#id rather go to china town and actually look around

[dog-girl-zezora]

//

[dispatchesfrom2020]

2020

What stories was I sleeping on?

So, what stories did I definitely miss before this project? Well, Atlantic Hurricanes and the Belarussian protests, for sure. Here are some of the other news I skipped out on during the year - or my recaps.

Ben Curtis/AP

1. Locusts Swarm 

An unusually wet 2019 led to swampy conditions across the Horn of Africa and western Asia - giving rise to a nearly biblical swarm of locusts. There are photographs where they literally seem to black-out the sun. The culprit? Climate change. The warming waters of the Indian ocean led to stormier weather - essentially more and bigger cyclones. It’s the worst outbreak of the crop-devouring pests in a quarter-century and it threatens food security across the region. The pandemic grinds international trade to a stop - obstructing many countries efforts to buy pesticides, equipment or bring in expert help to curb the infestation. Throughout the year, these swarms ballooned in size, stretching deep into Asia and across the Pacific ocean to Argentina and Brazil. An estimated 20 million people could face hunger and starvation and the UN’s World Food Program estimates that recovery could cost upwards of $9b USD in Africa alone.

Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

2. The Tigray War

For three decades the Tigray people held the balance of political and economic power in the country, tightly controlled through the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), a Tigray nationalist party. In 2018 the Ethiopian election People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, led by Oromo Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, won control of the country’s government.

Animosities boiled over when the Tigray province persisted with the 2020 election, despite government orders to postpone voting until 2021 due to the coronavirus. Prime Minister Abiy cut off funding to Tigray, incising local leadership. In November 2020, youth militias affiliated with the TPLF killed six hundred villagers in the border town of Mai Kadra - and allegedly attacked Ethiopian military bases. 

The government responded by shelling the Tigray capital of Mekelle. Ethiopia’s armed forces quickly took control of the city and surrounding towns, with the militias retreating into the mountains where skirmishes have continued. 

With Tigrayan people facing violent retaliation - they have faced furloughs from jobs, had bank accounts suspended, faced arbitrary raids on their homes, and been refused permission to board airplanes or travel overseas. Many have faced direct violence, especially from non-Tigray militias.

The conflict has seen incursions from Eritrean forces. Abiy was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his work mending the relationship with Ethiopia’s former colony-turned-neighbour. They share a common enemy now - Tigray. Eritrean forces slaughtered church-goers at a religious festival in early December, killing children and elders indiscriminately. These shadow forces of Fano militias and Eritrean soldiers have committed war crimes - including extrajudicial killings and rape. They even looted the church that allegedly houses the Ark of the Covenant.

The Tigrayan refugees have only one option: Sudan. One journalist writes: “Several [Tigrayan refugees] told me that they saw dozens of bodies along the route as they fled their shops, homes and farms and took to the long road to the border... in stifling heat.”

The New York Times series on Tigray was helpful in understanding more about the conflict and its historical and ethnic contexts. But I have to say - I feel unclear about what comes next. Will guerilla warfare between the Tigray militias and Eritrean-Ethiopian forces continue? Will the country face international consequences for their move towards genocide? I guess 2021 will decide.

A SolarWinds banner hangs outside the New York Stock Exchange on the company’s IPO day in 2018 - Brendan McDermid/Reuters

3. The SolarWinds hack

I chose to write about icebergs rather than this story for a reason. I wholly do NOT understand cyber security. Like, at all. My eyes glaze over when somebody tries to explain Wikileaks to me. I tried. I really did - I read like three articles trying to parse the details and make sense of anything and here’s what I got:

Hackers - almost certainly Russian - got into the US government secure networks. For a lot of departments. For months. It’s really, really bad. The government has a pretty blasé response to the disaster. Trump blames China. Agencies are turning directly to Microsoft for answers rather than their own cyber security people. It’s a blazing hot mess.

I’m going to continue to not understand this one, sorry.

Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters

4. Civil Rights in 2020

The expansion of civil rights in Central/South America, with the legalization of abortion in Argentina in December and the introduction of gay marriage in Costa Rica in May, gave us something to celebrate in 2020. These new rights are the result of years - and decades - of organizing by activists in these two countries. 

Costa Rica is the sixth Latin-American country to legalize gay marriage. Argentina joins a short list of places in Latin America where abortion is fully legal - just Cuba, Guyana, Uruguay, and two Mexican states.

Some couples rushed to wed on the stroke of midnight - magistrates stayed up late into the night to marry couples. Marcos Castillo (L) and Rodrigo Campos (R) waited until the following morning - and celebrated with a masked kiss after their ceremony. 

Other notable moments in civil rights? New Zealand officially revoked their antiquated anti-abortion laws (which they’d been effectively ignoring for years anyway), Bhutan decriminalized homosexuality, Switzerland passed legislation that will allow people to change the gender on their government IDs, and Croatia struck down laws forbidding gay couples from fostering children. Albania banned gay conversion therapy - as did the Yukon, actually - and Barbados made discrimination on the basis of sexuality illegal.

Nicky Kuautonga/The Guardian

5. Oceania crushed the pandemic

Virtually all of the countries reported to be COVID-free during 2020 were Oceanic nations and island territories. Turkmenistan says they didn’t have any cases but they’re lyin’. -Tuvalu Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Palau all ended the year with no cases, while Samoa and the Solomon Islands reported a few isolated cases in quarantine facilities as they re-opened the border to repatriate their citizens abroad. 

Some combination of strict travel restrictions, new hygiene rules, curfews, and early lockdowns kept most of these countries relatively untouched. While New Zealand and Australia experienced several flare-ups throughout the year, their targeted lockdowns helped eradicate community spread quickly each time, returning them to schools, workplaces and boozy brunches quickly.

Honourable mentions to Vietnam and Thailand - with 100 million and 70 million citizens apiece both have charted under 100 deaths to COVID - and Taiwan with only nine casualties.

Gulalay Amiri, a pomegranate farmer, surveys his slim haul. Fighting as worsened in many parts of Afghanistan after the United States announced they would withdraw from the country in 2021 - Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

6. War in Afghanistan

In March the United States signed a peace-deal with the Taliban, promising to withdraw troops by May of 2021. The War in Afghanistan has lasted 19 years - the longest war in American history and the majority of my lifetime.

I don’t know how to feel about it.

During peace talks the Taliban refused to commit to recognizing the country’s elected government, disavowing Al-Qaeda or protecting women’s rights. They support limited education for girls - only up to the sixth grade.

I listened to a few podcasts by the Daily on the ground in Afghanistan with the current government’s security forces. Many of the young soldiers they interviewed were so young they’d never lived in a country governed by the Taliban - and they fiercely oppose the idea. It also appears that the Afghan government were often excluded from peace talks, finding out details of the American meetings with the Taliban through international news reports and Taliban statements on social media. 

Since the Taliban’s deal with the United States, Taliban bombings and attacks have continued, targeting both security forces and civilians. The Afghan government has pointed the finger at the Taliban for mass shooting at a maternity ward in Kabul that killed 24 women and infants. “They came for the mothers”, said horrified eyewitnesses.

For almost two decades, the western world has supported the ‘new’ Afghanistan - but it feels very fragile. Will a withdrawal lead those people that assisted coalition forces vulnerable to retaliation? It feels likely. The fighting between the Taliban and the Afghan government has been fierce - and come with high civilian casualties. The year is punctuated, nearly monthly, with news of new attacks in Afghanistan.

It reminds me of the end of the Vietnam war. America withdrew and two years later the south was retaken by the North. In the final days of the Vietnam war the United States evacuated around 150,000 civilians who had worked with American on the ground. Nearly a million others left the country by boat, seeking asylum at refugee camps in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people who had collaborated with the US-backed South were sent to re-education camps where they were sometimes tortured or starved. Is this what Afghanistan will look like? 

There’s no 'good’ solution - and for now the future of the war in Afgahnistan feels very opaque. I think I under-reported stories in the region as a result - it feels too complex to boil down into daily recaps.

Bobi Wine, 38, was detained by police for allegedly breaking COVID-19 restrictions while campaigning in Uganda’s upcoming presidential election - Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters

8. Ugandan election protests

Western media doesn’t seem to place a lot of importance on reporting in Africa - but what little attention they had for the continent focused on the anti-SARS protests in Nigeria throughout the fall. The attention on police violence in America raised the profile of these demonstrations - and the brutality of the government’s response, shooting at dozens of peaceful marchers gathered at the Lekki toll bridge.

But they were far from the only protests in Africa.

As Uganda prepared for an election early in 2021, the government forcefully cracked down on youthful dissidents - like presidential hopefuls Bobi Wine and Patrick Amuriat who were detained by police during the final campaign pushes in November. 

Wine, a young musician, has been arrested numerous times since he announced his candidacy. One occasion police beat Wine so badly he temporarily lost his vision - they also killed his driver. They raided his offices, confiscating election materials, and arrested supporters. His bodyguard will later be killed after being struck by a military truck while helping an injured reporter escape tear-gas during December protests.

Police record 56 casualties as they violently put down the large-scale protests - though human rights group have suggested the real number could be dramatically higher. 

Ariana Quesada holds a photo of her father, Benito. He died after an outbreak at the Cargill meat-packing plant where he worked. She filed a complaint with the RCMP, asking them to investigate conditions at the plant - Justin Pennell/CBC

9. Meat packing plants become coronavirus hotspots

Meat processing plants become super-spreaders - these often rurally-located factories see massive outbreaks across the United States and Canada. Their floors are crowded with employees working elbow-to-elbow, forced to shout over the loud din of machinery. The refrigeration - necessary for keeping the meat unspoiled - may allow the virus to live longer in the air.

By September of 2020, nearly 500 meat-processing plants had reported at least one case of COVID in the United States. And 203 had died. 

At a Tyson Foods factory in Waterloo, Iowa, staff allege that management placed bets on how many workers would become sick - and die. Supervisors began avoiding the floor, relegating their responsibilities to untrained workers. 

The plant reluctantly closed - by the time they re-opened two weeks later over a third of their 2,800 workforce had tested positive. Five workers died - including Isidro Fernandez, whose family is leading a lawsuit against the company.

In Canada, Cargill faces a similar lawsuit after an enormous outbreak in their High River facility that resulted in three deaths - two employees and one staffer’s 71-year-old father. They were: Hiep Bui, Armando Sallegue, and Benito Quesada. The company offered a $500 “responsibility” bonus for workers who didn’t miss any shifts - and discouraged employees from reporting any flu-like symptoms. Many of the factory’s workers are temporary foreign workers or new Canadians. 

10. The Nazca Lines

I forgot about this and am shoehorning it in now, but Peruvian archaeologists discovered another ancient line drawing in the desert outside of Lima - this time in the shape of a kitty cat.

Of all the archaeology finds this year - remains at Pompeii, a mammoth graveyard in Mexico, and a wealth of sarcophagi in Egypt - this is my favourite.

[fromnibelheim]

[[MORE]]

Just had some Big Dreams gonna write it down

It started out with a boyfriend trying to convince me to talk to my ex so we could be on good terms. My ex and I had left on bad terms and there was a lot of bad blood and my new boyfriend felt bad and thought we should talk it out so we could at least not have that animosity and maybe even be friends. The way he put it was really sweet and he was so handsome and well dressed, with chocolate brown loosely curly hair and wearing a nice wool coat, good for dream me. We walked into a sporting goods store, where my ex worked I guess, and went to the elevator to the second floor. My bf was holding my hand and being really sweet and supportive bc i was nervous. We got into the elevator and it was surprisingly huge. Like the size of a room. And i noticed there was a woman at a desk in there who looked rather secretary like and I started to wonder what I was getting myself into.

When we got out of the elevator we were in this VERY fancy mid-century style office building where everything was honey-color stained hardwood and emerald green and gold and looked like it was straight out of the 1920s. I got WAY more nervous bc it was so fancy and everyone was wearing suits and I felt so out of place but my bf went right up to the counter and got a number for us to get called up to state out business or smth I guess. I was like wtf are you doing we cant do this! But he had already gotten the ticket so we sat down in some plush green velvet seats and waited. I realized I had no idea what my ex did but it was way more important than I'd thought. The man at the counter called our number and asked what our business was and I just got so nervous and didnt even know what position my ex had that I would answer him with, so I just said we were still waiting for someone. I think my mom showed up at one point. Eventually I was able to talk to the ex and he was some big hotshot but also a complete ass who acted like he didnt even remember us dating, even when I brought up specific events that happened. He had short blonde hair and just looked like a prick lmao. So we all left knowing it was resolved, maybe not in the best way but still resolved. On our way out we stopped to have tea in a cafe in the fancy office part of the building, and my mom told me that dreams were memories from all the other lives you're living right now. Not past lives, but memories of the universal. I remember she specifically said memories of the universal. Then the dream shifted.

I was in this new place I didnt recognize, lying in the floor covered in heavy ornately decorated blankets in a tiny japanese style room with a big monk sitting across from me chanting and praying to me. And I started shaking and crying bc I didnt know what was going on or why this guy would be praying TO me, and people were talking about remembering their other lives and who they really are and that I was lost and confused bc I didnt remember yet, and I figured that maybe if I could remember all the other lives I'd had and was living then my situation would make more sense, or at least id be more at peace with it.

I was given a letter that didnt really mean much to me bc I couldnt decipher it as it was mostly a series of small images. A group of young people around our age came in, attracted by the letter and all saying how surprised they were to see it and that it was safe and survived, as if it had been through some huge ordeal just to get here. They came right over to me to look at it as I'd laid it out right in front of me, and I pulled one of the blankets I had wrapped around me over the side of my face bc I didnt want them to see me upset. One of them came over and sat down by me. He had beautiful pale hands and I reached out and grabbed his hand and he hugged me tight. I didnt remember who he was but I knew he was important to me and that I had loved him before and I just felt like as long as he was there everything would be alright. After a while though that group left and I was alone in my tiny room, locked in. I remembered a spell someone had told me for finding things and I used it to summon the key to free myself and flew out the window. I jumped out and just started flying. I wasnt sure if I could but I put as much force into it as I could and was able to clumsily fly just above everyone in the little town I was in. The big monk and a couple other people chased after me but I quickly outran them. Then I just focused on flying. I think I was some type of angel or something since i actually had wings, and could feel the air gliding over them as i flew. It felt really nice and refreshing. Then there was another shift.

I ended up in this enormous indoor city, like a mega mall but it never seemed to end. It seemed to go up infinitely high too, and there like three were ornate cathedrals like St Patrick's Cathedral within a couple blocks of each other. I flew around the cathedrals and looked in and listened to the people talking, and inside they were more like luxury restaurants than churches, but anyway. I heard an old woman saying that they had reached their capacity as a race and no one grew old anymore. Because of this they stopped having children and no longer had the desire to give birth, which made sense to me but was surprising. I flew away from the cathedrals into a much more densely populated part of the indoor city which still had the structure of a mall just on a much more massive scale and was more technology advanced. It looked like they were having some kind of parade. I was trying to find someone, probably the people from before, but it was too loud and crowded.

I moved on and came across this group that was having a standoff. They looked like they were in a cyberpunk style gang or something and one of them pulled out a lasergun and was threatening innocent bystanders. I watched them from under the suspended walkway they were on and went from under to try to use magic to freeze them in place, but it wasnt strong enough. They caught onto me and started to chase me.

The rest of the dream was me running from them, dodging laser fire and trying to fly fast enough to put some distance between us. I ducked into shops, chased one of them into a shop at one point, even jumped onto the top of a giant fast moving train to get away, etc.

I tried to fool them at one point and it almost worked, but they came back and caught on. At that point I was wounded and didnt have much energy left to fight but for some reason they didnt kill me. I think we may have had one last battle or they retreated but either way I came out of it alive and finally was free of them and made it back to the group of friends I had been trying to find that entire time. Although at that point I was so hurt I couldnt even stand, let alone fly, so they all helped me along and carried me.

Not much worth noting happened in the dream after that. I got a bit better, we ended up in a really cute shop that had a secret base where you go down this ladder into the next floor down that had a really cute cozy circle bed with plushies on it and string lights that would have been a perfect place for taking insta pics, and then I wandered into a shop that was all dark stained hardwood and cases and cases of antique china and crystal glassware. I went back into the first shop and then woke up.

[fraudulence-paradox]

02/18/2021

The best, worst thing happened today. I have to take this huge test; like enormously important: my preliminary exam. If I don’t pass, I’m kicked out of the whole program. Now, this shouldn’t be cause for alarm. The exam is easy, supposedly. We get two old exams to use as practice, and with a little fenagling, I got two additional exams from one of the guys in the lab, so that’s a total of 4, a total of 27 practice questions I get to look at. On the actual exam, I need to answer 2 questions from one section in particular (computer architecture), and an additional 3 from the other sections, not exceeding 2 per section. My plan at the moment is as follows:

The architecture section is easy. It’s what I’ve been studying for something like 6 years now. I’m calling those two questions a wash. I feel pretty good about them. Then, I plan to answer two questions from the linear systems theory section. This was without a doubt the hardest class I’ve taken so far in grad school, but I have two things on my side: 1.) I just took this course last semester, so it’s still relatively fresh and 2.) they always have the same three questions on the exam. They ask you to solve a linear system of equations (easy town, this is what we did in sophomore year of undergrad. Try harder); they ask you about the particular qualities of a system, which I absolutely blow at, because this requires taking a rather complex integral that I just don’t want to do; and they ask you to use state feedback to change a system’s transfer function, which sounds hard, but really isn’t. It’s pretty much a formula you just plug into the question and the answer is right there. Now from time to time, they have an oddball question on there, at least in the four exams I’ve been studying from they do, but the two aforementioned questions I said I knew how to do seem to always be there. If they aren’t, I’m fucked. Finally, there’s the stochastic processes (fancy prob stat) section. I feel… not great about this section, but there’s usually something I can struggle through and get halfway correct.

Now here’s the kicker: I only need to pass this exam. Which I think means either 60 or 70%. So, we have my two freebie questions from architecture for a cool 40%, and the two from the linear systems section for another 40% bringing me to an 80%, so I don’t need to worry too much about the stochastic processes section… I hope. There is always the possibility that they either won’t have the questions I studied for, or I’ll just completely fuck up my answers. As a result, let’s say I get maybe a 60% on the questions I’m sure of. Well, that may be passing, and furthermore, if I get a softball stoch question, that should, HOPEFULLY push me over the precipice to pass it.

But I’m sure, dear reader, you’re wondering why the best, worst thing occurred. What the heck am I rambling about a test for? Well, I’ll tell you. This exam was originally going to take place tomorrow. I needed to show up on campus at 8AM sharp (meaning I needed to wake up at six in the god damn morning) to check in for a “COVID test”—which, as it turns out is just a questionnaire where they ask, ��is your throat sore?” and take your temperature. I remember last March, when they used to ask if you’d been to China lately too. But, alas. It’s been a while since China outnumbered our COVID case rate. I digress—and when/if you pass they authorize your student ID to unlock the door to the Science and Engineering Hall (SEH).

I’ve been rather stressed about this whole song and dance. What if the nice people at the front desk of the check-in building think I look sickly? What if I run a temperature? What if traffic is bad (because god knows I’m not getting on the fucking metro to get into school, I’ll pay the $20 parking fee, thank you very much) and I’m late to check in? What if my alarm doesn’t go off, or I sleep through it? On second thought, better set a few alarms on my phone, computer, alarm clock, microwave oven, drier, any device with a clock on it. It’s best to be safe about these things. And to top it all off, the weather right now is horrendous.

In Texas, the power is fully out. The cold is so intense that the entire state of Texas has lost power. Let me repeat that. The state of Texas has lost power. The largest singularly governed body of land in the continental united states (other than Alaska maybe?) has been in a black out, its constituents literally dying of hypothermia for days now. Not that any of this affects me, but it demonstrates the sheer insanity of the polar vortex currently ripping through the country. So in addition to the whole laundry list of things freaking me out right now, I also have to worry about the time it will take to scrape all the ice off of my car, and driving on roads with little to no friction for at least 30 minutes in potentially rush-hour traffic into the city. No fucking thank you. And on top of all of that, there’s uncertainty if any of this will even happen! Like, the chance of an icy apocalypse tomorrow is only 50%! What the hell?

So all day, I’ve been stewing. Worrying about all the things I’ve said. But at the same time, I just want to get this damn test over and done with. I don’t like things looming in the future, but damn it if I don’t hate things looming in the future with an unknown end date. So I literally spent something like 10 or 12 (or probably closer to 16) hours bouncing from my bed to my desk to my bed. I tried to study at my desk, but got so freaked out the thing I was studying before was happening tomorrow that I barely got any studying done. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I threw something like 10 hours of the day totally out the window just shitting around on the internet. I was a fucking mess. But at the very least, it would all be over tomorrow, granted I survived the drive in.

But no. I received an email this evening informing me that the school would have a two-hour delay. I remember when I was small, sleeping with my pajamas inside-out, flushing ice cubes down the toilet, because these rituals were supposed to result in school-annihilating snow days like the one that was just announced. I didn’t do either the night before, but it still worked out somehow. However, a two-hour delay didn’t really mean anything. The exam could still happen! This only exacerbated my stress levels. Then, as if to say, “fuck you” right into my ear drums at a decibel level comparable to a jet takeoff, I got an email from the department saying, “we saw there’s a two-hour delay. We’re still figuring out what to do. Await further instruction.”

What the hell does that mean?? I saw the email and was slightly relieved. At least there was hope the exam would be put off. But damn, man. I stewed for a while, trying to decide what to feel, mostly feeling a strange mix of anxiety, fury and relief, all at once. Unpleasant, I must say. I could feel this warm ball of tension in my throat all day, but for those brief 15 minutes of extreme uncertainty it grew to the size of a pool cue.

Finally, I got an email officially saying it would be pushed to next week. What a relief. Sort of. On the one hand, I get another week to study for the thing. Maybe I can get as confident about the stochastic processes section as I am about the linear systems section. On the other hand, this whole day just went completely down the tubes. More so than usual. I mean, I’ve wasted some days. I have seriously wasted some days. But, Christ, today it wasn’t even a pleasant waste of time. Today was just stressful wandering around. I felt like I’d seen the face of Yog-Sothoth and was slowly losing my mind.

Anyway, that’s how today was the best, worst day I’ve experienced for a while. Total ecstasy when I realized the test was pushed, preceded by total dread when it was looming in the near future. Oh well. I’d really rather just get it over and done with. In the words of Stephen King, “Yog-Sothoth rules”.

[alicedoessurveys]

50 Questions

1. Have you ever seen an alligator in person?: yeah when I went to Australia 

2. Have you ever lent pantyhose to anyone?: pantyhose..? like tights..? yeah ive lent tights to my sister before. wtf are pantyhose?! :’)

3. Who do you think is more attractive: Your mom or your dad?: thats a weird question... idk

4. Does your doctor freak you out?: yes. not because he's freaky though, just because he's a doctor. all things medical freak me out and I don't trust doctors because my old doctor really let me down and put me in danger when he missed the signs that I had an illness

5. What kind of gum do you absolutely hate?: all gum. my sister used to terrorise me with her chewing gum when she was a teenager and I was a kid. she would chase me round the house with it or pin me to the floor and dangle it in my face

6. What does the inside of your shower look like?: like a shower.. theres black tiles on the wall and 3 shelves with mine, my parents and the foster baby’s wash stuff on 

7. What kind of dictionary do you use?: google

8. What celebrity’s hairstyle do you envy?: ariana grande

9. Are you good at ping pong?: nope

10. Does it annoy you when people’s eyebrows are a different color than hair?: not really nope

11. Has your grandma ever cussed in front of you before?: yes

12. What primary color is your Christmas tree?: green..? aren't all trees green.. 

13. Have you dated someone with some serious halitosis?: not date anyone

14. Do you like Jerry Springer?: don't have an opinion 

15. Which would you rather have as a brother: Beavis or Butthead?: I don't know who they are so neither 

16. What is the stupidest thing you’ve done to a friend’s pet?: just speak in a silly voice I guess

17. What is the second letter of the name of your street?: a

18. Is there someone in your town that looks a lot like you?: apparently yeah but ive never seen them

19. What color do you think your heart really is?: red?

20. What does your umbrella look like?: its black with purple flowers around the edge when its open.

21.Does your cell phone die frequently?: yes, its so frustrating 

22. What’s the most important thing you’ve ever broken?: idk, I guess my mom would say her phone.. we used to have a pond in the garden and I accidentally dropped her phone in it when I was younger. 

23. What is your favorite keychain?: I have a semicolon keychain that I like, and my sister went to south Africa this year and bought me back an adorable metal elephant

24. Have you ever seen a snake in the road?: nope. thats not really something that happens in England 

25. Is there a china cabinet in your house?: nope, I don't think we have any china

26. Have you ever mentally pictured your teachers having sex?: omg why would you put that image in my head gross

27. If you don’t meet your soulmate while on earth, will you meet them in heaven?: I hope so :’)

28. Have you ever been to the Kentucky Derby?: nope

29. What state has the most interesting shape?: I have no idea about American states 

30. Have you ever heard a wolf howl?: not in real life

31. What’s the best camera brand?: i don’t know, Nikon maybe? there expensive so id hope they were amazing 

32. Have you jumped on a trampoline for more than 3 hours straight?: probably when I was a kid yeah. me and my cousins would spend all day out on the trampoline at my nans house 

33. When in a race, do you usually win?: nope

34. Do you get sleepy when you ride in the car?: yeah if its a long journey 

35. Is your ring size little or big?: big, I have Chubby fingers :’)

36. Where do you go fishing at?: I haven't been fishing since I was a kid with my grandad

37. Have you ever thought about joining a nunnery/monastery?: nope

38. Do you think Bill Clinton’s face will ever be on our money?: its not on my money

39. What about George W. Bush?: I feel like this is very aimed at Americans 

40. Have you ever wanted to tap dance?: actually yeah haha bit random

41. If you could change the color of hippopotamuses would you?: can't say ive really thought about it before but nope id leave them be 

42. When someone tells you to tell them when, do you actually say “when”?: nope

43. Do you curse when you run a light?: yeah if it was accidental 

44. How many cowboy hats do you own?: one but I don't know where it is 

45. Are you scared when you walk with scissors?: no cause I'm a grown adult :’) 

46. What does your best friend want to do when they grow up?: he is grown up and I think he's doing what he wants to do. although tbh I don't really know what he does haha it confuses me 

47. Have you been in a flood?: nope

48. Have you ever worn wooden shoes?: nope

49. How is your credit rating?: idk ive never had to find out..

50. Did you enjoy this survey?: I guess.. like I said I think it was more aimed at Americans though          

[topfygad]

12 of Earth’s most remote places and communities

From eastern Greenland to northern Alaska, we explore some of the most remote places on the face of the Earth.

Whether it’s astronomical distances, inhospitable climates or extreme terrains that define these remote and hostile lands, there’s one thing they all have in common: they’re on my bucket list. That and the fact that people live there.

It’s highly unlikely I’ll actually make it to many of these far-flung realms – I certainly didn’t get to Ittoqqortoormiit on my recent trip to Greenland – but I salute the hardcore residents who carve out an existence in the most remote places and communities on Earth.

1. Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland

Ittoqqortoormiit is located on Liverpool Land, a peninsula in eastern Greenland and one of the most remote towns in the country. It was first inhabited in 1925 by 80 Inuit settlers.

Agatha Kadar/Shutterstock The colourful houses of Ittoqqortoormiit in Greenland

Today, the declining population of 452 spends its time hunting whales and polar bears for meat and trading, while presumably also deciding what colour to paint their homes.

2. Kerguelen Islands

This French Overseas Territory in the southern Indian Ocean is also known as the Desolation Islands, which gives you an idea of how remote it is: really remote.

Armand Patoir/CC BY-SA 4.0 The ‘Desolation Islands’ are some of the most remote on Earth

It is more than 3,300km away from the nearest populated location, making it one the most remote places on the planet. The population fluctuates depending on the season: around 45 in the winter rising to around 110 in the summer.

3. Pitcairn Island

The British really don’t know what to do with this island of unruly residents. With a population of just 50, it is the world’s least populous national jurisdiction.

Claude Huot/Shutterstock Pitcairn Island is one of the most remote places on Earth

This secluded island should be known for its fantastic history of mutiny or the fact that it was one of the first territories to give women the vote (in 1838 some 80 years before the rest of the UK). Unfortunately, this was all overshadowed when it was given the record for the highest number of sex offenders per capita.

4. Tristan da Cunha

Known as Tristan to its 292 residents, this island is part of the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago, lying 2,000km from the nearest inhabited land: Saint Helena, which is rather remote itself.

Yagerq/CC0 Tristan is part of the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago

Tristan is also 2,400km from the nearest continental land, South Africa. Most of Tristan’s population lives in the main settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. What a name!

5. Oymyakon, Russia

This is one of the coldest places on the planet. It has an extreme subarctic climate that on 6th February 1933 dropped to a temperature of -67.7 °C (-90 °F) making it a candidate for the Northern Pole of Cold (coldest place on Earth).

Creative Commons Oymyakon is one of the coldest places on the planet

The 500 people who live there “enjoy” days ranging from three hours in December to 21 hours in June thanks to its northerly position. Quite bluntly, this place is brutal. Only a certain type of person can live in a place like this: Russian.

6. Chang Tang, Tibet

Chang Tang is a vast high-altitude plateau stretching 1,600km across the Tibetan Plateau. The inhospitable land is inhabited by roughly half a million Changpa, but they’re hard to spot. The Changpa are a nomadic people who know all about hardship thanks to the near-Arctic climate in which they survive.

Dreamstime No one around in Chang Tang

When Swedish explorer Sven Hedin crossed Chang Tang he reported not seeing a single person for 81 days. In 2009, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre named the Tibetan Plateau as the world’s most remote place after compiling a map showing the most and least interconnected places on earth.

7. Mêdog County, China

This was the last county in China to gain road access when in December 2010 the Chinese government announced completion of a highway to Mêdog County.

HelloRF Zcool/Shutterstock Mêdog County is one of the most remote places on Earth

China is renowned for having the largest population in the world. However, Mêdog only has 12,000 residents across the whole county – a tiny number compared with the rest of the country. Until the highway opened (and by highway we mean single carriageway that’s open for nine months a year), the only access was by traversing a fairly challenging mountain range.

8. The South Pole

The South Pole is part of the only landmass on Earth where the sun is continuously up for six months and then continuously down for six months. There’s just one day and one night every year, albeit one very long day and one very long night.

Dreamstime The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

Not only that, it also gets pretty chilly as temperatures can drop as low as -73 °C (-100 °F). Being 2,835m (9,301ft) above sea level doesn’t help! 

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has been continuously occupied since its construction in 1956 – surprising, as it may well be the most remote place on Earth.

9. Easter Island

Easter Island is the one place on this list that I’ve actually visited. Located 3,512km off the Chilean coast, covering just 163.6 km2 and inhabited by 7,750 people, Easter Island is about as remote as a population of this size can get.

Atlas & Boots The moai of Easter island draw tens of thousands of visitors

The island’s mythical history and army of moai statues fascinate the 100,000 odd tourists who visit each year. With such large numbers, authorities have started putting in place mechanisms to ease the flow of visitors. With this in mind, perhaps Easter Island isn’t one of Earth’s most remote places after all.

10. Barrow, Alaska

Dreamstime An abandoned whaling boat in Barrow

Barrow is the northernmost city in the US and is famous for its lengthy polar night (yes, singular). The sun sets in November and doesn’t rise again for approximately two months – perfect for vampires. The population is 4,438 according to the 2017 US Census Bureau. Compared with some others on this list it’s practically a sprawling metropolis.

11. Longyearbyen, Svalbard

This Norwegian town doesn’t have much going for it apart from that it’s the northernmost settlement of any kind with more than 1,000 permanent residents.

Dreamstime The remote town of Longyearbyen

It’s a wonder the town is still standing considering the Germans all but destroyed it during the Second World War because of its mining heritage. It was named after the coal mining corporation’s owner, John Munro Longyear, and was known for years simply as Longyear City.

12. Point Nemo: Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility

Okay, so nobody actually lives here. They can’t. Point Nemo is the ‘oceanic pole of inaccessibility’, the place in the ocean farthest from land. It is so remote, the nearest humans are often astronauts. The International Space Station orbits the Earth at a maximum of 416km while the nearest inhabited landmass to Point Nemo is over 2,700km away.

Atlas & Boots Nothing but water

Point Nemo (‘Nemo’ being Latin for ‘no one’) can be found at 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′. Its nearest landmasses are:

Ducie Island (part of Pitcairn Island) to the north

Motu Nui (part of Easter Island) to the northeast

Maher Island, Antarctica to the south

Chatham Island in the west

Southern Chile in the east

Like I said, the middle of nowhere.

A map of Earth’s most remote places

Using maps, essays and the personal experiences of the widely travelled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer essential insight into the world we know today.

Lead Image: Dreamstime

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It is June 2019 and we plan a trip to Nepal. A trip which spans 7 nights and 8 days with family is what we love. We take time to plan the trip; ping our blogger friends, speak to a few and then finally arrive at the itinerary which we almost followed (hot and humid weather in Chitwan made us cut it by a day).

The road map for this trip looks like this: Delhi – Kathmandu – Pokhara – Chitwan ­– Kathmandu – Delhi

Travellers: 4 – I, husband and our girls

Day 1: We reach Kathmandu

We book ourselves on Air India flight from Delhi, it is a short flight and we land in Kathmandu in about 90 minutes. Flight is comfortable with decent food and leg space for us to catch a wink or two as it was an early morning flight.

Aarti at the ghat at Pashupatinath temple

We land at the airport and within no time we are out. As we move out, we buy a Nepalese SIM card at the airport; there are various options to choose from and you would require a photo id and a photo for a SIM card.

We book a prepaid taxi to the Airbnb we had booked close to Pashupatinath temple. It is advisable to book an AC cab as Kathmandu can easily be dubbed as the Dust Bowl of Nepal and you wouldn’t want to choke on the dust and pollution due to ongoing construction across the city.  Certainly, the traffic reminds one of Delhi of 90’s, if you know what I mean.

Nandi – on our way back to Airbnb

The Airbnb was not that easy to locate, quite a few phone calls and then our driver could finally understand the location. We reach about 11:30 and our host tells us we are early by 30 minutes as the check in time is 12 and the cleaning is going on though he let us in the living room. Well, this is another story on our experience of Airbnb which is not at all what you see on the TV commercial these days. I mean not that great but I would talk about that in another post.

We put our stuff and freshen up and take a stroll to get something to eat but again the location was not that great. Hence, a couple of shops around where we could find bhelpuri and momos and bananas. In the meanwhile, we download a food app (Foodmandu) and order some Chinese which is quite decent.

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People lining up for the aarti in the evening

In our three hours at the ghat we saw many cremations

After some rest we head to Pashupatinath Temple which is about 15 minutes- walk from this place.  Due to ongoing construction of the road it is full of dust hence would advise you to carry a scarf or something to cover your face.  We take a stroll around the temple but quickly move towards the ghat area because it is the evening Aarti that we don’t want to miss. We perch ourselves at the ghat where aarti is to take place and ask a number of people about the time for aarti and get different timings by different people. Aarti only starts after 7 but we don’t move from our place as we want a perfect view. And time just flies past as we watch the busy ghat on the other side of Bagmati river as Pashupatinath is also one of the most sought- after cremation sites in Nepal. Life and death juxtapose each other, but in a way that compliments and you can’t help but soak in the experience. More on Pashupatinath in another blog post.

Bagmati river and the cremations at the ghat

The last rites at Pashupatinath temple

Shiv lingas at the ghat at Pashupatinath temple complex

We now call it a day and are all set for tomorrow but not before we shift mattresses as the AC in one of the rooms is not working.

Day 2:  Pashupatinath Temple, Thamel and Durbar Square

Pashupatinath Mandir

We walk to Pashupatinath temple and before we could know we have a guide who takes us around the premises explaining about the architecture and the history of the temple. All the people take Indian rupees very happily but only in the denomination of 100’s and 200’s or less. We pay INR 400 for this tour and he helps us with the darshan (we don’t skip the queue or something it is just that he points out where to go). Rush in this temple is something one cannot help, there is a lot of pushing and shoving and once you reach the main sanctum you get a glimpse of the deity. After darshanam, we go looking for a cab and head to Thamel.

Fire – aarti and cremation at Bagmati river

Taxi guys don’t bargain much but still one must try as that is the norm.

We reach Thamel after jostling through traffic and finally we get to a point where we can walk. Thamel will impress for once as you feel this is a different Nepal after having been to the city of Kathmandu. There are a number of eateries and shops selling Hemp products, wood and bone jewellery, clothes and of course woolens. You spend some time in Thamel and you feel you have seen this before as this place is just like any Mall road on a hill station just that it is quite big and the products are slightly different.

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Inscriptions in many languages

Renovation at Durbar Square mostly aided by China

Kali mata mandir at Durbar Square

After entering a pizzeria for lunch, we realise that no one is accepting Indian Credit Cards or Debit Cards and the next day’s plan is Pokhara by road hence need cash for the cab. This comes as another learning and quite an episode (more later in another blog post. We now see the waiters exchanging glances as if inquiring if we have any plans to leave and pay the bill. A few calls, some waiting and we get money from Bank of Kathmandu in Thamel through Western Union.

Then we walk through lanes to reach Durbar Square (Hanuman Dhoka) which is about 30 minutes-walk from Thamel. These are narrow lanes where you have to walk through people and traffic with shops on both sides. Durbar Square tells the tale of bygone era and some of the temples are totally in ruins after the earthquake in Nepal in 2015. Here also we are approached by a guide and we hire him for INR 200 for a full round of Durbar Square.

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Bhairon devta at Durbar Square

Peepal tree at Durbar Square

After a few clicks and some walk through the Square we find ourselves in a taxi heading back to the Airbnb in Kathmandu stopping in between only to get our dinner packed from a Tandoori restaurant – that is how dhabas are called in Nepal.

Day 3: Kathmandu to Pokhara

Distance: About 200 km; Time taken: 7 hours by road; Roads: Bad

Beautiful view of Fewa Lake

We book a cab to Pokhara and the gentleman arrives in time. We start around 7 happy to be moving to another famous town in Nepal and even happier that we would not be staying in that Airbnb. We learn on the way that our driver is an ex- army whose wife and kids are in India with his sister and he bought his car Scorpio S5 on a hefty bank loan. His Hindi is good and he keeps us entertained with the songs he has in a pen drive that he says he downloaded for us. Then he also mentions about Udit Narayan and his Nepali roots; this and somewhat interesting views help us get through the long 7-hour road trip from Kathmandu to Pokhara otherwise you can travel on those roads in Nepal at your own risk.

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Some fish and chips at the Maya Restaurant in Pokhara

We so love momos – these are veg

We check in at hotel Adam which is a decent hotel right at the center point but again we realise there are better options available at the end of the Lake road towards the airport. Anyways, we check in and head straight to have lunch. Lake side road is full of restaurants and hotels so there you are spoilt for choice. We choose Maya restaurant – the oldest one around and have our fill of momos and fish. You get decent vegetarian options too. It rains cats and dogs while we munch on lunch. In the evening we take a stroll around the lake as it is still drizzling on and off and have tea by the lake side and eat hot corn on the cob with green chilli chutney.

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Sitting at Maya Restaurant in Pokhara

Snooker time as it rains outside in Pokhara

This place is a welcome respite from the hustle bustle of Kathmandu. First day in Pokhara is well spent.

Day 4: Action packed in Pokhara – Ultralight flight

In front of our GT – 450 at Pokhara Airport

Today we have a lot lined up. As the bookings are in place, we head to Pokhara airport for our first ever ultralight flight experience. I am the first to go and am thrilled as I was in Bir Biling (first paragliding experience at the best place to paraglide in Asia). My pilot is Kevin and once the engines are all revved up, I am all set to take the flight with that gear (that is provided by the service provider) I feel like a pilot myself. One of the best experiences till date I get a bird’s eye view of the city, World Peace Pagoda and the Fewa Lake, hills were rather hidden behind the clouds but flying through the clouds is even better.

Getting the bird’s eye view of the lake in not enough and we go boating in the lake which spans 1.5 by 4 kms and enjoy the boat ride. It is actually different from boating in Nainital as the lake is huge and there is temple right in the middle of the lake. Now we head to Devi falls. It is a different kind of a waterfall where you can see the water coming and then can’t see where actually it is falling as the gorge is too deep, I guess. You can only hear water fall and feel the mist on your face. However, the little Shiv parivaar (God Shiva and his family) is quite beautiful and looks antique.

Arshiya is all set to experience Ultralight flight with pilot Kevin

Cheryl ready to fly

Reclining Vishnu at Gupteswor Mahadev

Now we head to Gupestwor Mahadev caves at the insistence of our driver. The place is nearby only and we reach in no time. There is a ticket you have to buy to enter the caves. As it is quite hot already, I quit and tell my folks to carry on while I sit underneath a huge tree beside the reclining statue of Vishnu. While they are in the cave I get to know later, electricity trips twice and their verdict is that this place is avoidable. Anyways we are done for the afternoon, evening is another story.

World Peace Pagoda, Pokhara

It looks like it is going to rain still we don’t want to miss the World Peace Pagoda hence we drive towards it. The roads are narrow and steep and I feel a bit nervous (read about our drive to village in Manali) but the driver manages and we trust him. A climb of about 300 stairs and you are at the peace Pagoda. Quite a site and it will have more effect on you if you keep quiet and soak in the serenity and the views from here. It rains and we rush for cover under the only canopy in the premises where we find fellow tourists too. Once the rain subsides, we click a few pictures of the beautiful sky and the peace pagoda in the backdrop and climb down while giving a heads up to the ongoing people to the peace pagoda that the place is close now. (World Peace Pagoda closes at 6 pm in summers)

Thela restaurant

We go for a walk in the evening in bid to find something to snack on and we do find a restaurant named Thela where everything is for NPR 99 only. It is a must eat place and we snack on momos, chicken satay and thukpa soup which is quite scrumptious.

Golgappas by the road

We also find a golgappe wala who serves yummy golgappas on the Lake side road. Again, dinner is from a Tandoori restaurant which we enjoy in our room.

Day 5: Pokhara to Chitwan

Distance: 150 km ; Time taken by road: 5 hours; Road: Bad except the last stretch from Mungling onwards 

We saw many such bridges on our way to Chitwan

Now this state highway is better than the previous one (Kathmandu to Pokhara) and we see river Trishuli which changes names at it merges with other rivers. Roads are better after you cross Mungling that is where we have our lunch at a Thakali resaurant which serves typical Nepali food. Nothing fancy but thankfully neat and hygienic which is a blessing considering the kind of eateries you spot on the highway.

Here begins the Croc Safari

In about 5 hours we reach Chitwan and our driver is forever saying that it would be very hot in Chitwan. It turns out he is right and we immediately make up our minds to stay only a night instead of the original two nights that we had planned.

As soon as we freshen up, we rush for the crocodile safari and the jungle walk as it is 4 in the evening already. We go in a safari truck to the starting point and are hustled up in a canoe which is carved out of a tree bark and looks so raw. Now I think the colour almost matches a croc. Eeew!

See these canoes made out of a bark of a tree

The crocodile safari is something that can only be experienced and not explained in words. About 45 minutes on the canoe and all of us are biting our nails at some point or the other. We spot a few crocs, a group of deer and few birds like stork, kingfisher and more.

Watch this expression just after we spot a crocodile

At the point where the safari terminates, we get down safe and sound and walk through the jungle to our hotel. Of course, a guide from the jungle accompanies us for the safari and the walk. We spot a number of elephants that have been reared for the purpose of patrolling the national park. It is a huge area of 964 sq kms hence an army of elephants along with patrolling officers is required.

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One of the many beautiful birds we saw at Chitwan

And it flew just for me to click

Dinner at Chitwan Tiger Camp

For dinner we are served thalis with rice, dal, two vegetable dishes and/or chicken. Food is good and tastes like home-made food. You feel happy because after so many days of eating out you value simple food. All of a sudden you see the manager and his aides running towards the roof top restaurant where we are dining and yelling,  “Gainda, Gainda” which means Rhino and before you say a word they point out to a silhouette crossing the Rapti river and heading towards the village where he will feast on vegetables, we are told. We call it a day and go off to sleep without thinking about the crocs.

Elephants are used for patrolling the park

Can you spot a croc?

Day 6: Jungle Safari in Chitwan National Park and back to Kathmandu

Rhino at Chitwan National Park

We get ready by 7 and wear matching camouflage t shirts for the jungle safari. All set with packed breakfast and hats and sunglasses, we get in the truck that is our carrier in the jungle. We have our guide with us who can speak fluent Hindi. We enter the jungle and even before we could soak in the spirit of it all we encounter a rhino which is spotted by our guide. It is hard to actually spot it even after he points it from a distance then our driver reverses the truck and we are face to face with the rhino who is busy chewing on elephant grass and now we can see the beast right in front of us. We are quite close and in pin drop silence we can hear the animal breath heavily and chew noisily. He lifts up his head to have a look at us while continuously chewing and after a few seconds of eye contact he leaves us alone and glides through the grass.

We are actually mesmerized. Humans are just another creation of the intelligence that rules this universe and so is the rhino, both equally amazing.

We move ahead and see flocks and flocks of deer some crossing the river and some sitting and relaxing under the thick growth.

Just before it disappears

          A flock of deer by the river

      Happy with our visit we wrap it up before noon and head back to Kathmandu.

Can you see the deer locking horns?

Day 7 and 8: Kathmandu – Thamel and Durbar Square

We had booked Hotel Marshayangdi in Thamel for our last day and added another day to this as we cut short our trip by a day in Chitwan.

With prime location in Thamel and an upgrade to a suite in this hotel we all are a happy lot. We are happy to be back in the comfort zone of a city life and today we just relax, watch TV and eat in our room. Only in the evening we go out and take a walk in Thamel.

Market near Hanumandhokha Durbar Square

Rickshaw puller in Thamel Market

We have just today in Kathmandu and honestly no shopping is done till now. Just because I find nothing exciting enough because either the price is too high or the quality of the stuff is not what I am looking for. And more importantly, I feel I can easily get this in my own country. Still, we walk towards Hanuman Dhokha Durbar Square again to see if we can buy something from the roadside market there. This market is cheaper than Thamel.

We spot a singing bowl and a couple of wooden masks.

Tips:

Indian Credit Cards (VISA and Master Card) are not accepted in Nepal.

Indian currency is accepted in Nepal only in the denominations of 200 and 100 (preferred) and lower.

Advisable to carry Nepalese currency.

Carry a photo id and a photograph to buy a Nepalese SIM card.

Eat where the locals eat. That is how I find the golgappe wala who is selling tasty and yummy golgappas in Pokhara.

No boating in Fewa lake after 5pm

World Peace Pagoda closes at 6 pm in summers.

Spend two days in Kathmandu – Pashupatinath and Durbar square should be on your list; Pokhara two days – Enjoy Fewa Lake and the weather plus the ambiance of the place and indulge in some adventure sports here. In Chitwan only one day is enough; just time your visit in a manner that you are able to do the jungle safari and crocodile safari in a day.

                Road Trip in Nepal: Itinerary for 8 days It is June 2019 and we plan a trip to Nepal. A trip which spans 7 nights and 8 days with family is what we love.

[mikemortgage]

Gwyn Morgan: Welcome to another year of stomping on Canada’s most important industry

What was Canada’s biggest business news story of 2018? According to the pundits at The Canadian Press, it wasn’t the giveaway of Canadian oil to Americans for tens of billions of dollars below world prices, caused by a lack of pipelines from Alberta. It wasn’t the loss of tens of billions more in oil and gas investment to the U.S., because Canada is too hostile to building new projects. It wasn’t the Americanization of Encana, once the largest of all Canadian-headquartered companies. It wasn’t the federal Liberal government’s forced purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan because the expansion faced insurmountable opposition from the B.C. government and indigenous groups. Nor was it the court decision blocking the federal government from completing that project. Instead, The Canadian Press’s choice of business news story of the year was … the legalization of cannabis.

Given their confusion over what really matters to Canada, perhaps Canadian Press panel members weren’t only considering cannabis, but smoking it. According to BNN Bloomberg, annual cannabis revenues are expected to be about $6 billion. Meanwhile, despite receiving far less than the market value for its product, the oil and gas industry contributed some $117 billion to Canada’s GDP last year. That’s more than six times the economic contribution of the Ontario auto industry, where the closure of a single plant impacting 2,600 workers generated more Canadian Press stories than the layoff of 100,000 Alberta oil workers.

Alberta oil cuts offer lifeline to producers — and create a bunch of new problems

Indigenous Energy Summit to tackle pipeline ownership, leadership issues

The verdict is in: Canada's 2015 downturn amid shock oil collapse wasn't a recession

The drastic decline of Canada’s most important industry wasn’t created by just one event or action, but rather a combination of ideological antagonism to fossil fuels and tunnel vision. Here are my choices for the truly big Canadian business news headlines from 2018. Given how bad the news was, maybe using these to shed some light in that tunnel might help make 2019 better. It could hardly have been worse.

Canadians still can’t buy Canadian oil

Hundreds of tankers churn up the St. Lawrence carrying oil from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Iraq, Nigeria, Angola and Algeria. They’re delivering oil to Eastern Canadians because Alberta oil can’t get there due to a lack of pipeline. These are all countries with human rights records ranking vastly below those of Canada. And none of those countries care a whit about carbon emissions. The proposed Energy East pipeline, running from Alberta to the Atlantic, would have replaced those imports while creating jobs and economic benefits across the country. Economically beleaguered New Brunswick is an avid supporter of that nation-building project. But Quebec Premier François Legault insists there will be “no social acceptance for a pipeline that would pass through Quebec territory” carrying Alberta’s “dirty energy.”

When asked about reviving Energy East in year-end interviews, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could have pointed out that it’s also Canada’s “territory” and that the federal government, not Quebec, has jurisdiction over pipelines. Instead, speaking to CTV, he tacitly supported Legault’s assertion by repeating “there’s no support for a pipeline through Quebec.” Along with B.C.’s attempts to thwart pipelines, that makes two provinces now who are getting away with opting into Confederation when it benefits them, but opting out when they are asked to serve the nation’s interest.

Equalization is destroying national unity

Soon after the new premier of Quebec labelled Alberta oil “dirty energy” came news that the Trudeau government had raised Quebec’s so-called equalization grant by another $1.4 billion, totalling $13.1 billion. It’s inexplicable that, despite Quebec’s projected $3-billion budget surplus this year, it’s still considered a “have not” province. Meanwhile, Albertans, who face a $6-billion deficit and have recently suffered more than 100,000 job losses, must contribute to Quebec because Alberta is still considered a “have province.” Painfully aware that their federal taxes are the primary funder of the billions that go to Quebec every year, Albertans are starting to wonder if they’re the ones who should be talking about separation, instead of Quebec.

Canada blows hot and cold on Saudi Arabia

The Trudeau government was swift to condemn the murder in Turkey of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents. This, after Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland had already created a diplomatic rift with the kingdom over human rights abuses committed against female Saudi activists. After Khashoggi’s murder, Trudeau said that he would “look for ways” to cancel arms sales to Saudi Arabia, despite contracts having already been signed. That would result in job losses and billions of dollars in cancellation fees, and the Saudis could simply buy arms instead from Russia. They could even pay for those Russian arms using cash Canadians send to buy Saudi oil being delivered to eastern provinces. The real way Canada could send a strong message to the Saudis would be to halt all Saudi oil imports, which have totalled over $20 billion in the past decade.

Many in the industry say a pipeline will never be approved in Canada again.

Pipeline projects get another nail in their coffin

Despite strong resistance from the resource sector, the Trudeau government continued to push its Bill C-69, which will create a new approval process for resource projects, adding bizarre new criteria including “gender impacts.” Many in the industry say a pipeline will never be approved in Canada again. Of course, no investor might ever propose one again: when even the Canadian government can’t get its own, fully approved Trans Mountain pipeline expansion built, who else would dare try?

Hypocrisy of the oil-burners reaches new heights

Whistler, B.C. Mayor Jack Crompton sent a letter to Alberta oil companies in November, calling for them to take “financial responsibility for your fair share of climate change being experienced by Whistler.” Outraged responders pointed out that that the tourist resort’s three million annual visitors burn fuel driving from Vancouver or flying in from around the world by airplane. Crompton would have benefitted from looking at Environment Canada data showing that three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions come from energy users, not producers. I wonder how much happier Crompton would be if the oil industry didn’t supply gas to the tourists that make up his town’s entire economy.

Coal production is ramping up in China, the world’s largest user.

Hypocrisy at the UN reaches new heights

A press release following the UN’s climate conference in Poland trumpeted news that 190 countries had agreed upon a “rule book for putting emission reduction commitments into practice.”

Coal is the most emissions-intensive fossil fuel. China, which burns over half of the world’s coal, committed to a substantial reduction at the 2015 climate meeting in Paris. But recent research utilizing aerial photography found construction underway on hundreds of Chinese coal-fired power plants. Meanwhile, India, the world’s second-largest coal consumer, continues to escalate its coal burning at an annual rate of rate of six per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, a veritable frenzy of coal-fired power plant construction is underway. Plants under construction in Vietnam alone will produce far more carbon emissions than all of Canada’s oil and gas industry. In other news: some Canadians still believe we can save the planet from global warming by shutting down our own oil and gas sector.

—–

Canada’s oil and gas industry isn’t only important to Alberta. It’s the largest national economic contributor in the country. That’s not news. What is news is that the events of the past year further demoralized this vital, once-proud industry and its people, whose knowledge and dedication made it one of the world’s best. And that these events resulted in handing Americans billions of dollars in price discounts due to Alberta’s lack of pipeline capacity, while sending billions more in investor capital fleeing south to a more hospitable energy climate. All while fomenting a new national unity crisis.

Putting an end to this appalling mess, reviving Canada’s energy industry and restoring national unity will require wise and decisive national leadership. Sadly, our current federal government is actually the main cause of these problems. That makes it very hard to be optimistic about 2019.

• Gwyn Morgan is the retired founding CEO of Encana Corp.

from Financial Post http://bit.ly/2RTwbUN via IFTTT Blogger Mortgage Tumblr Mortgage Evernote Mortgage Wordpress Mortgage href="https://www.diigo.com/user/gelsi11">Diigo Mortgage

[tomasleexyz]

No Online/Offline Boundary

If you're in retail business or often read the retail business news, you must notice about a term called "O2O," especially in China, refers to either "Offline-to-Online" or "Online-to-Offline" business model. There has been a debate heating up about online business wl gradually conquer the entire retail market.

In US, the eCommerce business is about 10% of $4.78 Trillions total retail market, increased fr 7% in last year; Amazon (AMZN), as everyone's expected, dominates the entire online channel segment. And on the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean, $1.56 Trillions China's online retail sales grew to a third of its total retail market in 2015. Bc of the rapid significant growth in %, everyone in conventional retail is panicking. Many media and analysts predicted Brick-n-Mortar and Malls wl die. In fact, the 'Big Boy' retailers, like Sears, Macy's, JC Penny, Targets, Best Buy, Walmart & more, are all facing struggles (Read their latest earning statements & you'll figure out why they're all profoundly worrying); Some are even hanging at the edge of bankruptcy. But where's their problem? Some conventional retailers have been the core of US economy in the 30's & 40's until the late 90's when internet booms. Is it really a technology invasion caused a shift of consumer shopping behavior? Or something else? I believe it's the latter, and here's why.

First of all, the total retail market's growing, so we have to look into why the consumers shop less physically, but more online consequently.

Is it bc of limited selection and availability? Nope, this restraint only applies in certain type of goods, and doesnt valid if your products are scarce and exclusive. Besides the well-known term “Showrooming,” there is actually a reverse behavior called “Webrooming.” For example, big screen TV sold much, much more volume in Costco and BBY than the entire online channel (AMZN tried to crack into this problem). Consumers wl go studying all product specifications and comparing price online, then make purchase offline bc of worrying about freight damage and ease of RMA. They would rarely buy online even if today’s Samsung 55” 4K UHD costs $100 less online with ‘Free Door-to-Door Shipping’ offer. It’s just the consumer’s dilemma/confidence matter (Many online merchants and media tried to reverse that, but wasnt much succeeded).

Is it bc of price incentive? Nope, just explained. Plus, shopping online is not necessary cheaper, depending on the economy of scale the retailers we compare in here. Moreover, freight logistic cost (Labor, cost of maintenance & fuel) is progressively increasing thru time trajectory; AMZN is trying to 'w00t' everyone signs up their “Prime”, not only bc of increasing customer loyalty, # of purchase frequency, total revenue per customer & so forth, but to also fundamentally offload the baseline cost of logistic (Not gonna explain the detail math, maybe another time; Pls simply acknowledge the 2-days shipping costs AMZN less than a single package ground-shipped by consumer). Also, guess what? AMZN doesnt offer the best price in town according to many retail researches.

Is it then due to convenience and time saving? Yes, but not 100% relevant to the Cost of Productivity/Opportunity Cost/Product Lifetime Value. Each customer segment apparently has its own distinguishable psychological profile. Let's just say the Soccer Moms (Not saying their time is not important), would they rather go for shopping enjoyment or stay home waiting just for a 'brown-carton-box' delivery, under the circumstance all associated costs (Price, gas & mileage) in shopping online & offline are equivalent? Most would choose the former. In contrast, most married men wl likely make an inverse decision (Shopping is not in men's nature; Also, the reason why @MiserableMen got so popular on IG). Hope that answered you.

Of course, we can continue going on-n'-on to evaluate, review and debate in many more different aspects. But while wandering our answer, shall we first ask why the Homo Sapiens is shopping at the first place? In consumer psychology prospective, "The motivation for almost everything we buy has something to do with connecting with other human beings." You may argue online retailers do provide social marketing activities to form community bonding stronger ‘relationship’ with customers, dont they? Yes, but different from physical engagement. As a social species, we like to observe, talk, smell, touch and feel objects, and importantly gain recognition from another. Why is Apparel being such a big category? Bc we wanna be more appeal to others (Identity Crisis); otherwise, we can all wear a simple, plain white t-shirt at all time (In a fact, that's my signature dress style for a couple years in the past. Friends & collegues would come and ask if I washed my clothes. Haha… And look what FB’s Mark Zuckerberg wears on everyday now); therefore, technology delivers immersive experience, like VR, could be a real threat to all offline businesses. Alrighty, let’s get back to my topic “No Online/Offline Boundary.”  

Now, the question is whether today’s ‘Brick n' Mortar’ provide any incremental value to consumers? Yes, but not thoroughly. Like the famous A&F stores (Set aside its controversy), once every youngster loved, every merchandise, every interaction and every touch inside the retail store’s set systematically - very ‘robotic’. In each time walked by their stores’ window, you see the exact same set of seasonal clothing displayed; You’re then welcomed by their 'cloned' associates trained with a big sunny smile; You’ll always find the women session’s on the left, men’s on the right, and the sales session’s at the bottom-end of their stores (This precise 'uniform' floor plan was hyper-sensitively designed, not the work of laziness); You can ‘conveniently’ locate the exact style of clothing with different size and color at the same area in every store; Last but not least, you’ll be lining up in front of the POS counter before checkout. What an exhilarating shopping experience, isn't it?!

In contrary, let’s look at the “Think Different” Apple Store, whom turns 15yrs old & already earns $5,546/ sq. ft on the top of all retailers (Unfortunate AAPL decided not to disclose its stores performance from 2016 on), similar storefront can be found, but never identical. Every store may have familiar placement, but does keep its distinctive window displays and interior design. Not only your loved products can be checkout and pickup right away from any associate with POS machine, and your receipt/activity record wl be emailed and detail-documented in your Apple ID account (No paper waste). In additional, every online order you place can be picked up in any store at your convenience time during their hours. If needed a repair or product problem, you can either schedule online for an appointment or simply walk-in and drop-by the bar. An estimated repairing time’s given, and an txt message or email wl notify you when ready, so no valuable time's wasted. Beside that, new Apple application skills can be learnt for FREE or any in-store event can be participated by easily signing up on Apple.com. Moreover, their 'non-cookie cutting' associates (Their appearance never looks alike, even though wearing the same Apple t-shirt uniform) are very sociable, and they wont feel annoying if you have endless questions. Presently, they take one step further in their latest SF Union Square and NY WTC stores; Both stores turned into recreation park. Haha… Very spacey and lots of trees inside. There are even stools available for utilizing the way you like (I see people stack them up as table) or resting in front of their crystal-clear, gigantic display to watch their demos or just people-watching all day long. Furthermore, to enchant your visit, there’s a beautiful garden for you to enjoy the wonderful sunshine (I dont think you can do picnic yet). You'll also find the design language of their ‘Store’ pulled in sync with their web site. It’s a successful role model for every retailer to follow.

How about AMZN? Do you feel engaged with their brand? I know I dont (Wasnt bc I worked at their rival, EGG, in before. LOL). They’re literally a cold-hearted marketplace for trading products only. Once you find what the product you need, you leave. Dislike a product, write a nasty review and the seller wl compensate you or contact AMZN for a refund, and pretty much about it (Very soon 'Alexa' wl call you for satisfaction survey). Shoppers have no sense of emotion attachment with this brand. And that’s why AMZN, the ‘800lbs Gorilla’, once single-handedly wiped out the entire bookstore industry (Still remember the Borders and Barnes & Noble stories, anyone?), starts building the “Bookstore” again. First experimented the campus stores at the Purdue University and UC Davis, now in Seattle, San Diego and Portland, and more to come soon. In stores, they thoughtfully use the AI algorithms to place selective best selling books in the limited retail space, and display their latest electronic gadgets like the Kindle, Fire Series, and Echo withal. Most importantly, the stores provide the “Order online, Pick up here” service (AMZN Locker) to connect the dots between its online and offline business. But why, if the ‘Retail Stores is Going to Die”? Online business would never survive without offline presence, so does the other way around (Read the KPCB Internet Trends Report 2016 below to understand more).

You see where I’ve been guiding you to? If still not following, how about a last example in shopping 3D technology products online? Please try visualizing the three-dimensional effect of video content (Or now VR) on the flat 2D monitor screen you’re staring at now. It’s just not possible, and that’s why the 3D TV category failed online miserably. Consumers just cant relate to the stunting visual experience and see the value of that technology. (3D TV failure in mass adoption's mainly caused by its immature technology). As you may see, online retailers, as well, have its own limitation and boundary. On the other hand, the arisen of VR technology wl write a new chapter in retail history if intelligently submerged into shopping experience (Again, another topic yet another time). Then, the landscape of online vs offline business may change.

In a conclusion, why today’s offline retailers failed is the lack of presence customer experience, but not by the influence of online business. Brick-n-Mortar can competently fix this problem and captivate better shopping experience by integrating the concurrent technologies, such as Beacon, Chatbot, AI and Machine Learning. The problem I see yonder in those offline-retail corporate giants is the poor resource allocation planning, deficient technology-integrated infrastructure and bureaucracy.

Highly satisfied Customer Experience (CX) is the key to open the door of success to all businesses.

Hope this post gives you a different viewpoint about retail business. I would also like to hear your opinions below. Thanks for reading.

Ref. 

1.The Case for the American Mall

2. http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/here-comes-the-modern-chinese-consumer

3. http://www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/2016-internet-trends-report

[topfygad]

12 of Earth’s most remote places and communities

From eastern Greenland to northern Alaska, we explore some of the most remote places on the face of the Earth.

Whether it’s astronomical distances, inhospitable climates or extreme terrains that define these remote and hostile lands, there’s one thing they all have in common: they’re on my bucket list. That and the fact that people live there.

It’s highly unlikely I’ll actually make it to many of these far-flung realms – I certainly didn’t get to Ittoqqortoormiit on my recent trip to Greenland – but I salute the hardcore residents who carve out an existence in the most remote places and communities on Earth.

1. Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland

Ittoqqortoormiit is located on Liverpool Land, a peninsula in eastern Greenland and one of the most remote towns in the country. It was first inhabited in 1925 by 80 Inuit settlers.

Agatha Kadar/Shutterstock The colourful houses of Ittoqqortoormiit in Greenland

Today, the declining population of 452 spends its time hunting whales and polar bears for meat and trading, while presumably also deciding what colour to paint their homes.

2. Kerguelen Islands

This French Overseas Territory in the southern Indian Ocean is also known as the Desolation Islands, which gives you an idea of how remote it is: really remote.

Armand Patoir/CC BY-SA 4.0 The ‘Desolation Islands’ are some of the most remote on Earth

It is more than 3,300km away from the nearest populated location, making it one the most remote places on the planet. The population fluctuates depending on the season: around 45 in the winter rising to around 110 in the summer.

3. Pitcairn Island

The British really don’t know what to do with this island of unruly residents. With a population of just 50, it is the world’s least populous national jurisdiction.

Claude Huot/Shutterstock Pitcairn Island is one of the most remote places on Earth

This secluded island should be known for its fantastic history of mutiny or the fact that it was one of the first territories to give women the vote (in 1838 some 80 years before the rest of the UK). Unfortunately, this was all overshadowed when it was given the record for the highest number of sex offenders per capita.

4. Tristan da Cunha

Known as Tristan to its 292 residents, this island is part of the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago, lying 2,000km from the nearest inhabited land: Saint Helena, which is rather remote itself.

Yagerq/CC0 Tristan is part of the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago

Tristan is also 2,400km from the nearest continental land, South Africa. Most of Tristan’s population lives in the main settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. What a name!

5. Oymyakon, Russia

This is one of the coldest places on the planet. It has an extreme subarctic climate that on 6th February 1933 dropped to a temperature of -67.7 °C (-90 °F) making it a candidate for the Northern Pole of Cold (coldest place on Earth).

Creative Commons Oymyakon is one of the coldest places on the planet

The 500 people who live there “enjoy” days ranging from three hours in December to 21 hours in June thanks to its northerly position. Quite bluntly, this place is brutal. Only a certain type of person can live in a place like this: Russian.

6. Chang Tang, Tibet

Chang Tang is a vast high-altitude plateau stretching 1,600km across the Tibetan Plateau. The inhospitable land is inhabited by roughly half a million Changpa, but they’re hard to spot. The Changpa are a nomadic people who know all about hardship thanks to the near-Arctic climate in which they survive.

Dreamstime No one around in Chang Tang

When Swedish explorer Sven Hedin crossed Chang Tang he reported not seeing a single person for 81 days. In 2009, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre named the Tibetan Plateau as the world’s most remote place after compiling a map showing the most and least interconnected places on earth.

7. Mêdog County, China

This was the last county in China to gain road access when in December 2010 the Chinese government announced completion of a highway to Mêdog County.

HelloRF Zcool/Shutterstock Mêdog County is one of the most remote places on Earth

China is renowned for having the largest population in the world. However, Mêdog only has 12,000 residents across the whole county – a tiny number compared with the rest of the country. Until the highway opened (and by highway we mean single carriageway that’s open for nine months a year), the only access was by traversing a fairly challenging mountain range.

8. The South Pole

The South Pole is part of the only landmass on Earth where the sun is continuously up for six months and then continuously down for six months. There’s just one day and one night every year, albeit one very long day and one very long night.

Dreamstime The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

Not only that, it also gets pretty chilly as temperatures can drop as low as -73 °C (-100 °F). Being 2,835m (9,301ft) above sea level doesn’t help! 

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has been continuously occupied since its construction in 1956 – surprising, as it may well be the most remote place on Earth.

9. Easter Island

Easter Island is the one place on this list that I’ve actually visited. Located 3,512km off the Chilean coast, covering just 163.6 km2 and inhabited by 7,750 people, Easter Island is about as remote as a population of this size can get.

Atlas & Boots The moai of Easter island draw tens of thousands of visitors

The island’s mythical history and army of moai statues fascinate the 100,000 odd tourists who visit each year. With such large numbers, authorities have started putting in place mechanisms to ease the flow of visitors. With this in mind, perhaps Easter Island isn’t one of Earth’s most remote places after all.

10. Barrow, Alaska

Dreamstime An abandoned whaling boat in Barrow

Barrow is the northernmost city in the US and is famous for its lengthy polar night (yes, singular). The sun sets in November and doesn’t rise again for approximately two months – perfect for vampires. The population is 4,438 according to the 2017 US Census Bureau. Compared with some others on this list it’s practically a sprawling metropolis.

11. Longyearbyen, Svalbard

This Norwegian town doesn’t have much going for it apart from that it’s the northernmost settlement of any kind with more than 1,000 permanent residents.

Dreamstime The remote town of Longyearbyen

It’s a wonder the town is still standing considering the Germans all but destroyed it during the Second World War because of its mining heritage. It was named after the coal mining corporation’s owner, John Munro Longyear, and was known for years simply as Longyear City.

12. Point Nemo: Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility

Okay, so nobody actually lives here. They can’t. Point Nemo is the ‘oceanic pole of inaccessibility’, the place in the ocean farthest from land. It is so remote, the nearest humans are often astronauts. The International Space Station orbits the Earth at a maximum of 416km while the nearest inhabited landmass to Point Nemo is over 2,700km away.

Atlas & Boots Nothing but water

Point Nemo (‘Nemo’ being Latin for ‘no one’) can be found at 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′. Its nearest landmasses are:

Ducie Island (part of Pitcairn Island) to the north

Motu Nui (part of Easter Island) to the northeast

Maher Island, Antarctica to the south

Chatham Island in the west

Southern Chile in the east

Like I said, the middle of nowhere.

A map of Earth’s most remote places

Using maps, essays and the personal experiences of the widely travelled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer essential insight into the world we know today.

Lead Image: Dreamstime

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source http://cheaprtravels.com/12-of-earths-most-remote-places-and-communities/

[topfygad]

12 of Earth’s most remote places and communities

From eastern Greenland to northern Alaska, we explore some of the most remote places on the face of the Earth.

Whether it’s astronomical distances, inhospitable climates or extreme terrains that define these remote and hostile lands, there’s one thing they all have in common: they’re on my bucket list. That and the fact that people live there.

It’s highly unlikely I’ll actually make it to many of these far-flung realms – I certainly didn’t get to Ittoqqortoormiit on my recent trip to Greenland – but I salute the hardcore residents who carve out an existence in the most remote places and communities on Earth.

1. Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland

Ittoqqortoormiit is located on Liverpool Land, a peninsula in eastern Greenland and one of the most remote towns in the country. It was first inhabited in 1925 by 80 Inuit settlers.

Agatha Kadar/Shutterstock The colourful houses of Ittoqqortoormiit in Greenland

Today, the declining population of 452 spends its time hunting whales and polar bears for meat and trading, while presumably also deciding what colour to paint their homes.

2. Kerguelen Islands

This French Overseas Territory in the southern Indian Ocean is also known as the Desolation Islands, which gives you an idea of how remote it is: really remote.

Armand Patoir/CC BY-SA 4.0 The ‘Desolation Islands’ are some of the most remote on Earth

It is more than 3,300km away from the nearest populated location, making it one the most remote places on the planet. The population fluctuates depending on the season: around 45 in the winter rising to around 110 in the summer.

3. Pitcairn Island

The British really don’t know what to do with this island of unruly residents. With a population of just 50, it is the world’s least populous national jurisdiction.

Claude Huot/Shutterstock Pitcairn Island is one of the most remote places on Earth

This secluded island should be known for its fantastic history of mutiny or the fact that it was one of the first territories to give women the vote (in 1838 some 80 years before the rest of the UK). Unfortunately, this was all overshadowed when it was given the record for the highest number of sex offenders per capita.

4. Tristan da Cunha

Known as Tristan to its 292 residents, this island is part of the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago, lying 2,000km from the nearest inhabited land: Saint Helena, which is rather remote itself.

Yagerq/CC0 Tristan is part of the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago

Tristan is also 2,400km from the nearest continental land, South Africa. Most of Tristan’s population lives in the main settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. What a name!

5. Oymyakon, Russia

This is one of the coldest places on the planet. It has an extreme subarctic climate that on 6th February 1933 dropped to a temperature of -67.7 °C (-90 °F) making it a candidate for the Northern Pole of Cold (coldest place on Earth).

Creative Commons Oymyakon is one of the coldest places on the planet

The 500 people who live there “enjoy” days ranging from three hours in December to 21 hours in June thanks to its northerly position. Quite bluntly, this place is brutal. Only a certain type of person can live in a place like this: Russian.

6. Chang Tang, Tibet

Chang Tang is a vast high-altitude plateau stretching 1,600km across the Tibetan Plateau. The inhospitable land is inhabited by roughly half a million Changpa, but they’re hard to spot. The Changpa are a nomadic people who know all about hardship thanks to the near-Arctic climate in which they survive.

Dreamstime No one around in Chang Tang

When Swedish explorer Sven Hedin crossed Chang Tang he reported not seeing a single person for 81 days. In 2009, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre named the Tibetan Plateau as the world’s most remote place after compiling a map showing the most and least interconnected places on earth.

7. Mêdog County, China

This was the last county in China to gain road access when in December 2010 the Chinese government announced completion of a highway to Mêdog County.

HelloRF Zcool/Shutterstock Mêdog County is one of the most remote places on Earth

China is renowned for having the largest population in the world. However, Mêdog only has 12,000 residents across the whole county – a tiny number compared with the rest of the country. Until the highway opened (and by highway we mean single carriageway that’s open for nine months a year), the only access was by traversing a fairly challenging mountain range.

8. The South Pole

The South Pole is part of the only landmass on Earth where the sun is continuously up for six months and then continuously down for six months. There’s just one day and one night every year, albeit one very long day and one very long night.

Dreamstime The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

Not only that, it also gets pretty chilly as temperatures can drop as low as -73 °C (-100 °F). Being 2,835m (9,301ft) above sea level doesn’t help! 

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has been continuously occupied since its construction in 1956 – surprising, as it may well be the most remote place on Earth.

9. Easter Island

Easter Island is the one place on this list that I’ve actually visited. Located 3,512km off the Chilean coast, covering just 163.6 km2 and inhabited by 7,750 people, Easter Island is about as remote as a population of this size can get.

Atlas & Boots The moai of Easter island draw tens of thousands of visitors

The island’s mythical history and army of moai statues fascinate the 100,000 odd tourists who visit each year. With such large numbers, authorities have started putting in place mechanisms to ease the flow of visitors. With this in mind, perhaps Easter Island isn’t one of Earth’s most remote places after all.

10. Barrow, Alaska

Dreamstime An abandoned whaling boat in Barrow

Barrow is the northernmost city in the US and is famous for its lengthy polar night (yes, singular). The sun sets in November and doesn’t rise again for approximately two months – perfect for vampires. The population is 4,438 according to the 2017 US Census Bureau. Compared with some others on this list it’s practically a sprawling metropolis.

11. Longyearbyen, Svalbard

This Norwegian town doesn’t have much going for it apart from that it’s the northernmost settlement of any kind with more than 1,000 permanent residents.

Dreamstime The remote town of Longyearbyen

It’s a wonder the town is still standing considering the Germans all but destroyed it during the Second World War because of its mining heritage. It was named after the coal mining corporation’s owner, John Munro Longyear, and was known for years simply as Longyear City.

12. Point Nemo: Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility

Okay, so nobody actually lives here. They can’t. Point Nemo is the ‘oceanic pole of inaccessibility’, the place in the ocean farthest from land. It is so remote, the nearest humans are often astronauts. The International Space Station orbits the Earth at a maximum of 416km while the nearest inhabited landmass to Point Nemo is over 2,700km away.

Atlas & Boots Nothing but water

Point Nemo (‘Nemo’ being Latin for ‘no one’) can be found at 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′. Its nearest landmasses are:

Ducie Island (part of Pitcairn Island) to the north

Motu Nui (part of Easter Island) to the northeast

Maher Island, Antarctica to the south

Chatham Island in the west

Southern Chile in the east

Like I said, the middle of nowhere.

A map of Earth’s most remote places

Using maps, essays and the personal experiences of the widely travelled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer essential insight into the world we know today.

Lead Image: Dreamstime

(function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=696667793712621&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

from Cheapr Travels https://ift.tt/2I6TOD5 via https://ift.tt/2NIqXKN

[asecretsummer-rpgpromo]

WANTED! FC can be changed!

♠ Chloe Pierce is 21 years old and is often confused with Selena Gomez. She is Open.

“Yeah, she was my sister… but she was terrible to me. I’m not saying I’m happy someone did that to her, it’s sick… but it’s sometimes a relief not to have her around.”

→ Background

Annie and her twin sister Chloe used to be very close. They would do everything together and often wanted to wear matching outfits. It all changed when they turned nine, however, and Annie suddenly felt like she had to get one over on Chloe all the time, she had to be better than her at everything. Sure, Annie was the prettier twin, the more outgoing twin, the smartest twin, the sportiest twin… but Chloe had no idea why everything had changed and she suddenly needed to make everything a competition. Couldn’t they go back to being best friends? It never happened and the girls only grew further apart as they got older.

When they were fourteen Annie started the long-running game of pretending to be her sister to get her into trouble. She pretending to be Chloe around her sister’s friends and acted like a bitch to them. She knocked their mother’s favourite china plate off the counter and blamed it on Chloe . She stole money from her father’s wallet, bought expensive earrings, and placed them under Chloe’s pillow. The trouble Chloe found herself in got worse as they got older and she found herself in the police station one day on shoplifting charges. It was the most humiliating moment of her life - even worse than when Annie had thrown water from the girls toilets over her in high school in front of everybody - and Annie kept whispering things like “God, Chlo, prison jumpsuits wouldn’t suit you one bit…”

It was like Annie was trying to get rid of her and it upset Chloe. All she’d ever wanted was her sister back and it turned out that Annie was jealous that Chloe was “the nice one” who people just liked better. “Well, maybe if you weren’t such a raging bitch you’d have proper friends who actually give a shit!” She had shouted once, which prompted her sister to tackle her and attempt to knock her over the head with a swimming trophy.

→ Back to Baberton

The name Chloe Pierce now instils pity in the hearts of all those in Baberton. “Annie Pierce’s sister…” they’ll whisper when she walks past. Chloe doesn’t want their pity. Life in Annie’s shadow had been awful and her sister was not the angel people now made her out to be. Chloe is a far cry from the girl who was afraid to move in case her sister flew off the handle, afraid to sleep in case she was strangled in the night, and afraid to step outside in case her sister had pretended to be her and angered somebody that day.

No. Chloe Pierce is a celebrity in her own right now and she sort of likes it, understands what Annie felt when she was on top even. She’s wrapping up her studies at school and everybody knows her name, just like they knew Annie’s. Granted, now that Annie’s body was discovered (under the old tree they used to play around as kids, no less) people treat her a little bit like glass, but she’s not as torn up about it as she ought to be and it’s becoming obvious to everyone. Yes, she can put on a good show of being broken now that her beloved sister has been found murdered when she really wants to… but really, she’s sort of relieved that Annie isn’t going to come back. There had been a part of her that used to worry she would wake up one night and her sister would be standing at the foot of her bed with one of her strange smiles.

Too bad she now has to worry about A - whoever that is - doing the same thing.

→ What’s Her Secret?

She got so sick of her sister pretending to be her that, the day before Annie disappeared, she pretended to be her too. She floated around town acting like a royal bitch, even enjoyed the power she felt when people automatically moved out of her way or froze when they saw her coming. She teased Chelsea Blithe about her silly hair, she flirted with older boys while their girlfriends were watching, and she shoplifted a necklace from the accessories shop in the mall, making sure the security camera caught her face as she dropped her sister’s ID on the ground. She even pretended to be Annie around Ruby, giving a rather convincing performance. Chloe also spotted Gemma Harris, Annie’s ‘biggest fan’, following her and warned the bitch off, making a big show of laughing at her. “As if I’d want you as my friend! Look at you!” Chloe felt terrible about doing it all but she was so angry with her sister that she just wasn’t thinking clearly. She wanted her sister to be more hated than she was, she wanted people to see that she wasn’t a Goddess. Gemma’s tears were both terrible and rewarding. She had even stolen her sister’s phone and intercepted a text from an anonymous number which had seemed rather strange at the time… but not so much now. The message was “Chloe’s a good actress… but not good enough to fool me! I know you. -A” and then she got one on her own mobile that said “Cute! Playing pretend looks like so much fun. -A”

Now, A is tormenting her in the same way Chloe knew that they were tormenting Annie (she looked through her sisters inbox after receiving the first A messages and found tons more). A seems intent on taking Chloe down, perhaps because she is the spitting image of her sister. Apparently if Annie had to die… so did Chloe.

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