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seabreeze2022 · 2 years ago

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2023 Bahama Cruise, Part 15, April 4. Grey’s Bight, Long Island.

From the Rime of the Ancient Mariner:

“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.”

Monday the 3rd was spent working on the water maker. Spent 3 hours on Facebook with the experts troubleshooting our problem. One guy was in Italy and one was in California. After much checking this, and checking that. It came down to a trick from the dealer in California. “Kink the brine out flow hose, to build up pressure”. Sure I will try anything at this stage. Nancy has already checked flight schedules to Miami to acquire parts.

That fixed the problem! Then we made water for 4 hours. Beautiful anchorage and no one here. Truly without the internet we could not have fixed our problem. We have made approximately 98 gallons of water in a month. That would have been 16 trips to a water faucet with our 6 gallon jug. And that would have been a lot of work.

Sunrise in our anchorage. With our water tanks full the evening sunset even provided a small green flash on the horizon. Not as evident as we normally see. But still a green flash.

Checking with Nancy’s family in Fargo, N.D.. They are about to be hit with up to 25 inches of heavy wet snow. That only makes us appreciate our cruse in the Bahamas that much more.

We were able to pick some wild Tamarinds. Maybe 5 or 6. So many on the tree were either too high to pick, or had holes drilled in them by insects. The hole should have been a clue. Later in the day I noticed a wiggling larvae on the sole of the boat. Then two more in the cockpit. Been here a month and no larvae on the floor. Two hours alter the Tamarinds are in the boat and we have larvae. Humm….

This is a West Indian Chank shell ( Turbinella angulata ) . Nancy found several on the beach, but most were in bad shape.

The locals still sponge some. Here the strings of sheepswool sponges (Hippospongia lachne) dry out near the dinghy dock. These must have been here awhile, because they don’t smell at all.

These are sheepswool sponges below our boat. They are $20 on Amazon. Why not get a couple now.

Nancy takes a filet knife to a sponge below the boat. There are two ways to take a sponge. Either cut it off at the bottom, or use a hand rake to rip it from the bottom. Either way, by leaving a section of the sponge attached to the bottom. It will grow back. Very sustainable aquaculture. The water here is very clear for two reasons. Hard rock ground with no sediment. The sponges filter the water making it clear.

This is what is left on the bottom after Nancy cut the sponge off. It will regrow. This one was 5-6 years old, as determined by its diameter. You should see the small fish showing up for a free meal. The fish are smart, after a while they just followed her around.

Nancy frolicking around the boat. We pulled anchor and sailed north 5 miles to Thompson Bay. There are 8 boats here. For once the monohulls out number the catamarans. One lonely catamaran here. Full moon night!

S/V Sea Breeze, Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahama.

#Seabreeze2023 #seabreeze2022 #exuma

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meret118 · 2 months ago

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Undocumented Workers Aren’t Raising Home Prices. Undocumented Cash Is.

. . .

But the number of  housing units in the nation has grown faster than the number of households since the turn of the century. Something else is happening here. It is not just a supply problem. And it is not just a demand problem caused by an increase in households, whether they are immigrants or not.

That’s because demand for real estate is not just about the number of people who need homes, it’s also about the amount of money buyers are bringing into the market. People without money cannot push up prices. It’s the people with money — especially those with a lot of money — who drive up prices for everyone else.

The truth is that there are a lot of people buying luxury real estate who have a lot of money. Dirty money. And that money is distorting the market for ordinary homebuyers.

. . .

There has been an enormous influx of dirty money from overseas into high-end residential properties in major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Miami. Some of this money comes from Africa, which has lost more than $600 billion to illicit capital flight since the turn of the century. More comes from Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

The sums are not small. Nearly a decade ago, The New York Times estimated that anonymous shell companies accounted for more than half of all purchases in Manhattan and Los Angeles, nearly half in the San Francisco Bay area and over a third in Miami. Comparable statistics are not available for more recent years, but this suggests that the amount of hidden wealth invested in real estate in Manhattan alone surpasses $100 billion.

Many of these properties sit vacant. They are bought not as places to live but instead as places to park ill-gotten wealth. Sassou Nguesso’s apartment in Trump Tower has been unoccupied since it was purchased in 2014.

These illicit financial flows don’t just hurt the citizens of countries like Congo. The looted money that flows into urban real estate markets pushes up prices for ordinary Americans, from first-time homebuyers who can’t get into the market, to families who can’t afford to “trade up” to a larger home, to tenants whose rents are pushed upward. Dirty money is a major but little-recognized contributor to our current housing crisis.

#Housing

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internationalrealestatenews · 10 months ago

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[ad_1] Since transferring to South Florida final yr, Fredrik Eklund has began almost each morning on the sand along with his 70-pound Goldendoodle Money, watching the solar rise. Eklund, well-known for his time on “Million Greenback Itemizing New York” and co-founder of the top-ranked Eklund-Gomes workforce at Douglas Elliman, calls the ritual his “every day rebirth.” “After I get to see that, it does not matter what occurs through the day as a result of I've already received the day,” he stated. Loads of successful normally desires. Eklund-Gomes, which he began with co-founder John Gomes, closed gross sales totaling almost $3.8 billion in 2023 with greater than 100 brokers and places of work in New York, Los Angeles, Texas and Miamibased on the workforce. With Elliman Florida CEO Jay Parker, Eklund has secured the unique gross sales and advertising for about 1,500 new growth condos in South Florida. They're capitalizing on the emergence in new tasks, many led by New York builders providing 5 or 6 p.c commissions, designed by architects from around the globe. Eklund-Gomes is main gross sales for Witkoff and Monroe Capital's Shore Membership, the Ritz-Carlton Residences South Seaside and Witkoff and Ari Pearl's Shell Bay venture, amongst others. “It is the identical folks, however an upgraded model of all of us, included me,” he stated, referring to the New York builders, their design groups and brokers. On the Shore Membership, for instance, the gross sales workforce has secured a blended common of $5,500 per sq. foot, Eklund stated. He is in contract to buy a unit on the venture. The Actual Deal sat down with Eklund within the foyer at Eighty Seven Park in Miami Seaside, the place he and his household have been renting a unit since they moved from LA This interview has been edited and condensed for readability. Born: April 26, 1977Hometown: Stockholm, SwedenLives: Miami Seaside, FloridaFamilia: Married to husband Derek Kaplan, twins Mila and Freddy “One time we had been provided, I feel it was $18 million, $16 million behind a automotive. “We can't say from who.” What had been you want as a child? A social butterfly. I did not concentrate at school till I used to be like 12, 13. Then I acquired actually aggressive and I went for the perfect grades, the awards at college, straight As, scholarships. I had a extremely good childhood within the suburbs of Stockholm. Generally I did not come residence for dinner. We had been allowed to roam round. It was completely different. I felt very free. I felt very secure. My dad and mom traveled so much, not something fancy. We did tenting in Germany, Italy, and drove our Saab all through Europe. Very early on, I used to be drawn to the world. What was your first job? In class, everybody has to work two weeks at an actual job. You aren't getting paid. I used to be chopping onions within the basement of a restaurant, which I'm actually good at. It is like a hidden expertise. I can chop an onion (gestures) with out chopping myself. How previous had been you? 12 to 13. What are you want as a father? I am the massive child. [My husband] is the strict one. I did not actually really feel profitable till I had [kids]. Everybody at all times stated, “Wow, your profession, this and that and conquering New York actual property,” however one thing was at all times lacking. I'm tremendous concerned, tremendous current. I say that as a result of my dad was working so much. And I work so much. In order that's an inside battle I've with myself all day lengthy. I need them to develop up like I grew up, getting a piece ethic, and on the similar time being there after they want me. We're doing a extremely good job. I can say that with certainty now that it has been six years. To start with, with twins, we referred to as it twinsanity. We're discussing a 3rd. We'll see. What's your largest hope on your kids? To really feel beloved, to have a base of safety and a way of hope.

I do not need them to really feel like they're in some form of field geographically or in society. You've got talked about how Miami is a greater match for you than LA How so? LA has a variety of good issues. For me, being within the automotive so much, [there was] a bit little bit of isolating vitality. The hopes of latest growth there did not pan out. I got here there to place my mark on the town and perhaps that is my massive ego. However there simply aren't sufficient new buildings. It is at all times going to be a swimming pool and yard metropolis. It is simply how it's. It took me 5 years to simply accept that. I used to be 45 once I realized that and moved away, and I went there on a regular basis for enterprise. I do not need to appear to be I am hating LA I felt like, wow, I've a lot extra in me nonetheless. I need to work extra. I am nonetheless a hustler. Different brokerages have tried to poach you. Why stick with Elliman? One time we had been provided, I feel it was $18 million, $16 million behind a automotive. We can't say from who. John was like, “Let's do it.” And I used to be like, “Undoubtedly not.” Elliman lets us [be] an organization inside an organization. We run a workforce so massive that it is virtually like a division. We've extra new growth tasks than every other workforce and greater than most small firms on the market. If we need to do one thing, they allow us to, and so they consider in us. And we constructed out some actually superb infrastructure with them. Is there every other firm on this planet that might enable us to try this? I am certain, nevertheless it's simply now it is like household. What's an important piece of recommendation you may have gotten from Howard Lorber? He stated that there is one thing about me that may stir the pot a bit bit. This was some time again once I was extra… sharp in my angles. He stated, “I need you to consider that.” And I actually did. I had a bent to get consideration and rub folks [the wrong way]. How do you look again in your time on the present “Million Greenback Itemizing”? When our present got here out, it was sort of groundbreaking within the sense that [reality TV] It wasn't so saturated. I am actually grateful to have been a part of that period. Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: Someday I'll sit down with my youngsters and watch all of it. How have you ever and John maintained your friendship and enterprise partnership for thus lengthy? I consider it as a wedding. We discuss it so much to attempt to encourage younger folks to construct a workforce and discover a enterprise associate. It is onerous to discover a enterprise associate that you simply're 50-50 with, and to be finest mates and journey collectively. Having youngsters — it was only a coincidence — he has twins the identical month as I've twins, completely different surrogates, completely different states. However we do combat so much. There's this push-and-pull duality. It has been wholesome to work collectively so carefully, geographically, and in addition very wholesome to work in several states. That is the luckiest factor. He is allowed me to maneuver to LA, to maneuver to Miami, whereas he is in New York. On the similar time, I am going backwards and forwards and he is coming right here. And we're doing all of it collectively. That is fairly cool. It is actually cool. After which Julia [Spillman-Gover] you are available in. We snort and say she's the road between the E and the G [in the logo]. She retains us organized. And he or she cracks the whip. You and your workforce had been concerned within the latest $115 million sale at Central Park Tower. Has demand for the ultra-high-end section of the market returned in New York? It is coming again all over the place. massive cash [buyers] are realizing that costs won't go up so much this yr, however the low cost goes to shrink. These fee cuts are going to occur. That was a reduced deal, with out being precise about what the low cost was.

There's not a variety of trophy properties left in New York. Florida's governor has backed quite a few anti-LGBTQ insurance policies. Was that a concern while you determined to maneuver to South Florida? I wasn't involved. But it surely was one thing that we talked about, Derek and I. I've by no means, ever, as soon as felt it. Granted, the youngsters are in personal college. I'm LGBTQ, however… going again to the Howard feedback, I dwell fairly proudly. I'm who I'm, and I do not ask for permission. I strive to not dwell in a detrimental house or an area of worry. The place do you see your self dwelling in 10 years? I purchased at 64 College Place, the constructing we bought out in New York. I've [Roxbury], Connecticut, which we simply renovated. I purchased on the Shore Membership. We've the home in LA I am actually nonetheless very critical about Tuscany [for retirement]. I look each single evening. That is not an exaggeration. What do you contemplate your largest weak point? Work-wise, in all probability that I do not settle for once I'm mistaken. Personally, I must be extra quiet. How do you deal with rejection or disappointment? It is onerous, nonetheless. I used to be engaged on a brand new format with Netflix. We had been filming, and it was by no means picked up. I felt actually disenchanted. However I got here to phrases with [the idea that] perhaps it isn't the perfect place for me to be locked into the fact TV actual property nook proper now. Now there's one other format that's being mentioned. Let's simply go away it at that. I am making an attempt to get higher with disappointment. I notice that as a result of I'm fairly non secular — I would not say spiritual, however I'm going to church each Sunday — that typically the door closes since you're being form of saved from one thing. And there is one other door opening. “Nonetheless, I'm a father. They take precedence over every thing in my life. I might be mendacity if I say it isn't one thing I fear about. “I've to determine that one out.” What retains you up at evening? Nothing. I like to sleep. I sleep at the very least eight hours. I've by no means understood individuals who brag about not sleeping. I make it a sport. I am fortunate as a result of I am married to somebody who's obsessive about bedding and sheets and room temperatures and pillows, and he consistently tries to put money into new issues to make sleep even higher. If I am not in mattress, in my sheets, at 9 pm it isn't evening's sleep. What's your largest extravagance? Journey. I am utterly reckless. I adore it. It does relate to my work as a result of I do get very impressed. To review the perfect resorts, eating places. I went to Paris for Trend Week. Folks requested, “How will you go to Paris for 3 days?” I felt so energized. No jet lag. Simply being excellent helps. How lengthy have you ever been sovereign? It's going to be 4 years this fall. How did it have an effect on you? It was actually good for me, and it made me much more profitable, significantly better at my job. I am not drained anymore. I haven't got any nervousness. My physique feels very clear and really mild, paired with a variety of sleep with good sunrises. What's your largest vice? Mint chocolate chip ice cream. Each evening? I might say like two, thrice every week. And I am working actually onerous to get again my eight pack. It is not serving to. You labored briefly in grownup movies, a focus in a New York Occasions profile of you a couple of decade in the past. What did you be taught from that have? I do not remorse something. I am not that sort of individual. In some unusual means, due to the New York Occasions [story], and since it was a giant speaking level for lots of people and so they introduced it up on the present, I do not assume it was dangerous for my profession. I do not know if it was good. It was a part of the trajectory, I suppose. Nonetheless, I'm a father.

They take precedence over every thing in my life. I might be mendacity if I say it isn't one thing I fear about. It is a part of the equation. I've to determine that one out. Some tasks do not get constructed or accomplished — just like the Seaport Residences (previously often called One Seaport) growth in New York. How do you resolve which builders to work with, particularly along with your new concentrate on Miami? I can not finally management every thing, I can do my analysis, [look at a developer’s] monitor file. I may even attempt to assist and management a part of the financing as a result of if I promote over 50 p.c, and I've the appropriate studies and the comps for the lenders, typically we even assist with that. However I'm not a developer. So I simply need to belief my intestine feeling and my instinct, which is normally proper. John at all times tells me I get obsessive about some buildings. Like I can not cease obsessing a couple of new venture. That normally means it is going to achieve success and get constructed. However within the case of One Seaport, it did not. [ad_2] Supply hyperlink

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history-matters · 1 year ago

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Paul Helliwell was an American original, a master of the arcane craft of concealing secret business operations. A legendary hard-drinking OSS colonel in World War II, businessman, lawyer, and banker after the war, he became so successful that he should have made the cover of Fortune. The only problem: Helliwell was not a businessman at all. He was a CIA officer on assignment.

Helliwell pioneered the art of illegally financing intelligence activity to avoid bureaucratic accountability. He formulated techniques for creating banks and businesses to cover CIA operations. In the late 1940s, organizations like Brown Brothers Harriman and the Chase Manhattan Bank were happy to accommodate the young spy agency. But with the advent of covert operations where laws were broken, the CIA needed smaller banks and business fronts not subject to U.S. laws or SEC rules or the veto of nervous corporate executives. Helliwell was well qualified for this task. He had, from the beginning, been in on one of the CIA's most closely guarded secret operations. Of the long, secret list of CIA wrongdoing that constituted the Agency's so-called "family jewels," Helliwell had the details of the most outrageous and long-running Agency crime. Ever since 1949, the CIA had allowed the rebel armies and dictators it supported in Asia to deal in illegal drugs in order to finance their operations. After retiring from the CIA, Paul Helliwell, founder of such agency "proprietaries" as SEA Supply Inc. of Bangkok and Air America, opened a law office in Miami and formed Castle Bank offshore in nearby Nassau to cover the agency's covert money movements. In 1973 agents of the Internal Revenue Service were able to photograph the Castle Bank's customer list while a bank executive dined in a posh Key Biscayne restaurant with a woman described as an IRS "informant." Reviewing the purloined documents, IRS investigators found that the 308 Castle Bank customers on the list had moved $250 million to foreign numbered accounts. Depositors' included Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, Penthouse magazine publisher Robert Guccione, and some major organized crime figures Morris Morris Dalitz, Morris Kleinman, and Samuel A. Tucker. Elated by the, find, investigators formed Project Haven to make "the single biggest tax-evasion strike in IRS history." Suddenly, the IRS announced that it was dropping the investigation because of "legal problems." According to a later investigation by the Wall Street Journal, "pressure from the 'Central Intelligence Agency … caused the Justice Department to drop - what could have been the biggest tax evasion case of all time." The CIA invoked "national security" since it was using the Castle Bank "for the funding of clandestine operations against Cuba and for other covert intelligence operations directed at countries in Latin America and the Far East."

Helliwell was reported to have played a key role in the purchase of the site for Disney World.

Walt Disney had selected the location during a flight over central Florida, and a thorough investigation of the land was needed before it could be officially chosen. Before sending an analyst to Florida, their New York counsel, law firm Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvene, got involved. The head of DLN&I provided Disney's analyst with a phone number, stationary, and business card with a fake name, all tying him to another firm, Burke & Burke, located one floor below their offices at One Wall Street. In secrecy, the analysis was completed and the site was chosen. DLN&I then created a company in Delaware, the Compass East Corp. Another law firm, this time from Miami—Helliwell, Melrose & DeWolf—created five more: Bay Lake Properties, Ayefour Corp., Ready Creek Ranch, Tomahawk Properties, and Latin American Development and Management Corp. All six were shell corporations. Through the five Florida companies, HM&D began to purchase all the desired land for an average of $200 per acre, all without alerting anyone to Disney's plans. In 1966, all five companies and their holdings were merged under Compass East. Through these firms, Disney had acquired more land than they had ever anticipated. Florida surveyors were contacted and hired to survey the property, and told to bill Helliwell, Melrose & DeWolf.

HM&D was founded and run by Paul Helliwell.

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ezcater · 1 year ago

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5 Tips for Planning Your End-of-Year Office Celebration

Organizing the end-of-year office celebration is always fun and rewarding. You may get a curveball here and there, but throwing the annual party is the perfect opportunity to show your team a fantastic time and demonstrate your sincere appreciation for their hard work.

From the venue to entertainment to outstanding corporate catering, you have a lot on your plate. But despite all the work it takes to organize a first-rate shindig, the process itself doesn’t need to be stressful. Here are five tips to help you put together a memorable celebration. Start with a Budget We’ve all imagined what the ideal office party would look like if cost wasn’t a factor. But every business has to keep an eye on the bottom line, so your end-of-year celebration needs to come in under budget. Whether you have autonomy here or need to run it past leadership, make sure the number you land on is realistic but not overly restrictive. Then, use tracking tools to keep an eye on your spend. You may have to do some of this manually, but when it comes to food, the leading corporate catering partner has a convenient online dashboard that does the tracking for you. Pick a Place The venue is a key element of any office party. It sets the tone and can also have a significant impact on your budget. Establish your priorities early and decide whether you want to shell out for a night at that swanky chateau or you’d rather hold the festivities at your office so you can spend more on food and entertainment. You should also consider renting only the space and handling the catering yourself as a means of saving money. For example, a business located in the heart of the Hoosier state could order the finest catering Indianapolis has to offer for a celebration at the Crane Bay Event Center, Indianapolis Propylaeum, or even the Indiana Roof Ballroom. Recognize Your Top Performers Your annual office celebration is perfect for acknowledging your top achievers and highlighting their accomplishments over the past year. These are the people who go the extra mile on a daily basis to fuel your organization’s success. How you go about this is up to you, of course. You could reward them with extra PTO, their photo on the wall in the reception area, or an etched glass trophy to display at their desk. Order Catering Everyone Will Love You’ll notice we’ve already touched on food a few times in this piece. That’s because the right meal will elevate any event, and the end-of-year office party is no exception. You could roll the dice and rely on the catering team at the venue you booked for the event. Odds are, they’ll do a fine job. But nobody knows your team’s food preferences better than you, so why not put that knowledge to work and order their favorites yourself? Whether you’re looking for the most delicious catering Columbus Ohio, Dallas Texas, or Miami Florida has to offer, the right corporate catering partner makes all the difference. Have a Plan to Get Everyone Home Safely At the end of the evening, it’s essential that everyone makes it home safely. Whether you book several taxis or offer to comp rideshares, arranging travel for any team members who may need it might be the very best way to show them how much you care. With all they’ve done for your business this year, your team deserves to let loose a bit and enjoy themselves responsibly. Helping them do that, then get home safely, is how you can show them you have their back. About ezCater With over 100,000 restaurants and caterers in every state, ezCater has food for work covered. ezCater is built to help businesses and organizations find the best food options. But why stop at lunch? ezCater helps to connect you with catering for practically any meal or event, from company meetings to team-builders, sales calls, and more. If you need delicious food delivered on time and as ordered, turn to ezCater. The brand makes it easy to put in an order for the top Portland catering or the catering Dallas is talking about this week. Plus, ezCater offers tools to help you narrow down your search to certain cuisines or to meet specific dietary needs. With this many catering options, there’s always something new to try on ezCater! Make this year’s office party one to remember with food from ezCater at https://www.ezcater.com/

Original Source: https://bit.ly/3R2HiZw

#catered restaurants columbus

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dorapuig · 2 years ago

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unexpectedgeese · 2 years ago

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Researching Operation Mongoose for a personal project and... literally what the fuck, America??

Operation Mongoose was a campaign of terrorist attacks, covert operations, and comically inept assassination attempts on Fidel Castro (Cuban PM), carried out by the CIA in an attempt to remove him from power. Mainly because he was a communist, and we were in the middle of the cold war.

(Note: Operation Mongoose came directly after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, which also blew up in Looney Toons fashion. Seriously, they fucked up SO BAD).

Now, when I say comically inept, I mean it. We have official proof (from the 1975 church committee) of 8 assassination attempts by the CIA; On the other hand, Fabian Escalante (former chief of Cuban counterintelligence), stated that there had been a total of 634 attempts on Castro’s life.

None of these succeeded, and he died of old age in 2016.

A few of these attempts (the ones we know were carried out by the CIA) below:

- Tuberculosis Lined Diving Suit. Castro loved scuba diving, so naturally the CIA had an agent gift Castro a diving suit infected with tuberculosis, in order to kill him slowly.

FOILED BY: Someone telling Castro about the plot.

- Explosive Conch shell. This one was launched in tandem with the diving suit; they placed a conch shell filled with explosives on the sea bed in a place Castro was known to go diving.

FOILED BY: Castro... not picking up the shell?

- Poisonous Cigar: A Cuban official was given a box of cigars laced with botulinum Toxin, deadly enough to kill if it so much as touched your lips.

FOILED BY: The official never giving Castro the box.

This last one, while not all that ridiculous, is here for how Castro (allegedly) reacted when he found out.

In late 1959, Marita Lorenz, Castro’s lover, was tasked by the CIA with slipping him some Botulinum toxin pills (again? There are other poisons, you know!)

Here’s an exerpt from an article by Ann Louise Bardach, who interviewed Marita about the plot:

“When she looked for [the pills], “they were all gunked up. I fished them out and flushed them down the bidet.” When Castro finally appeared, he was wary. “Why did you leave so suddenly?” was his first question, she says. “ ‘Are you running around with those counterrevolutionaries in Miami?’ I said yes. I tried to play it cool... Castro asked if she was working for the C.I.A. “I said, ‘Not really. I work for myself.’ Then he leaned over, pulled out his .45, and handed it to me. I flipped the chamber out and hit it back. He didn’t even flinch. And he said, ‘You can’t kill me. Nobody can kill me.’ And he kind of smiled and chewed on his cigar…. I felt deflated. He was so sure of me.”

AND I JUST--- wowza, I guess.

In conclusion: Operation Mongoose was weird as fuck.

Sources:

https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/03/marita-lorenz-fidel-castro-conspiracy-theories

Wikepedia sources (I checked the footnote links for accuracy)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_attempts_on_Fidel_Castro

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mongoose

#history #cuba #long post #idk why I wrote this but. why not

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lbk-photography · 4 years ago

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#vizcaya #Miami #Florida #Vizcaya museum and gardens #museum #1k #coral #vizcaya estate #coconut grove #urban oasis #shells #Biscayne bay #coral gables #details #photographers on tumblr #photographers directory #statues #art

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antoine-roquentin · 3 years ago

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a big part in the popularization of the “ok groomer” thing was played by the twitter account @libsoftiktok. the people behind the account have tried to portray it as being a one woman concerned citizen-type operation, like here in the new york post and here on fox, but the mask was pulled back a little by their effort to turn it into a going business by filing a trademark, because every republican op has to be a money maker. the owner is an anonymous shell corp headquartered at the law office of lally & misir; grant lally’s name is also listed on it as attorney of record. a quick search reveals deborah misir to be his wife. both are deeply tied into republican circles. if the owner is indeed a woman as implied, then misir would be a good candidate. she’s already received favourable coverage in the new york post, which described her husband as “politically connected”. however, the woman in the fox news vid is clearly not misir by virtue of comparing their voice, which can be found quite easily since misir worked as deputy assistant secretary of policy at the department of labour and chief of staff at osha under w. bush. so clearly, they’re either using a cutout for that interview or one of their staff members.

why do i think lally’s not just acting as lawyer to some hapless entrepreneur, but as part of a bigger group? because he’s a spy turned republican election operative. in his own biographical account, he worked for the united states agency for international development to help cuban opposition figures, in north ireland to professionalize loyalist gangs into media savvy political parties, in east germany in 1990 to monitor elections, and in bosnia as part of the american government’s management/privatization of that nation’s economy. usaid is often a front group for american intelligence services. aid workers are diplomatically sanctioned and have an excuse to travel around countries outside of embassies and disperse money. usaid for instance was behind the “cuban twitter” initiative in 2010 to foment an anti-government uprising. sure, lally might have been one of the actual aid workers, but he was later appointed to the board of the bay of pigs museum in miami, dedicated to valorizing the cia-backed brigade 2506. cuban exiles have played a huge role in america’s intelligence work in the country, and it’s unlikely they would be honouring an outsider with such a role. he was also on the advisory board of cuba archive, a propaganda group funded by us freedom house, another funnel for american intelligence to dispense money. finally, he was on the staff of us senator jesse helms, who worked closely as one of the cia’s faces in the senate, especially regarding iran-contra.

in 1994, he decided like many intelligence operatives to take his work private and go into business for the republican party. he ultimately ran for congress 3 times. the first two, 94 and 96, were in a long shot heavily democratic district which spread a bit into his deeply affluent home community of long island new york. for his dirty tricks, he received the third largest fine ever given out by the fec at the time. he retreated a little, working instead behind the scenes on republican electioneering. in 2000, he used his cuban exile connections to help shut down the recount, handing george bush the election. this included direct participation in the brooks brothers riot, where republican staffers assaulted ballot counters to delay a result until the supreme court could rule in their favour. this is likely the reason why his wife had such nice jobs in bush’s administration. in later years he kept a lower profile. among others, he helped argue an anti-obamacare case in front of the supreme court. in 2014, he ran for congress a third time, but this appears to be part of a dirty tricks play on behalf of queens republican party vincent tabone in order to get his trial delayed.

ultimately, the man’s clearly a dirty player, libs of tiktok is a dark money-backed republican group, and “ok groomer” is part of a much larger republican strategy for 2022.

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openheartthot · 4 years ago

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Holding On

Part 1: The Inevitable | Part 2: Selfish | Part 3: Letting Go

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC (Camille Prescott)

Word Count: 2,551

Warnings: None that I can think of.

Summary: Ethan can’t live without her.

***

Ahh guys it’s been so long omg. I know I’ve missed reading a lot of fics but I swear once finals are over I’m gonna go back and harass everyone with my reblogs lmao. This is sort of all over the place, but I figured I’ve been wallowing in my writer’s block long enough!

Ethan watches her all night.

She’s radiant in a wine-colored dress, her perfectly coiffed golden hair a far cry from the messy ponytails and buns that she used to sport around Edenbrook.

It’s hard to believe that this is the same woman who’d once started every morning tangled in his bedsheets, who’d held his hand across the table in Derry Roasters.

The same woman who once tried to tell him she loved him in an airport, before he stopped her.

Pain battles with pride in the pit of his stomach as he watches her flit around the hotel ballroom. She’s completely in her element as she rubs elbows with the elite of West Coast medicine. No longer is she the bright-eyed young intern by his side.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, Ethan always knew she’d be great.

And yet...he can’t help but worry that he might be too late.

Her dress is just a bit risqué for a medical conference, but none of the other doctors or representatives seem to mind. They are completely enraptured by her wide smiles and sharp wit. Especially the young, sandy-haired doctor all but glued to her side. Ethan doesn’t miss the way his hand alights on her waist every now and then, nor the wonderstruck way he gazes at her.

Jealousy roils in Ethan’s stomach, completely unwarranted. He has no claim on her, not anymore.

Ethan turns bitterly back to his scotch, determined to drown his sorrows in the amber liquid before him. One more drink at the bar, and then he’ll leave to continue his pity party upstairs in the privacy of his hotel room. There’s no point in torturing himself with the sight of her with another man.

He knocks back his drink, and another one appears in front of him almost instantly, though he hasn’t ordered one.

For a moment, he’s confused.

But only for a moment.

He catches a whiff of her perfume before any of his other senses realize she’s behind him. He breathes in deeply, savoring the gentle floral scent that lingered on his pillow long after she left for the last time.

“Hell of a speech,” Ethan says into the drink she bought him. He can’t look at her-- he’s scared of what he might say if he gets a glimpse of those green eyes.

He’s broken a lot of his own rules when it comes to Camille, but he won’t make a move on a woman in a relationship. No matter how badly he wants to punch her companion in the jaw.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be here. You hate conventions.”

Ethan grits his teeth against the onslaught of emotions triggered by that voice. That soft, silvery voice that he used to have the pleasure of hearing every day.

God, how he took her for granted back then.

“To your first keynote? I wouldn’t miss it.” Ethan says, fighting to keep his voice even.

It’s true. Ethan avoids conventions like the plague, but when he heard Camille was to be the keynote speaker of a conference held in her new home city of San Francisco, he’d booked a flight without a second thought.

He’s been telling himself it is just to celebrate her success as a former mentor, but he can no longer pretend that he doesn’t have ulterior motives. That he didn’t want to know if she’d come alone, or on the arm of some well-built pretty boy--

“The blonde Clark Kent? Who’s he?” Ethan asks, not entirely on purpose. The scotch has loosened his tongue more than he realized.

“Adam is... just a colleague.” Camille says, and then Ethan catches a glimpse of red silk and blonde hair in his periphery as she sinks onto the barstool beside him.

He can’t ignore the flicker of hope ignited by her words, but then reality comes crashing back in. They live on opposite sides of the country. He told her to leave.

“I was your colleague too, once.” Ethan says, immediately wishing the words didn’t sound so resentful.

“Once.” Camille muses in agreement, and Ethan can’t help but wonder if the bittersweet reel of their relationship plays on a perpetual loop in her mind the way it does in his.

“So, you aren’t seeing anyone?” Ethan can’t help but ask, unable to shake the growing tingle of hope.

“No.” Camille says softly, “I don’t know if I’m ready for anything serious.” She stares down at the bar, unaware of the physical ache that the words cause in Ethan’s chest. The cautious tone of her voice hurts more than he cares to admit.

His Camille, the one who boldly strode past all of the boundaries that he had so painstakingly created, would never be so hesitant when it came to love.

She’s supposed to be foolish, and headstrong, and impulsive...and it’s Ethan’s fault that she isn’t any of those things anymore.

Ethan takes another swallow of scotch, for courage, before he turns to face her.

He had watched her during her speech, of course, and from afar as she made her rounds through the room, but seeing her up-close is almost more than he can handle.

Ethan meets her eyes, and for a minute, he swears he forgets how to breathe. The rest of the room fades away, and it feels like all that exists is him and her. All he can see through his tunneling vision are those green eyes.

Those eyes bring him back to Miami, to that first passion-fueled kiss on a balcony under the light of a thousand stars, both of their inhibitions clouded with wine.

Those eyes bring him back to long nights spent in the diagnostics office, toiling over a case; to her fingers laced in his under the table; to a million little moments shared between the two of them over the course of their relationship, both professional and romantic.

“Dance with me.” Ethan says. He can’t think of a single other thing besides encircling Camille in his arms and holding her close, even if it’s only for the duration of a song.

“...Okay.” Camille agrees after a moment, although Ethan isn’t sure whether it’s out of pity, or because, like his, her hands are burning with the need to touch him.

She follows him to the dance floor, and when she steps into his arms, Ethan can’t stop his eyes from watering. He is convinced there is nothing more right than Camille against his chest, the way her arms slide around his neck, the way that his hands know the curve of her waist.

“I want you.” Ethan murmurs. He can’t help it, with her in his arms, it’s almost like no time has passed at all.

Camille stiffens, her arms tensing where they rest against his shoulders. Her gaze flicks to the elevators, and she swallows hard before looking away.

“You know I’m not interested in being a casual hookup anymore.”

Ethan’s chest tightens, knowing that he was the one that made her feel cheap, disposable. Even so, his own hurt swells.

“There was nothing casual about the nights we spent together, not for me.” Ethan says curtly, stung by her implication.

“For me either.” Camille says in exasperation. “But…”

“I want to be with you.” Ethan says, the words welcome on his tongue after spending so long pretending that he didn’t miss her. Pretending that it didn’t bother him knowing that Camille was building a new life on the other side of the country. A life without him.

“Stop it.” Camille falters, missing a step and almost losing her balance. Ethan pulls her securely against his chest, but she avoids his gaze. “Missing me isn’t the same thing as wanting to be with me.”

“I know,” Ethan insists, refusing to back down.

“Since you left Boston, I’ve been a shell of a man, living only for your visits. And when those stopped…” He takes a deep breath. “I can’t live without you, Camille, I need you.”

“That’s not healthy.” Camille snaps, her expression knitting into a scowl. “And you were the one who told me to move in the first place!”

“I was, and I stand by that. It was the right decision for your career.” Ethan counters reflexively before his voice drops, husky with emotion. “Whether it’s healthy or not, I don’t want to be without you. Not for another second.”

He dips his head, just enough to let his jaw brush against her temple.

Camille lets out a tiny sniff, and when he pulls back to meet her eyes, he finds them shimmering with tears.

“Ethan…” Her lips part on his name, her eyes filled with a yearning so deep that Ethan instinctively tightens his hold on her, his fingers tracing the notches of her spine.

Slowly, tentatively, she relaxes into him, her head resting on his chest just above his beating heart. Ethan freezes, terrified that the slightest movement will scare her away.

“I want that, too.”

He doesn’t waste another second. He tilts her chin up, and then her hands are in his hair, tugging him roughly down until his mouth meets hers. The kiss is desperate and consuming, her hands roving over his back and chest while Ethan traces patterns on the exposed skin of her back.

“I’ve missed this.” Ethan manages before crushing his mouth back to hers. “I’ve missed you.”

Camille sighs in agreement, pulling him close and melding her body against his until it’s hard to tell where his body ends and hers begins.

Her hips rock boldly against him, and Ethan bites back a groan, all too aware that they’re still in the middle of a very public dance floor.

As their frantic kiss slows to gentle brushes of his lips against hers, Ethan smooths his hands over her back, holding her as tightly as he dares. He gazes down at her in amazement, and she stares back, her eyes alight with joy and promise.

“Is that a yes, then? To being with me?” Ethan asks, trying to keep his giddiness at bay. He doesn’t deserve this woman, not even a little, but if she’ll have him... The rising tide of his hope is an almost overwhelming warmth in his chest.

“I…” Camille’s voice trails off, and the light in her eyes extinguishes. She pulls back, not quite out of his embrace, but enough for the distance between them to feel insurmountable.

Ethan closes his eyes, feeling a fresh wave of despair wash over him. He’s too late, too much time has passed. Whatever they once had is unsalvageable. He had known that it was a longshot, but he knows he couldn’t live with himself if he hadn’t at least tried.

“I want to say yes, I really do.” Camille says, shaking her head despondently. “But I can’t move back to Boston. I have a life in San Francisco, now. I have an apartment with a great view of the Bay, and my career is finally taking off… You don’t get to follow me and ask me to give all of that up, it’s not fair.”

She looks up at him, restrained hope in her eyes, as if she’s waiting for Ethan to make a grand gesture, to convince her that he’s worth another chance.

“Does your apartment allow dogs?” Ethan asks instead.

Camille looks away, and he can see the disappointment wash over her face. Disappointment in him, for once again choosing to take the path of least resistance, and once again refusing to fight for her.

“The song’s over, and I’m not interested in making small-talk about my apartment with you. I should go.” She tries to pull back, but Ethan doesn’t release her, maintaining a firm but gentle grip on her waist.

“It’s not small-talk. You should know I hate that more than anyone.” Ethan says, his fingers pressing insistently against her waist, the smooth fabric of her dress bunching beneath his fingertips.

“I need to know if your apartment allows dogs. I need to know if I can have Alan put Jenner on the first flight out to San Francisco tomorrow morning, or if I have to wait until we find a new place.”

Camille’s eyes search his face with obvious confusion.

“What? I don’t… Jenner?” Camille stammers for a moment as she collects her thoughts, her hands absentmindedly resting on his chest. Ethan feels his heart skip at the casual intimacy of her fingers toying with his lapels. “You want to move out to San Francisco?”

“Yes.” Ethan says shortly. “When I said I didn’t want to leave your side, I meant it.”

“Ethan, we’ve been over this. If one of us gives up our career for the other we’ll just end up resenting each other. You’ve been working at Edenbrook for over a decade, I can’t let you give it up for me.”

“Edenbrook is…wonderful. I have enjoyed working there, but at the end of the day it’s just a job. When I came home to an empty apartment at the end of the day, it wasn’t Edenbrook I was thinking about, Camille, it was you.”

“But you love Edenbrook.” Camille says uncertainly, her eyes begging for an explanation.

“I like Edenbrook, most assuredly.” Ethan cups her face in his hands, running his thumbs over her smooth skin. “But I love you.”

“You…love me?” Camille asks, her green eyes gazing up at him, starry with hope. Her cheeks are flushed pink, and Ethan is sure he’s never seen her look more beautiful.

“I do.” he murmurs, unwilling-- unable to look away from her awed expression.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.” Camille whispers back, a luminous smile growing on her face.

“Camille, I’ve been a complete fool, I know that. But I have to know… if you still…” Ethan stumbles over his words, his grip on her tightening in thinly veiled desperation.

“If I still love you back?” she prompts, her light and teasing tone a far cry from her earlier anguish.

Ethan nods, the agony of not knowing threatening to consume him altogether.

Camille’s expression softens, and her fingers drift to his face, tenderly tracing the contour of his cheekbone.

“Of course I do. How could I not?” she asks with a soft laugh, lifting one shoulder in a bashful shrug that is entirely too alluring. His eyes trail over her exposed collarbone.

Ethan can’t wait to take her to his suite upstairs and find out if the skin under that red dress is as sweet as he remembers. But there will be plenty of time for that later, after he hears the three words that have been haunting him ever since she boarded that plane.

“Say it. Please.” Ethan presses his forehead to hers, unbridled joy threatening to bring him to his knees. There are few scenarios that involve the great Ethan Ramsey being reduced to begging, and every last one centers around the gorgeous, brilliant woman in front of him.

“I love you, too.”

This time, she pushes herself onto her tiptoes to close the distance beteen them. And when their lips meet, Ethan knows that he has made the right decision. Edenbrook, Boston, he can take or leave all of it, as long as he has her.

***

Tagging separately since I have no idea if tumblr will decide to work or not :)

#open heart #ethan ramsey #oph #oh #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc #open heart fanfiction #playchoices

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internationalrealestatenews · 11 months ago

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script-a-world · 5 years ago

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I hope this isn't a silly question but can beaches be in downtown areas? I personally live in a downtown area full of high rises with the harbour right in front of it. So why can't harbour be replaced with beach. Also some beach pics I find actually have lots of high rises in the backdrop, aren't those downtown areas too? Anyway both my beta and a writing friend are saying that beach in downtown makes no sense.

Synth: Downtown beaches are absolutely a thing that exist, though depending on the level of urbanization, they may not be naturally occurring ones. Last year the city I live in built a permanent beach downtown. Replaced an old docking area with gently sloping concrete slabs and dumped a whole load of sand on them. It has been very popular. IIRC Paris does something similar, trucking in huge amounts of sand to build temporary beaches in a few spots along the Seine during summertime (IDK what happens with all the sand when summer is over). If your city was carefully planned by the original builders, it’s not far-fetched at all to think they would have worked around any already existing natural beaches to preserve them for its citizens’ use.

Tex: I need to orient myself a little bit on this question, so I’m going to pull out a few definitions here.

Downtown:

Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English-speakers to refer to a city's commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart, and is often synonymous with its central business district(CBD). In British English, the term "city centre" is most often used instead. The two terms are used interchangeably in Colombia.

The Oxford English Dictionary's first citation for "down town" or "downtown" dates to 1770, in reference to the center of Boston.[2] Some have posited that the term "downtown" was coined in New York City, where it was in use by the 1830s to refer to the original town at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan.[3] As the town of New York grew into a city, the only direction it could grow on the island was toward the north, proceeding upriver from the original settlement, the "up" and "down" terminology coming from the customary map design in which up was north and down was south.[3] Thus, anything north of the original town became known as "uptown" (Upper Manhattan), and was generally a residential area, while the original town – which was also New York's only major center of business at the time – became known as "downtown" (Lower Manhattan).[3]

Beach:

A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles. The particles can also be biological in origin, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae.

Some beaches have man-made infrastructure, such as lifeguard posts, changing rooms, showers, shacks and bars. They may also have hospitality venues (such as resorts, camps, hotels, and restaurants) nearby. Wild beaches, also known as undeveloped or undiscovered beaches, are not developed in this manner. Wild beaches can be appreciated for their untouched beauty and preserved nature.

Beaches typically occur in areas along the coast where wave or current action deposits and reworks sediments.

Harbour:

A harbor or harbour (see spelling differences; synonyms: wharves, haven) is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term harbor is often used interchangeably with port, which is a man-made facility built for loading and unloading vessels and dropping off and picking up passengers. Ports usually include one or more harbors. Alexandria Port in Egypt is an example of a port with two harbors.

Harbors may be natural or artificial. An artificial harbor can have deliberately constructed breakwaters, sea walls, or jettys or they can be constructed by dredging, which requires maintenance by further periodic dredging. An example of an artificial harbor is Long Beach Harbor, California, United States, which was an array of salt marshes and tidal flats too shallow for modern merchant ships before it was first dredged in the early 20th century.[1] In contrast, a natural harbor is surrounded on several sides by prominences of land. Examples of natural harbors include Sydney Harbour, Australia and Trincomalee Harbour in Sri Lanka.

Since “downtown” usually means a highly-developed area, there’s a 50/50 chance that they’ll even be near a body of water - and if they are, the coastal areas are possibly also developed into harbours/wharves because water transportation of goods is economically efficient. Under these constraints, a beach would be a stretch of un- or under-developed coastline that doesn’t generate as much revenue for the taxable area it’s connected to compared to a harbour.

Frequently, beaches generate revenue under the auspices of tourism, which means that the area would be cultivated accordingly - esplanades, or promenades, are a popular choice, and often grow near a harbor as a natural extension of a money-generating area. Seaside resorts are a closely-related cousin of esplanades, and sometimes have the focus of being a retreat.

Many of the beaches I’ve been to that have high-rises in the background are either those of hotels - who might own the beach property adjacent to their building(s) - or those of businesses. Idyllic beachfront properties that have a low overall skyline can be low-populated areas (which usually mean drawing a low-income from tourism), protected areas of varying degrees, unsafe for people to play in, or are owned by people in the immediate residential areas and thus private property.

Artificially-constructed beaches, as Synth mentioned, are possible but often costly because of the amount of effort and material that needs to be brought in. Those who build such things need to consider the possible costs and revenue of a beach compared to a harbor, and whether it would be financially beneficial for the area to convert it.

Highly-developed areas like city centers carry the risk of polluting the nearby environment, as evidenced by the history of:

The Nashua River in the US

The Ganges River of the Indian subcontinent

The Citarum River in Indonesia

The Yellow River in China

The Sarno River in Italy

The Matanza River of Argentina

The Gulf of Mexico “dead zone”

The Kamilo Beach of Hawai’i

Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Bajos de Haina in the Dominican Republic

Hann Bay in Senegal

Your beta and writing friend do, unfortunately, have a point - downtown beaches are rarely a thing, and if they are then they’re not likely to be very well-maintained or aesthetically-pleasing. It is possible to have one, if they follow the model that Synth mentioned, but it’s usually expensive, time-consuming, difficult to keep sufficiently clean, and their existence needs to be balanced against the current revenue-generating area that is probably a harbour.

If the society you’re worldbuilding settles a coastal area with the intent to preserve the coast and develop it into a beach, you have a good shot of putting one into your story, but harbours are disinclined in many ways to be replaced by a beach.

Constablewrites: Our idea of the beach as a pleasant leisure destination seems to have started with the English upper classes in the 1700s, and expanded as the growth of the middle class and advances in travel technology made tourism accessible to a larger population. And the business district of a city is built on commerce, which in our world heavily involves shipping. So if the city was developed before industrialization, its planners were far more likely to look at a beach and think “what a terrible place to unload a ship, we should fix that” than “oh, how pretty, people might come here to relax.” Plus, “downtown” generally refers to an area of only a few square miles at most where real estate is in high demand, so any stretch of open land is unlikely to remain open for long.

Now, because today we do value beaches as pleasant leisure destinations, it’s entirely possible that a city might create an artificial beach along its coast. River beaches are also a thing in several European cities, and many of them are temporary summer installations made with imported sand. And though they’re unlikely to be strictly in the downtown area, you can indeed find beaches in highly urbanized areas like in Miami, Vancouver, and frankly most of Southern California but let’s specifically say Santa Monica. But a city developing organically isn’t going to have a beach unless there’s significant incentive to designate and maintain one instead of using that land for something more lucrative. And unless the city was founded and built specifically around tourism, a beach is always going to be in addition to a city’s harbor, never in place of it. (Hell, even then. Cruise ships were one of the earliest and still an extremely popular method of tourism, and even if your tourists want to see the beach, they’re not getting to it without a harbor.)

Feral: Downtowns may be on waterfronts, but as previously pointed out, downtowns are generally not going to be developed on naturally occurring beaches, here being the sandy, ocean front stretches of land. Tex and Constable bring up great points about economic incentive, but also consider the physical constraints of what can be built on the beach - I think Jesus had something to say about building castles on sand, and as the son of a carpenter, I think he would know. In the States, Chicago and Charleston come to mind as being particularly relevant to your query.

Chicago is on Lake Michigan, which does have a sandy beach that is somewhat removed from downtown by various parks and smaller scale infrastructure. Downtown Charleston is a peninsula formed by the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers where they join to flow into the ocean, creating a small bay. The beaches associated with Charleston are actually on the nearby islands, not downtown Charleston, which has piers, wharfs, etc, as expected in a city founded by pirates.

A lot of the question of whether you can feasibly “build” a downtown on a beach is how built - literally - up you want it to be. The incredible innovation that went into building Chicago’s downtown, particularly its high rises and skyscrapers, is pretty well known in a general sense but you might want to look into how they were able to accomplish what they have given the very difficult topography. Charleston has no skyscrapers. In addition to the unstable, sandy soil, building in Charleston is made more unstable by being in an earthquake prone area. The big issues with downtowns being on traditional sandy beaches are the quality of the soil and bedrock and the question of erosion, which is a greater issue when dealing with ocean currents and tides.

Basically, it’s not impossible for a downtown area to have a beach, but given the issues that beaches present to building a downtown and the economic influences of why there would or would not be a beach, it’s unlikely without a lot of story behind it. And as you’re writing a story… that might be worthwhile to you. Or it might be a distraction from the story you really want to tell.

#pylons #beaches #Anonymous

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beersfromthebleachers · 5 years ago

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2019 Season Review and Post Season Predictions

The 2019 MLB regular season is in the books as October approaches and the playoffs get underway. To compare what I predicted at the beginning of the season, click here for the original post. This post will break down each division champion and their pathway to the playoffs. Finally, this post will finish with my predictions on what will happen in the playoffs. Let's dive in:

American League Wild Card Teams:

Oakland Athletics

Another year where the Athletics will face off in the Wild Card matchup, and this time they have home field advantage in order to advance to the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros. The Athletics finished the regular season at 97-65, ten games behind the first place Astros. The Billy Beane faithful kept the competition together from the second half of the season while the remainder of the competition fell apart amongst the Texans, Angels, and Mariners. Mike Fiers was the club's best pitcher, throwing his second career no-hitter during the first half of the season. Shortstop Marcus Semien led the team in WAR, setting a career-high with 8.1 and also led in RBIs with 92. First baseman Matt Olson and third baseman Matt Chapman led the team in home runs with 36 apiece respectively. The Athletics are out for revenge after being eliminated by the Yankees last season. They will be hosting the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card Game on Wednesday.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays remained in playoff contention from the very start of the 2019 campaign. In the beginning, they led their division for the first third of the season. By the time the Yankees took over at first, the Rays did not trickle far off behind. The Rays finished the season at 96-66, stomping out the reigning champion Boston Red Sox from returning to the playoffs. Free agent addition Charlie Morton brought talents to St. Petersburg and led the rotation over Cy Young winner Blake Snell, who struggled with injury on and off during the season. The Rays' hitting was slightly below average, but the team's OPS was .757. To win in the playoffs, you must have the bullpen bolstered in order to close out games. The Rays, however, they know how to take advantage of bullpens late in the game. It will be interesting to see how this team will do facing the Athletics on Wednesday in the Wild Card game.

American League Central Champion Minnesota Twins

It was unfortunate to see the Cleveland Indians fall apart and start to see the beginning of their "window close" for a chance to go for a title after being in the World Series three seasons ago. The Minnesota Twins took advantage of the American League Central and did not let off the gas to win the division for the first time in almost a decade. The Twins had the second-best record in franchise history at 101-61 and was one run short of tying their best record in a regular season. The Twins' rotation was spearheaded by Jose Berrios and a handful of ragtag pitchers like Jake Odorizzi and Kyle Gibson. The rotation alone owned a K/9 of 8.76 which is more than impressive from a group of seasoned veterans. The Twins' hitting is also nothing to sleep on either, as their entire staff holds an OPS of .832. These boys can hit, get on base, and score very fast. Behind All-Star Jorge Polanco, this is a Twins team that will look dangerous in October.

American League East Champion New York Yankees

After watching in the shadow of their all-time rival win another championship, the New York Yankees went to work and geared up to take the division back and make it rightfully theirs. The fight for the division was not easy, the Yankees started the season battered and bruised without some of their best players. Players that stepped up for the Bronx Bombers were Gio Urshela, Luke Voit, and DJ LeMahieu, who was arguably the best Yankee this season. Yankees pitching struggled to keep their rotation's total ERA under four, as the only one that went under that number was James Paxton, who the Yankees traded for in the offseason. However, Paxton struggled with injury and could not maintain his dominance as he had with the Seattle Mariners. The Yankees' bullpen is still one of the best in the league and will be the most difficult to hit against in the American League playoffs. Expect the Yankees to run deep, but they need to get passed the Twins first in the division series.

American League West Champion Houston Astros

Insert the team that is out for blood and looking to return to the Fall Classic after winning their first franchise title two years ago. The Houston Astros were cut short of returning to the World Series after losing to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. Locked and loaded with even a better roster than the season before, the team looks like the favorite to win it all once again. The batting is familiar, but it is Alex Bregman that takes charge as the best player in the batting order, followed by the man who was the MVP for them when they won it; George Springer. Not to mention their rotation is lethal for postseason after adding Zack Grienke to go alongside Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. The Astros are scary good and will take a miracle to beat. They will host the Wild Card winner between the Rays and Athletics.

National League Wild Card Teams

Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals did everything possible to return to the playoffs for the first time, and they did it without the player that they missed out on resigning; Bryce Harper. With tenacity and skill, the Nationals ended the season with a final record of 93-69 which earned them the first Wild-Card spot of the National League. Their pitching has remained consistent behind Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and the newly added Patrick Corbin, while their offense has been firing on all cylinders especially behind third baseman Anthony Rendon. The bullpen for the Nationals is what holds the biggest question mark for the team. Struggling to close out games that are close, their bullpen will most likely need help from their starters going deeper in games this October. This postseason run might be all or nothing for the Nationals, they might be losing some key players in the off-season, including Rendon and Strasburg.

Milwaukee Brewers

After scrapping and clawing their way back from the brink of elimination, the Milwaukee Brewers returned to the playoffs in back to back seasons. With help from division rival of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Brewers were able to return as a Wild Card team after the elimination of the Chicago Cubs. It didn’t come easy for the Brew Crew, but the team limped to the finish line with Final season record of 89-73. In a season after being crowned the National League MVP, Christian Yelich looked like he was going to continue where he left off from last season. His numbers included 44 home runs, 97 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases while hitting .329 in batting average. The Brewers pitching, however, is in some trouble, even in an elimination game format they will have a tough time sending Brandon Woodruff to the mound against Max Scherzer. Sleeping on the Milwaukee Brewers could be dangerous, as they have a fast-hitting offense and a great caliber defense. If they get past the Wild Card expect them to give the Dodgers a difficult time.

National League Central Champion St. Louis Cardinals

The Saint Louis Cardinals returned to the playoffs after a four year hiatus. The Red Birds loaded up on talent in the offseason by filling their gap at first base with Paul Goldschmidt, who made a huge impact on the team with 34 home runs and 97 RBIs. Marcell Ozuna finally came out of his shell and got back to looking like the player he was in Miami, slashing with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs. Paul DeJong made a statement being one of the best shortstops in the game on both sides of the field, and he complimented it with his bat with a total of 30 home runs. The Cards' pitching was also phenomenal led by Jack Flaherty in the rotation that exceeded expectations accompanied by Dakota Hudson and veteran Adam Wainwright. The Cardinals have some of the best experience with handling the postseason. They have all the right tools to run deep enough in the playoffs and compete with anyone. It will be interesting on how the division series will matchup against the Atlanta Braves.

National League East Division Champion Atlanta Braves

Alongside the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves are one of two teams that defended their division title and is returning to the postseason for the second year in a row. The fruits of the young farm system are coming in at the best time for a team that is young and hungry to becoming a championship caliber team. The Braves ended the season 97-65, defending against a heavily talented division that was loaded with competition. Ronald Acuña Jr. was on his way to make history and became a 30-30 man with 41 home runs and 37 stolen bases before getting injured. He was accompanied from the heavy bats of Josh Donaldson, Ozzie Albies, and Freddie Freeman. Even former first overall draft pick, Dansby Swanson finally started pulling his weight with the team. The Braves pitching is sneaky with getting quick innings done. A rotation including Mike Soroka, Max Fried, and Dallas Kuechel is more than ready to face any opponent in the playoffs. Watching this series between the Cardinals and Braves will be more than entertaining, whoever comes out of this fight will most likely be a fan favorite in the National League Championship Series.

National League West Division Champion Los Angeles Dodgers

If at first you do no succeed; try, try again…and again…and again for the third time in a row. The Los Angeles Dodgers have been the favorite to compete and win the World Series, except this year they have everything to show for it. After dropping the World Series for the second straight year in a row, the team has been succeeding with a formula of having as many players as possible play the field and score late in games. The playstyle is almost foolproof, there is little to no show of failure in this Dodgers team. Cody Bellinger was the only baseball player showing his talents and challenging Yelich for his MVP title. He finished the season with 47 home runs, 115 RBIs, and a batting average of .305. His supporting cast is collection of young talent that has transitioned well with Max Muncy, Austin Barnes, and the resurgence of Corey Seager to the Dodger lineup. The rotation also had the rise of Hyun-Jin Ryu who led the National League in ERA for the first half of the season. Walker Buehler also did not fall to the sophomore curse and proved his worth to bolster the rotation. Clayton Kershaw kept his cool and remained supreme being the ace of this rotation. The only Achilles' heel to the Dodgers is their bullpen, who have been giving up more runs late in the game than they should. Still, they were the king of the walk-off, so do not be surprised if you see late-game dramatics from this young Dodgers team.

Where does this leave my prediction of the playoffs? In a perfect world, I would love to see a team that has never won a title in their franchise history between the Tampa Bay Rays or the Milwaukee Brewers, both Wild Card teams that no one should ever sleep on in the playoffs. The realist in me has strong consideration of seeing the return matchup between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the same result as before. Zack Grienke will get his bitter revenge by blanking the Dodgers in a championship game resulting him to be the World Series MVP. The pennant championships will be wild series to watch as well. The American League Championship Series will be the Astros beating the New York Yankees in quick orderly fashion. The National League Championship Series will see the Atlanta Braves dragging out a seven-game series against the Dodgers, who will go on to win it in walk-off fashion. It will be one crazy October to watch, let's see who we will see in the Fall Classic!

#journal #2019 season #baseball #playoffs #october #fall classic #mlb #mlb playoffs #Oakland Athletics #Tampa Bay Rays #minnesota twins #new york yankees #houston astros #Washington Nationals #Milwaukee Brewers #St. Louis Cardinals #atlanta braves #los angeles dodgers

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ofcmasons · 5 years ago

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here are my babies plots :--)

Mason Grey

✧ · ˚ . charles melton ? nah, that’s just mason grey. you know, they’re the twenty three year-old musician from miami, florida… still doesn’t ring a bell ? come on, dude ! they’re all over ME.MIAMI’S homepage. it’s impossible for them to stay off of it because of the fact that they’re super closed-off & moody they’re not all bad though, ‘cause they can be determined & protective too ! you can totally tell they’re a cancer… it’s almost scary. look, if you want to remember them, just think of messy slept on hair, bruised knuckles, black painted fingernails and you’ll be golden. ( he/him, cis male. )

- classic dirtbag, doesn’t think about his actions nor does he care, smokes a whole lotta weed and drinks more than he should, has fam issues and is generally just a reall emo boi

- his vc is bazzi

FAMILIAL

paternal cousins - OPEN

maternal cousins - OPEN

ROMANTIC

“dating” / generally heart eyes for - Lavender

exes on good terms - OPEN

exes on bad terms - Sahar, Willow

flirty friendship - Alek, Adella

PLATONIC

best friend/bandmate - Parker

close friend/confidant - OPEN

childhood friends - Mariana

sibling-like bond - OPEN

music writing pals - OPEN

bad influence on - Kaia

party friends - Jade

casual friends/generally on good terms with - Logan, Casey, Milo, Duncan

NEGATIVE

bad terms - OPEN

former friends - OPEN

Eloise Ferguson

✧ · ˚ . cindy kimberly ? nah, that’s just eloise ferguson. you know, they’re the twenty year-old musician from san francisco, california… still doesn’t ring a bell ? come on, dude ! they’re all over ME.MIAMI’S homepage. it’s impossible for them to stay off of it because of the fact that they’re super indecisive & distracted they’re not all bad though, ‘cause they can be soft-hearted & delicate too ! you can totally tell they’re a pisces… it’s almost scary. look, if you want to remember them, just think of oversized sweaters, soft glowy makeup, doodling hearts on everything and you’ll be golden. ( she/her, cis female. )

- a soft bean, loves the colour yellow, never curses (if she does you know you’re in trouble), always puts everyone else first, dad was a fuckwit so #daddyissues but in the most emo way, is awkward at the best of times and doesn’t understand the concept of inside voices when she’s passionate about something

- her vc’s are mxmtoon and hailee steinfeld!!

FAMILIAL

paternal cousins - OPEN

maternal cousins - OPEN

ROMANTIC

first love/ex fiancé - Alek

current fwb - OPEN

exes on good terms - OPEN

ex that broke her heart - Theo

flirty friendship - OPEN

PLATONIC

best friend - Jade, Dahlia

childhood best friends - Gabriel

protective friendship - Milo

PR friends - Jinx

flirty friendship - Elvie

good influence on - Kaia

music writing pals - OPEN

confidant/families suck squad - Scout

people who get her out of her shell - Lavender, Mariana

casual friends/generally on good terms with - Hal, Casey, Willow, Adella

NEGATIVE

bad terms - Brielle

former friends - OPEN

Jessica Parkes

✧ · ˚ . camila marrone? nah, that’s just jessica parkes. you know, they’re the twenty year-old actress from byron bay, australia… still doesn’t ring a bell ? come on, dude ! they’re all over ME.MIAMI’S homepage. it’s impossible for them to stay off of it because of the fact that they’re super picky & reserved they’re not all bad though, ‘cause they can be intuitive & generous too ! you can totally tell they’re an aquarius… it’s almost scary. look, if you want to remember them, just think of sun kissed skin, polaroids scattered around her room & really really bad dad jokes and you’ll be golden. ( she/her, cis female. )

- just an easy going gal that just wants to have fun and make sure everyone is having fun too! jordan is her brother and she looks up to him and they’re best friends!! oh and she won’t take people’s shit, don’t piss her off she will run her mouth until she loses her voice and tbh isn’t scared to throw hands

FAMILIAL

big brother - Jordan

paternal cousins - OPEN

maternal cousins - OPEN

ROMANTIC

current fwb - Theo

exes on good terms - Casey

ex on bad terms - Parker

flirty friendship - OPEN

PLATONIC

best friend - OPEN (pls i’m desperate)

childhood best friends - OPEN

protective friendship - OPEN

good influence on - OPEN

party friends - Gabriel

casual friends/generally on good terms with - OPEN

NEGATIVE

bad terms - OPEN

former friends - OPEN

#( plots. )#if i forgot anything please yell at me #i also stole jay's format ily bby

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devonartisrealtor · 5 years ago

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Are you considering making SouthWest Florida your home ?

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