without a language barrier. 

The campsite was nice, quiet and well-maintained. The weather was good, and there were plenty of facilities there to enjoy themselves. Despite being nearly 23, Fao loved these holidays with his family, a chance to escape the demands of med school and relax, as well as spend quality time with his brother. He didn’t get to see him as much as he’d like, but there was no escape from him now, sharing a bed in a section of the tent. Not that Fao minded, his brother was sweet and always cuddly, and he missed it when he was away. 

Finn loved the holidays, and not just the reprieve from school. Fao joining them always made it better, though as a teenager, he tried to deny it. 

Of course, being snuggled up to him like a limpet at every opportunity often made his argument moot, but the family went along with his charade. It made Finn feel more mature, gave him the impression he was growing up, even if they all knew he wasn't. If Fred was anything to go by, Sheila wasn't sure if Finn would ever grow up.

Fao wasn’t sure how he’d ended up playing hide and seek with his brother, but he was having fun and he wasn’t going to complain. He’d been shit at hiding, so Finn had protested that he had to do the seeking, and he’d do the hiding. Fao didn’t mind, Finn wasn’t usually that hard to find, and he gave him the time before he went in search of him. 

Finn had found Fao almost immediately, his brother basically just standing behind a tree. Of course, Finn complained, so Fao let him hide, which he loved. It was more fun to hide, anyway.

He'd ran off as soon as Fao started counting; he'd seen a tree he was sure he could climb - and he would be higher than Fao, so he definitely wouldn't find him. It was a bit of a struggle to get up, but he'd managed with minimal injury. Out of breath and trying not to giggle, he missed the first warning. 

Fao regretted letting Finn hide, his brother seemingly having disappeared. Of course, that was the aim of the game, but that wasn’t the point. He scoured the area they’d set out to play in, though he wasn’t convinced Finn hadn’t gone outside of it. 

As Fao passed him, Finn covered his hand with his mouth, trying his best to not giggle. He managed it, somehow, and Fao continued on. His excitement and laughter quickly stopped as his stomach flipped and lights flashed across his vision. The nausea was almost unbearable, and realisation dawned. He knew he needed to get down, but everything was slow, his limbs barely under his control. The panic was overwhelming, the game forgotten, and he called out to his brother. 

"Fao!"

At Finn calling his name, Fao whipped around, the fear clear in his brother’s voice. He couldn’t see him for a minute, eyes flicking around the clearing. Then he spotted him up the tree, and rushed over. 

“Finn? What’s wrong?”

He'd managed to get some of the way down, too far to jump without getting hurt, but he didn't have much of a choice. Fao's voice was distant, muffled behind the rush of blood in his ears. He couldn't see anymore and just had to hope that Fao would find him. 

Fao rushed forwards, just in time to see Finn fall, having got halfway down the tree he’d obviously been hiding in. He was just too far away, as Fao tried to cover the ground, and his brother hit the floor with a thud. 

“Finn!” He fell to his knees next to him, hands shaking, taken back to watching Finn fall the first time, finding him at the bottom of the stairs in his own blood. 

Finn had landed awkwardly, seizing as he hit the ground. Blood seeped from a cut across his forehead, and the spit that collected at his lips was mainly blood. 

Fao scrabbled for his phone, starting the timer as quickly as he could. He didn’t have his bag with him, didn’t have anything. The midaz was back at the tent. He should’ve brought it with him but he’d thought for five minutes they’d be okay. 

Of course, though, they weren't. Five minutes ticked closer and closer, and Finn’s seizure showed no signs of stopping. Cyanosis was clear on his lips, each breath a desperate struggle against contracting muscles. Blood dripped down his face and into his eye, but there was nothing he could do. 

The awkward way Finn had fallen had Fao worried about his cspine, but the way he was breathing (or not) meant that Fao didn’t have much of a choice but to get him on his side. He muttered his apologies, shoving him onto his side in the dirt. 

Glancing at his phone, he found he had one precious bar of service, and quickly called Sheila. He was in the middle of nowhere, and as much as he needed an ambulance, he needed her to get them to him. He was quick as he explained, leaving out the fact Finn had literally fallen out of a tree. 

He couldn’t stay on the phone with her long, quickly dialling for an ambulance. He was as calm as he could be, clinical with them, and explained exactly what he was dealing with. He didn’t know the area, didn’t know the hospitals, which was nerve wracking enough, not to mention Finn very definitely unwell, in an awkward place in the middle of nowhere. 

Sheila had a rough idea where they were, but Fred had explored more of the campsite and had a pretty good inkling he knew where they were. He told Sheila to wait for the ambulance, to direct them to the woods and he'd be back to meet them. He grabbed Finn’s midaz from the tent and ran off, worry and adrenaline seeing him sprint through the site to find his sons. 

Fao spoke soothingly to Finn as he continued to seize, hoping and praying the ambulance came quickly. He hated not being able to do anything, and listening to Finn’s erratic breathing was like torture. He heard footsteps and looked up, expecting paramedics but seeing Fred.

“Dad!”

Fred was more than a little out of breath, but dropped to his knees by the pair. "I've got his midaz. Been longer than five, yeah?"

Fao nodded quickly. “Yeah, yeah, give it.” 

Fred had already opened the syringe and reached to wipe the bloody spit from Finn's mouth before giving the midaz. He apologised to his son under his breath, making sure the midaz was in the right place. 

"What happened?"

“We were playing hide and seek, and then he called for me, just before he went. He, uh, might’ve been in the tree?”

Fred looked at Fao, face paling. "You're kidding me. Please tell me you're joking."

“I wish I was joking. He got halfway down before he fell, but…”

"Explains the blood." Fred felt sick. "How did he land?"

“Hard?” Fao winced. 

"On his head?"

“Sort of.” Fao mumbled. “I didn’t get to him quick enough, I tried…”

Fred's mind reeled. "It's okay. It's not your fault. You did your best."

He’d said that last time, and Finn had still nearly died. Fao sighed. “Yeah.”

Fred reached a hand to squeeze Fao's shoulder. "Thank you for being here for him."

He made a noise. “He’s my little brother.”

"I know, I know. I'm gonna have to go meet the ambulance, okay? I'll be right back."

“Yeah, go. I’ll be with him.”

"Thank you." He squeezed his youngest's arm. "Just hold on, Finn. Please, just hold on."

Fao watched his dad go, praying things didn’t take much longer, that Finn stopped seizing, that something got better. 

The midaz seemed to help, his breathing starting to even out, the seizure starting to slow. It still hadn't fully resolved by the time the ambulance arrived, his eyes still fixed, muscles still contracting. 

Fao looked up as the paramedics arrived, relieved to finally see them as his brother began to stop seizing, though he could still feel the flicker of muscle contraction against him. 

"Hi, Finn and Fao, yeah?" The one in front gave them a tense smile. "I'm Mia, this is Tom. How's Finn doing now? Your dad caught us up a bit."

“Hi, yeah. As you can see he’s started to resolve, he’s had his midaz about a minute ago now, but he’s not fully come out of it yet, I can still feel him. He was in the tree, and he was just coming down as he went, I tried to catch him but I wasn’t able to. He hit his head, I was worried about his cspine but I was more worried about his airway so I had to roll him.”

"Okay. How long has he been seizing for? And how far did he fall?"

“Um, however long is on my phone? 8 minutes? He fell from about half way down, maybe a metre, he was trying to climb down but I guess he’d already started.”

"Alright. I'm gonna get some more people to come give us a hand." She murmured as Tom connected Finn to the oxygen. "I'll see if I can get a cannula in, too, just in case that midaz doesn't help."

“He’s usually decent to cannulate.” Fao murmured. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you guys.”

"Just keep doing what you're doing, you're doing a great job."

He nodded, staying put and murmuring to his brother. “Got some help now, Finn. Gonna get you sorted.”

Sure enough, Finn was easy enough to cannulate, even with his occasional jerks. His airway was cleared, his oxygen starting to climb back into acceptable territory. As the minutes crawled by, their assessment continued to be worrying. His gaze was still fixed, as were his pupils, his head injury all too obvious. Of course, they were worried about it being a distracting injury, especially with the possibility of a spinal injury all too likely. 

Fao could tell things weren’t good, the paramedics sounding increasingly concerned as they worked. That was the problem with his medical brain, he could get the gist of what they were saying, what their worries were, and he bit his lip. Finn definitely wasn’t right, still tolerating the oxygen and all too unresponsive. 

"I'm going to give him more diaz. He's not out of it yet." Mia murmured. "Can you grab that and the BVM? Just in case."

Her crewmate did so, passing her the meds and sorting the BVM, making sure it was in reach if they needed it. “Here.”

"Right, that's given. Can you mark it? Great." She rubbed Finn's arm. "C'mon, kid."

“Come on, Finn.” Fao murmured. “Don’t do this.”

The seconds dragged on into minutes, and Finn’s seizure finally seemed to stop. His body slowly relaxed into the dirt, the ambulance crew carefully adjusting him onto his back and taking control of his head. His airway was secured and observations rechecked.  

"Pupils are a bit more reactive now, but they're still very sluggish. He's got good air entry, no obvious problem there. Abdo is nice and soft, nothing on the long bones, but I'm not sure if he's broken that arm." Mia ran through, though glanced up as the monitor beeped at them. "Finn? Come on, don't do this."

Tom looked up at her, catching the urgency in her tone. He reached to rub at Finn’s chest, knuckles on bare skin. "Finn, come on, take a breath. You can do it."

"He's not going to, is he?" She murmured. 

"I've got the BVM. Do you want to update them and get the pads on?" Tom asked, swapping the masks over. "There we go, that's getting air entry there. Sats are coming back up. Should we intubate?"

[newstfionline]

Monday, May 17, 2021

Colonial shutdown shows how Americans pay the price of efficiency (Washington Post) The drivers stuck in gas lines after the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, the Texans freezing in their homes after the February grid collapse, the Californians sweltering through their own power failures last summer—all were paying the unintended and unexpected price of efficiency. The market-driven energy sector has spent a decade or more cutting costs, streamlining and digitizing. Four big oil refineries have shut down in Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 2010 because it’s cheaper to bring in gasoline by pipeline from the Gulf Coast, 1,500 miles away—as long as that pipeline stays in operation. Texas and California have driven the price of electricity down by throwing out the old regulatory structure—the structure that made sure utilities earned enough to invest in backup resources. In the name of efficiency, “resilience was assumed,” said Daniel Yergin, a historian and author of “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations.” But even as American fossil fuel producers proudly declared the country to be energy independent once more in recent years, the energy sector has stripped redundancy out of its systems, at the risk of leaving customers in the lurch when things go wrong. Some companies have declined to take the precautions needed to survive the unexpected, whether it’s bad weather or a cyberattack.

Police in Cities Across U.S. Brace for a Violent Summer (WSJ) Police departments in New York City and other large metro areas across the U.S. are bulking up patrols and implementing new tactics to prepare for what they say could be a violent summer. States lifting Covid-19 restrictions and more people out in public spaces in warmer weather increase the likelihood of more shootings, as well as less-serious crimes, officials say. Many crimes, including violent ones, normally rise in summer. Gun purchases also rose during the pandemic and cities have seen an increase in guns being used in crimes. Shootings and homicides in big U.S. cities are up this year again after rising last year. In the last three months of 2020, homicides rose 32.2% in cities with a population of at least one million, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report. In New York City, the number of homicides has reached 146 for the year so far, an increase of 27% from 115 during the same period in 2020. In Dallas, police have counted 75 homicides this year, up from 58 during the same period last year. Chicago police have recorded 195 homicides, up from 160 in the year-ago period.

Tensions Among Democrats Grow Over Israel as the Left Defends Palestinians (NYT) With violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories forcing the issue back to the forefront of American politics, divisions between the leadership of the Democratic Party and the activist wing have burst into public view. While the Biden administration is handling the growing conflict as a highly sensitive diplomatic challenge involving a longstanding ally, the ascendant left views it as a searing racial justice issue that is deeply intertwined with the politics of the United States. For those activists, Palestinian rights and the decades-long conflict over land in the Middle East are linked to causes like police brutality and conditions for migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Party activists who fight for racial justice now post messages against the “colonization of Palestine” with the hashtag #PalestinianLivesMatter. With President Biden in the White House, traditional U.S. support for Israel is hardly in question from a policy perspective; he has made his support for the country clear throughout his nearly 50 years in public life. Still, the terms of the debate are shifting in Democratic circles. On Thursday, a group of leading progressive members of Congress offered a rare break from party unity, giving fiery speeches on the House floor that accused Mr. Biden of ignoring the plight of Palestinians and “taking the side of the occupation.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York directly challenged the president, who had asserted that Israel had a right to defend itself. “Do Palestinians have a right to survive?” she asked in an impassioned address. “Do we believe that? And if so, we have a responsibility to that as well.” “The base of the party is moving in a very different direction than where the party establishment is,” James Zogby said. “If you support Black Lives Matter, it was not a difficult leap to saying Palestinian lives matter, too.”

Bleak futures fuel widespread protests by young Colombians (AP) Thousands of young people and college students have been at the forefront of Colombia’s antigovernment protests for more than two weeks, armed with improvised shields made from garbage cans and umbrellas. They have taken the brunt of the tear gas and gunshots from security forces, and dozens have paid for it with their lives. The young men and women have become the voices for Colombians fed up with a government they say has mismanaged the coronavirus pandemic and crushed hopes of a better future. “To a large extent, we found that there was no fear of death. Sometimes it is the only thing that remains when the system is starving us and there are no opportunities,” said Yonny Rojas, a 36-year-old law student who also runs soup kitchens in one of the poorest areas of Cali, the city where the government response has been especially violent.

Pandemic triggers new crisis in Peru: lack of cemetery space (AP) After Joel Bautista died of a heart attack last month in Peru, his family tried unsuccessfully to find an available grave at four different cemeteries. After four days, they resorted to digging a hole in his garden. The excavation in a poor neighborhood in the capital city of Lima was broadcast live on television, attracting the attention of authorities and prompting them to offer the family a space on the rocky slopes of a cemetery. The same plight is shared by other families across Peru. After struggling to control the coronavirus pandemic for more than a year, the country now faces a parallel crisis: a lack of cemetery space. The problem affects everyone, not just relatives of COVID-19 victims, and some families have acted on their own, digging clandestine graves in areas surrounding some of Lima’s 65 cemeteries. The desperate lack of options comes as the country endures its deadliest period of the pandemic yet. More than 64,300 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in Peru, according to the Health Ministry, but that figure is almost certainly an undercount. A vital records agency estimates that the true figure is more than 174,900, counting those whose possible infection was not confirmed by a test.

UK readies for major reopening but new variant sparks worry (AP) Travelers in England were packing their bags, bartenders were polishing their glasses and performers were warming up as Britain prepared Sunday for a major step out of lockdown—but with clouds of worry on the horizon. Excitement at the reopening of travel and hospitality vied with anxiety that a more contagious virus variant first found in India is spreading fast and could delay further plans to reopen. On Monday, people in England will be able to eat a restaurant meal indoors, drink inside a pub, go to a museum, hug friends and visit one another’s homes for the first time in months. A ban on overseas holidays is also being lifted, with travel now possible to a short list of countries with low infection rates. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are following similar but slightly different reopening paths.

Turkey eases COVID-19 restrictions but keeps many curfews (AP) Turkey’s interior ministry on Sunday lifted a full lockdown that had ordered people to stay home to fight COVID-19 infections, shifting to a less-restrictive program that still involved curfews on weeknights and weekends. Shopping malls will be able to reopen. Some businesses will remain closed, including gyms and cafes, but restaurants will be able to offer take away in addition to delivery. Preschools will resume in-person education but upper grades will continue remote learning. Turks can return to their workplaces but will have to stay home from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday, with the exception of walking to a market to buy food. Civil servants will continue working remotely or in shifts in offices. Foreign tourists and workers with special permits are exempt.

Syria’s Surprising Solar Boom: Sunlight Powers the Night in Rebel Idlib (NYT) When the Syrian government attacked their village, Radwan al-Shimali’s family hastily threw clothes, blankets and mattresses into their truck and sped off to begin new lives as refugees, leaving behind their house, farmland and television. Among the belongings they kept was one prized technology: the solar panel now propped up on rock next to the tattered tent they call home in an olive grove near the village of Haranabush in northwestern Syria. “It is important,” Mr. al-Shimali said of the 270-watt panel, his family’s sole source of electricity. “When there is sun during the day, we can have light at night.” An unlikely solar revolution of sorts has taken off in an embattled, rebel-controlled pocket of northwestern Syria, where large numbers of people whose lives have been upended by the country’s 10-year-old civil war have embraced the sun’s energy simply because it is the cheapest source of electricity around. Solar panels, big and small, old and new, are seemingly everywhere in Idlib Province along Syria’s border with Turkey. “There is no alternative,” said Akram Abbas, a solar panel importer in the town of al-Dana. “Solar energy is a blessing from God.”

India to start evacuating parts of west coast as cyclone approaches (Reuters) India is preparing to evacuate thousands of people from low-lying areas along its western coast as a powerful cyclone is expected to make landfall on Tuesday morning in the state of Gujarat. Cyclone Tauktae, which formed in the Arabian sea, is expected to cross Gujarat with wind gusts of up to 175 kmph (109 mph) and is expected to make landfall in the state the following morning. The meteorological agency warned that there could be destruction of houses and flooding of escape routes. Disruption to railway services was also expected until May 21.

Israel stages new round of heavy airstrikes on Gaza City (AP) The Israeli military unleashed a wave of heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Monday, saying it destroyed 15 kilometers (nine miles) of militant tunnels and the homes of nine alleged Hamas commanders. Residents of Gaza awakened by the overnight barrage described it as the heaviest since the war began a week ago, and even more powerful than a wave of airstrikes in Gaza City the day before that left 42 dead and flattened three buildings. There was no immediate word on the casualties from the latest strikes. A three-story building in Gaza City was heavily damaged, but residents said the military warned them 10 minutes before the strike and everyone cleared out. Gaza’s mayor Yahya Sarraj told Al-Jazeera TV that the airstrikes had caused extensive damage to roads and other infrastructure. He also warned that the territory was running low on fuel and other spare parts. The U.N. has warned that Gaza’s sole power station is at risk of running out of fuel. The territory already experiences daily power outages of 8-12 hours and tap water is undrinkable.

Ethiopia again delays national election amid deadly tensions (AP) Ethiopia has again delayed its national election after some opposition parties said they wouldn’t take part and as conflict in the country’s Tigray region means no vote is being held there, further complicating Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s efforts to centralize power. The head of the national elections board, Birtukan Mideksa, in a meeting with political parties’ representatives on Saturday said the June 5 vote in Africa’s second most populous country would be postponed, citing the need to finish printing ballots, training staffers and compiling voters’ information. The board said she estimated a delay of two to three weeks.

Sharks use Earth’s magnetic field as a GPS, scientists say (AP) Sharks use the Earth’s magnetic field as a sort of natural GPS to navigate journeys that take them great distances across the world’s oceans, scientists have found. Researchers said their marine laboratory experiments with a small species of shark confirm long-held speculation that sharks use magnetic fields as aids to navigation—behavior observed in other marine animals such as sea turtles. The study sheds light on why sharks are able to traverse seas and find their way back to feed, breed and give birth, said marine policy specialist Bryan Keller, one of the study authors. “We know that sharks can respond to magnetic fields,” Keller said. “We didn’t know that they detected it to use as an aid in navigation ... You have sharks that can travel 20,000 kilometers (12,427 miles) and end up in the same spot.”

[lucyllesheltonroi]

12 Things I Stole From People More Successful Than Me

Throughout my entire life, I’ve been fortunate enough to have read 100’s of books written by people who are a lot more successful than I am.

People like Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, billionaire investor Charlie Munger, Founding Father Ben Franklin, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, modern-day Stoic Ryan Holiday, and many more.

This has exposed me to thousands of new insights and practical ideas for living a better life. And let me tell you something…

I’ve happily stolen and applied every single piece of advice these people have kindly given away in their books.

Whether it’s building better habits, elevating my level of happiness, or earning more money, these ideas have greatly benefited my own life.

So to make these ideas easier for you to benefit from, here are 12 of the best and most unconventional ideas I’ve shamelessly stolen from people who are a lot more successful than I am.

I hope you enjoy it!

1) Pare Down The Number of Decisions You Make Every Day

Every single day, you make thousands of decisions: Should I hit the snooze button or not? What time should I leave for work? Should I exercise today? And if so, what time? The list goes on and on. Some of these decisions are important, but most are trivial.

Unfortunately, researchers have found that, as humans, our capacity to consistently make well thought out decisions is finite.

What this means is that when you use your brainpower earlier in the day deciding what to eat for breakfast, for example, you’ll consequently have less of it later in the day when you have to decide if you should have that piece of cake or not. As a result, you’ll most likely give in and decide to eat the cake. This is what’s known as decision fatigue, which is the psychological condition where making a decision in the present will reduce your decision making ability in the future.

John Tierney, coauthor of the New York Times bestselling book “Willpower,” says,

“Decision fatigue helps explain why ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues and families, splurge on clothes, buy junk food at the supermarket and can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rustproof their new car. No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be, you can’t make decision after decision without paying a biological price. It’s different from ordinary physical fatigue — you’re not consciously aware of being tired — but you’re low on mental energy.”

Simply put, every decision you make uses up your mental energy. So in order to save your mental power for the important decisions of the day, you have to learn to reduce the number of decisions you make on a daily basis either by automating them or delegating them.

By doing this, you’ll find yourself becoming significantly less stressed, more productive, and overall happier.

2) Tear Up Your To-Do List

Here’s an important piece of advice: Success is never achieved by the person who does the most things every day. Instead, success is always achieved by the person who does what is most important every day.

This is why to-do lists can oftentimes do more harm than good. Why? Because a to-do list is essentially everything you think you need to do, not everything you ought to do.

It may feel good to check off a lot of small, unimportant tasks from your to-do list, but a to-do list tends to just obscure what’s really important.

So what do you need instead of a to-do list? You need a success list.

In the book “The One Thing,”​ Gary Keller, founder of the largest real estate company in the world, says,

“To-do lists tend to be long; success lists are short. One pulls you in all directions; the other aims you in a specific direction. One is a disorganized directory and the other is an organized directive. If a list isn’t built around success, then that’s not where it takes you. If your to-do lists contain everything, then it’s probably taking you everywhere but where you really want to go.”

Not everything matters equally. Having clean windows may seem important for you to do, but it doesn’t help you achieve success. They only distract you from success.

So the next time you create a to-do list, don’t make your to-do list in random order. Instead, take a few extra minutes to list everything on your to-do list in order of priority and then focus on only doing the 3 most important things on your list.

3) Turn “Have-To” Into “Get-To”

At one point in my life, I constantly struggled to build new habits. But here’s a simple idea that helped me overcome this: Don’t view your habits as challenges. Instead, view them as opportunities.

In the book “Atomic Habits,” habit building expert James Clear says,

“We often talk about everything we have to do in a given day. You have to wake up early for work. You have to make another sales call for your business. You have to cook dinner for your family. Now, imagine changing just one word: You don’t “have” to. You “get” to. You “get” to wake up early for work. You “get” to make another sales call for your business. You “get” to cook dinner for your family.”

This may just seem like semantics, but it’s actually a crucial component for building new habits and improving your life. By simply changing one word in your life, from “have-to” into “get-to,” you start to see building habits like going for a run and reading every day as a privilege rather than as a burden.

For instance:

Don’t tell yourself “I have to go running today.” Instead, tell yourself, “I get to build endurance and get fast today.”

Don’t tell yourself, “I have to read today. Instead, tell yourself, “I get to learn from the most intelligent and successful individuals who ever lived today.”

Don’t tell yourself, “I have to write today. Instead, tell yourself, “I get to impact thousands of people for the better through my thoughts today.”

Learn to reframe your habits to highlight their benefits rather than their drawbacks. Doing this is a fast and easy way to reprogram your mind and to make intimidating and burdensome habits seem more attractive.

4) Use People’s Favorite Sound

Do you wish you were more likeable? I mean, who doesn’t? Even people who say they don’t care about being liked by other people still care about being liked.

And they should… You know why? Because being liked by others is extremely important when it comes to both your career success and personal relationships.

Luckily, there’s a simple technique you can use that can have a huge positive impact on how others perceive you. In the classic book “How To Win Friends and Influence People,” Dale Carnegie interviews the late American politician Jim Farley on his secret to being a more likeable and persuasive person.

What was his secret? Amazingly, Farley would go out of his way to remember the names of everyone he met. In fact, Farley could remember the first names of 50,000 people!

This is definitely impressive, but why is remembering and using people’s names important? There are two reasons: First, when you remember someone’s name, it makes that person feel respected and more important. However, when you don’t remember someone’s name, especially when they’ve told you their name multiple times, it can make that person feel slighted. Second, when you actively use someone’s name in conversation, it makes that person feel more engaged and interested. Unsurprisingly, Carnegie says, this is because “a person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Remembering and using someone’s name is a very subtle, yet powerful way to win people over. So the next time you meet someone and you want to quickly win their favor be sure to remember their name and use it often in conversation.

5) Look At People’s Feet

When you’re having a conversation with someone, how do you know if the other person is engaged in the conversation, disinterested, or just uncomfortable to be there?

Typically, most people will look at the other person’s facial expression to try to get a sense of how that person feels.

Unfortunately, the problem with this strategy is that people are really good at changing their facial expressions in order to mask how they really feel.

Luckily, there’s a better strategy. According to the book “What Every Body Is Saying,” former FBI agent Joe Navarro recommends that in order to tell how someone feels, you should look down at their feet.

Navarro says that out of all our body parts, our feet are the most honest parts of our body.

For example, let’s say you’re talking to someone and their facial expression makes it seem like they’re engaged with you, but their feet are pointing away from you. Navarro says this is a bad sign. This can mean they’re ready to get out of the conversation immediately or that they don’t feel comfortable being there.

If, however, their feet are pointed towards you, then Navarro says that’s a good sign. This can mean that they feel comfortable talking with you or that they’re enjoying the conversation.

So the next time you’re standing and talking with someone, look at where their feet are pointing. You’ll discover some of the most revealing nonverbal information from that person just by looking at their feet.

6) Mise En Place

In the culinary arts, professional chefs have a term they use called “mise en place,” which is French for “put in place.”

Essentially, chefs don’t start cooking until everything is, literally, in its place: their instruments and spices are organized, everything is clean, their ingredients are pre-chopped, their ingredients are pre-measured, etc.

Mise en place helps chefs reduce the friction they experience in the kitchen. As a result, chefs are able to cook better meals with far less effort.

This is a simple concept that helps chefs cook better, but it also extends outside of the kitchen.

In the book “Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick,” professor and habit researcher Amy Wood recommends using mise en place to build better habits.

Like professional chefs, Wood recommends trying to reduce the friction needed to do your desired habit.

For instance:

If you want to eat better, then prepare healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals in advance.

If you want to exercise in the morning, then lay out your workout clothes the night before.

If you want to read more, then put a book on your bed.

If you can reduce the friction for the positive habits that you want to build, then it won’t be as hard for you to build life-changing habits into your life.

7) Don’t Be A Donkey

When Tim Ferriss asked Derek Sivers what advice he would give to his younger self for his book “Tools of Titans,” Sivers gave one of the best pieces of advice in this entire 700+ page book: “Don’t be a donkey.”

In this book, Sivers tells a short story about a donkey who is both equally hungry and thirsty. Fortunately for the donkey, there’s a stack of hay a few feet away from him on his left side and a pail of water a few feet away on his right side.

But here’s the thing: Because the hay and water are equally as far, the donkey can’t decide whether he should eat the hay first or drink the water first. Paralyzed by indecision, the donkey eventually falls over and dies from both hunger and thirst.

Sivers says,

“A donkey can’t think of the future. If he did, he’d realize he could clearly go first to drink the water, then go eat the hay. So my advice to my 30-year-old self is, don’t be a donkey. You can do everything you want to do. You just need foresight and patience.”

Therefore, if you have 10 things you want to accomplish over the next 10 years, just know that you can definitely achieve those 10 things. But all you have to do is simply dedicate yourself to one thing for a year. And then dedicate yourself to the next thing for another year. And so on. However, if you try to do all 10 things at once, then you’re going to end up like a donkey and not achieve anything. Don’t be a donkey.

8) Stop Using The Number 7

Whenever you don’t know if you should say no to something, simply rate it on a scale from 1 to 10. However, there’s one condition: You can’t use the number 7.

This strategy comes from Tim Ferriss in his book “Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice From The Best In The World.”

Why does Tim Ferriss say you’re not allowed to use 7? Because 7 is too safe of a number. 7 doesn’t commit to anything.

If you rate something a 7, there’s a good chance you’ll feel obligated to say yes to it when you shouldn’t.

Whereas, if you rate something a 6 (terrible) or an 8 (exciting), it’s a lot easier to quickly decide whether or not you should even consider it.

The benefit of making decisions this way is that it forces you to make a decision.

This is a method you can use for anything, whether it’s deciding if you should buy a specific book, go to a conference, or have a coffee chat with someone.

Don’t be scared to have an opinion. Stop playing it safe. Make a decision.

9) Be A Whiner

Mark Cuban is a huge whiner. But that’s exactly why he’s so successful.

When Mark Cuban was in high school, for example, he whined about not being able to take business classes. So he decided to take classes at the University of Pittsburgh instead.

When Mark Cuban was hanging out with his friend, they both whined they couldn’t listen to any hometown sports in Dallas. So they decided to start AudioNet.

When Mark Cuban was sitting in attendance at a Mavericks basketball game, he whined that there wasn’t enough energy or entertainment. Cuban thought he could do a better job. So he decided to buy the Mavericks.

In his book “How To Win At The Sport of Business,” Mark Cuban says,

“I’m sure there have been many other things I have whined about in the past, and many more that I will whine about in the future. What I don’t understand is why so many people think whining has a negative connotation. I don’t. Whining is the first step toward change. It’s the moment when you realize something is very wrong and that you have to take the initiative to do something about it… People who don’t whine are punching bags. They just go about their days, their jobs, their lives, knowing there is nothing they can do to change a darn thing, so why say a word? They see no reason to whine because they know they are incapable of effecting change. Call me a whiner any day.”

10) Take Sabbaticals From Your Work

If you ever feel like you’re experiencing creative roadblocks in your work or that you’re feeling burnt out, it’s probably time to take a sabbatical.

What’s a sabbatical? Sabbaticals are mini-vacations from your work, which are meant to act as a detox from your daily routine so that you can recharge and get back to work better than before.

In the book “Show Your Work,” best selling author and creative Austin Kleon says,

“The designer Stefan Sagmeister swears by the power of the sabbatical — every seven years, he shuts down his studio and takes a year off [to rejuvenate and refresh his creative outlook.] His thinking is that we dedicate the first 25 years or so of our lives to learning, the next 40 to work, and the last 15 to retirement, so why not take 5 years off retirement and use them to break up the work years? He says the sabbatical has turned out to be invaluable to his work: “Everything that we designed in the seven years following the first sabbatical had it’s roots in thinking done during that sabbatical.”

Stefan Sagmeister is only one among thousands of successful entrepreneurs, creatives and VCs who rely on sabbaticals to feel refreshed.

Taking a sabbatical, whether it’s for a week, a day, or even just a few hours, is a great way to cultivate new ideas, to experience fewer creative blocks, and to avoid burnout in your work.

11) Never Ask For Someone’s ‘Opinion’

If you ever want to ask someone for input about an idea you have, then never ask for their “opinion.” Instead, always ask for their “advice.”

The differential phrasing might seem minor, but in the book “Pre-Suasion” psychology and marketing professor Robert Cialdini says that asking for ‘advice’ can have a significant positive impact in getting other people to provide you feedback as well as getting other people to want to work with you.

Why? Because when you ask someone for their ‘advice,’ this puts the other person in a togetherness state of mind, which helps increase the other person’s desire to support whatever you’re asking them for advice on.

Asking for their opinion, on the other hand, puts the other person in an introspection state of mind, which makes them focus more on themself and not on you.

So whenever you’re seeking input from your customers, peers, or even your boss, it’s worth asking them for their “advice.”

“The novelist Saul Bellow once observed, “When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.” I’d only add on the basis of scientific evidence that, if we get that advice, we usually get that accomplice.” — Robert Cialdini

12 Practice What’s It’s Like To Be Poor

For many of us, we constantly worry about not having enough money. We fear what life will look like if we can’t afford the things we think we want and are forced to live on just the bare necessities.

But oftentimes this fear paralyzes us and keeps us from being as happy and successful as we could be.

But instead of constantly worrying about what might go wrong if you were to get fired from your job or your business was to fail, why not rehearse what each potential fear-inducing moment would be like before it ever happens?

This is a psychological technique known as “fear rehearsing,” which is where you regularly microdose yourself with the worst case scenario as a way to desensitize yourself to your fears.

In the book “Letters From A Stoic,” the great Stoic philosopher Seneca says,

“Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: Is this the condition that I so feared?”

For 3 to 4 days, wear the same outfit every day. Eat a lot of instant oatmeal, ramen and/or rice and beans. Drink only water, cheap instant coffee or tea. Reduce the amount you spend on groceries and personal care in half. Forego any form of entertainment or leisure that costs money. Walk or take public transit everywhere. Turn off your TV. Take cold showers. Sleep in a sleeping bag. Only read books from your local library.

That’s it. That’s as hard as it gets. By doing this, you’ll realize just how independent your well being is from money. And once you understand this, it becomes easier to take “risks” and to push through your fears because you know that even if you were to experience a huge financial setback, you would still be completely okay.

People will think you’re resilient but actually you’ve just practiced the hard times as preparation.

[highvoltagearea]

Five Places Where You Can Collect Fossils Around D.C.

About 20 million years ago, the land that’s now Virginia, Maryland and the nation’s capital Washington, D.C. was underwater. Where monuments now stand, giant megalodon shark hunted down prehistoric whales and dolphins and fish darted through coral. The marks these creatures left on the world haven’t washed away, as folks stumble on fossil evidence of their ancient lives all the time.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History boasts fossils from all around the world, and yet plenty come from the area surrounding the museum itself. There’s a Miocene era baleen whale skull on display that was found in the Calvert Cliffs in Maryland, for example. A giant Megalodon replica hangs from the atrium in the cafe; a nearby plaque explains that you can still find “Meg” teeth on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay.

For amateur fossil hunters dreaming of coming across a megalodon tooth on the beach, we’ve curated a list of fossil hot spots just a hop, skip and jump from the Natural History Museum.

Calvert Cliffs – Lusby, Maryland

Calvert Cliffs State Park

(Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

Perhaps the most well-known fossil site on the east coast, the Calvert Cliffs cover about 24 miles of shoreline in Maryland. More than 600 species of fossils, including prehistoric oyster shells, mollusks and scallops as well as shark teeth, have been found on the shores. You might even find a megalodon tooth—most likely, however, you’ll find smaller teeth of other kinds of ancient sharks. Most finds date back to the Miocene era, or around 15 million years ago.

You might be wondering why it is so easy to find shark teeth millions of years old on the beach. According to Smithsonian marine paleobiologist David Bohaska, sharks lose their teeth and regrow new ones constantly. In its lifetime, he explains, a single shark can have thousands and thousands of teeth.

One location where you can access the cliffs is at Calvert Cliffs State Park in Lusby, Maryland. Just a 1.8-mile walk from the parking lot, you can scour the open beach area with a small shovel and sieve—these you’ll need to bring yourself—for remnants of prehistoric sea life. (Don’t bring a hammer or bang on rocks as this will only damage the fossil, Bohaska advises.) The cliffs are layered at a slant, so you’ll find fossils from different geologic time periods depending on where you are.

“The layers at the top are the more recent chapters and the stuff at the bottom is older,” Bohaska explains. He warns that it is illegal to climb on the cliffs or search beneath them in this area, so pay attention to signage.

Don’t forget to stay socially distant while fossil collecting during the Covid-19 pandemic. Try to give others about six feet of room—about the size of a baleen whale skull, for reference.

(Courtesy of Stratford Hall)

“You’re out in the wild, be aware,” says Bohaska. “If you look at the cliff and it has a crack, or if there’s a tree overhanging, that’s not a place you want to stand.”

You can find lots of in-depth information about where to look for fossils and how to determine what you found on the Maryland Geological Survey website. You can also download Smithsonian Scholarly Press’ The Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA online.

Be sure to plan ahead for filled-to-capacity closures on busy holiday weekends like Labor Day. And pack your mask: The Maryland Park Service requires face coverings in public buildings and outdoor public spaces wherever social distancing is not possible.

Stratford Hall – Stratford, Virginia

In 1717, Virginia colonist and politician Thomas Lee purchased Stratford Hall, a 1,200-acre property in Stratford, Virginia. About 17 million years earlier, during the Miocene era, however, the Stratford Hall estate’s towering 150-foot-high cliffs were actually part of the seafloor, according to its website.

In 2013, amateur paleontologist Jon Bachman—who serves as Stratford Hall’s educational events coordinator—found a 15-million-year-old whale skull on the shores of the Potomac River at the four-generation Lee family home, where Robert E. Lee was born in 1807. The six-foot-long, 1,000-pound fossil was unearthed when the banks of the river eroded that summer. The skull was “the biggest” found near the cliffs, but there’s plenty more where that came from, including “shark-toothed porpoises, salt-water crocodiles, sea cows, gopher turtles [and]rays,” according to Stratford Hall’s website.

The cliffs still turn loose small fossils as they erode. As sediment accumulated for millions of years, the ocean underwent a series of marine transgressions, meaning that over a long period of time, the shoreline receded and advanced several times. Each time that movement happened a new layer of sediment was dumped, and those layers can be seen as one looks up at the cliffs.

“The back and forth of the ocean created the right environment to preserve the remains of countless animals,” Bachman explains. “Now, as the river current scours the cliffs, these fossils are exposed and slowly emerge out of the cliffs. That’s what people want to find.”

Jon Bachman (left) and Howard University anatomy professor Daryl Domning and his daughter, Charlotte Domning, make their way to the site to excavate the skeleton of a prehistoric whale in August 2013.

(Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Today, the waterline at the Stratford cliffs is about 16 million years old, Bachman says.

Due to irresponsible fossil hunting practices, however, visitors must purchase a grounds pass ($8 for adults and $5 for kids) to access a small, well-marked, 100-yard-long collecting area on the beach. The Hall still offers guided collecting tours led by one of their Paleo Patrol volunteers, explains Alex Withers, an events coordinator at Stratford Hall. Tours are typically about four hours long. Withers notes there is limited weekend tour availability left in the 2020 season, but they are taking reservations for 2021. (You can read up about their COVID-19 guidelines on their website.)

Bachman, who used to be a fourth grade teacher in Virginia’s Prince William County, says making fossil collecting a lifelong hobby is a worthwhile adventure. “It takes patience, this stuff isn’t littering the ground,” he says. “It’s humbling and fascinating hobby.”

Start with reviewing the principles of geology, Bachman suggests. Then move on to studying the geology in your area, which will tell you what rock formation and landscape features are nearby—and therefore, what fossils might be found there. State geologic societies have useful information on their websites.

“It’s just a delight and you don’t have to get a degree in it to enjoy it,” he adds. “You can educate yourself in stages. It’s about familiarizing yourself with the landscape around us.”

Westmoreland State Park Fossil Beach – Montross, Virginia

Westmoreland State Park Fossil Beach

(Virginia State Parks)

About 70 miles south of the Natural History Museum, Westmoreland State Park’s Fossil Beach is another hotbed for prehistoric shark teeth, but what’s really eye-catching about the location is the stratigraphy—or rocky layers—of the cliffs. Gazing up at the cliffs�� stripes is like looking 25 million years back in time; each layer represents millions of years of geologic history. Fossil Beach neighbors Stratford Hall, so the geology in both areas is similar.

“The river current erodes the sediment and fossilized material washes up on the beach,” explains Bachman, who lives nearby and collects fossils at this location. Bachman’s wife, Dianne, recently found the lower part of a leg bone, which they later found out may belong to a Miocene pseudo-toothed pelican, Pelagornis miocaenus, after having their colleague Robert Weems, a paleontologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, take a look. The bone is about six inches long and hollow, much like bird bones are today.

“People probably stepped over it a million times,” says Bachman.

Jon Bachman, an amateur paleontologist and avid fossil collecter, says his favorite find isn’t his own. His wife found a Miocene era bird bone recently.

(Courtesy of Jon Bachman)

The area was once home to the unique prehistoric whale species, Eobalaenoptera harrisoni. A model of the 14 million-year-old baleen whale hangs in the Caroline County visitor’s center just a short drive from Fossil Beach. When the original fossil was excavated in the 1990s, researchers recovered half of the full skeleton, making it one of the most complete and largest prehistoric whale skeletons in the U.S. The skeleton is housed in the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville.

During the pandemic, “face coverings are required in all park facilities and where social distancing is not possible,” according to the park’s website. Virginia State Parks also recommends bringing your own soap and hand sanitizer. Of course, respect social distancing and keep a six-foot space between yourself and others. Step aside to let others pass on trails.

Purse State Park – Nanjemoy, Maryland

Purse State Park

(Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Just over an hour’s drive south of D.C., Purse State Park is located on a stretch of the banks of the Potomac River called Wades Bay. Paleontologist Michelle Pinsdorf of Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History says most of the fossils you’ll find at this site are from the late Paleocene—specifically the Aquia Formation rock layer, which is 55 to 59 million years old.

“During this time period, many types of animals were evolving and diversifying to adapt to the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous time period,” Pinsdorf writes in an email to Smithsonian magazine. “Because the deposit is marine in origin, the teeth of a wide variety of shark and bony fish species can be found in this formation.”

Alongside shark teeth, you may find an occasional prehistoric crocodile tooth, which by comparison sort of look like “an ice cream cone with an almost silky texture,” says Bohaska.

You’ll also spot plenty of fossilized shells. Pinsdorf says prehistoric oyster shells are among her favorite finds at Purse State Park. “Although they are heavily eroded and don’t have much of the shell pattern or shape left, they are a beautiful purple color and have an interesting luster and smooth texture,” she says.

The ideal time to search is during low tide when there is enough shoreline to scour. “But if you go in the days after a storm or rough waters, you’re more likely to find fossils that have recently eroded out of the bedrock, and are in better condition as a result,” explains Pinsdorf.

The trails are unmarked so it’s important to carry a compass and map, according to Maryland’s tourism department. Pinsdorf suggests taking a quarter-mile trail westward, across the road from the Park’s parking area on Route 224 (Riverside Road), to a narrow stretch of beach along Wade’s Bay.

“Bringing a colander or mesh screen is recommended to aid in sifting the gravel, in which small but numerous shark teeth and can be found,” she says. “Larger, weathered oyster shell fragments are present at this site also.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, face coverings are required in park buildings and outdoor areas where social distancing is not possible. Some parks have introduced additional cleaning procedures for restrooms or closed public restrooms. Others may be offering portable bathrooms instead, according to Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources.

Dinosaur Park – Laurel, Maryland

Steve Jabo, a fossil preparator at the Smithsonian, works on a large fossilized dinosaur bone found at Dinosaur State Park in 2011.

(Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Originally a prime site for iron mining, African American miners in 1858 were the first to discover dinosaur fossils at this site. Geologist Philip Thomas Tyson brought the fossilized bones from the mines to a scientific conference in 1859, where they were officially identified as dinosaur remains.

“It’s a place where people have been working for a few hundred years,” explains paleontologist Matt Carrano of Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. If the area where Dinosaur Park now stands hadn’t been mined at all, it would look like a normal Maryland hillside covered in vegetation. “It’s only a good spot for fossil collecting because it was mined for so long,” he says.” You’re looking at bedrock where there should be soil.”

Today, Dinosaur Park features fossilized dino bones, including some from Maryland’s state dinosaur Astrodon johnstoni, and floral remnants from the early Cretaceous period about 115 million years ago. At the time, the region would have resembled something like a swampy bayou with muddy streams. According to Carrano, the sediment was a very fine, almost “pottery-quality,” clay-like material.

“You’re walking on a clay layer that was deposited 110 million years ago,” Carrano says. Now, when it rains, the clay absorbs the water and then dries out again, revealing fossil fragments in that process. The most common finds are plant material, like wood and pine cones.

“Every now and then the conditions are just right and you get a situation when the environment is saving things instead of recycling them,” Carrano explains.

Due to COVID-19, all public programs and fossil collecting at Dinosaur Park are currently on hold, but the park area is open from sunrise to sunset. The unrestricted area features a Cretaceous-era garden and a climbable dinosaur “skeleton.” Signs describe the kinds of dinosaurs that once roamed the area, what Maryland’s prehistoric environment looked like and the African American history in the area, according to the park’s website.

Dinosaur Park usually serves as an outdoor laboratory, where the public can work alongside paleontologists to help uncover the past on the first and third Saturdays of the month or by appointment. Hundreds of fossils discovered by visitors have been collected and cataloged to date, enhancing our knowledge about the ancient ecosystem that once existed here.

“There’s a steady stream of new discoveries,” Carrano says. “We’re in this phase when the variety is much greater than we knew, just because we didn’t have much collected from the area. Many times, you’ll know you have something new, but you don’t have enough of it to give it a new name.”

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[allenmendezsr]

Photography Jobs Online 2019 | Get Paid To Take Photos!

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[sciencespies]

'Millions of sparks': Weather raises Australia's fire danger

https://sciencespies.com/environment/millions-of-sparks-weather-raises-australias-fire-danger/

'Millions of sparks': Weather raises Australia's fire danger

This Jan 2, 2020, photo captured by NASA’s Terra satellite and made available by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), shows thick smoke blanketing southeastern Australia along the border of Victoria and New South Wales. More than 200 fires are burning in Australia’s two most-populous states. Blazes have also been burning in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. (NASA via AP)

Navy ships plucked hundreds of people from beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee Friday before hot weather and strong winds in the forecast worsen Australia’s already-devastating wildfires.

More than 200 fires were burning, and warnings of extreme danger to come Saturday set in motion one of the largest evacuations in Australian history. Thousands have already fled at-risk coastal areas, creating traffic gridlock in places, and firefighters escorted convoys of evacuees as fires threatened to close roads.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews declared a disaster across much of the eastern part of the state, allowing the government to order evacuations in an area with as many as 140,000 permanent residents and tens of thousands more vacationers.

“If you can leave, you must leave,” Andrews said.

South Australia state’s Country Fire Service chief officer Mark Jones said the weather conditions were cause for concern because some fires were still burning or smoldering.

“The ignition sources are already there,” he said. “There are millions of sparks out there ready to go if they break containment lines.”

The early and devastating start to Australia’s summer wildfires has made this season the worst on record. About 5 million hectares (12.35 million acres) of land have burned, at least 19 people have been killed, and more than 1,400 homes have been destroyed.

This Jan 1, 2020, photo captured by NASA’s Aqua satellite and made available by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite, shows thick smoke blanketing southeastern Australia along the border of Victoria and New South Wales. More than 200 fires are burning in Australia’s two most-populous states. Blazes have also been burning in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. (NASA via AP)

This week, at least 448 homes have been destroyed on the New South Wales southern coast and dozens were burned in Victoria. Ten deaths have been confirmed in the two states this week, and Victoria authorities also say 28 people are missing. Fires are also burning in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.

The navy was evacuating hundreds from the Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota, which has been cut off for days by wildfires, forcing as many as 4,000 residents and tourists to shelter on beaches. Landing craft ferried people to the HMAS Choules offshore.

Evacuees waiting to board the ship described smoke and embers flying everywhere when the fires were at their worst.

“It’s just scary waiting,” Dani Barmeister told Channel Nine. Another person waiting, Natalie Morrissey, said of the emotional wait while the fires threatened, “It’s something that I want to forget.”

Choules Commander Scott Houlihan said 963 people had signed up for evacuation by sea and more had been airlifted to safety.

In New South Wales, a state of emergency and a total fire ban were in place.

State Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said strong winds and high temperatures Saturday will make the fire danger worse in many areas and urged those who can flee to do so.

“We know people have got a little bit of fire fatigue. They’ve been dealing with this now for months,” Rogers said. “But we need people to stay focused. Tomorrow is not the day to drop your guard. Take it seriously. If you’re in those areas where we put those maps out, do not be there.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was inclined to cancel a scheduled trip to India later this month because of the wildfires. In December, he cut short a family holiday in Hawaii in the face of public anger at his absence.

He is due to visit India on Jan. 13-16 and previously had said recent deadly riots over India’s new citizenship trips laws would not cause him to cancel.

He made the remarks in Bairnsdale, Victoria, where he received a warmer welcome than he had in another wildfire-ravaged town a day earlier.

Morrison cut short the visit to Cobargo in New South Wales when locals yelled at him, made obscene gestures and called him an “idiot” and worse, criticizing him for the lack of equipment to deal with the fires in town.

In a radio interview , Morrison said he understood the anger of people affected by the fires.

“People are angry and people are raw and people are upset,” he said. “Whether they are angry with me or they are angry about the situation, all I know is they are hurting and it’s my job to be there to try and offer some comfort and support.”

In this satellite image released by Copernicus Sentinel Imagery, 2020 twitter page dated Dec. 31, 2019, fires burning around Sydney, Australia. (Copernicus Sentinel Imagery via AP)

In this image from a video, people get in a boat in Mallacoota, Australia Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. Navy ships plucked hundreds of people from beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee Friday before hot weather and strong winds in the forecast worsen Australia’s already-devastating wildfires. (Channel 9 via AP)

This still image taken from video provided by AuBC, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is confronted by angry residents as he visited a wildfire-ravaged Cobargo, in New South Wales on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. The outpouring of anger came as authorities said 381 homes had been destroyed on the New South Wales southern coast this week. More than 200 fires are burning in Australia’s two most-populous states. (AuBC via AP)

In this satellite image released by Copernicus Sentinel Imagery, 2020 twitter page acquired Dec. 31, 2019, shows the Clyde Mountain Fire, 200 kms. (124 miles) south of Sydney, Australia. (Copernicus Sentinel Imagery via AP)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison tours the fire devastated Wildflower farm owned by Paul and Melissa Churchman in Sarsfield, Victoria, Friday, January 3, 2020. Navy ships plucked hundreds of people from beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee before hot weather and strong winds in the forecast worsen Australia’s already-devastating wildfires. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

In this photo provided by the Australian Defence Force, HMAS Choules appears as a ghostly figure through smoke haze off the coast of Mallacoota, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. The Australian Defence Force is moving naval assets to Mallacoota on a supply mission that would last two weeks and helicopters would also fly in more firefighters since roads were inaccessible due to wildfires. (Australian Defence Force via AP)

Smoke from the wildfires has choked air quality and turned daytime skies to near-nighttime darkness in the worst-hit areas.

Sydney University ecologist Chris Dickman told the Sydney Morning Herald nearly 500 million animals—birds, reptiles and mammals—are likely to have perished in New South Wales alone. Frogs, bats and insects are excluded from his estimate, making the toll much greater.

The smoke has also blown across the Tasman Sea into New Zealand, where skies are hazy and glaciers have turned a deep caramel brown. The color change may cause more melting since the glaciers will reflect less sunlight.

Explore further

Australia orders evacuation of fire-ravaged towns before heatwave

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Citation: ‘Millions of sparks’: Weather raises Australia’s fire danger (2020, January 3) retrieved 3 January 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-01-millions-weather-australia-danger.html

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#Environment

[ashlyreads]

It’s that time of the week again where I wrap up everything that went down last week.

Did you have a good weekend? Read anything good? I didn’t read much because I started some pre-birthday celebrations. But, I did go to the bookstore and make a stop at a thrift store as well! So, prepare for some pretty book photos :D

Anyway, here’s what’s been happening.

Blog Posts

Monday: Book Review – Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Price

Tuesday: 2017 Sci-Fi Reading Challenges and Book Review – Selected by Evelyn Lederman

Wednesday: Playlist – The Merciless by Danielle Vega and Book Review – The Merciless by Danielle Vega

Thursday: You Read This, Now Watch That and Book Review – Wolf, Vol. 1: Blood and Magic by Ales Kot

Friday: Book Review – The Simpsons Comics: Hit the Road! by Matt Groening

Saturday: Mini Movie Reviews – Horror Movies

Review Copies Received

Disaster Falls: A Family Story by Stephane Gerson

Any Day Now by Robyn Carr

Only She Sees by Manel Loureiro

The Grey House by Mariam Petrosyan

Spirit Quest by Jennifer Frick-Ruppert

Lala Pettibone’s Act Two by Heidi Mastrogiovanni

The Case of the Green-Dressed Ghost by Lucy Banks

Borrowed

I’d Tell You I Love You, but Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

Monster, Volume 5: After the Carnival by Naoki Urasawa

Monster, Volume 6: The Secret Woods by Naoki Urasawa

Beyond: Our Future in Space by Chris Impey

Faith, Vol. 1: Hollywood Vine by Jody Houser

Bought

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams

The Creepy Creations of Professor Shock (Give Yourself Goosebumps #14) by R.L. Stine

Zero-G by Rob Boffard

Goodnight Kiss 2 by R.L. Stine

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Old Man’s War by Jonathan Scalzi

Desperation by Stephen King

Added to TBR

We are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

The Dalek Book by Terry Nation

The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

This is Our Story by Ashley Elston

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

Shadows of Tomorrow by Jessica Meats

Where the Lost Girls Go: A Laura Mori Story by R.J. Noonan

The Final Girls by Riley Sager

Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel

What is not Yours is not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi

We Were on a Break by Lindsey Kelk

Homeland by R.A. Salvatore

Karma and Fear by Dom Drake

Learning to Stay by Erin Celello

Finished

Invader Zim, Volume 2 by K.C. Green ★★★★★

The Ren & Stimpy Show Holiday Special “Black Mail, White Christmas, Green Moulah Parts 1 and 2” by by Dan Slott ★★★★★

Faith, Vol. 1: Hollywood and Vine by Jody Houser ★★★★★

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson ★★

The Ren & Stimpy Show “Native Son” by Dan Slott ★★★★★

Currently Reading

Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon

A Darker Shade of Sorcery by Will Collins

Harry Potter y La Piedra Filosofal by J.K. Rowling

‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

Doctor Who: The Secret Lives of Monsters by Justin Richards

Book Haul

Time for some pretty photos of books!

Thrift Store Haul

I picked up these 4 books for only $2 total at the thrift store. What awesome finds!

Used Bookstore Haul

The first 2 books are ones that are on my 2017 Sci-Fi reading challenges. The Stephen King book is one I’ve been desperately (haha get it??) looking for, and I’M SO HAPPY I FINALLY HAVE A COPY OF IT!

The End

Just look at this set!!!

Other Links to reach me at:

 Instagram | booklr | Goodreads | Twitter | Etsy Follow me on Snapchat: smashleyyy92.

Happy Reading!

Monday Wrap-Up – 1/16/17 + Book Haul It's that time of the week again where I wrap up everything that went down last week.

[kayla1993-world]

One of the largest evacuations in Australia’s history was happening Friday ahead of hot weather and strong winds that are forecast to worsen terrible wildfires acting violently across the country.

More than 200 fires were burning, and warnings of extreme danger to come Saturday caused mass evacuations. Traffic was gridlocked as people ran away and firefighters escorted lines of evacuees as fires threatened to close roads.

Navy ships were called in to pluck hundreds of people left alone on beaches.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews declared a disaster across much of the eastern part of the state, allowing the government to order evacuations in an area with as many as 140,000 permanent residents and tens of thousands more vacationers.

In South Australia state, fire people said the weather conditions were cause for concern because fires were still burning or hidden.

The early and terrible start to Australia’s summer wildfires has made this season the worst on record. About 5 million areas (12.35 million acres) of land have burned, at least 19 people have been killed, and more than 1,400 homes have been destroyed.

This week, at least 448 homes have been destroyed on the New South Wales southern coast and dozens were burned in Victoria. Ten deaths have been confirmed in the two states this week, and Victoria people also say 28 people are missing. Fires are also burning in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.

The navy evacuated hundreds from Mallacoota, a coastal town in Victoria cut off for days by wildfires that forced as many as 4,000 residents and tourists to shelter on beaches. Landing craft ferried people to the HMAS Choules offshore.

Evacuees waiting to board the ship described smoke and wood flying everywhere when the fires were at their worst.

Choules Commander Scott Houlihan said 963 people had signed up for evacuation by sea and more had been airlifted to safety.

In New South Wales, a state of emergency and a total fire ban were in place. State Country Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers strongly encouraged people to not wait to leave, noting four people in the state died in their cars as they made late tries to run away.

Rogers later told reporters than anyone who chose not to leave must take responsibility for their own safety.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was likely to cancel a scheduled trip to India later this month because of the wildfires. In December, he cut short a family holiday in Hawaii in the face of public anger at his not being there.

He made the statements in Bairnsdale, Victoria, where he received a warmer welcome than he had in another wildfire-destroyed town a day earlier.

Morrison cut short Thursday’s visit to Cobargo in New South Wales when locals yelled at him, made insulting movements and called him a “stupid person” and worse, criticizing him for the lack of equipment to deal with the fires in town.

In a radio interview, Morrison said he understood the anger of people affected by the fires.

In an interview late Friday with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “A Current Affair” Morrison was wary about his handling of the problem. He denied having ignored the warnings of fire chiefs that Australia was heading into a extremely terrible fire season.

Morrison’s response was seen to echo his repeated sttements that the fires are a natural disaster, and not the result of climate change worsened by Australia’s dependence on coal and other resources.

Morrison was asked about the seemingly cool reception he received in fire-upset areas, including many who refused to shake his hand.

Smoke from the wildfires has choked air quality and turned daytime skies to near-nighttime darkness in the worst-hit areas.

Sydney University scientist Chris Dickman told the Sydney Morning Herald nearly 500 million birds, reptiles and animals are likely to have died in New South Wales alone. Frogs, bats and insects are left out from his guess, making the toll on animals much greater.

The nation’s farming part also suffered untallied losses.  Farming Minister Bridget McKenzie said in addition to their animals dying, farmers were also struggling to feed animals with their supply chains disrupted.

The smoke has also blown across the Tasman Sea into New Zealand, where skies are hazy and masses have turned a deep caramel brown. The color change may cause more melting since the masses will reflect less sunlight.

[mobianflame]

Storms snarl U.S. Thanksgiving travel, stranding cars and planes - Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two winter storms blasted the United States on Wednesday, stranding motorists and causing thousands of flight delays as Americans jammed highways and airports to visit family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Scores of vehicles got stuck on Interstate 5 after a “bomb cyclone” - a supercharged winter storm caused by a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure - dumped up to four feet (1.2 meters) of snow in mountainous areas of the Pacific Northwest.

“We’ve been white knuckling it for the last four hours and sliding around the road,” said Lisa Chadwick after she stopped in Bend, Oregon, driving north from San Francisco. She had snowchains for her two-wheel drive car, but did not know how to put them on.

The U.S. Midwest was also hit hard by a storm that clobbered Denver on Tuesday, with airports in Minneapolis and Chicago suffering hundreds of delays and cancellations.

The storms hit on one of the busiest travel days of the year, with a near-record 55 million Americans set to journey at least 50 miles (80 km) for Thanksgiving on Thursday, according to the American Automobile Association.

After parts of Colorado got up to 30 inches (75 cm) of snow on Tuesday, Minneapolis was expected to get as much as 12 inches as the system slid east, said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

The storm, which is packing high winds, will move across upper Michigan and upstate New York toward central Maine, which could get 6 to 10 inches of snow, the Weather Service forecast.

“LOTS OF HONKING”

On the West Coast, heavy rain threatened flash floods from San Diego to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles International Airport told domestic passengers to arrive three hours early as it expected 238,000 passengers and 113,000 vehicles on Wednesday.

“There has been definitely lots of honking, lots of near accidents that I’ve seen, for sure,” Daniel Julien, a 24-year-old paralegal from Pasadena, said after making it to the airport.

A silver lining was that rain doused the Cave Fire in Santa Barbara County, which charred 7 square miles (1,810 hectares) of brush and woodlands. But it brought evacuation warnings to thousands of residents in Santa Barbara suburbs for possible mudslides on fire-charred hills.

Across the country, 4,083 flights were delayed, and 148 were canceled into or out of the United States by 6.30 p.m. ET, with Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport tallying the most, according to FlightAware.com.

“There are apocalyptic storms all over the country and 50mph winds! Why would things not be the worst. Anyway pray 4 me,” said a Twitter user going by the name of Abigail H., who was leaving O’Hare on Wednesday.

The East Coast was largely unscathed, but wind gusts of up to 40 mph (64 km) forecast for Thursday morning threatened to sideline the Macy’s New York City Thanksgiving parade’s 16 giant balloons for safety reasons. Organizers have said they will make the decision on Thursday whether to go ahead.

Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York, Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, Andrew Hay in Taos and Jane Ross in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, David Gregorio and Sonya Hepinstall

This content was originally published here.

[murfreesboronews]

All of the usual sights and sounds of the season signal the Thanksgiving weekend. Autumn’s palette cast a warm glow across campus. As we at MTSU winded down for the holiday, students were excitedly preparing for a long weekend home, as faculty and staff discussed time-honored recipes that were going to grace the family table.

This year, however, the family hugs and homebound journeys that represent the essence of the holiday stirred mixed feelings for our campus community.

Don’t get me wrong. We are thankful, deeply thankful. Indeed, the measure of our gratitude has grown and deepened in direct proportion to the hardships experienced and witnessed as a result of Hurricane Dorian’s early September landfall on The Bahamas. The devastating impact of 185 mph winds shifted our understanding of how the concept of home can change in an instant.

In its aftermath, some 70,000 people were left homeless from the destructive storm that devastated the island nation. With MTSU’s 51 currently enrolled students from the Bahamas, seven of whom with families living in the most affected areas of Grand Bahama and Abaco islands, this natural disaster hit particularly close to the hearts of our university family. For me, Hurricane Dorian also hit close to home. As a proud Bahamian-American, it is the place of my birth, and it remains the home for many in my large, extended family.

Our students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters responded to this humanitarian crisis with an outpouring of assistance through the Raider Relief giving campaign, resulting in the delivery of tens of thousands of pounds of disaster relief supplies. MTSU’s Trustees Vice Chair Darrell Freeman and R.J. Young Co. CEO Chip Crunk also generously donated the use of their private planes, as well as their valuable time, to pilot the aircraft and personally deliver supplies to affected families.

The caring and kindness that has fueled Raider Relief has been nothing short of inspiring. Stories of our students’ families who have lost belongings, homes, and jobs have opened our eyes to how fate and circumstances beyond one’s control can upend all sense of normalcy in the blink of an eye.

  Closer to home, the hardships associated with homelessness are no less important, but the weight of this burden on students is not always clearly visible. Shame and embarrassment cloak the issue, making it less transparent and certainly not easy for students to voice.

Typically, homelessness manifests itself as a result of numerous sets of circumstances. A parent or student being laid off from a job, a serious illness, injury, or any number of life’s unpredictable challenges can contribute to a student facing circumstances in which they find themselves without a roof over their head or a place to call their own.

Indeed, the reasons why students experience homelessness or housing insecurity are as varied as the lives of students themselves, and oftentimes are of no fault of their own.

Likewise, our understanding of the factors contributing to homelessness can be unclear and our perceptions ambiguous.

At MTSU, we strive to make the subject approachable and resources readily available.

Two such efforts were recently on clear display. A fall dance concert featured a performance by Chicago-based guest choreographer William Gill titled “This Too Shall Pass,” which opened by exposing the harsh realities of living on the streets, and concluded by celebrating the panacea of community, family, and support. Promotions leading up to the concert encouraged attendees to bring donations of blankets, sleeping bags, and tents for the nonprofit Murfreesboro Cold Patrol.

While tailgating festivities the next day bolstered the efforts of “Warm Bodies and Full Bellies: Helping the Homeless One Giving Act at a Time,” a project spearheaded by marketing students with the goal of collecting nonperishable food and warm clothing in partnership with Greenhouse Ministries.

Six years ago, Virginia Hemby, a professor of business education in our Jones College of Business, established Raiders’ Closet, a service to provide students in need professional clothing for job interviews and networking opportunities.

Through partnerships with businesses like AstraZenca and Dillard’s department stores, Raiders’ Closet collects and distributes new and gently used clothing and provides guidance and advice on professional wardrobe choices. In collaboration with MTSU’s Career Development Center, these services help students prepare for interviews and land a good paying job, gaining a sense of independence and security that comes with steady employment and income.

Jones College professor Philip Seagraves, who runs our real estate studies program, noted that dramatic events experienced during adolescence can have a strong effect on life choices and perceptions about matters regarding investment, career, and family decisions, which carry into adulthood. If a students’ formative years were marked by economic turmoil, foreclosure, and being evicted from their home, this could naturally lead them to second guess the American dream of homeownership. Professor Seagraves said he also knows from experience that these doubts can be overcome.

He proudly recalled the story of a former student who was homeless, but persevered to graduate, became gainfully employed at a local mortgage company, and is currently doing very well. “Getting some stability in his home situation made a difference — along with others taking an interest and giving a helping hand,” concluded Seagraves.

Student organizations have also taken an active role in providing support. MTSU’s Student Food Pantry is sustained by food drives that collect nonperishable items, which are available for students in need at no charge. Our fraternities and sororities engage in friendly competitions and student organizations host events with the goal of raising funds to purchase food or to accept food donations for the pantry.

Earlier this year, when state Rep. Carson W. Beck and state Sen. Jeff Yarbro sponsored a bill in the Tennessee General Assembly in an endeavor to aid this underserved student population, they turned to MTSU and asked us to present our program focused on helping homeless students as a model to other colleges and universities across the state.

Their bill was enacted into law and, as of July 1, each post-secondary educational institution funded by the state is required to designate a liaison to homeless students and develop a program to give them access to housing.

In recognition of MTSU’s decade-long reputation as a leader in addressing the issue of homelessness, Becca Seul, associate director of MTSU’s MT One Stop, and Danielle Rochelle, coordinator of outreach and support programs, were selected to testify in support of the bill. Seul and Rochelle’s contributions as consultants for the statewide mandate include the creation of a manual detailing how other schools can start a homeless student program and how to obtain community resources to fund operations.

Unless you’ve been through such a predicament or personally know someone who has, it’s hard to fathom the strength and resolve required to attend college while navigating the uncertainty of being without a home.  The unknown can be frightening, not only to the person experiencing it directly, but also to those observing from the outside and trying to make sense of the situation.

While it may be tempting to speculate on the circumstances that led to the homelessness or even judge, I think we can all agree, if a student holds the insight that pursuing a college degree can lead to a brighter future, and they possess the determination to persevere, they deserve our support to help them achieve this goal.

When new students join the MTSU community, they join in a noble tradition of reciting our True Blue Pledge, which includes a commitment to being an engaged member of our community, and serving as a giver when the need arises.

In this season of Thanksgiving, let’s give thanks for the abundance of blessings that we enjoy, and pledge to seek solutions to help those experiencing homelessness to stay steadfast in their path toward a better a life and toward place that they can call their own.

  #gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Tiara Ashley Brown, president of MTSU’s Bahamian Student Organization, helps unload a plane full of supplies after it arrived Friday, Sept. 20, in her native Bahamas as part of the MTSU Raider Relief’s third trip to the island commonwealth to assist the families of students affected by the devastating Hurricane Dorian. Brown, whose organization also collected supplies in the relief effort, accompanied MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and others on the latest relief mission. (MTSU photo by Andrew Oppmann)

Representatives of the MTSU Greek Week committee, MTSU Fraternity and Sorority Life, and the Student Food Pantry stand in front of the thousands of donated nonperishable food items collected during the spring 2019 Greek Week food drive to replenish the pantry. Pictured, from left, outside FSL’s Student Union offices, are FSL Director Leslie Merritt; Danielle Rochelle, MT One Stop outreach coordinator who oversees the Student Food Pantry; Jordan Borchert, FSL coordinator; junior Deshaun Covington of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and Greek Week committee member; and senior Alex Revor, member of Chi Omega sorority and Greek Week committee chair. As noted by the sign, the food drive collected 7,764 items and $2,084.50 in funds. (MTSU file photo by Jimmy Hart)

  MTSU gives thank to be able to help those in need All of the usual sights and sounds of the season signal the Thanksgiving weekend. Autumn’s palette cast a warm glow across campus.

[indochinavoyages]

Top 10 best Vietnam holiday destinations in 2020

Top 10 best Vietnam holiday destinations in 2020 https://www.indochinavoyages.com/travel-blog/10-vietnam-holiday-destinations

Though Vietnam looks quite small on the maps, you could never find enough time to explore this country. Following is the instructions for visiting the best Vietnam holiday destinations in 2020!

  [caption id="attachment_15668" align="alignnone" width="960"] The best holiday destinations in Vietnam[/caption]

Hanoi

Hanoi is the first holiday destinations in Vietnam that should be in your Vietnam travel list. Being the capital of Vietnam since year 1010, Hanoi proves itself a center of culture, politics, and tourism with bundle of historical monuments such as Temple of Literature, Thang Long citadel, etc. ; or museums and scenic spots such as Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi Old Quarter, etc. Beside the local Asian architecture, there are major buildings and streets with French colonial style that has largely remained intact despite the war time.

Moreover, you can see plenty of street vendors in Hanoi as it is a part of our culture. That is the reason why Hanoi street food is highly recommended for the best local taste, the variety of dishes. Undoubtedly, cuisine is the essence of Hanoi!

  [caption id="attachment_15655" align="alignnone" width="960"] Hoan Kiem lake - a peaceful and quite place in the historical centre of Hanoi[/caption]

>> Click here for suggested Hanoi street food tour

Halong Bay

Halong Bay is a must-not-miss, I promise you! Nearly two thousand limestone islands and islets covered by tropical trees and fauna system standing strongly on the Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin, some are eroded by wind and sea water action. Here also offers a lot of amazing natural dry and wet Halong Bay caves such as Sung Sot Cave – the most famous one, Dau Go Cave, Thien Cung Cave, Thien Canh Son Cave, Luon Cave, Dark & Bright Cave, etc. 

The most enjoyable way to explore the Bay is by Halong Bay overnight cruises. Those are kind of big boat sailing the fixed routes, with en-suite cabins for couple, friends and families. It is like a floating hotel! Also, there are many things to do in Halong Bay. You can not only witness the stunning beauty of the Bay and explore the caves, but also do kayak, swim and visit the floating farms here.

  [caption id="attachment_15656" align="alignnone" width="960"] A trip to Vietnam cannot be complete without a visit to Halong Bay[/caption]

>> Click here for suggested Halong Bay cruises

Tam Coc

Located in Ninh Binh province – 2 hours driving from Hanoi, there is a place called Tam Coc – meaning Three Caves in English. Here you will board on a small sampan, paddled by a local person by his/her foot which is quite unique, to discover three natural caves here on Ngo Dong River. These caves are nestled in a scenic landscape of limestone cliffs and rice paddies.

If you have time, climbing up the Mua Cave is also worthwhile as you can see the amazing panoramic view of limestone mountains and rice fields.

>> Click here for suggested Ninh Binh – Trang An Private Day Tour

Sapa hill-tribe villages

Sapa town is the most worldwide known for its rice terraces and numerous ethnic minorities. However, nowadays, it has become utterly crowded leading to the fact that a lot more hotels, resorts.. are built making this town a big construction. But that is not the reason you should skip Sapa in your plan. The local villages like Lao Chai, Ta Van are offering high standard homestays with beautiful view to the valleys and rice terrace – a new trend for adventurous travelers.

  [caption id="attachment_15657" align="alignnone" width="960"] Visiting rice terraces is one of the most interesting things to do in Sapa[/caption]

>> Click here for suggested Sapa Vietnam tours

Hue

Situated on the banks of the Perfume River in Central Vietnam, Hue once served as the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty. Today, the vestiges of this former glorious period are reflected in the city’s architecture, culture and cuisine, making it one of the best places to visit in Vietnam. Nha Nhac Cung Dinh Hue (Hue Royal Refined Music) was considered as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO – was at its peak during Nguyen Dynasty.

  [caption id="attachment_15658" align="alignnone" width="960"] Hue Imperial City was one of the most important political centers of Vietnam[/caption]

Hoi An ancient town

Also in Central region and 2-hour drive away from Hue, Hoi An Vietnam is known as a place for peace of mind. The old town is packed with well-preserved houses reminisced its heyday when it was a main silk trading port for Japanese and Chinese. Its other name – Faifo (French) – reflected the fact that it was an old famous port.

One of the special thing here is Hoi An lanterns – places everywhere on the streets. And it is even more vibrant in the evening where every house, shop, restaurant turning the candle on. On every full moon day, you can embark on a small sampan on Hoai River, leave lantern on the water and wish for the best things in life.

  [caption id="attachment_15659" align="alignnone" width="960"] Hoi An ancient town is considered as one of the most beautiful towns in Vietnam[/caption]

>> Click here for suggested Hue and Hoi An tours: Classic Central Vietnam 5 Days

Dalat

At the altitude of 1500m compared with sea level, weather in Dalat is cool with fresh air all year round. Besides the sightseeing here like Tuyen Lam Lake, Bao Dai King Palace, Love Valley or Lang Biang moutain, etc. , Dalat offers the mysterious vibe with the pine forests and very friendly people!

Cu Chi Tunnels

About 60 km from the Saigon downtown, this is a site where  Viet Cong  hid  during  the  War.  It  is  now  a  popular  spot  for  both  Vietnamese  &  foreign  travelers  –  the network of over 200km of tunnels became legendary  when they played a vital role in the War. In their  heyday,  the  tunnels  were  functioning  underground  cities  including  numerous  trap  doors, specially constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers and kitchens. There is plenty of evidence of the fierce battle that took place here during the 1960s when Cu Chi was a "Free Target Zone".

  [caption id="attachment_15660" align="alignnone" width="960"] Cu Chi tunnels - an extensive network of tunnels is one of the should-not-miss Vietnam holiday destinations[/caption]

>> Click here for suggested Cu Chi & Cao Dai Day Tour

Mekong Delta

Colorful floating markets, fruit orchards, rice paddies, sugar cane groves, bird sanctuaries and quaint villages are all what draw many to the Mekong Delta in southwestern Vietnam. Nicknamed “Vietnam’s Rice Basket,” the Mekong Delta is an agricultural region made fertile by the maze of canals and streams fed by the Mekong River. Stretching from the Gulf of Thailand to Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta feeds more than a third of the country from its rich plantations, orchards, rice paddies and fish farms.

  [caption id="attachment_15662" align="alignnone" width="960"] Mekong Delta floating markets are an interesting way of life in the river[/caption]

>> Click here for suggested Luxury Mekong River Cruise

Phu Quoc island

Phu Quoc island is the largest and most beautiful in Vietnam – according to millions of travelers. It is not easy to find a place with plenty of long beaches, white sand and clear water in the world like Phu Quoc. It is like Phuket island in Thailand but less touristy and even undeveloped. The island features pristine tropical forests and undamaged coral reefs.

>> Click here for suggested Phu Quoc tours: Phu Quoc Luxury Escape 5 Days

Suggested Vietnam tours

Grand sensational Vietnam 20 days

Vietnam Cultural Highlights 14 Days

Classic Adventure Vietnam 12 Days

Hope that with these suggestions, you are able to plan out your Vietnam holiday destinations for your Vietnam tours 2020 without hesitation.

  Daniel Nguyen - Travel Specialist

#Indochinavoyages #Indochinatours #Timlee #Vietnamtours #Myanmartours #Cambodiatours #Laostours #Thailand tours

[easytravelpw-blog]

Full text write on https://easy-travel.pw/queensland-s-best-beach-port-douglas-or-the-whitsundays/australia/

Queensland's Best Beach: Port Douglas or the Whitsundays?

01 of 08

Port Douglas or the Whitsundays. Which is Best?

Felix Martinez/Getty Images

An endless summer offering sparkling blue water, magical white sand and access to the Great Barrier Reef. You’ll get all of this and more when visiting Queensland’s North, so take our advice: if you’re travelling to this part of Australia, you’ll want to spend as much time as you can seeing as much as you can!

If time is not on your side, however, you’ll need to slim down your itinerary. Then, your big decision is: just what part of this picturesque coastline do you choose to spend your precious vacation hours exploring? 

Continue to 2 of 8 below.

02 of 08

Whitsundays: What to Know

Daniel Osterkamp/Getty Image

Where is it? The Whitsundays isn’t actually one destination; instead, it’s a cluster of 74 islands of different shapes and sizes, dotted off the Queensland coast. Airlie Beach is the launching pad to the Whitsundays and is a 300km drive south of Townsville. You can fly here directly to the local airport, Proserpine, from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, or via connecting flights from other parts of Australia. Alternatively, if you’re really keen for a road trip, it’s about 1,100km north of Brisbane.

How to get there: You can save yourself a bit of time and fuel by flying direct from major Australian cities to Proserpine (via Virgin Blue or Jetstar), which is just a hop, skip and a shuttle to Airlie Beach.

Accommodation options: From budget backpackers to ritzy resorts and cosy campgrounds, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to accommodation. It’s about deciding what kind of holiday you want: romance, adventure, relaxation, fun, cheap, once-in-a-lifetime. It’s all here.

Continue to 3 of 8 below.

03 of 08

Whitsundays: What to Do

Danita Delimont/Getty Images

While most of the activities in the Whitsundays involve getting wet or at least being out on the water, there are adventurous options that’ll keep you dry (well, mostly).

The Whitsunday Crocodile Safari will get you up-close and personal with the snappy reptiles along with native and migratory birds and a host of fresh water marine animals that call the Proserpine River home.

You can show off your driving skills behind the wheel of a mini 4WD at Wings Adventure Park (this one could end up with you covered in mud).

Ever wondered if a koala is as cuddly as it seems? Spend the day at Bredl’s Wild Farm and you’re bound to get a snuggle. This is a terrific one for the kids – they only allow 20 people per day, which gives you close contact with both the animals and staff.

A fun way to see the best of Airlie Beach can be on top of two wheels as part of a variety of Segway tours, one even comes with afternoon Tapas.

To really emerge yourself in the Whitsundays and leave your stress at home, take a look at stunning Hamilton Island. It also has a domestic airport with direct flights from major cities along the east coast.

The accommodation options will astound you: palm bungalows, holiday homes, villas and private hideaways! There is even a ‘Baby’s First Holiday’ option complete with packages offering ‘mum alone time’, ‘dad alone time’, ‘family time’ and ‘mum and dad couple time’. I can hear you asking: “Where do I sign up?”

Hamilton Island is a perfect getaway for those wanting some time out from their busy schedules. This is likely why the busiest woman in show business, Taylor Swift, opted for Hamilton Island as her location of choice to celebrate her birthday – and give her band and crew some recharge time – during her tour of Australia in 2015.

If an island getaway is on your bucket list, you can also look at stay options on nearby Daydream Island, Hayman Island and Palm Bay Long Island.

While you can’t stay there, we would be remiss not to mention the spectacular Heart Island. It’s the brilliant little heart-shaped dot in the Great Barrier Reef that you see all over the world on postcards, tourism ads and could be the perfect way to pop the question…

Continue to 4 of 8 below.

04 of 08

Whitsundays: Best Activity

Robert Francis / robertharding/Getty Images

Visiting Whitehaven Beach. To put yourself in the picture of Australia’s most photographed beach, the Whitsundays will need to be top of the list. Or more specifically, Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island.

Voted the Best Beach in Australia (2015 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards) and regularly rated amongst the world’s best, Whitehaven Beach is basically Mother Nature showing off. The idyllic combination of the most pure white sand you’ve ever squished between your toes and turquoise shaded flat water will assure you you’re on holidays.

It is the perfect beach, especially if you’re a ‘sandphob’. The sand is super fine, with a high amount of silica so it doesn’t get hot and isn’t as prone to sticking in places you’d rather it didn’t.

Then, when you’re ready to swap five stars for a million stars, book a national park campsite for a night of twinkling wonder.

Just remember: photos are all you can take away with you. Whitehaven Beach has a World Heritage Listing which means it’s illegal to take any sand. So, snap away and print a pic when you get home to remember your magical day.

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05 of 08

Port Douglas: What to Know

Stoneography/Getty Images

Where is it? When it comes to North Queensland, Port Douglas is about as far north as tourists will venture. Situated around 70km north of Cairns, which is around a two-hour flight north of Brisbane, this beach resort town is nestled between the infamous Great Barrier Reef and Daintree National Park. You’ll really feel like you’ve landed on another, visually spectacular planet.

How to get there: You’ll need to fly to Cairns from one of the major cities on the east coast (there are also semi-regular services from Darwin and remote areas). From Cairns, Port Douglas is just a 40-minute scenic drive. If you feel like taking the scenic route, for keen road-trippers it’s a 1,700km journey – a little over 1,000 miles – from Brisbane.

Accommodation options: Although Port Douglas is known for its luxury beachside resorts, you’ll also find a range of budget stays, along with holiday rentals that are ideal for families or group getaways. 

Continue to 6 of 8 below.

06 of 08

Port Douglas: What to Do

Andrew Watson/Getty Images

When it comes to the best the great outdoors has to offer, you’re spoiled for choice in Port Douglas. You can start the day watching the sun rise over the Coral Sea and then carry on exploring the coastline, which stretches on for more than 200km.

If you don’t feel like heading to the beach just yet, head west for a rainforest tour. The World Heritage Listed Daintree National Park is close enough for a day trip, but it’s also worth spending a night or two here if you can afford the time.

The best way to see all it’s glory – complete with 800 different rainforest trees, flowering plants, animals, waterfalls and rugged mountains – is by hopping on board the Kuranda Scenic Railway.

Of course, if you don’t want to do much exploring at all, that’s perfectly fine as well! Port Douglas is world renowned for its beautiful beach resorts, which are so luxurious and well appointed, you really don’t have to leave after checking in (and checking out from day-to-day life!).

Port Douglas is also a popular jumping-off point for tours to the Great Barrier Reef, which depart from the iconic Reef Marina.

Continue to 7 of 8 below.

07 of 08

Port Douglas: Best Activity

PETER HARRISON/Getty Images

Spending a day exploring the Great Barrier Reef while you’re so close to this incredible natural wonder. It may seem to be stating the obvious, but you could leave kicking yourself if you don’t dedicate at least one day to knocking this beauty off your Bucket List.

You won’t believe how, just metres from your comfy bed, an ocean bed is quite literally teeming with thousands of different types of marine life and the most breathtaking coral and plant life on the planet.

You’ll want to consider your ability and confidence in the water before deciding on just how you’ll take in this natural wonder of the world. You can choose from scuba diving or snorkelling, day trips or extended luxury cruises, with activities and adventures to suit all fitness and skill levels.

For tangible memories you can reflect on when you return home, it may be worth investing in an underwater camera, as this World Heritage Site needs to be left untouched ­– so there will be no opportunities to pop a piece of coral in your beach bag to take home with you!

Continue to 8 of 8 below.

08 of 08

Which is best: Whitsundays or Port Douglas?

Naphakm/Getty Images

After singing the praises of both of these beautiful locations, it’s difficult to decide which one reigns supreme. It’s a little like trying to choose your favourite child!

Both locations have so much going for them, but when it comes to selecting the all-round great North Queensland holiday that will generate memories last a lifetime, Port Douglas really does have it all. It’s not just a resort town; it’s also the gateway to the incredible Great Barrier Reef. And how many cities do you know of that are sandwiched between two World Heritage Listed, breathtakingly beautiful natural wonders?

Make sure you plan to spend at least five days in this sensational part of Australia, so you have the opportunity to properly ‘meet’ the reef and explore the local villages. Whether you’re planning a romantic holiday, a family vacation, a solo adventure or a trip with friends, you’re sure to create lifelong memories in spectacular Port Douglas!

One final piece of advice: When planning to travel to tropical North Queensland, be sure to consider stinger season. From November to May every year, jellyfish are prevalent in water off the mainland and around the islands. The irukandji jellyfish in particular can be quite deadly, so make sure you read up on ways to protect yourself if you are booking travel during these months.

#travel #airlinetickets #airtickets #cheapairfare #planetickets #travelinsurance #travelquotes #travelblogger #traveller #travelling #travelocity #travelodge #vacation

[cubansandwichfestival]

Jolie:  What is your background, and where were you raised? Luis Laracuente: I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  At the age of 12 my parents moved my sister and I to Lutz, FL., at a time when North Dale Mabry was still a two-lane road.  I graduated High School from Sickles and went on to study Political Science at the University of South Florida- Tampa Campus.  I currently work for the Hillsborough County Republican Party.

Jolie:  Take us back to the days leading up to September 20th, 2017; as Hurricane Maria made its way toward the Island of Puerto Rico.  – how did you feel, and what went through your mind during those hours when the storm was ravaging the island? Luis Laracuente: It was a mix of feelings because Irma had missed just a few weeks prior so there were still hopes that Maria would do the same.  I remember speaking with my parents (who live in Puerto Rico) a few days leading up to Maria and my mom saying your dad is worried. Now, my dad never gets worried or at least hides it well. So, that’s when I knew this was serious. It’s important to note that for Puerto Ricans hurricanes were a normal occurrence. You grow up being told that houses and buildings in Puerto Rico can withstand any storm because of the way they are built. Though, that was the believe until Maria hit. As soon as it made land fall hotels, homes, bridges, roads, etc. were being torn apart. News reports were coming out that rivers were over flowing, and towns were being flooded. What I felt was nothing compared to what every single Puerto Rican was feeling that day. I was worried sure, but they were horrified. I went home this past holiday season and what I saw did not look anything like what I had seen just 5 months prior.

Jolie:  Tell us about September 29th, 2017 for you…. Were you able to reach your family?

Luis Laracuente:  I was able to reach my family the day of the hurricane. For some reason my mom’s phone was able to receive phone calls for a few hours after Maria. After those first few hours passed, all communication stopped for about two weeks. Thankfully, most of my family living in Puerto Rico (aunt, uncle, grandparents and parents) were all staying at my parent’s house. So, we knew that if one was safe, all were safe.

Jolie:  How did you get involved in relief efforts in Tampa?

Luis Laracuente:  After those first few hours, losing communication with my family and watching the destruction as some pictures were coming out I picked up the phone and called the one person I knew would know what to do, Colonel EJ Otero.

Jolie:  Tell us about the Tampa team, the people and organizations behind the efforts;

Luis Laracuente:  I know it was a big team of people that jumped in immediately to help; who would you say played a major part in the relief efforts.   The team became a family! We truly did. It was something I had never experienced before. People from all walks of life came together for one mission, to help Puerto Rico. The amazing thing about it was that every person that came into the team came with a specific set of skills that proved essential to the team. Course Of Action PR, All American Music Productions and Homeland Intelligence Technologies took the lead but these organizations were comprised of experienced leaders like, Air Force Retired Colonel EJ Otero, Army Retired Colonel Bill Oliva, Army Master Sergeant Walter Gonzalez, Air Force Tech Sergeant Kelvin Valle, Brenda Irizarry, Richard Trella, Arlene Oliva, Liza Fleming, Edwin Santana, Antonio Soler, Linda Perez, Marisol Garcia, Jose Daniel Garcia, Don Edwin Irizarry, Doña Isabel Cancel, Luis Adorno, Deborah Tamargo, Mariann Persad were among many, many more.

 Jolie: What role did you play in these efforts?  

Luis Laracuente:  My role was minimal compared to those of Colonels Otero & Oliva but being involved in politics I tried to gather as much assistance from elected officials here in Tampa. Several of the current PRFFA staffers are colleagues of mine so the first phone call I made after speaking with Colonel Otero was to those working for the government of Puerto Rico in Orlando and Washington D.C. In addition, I helped with parking (which in my opinion was the most fun) and packing as everyone else on the team did. What was truly special about this team was that every single one of us did the hard work.

Jolie: What obstacles did you encounter, and how were you able to overcome them?

Luis Laracuente:  There were many as could be expected of an operation that was never expected to reach the level of complexity that it did. But teamwork and the leadership of our leaders is what proved to be the golden key to our success.

Jolie: Have you visited Puerto Rico since the Hurricane? 

Luis Laracuente:  Yes, I went home for Christmas and what I saw was a different Puerto Rico. Though, trees have begun to flourish again, and some rebuilding has taken effect there is still a level of uncertainty among the people. Hundreds of thousands of people are still without power, light posts are still hanging over roads and long lines are still a normalcy.

Jolie: What message do you want to send to those people that still want to continue to help Puerto Rico – what can they do? Luis Laracuente:  To please continue helping. Not necessarily monetarily but by posting if they hear of job openings. In my own opinion the only way to prosper is to work. So that is what Puerto Ricans need the most now. Mind you many of those moving to the states are college educated so they are qualified professionals that can impact the economy here in Florida positively.

Jolie: What’s next for Puerto Rico?

Luis Laracuente:  Government of Puerto Rico needs to put an end to bureaucratic and political games. During the first few days after the hurricane everyone came together with optimism. Hoping for a stronger Puerto Rico. Therefore, it is time to make that a reality. The governor needs to focus solely on improving Puerto Rico.

Luis Laracuente part of Tampa’s COA Puerto Rico Relief! Jolie:  What is your background, and where were you raised? Luis Laracuente: I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  

[thesnhuup]

2017: Our Best Year Yet

2017 was an incredible year at SNHU. Maybe our best yet. I am grateful for many things, but as we head into the holiday season, I wanted to take a few minutes to share some highlights from the year.

  1. Our Students

Always, always, we start with our students. As we say in our Mission Statement, our success is measured by our students’ success. In 2017, more than 16,000 students earned their degree from SNHU, many of whom are military-affiliated, working parents, traditional-age learners, and first-generation college students. I always say a good day is when I get to interact with students on campus, or on the road. Here are some of my favorite student stories of the year:

Our oldest graduate, 94-year-old Amy Craton, completed her bachelor’s degree with a 4.0 GPA and is now going on to get her master’s degree.

Melissa Gillespie, a military spouse and mother of three, earned her nursing degree online after 17-years of constant relocation.

FC Dallas forward Tesho Akindele became the first MLS player to earn a degree from SNHU, as part of a partnership between the League and the University that helps professional athletes earn their degrees while juggling rigorous training and travel schedules.

Megan Lewis-Taylor, a Coast Guard veteran who was one of the first responders to the Boston Marathon bombing and Hurricane Sandy, came to SNHU when Daniel Webster College closed. Now, Megan has found a home at SNHU on the field hockey team and at our new College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics where she is pursuing a dual degree in mechanical and aeronautical engineering.

    2. Giving Back to Our Community

Giving back is deeply ingrained in our culture at SNHU. This year, we donated to more than 20 local nonprofit organizations, including Families in Transition, City Year New Hampshire, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

We also celebrated our 2nd annual Global Days of Service, a month-long community service event, where alumni, students, faculty, and staff come together across the globe to strengthen our communities. In 2017, more than 800 SNHU community members volunteered 4,592 hours in New Hampshire and around the world to help out local schools, clean up our state parks, and tend to gardens for our local food bank. Our students volunteered an additional 16,000 hours in the greater Manchester community and across the country.

Together with our great partners, the Boston Celtics and the New England Patriots, we donated four new technology labs to local elementary and middle schools to help students gain access to the technology they need to be successful. And through our partnership with Major League Soccer, we unveiled three new soccer pitches around the country for communities in need. I am most looking forward to opening a mini-pitch right here in Manchester in 2018.

    3. Our Employees

This year, SNHU was recognized as a Great College to Work For by The Chronicle of Higher Education for the tenth consecutive year. I was most inspired by the feedback our staff and faculty provided in the survey; based on the top three responses, our employees feel supported by their colleagues and embraced for who they are as individuals, understand how their job contributes to the University’s mission, and believe SNHU actively contributes to the community in a positive way. I’m particularly proud of these responses, all focused on inclusion, mission, and service; our sense of community and culture is unlike any other in higher ed.

Each year, our staff and faculty also come together to host the SNHU United Way Campaign. This year, we raised more than $100,000 for the Granite State United Way. It gives me a great sense of pride to work with all of you to help students succeed; together, we are helping to make a difference in the lives of thousands of students and, in turn, the lives of their families and their communities.

    4. Innovation and Excellence

For the third consecutive year, SNHU was named the #1 Most Innovative University in the north by U.S. News & World Report and named one of the nation’s top 12 Most Innovative Colleges for Adult Learners by Washington Monthly. The University was also recognized as a 2017 digital learning innovator by the Online Learning Consortium for advancing undergraduate student success through the adoption of digital courseware. Thank you to the entire SNHU community for continuing to challenge the status quo to help more students achieve their dreams of earning a college degree.

  5. Growing STEM

In 2017, SNHU made great strides in expanding our commitment to STEM. We launched our new College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics (CETA), with the goal of expanding access to STEM education for underrepresented populations in higher education. More than 175 students are currently enrolled, and plans for a new CETA facility are already underway. Our team has also been working hard to expand and improve our online STEM programs, which currently serve more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

This year, our students also participated in numerous events that encourage women and young girls to pursue STEM fields; a group of our online students attended the Grace Hopper Celebration, an annual conference that celebrates women in technology, and students hosted the “I Hate Math” Conference on campus, which is an event designed to inspire, encourage, and challenge girls to achieve their academic and personal goals.

  6. Supporting Military Students

SNHU has a long history of working with service members and veterans to help them continue their education dating as far back as World War II. This year, we doubled down on that effort once again by expanding our military discounts to include all members of the U.S. Reserve and National Guard. Now with more than 15,000 military-affiliated students and a dedicated team of military advisors, SNHU continues to work with military organizations to help our servicemen and women achieve their educational goals and help them transition to civilian life.

  This year we partnered with Operation Homefront again to host four “Homefront Celebrations” to honor military spouses and awarded four full-tuition scholarships to spouses wishing to continue their education. We also hosted a hiring fair for veterans with the Boston Celtics, donated more than $190,000 to the USO in partnership with MLS as part of Operation: Back of the Net, and hosted the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall on our campus this October.

  7. Expanding Access Across the World

One of the initiatives in 2017 of which I am most proud is our expanded work with refugees at home and abroad. We’ve been in the Kiziba Refugee Camp since 2013 helping Congolese refugees earn their college degrees. Now, with $10m of funding secured this year, we plan to expand the work we are doing in Rwanda to four other locations, phase one of a more ambitious multi-year goal of educating tens of thousands of refugees worldwide. The need is enormous, and we’re excited to continue this important work.

We also recently opened a new center in our own backyard to help local immigrant and refugee populations gain access to education and support services in the greater Manchester area. Programming at the SNHU Center for New Americans at YWCA NH will begin in early 2018, and our hope is that it will give new Americans the tools to thrive in the Granite State.

  8. Penmen Athletics 

We’ve had another great year for athletics; our men’s tennis and women’s soccer teams both conquered the Northeast-10 Championships, five of our teams participated in the NCAA Tournaments, 4 student-athletes were named All-Americans, and 4 players and 3 coaches were honored as NE10 Players/Coaches of the Year.

    The Penmen also participated in numerous community service endeavors this year, including a special project led by our soccer teams who stuffed more than 250 “Joy Jars” with MLS star Kelyn Rowe to deliver to pediatric cancer patients in the region. Our student-athletes truly do great work every day, on and off the field, and I could not be more proud.

  9. Cutting Ribbons On-Campus

Here at SNHU, we have been committed to reinvesting in our campus to provide a first-class academic experience for students. Over the past year, we’ve opened three new buildings, including a facility that houses our new College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics (CETA); campus’ newest residence hall, Monadnock Hall; and the Gustafson Center, which houses our admission, career, and alumni offices, designed to get students thinking about life after college from their very first encounter at SNHU. This coming spring, we’ll also be unveiling our new athletics complex, Penmen Stadium, and I hope to see you all there, cheering on the Penmen!

  10. The SNHU Community

I have a lot for which to be grateful, but getting to do this work with a talented and fun group of colleagues is right at the top of my list. If you haven’t seen our new commercial, you might take a look. It’s a nice reminder of how lucky we are to do what we do each day. Thank you for all you do for our students.

http://ift.tt/2zczr09 from President's Corner http://ift.tt/2zcjmYq via IFTTT

[allenmendezsr]

Photography Jobs Online 2019 | Get Paid To Take Photos!

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Around the (Beatles) Universe

While Liverpool has a huge, and seemingly ever-growing, number of Beatles sights, locations, venues and attractions, the band’s huge significance around the world means a number of lesser-known tributes to the Fab Four have popped up in some unlikely locations.

We’ve shared 17 (seventeen!) of them in our buzzfeed-style post below. Our thanks to Atlas Obscura for originally sharing some of these with us and inspiring this post. 

1. Strawberry Fields, New York City (USA) We start with probably the best-known tribute outside of the UK. Built some five years after Lennon’s death outside of his apartment building round the corner, the mosaic features the word “Imagine” and has become a world-wide symbol of peace.  The site is “overseen” by super-fan Gary dos Santos who began visiting the site in the 1990s and was told by John Lennon to maintain the site... this discussion took place in his dreams. Photo: Corey Seeman (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, Flickr)

2. Beatles-Plaz, Hamburg (Germany) Sent to the North German city by their manager in 1960, the band who would become the Fab Four cut their teeth playing epic live sets at a range of bars, clubs and theatres. Fast-forward to 2006 and the City has renamed a square in honour of the Beatles and unveiled a memorial featuring the band members and some of their most famous songs. According to Wikipedia, the initial engravings had some spelling mistakes at launch, but these have since been corrected. Photo: Heide Daniel  (CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia) 

3. Walnut Ridge, Arkansas (USA)  This small town celebrates one of the most famous stop-overs in history when the Beatles changed planes here in 1964. After a successful concert in Dallas, Texas, the Beatles arrived in the dead of night and went largely unnoticed. Spending the weekend in Misouri, the Fab Four had no idea that their return to Walnut Ridge chaos would ensue and they had to change planes again, only this time they were surrounded by 300 screaming teenagers. The event has been the subject of a documentary and the focus of an annual music festival. Furthermore, the city has unveiled, not one but two, Beatles themed monuments and renamed a city-centre street, Abbey Road. Photo: Thomas R. Machnitzkil (CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia)  

4. Lennon Wall, Prague (Czech Republic)  Like the recent tributes to Bowie in Brixton, Lennon’s Wall spontaneously sprang up in the aftermath of his death in 1980. Sitting opposite the French embassy, local authorities have tried in vain to paint over the graffiti which in 1988 often took a political tone and enabled the youth to vent their frustrations at the communist regime. This also inspired a wall in Hong Kong in 2014 (see below). The wall today is resplendent and colourful and changes regularly with new graffiti on a regular basis celebrating global ideals such as love and peace. Photo: Infrogmation (CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia)   

5. Lennon Wall, Hong Kong (China)  Inspired by how the Lennon Wall in Prague enabled the youth to share their displeasure at the political regime, pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong set up a similar wall only rather than graffiti, it was with post-it notes that political points were made. Photo: Ceeseven (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia)    

6. Imagine Peace Tower, Reykjavík (Iceland) An outdoor work of art conceived by Yoko Ono in memory of John Lennon featuring a single beam of light shining into the sky. It is situated on Viðey Island in Reykjavík, Iceland and was unveiled on October 9th 2007, John Lennon’s 67th birthday. Find out more at their website. Photo: TetsuRo Hamada (CC BY-ND 2.0, Flickr)     

7. Beatles Statue, Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) Even in one of the world’s most remote capitals, there’s a Beatles tribute… The monument features bronze statues of the band in front of an apple shaped wall. Behind the wall, there’s a statue of a young man strutting a guitar representing the 1970s when groups of teenagers would gather to sing Beatles songs learnt from bootleg records smuggled here from Eastern Europe. Photo: Whatleydude (CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia)  

8. Beatles Museum/The Cavern, Buenos Aires (Argentina)  We’re not talking about our favourite music attraction, the Beatles Story in Liverpool, but rather a museum in Buenos Aires opened by Collector Rodolfo Vazquez who shares his world record breaking 8,500 strong collection of Beatles memorabilia with the world. His favourite? 64 boxes of chewing gum in the form of miniature albums which allude to the 16 Beatles records. For good measure he’s also opened a nightclub called The Cavern next door. Photo: Wally Gobetz (CC BY 2.0, Flickr)  

9. The Cathedral Gallery, Rishikesh (India)  The Ashram of The Maharishi Mahesh where the Beatles came to learn about transcendental meditation in the late 1960s. Today a ruin in the middle of the jungle, a bribe to local guides will show you the way to the site which was taken over by a community of artists for two weeks in 2012. Adorning the walls are murals, graffiti and other artworks. We feel the Beatles would probably have approved. Find out more about the project on Facebook. Photo: Thoralf Gutierrez (CC BY 2.0, Flickr)

10. John Lennon statue, Almeria (Spain) Lennon is said to have composed ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ while staying in the area for the shooting of Richard Lester’s comedy film, How I Won The War. Inspired by the wrought iron gates of the villa where he was staying which reminded him of similar gates outside Strawberry Fields in Liverpool, he is said to have complete the song in the home’s bathroom. The villa has since been abandoned but still attracts thousands of curious Beatles’ tourists every year. The city have, however, unveiled a statue of Lennon.  Photo: Faber (CC BY 2.0, Flickr)

11. John Lennon Park, Havana (Cuba) Despite the music of the Beatles being banned by the Communist regime, the people of Cuba listened and loved their music thanks to bootleg tapes. 20 years after his death, Fidel Castro changed his mind and unveiled this statue and park for the singer, celebrating the musician as a hero and a fellow revolutionary. Photo: Terry Feuerborn (CC BY-NC 2.0, Flickr)

12. John Lennon statue, San Miguel, Lima (Peru) This statue was unveiled by the local mayor (who also happens to be a massive Beatles fan) and it is South America’s only permanent tribute to John Lennon and the Fab Four. Photo: I Heart Pandas (CC BY-NC 2.0, Flickr)

13. John Lennon Memorial Garden, Durness (Scotland) The location in a remote part of Scotland (the village is the most north-westerly place on mainland Britain) seems an odd place for a tribute, but a young John Lennon came on holiday here as a child visiting his family and there are still many locals who remember him. A garden next to the village hall featuring quotes from the man offers a touching and humble tribute to Lennon.  Photo: Ivan Hall (CC BY-SA 2.0,  Geograph.co.uk)

14. David Adickes’ Beatles Statues, Houston, Texas (USA) Standing 36 foot tall and weighing four tonnes each, these statues by artist (and friend of Picasso) David Adickes’ are currently sat in the car park of Houston brewery The Eighth Wonder until they find a new owner willing to stump up $350,00 for the concrete and wire statues.  Photo: JaseMan (CC BY 2.0, Flickr)

15. Beatles Tribute, Yekaterinburg (Russia) A wall sculpture dedicated to the Fab Four in central Russia pays testament to the band’s enduring influence on Russians who illegally listened to the band. Photo: Yashmenev (CC BY 2.0, Flickr)

16. Rock ‘n Roll McDonalds, Chicago (USA) Featuring a mini-museum to rock music, this McDonalds absolutely has no qualms about featuring prominent vegetarian and animal rights activist Paul McCartney to sell burgers. It must work though as Wikipedia claims that this outlet was once the busiest McDonalds in the world. Photo: Antonio Vernon (CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia)

17. Beatles’ Statues in Alamaty (Kazakstan) Created by artist Eduard Kazaryan, these cartoonish statues were unveiled in 2007. Photo: Ken and Nyetta (CC BY 2.0, Flickr)