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11 of the best places to visit in Portugal
Regis St. Louis
From the viewpoints of Lisbon to the beaches of the Algarve, here are the best places to go in Portugal © Gabriel Mello / Getty Images
Lisbon and Porto get all the love, but there's so much more to Portugal than its captivating historic cities.
Golden beaches, mountainous parks and lush river valleys are among the many highlights of this small Iberian nation.
Every region has its own diverse attractions, and finding the best place to go depends largely on your own interests. If you're after sun-kissed beaches and aquatic adventures, look to the Algarve; for historic architecture-filled towns with a rich, traditional dining scene, make your way to Évora. Here's a rundown of the top places to visit in Portugal.
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1. Lisbon
Best for nightlife
Seven iconic hills overlook Lisbon's postcard-perfect panorama of cobbled alleyways, white-domed cathedrals and grand civic squares – a captivating scene crafted over centuries. The Portuguese capital is packed with things to do, from browsing galleries (including the Museu Nacional do Azulejo with its trove of ceramic tiles) and exploring castles (such as the hilltop Castelo de São Jorge) to satisfying your sweet tooth with the city's incredible pastel de nata (custard tart). By night, Lisbon's party people take over, filling old-school drinking dens, brassy jazz clubs and open-all-night clubs that burst into life once the sun goes down.
Planning tip: Lisbon has an emerging craft beer scene that you can experience at the city's breweries and bars.
Portugal's beautiful Douro Valley is the perfect place to try local wines © De Visu / Shutterstock
2. Douro Valley
Best place to drink wine
One of Portugal's most beautiful areas lies just east of Porto. Here, the meandering Rio Douro flows past towering hillsides covered by the steeply terraced vineyards that make up Europe's oldest demarcated wine region. Whether you come by boat, train or car to the Douro Valley, you'll be rewarded with astonishing views at every turn, especially as you near the lovely village of Pinhão in the heart of the region.
Planning tip: Many travelers dash in on a quick day trip, but to make the most of the region, spend the night at one of the vineyard-surrounded guesthouses in the area, such as Quinta Nova or the Casa Cimeira.
3. Sintra
Best for a fantastical escape
Less than an hour by train from the capital, Sintra feels like another world, and it's a great option for a day trip away from the city hubbub. Like a setting from a fairy tale, this historic hillside township is sprinkled with stone-walled taverns and lorded over by a multicolored palace.
Forested hillsides form the backdrop to this storybook setting, with imposing castles, mystical gardens, strange mansions and centuries-old monasteries hidden among the trees. The fog that sweeps in by night adds another layer of mystery.
Planning tip: Chilly evenings are best spent by the fire in one of Sintra's many charming B&Bs.
Be enchanted by the medieval streets of Óbidos © StockPhotosArt / Shutterstock
4. Óbidos
Best hilltop village
Wandering the tangle of ancient streets in the historic town of Óbidos is enchanting at any time of year, but come during one of its festivals, and you'll be in for a special treat. Whether you fancy the idea of a mock-up jousting match at a medieval fair or delving into the written word at Folio – Portugal's biggest international literature festival – you couldn't ask for a better backdrop.
5. Setúbal Peninsula
Best for wild, cliff-backed beaches
South of Lisbon, the Setúbal Peninsula has long been the weekend playground of Lisboetas (Lisbon residents). A ferry ride, followed by a short bus or bicycle ride, takes you to the Costa da Caparica, a seemingly endless beachfront that gets wilder and less crowded the further south you go. If you want a surf lesson, some downtime on the sands or a meal overlooking the lapping waves, this is the place to come.
If you're seeking a bit more solitude, head down to the Parque Natural da Arrábida at the southern end of the peninsula. Here, you'll find cliffs covered with thick vegetation, picturesque coves and beaches such as Praia do Portinho da Arrábida, with fine sand, azure waters and the ruins of an ancient site that dates back to Roman times.
Want some help? Let Elsewhere plan your next trip.
Porto is one of Portugal's most romantic cities © AnnaTamila / Shutterstock
Best for urban exploring
It would be hard to dream up a more romantic city than Porto. Portugal's second-largest urban center is laced with narrow pedestrian lanes, baroque churches and cafe-dotted plazas, leading the eye down to the Douro River and its landmark bridges. Needless to say, there's no shortage of great experiences here. Start in the Ribeira district – a Unesco World Heritage Site – then cross the bridge to explore centuries-old port wineries in Vila Nova de Gaia, where you can sip the world's best port.
You can also learn about Porto's history (both the drink and the city) and other facets of Portuguese identity at the World of Wine, a sprawling complex of museums, restaurants and bars overlooking the city. Though Porto is defined by its air of dignified history, modern architecture, cosmopolitan dining, vibrant nightlife and artistic activity are injecting new life into the city.
7. The Minho
Best for traditional villages and wilderness trails
The Portuguese have a special fondness for the Minho, a verdant region of vineyard-covered valleys, mountainous wilds, isolated beaches and picturesque river towns that seem little changed by time. The gateway to the region is Braga, a city with Roman ruins, a fabled medieval cathedral and tranquil flower-trimmed plazas sprinkled with outdoor cafes and restaurants.
Further north, you'll find Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês, a vast, rugged wilderness of dramatic peaks, meandering streams and frozen-in-time stone villages. Dozens of hiking trails crisscross the reserve, taking walkers past old Roman roads, castle ruins or sparkling waterfalls.
Planning tip: If you're here in summer, cool down in the idyllic swimming holes – these are one of the best places to be in Portugal during the hot weather.
The historic center of Évora is a Unesco World Heritage Site © Takashi Images / Shutterstock
8. Évora
Best for historical architecture
The heart of the Alentejo region, Évora is one of Portugal's most beautifully preserved medieval towns, and it's an enchanting place to spend a couple of days. Inside the 14th-century walls, narrow, winding lanes lead to striking monuments, including an elaborate medieval cathedral, Roman ruins and a picturesque town square. But this isn't a musty museum piece – Évora is also a lively university town, and its many restaurants serve up some excellent, hearty Alentejan cuisine.
9. Coimbra
Best for a student vibe
Portugal's most atmospheric college town, Coimbra, rises steeply from the Rio Mondego, and its handsome medieval quarter houses one of Europe's oldest universities. Students roam the narrow streets clad in black capes, while the sound of fado (Portugal's soulful traditional style of music) drifts through the Moorish town gates towards the stained-glass windows of the historic Café Santa Cruz.
Planning tip: Grown-ups may well appreciate the town's student-driven nightlife and the medieval lanes of the steeply stacked historic center. Visitors with younger kids can keep busy at Portugal dos Pequenitos, a theme park with miniature versions of Portuguese monuments.
The Algarve is a top family destination © Santiago Bañón / Getty Images
10. The Algarve
Best for a relaxing family holiday
Sunseekers have much to celebrate in Portugal. Along the south coast, the Algarve is famed for its gorgeous and varied coastline, and you can join the crowds on the people-packed sands at major resorts or find seaside peace on dramatic wild beaches backed by wind-carved cliffs. Days are spent playing in the waves, taking long oceanfront strolls, or surfing some of Europe's most memorable breaks. The Algarve is also one of the best places in Portugal for kids. You'll find family-friendly beaches, water parks and plenty of outdoor adventures (from boating to hidden sea caves to exploring undeveloped islands).
Planning tip: There's never a bad time to visit this region, with its 300 days of sunshine each year, though you'll find the best prices and thinnest crowds in winter.
11. Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela
Best for hiking and alpine activities in winter
The Serra da Estrela – Portugal's highest mountain range – is the place to come for rugged scenery, outdoor adventures, and glimpses of a vanishing traditional way of life. Hikers can choose from an expansive network of high-country trails with stupendous vistas, and the region's fascinating mountain villages make perfect bases for outdoor adventures.
At the country's highest point – the summit of Torre, artificially pushed to 2000m (6561ft) by the addition of a not-so-subtle stone monument – you can slalom down Portugal's only ski slope. Oh, and did we mention the furry sheepdog puppies that frolic by the roadside? You'll long to take one home!
This article was first published June 2021 and updated January 2023
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Ogden on Politics
"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph." Haile Selassie
Indiana's Restrictions on Voters Worse than 1965 Alabama? It's Not Even Close
Yesterday, WTLC host Amos Brown sparked a debate on whether new "restrictions" proposed by two Republican Senators would make Indiana like Selma, Alabama. In Amos' Twitter post linking to an editorial he wrote he declared: "Read About Republican Efforts To Restrict Voters In Indiana in 2015 Worse Than Selma In 1965!"
Going to Amos' editorial, fortunately the radio host stepped a bit back from the Twitter declaration, posing his comparison more in the form of a question:
Amelia Boynton, one of the
organizers of the first Selma
voting rights marches, knocked
"Is Indiana turning into the Selma Alabama of 50 years ago? Two bills in the Indiana Senate could impose new, severe restrictions on voting and voting rights almost as bad as the restrictions in Selma in 1965."
Still... "almost as bad?" Seriously, Amos?
Let me say at the outset that I greatly appreciate the work Amos Brown does. As a radio host and writer he has exposed more self-dealing and outright corruption than all the Indianapolis Star writers combined. He also provides a forum for candidates, regardless of their party, to get much needed exposure. Amos has strong opinions, another trait I appreciate. However, I am a big fan of history and when Amos makes utterly baseless historical comparisons to advance his opinions, I have to call him out on it.
Before turning back the pages of history 50 years, let's take a look at the two bills of which Amos complains. Senate Bill 466, introduced by Sen. Pete Miller (R-Avon) has introduced what Amos declares an "unnecessary rewrite of election law." Amos though focuses on his claim that the bill "would make it virtually impossible for college students to vote where they attend college in Indiana." I don't have strong opinions on the issue. It should be noted that even at best, college students are extremely poor voters. As a Ball State college student, I was an exception to the rule in terms of voting. However, even though I was going to school full-time in Muncie, I certainly didn't consider myself a Muncie resident. I voted where I considered my real residence to be, my parent's home in Madison where I spent the summers.
The other bill is Senate Bill 535, authored by Sen. Michael Young (R-Indianapolis) which would require the addition of a person's voter identification number on a voter's application for an absentee ballot. According to the proposed legislation, the voter could get the number by calling the secretary of state's office or going on line to a special website set up to obtain the information. The bill also requires that the secretary of state send out a mailing to each voter telling each person his or her voter identification number. Young's proposal is undoubtedly aimed at the problem we have with our voter registration rolls that show many counties having more than 100% registration due to all the deceased voters and people registered at multiple locations.
But Amos didn't stop at saying these are bad ideas that could lead to disenfranchisement. Rather he said that the proposals were so onerous that they could make Indiana's voting system as bad as that of Selma, whose voting obstacles and civil rights protests in response thereto sparked a movie of the same name.
Unfortunately Amos' comparison undermines the obstacles black voters in the 1960s faced in the old Confederacy. Although Selma was a majority black city, the city's voter registration rolls in 1965 were 99% white and 1% black. That situation sparked three voting rights marches that year, including the first one that ended up with 600 protesters being attacked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge by state troopers and a county posse armed with billy clubs and tear gas.
Those who risked their lives to march in the Selma marches did so protesting a lot more than putting a number on an absentee application or where college students should vote. Although guaranteed the right to vote by 15th Amendment, for African-Americans living in the states of the Old Confederacy, the guarantee was an empty one. Because states had control over their own elections, southern states after the Civil War enacted a slew of methods to prevent blacks from voting. Many of these new restrictions exempted people's whose grandfather's had the right to vote before the Civil War. Obviously anyone who had descended from slaves, i.e. African-Americans, would not have been granted the waiver.
In the 1920s, the Democratic Party in many southern states adopted "white primaries which excluded blacks from voting for the Democratic nominee. In most places in the south, there was no Republican Party and thus the Democratic nomination was tantamount to election. It wasn't until 1944 that the white primary was struck down as unconstitutional racial discrimination by the Supreme Court.
But while white primaries had bitten the dust by 1965, Alabama African-Americans still faced enormous obstacles. Alabama required an annual poll tax of $1.50 ($11.27 in today's dollars) and imposed literacy and understanding the constitution tests. People wanting to register to vote had to go to the county courthouse and registration in many counties was only a couple days a week. When it was learned that African-Americans wanted to register, many clerks simply closed the voter registration office. Alabama voter registration forms were four pages or more and many counties required you have a "supporting witness" to vouch for you.
The effect of these discriminatory measures on African-Americans registration was substantial. At the time of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, only 23% of African-Americans were registered to vote in Alabama and only 7% in Mississippi. As noted above, the situation in Selma was even worse with only 1% black registration in city where African-Americans had a majority.
Returning to Indiana, the Secretary of State reports that Indiana has a registration of 4,593,222, when compared to the census numbers for adults over 18 who live in the state, that amounts to a 92% registration rate. A conclusion that Republicans are trying to turn Indiana into Selma of 1965 by imposing "restrictions" on registration and voting can only be arrived at by ignoring history and downplaying the very real obstacles Africans-Americans have faced in securing the franchise.
Posted by Paul K. Ogden at 12:18 PM
Labels: Civil Rights, Voter Registration, Voting Rights Act
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Paul K. Ogden
I have been an attorney since the Fall of 1987. I have worked in every branch of government, including a stint as a Deputy Attorney General, a clerk for a judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals, and I have worked three sessions at the Indiana State Senate. During my time as a lawyer, I have worked not only in various government positions, but also in private practice as a trial attorney handing an assortment of mostly civil cases. I have also been politically active and run this blog in an effort to add my voice to those calling for reform.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Skålahalvøya est une péninsule située au sud-ouest de Molde dans le comté de Møre og Romsdal, en Norvège. La majeure partie de la péninsule fait partie de la commune de Molde, l'autre partie appartenant à la commune voisine de Nesset.

Skålahalvøya est dominée par la plus haute montagne de la commune : Skåla (1128 m). Les localités sont Hovdenakken (308 habitants) et Nesjestranda (411 habitants). La péninsule qui n'avait qu'une liaison ferry pour Molde a, depuis 1991, une liaison par route via le pont de Bolsøya et le tunnel du Fannefjord : cette partie de la route nationale 64 est appelée Skålavegen. La péninsule de Skålahalvøya a aussi une liaison pour Åndalsnes par la route 64, via un passage en ferry entre Sølsnes et Åfarnes.

Péninsule en Norvège
Géographie du comté de Møre og Romsdal
Molde

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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An Interview With: Jim Beers
April 24, 2006 Bisnow
Jim Beers is one of the elder statesmen of commercial real estate in Washington, advising developers and others for over 40 years on accounting, taxes, transaction structuring, succession planning and general business matters. Today, at 67, he spends three weeks each month in London helping a longtime client develop shopping mall projects throughout Europe. This month he matched a gift of his firm and together they contributed a quarter million dollars to George Mason University's School of Management for the James R. Beers scholars. Beers & Cutler, founded by Beers and his colleague John Cutler in 1976 with one other employee and 800 square feet at 18th and M (see more colorful details below), now has 250 employees, $40 million in revenue, and a shiny big building in Tysons Corner it moved into last September.Editor's Note: One of the bonuses of publishing these newsletters is the chance to come to know my sponsors, who tend to be major names in Washington business, both companies and people who are very much a part of the scene that these newsletters cover. So I trust readers will understand when on occasion I interview one of my sponsors—I wouldn't do so unless they are certifiably important and interesting. Jim Beers is an example who clearly fits that description.
Bisnow on Business: Given your humble roots 30 years ago, what do you think when you drive up to the office and see this huge Beers & Cutler sign on Leesburg Pike?
That they couldn't possibly have made it any bigger?
No! That you're such a big institution.
Well, I reflect back on the decisions that John and I made when we started the firm in terms of focus, and I think that has served us well. We wanted to hire the best people, but that was not so easy in the beginning as you tell candidates, "This is a really wonderful opportunity," and the person's looking around your small office thinking, "You gotta' be kidding."
You were competing with the Big Eight back then.
And some very good local firms. So we decided we had to focus. For example, we said no to auditing public companies, and we've stuck to that. We did not do stand-alone individual tax returns. We made these decisions because otherwise it would have diluted our resources. When condominiums became a big deal, we didn't do work for condominium associations.
On the other hand, you said yes to real estate.
Yes, and today we have more than 70 professionals including six partners serving the real estate practice. This whole floor is our real estate group. We let Ed [Offterdinger, managing partner since 2000] share the space up here, but that's just so that he can feel important. And we have a terrific law firm practice, the largest one in Washington. We have the dominant auto dealer practice in Washington. We have a wonderful government contracting practice. But the thing that ties them all together is that they're entrepreneurial businesses. We work for over a third of the largest commercial real estate developers in this area and a third of the largest general contractors, doing not just traditional audits and tax returns, but an enormous amount of transaction structuring, tax planning, and succession planning.
You've been watching the real estate scene for 43 years. How's it changed?
Most of the real estate development in the 60's was private development done by such people as Oliver Carr and Charles E. Smith. The developers were mostly local and the capital investment was relatively modest. They would raise money among friends and business associates. There's been an enormous amount of capital wealth created by successful developers who brought in partners, such as JBG, Carr, Smith and Quadrangle. But the landscape changed gradually as real estate became much more expensive and capital intensive. Washington started attracting large institutional and international investors which, combined with growth in the federal government and related independent businesses attracted more "big money players," making it more challenging for the small guys.
How does that change your activities when you have more outside institutions coming in like Boston Properties and Hines?
That does shrink the market a bit since we don't audit public companies, but we do consulting and other special projects for them. It's interesting because some of our clients will have transactions with private institutions like Blue Capital based in Germany, then Blue Capital will end up hiring us to do select work for them because they understand we have local knowledge, real estate expertise and relevant tax skills. And so that continues to add opportunities, and we get an awful lot of international and institutional clients.
Is it harder to be a small real estate entrepreneur now in Washington?
One of the things you have to do is try to figure out what part of the market the big guys are not playing in. So you can have somebody say, "Okay, I'm going to start off with developments that are in the five to ten million dollar range," whereas a big company says, "We've got a fifty million dollar cutoff because we don't want to fool around." It's just as time-consuming to buy something for five million as 50 million or 200 million, because you still have all the legal work and due diligence. The smaller developers may be more willing to take a risk. I remember when a Watergate building was sold a while back and there was some small environmental risk associated with it. And it was thought to be almost a non-event. But it might take a large developer out of it because they can't take that risk, so somebody local can step in and say, "I know how to manage that risk." Then you also see smaller developers who come in and decide to go into an untested market either way out in the suburbs or parts of DC that have not yet been developed and that the big institutions are not interested in. The big guys want to be on K Street, the East End, Tysons Corner or something established. So there are still lots of opportunities for these smart young developers who want to start their own business.
Your name is up in lights in Tysons, but you've spent much of the last three years in London?
I've been going over every month for three weeks a month, working for a developer there who builds outlet shopping centers. He's built seven in the UK and seven on the continent. I originally went over for a limited period of time to help organize the finance department, and became more actively involved in the transactional aspects of the business. So now I'm helping in financing and joint venture negotiations with Italian real estate developers, Austrian insurance companies, UK institutional investment funds, and so on.
Are you doing this individually or wearing your Beers & Cutler hat?
Individually.
And how did you get involved in this?
A client of the firm went to London to set up a business. I'd known and worked with him for 35 years and he knew that I had changed my role here. It's been seven years since I decided that the firm needed to start preparing for a change. I had been managing partner for almost 25 years. The developer knew I had terrific partners who were running Beers & Cutler and doing all the work, and he said, "Why don't you come over and spend six months?"
But you ended up staying three years in London, and still counting.
Is that partly because you'd gotten to like London?
Very much.
What's it like? What do you do?
A lot of what I enjoy about it, besides the excitement of the work, is the cultural stimulation of dealing with people in different countries. We have real estate developers in Italy who are partners in three Italian developments, soon to be a fourth, and working with them closely is very interesting and you learn about the different countries. For example, I was much more interested in Italy's recent election results than I would have otherwise been.
What's it like to do commercial real estate in Europe compared to America?
Much more lawyer driven. Horribly so. The transaction costs associated with buying or selling something they call pan-European transactions, among multiple countries, have fees that are way out of proportion to the price by US standards. If something's worth a hundred million, the fees can be four to five times what you would have in the US. That's money wasted. It doesn't create value, it's simply following all the laws.
So as much as you like to learn about other cultures, it must drive you crazy.
Do you think that's one of the reasons that Germans and others invest money in the US, not just because they think it will appreciate so much but it's easier to do business here?
Yes. The US market is much more dynamic and business friendly than the continental European market.
So I'm realizing this is an inspirational story. You're basically saying you've worked with all these local Washington developers, and now you're applying lessons from them in Europe. You're spreading the Washington real estate gospel!
Sometimes they have suggested they would like me to stay in Washington. So I guess I'm spreading something. The Europeans we work with are very smart, hard working and ambitious, but they are hamstrung by government regulations. They've grown up with them and they don't challenge them. Bringing a fresh perspective enables one to challenge more and say why don't you do it this way or why don't you try that, which is one of those things I've learned from all of my clients.
How long could you see staying in London?
Another couple of years. We go to plays, walk the parks, visit UK towns, take long weekend trips to Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Now, what's this I hear about giving your money away to George Mason? And you decided to even before they got to the Final Four.
That's right. In fact we were over there in early April. They had a little ceremony. I'm especially proud since we had two-dozen George Mason graduates there who work for us, and we took a picture of me with all of them.
Why did you make this gift?
You know, you talk about what helps you with your success, and it's having terrific people. We have to have the best people around us, so to have educational institutions like George Mason producing these people is great for Beers & Cutler. So many people help a firm succeed, you have to run it for everyone, not just yourself. One of the things John and I put in our partnership agreement was a mandatory retirement age of 65. Of course, at that time I was 37, so I thought 65 was a hundred years away. Now I'm 67. But I had seen too many firms where the founders would hang around too long, instead of giving the young guys with new ideas the opportunity to run things. So my mandatory retirement was two years ago. Besides a little bit of a roast, the firm said it wanted to set up a scholarship fund in my name. I thought that was wonderful. But then I gave some thought to it and I said, "Well, I'll match the amount." And we're going to do the same thing at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.
How did Beers & Cutler come together?
John Cutler and I worked together at a firm in Washington, MB Hariton & Company. A very prominent firm, a very good real estate practice. I had gone to work for them in 1963, and John joined in the late '60s. I was a partner in the firm and he worked for me. In 1976, I decided to set up my own business, and so I told the people I needed to tell. But John, who had just been made a partner, said, "Hold on, I want to come with you." And I said: "That's terrific. It'd be great to have you, and if there are two names that will make it sound more substantial than just 'Beers.'" So we started with the two of us and one other accountant at 1800 M Street. It was a nice building, with 800 square feet. I think the rent was about eight dollars a square foot, and I remember saying this space may last for five years.
Did it?
No, it lasted nine months, and we moved three blocks away to 21st and M for two years, then to 1200 New Hampshire for six years, then 1250 Connecticut Ave. We remained based in Washington, partly because that's where the firm we had worked was located, and we didn't want our clients to know there was any difference.
What were your revenues then and now?
We started off with about $100,000 in billings, and today we have revenue of $40 million.
Always a strong focus on real estate?
Yes, because that's what John and I had both worked on at Hariton. Real estate has always provided enormous opportunities for tax planning and tax savings. In fact, in the early 1980's a friend with the Joint Committee on Taxation said that if the real estate industry were exempt from tax, it would actually add revenue to the economy because of all the tax shelters. You would have huge tax deductions at a 50% or 60% rate, but you would pay it back as capital gains at a 20% rate, so it was a net loser.
Why did you move your headquarters to Tyson's?
Recruiting was the main reason. We had two offices for the longest time, because we wanted to keep the DC presence. We established the second office in Tysons 15 years ago because northern Virginia was a strong and growing market. We moved most of our DC employees into our new offices in Tysons Corner last fall. As the fastest growing accounting and consulting firm in the Washington DC region, we needed space to expand. :)
Contact at
Related Topics: Oliver Carr, Washington, DC, George Mason University, Leesburg Pike, Tyson's Corner, New Hampshire, Final Four, Eastern Europe, John Cutler, Smith School, Jim Beers, Blue Capital, Big Eight


?Forgiveness? AMULET Zipper Pull . Comes in Rose Quartz and Chrysocolla Genuine Stones and Natural Crystals.
Forgiveness Planetary Influence: Venus and Mercury.
How this Amulet Works: Rose Quartz called the love stone teaches the wearer to be receptive to love by opening the heart. Encourages self-love and the ability to love. Brings adoration, fidelity in established relationships and bestows gentleness and peace; Chrysocolla ? is gentle, soothing, friendly, flushes and heals heart blocks (loss, hurt, guilt, fear...) for flexibility, self-forgiveness and patience. Keeps one in light, love, and healing daily.


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Internationalising Education
Opportunity with University in Poland
3rd March 2020 /in Partnership Opportunities /by Linda Cormack
The University is based in Upper Silesia, the industrial centre of Poland. The University was founded in 1945, and is one of the leading technology universities in Poland. In October of last year the University was granted the status of Research university in Poland, underlining its quality. The university has 22,000 students and over 1,700 academic staff. Unusually for a Polish University, they already offer a large number of UG and PG programmes in English, and have significant numbers of international students. They are keen to develop a relationship with a UK university based on the development of dual degree programmes (Mobility model, with the student initially studying in Poland and coming to the UK to finish their programmes ) in the following areas.
Automatic Control & Robotics (PG)
Electronics and Telecommunications(PG)
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (PG)
Civil Engineering(UG/PG)
Electrical Engineering(UG/PG)
Power Engineering (UG)
Management & Production Engineering(UG)
They are also keen to develop research links across these areas, and also in Biotechnology and Transport and Logistics. If you would be interested in a call with them please contact us.
http://consultcormack.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AdobeStock_71121475-Converted.png 565 600 Linda Cormack http://consultcormack.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/CCG-2020-logo-FULL-COLOUR-no-tagline-e1602501267742.png Linda Cormack2020-03-03 15:15:502020-03-03 15:16:04Opportunity with University in Poland
enquiries@consultcormack.com
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Partnership with US Private College for Law programme Interesting Opportunity with leading Czech Regional University


Tier 7 isn't the same anymore.
Ever since matchmaker changes to Tier 5 and 6, 7 has been lauded as the sweet spot because it's often top tier, and even when bottom tier, it only sees up to Tier 9. That has been the case for me since I started playing Tier 7, it's definitely the tier where I'm most likely to be top tier. However, it seems to me that for the last two weeks, the frequency of Tier 7 being mid or bottom tier has increased by quite a lot, even during my 'prime time' which is 2-4 PM in PST. Has anyone else playing Tier 7 experienced the same? Will Tier 7 go back to "normal"? I have done well in a handful of Tier 8 and the occasional Tier 9 match, but it's not fun compared to what it used to be, and gameplay at high tier is often WORSE than gameplay at Tiers 4-7.
Boo frigging hoo, Now you feel the pain of tiers 5 & 8.
It probably is just due to high tier player population being lower in the Random queue. Maybe due to the Ranked session going on, hard to know.
I sure feel the pain of Tier 5. Used to be the best tier.
Pretty sure any sudden MM changes with tier VII might be due to the fact Ranked is draining some of the tiers 8 players out of Randoms. Will likely settle down after Ranked is finished.
Hopefully this is only because of Ranked, which by the way, is a terrible game mode to me and every season lasts WAY TOO LONG.
T7s distribution has nothing to do with T5 and T6 having +2/-1. T7 isn't even frequently top tier. T8 is far more populated because of silver grinding.
With Warships Today dead in the water I can't provide numbers, but this is the general trend. There are a lot of people at T7-8. There are also a lot of people at T5-6, but nowhere near as many relative to T7-8. T9-10 are decently populated as well. There are more players at T9-10 than T4 and below, but a bit less than T5-6. The result is a small number of games where T5-6 can be top tier, but also a small number of games where T7 can be top tier.
In order to be top tier more often, there have to be more people below you than above you. That isn't true at any tier except T9-10 and that's by definition. T9 is +1/-2 and T10 is +0/-2. Every WG game works this way. This is the price of the f2p model. WG wants you to play high tier and buy high tier premiums. It is no surprise that most long term content is T8-10 exclusive.
Perhaps this is because Ranked is pulling out tier 8's and tier 10's from the Random queue? With less tier 8 and tier 10, tier 9 ships have a better chance of dragging in tier 7s to complete a team. I have no idea what the actual population splits of ranked/randoms are though, so it would really just be nothing.
Why has Warships Today stopped updating? Will it be back?


6 bedroom luxury villa in exclusive, quiet fishing port on southeast coast of Mallorca.
Panoramic sea views; only 100 yards from the sea.
Very nice 5 bedroom/ 4 bath villa with pool, sea views, air conditioning in bedrooms. Car rental usually included.
Very nice 5 bedroom/ 4 waterfront villa with pool, sea views, air conditioning.
Walk 200 yards to beach, walking distance to village.
Nice/simple 3 bedroom/3 bath townhouse with shared pool.
By beach, short walk to village.
Very nice 4 bedroom/3 bath villa with pool.


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After Embarrassing Quarantine SNAFU, CDC Now Slashes More Omicron Data
With their reputation having already taken a big hit this week, the CDC needs to tighten up.
This week has not been a good one for the usually-venerable CDC, and Americans may very well be beginning to lose their patience with the organization.
That's because, just a few days ago, the CDC decided to drastically adjust the time-limit on COVID quarantines, allowing those who test positive but remain symptomless to reenter society after 5 days instead of the previously-suggested 10. And, to top it off, those folks would not need to produce a negative test to do so.
The shocking decision was then revealed to have come at the behest of the CEO of Delta Airlines, of all people, and was not instigated by a doctor or other health professional at the CDC.
On Wednesday, the CDC made another dramatic adjustment to their figures, but is anyone going to believe that this change came for the correct reasons?
Alarms that the hyper-contagious omicron variant accounted for the vast majority of new COVID-19 infections over the past couple of weeks were significantly overestimated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New data released on Tuesday shows that while omicron remains the dominant variant, delta — which is the more severe strain — is still a worrisome driving force behind the current surge.
The CDC had previously reported that as of Dec. 18, 73% of new cases were linked to omicron. But on Tuesday, the agency revised those figures, slashing that estimate to 23% — a 50-point drop, suggesting that while the new variant was on the rise, it was not infecting people at the rate the CDC had projected.
Then, in a very "no duh" sort of moment.
"There's no way around it, it is a huge swing that makes it seem like something went really wrong," Dr. Shruti Gohil, associate medical director for epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine's School of Medicine, told NPR. "But there is always a delay in the testing information that comes in, and that's what the public should take away."
No word yet as to whether or not these new figures came from the CDC's scientist or some random CEO somewhere.
Experts Continue to Push Omicron Doom as CDC Lightens Restrictions
Federal Judge Tosses Out First Amendment Claims in J6 Trial


What wingmen to use for a fully loaded Degnar?
For a long time I forgot that. At my SC I was reminded of that fact.
I was going to say no way its anything but a primary... but FFG has been very specific in the past about what kind of attacks you can use and what kind of attacks trigger a given effect. That makes me think you can respond with a torpedo. because they deliberately didn't say perform a primary attack.
I don't see the attraction to attani mind link, but everytime katto steals a focus, everyone who doesn't have one, gets one, so it's a nice play. I'm also currious to see what people like about the contracted scout. Is it the unique upgrade bar? Because if I'm not running Dengar, the JM5K doesn't jump out at me (pun unintended) as a ship I just have to field. I have Denagr and 88B in my future plans.
I hope I'm not coming across as rude. Sometimes I can't tell. I was just attempting to explain my thought process. It will be worth trying both lists and see how it works on the table, instead of just looking at it on paper.
I fear Talonbane Cobra. Thank you for the compliment.
I was going to say no to marksmanship... But on Bossk. I like it.
im not too worried about a chain reaction. If I'm in a tight traffic jam, I'll hit my enemy too. If I'm not in a traffic jam yet, it's my goal as the pilot to create the situations that best suit my own goals. That'll be the challenge. Benefits over the FA are, I move early if not first, so I can position myself to block/explode. I don't have to survive untill the end of the combat phase to use the card.
Feedback arrays are cool. And probably would work, I was just thinking about how the Dead man switches hit in a range 1 burst. After the missiles are fired, I'd want to get in close for range 1 shots. This is risky and will likely get me killed. This way I can potentially hit more enemies. With feedback array I have to get hurt to use it, and once I'm dead, it's gone. I feel that ordinance, then primary attacks, then an explosion, lets me potentially deal more damage across the entire lifespan of the ship.
I went ahead and entered this list into the squad builder and I found that one has to be binayre instead of black sun to make up that point. N'Dru Suhlak (17) Lone Wolf (2) Cluster Missiles (4) Glitterstim (2) Guidance Chips (0) Black Sun Soldier (13) Concussion Missiles (4) Dead Man's Switch (2) Guidance Chips (0) Black Sun Soldier (13) Concussion Missiles (4) Dead Man's Switch (2) Guidance Chips (0) Black Sun Soldier (13) Concussion Missiles (4) Dead Man's Switch (2) Guidance Chips (0) Binayre Pirate (12) Concussion Missiles (4) Dead Man's Switch (2) Guidance Chips (0) Total: 100 View in Yet Another Squad Builder This list looks super fun to me.
At one point I was thinking of bumping them to black Suns and I couldn't find a reason to, but before tlt's is a good reason. As for ndru, double lone wolf is awesome. I should have thought of glitterstem, but when you throw on clusters... That's brilliant. Maximize all those bonuses. I'll definitely switch that up.


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Global Green's Annual Pre-Oscar Party Not to Be Missed
By Delinda Lombardo on January 21, 2011
Celebrities will be walking quite a few red carpets during 'Oscar' week in Los Angeles next month, but perhaps the most important carpet they'll walk will be Global Green's 'green carpet.'
The Annual Global Green Pre-Oscar Party is where celebrities and other eco-luminaries are treated to the best in eco-products at the green products showcase and an organic bar. The evening culminates with stellar musical performances that help drive home Global Green's message.
Only 1,500 guests are invited to the Feb 23rd event, where media and press will gather to hear the latest green messages from some of Hollywood's biggest stars as they walk the 'green carpet.'
Global Green's celebrity supporters have helped make this annual event a must-attend event for environmentally-minded members of the Hollywood community.
Past attendees have included: Oscar nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek and James Cameron, along with Jessica Alba, Kate Bosworth, Orlando Bloom, Adrian Grenier, Bill Maher, Rosario Dawson, Heather Graham, Neil Patrick Harris, Dana Delany, Christian Slater, Oliver Stone, Norman Lear, Governor Bill Richardson and dozens of other celebrities.
Last year, more than three dozen celebrities walked the green carpet.
Past musical performances have included Maroon 5, Scott Weiland, Perry Farrell, Damien Rice, Michael Franti, the Swell Season, Camp Freddy, Gavin Rosdale and Sheryl Crow.
About Global Green:
Without a doubt, protecting the environment and stopping global climate change are the biggest challenges of our generation. Global Green is uniquely equipped to take on these challenges through its comprehensive approach of merging mass education of the public, providing top-of-the-line technical assistance, successful policy advocacy and creating community-based solutions to energy use and climate change. Business must play a key role in this process and must be looked at to take the lead in encouraging and making available products – and the process through which they are created – that place a premium on sustainable practices.
For more info, please visit Global Green.
Copyright © 2011 Look to the Stars
Dana Delany
Norman Lear
Global Green
UNICEF Ambassadors, Supporters and World Leaders Commemorate 75 years of UNICEF Dec 22, 2021
Presidents, government ministers, senior United Nations leadership, UNICEF Ambassadors, partners, and children and young people gathered at events around the world to commemorate UNICEF's 75th anniversary last week. More →
Stars Help Raise Over $2.4 million for EB Research Partnership Dec 14, 2021
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Lifetime of Leadership - Girl Scouts
Sheryl Crow - The Dreaming Kind (Official Music Video)
Sheryl Crow BLUE SHIRT DAY® WORLD DAY OF BULLYING PREVENTION™ 2017
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I've seen this book EVERYWHERE but have never picked it up. I had a need for it and I wanted to read it but there was just always something else on my list.
That is, until I signed up for Book of the Month and this was on the list for March. What a better time to get it delivered to my door?
I had also just seen something that said Reese Witherspoon was going to adapt this for a movie/TV show next (after the success of her first adaptation, Big Little Lies) so I knew I had to read it.
Little Fires Everywhere was the first book I read from my 1st BOTM box and I'm glad I did it. It didn't take that long to read, I probably read it in a few days. It was very easy to read -- it went fast, was interesting enough to keep my attention but wasn't something that I really had to focus on.
After the killer opening chapter and how the story started off, I think my expectations were a little high. As I continued reading the book I realized that I wasn't going to get that from this book.
It started off hot and then kind of tapered off into a non thriller story. There was a hint of mystery but not enough to satisfy that part of my brain.
Mia and Pearl rent out the apartment of The Richardson Family, who live down the road in their Shaker Heights mansion. Pearl takes up with the son, Moody, and form a quick bond with the other teenage Richardson children.
The black sheep of the Richardson family, Izzy, gets close to Mia who is a free spirit in her own right; she's an artist that creates these crazy, unique pieces that consist of so many different parts like photographs, paintings, and everything in between.
I wasn't really sure what the main focus on the book was going to be until another family in Shaker Heights adopts a Chinese-American baby. Mia finds the birth mother who is desperately looking for the baby she abandoned, and this turns into an all out war in Shaker Heights. Mia and Mrs. Richardson are on opposing sides and it leads to Mrs. Richardson digging into Mia's past and discovering some skeletons in her closet.
The book has a few twists and turns, and eventually you find out why the opening scene happened. I was a little disappointed with the ending because it made me mad and sad. It was very open ended and I hate those types of ending because I want everything wrapped up into a neat little bow. However, life isn't like that and I think books are a little more realistic when that happens.
I loved all the stories in this book; the dynamic between Mia and The Richardsons, the story of the teenagers, the adoption scandal, and Mia's past. It was all very interesting and everything was connected in some way so you felt like it flowed together.
I really liked this book and I highly recommend! If you want something mysterious but not creepy or thriller like, and something easy to read, this is for you.


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Home Sports Sadio Mane: Liverpool to appeal against length of ban after red card
Sadio Mane: Liverpool to appeal against length of ban after red card
Liverpool will appeal against the length of Sadio Mane's three-match ban after he was sent off during Saturday's 5-0 defeat at Manchester City.
Mane, 25, was dismissed in the 37th minute after catching City goalkeeper Ederson in the face with a high foot.
The Senegal forward is due to miss Premier League matches against Burnley and Leicester, as well as a trip to the latter in the EFL Cup.
His ban could be reduced by one or two matches if the appeal is successful.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said on Saturday that neither he nor City counterpart Pep Guardiola thought Mane should have been sent off.
Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker and Ian Wright all said they would have gone for the ball, while Chris Sutton told Match of the Day 2 that Mane's red card should be rescinded.
However, Shearer said it was still a red card under the current rules. Former England internationals Jamie Carragher and Phil Neville were also among those to say referee Jon Moss was right to dismiss Mane.
Ederson trained on Tuesday as City prepare for their opening Champions League group game against Feyenoord on Wednesday.
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Gorgeous images, Andy. 🙂 Happy Sunday to you.
Beautiful and vivid. I love the sky and how it reflects in the water!
Beautiful, Andy. I absolutely love how we only see the fullness of the building (a pagoda or some kind of temple? alternatively, perhaps a restaurant?) in the water's reflections of the first one. Truly lovely, mingling with the water's and the sky's textures and the lily pads!
It's beautiful, Andy. Thanks for sharing Sun Yat Sen garden; is that in Canada?


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Home > blogs > Single-moon or a thousand stars? Reflections from the first meeting of emerging health policy and systems practice and research leaders in West Africa
Single-moon or a thousand stars? Reflections from the first meeting of emerging health policy and systems practice and research leaders in West Africa
By Aku Kwamie
From 22-23 June 2015, approximately two dozen emerging leaders from across West Africa in research, academia, health ministries and civil society gathered at the University of Ghana School of Public Health to discuss, debate and dream about the growing field of health policy and systems (HPS) in the region, and their place in it. Nine countries (both Francophone and Anglophone) were present: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal.
While the purpose of the gathering was to continue the consultative process of a planning phase to strengthen in-country capacities for HPS regionally (a project supported by the West Africa Health Organisation, the University of Ghana, and the International Development Research Centre), the outcome was so much more. Since previous consultations had repeatedly raised the issue of how to engage junior researchers and practitioners 'more and better', this meeting was crucial in allowing a small group of them to self-organise and voice their concerns, ideas and hopes about the shape of things to come in terms of how the HPS field can develop in West Africa. This is no small matter given West Africa has many of the lowest development indicators. Improving these indicators – and the complex stories behind them – is made complicated in a region of fifteen ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) countries (plus three additional island countries), three 'official' languages (not to mention hundreds of others) and approximately 245 million people. Historical, political and economic contexts increase the urgency for home-grown, locally-driven and locally-used solutions for better health policies and evidence.
The meeting aimed for 'connectivity' and linked several colleagues in by skype from locations as diverse as Sydney, Abuja and Ottawa. We also tweeted (#AccraHPSR2015), and a Facebook page is underway. Coverage of the event was great and helped to raise the meeting's profile and the need for such types of fora.
One key outcome of the meeting included the establishment of an embryonic network to allow this group to speak across languages. This is not simply an issue of linguistics, but is also about philosophical, cultural and paradigmatic differences in approach. Consciously building a network which seeks to bridge these gaps is a first step in breaking down silos. The tangible outcome of the meeting, however, was a prioritised set of key issues – from the perspectives of emerging leaders – for West African HPS. While the discussions were rich, wide ranging, and reflected the wealth and diversity of participants' experience, the main themes could be distilled into a few main threads:
Better writing: how can we 'popularise' what we do, better? Academic (and for that matter policy) writing is necessary but can often be dry – and there are other ways of sharing what we do. We can learn by spending time with journalists and even NGOs to better story-tell and advocate as a core part of our work. An example told from the early days of the Ghana Health Service showed how young people with journalism backgrounds had been recruited and trained in health research. Many of them went on to become leading researchers, working closely with various institutions in the health sector, and thus helping to solidify the evidence-to-policy practice in Ghana. Other excellent examples came from Nigeria (with its tradition of great writers), including the more recent Nigeria Health Watch.
Balancing numbers: how do we ensure that there are as many colleagues from outside the universities and research institutes engaging in HPS? While ministries of health are the usual source of practitioners, we must remember that health issues exist in other sectors, in civil society, and even 'big P' politics. The only way we can co-produce knowledge and evidence for health action is if we are exposed to the same trainings and opportunities to learn and grow together (i.e., becoming friends now so we can be friends later).
Mentorship and mindset: there was a lot here. It began with reflections on being aware of our own learning needs and actively seeking out those who could contribute to our development. These are not necessarily our current or immediate superiors. Rather than focusing on technical skills, the discussions centred more on 'softer skills' of leadership, political negotiation and advocacy, and teamwork traits of harmony, humility, trustworthiness and credibility. Importantly, the discussion also moved forward thinking about attracting, exposing and sustaining the next generation of "HPSers", and therefore developing mentorship capacities in ourselves. This led Professor Irene Agyepong to share this particular wisdom: that in a social field where relationships with everyone matter, understanding our personal interest in others is important. Whether we perceive the light of a night sky as a "single moon or a thousand stars" will affect our own decisions about how we lead – and that the attitudes with which we 'emerge' will have implications for the next generation. Powerful.
The meeting was made particularly special by the presence of several 'emerita leaders' from the Ghanaian health sector who had played diverse and critical roles in sectoral reforms and establishment of key health institutions over the past 30 years. This facilitated a precious exchange, and underscored the fact that as we press into the future we cannot be history-illiterate; there are lessons to be remembered and re-learned.
The 'how' of it all remains: putting into practice many of these ideas – including setting up regional hubs, conducting joint research, networking institutions and not just people – will take time, commitment and money. But we are in it for the long-haul, because we want to build and inhabit our own home. We welcome as many as want to join us to come – the night sky is vast, and the stars innumerable.
Aku Kwamie: University of Ghana School of Public Health, Ghana
Abubakar Kurfi: National Health Insurance Scheme, Nigeria
Enyi Etiaba: College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Nigeria
Felix Obi: Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria
Seye Abimbola: National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Nigeria/School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia
About Aku Kwamie
Aku Kwamie wrote this article together with Abubakar Kurfi, Enyi Etiaba, Felix Obi, and Seye Abimbola.


A brief search on www.ams.org with the keyword "Markov operator" produces some 684 papers, the earliest of which dates back to 1959. This suggests that the term "Markov operator" emerged around the 1950's, clearly in the wake of Andrey Markov's seminal work in the area of stochastic processes and Markov chains. Indeed,  and , the two earliest papers produced by the ams.org search, study Markov processes in a statistical setting and "Markov operators" are only referred to obliquely, with no explicit definition being provided. By 1965, in , the situation has progressed to the point where Markov operators are given a concrete definition and studied more directly. However, the way in which Markov operators originally entered mathematical discourse, emerging from Statistics as various attempts to generalize Markov processes and Markov chains, seems to have left its mark on the theory, with a notable lack of cohesion amongst its propagators. The study of Markov operators in the Lp setting has assumed a place of importance in a variety of fields. Markov operators figure prominently in the study of densities, and thus in the study of dynamical and deterministic systems, noise and other probabilistic notions of uncertainty. They are thus of keen interest to physicists, biologists and economists alike. They are also a worthy topic to a statistician, not least of all since Markov chains are nothing more than discrete examples of Markov operators (indeed, Markov operators earned their name by virtue of this connection) and, more recently, in consideration of the connection between copulas and Markov operators. In the realm of pure mathematics, in particular functional analysis, Markov operators have proven a critical tool in ergodic theory and a useful generalization of the notion of a conditional expectation. Considering the origin of Markov operators, and the diverse contexts in which they are introduced, it is perhaps unsurprising that, to the uninitiated observer at least, the theory of Markov operators appears to lack an overall unity. In the literature there are many different definitions of Markov operators defined on L1(μ) and/or L1(μ) spaces. See, for example, [13, 14, 26, 2], all of which manage to provide different definitions. Even at a casual glance, although they do retain the same overall flavour, it is apparent that there are substantial differences in these definitions. The situation is not much better when it comes to the various discussions surrounding ergodic Markov operators: we again see a variety of definitions for an ergodic operator (for example, see [14, 26, 32]), and again the connections between these definitions are not immediately apparent. In truth, the situation is not as haphazard as it may at first appear. All the definitions provided for Markov operator may be seen as describing one or other subclass of a larger class of operators known as the positive contractions. Indeed, the theory of Markov operators is concerned with either establishing results for the positive contractions in general, or specifically for one of the aforementioned subclasses. The confusion concerning the definition of an ergodic operator can also be rectified in a fairly natural way, by simply viewing the various definitions as different possible generalizations of the central notion of a ergodic point-set transformation (such a transformation representing one of the most fundamental concepts in ergodic theory). The first, and indeed chief, aim of this dissertation is to provide a coherent and reasonably comprehensive literature study of the theory of Markov operators. This theory appears to be uniquely in need of such an effort. To this end, we shall present a wealth of material, ranging from the classical theory of positive contractions; to a variety of interesting results arising from the study of Markov operators in relation to densities and point-set transformations; to more recent material concerning the connection between copulas, a breed of bivariate function from statistics, and Markov operators. Our goals here are two-fold: to weave various sources into a integrated whole and, where necessary, render opaque material readable to the non-specialist. Indeed, all that is required to access this dissertation is a rudimentary knowledge of the fundamentals of measure theory, functional analysis and Riesz space theory. A command of measure and integration theory will be assumed. For those unfamiliar with the basic tenets of Riesz space theory and functional analysis, we have included an introductory overview in the appendix. The second of our overall aims is to give a suitable definition of a Markov operator on Banach lattices and provide a survey of some results achieved in the Banach lattice setting, in particular those due to [5, 44]. The advantage of this approach is that the theory is order theoretic rather than measure theoretic. As we proceed through the dissertation, definitions will be provided for a Markov operator, a conservative operator and an ergodic operator on a Banach lattice. Our guide in this matter will chiefly be , where a number of interesting results concerning the spectral theory of conservative, ergodic, so-called "stochastic" operators is studied in the Banach lattice setting. We will also, and to a lesser extent, tentatively suggest a possible definition for a Markov operator on a Riesz space. In fact, we shall suggest, as a topic for further research, two possible approaches to the study of such objects in the Riesz space setting. We now offer a more detailed breakdown of each chapter. In Chapter 2 we will settle on a definition for a Markov operator on an L1 space, prove some elementary properties and introduce several other important concepts. We will also put forward a definition for a Markov operator on a Banach lattice. In Chapter 3 we will examine the notion of a conservative positive contraction. Conservative operators will be shown to demonstrate a number of interesting properties, not least of all the fact that a conservative positive contraction is automatically a Markov operator. The notion of conservative operator will follow from the Hopf decomposition, a fundmental result in the classical theory of positive contractions and one we will prove via . We will conclude the chapter with a Banach lattice/Riesz space definition for a conservative operator, and a generalization of an important property of such operators in the L1 case. In Chapter 4 we will discuss another well-known result from the classical theory of positive contractions: the Chacon-Ornstein Theorem. Not only is this a powerful convergence result, but it also provides a connection between Markov operators and conditional expectations (the latter, in fact, being a subclass of theMarkov operators). To be precise, we will prove the result for conservative operators, following . In Chapter 5 we will tie the study of Markov operators into classical ergodic theory, with the introduction of the Frobenius-Perron operator, a specific type of Markov operator which is generated from a given nonsingular point-set transformation. The Frobenius-Perron operator will provide a bridge to the general notion of an ergodic operator, as the definition of an ergodic Frobenius-Perron operator follows naturally from that of an ergodic transformation. In Chapter 6 will discuss two approaches to defining an ergodic operator, and establish some connections between the various definitions of ergodicity. The second definition, a generalization of the ergodic Frobenius-Perron operator, will prove particularly useful, and we will be able to tie it, following , to several interesting results concerning the asymptotic properties of Markov operators, including the asymptotic periodicity result of [26, 27]. We will then suggest a definition of ergodicity in the Banach lattice setting and conclude the chapter with a version, due to , of the aforementioned asymptotic periodicity result, in this case for positive contractions on a Banach lattice. In Chapter 7 we will move into more modern territory with the introduction of the copulas of [39, 40, 41, 42, 16]. After surveying the basic theory of copulas, including introducing a multiplication on the set of copulas, we will establish a one-to-one correspondence between the set of copulas and a subclass of Markov operators. In Chapter 8 we will carry our study of copulas further by identifying them as a Markov algebra under their aforementioned multiplication. We will establish several interesting properties of this Markov algebra, in parallel to a second Markov algebra, the set of doubly stochastic matrices. This chapter is chiefly for the sake of interest and, as such, diverges slightly from our main investigation of Markov operators. In Chapter 9, we will present the results of , in slightly more detail than the original source. As has been mentioned previously, these concern the spectral properties of ergodic, conservative, stochastic operators on a Banach lattice, a subclass of the Markov operators on a Banach lattice. Finally, as a conclusion to the dissertation, we present in Chapter 10 two possible routes to the study of Markov operators in a Riesz space setting. The first definition will be directly analogous to the Banach lattice case; the second will act as an analogue to the submarkovian operators to be introduced in Chapter 2. We will not attempt to develop any results from these definitions: we consider them a possible starting point for further research on this topic. In the interests of both completeness, and in order to aid those in need of more background theory, the reader may find at the back of this dissertation an appendix which catalogues all relevant results from Riesz space theory and operator theory.


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text:
Enel Contemporanea 2007
In 2007 Enel Contemporanea was born with the first series of public art projects dedicated to the theme of energy with installations for the city of Rome by three international artists.
The project is promoted by Enel and the City of Rome and curated by Francesco Bonami . The inaugural edition brought installations by three international artists - Angela Bulloch (English), Jeppe Hein (Danish) and Patrick Tuttofuoco (Italian) – in three different symbolic settings of the city and in different times of the year.
1. Angela Bulloch
Repeat Refrain
Ara Pacis, Rome, May 2007
Starting from the historical and architectural foundations of Ara Pacis, a symbolic place in Rome, the artist considers the best way to get in touch and be in harmony with it. Angela Bulloch imagines an aerostatic balloon 15.70 meters round and 5 meters wide and places it on the roof of the museum, next to the altar. The balloon becomes a symbol elevated to an offering object to honor the history of Ara. The work of art comes to life thanks to images and plays of light and shadows that hint at suggestive visions of the lunar cycle. A series of videos and slides collected by the artist in different observatories, are projected on the work.
2. Patrick Tuttofuoco
Piazza del Popolo, Rome, October 2007
Patrick Tuttofuoco created a new energy flow for Enel Contemporanea, conferring a emblematic Roman square with an innovative, historical, artistic and temporal meaning. With the phrase Rome 18th of October 2007 to set the boundary between past and future, the artist soundly separates the three different moments. Although characterized by the idea of future as a site in constant evolution, the work lives in the present on the opening day, when it interacts with the public, but then it quickly becomes past. Future City leaves us wondering about the idea of a future full of energy that needs to be investigated.
3. Jeppe Hein
Hexagonal Water Pavilion
Piazza Damiano Sauli, Garbatella, Rome, June 2007
Hexagonal Water Pavilion 2007 is an original fountain full of undisclosed surprises. Nonstop games and water jets create different spaces, making new territories and setting boundaries with 2.5-meter-high water walls, throwing the viewer into traps, streets and ever changing pathways, hideouts, security and dangerous zones, prohibitive corridors or sudden shelters. The artist invites the viewer to interact with his work of art, not only mentally but also physically, and to take part into the community game.


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Please complete the application form in its entirety with as much relevant detail as possible.
PLEASE NOTE: February and March are now FULL. Volunteer Modules are 28 days in length. Volunteers begin and end together beginning on the first of the month to the 28th of the month. Please select either January (FULL), February (FULL), March (FULL) 2019 or July, August, September 2019.
Describe your prescriptions and frequency of use. Please not that Bodhi Khaya Retreat is in a rural setting so please bring sufficient medications for your stay with us.
Bodhi Khaya Retreat is within a Nature Conservancy where wildlife is abundant. Please let us know if you have any phobias around snakes, spiders, insects, wildlife etc.
The retreat centre at Bodhi Khaya is strictly vegetarian.
List any family members who are dependant upon you while you are away.
Once your application is received an interview date will be set up with you. If all goes well we will allocate very comfortable volunteer accommodations for your 30 day module. Please note you may share a room with another volunteer of the same gender.


I assume this isn't the desired operation, and is likely something in my configuration. Even if I delete the Exchange files, I end up with 2 again.
Not much to go on from your post. Come back when you can provide sufficient details.
What information would you like me to provide? Continuous replication between two servers running XS7.
The CR actually fails for a 3rd VM on this host (but that I believe because of the VM size and undersized storage array on the hosts). The issue is as it appears above.
I'm CR'ing from one host to this one, and on this host I have a second copy of a VM that should only be there one time.
XO version for one. I know you are probably running the latest and greatest, but you should always include.
Does it only occur with this one VM? Have you reviewed the logs for any obvious errors? etc.
Duh... sorry I always forget these things..
I do have this log from further back..
Besides that (which is old) I'm not seeing any errors go by.
@DustinB3403 I believe that's a benign error. I would suggest deleting both VMs from the destination server and then rerunning the job until the condition reoccurs. Capture the complete log and post it as a file or send it to @olivierlambert to review.
"The remote server returned an error: (403 Forbidden"
There is 2 VMs the time to make the replication, then the "oldest" one is removed. If it's still here after the job is finished, that's not normal.
That is what I thought was happening, it was leaving a VM on the CR target. But didn't have anything to determine for fact to prove it.
I have a new job running, and I'll copy the putty logs once its done.
OK so now this is what I have, I have to first remove all of these VDI's from my CR target before I can continue.
So those are all of the VDI's I have on host one right now (my CR target) is it safe to run?
@DustinB3403 It's safe for me if you delete them. Not sure how safe your job would be!
Seriously, how would you expect us to know the answer to that question?!
Just making sure that is the appropriate command to delete the VDI's.
Any of the orphaned VDIs showing under Dashboard / Health in XO?
None listed under health, although I believe it would only show there if a VM were actually hosted on this host.
Not pushed to the host.
I would suggest vdi-destroy, but YMMV.
Can you delete them from the SR view in XO?
It's as if XS thinks they belong to a VM, but this VM never transferred over.


text:
Music/Opinion
The Gathering: Part 2—a first time for everything, including trad music
by Charlotte Sutcliffe
Now it's always interesting what people first notice about you when you meet them and I know what mine was when I attended The Gathering, a trad (traditional music) festival in the middle of the Highlands—my very distinctive English accent. Imagine Lucinda from love island, but a bit more Midlands.
I moved to Stirling, Scotland last September for university having visited only twice before. I was absolutely unaware of Scottish history, culture or music. Luckily my flatmates were more than happy to introduce me to the Scottish way of life, particularly my one friend who comes from Oban on the West Coast, who got me involved in trad. Now I'm no expert and I can't pronounce half of the song titles but I enjoy the music, it was very new for me.
There was one band in particular I became slightly obsessed with after they played a lot in the run up to my first Burns Night: The Red Hot Chilli Pipers.
So, when the option came up of seeing them live alongside some other excellent bands at The Gathering, I jumped at the chance.
Now, being completely candid I was just there to see the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, but my friends loved some of the bands and I was excited to try some new artists and with the past two years we've had any live music is a bonus to go watch.
Now this wasn't a big festival but I was a little out of my depth. I really had just rocked up to see one band and go from there. I was ready to vibe it out with the rest of the acts, so when Torridon came on in full force I was trying to keep up and match the energy of everyone else. The crowds weren't out in hoards yet but the band were still brilliant interacting with the audience and keeping the energy alive.
Skerryvore playing live on stage at The Gathering – credit: Charlotte Sutcliffe
Despite coming on late, The Red Hot Chilli Pipers did not disappoint. The stage presence was captivating and considering half of the band members were playing bagpipes the movement around the stage was impressive. It was clear from the crowd reception that the band's work with their bagpipe covers of popular songs made it easy to connect with and enjoy.
Their nuanced take on traditional music makes it more accessible and enjoyable for a wider audience and the crowd was loving it. The energy was relentless from all the band and their two dancers who put on a spectacular show of Highland dancing throughout the set. Playing fan favourites such as Leave a Light On and Don't Stop Believing there wasn't a point when everyone wasn't singing lead on by Chris Judge. I was slightly disappointed they didn't play my personal favourite of theirs with their version of Fix You but bar this the set was stunning.
It could have done with being longer. An overall note of the festival was that the artists could have had longer sets so they could have had more interaction with the crowd. Although all the bands did play their fan favourites, no set was longer than 40 minutes so some notable songs were missed out from lots of artists. With shorter sets come artists just trying to cram as many songs in as they can, with a lack of intimacy that is normally so special in festivals.
Skerryvore was a band I had briefly interacted with previously but will be revisiting quickly. The crowd sang from beginning to end, jumping to each word and song. This peaked with Take My Hand a firm fan favourite and also the emotional rendition Together Again, a song written over the pandemic.
The band was outstanding, watching them play the bagpipes and fiddle was especially impressive with them being performed with such gusto and stage presence. It does really say something about the performers when, even though I didn't know most of the songs, the electric energy made me feel a part of something very special.
This was the general impression from my first trad festival. I don't fully understand the culture and the words and the tunes, but I understand the importance. The energy of the festival showed that. I've been to festivals before, bigger ones, but the intimacy and feeling of community at The Gathering was unmatched. It was something different but it was something alive.
Featured image credit: thegatheringscotland.com
Charlotte Sutcliffe
Rhona macleod
Skerryvore
The Gathering Festival
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The definitive ranking of the Christmas Doctor Who episodes
Treat the vegetarians in your life this Christmas with Veggie Wellington
Film, Media and Journalism student who writes about things that catch her interest. Instagram @charlsutcliffe
'Fix Yourself, Not the World' review - A little more Greek Tragedy, not just tragedy please Wombats
"We all have the same 24 hours in a day" - Who is Molly Mae, what did she say, and has it gone too far now?
Women's Lacrosse Team to use pronoun tags for their Give it a Go event
The Gathering: Part 1---traditional music's electric return


This year we tried a new technique with our egg coloring this year - masking tape. We punched out dots with a hole punch and cut triangles and stripes. It worked really well to block the color from dying the egg. Once dry we peeled off the tape and re-dyed in different color. Max and Riley liked mixing the colors. It's probably best to use a dark color first and re-dye a lighter color second.