I know it's been a few days since the last post, but I've been on spring break from school and you know what that means.... I'VE BEEN BUSIER THAN EVER!
Not really, but it feels that way sometimes.
Easter is just a few days away! It sure is a great feeling to picture the millions of people who will be celebrating the resurrection of Christ together.
Admittedly, many will be participating without having faith, but I pray that the celebration of this pivotal moment in human history will impact their lives so deeply that they respond in faith to the clear message of the gospel.
Next week I will be blogging about the Fundamental Functions of the Online Church in a six-part series, so don't forget to drop by and join in the discussion.


Korea has experienced diverse kind of disasters these days. Among them the 2015 middle eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak imposed great psychological stress on almost all Korean citizens. Following the MERS outbreak, government is reviewing overall infectious disease management system and prioritizing the establishment of mental health service systems for infectious disease. This study makes suggestions for implementing disaster-related mental health service systems by analyzing the example of Gyeonggi Province, which proactively intervened with residents' psychological problems caused by the large-scale outbreak of an infectious disease.
Mental health service system for MERS victims had the following two parts: a mental health service for people who had been placed in quarantine and a service provided to families of patients who had died or recovered patients. The government of Gyeonggi province, public health centers, regional and local Community Mental Health Centers and the National Center for Crisis Mental Health Management participated in this service system. Among 1221 Gyeonggi people placed in quarantine and who experienced psychological and emotional difficulties, 350 required continuing services; 124 of this group received continuing services. That is, 35 % of people who required psychological intervention received contact from service providers and received the required services.
This study reflects a proactive monitoring system for thousands of people placed under quarantine for the first time in Korea. It is significant that the service utilization rate by a proactive manner, that is the professionals administering it actively approached and contacted people with problems rather than passively providing information was much higher than other general mental health situation in Korea. The core value of public mental health services is adequate public accessibility; it is therefore essential for governments to strengthen their professional competence and establish effective systems. These criteria should also be applied to psychological problems caused by disastrous infectious disease outbreaks.
Gyeonggi Province in South Korea is a regional governmental body with a population of 12 million people; it is composed of 31 municipalities. Natural and social disasters of various severity have occurred in Gyeonggi Province; in 2014, 26.5 % of all natural disasters in Korea occurred in Gyeonggi Province [1, 2]. Among such disasters, the 2015 middle eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak imposed great psychological stress on almost all Korean citizens. One hundred and eighty-six South Koreans were infected by MERS; 38 died and 146 recovered. A further, 16,752 were placed in quarantine . In Gyeonggi Province, where the first MERS patient was discovered in Korea, 70 people were infected by MERS (37 % of Korean MERS patients), eight died (21 % of MERS deaths), and 11,318 were monitored or placed in quarantine (67 % of the quarantined population).
People who recover from infectious diseases with a high mortality rate such as MERS, often show emotional instability resulting from the experience of facing death . Family members of people killed by such diseases also often become depressed following the sudden loss . Risk communication regarding infectious diseases with a high mortality rate tends to arouse public anxiety and fear [6, 7]. The National Disaster Management Institute examined South Koreans' emotional responses on social networking services during the MERS outbreak; those responses were as follows: despair during the first 9 days of the outbreak, anxiety on the 15th–19th days, and anger on the 20th–31st days . Over a quarter of Hong Kong residents who experienced the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak showed symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome (27.1 %); 42.5 % reported experiencing psychological problems 4 years after the outbreak . Patients infected by the Ebola virus also experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety disorder and survivor guilt . Families and friends whose loved ones were killed by the Ebola virus disease experienced psychological problems, including depression, sleep disturbances, abnormal behavior and post-traumatic stress symptoms, additionally, their use of alcohol and nicotine increased following the loss .
The healthcare system provided mental health services to government employees and livestock farmers who were required to kill animals due to foot-and-mouth disease [12–14]; however, South Korea has never operated mental health services for infectious diseases affecting humans. The Korean health management system reacted relatively well to the Ebola and SARS viruses (which also caused major infectious outbreaks); little motivation has therefore existed to implement psychological interventions. Gyeonggi Province's proactive intervention with MERS victims constitutes part of the national reinforcement of disaster mental health services, which have recently attracted increased attention. Particularly, following the 2014 Sewol Ferry accident (which resulted in the fourth highest number of deaths), the national and local governments have worked to establish disaster mental health service systems, and Gyeonggi Province, which has experienced various disasters, is participating particularly actively.
In order to provide an effective disaster mental health service, it is important to find professional experts and establish good programs; moreover, it is also essential to establish sensible governance between central and local governments, between administrative institutions and institutions that provide services, and between public and civil organizations. In Korea, the law has been amended following the Sewol Ferry accident, and the Ministry of Public Safety and Security now controls disaster response. Seventeen Psychological Support Centers for Disasters affiliated with the Ministry of Public Safety and Security are being operated in South Korea. Moreover, the National Center for Crisis Mental Health Management (NCMHM) is located in a national mental hospital affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and 15 regional mental health centers and 209 local Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) are providing services addressing various mental health problems. The Ministry of Public Safety and Security's system and that of the Ministry of Health and Welfare occasionally over-lap or operate in cooperation. Additionally, regarding mental health support for MERS, the two ministries took different roles based on the current situation and provided required services in each affected region. In Gyeonggi Province, Psychological Support Centers for Disasters and regional mental health centers are operating in concert.
This study makes suggestions for implementing disaster-related mental health service systems tailored to disasters' type and timing, by analyzing the example of Gyeonggi Province, which proactively intervened with residents' psychological problems caused by the large-scale outbreak of an infectious disease.
On June 17, 2015, 28 days after the discovery of the first MERS patient, the government of Gyeonggi Province planned a mental health service program for people that had been directly affected by MERS. Regional and local CMHCs mostly provided Gyeonggi Province's mental health service for MERS victims under administrative support from the Gyeonggi Province government and Public Health Centers (PHCs). In particular, regarding psychological evaluation and intervention with people who had been placed in quarantine, the Gyeonggi Province government prepared a special budget and dispatched additional employees to nine municipalities; moreover, the government developed and distributed video materials and online-based psychological stabilization programs in order to aid the psychological stabilization of other people not directly affected by MERS.
This mental health service system for MERS victims had the following two parts: a mental health service for people who had been placed in quarantine; (this was conducted cooperatively between Gyeonggi Province, 31 municipal public health centers, and community mental health centers, and a service provided to families of patients who had died or recovered patients. The National Center for Crisis Mental Health Management evaluated people using these services and subsequently transferred them local CMHCs for continuous case management and follow-up (Fig. 1).
By the law of prevention and management of infectious disease, government should monitor the patients and the people in quarantine. The study sample and primary data about mental health status were collected by the government of Gyeonggi Province. We received the secondary data from Gyeonggi government and analysed those results.
Each PHC monitored quarantined individuals' physical symptoms twice daily. PHCs provided information to quarantined individuals during monitoring concerning managing psychological difficulties that might arise during quarantine and using the consultation service. CMHCs also psychologically evaluated all quarantined individuals during monitoring. The mental health professionals of CHMCs asked key questions about depression, "for the last 2 weeks or after being in quarantine, do you feel depressed or hopelessness? Do you feel loss of interest in any part of your life?" After the key questions, they provided psychological support, psycho-educational approach and providing information.
Six thousand two hundred and thirty-one people were evaluated; 6157 individuals was evaluated via phone call (99.6 %), outreach evaluation (33 cases; 0.5 %), and on-site evaluation (18 cases; 0.3 %). Initially, CMHC staff were only able to evaluate and consult quarantined individuals via phone call due to quarantine requirements. Moreover, many individuals were unwilling to provide personal information due to anticipated stigma or negative local perception of MERS, further raising the proportion of telephone consultation.
Of the 6231 people placed in quarantine, 1221 showed emotional disturbances such as depression (19.3 %). Of this population, 871 (71.3 %) received only one consultation and 350 (28.7 %) required continuing services. Among the latter group, 124 (35.4; 2.0 % of quarantined individuals) received continuing services; the remaining 226 could not be reached (64.6; 3.6 % of quarantined individuals). The 124 people who received continuing services received an average of 4.7 consultations; 51 individuals in this group received more than one face-to-face service (41, 0.8 % of quarantined individuals) and CMHC staff evaluated five of these 51 individuals as facing a high-risk of mental illness and referred them to psychiatric treatment (Fig. 2).
The NCMHM conducted the initial evaluation of all deceased patients' family members and recovered patients. The NCMHM referred individuals who required further medical treatment to five national mental hospitals and those who required continuous mental health services to local CMHCs; however, of those who used the disaster mental health service in Gyeonggi Province, the NCMHM referred only four of 37 (10.8 %) deceased patients' family members and 11 of 62 (17.7 %) recovered patients. This means that in terms of disaster mental health service system, a considerably higher number of family members and recovered patients used the Gyeonggi Province service directly, rather than the national system. This result shows us that the referral system from the national level to regional or local level does not working and it would be more efficient to develop open entry system at the local level rather than linear triage system.
This study was done in a real world not an experimental situation. Mental health service interventions for MERS victims were performed by the law not by the research design. We tried to find out the way how the system works for MERS victims, systematic characteristics how the victims use mental health services, the needs of victims and the possible strategy how to develop mental health service system in the near future especially for the disaster by infectious disease.
Nonetheless, it remains significant that the service utilization rate analyzed in this study was much higher than other general mental health situation in Korea; the professionals administering it actively approached and contacted people with problems rather than passively providing information. The need for mental health services is increasing and traditional systems centered on hospitals and medical facilities are ill-suited to addressing many mental health problems. The core value of public mental health services is adequate public accessibility; it is therefore essential for governments to strengthen their professional competence and establish effective systems. These criteria should also be applied to psychological problems caused by disastrous infectious disease outbreaks.
All authors participated in the design of the study and conceptualization of case report. MSL made first draft and other authors made substantial edits. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
M. S. Lee is a psychiatrist and has been playing a role in the community psychiatric setting as a director of mental health center since last 15 years and a board member of Disaster Mental Health Committee of Korean Mental Health Foundation. M. K. Yoon is a psychiatric nurse and working as a deputy director in Gyeonggi Mental Health Center. S. Y. Kim is a psychiatric nurse and working as a team manager of disaster mental health team of Gyeonggi Mental Health Center. H. S. Ko is a psychiatric social worker working at team member of disaster mental health team of Gyeonggi Mental Health Center.
Data will not be shared cause we used secondary data.
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Yongin Mental Hospital of Korea, Reference Number "2016-19".
Consent to participate: "not applicable", we just use secondary data from Gyeonggi government which has not individual information.
"This study was supported by a grant of the Korean Mental Health Technology R&D Project, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (HI15C1112)".
The government of Gyeonggi Province. MERS inside 2015. Suwon. http://ebook.gg.go.kr/home/view.php?host=main&site=20151222_153922&listPageNow=0&list2PageNow=0&code=24&code2=0&code3=0&searchcode=0&searchcode2=0&searchdate=&searchkey=site&searchval=&searchandor=&dummy=&&orders. Accessed 15 Apr 2016.
Ministry of Health and Welfare. Middle east respiratory syndrome information, the current status of MERS in 2015 of South Korea. Sejong: Center for Disease Control. http://www.mers.go.kr/mers/html/jsp/Menu_B/content_B1.jsp. Accessed 15 Apr 2016.
National Disaster Management Institute. Monthly disaster issues no. 17 2015. Ulsan. http://www.ndmi.go.kr/promote/soial/list.jsp. Accessed 18 Apr 2016.


text:
Reporting From the Web's Underbelly
Brian Krebs has good laptop stickers (Photo credit: quinnums)
In the last year, Eastern European cybercriminals have stolen Brian Krebs's identity a half dozen times, brought down his website, included his name and some unpleasant epithets in their malware code, sent fecal matter and heroin to his doorstep, and called a SWAT team to his home just as his mother was arriving for dinner.
"I can't imagine what my neighbors think of me," he said dryly.
Mr. Krebs, 41, tries to write pieces that cannot be found elsewhere. His widely read cybersecurity blog, Krebs on Security, covers a particularly dark corner of the Internet: profit-seeking cybercriminals, many based in Eastern Europe, who make billions off pharmaceutical sales, malware, spam, frauds and heists like the recent ones that Mr. Krebs was first to uncover at Adobe, Target and Neiman Marcus.
He covers this niche with much the same tenacity of his subjects, earning him their respect and occasional ire.
Mr. Krebs — a former reporter at The Washington Post who taught himself to read Russian while jogging on his treadmill and who blogs with a 12-gauge shotgun by his side — is so entrenched in the digital underground that he is on a first-name basis with some of Russia's major cybercriminals.
Many call him regularly, leak him documents about their rivals, and try to bribe and threaten him to keep their names and dealings off his blog.
His clean-cut looks and plain-speaking demeanor seem more appropriate for a real-estate broker than a man who spends most of his waking hours studying the Internet's underbelly. But few have done more to shed light on the digital underground than Mr. Krebs.
His obsession with hackers kicked in when he was just another victim. In 2001, a computer worm — a malicious software program that can spread quickly — locked him out of his home computer. "It felt like someone had broken into my home," Mr. Krebs recalled in an interview. He started looking into it. And he kept looking, learning about spam, computer worms and the underground industry behind it.
Eventually, his anger and curiosity turned into a full-time beat at The Post and then on his own blog.
"I realized that if security breaks down, the technology breaks down," Mr. Krebs said.
Today, he maintains extensive files on criminal syndicates and their tools. Some security experts readily acknowledge that he knows more about Russia's digital underground than they do.
"I would put him up against the best threat intelligence analyst," said Rodney Joffe, senior vice president at Neustar, an Internet infrastructure firm. "Many of us in the industry go to him to help us understand what the Eastern European criminals are doing, how they work with each other and who is doing what to whom."
That proved the case in December when Mr. Krebs uncovered what could be the biggest known Internet credit-card heist. That month, he had been poking around private, underground forums where criminals were bragging about a fresh haul of credit and debit cards.
Soon after, one of Mr. Krebs's banking sources called to report a high number of fraudulent purchases and asked whether Mr. Krebs could pinpoint where they were coming from. The source said that he had bought a large batch of stolen cards from an underground site and that they all appeared to have been used at Target.
Mr. Krebs checked with a source at a second bank that had also been dealing with a spike in fraud.
Together, they visited one forum and bought a batch of stolen cards. Again, the cards appeared to have one thing in common: They had been used at Target from late November to mid-December.
On the morning of Dec. 18, Mr. Krebs called Target. The company's spokeswoman did not return his call until several hours later, but by then he had enough to run his article: Criminals had breached the registers in Target's stores and had made off with tens of millions of payment card numbers.
In the following weeks, Mr. Krebs discovered breaches at Neiman Marcus; Michaels, the arts and crafts retailer; and White Lodging, which manages franchises for major hotel chains like Hilton, Marriott and Starwood Hotels.
It is still unclear whether the attacks were related, but at least 10 other retailers may have been hit by the same hackers that hit Target and are reluctant to acknowledge it.
That is where Mr. Krebs comes in. Unlike physical crime — a bank robbery, for example, quickly becomes public — online thefts are hushed up by companies that worry the disclosure will inflict more damage than the theft, allowing hackers to raid multiple companies before consumers hear about it.
"There's a lot going on in this industry that impedes the flow of information," Mr. Krebs said. "And there's a lot of money to be made in having intelligence and information about what's going on in the underworld. It's big business but most people don't want to pay for it, which explains why they come to someone like me."
Mr. Krebs is "doing the security industry an enormous favor by disseminating real-time threat information," said Barmak Meftah, chief executive of AlienVault, a threat-detection service. "We are only as strong as our information. Unless we are very specific and effective about exchanging threat data when one of us gets breached, we will always be a step behind the attackers."
Launch media viewer
Brian Krebs, formerly of The Washington Post, now reports from his home in Annandale, Va. Daniel Rosenbaum for The New York Times
The tally of victims from the breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus and others now exceeds one-third of the United States population — a grim factoid that may offer Mr. Krebs a strange sense of career vindication.
He first developed an interest in computers because his father, an Air Force engineer, was obsessed with the latest devices. But he did little about it until 1998, when he began writing about technology for The Post, after working his way up from the mailroom. Cybersecurity became a bit of a focus after his own computer was infected by that worm in 2001. "I learned there's this whole underworld that seemed really fascinating," he said.
In 2005, he started The Post's Security Fix blog, occasionally frustrating editors with hacker jargon and unnerving some who worried he was becoming too close to sources.
"A lot of what Brian does would scare the hell out of traditional newsroom editors," said Russ Walker, Mr. Krebs's former editor at The Post. "I don't think he crossed the lines journalistically, but he was living a different type of experience."
By 2006, Mr. Krebs was a fixture in hacker forums, learning code, and — ever the dutiful reporter — borrowing Russian language tapes from his local library since most of what he tracks originates in the former Soviet Union and its satellite states. (He acknowledges having used his technical prowess at one point to peek inside The Post's payroll system to see how much colleagues were making, something he now strongly advises against.)
In 2009, The Post asked Mr. Krebs to broaden his focus to general technology news and policy. When he declined, he was let go.
He used his severance to start his own blog, Krebs on Security, from his "command center," a guest room at the Annandale, Va., home he shares with his wife. There, three 19-inch computer screens help him keep tabs on the underworld, while another monitors security footage of his house.
Mr. Krebs's readership is growing. In December, 850,000 readers visited his blog, mostly to learn more about the breach at Target. Though he will not disclose figures, Mr. Krebs says the salary he now makes from advertising, occasional speaking engagements and consulting work is a "nice bump" from what he earned at The Post.
But there are risks implicit to being a one-man operation. "The work that he's done exposing Eastern European hackers has been seminal," said Tom Kellermann, vice president for cybersecurity at Trend Micro, a computer security company. "But Brian needs a bodyguard."
Russian criminals routinely feed Mr. Krebs information about their rivals that they obtained through hacks. After one such episode, he began receiving daily calls from a major Russian cybercriminal seeking his files back. Mr. Krebs is writing a book about the ordeal, called "Spam Nation," to be published by Sourcebooks this year.
In the meantime, hackers have been competing in a dangerous game of one-upmanship to see who can pull the worst prank on Mr. Krebs. They often steal his identity. One opened a $20,000 credit line in his name. Admirers have made more than $1,000 in bogus PayPal donations to his blog using hacked accounts. Others have paid his cable bill for three years with stolen credit cards.
The antics can be dangerous. In March, as Mr. Krebs was preparing to have his mother over for dinner, he opened his front door to find a police SWAT team pointing semiautomatic guns in his direction. Only after his wife returned home from the grocery store to find him handcuffed did the police realize Mr. Krebs had been the victim of "swatting." Someone had called the police and falsely reported a murder at their home.
Four months after that, someone sent packets of heroin to Mr. Krebs's home, then spoofed a call from his neighbor to the police. But Mr. Krebs had already been tipped off to the prank. He was tracking the fraud in a private forum — where a criminal had posted the shipment's tracking number — and had alerted the local police and the F.B.I.
Mr. Joffe worries Mr. Krebs's enemies could do far worse. "I don't understand why he hasn't moved to a new, undisclosed address," he said.
Mr. Krebs said he did plan to move and keep his new address secret. But these days it is almost impossible.
Though he goes to great lengths to protect his personal information, last month his wife received an email from Target informing her that their mailing address and other personal information had been stolen in the breach.
"I got that letter," he said, "and I just had to laugh."
Reporting from the web's underbelly
The blogger who broke news of the Target cyberattack
[tt] NYT: Reporting From the Web's Underbelly
The blogger they love to hate
The Afternoon Report, Tuesday, February 18, 2014
"Mr. Krebs - a former reporter at The Washington Post who taught himself to read Russian while..."
Brian Krebs, the Blogger Who Broke the Target Data Breach
Posted by Surut at 7:55 PM
Labels: Brian Krebs, Eastern Europe, Krebs, Neiman Marcus, Neustar, Russia, SWAT, Target Corporation
The Hard Truth About How The Facebook News Feed Wo...
Photos Become Ads With New Technology
Dear Asus router user: You've been pwned, thanks t...
How the north ended up on top of the map
Why Formula 1 Cars Are So Ugly This Year
George Zimmerman: God is 'the only judge that I ha...
Punching Above Its Weight, Upstart Netflix Pokes a...
How Many People Aren't Vaccinating Their Kids in Y...
Abba admit outrageous outfits were worn to avoid tax
U.N. panel accuses North Korea of crimes against h...
Why Gentrification Is So Hard to Stop
His Worship The mayor of Toronto, has not been sha...
The Crazy Mythology That Explains 'True Detective'
Saving an Endangered British Species: The Pub
Some of the Navy's futuristic weapons
How Legos Licensed the Universe, and Ended Up Ruli...
Lucas Talks To Fast Company: Reviled Venmo Subway ...
End the Ban on Psychoactive Drug Research
Officials: 'Air pirate' claims bomb on board, trie...
Labradoodle creator laments designer dog craze
What Does Pussy Riot Mean Now?
Do Not Apologize for Having Loud Sex
How much would an iPhone have cost in 1991?
When the Beatles Arrived in America, Reporters Ign...
How Ryan Perrilloux disappeared completely
The Heartbreaking Military Confessions Of Whisper
This Full-Color 3-D Printer Sounds Too Good To Be ...
How 'Sons of Anarchy' Revived the Motorcycle Busin...
Berghain: The Secretive, Sex-Fueled World of Techn...
Vodafone signs as Ubuntu backer
Acute kidney injury may up risk of heart problems ...
Vitamin A deficiency may cause gastrointestinal tr...
Can SAP Master Cloud & On-Premises?
TCS, HCL Tech, Infosys slip on Cognizant's muted R...
Eyeing Rs 1600cr revenue from Pune project: Kolte-...
Sochi security: Airlines warned of explosive tooth...
Facebook users have created 'hundreds of millions'...
Future of anti-piracy missions tied to marines cas...
Salman Khan turns barber
Four arrested in connection with drugs at actor Ph...
Auto Expo 2014: Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India t...
Nokia X budget Android phone reportedly certified ...
Facebook founder Zuckerberg says 'best still to co...
Energy drinks leading more teens to substance use
Motorola Moto G launched in India, priced starting...
Cryptography Breakthrough Could Make Software Unha...
A VALUABLE REPUTATION
Microsoft's new CEO is Satya Nadella
Barbie's Lead Designer Defends Barbie's Crazy Prop...
How breaking news is breaking us: The rush to repo...
Why Hollywood Will Never Look the Same Again on Fi...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


By registering as a dealer you will receive access to Wholesale Pricing. You can register as a dealer / wholesale customer if you have a valid sales tax resale certificate and a business license. Examples of those who qualify include (but are not limited to) contractors, installers, businesses, and retailers. If you are School or Government please call (480) 837-6400 to get setup, bids are welcome.
Upon submitting the registration form you will receive two e-mails. The first e-mail is a confirmation that we received your application to become a dealer or wholesale customer. Once we verify your information you will be sent a second e-mail which states that your registration was approved.
You will then be able to login to your account at "My Account Login" and start purchasing wholesale on the ECO Distributing website.
To place a wholesale order we must have on file your valid sales tax resale certificate copy and business license copy, this can be faxed or e-mailed to our office.


This article is a list of all the music tracks from Command & Conquer: Renegade. They were composed by Frank Klepacki. The name appears first, followed by. 17 May Westwood Studios has announced that the soundtrack for Command & Conquer Renegade, its upcoming action game, is complete. The music. The music of the Command & Conquer series refers to the soundtracks of the Command .. Tiberian · Command & Conquer (); Tiberian Sun · Renegade · 3: Tiberium Wars · Kane's Wrath · 4: Tiberian Twilight · Tiberium Alliances · Red Alert.
Frank Klepacki is an American musician, video game composer and sound director, best He has dubbed the style of music he writes as "Rocktronic". Klepacki was contacted to score Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, but was too . Conquer: Renegade—the next entry in the series—Klepacki tried to update the. Command & Conquer: Renegade is a first- and third-person shooter video game developed by Westwood Studios and is part of the Command & Conquer series. It seems to have become a timeless collection of music in the game industry. the sequel "Tiberian Sun" as well as "Renegade" for those paying close attention.
Find a Frank Klepacki - Command & Conquer: Renegade Soundtrack first pressing or reissue. Complete your Frank Klepacki collection. Shop Vinyl and CDs. Feel like listening to C&C music? Push the Command & Conquer: Renegade – Patch Command & Conquer: Renegade – Patch (Aircraft Patch). 26 Nov The sorted and complete Renegade X Soundtrack, included the original remake of "Command & Conquer"! Reupload due to accidently It's a nice addition anyway, Ren had some great music. Reply Good karma Bad. Take on the agents of the Brotherhood Of Nod using your firepower stealth, and guts; Dish out heavy damage at the ground level in first or third-person view. Command & Conquer: Renegade is an FPS spin off from the popular Command & Conquer: Tiberian Series of video games. Taking place during the.


text:
MsManhattan
Only in New York
The Hoods
I Get Around
NY4Reel
I Art NY
Hey, Sport!
Shout OUT!
New York Filmmakers Spotlighted in SciFi Channel Special Redux
As announced previously, two New York-based indie filmmaking teams will be featured in this weekend's Exposure special on the SciFi Channel. The shorts RF EYE-D, created by Leslie Jaye Goff (that's MsManhattan to you) and Aram Bauman for Puffin Films, and Bloody Mary, by Mark Harris and Timur Civan for Desperate Comfort Films, are among the nine films selected to air on the cable network by voters in last fall's Exposure online short film contest.
Originally scheduled to air in April (see original post), the 90-minute show will finally premiere this Sunday night, May 20, at midnight with subsequent airings on Tuesday, May 22, at 8:30 a.m., and Thursday, May 24, at 3:00 a.m. Don't forget to tune in -- or set your DVR -- and then go to the Exposure Web site to vote for your favorite flick (need I say which one I think that should be?). The grand prize winner gets a pitch meeting with SciFi Channel programming execs.
MsManhattan thanks you in advance for your support for New York indie filmmakers!
Posted by MsManhattan at 3:25 PM 2 comments:
New York Filmmakers Spotlighted in SciFi Channel Special
UPDATE 22 APRIL 2007: SciFi Channel has postponed the premiere of the Exposure short film special until May 20, 2007. Check back for more information in May. Thanks!
Now that The Sopranos is back on the air for its final season, many New Yorkers are no doubt home on Sunday nights. TiVO-shmivo -- you just have to see it when it comes on at 9 p.m. So, after you've seen the new episode this Sunday night (April 22), try to stay up a few extra hours -- or go ahead and put your DVR to good use -- and check out two New York filmmaking teams who will be featured in the SciFi Channel's Exposure special.
Blatant Self-Promotion Alert: MsManhattan comprises half of one of those teams...
The one-hour show, airing at midnight (channel 44 on Time Warner systems in Manhattan), spotlights nine short films selected by voters in last November's Exposure Online Short Film Contest, co-sponsored by SciFi Channel and Sundance Channel.
It was a fierce competition. First we had to submit our films for review by the contest promoters, who then selected eight to 10 entries for each week of the eight-week contest. My production partner, Aram Bauman, and I eagerly went to the site each week to see if our submission, RF EYE-D, had been selected and, in week 4, were elated to see that it was up for voting.
And then just as suddenly as our spirits soared, they came tumbling down when we saw that we were up against two close friends: the Brooklyn filmmaking team of Mark Harris and Timur Civan with their film Bloody Mary. Given all the films submitted, and the two-month window for the competition, how did we end up vying against our own friends, with whom we've collaborated on other projects?
We hoped that at least one of our films would win for the week, and one of them did: theirs. Our joy for them was unavoidably mixed with disappointment for ourselves. And then, out of the blue a week later, SciFi Channel announced that "upon further review," RF EYE-D would share the Week 4 win with Bloody Mary.
We shot RF EYE-D in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We secured permission to shoot at the historic Church of the Intercession uptown; we also shot, guerilla-style, sans permission, in Central Park, at the South Street Seaport and in a major Brooklyn supermarket that shall go unnamed. We even made our own do-it-yourself green screen studio with yards and yards of green fabric hung in a mini-storage unit. Mark and Timur shot Bloody Mary in Brooklyn, making good use of various friends' apartments. All of the actors in both films are from the greater New York area.
Both films -- and their creators -- will be featured in Sunday night's special (it repeats on April 26 at 8:30 a.m. and April 27 at 3:00 a.m.). So, check it out and don't forget to go back to SciFi.com to vote on your favorite of the nine shorts afterward. The Grand Prize Winner gets to pitch a feature film project to network programming execs. MsManhattan is clearly biased, so my only plea here is: Support New York indie filmmakers!
Posted by MsManhattan at 10:15 PM No comments:
Mega Millions Mania
MsManhattan is ambivalent about the state lottery. Yes, all the proceeds fund public education. "Raising Billions to Educate Millions," the NY State Lottery Web site proclaims -- $2.2 billion, to be exact. But when I see folks who probably should be spending that lotto money on groceries, it makes me a little sad and anxious.
Nonetheless, I usually play when the jackpots are really huge and sometimes I play during the first week of March. A fortune teller in Dublin once told me I would win $50,000 in the lottery on March 5th or 6th. She did not say what year. So anytime a lotto drawing falls on one of those dates, I usually get optimistic and play. It has been 16 years, but, to quote the lottery ads, hey, you never know. Of course, it turns out that she told anyone who went to see her that they, too, would win $50,000 in the lottery…
But, she was uncannily correct in most everything she saw in me or, that is, my forehead. She threw Tarot cards and then gazed intently at my forehead as though a movie were playing there. It was unusual, but effective. She saw in my forehead, for instance, my former father-in-law having a heart attack while trimming the shrubbery in the front yard. She described his house and his yard to a tee, down to the unusual color of bricks for which the house was named: Greystones. And, he had, in fact, just a few months before, had a heart attack while trimming the shrubbery. She saw my office and my co-workers, including particular physical characteristics of each. She described my boss perfectly except she said he was "clean-shaven." He had a beard, so I figured she just got that detail wrong. But when I returned to New York, his beard was gone, and he had shaved it off – I kid you not – the day before my appointment with the fortune teller.
So, with the March 6th Mega Millions drawing worth a potential $355 million jackpot, I have purchased $20 worth of tickets. That bought me 23 chances to win – you get a bonus set of numbers for each five sets you buy. I'm hedging my bets – since she said March 5th OR 6th, I waited until the 5th to buy for the drawing on the 6th… I've got it all worked out.
I always get a little flustered when playing lotto because the rules are different for each of the games. For Mega Millions, you choose five "regular" numbers and one "Power Ball" number. I've played all my lucky numbers – one being the fortune teller's street address – in various combinations of "regular" and "Power Ball." Like I said, I've got it all worked out.
Tonight's drawing will be live in Times Square. You have until 8 p.m. to buy your chance at instant freedom. For MsManhattan, instant freedom would mean I'd have to start a new blog: MmeParis… Or, MsMaui, perhaps… As a previous Lotto ad campaign used to say, all it takes is a dollar and a dream. This March 6th, MsManhattan is a little less ambivalent about the state lottery…
Posted by MsManhattan at 12:23 AM 3 comments:
New Yorker. Upper West Sider. Displaced Southerner. Question-Asker. Fact-Checker. Sharing news, resources and digressive observations from the island formerly known as Mannahatta. (Top portrait by Steven Boling; Photograph by Kelly Irwin)
MsManhattan on Twitter
Tweets by @MsManhattan
Recent Posts Widget by Helplogger
Let Your Voice Be Heard: A Guide to Manhattan's Community Boards
It's easy to feel like you're not being heard in a city as cacophonous as New York , but don't give up. If you have concerns abo...
Caswell-Massey Closing Lexington Avenue Store; 11 Days to Spa Week
After 84 years of continuous operation, CaswellMassey 's beautifully-appointed flagship store at Lexington & 48th St. will close thi...
Film Forum's Victor Fleming Fest Opens Friday
Film Forum launches the Victor Fleming Film Festival tomorrow (Friday, March 5), providing the opportunity to see Gone With the Wind and T...
LeslieJayeGoff.com
MsManhattan Productions on Vimeo
New York Filmmakers Spotlighted in SciFi Channel S...


text:
Mad Men Style Recap, Episode 6
Last night's Mad Men pondered the age-old question: how to succeed in business without really trying? The answer seems to be get blackout drunk and hire someone young and probably unqualified to do your job for you. Roger does it with Don, just as Don hires Danny after drunkenly blurting out his tagline to Life Cereal. The real loser of this game, other than talent, is Peggy. Peggy has been doing the legwork behind Don's "brilliance" and getting no credit for far too long. She's booted from attending the Clios because everyone wants to hold Joan's hand under the table, and later stuck brainstorming in a hotel room with SCDP's new, faux-radical art director, Stan Rizzo, of the leather jacket and long-sleeved polo shirt club. I swear that outfit was stolen verbatim from Fez on That '70s Show. But Peggy's attempt to correct the corruption only results in nepotism: Jane's idiot cousin gets a job. Luckily for Peggy, however, her wardrobe this episode is that of a winner. Her black and tan short sleeved dress looks expensive, professional, and young. Her hair is pinned back on the sides with sparkly clips--business in the front, party in the back--although Peggy's partying ability is in question. When she gets naked for Stan, it's all business, and even when she jets downtown to hang out with the "cool kids" two episodes ago, she can't help but mention her job. She cares so much she arrives at Don's apartment Sunday night in an adorable cyan jacket with floral collar to stand up for justice and defend Danny's tagline. By the end of the episode Peggy feels accomplished, wearing a bright blue suit and brown and white patterned blouse, but we'll see if her plan plays out in the next episode. Now onto someone whose partying ability is not in question: Don Draper.
Steff Yotka
Last night's Mad Men pondered the age-old question: how to succeed in business without really trying? The answer seems to be get blackout drunk and hire someone young and probably unqualified to do your job for you. Roger does it with Don, just as Don hires Danny after drunkenly blurting out his tagline to Life Cereal.
The real loser of this game, other than talent, is Peggy. Peggy has been doing the legwork behind Don's "brilliance" and getting no credit for far too long. She's booted from attending the Clios because everyone wants to hold Joan's hand under the table, and later stuck brainstorming in a hotel room with SCDP's new, faux-radical art director, Stan Rizzo, of the leather jacket and long-sleeved polo shirt club. I swear that outfit was stolen verbatim from Fez on That '70s Show. But Peggy's attempt to correct the corruption only results in nepotism: Jane's idiot cousin gets a job.
Luckily for Peggy, however, her wardrobe this episode is that of a winner. Her black and tan short sleeved dress looks expensive, professional, and young. Her hair is pinned back on the sides with sparkly clips--business in the front, party in the back--although Peggy's partying ability is in question. When she gets naked for Stan, it's all business, and even when she jets downtown to hang out with the "cool kids" two episodes ago, she can't help but mention her job. She cares so much she arrives at Don's apartment Sunday night in an adorable cyan jacket with floral collar to stand up for justice and defend Danny's tagline. By the end of the episode Peggy feels accomplished, wearing a bright blue suit and brown and white patterned blouse, but we'll see if her plan plays out in the next episode.
Now onto someone whose partying ability is not in question: Don Draper. After being moderately sober last week, Don wins an award for his Glo Coat commercial and goes completely wild. He's drunk at the ceremony, drunk at the Life Cereal meeting, drunk at the after party, drunk in bed with the jingle writer, and presumably still drunk when he wakes up with a uniform-wearing Doris. Considering that this episode of Mad Men coincided with the Emmys (where Mad Men was sure to take home some statues), one can't help but wonder is this is how the Mad Men staff celebrates.
Despite his drunkeness, Don's wardrobe has continued on its turn for the better. His slim blue suit and tie are young and progressive, not like the stuffy black suits he usually dons. He looks picture perfect sitting at the Clios next to Joan, who looks stunning in a pink and lilac patterned form-fitting dress, and beside Pete, who looks dapper in a black suit and black and white diagonally striped tie. Roger, as usual, is in three piece black. Also at the Clios are Duck Phillips, drunker than ever in a light blue suit, and Ken Cosgrove, in one of his many brown suits.
As the post awards party rages on, Don mistakenly tries to hit on Faye. Even though Faye looks like a glittery ornament from a drag queen's funeral (she's in a shiny-topped black dress with a fabric and bead necklace and black dangly earrings), she's still too classy become another notch on Don's bedpost. Don gets over it quickly as a jingle writer appears in a black sleeved dress with multi-colored flowers and green bead necklaces to tickle his fancy. He may fall asleep to the tune of "The Star Spangled Banner," but he wakes up to the tune of his phone ringing off the hook as angry Betty berates him and Doris lays beside him in bed. Betty appeared only for a few seconds this episode, but it was just enough time for us to see her looking positively icy in a white suit with light blue criss-cross trim and enough pearls to sink a ship. Janie Bryant is really putting the emphasis on Betty's cold personality this season, the only time she wears a warm color is on Christmas.
While the present on Mad Men is troubled, the past was so bright.
In this episode's welcome flashbacks, we see Don and Roger meeting for the first time. Don, a goofy looking fur salesman, wears a grey double breasted suit and orange tie, and Roger is seen without a vest in a black pinstripe suit. Don has the aspiration that Danny has at the episode's start (Danny's name being so close to Don is no coincidence), and will do anything to have a meeting with Roger, even if it means sending his portfolio along with Roger's mink. Bringing us to Joan. Joan is sultry, and mind-bogglingly seductive in a black, crystal strapped negligée and red nailpolish, sitting coquettishly on Roger's bed. Seductress Joan has been absent after marrying Dr. Harris, only turning on her powers for special occasions.
After Don's misstep with Roger, he arrives in the Sterling Cooper office to attempt to reconcile his chances with Roger. Roger wears a navy suit and coat, and Don looks perfectly wide-eyed in light colors, a camel coat, grey suit, and green paisley tie. Ultimately Roger hires Don in his drunkenness, or Don convinces Roger that he did, and that's where the Mad Men story begins.
With all the flashbacks and meta references I'm going to have to put the analytical part of my brain that died with Lost back to work on Mad Men. Let's only hope Mad Men doesn't end on a flat note, but with all the scotch in SCDP office, I don't see anything but high times ahead.
mad menNews
Janie Bryant
Mad Men, a show whose motto could be "subtlety is the best policy," traded in their whispers for screams this episode. Taking place over one day, Don and Peggy's relationship hit a wall and broke through to the other side. Starting with bet placing on the fight between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston, the episode explored strength & toughness in a very literal way. Who is stronger Clay or Liston, Samsonite or American Traveler, Don or Peggy's will? In the end everyone broke down, got back up, and continued fighting, well, everyone except Liston that is. This episode pitted Don's slimmest-ever grey suit, grey striped tie with a thin, black triple stripe, and a teeny grey fedora against Peggy's full skirted, patterned, brown dress and slingback shoes. Not to say all patterned, full skirted brown dresses are equal, but Trudy wore a similar style a couple episodes ago when she told Pete she was pregnant. A subtle allusion or nothing at all? (Sidenote: Trudy's teal pregnancy ensemble was pure brilliance. And her little white gloves to finish the look added just the patrician touch of elegance to her conversation about bloodsport and raw meat.) Either way, Peggy was celebrating her birthday in style, with her hair flipped at a 180 degree angle and her sparkliest earrings on, later adding her cyan coat and white hat though they never really made it outside.
By Steff Yotka
Mad Men Style Recap: Episode 4
"Did you get pears?" asked Don's elderly neighbor at this episode's end. He must've known that Mad Men's pairs are falling apart. Sunday's featured players, Pete, Peggy, Don and Allison, showed us how to break up and move on, and the very different paths that will lead you. Let's start with Peggy and Pete, whose longstanding relationship is ending up with something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. The old: Pete's future. The end of the episode shows Pete inside SCDP offices with a crowd of older men while Peggy dashes off with The New, a group of young professionals going for some lunchtime fun. The borrowed may be their consistent composure and maturity, but The Blue is Pete's wardrobe and life. Pete's opening suit is a whole new shade of blue--electric.
Last night's episode of Mad Men was not for the faint of heart. Tracing the narrative of only three characters, Joan, Don, and Lane, the episode was heart-wrenching, hysterical, and created a lot of open wounds. Each character's wardrobe had an immediacy to it, like everyone was trying to solve their issues with a fresh coat of paint. This was most apparent with Joan, who wore her feelings on her sleeve this episode. Starting out in the gynecologist's office, Joan shows a rare vulnerability discussing her ability to conceive. Her hair is messy on one side, falling out of its perfect twist. Later in the office, she wears a blue ruched dress, with a gold brooch and matching blue eyeshadow. The dress highlights her curves more than usual, perhaps a nod to her ability to get pregnant, but the blue eyeshadow is a rare misstep in Joan's repertoire. While it may be historically accurate, nobody wants to relive the matching eyeshadow trend. Can't we just let this one slip through the cracks, Mad Men?
It's Christmas on Mad Men, and as this episode's title proclaims, "Christmas Comes But Once a Year." You'd expect everyone to be jolly with seasonal cheer, but this is Mad Men, so, naturally, everything takes a darker turn. Don spirals deeper into his alcoholism and depression, the former Draper residence gets egged, and the rest of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce works to deal with clients' requests and each other. The fashion on Mad Men is changing, and fast; women are leaving behind their New Look silhouettes for slimmer, shorter options, and men are experimenting more with suiting. Hair is higher and shorter, and large, statement jewelry plays a starring role. Everything is modernizing inside Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Everything except Don.


text:
Cerro del Espina
Vicente Calderón
Additional facilities
Facilities for radio, TV and press
The Hymn
Play modes
Megastore 1903
Megastore 1903, also known as Tienda Rojiblanca, is open on Monday to Saturday from 10.30 to 20.30. Exceptions are on 25th of December and on the 1st and 6th of January. On matchdays the fan shop is open from 11 o'clock until the beginning of the match and once again for 45 minutes subsequent to the match.
In the official fan shop of Atlético all official memorabilia which are distributed by the club can be found as well as some further chosen pieces of their outfitter Nike.
In order to get an overview of the big choice it is simply recommended to take a look at the website of Megastore 1903 which is at disposal both in Spanish and English.
Museo Atlético de Madrid
Over a hundred years of Atlético Madrid can be inspected directly in the stadium at the club's own museum in Madrid. The museum with the official name Museo Atlético de Madrid & Colección Pablo Ornaque promises red-white history within one's reach.
The museum stretches over more than 600 sq and hence does not only belong to the newest museums in Madrid but also to the five biggest football museums.
The exhibition encompasses the club's history starting with its foundation in 1903. Moreover, it contains the club's trophy collection with won cups and trophies out of 100 years Atlético Madrid.
[qt:http://files.atleticomadrid.eu/extra/stadien/vicentecalderon/360/Trophaeensaal.mov 360 150]
A further highlight is a time travel through the football's history by means of original footballs and shoes from the past to present, as well as by means of a presentation about the Rojiblancos' strip starting with the first strip, which was still blue and white-keyed, to the latest strip.
The museum can be visited on Tuesdays to Fridays, including holidays, from 11 o'clock to 19.00. Exceptions are every Monday, the 25th of December and the 1st and 6th of January. On matchdays, the museum is open from 11.00 until the beginning of the match.
Furthermore, the Museo Atlético de Madrid & Colección Pablo Ornaque offers a guided tour through the complete stadium in which one has the opportunity to enter the interior, have a seat on the VIP seats or have a seat on the bench in the locker rooms. Guided tours take place from Tuesday to Friday at 12.00, 13.00, 16.30 and 17.30. The club grants a discount on the normal price for bigger groups starting from 25 people. Moreover, season ticket holders, so called Abonados, as well as members of Club Atlético de Madrid S.A.D. and children below 12 years receive a 50% discount on the guided tour.
IndiPark
Also for little fans Atletico provides a variety of programmes. The IndiPark opens its gates every Monday to Sunday from 17.00 to 21.00 and hence permits the young Rojiblancas and Rojiblancos a lot of fun at the club's own play paradise.
On more than 400 sq children from four to twelve years find everything the child's heart could wish for. Hence, next to supervision through trained personnel there are games, small competitions and further surprises. In order to frolic around, the IndiPark provides a labyrinth, a swimming pool out of balls, slides and the IndiGol where the little ones can demonstrate their abilities.
On match days, the IndiPark offers a after school care centre in order to ensure that parents can leave their children under supervision while enjoying the match in the stadium. As a further special service, the IndiPark offers to celebrate ones childs' birthday at the stadium. Besides playing, a meal, a birthday cake and a small present for each guest, the offer encompasses a small stadium tour with the possibility to make pictures of oneself on the substitute's bench. As a matter of course, a trained supervisor who assists the children with fun and games is present at all times.
1903 Sport Arena
The club's own restaurant, the 1903 Sport Arena, as well as the IndiPark or the Museo Atlético de Madrid, is located directly in the stadium. The entrance is located close to the official Atlético Madrid fan shop and the Megastore 1903 at gate 23.
The restaurant accommodates 800 people. The focus is on the link between gastronomy and sport, in particular football. Hence, within the 700 sq big establishments, four huge screens with a size of 3×2.5m and six further plasma TVs are situated.
In addition, season ticket holders and members receive a 10% discount on everything that they consume.
Opening times are daily from 12.00 to 24.00, on holidays and Saturdays even until 01.00.
Situated in the lower "lateral " zone of the stadium is a fitness centre with a size of 1.200 sq. Besides equipment training, the offer comprises aerobic, yoga, gymnastics, muscle training and massages. Furthermore, a hairdresser's and a tanning salon are established in the fitness centre.
2 thoughts on "Additional facilities"
yonas endale says:
I like Atletico Madrid and I admire Diego Simeone for me he is world class coach.I am from Ethiopia I am sure Atletico will win both the laliga and champions league title I saw this by my dream.
I have already told u atletico will win both the la liga and champions league title remember this ones again.
Win with Atlético Madrid (1)
Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid
Cheering for Atlético
Plan your Atletico Madrid Tour
Atlético vs. Chelsea – UEFA Super Cup 2012
VFL Wolfsburg star Diego about to join Atlético Madrid
Atletico Atletico Madrid Barcelona Chelsea derby Madrid match New Season Supercup Tour UEFA Super Cup 2012 wanda metropolitano
Theme: sporta by modernthemes.net


You could, of course, completely dodge the issue by never responding, especially if the question was posed by email or over social media. But if you're in a position where you're hoping to leave a lasting good impression, you likely want to at least be polite. That doesn't mean you have to give away your knowledge, however. Here are a few suggestions for handling the delicate issue of someone essentially wanting free consulting services.
The best way to handle this situation is to redirect the person to a resource you've already created. Perhaps you participated in a webinar or wrote a series on your blog about that very issue. If you haven't done either, you should probably consider doing so. You'll have a built-in answer to the question.
Your resource doesn't have to be link-able, either. If you have an upcoming workshop or seminar, invite the person to attend. This will not only give him access to your insights on topics related to your industry or achievements, but to other respected leaders, as well.
If you don't have such resources, chances are someone else does. If you can get the person to send basic details about the information he's seeking, you can provide links to articles, books and videos on the topic. Emphasize that you trust the person whose information you're linking and believe it could be of help in his situation.
You may also know someone in your field who regularly provides consultation services and workshops on related issues. If the questions are about starting a business, for instance, refer him to a workshop on that very topic that is coming up soon in his local area.
If the person has asked to meet with you, reply appreciatively with the assumption that he's requesting your consulting services. Say, "I'd be happy to meet with you. I charge $X for a half-hour consultation" and list the dates you're available. The person will likely assume you regularly provide services like these and will likely be too embarrassed to reply stating he was hoping you'd meet with him for free.
The truth is, your experience and time are both worth money. When you give that knowledge away for free, you're devaluing it. The other person likely won't have as much respect for it, either, since it came at no cost whatsoever.
The most obvious way to handle a request for your time is to simply say no. But basic politeness makes it difficult for many of us to do such a thing. It's especially complicated if the requester is a friend of a friend or distant relative.
Still, you likely have little time in a day to spend an hour or two of it giving away your expertise. Instead of outwardly saying "no," consider putting the person off. Say, "I'd love to meet with you but my schedule is booked for the next two months." Then ask him to get back with you in a couple of months to set an appointment. Chances are, the person will get advice somewhere else by then or forget about it altogether.
If you haven't gotten a request for free advice yet, you eventually will. If you plan for how you'll handle the situation in advance, you'll be ready to respond appropriately when such a request takes you by surprise.


According to a recently published report, India Fire Safety Equipment Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2017, the India fire safety equipment market has a strong growth potential. It is forecast that the market revenues will cross USD 4.26 Billion by the end of 2017. The demand for fire safety equipment is rising on the heels of economic growth of India, rapid industrialization, a radically growing commercial sector and improvement in the overall real estate industry.
The usage and application of fire safety equipment is continuously increasing with corporations and commercial entities laying additional emphasis on fire safety and security. Many state governments have now made it mandatory for proper installation and adequacy of fire safety installations, particularly in commercial establishments. With the intensification of competition as a result of the entry of several small and unorganized players into the market, innovation and product differentiation are likely to play the key role for the players, said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a global management consulting firm.


Vacation rentals are the ideal home-away-from-home if you're looking to escape the cold, and the tropical atmosphere of Orange Beach, AL, makes for the perfect backdrop. Sugar Sands Realty & Management Inc offers the finest beach house rentals and vacation homes in the area, with oceanfront activities and local attractions at your front door.
Glistening surf, sun-soaked beaches, and a relaxed atmosphere aren't the only perks of Orange Beach. It's home to a vibrant culture of outdoor activities and attractions perfect for the whole family.
Whether you're looking for an intimate night dining at sea or a day-trip cruise alongside dolphins, Orange Beach offers a variety of boat tours for every occasion. Experience the marine life and true ocean-atmosphere by booking a ride out on the water.
A trip to Orange Beach isn't complete without a stop at The Wharf. As the cultural hub of the town, you'll find everything from art events and seafood festivals to live music and shopping. Sugar Sands Realty & Management Inc offers vacation rentals only steps away, giving you full access to the best of the Orange Beach lifestyle.
If you're looking for an afternoon full of family-friendly activities, stop by Adventure Island. With everything from go-karts and mini golf to a five-story volcano, you'll find endless attractions perfect for when you're out on the town.
The Gulf is home to a rich ecosystem of sea life, so why dine out when you can catch your own seafood? Orange Beach offers a variety of inter-coastal and deep-sea fishing charters, allowing you to spend a day on the water making a big catch you can throw on the grill at your vacation rental home.
The best way to experience the full beauty of Orange Beach is by air, and hot air balloon rides offer a peaceful, scenic break from the beach action. Enjoy a serene trip high above the town where you'll get an endless view of the ocean—maybe you'll even spot your vacation home below!
Grab your own piece of paradise by contacting Sugar Sands Realty & Management Inc. Their wide variety of affordable homes for sale and vacation rentals in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores are perfect for your next family getaway. You can explore their listings on their website, and visit their Facebook page for news and updates. Call (251) 974-1672, (800) 824-6462 today to schedule your next getaway or to make to a long-term investment.


GOLD FEATHERS. ADVENTURES, INSPIRATION, AND OTHER LOVELY THINGS.: RED VELVET MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.
red velvet mint chocolate chip cookies!
and i love love love mint + chocolate together!
add 1 cup of nestle tollhouse dark chocolate + mint chips.
and store the rest of the mint truffle kisses in the freezer.
Totally making these for a work Christmas party tomorrow night. So pretty, thanks Jenn!


How Did the Wildlife Cross the Road?
Biologists study road ecology to reduce harmful effects of highways on animals.
When Paul Hanson set up his first game camera in the Franklin Mountains of El Paso, he wasn't sure what he'd get. He was thrilled when a mountain lion — rarely seen because of the animal's secretive nature — showed up.
Eight months later, a heartbroken Hanson learned that the mountain lion was found fatally injured by the side of Transmountain Road, the victim of a collision with a car.
"I was devastated. We knew it was the same one because it had a really distinguished nick in its ear," says Hanson, who works for TPWD's Wyler Aerial Tramway.
At the same time, on the other side of the Franklins, the Texas Department of Transportation was busy building a wildlife and pedestrian underpass on Transmountain to enable the safe passage of animals and people in the mountains.
Like many roads across the state, Transmountain Road has created seen and unseen effects on wildlife and the surrounding environment.
Roads can act as barriers to animal movement, create fragmented habitat, limit access to resources and divide wildlife populations into more vulnerable subpopulations. They can, of course, also cause roadkill. The emerging field of road ecology aims to address these problems.
Several U.S. states have begun implementing solutions, such as building overpasses for migrating pronghorns in Wyoming and underpasses for panthers in Florida, to protect vulnerable wildlife populations.
Now, Texas is looking for its own solutions, with projects underway across the state to help brown pelicans, ocelots, bats, pronghorns, fish and a host of other species affected by roads.
The most visible effect of roads on wildlife comes from the toll of animals hit by cars. Vehicle-wildlife collisions kill millions of animals each year. That's a lot of dead armadillos. The cost associated with vehicle-animal collisions is estimated to be $8.3 billion a year in the U.S.
Chris Schalk, a professor at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, finds roadkill pretty interesting.
For one thing, roadkill can tell you a lot about wildlife movements — animal "hot spots" and "hot moments" and seasonal patterns. It's data, scientific data. A little bloody, maybe, but data nevertheless.
To find out more about Texas roadkill, Schalk started the Roadkills of Texas Project on iNaturalist earlier this year, in which citizen scientists can report roadkill sightings across the state.
Understanding animal behavior is key. Salamanders move en masse every spring from forests to wetlands to lay eggs and sometimes cross a road to get there, creating a temporary wildlife-road interaction — what Schalk calls a "hot moment" — that needs addressing. Some wild cats might prefer to travel under a road in an underpass, seeking the safety of cover, while moose and elk might prefer to go over a road on an overpass, keeping an eye out for predators.
In a deadly 10-month stretch in 2015-2016, seven ocelots were killed by cars in South Texas. For a population estimated to number only 80 to 100 individuals in Texas, the deaths were a cruel blow.
Federal biologists decided something more needed to be done to protect the endangered creatures, whose main threats are road mortality and loss of thornscrub habitat.
In Texas' first major effort to install wildlife crossings, TxDOT agreed to build 15 wildlife underpasses around Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, home of the ocelot.
The crossings on Texas Highway 100 were completed in 2017; construction is continuing on several of the others around the refuge. The crossings look like basic concrete culverts under the road. They may prove to be lifesavers.
Wildlife crossings have proved to be successful in other areas. Vegetated wildlife overpasses in Montana have reduced vehicle-wildlife collisions in those areas by 80 percent. Florida panther road deaths dropped 90 percent after special underpasses were installed to facilitate their movement.
Robin Gelston, TxDOT biologist for its South Texas district, says it may take a few years for ocelots to start using the crossings. But other animals are starting to use them, such as bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, tortoises and snakes.
TxDOT also installed fencing, a key component of effective wildlife crossings, along Highway 100 to funnel animals toward the crossings.
John Young, TxDOT biologist and former TPWD mammalogist who has worked on ocelot issues for years, says money is often a limiting factor.
South Texas attracts winter-weary Americans with its abundant sunshine and warm temperatures. But it does get cold there, with winter fronts bringing sudden drops in temperature and bitter winds. That's when trouble starts for a certain group of brown pelicans.
After the pelicans feed in the Gulf of Mexico, they come home to roost in the evening on islands in the Bahia Grande, a large wetland east of Brownsville. When there's a strong north wind and the pelicans are flying in, they hit a zone of turbulence over Texas Highway 48 and fall onto the roadway. Drivers have little time to react. Dozens of pelicans died last year after being struck by cars.
TxDOT has conducted wind tunnel studies to see why the roadway causes the troubling turbulence and to determine what it can do to change the road design.
In the meantime, a group of citizens has stepped in to protect the pelicans. They mobilize during winter storms to scoop fallen pelicans from the roadway.
Roads affect aquatic creatures, too. When an energy company built a bridge across the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River, the bridge's culverts limited the movement of fish up and down the river. That stretch of river contains the last remaining populations of the sharpnose shiner and smalleye shiner, two species of migratory prairie minnows listed as federally endangered.
The minnows, with a unique reproductive life cycle, depend on a free-flowing river to migrate and spawn. TPWD worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others to remove the bridge in 2016 and restore habitat connectivity for the fish.
What TPWD can achieve for minnows, Shawn Gray hopes to achieve for pronghorns.
Gray, the TPWD pronghorn program leader, says roads act as barriers for pronghorns in West Texas. As a result, the animals are unable to move to different areas for mating and better grazing.
After a historic decline of pronghorns on the Marfa Plateau from 2008 to 2011, TPWD started transferring animals from the Panhandle to bolster the population.
Gray thinks better habitat connectivity would go a long way toward solving the pronghorn problem. Texas doesn't have the large herds of migrating pronghorns that prompted other Western states to install wildlife overpasses, but the animals still need to move.
Gray says moving existing fencing and installing pronghorn-friendly fencing will help, and he dreams of getting a pronghorn overpass built. He plans to start talking with TxDOT and ranchers to help Texas pronghorns safely cross the road.
Most of the effects of roads on wildlife turn out to be negative. But there's one group of animals that has found a way to make roads and bridges work to its advantage: bats.
Bats discovered that concrete bridges with narrow crevices make perfect bat houses. In the early 1980s, bats started to move in to the Congress Avenue bridge in Austin after modifications were made to the bridge. After an initial panic, Austin residents learned to appreciate them, and now the bats, with their spectacular emergences against a skyline backdrop, are a top tourist attraction.
After the Congress Avenue bats moved in, Bat Conservation International teamed up with TxDOT to conduct a statewide bats-in-bridges survey. They wanted to determine what bat species were using bridges, what bridge features made good roosts and how bats could be attracted to use new bridges or retrofitted bridges.
The survey results became a blueprint for departments of transportation across the nation for the use of bridges as bat habitat.
In Texas, at least 125 bridges are being used by 12 species of bats.
Today's problem with wildlife and roads grows from the legacy of a road system largely built before the rise of modern ecology. But there's hope that things are changing.
TxDOT has already made improvements in right-of-way management to support wildlife. It plants only native species along roadways and has made a major push to incorporate plants that support pollinators such as butterflies and bees.


text:
Teenage yob spits at Brighton bus driver
By Joe Riddle @Joe_Journo News editor
Teenage yob spits at bus driver
A TEENAGE yob spat on a Brighton bus driver this morning as horrified passengers looked on.
The driver of the 21A bus stopped at St Peter's Church, Brighton, at around 10.25am today when a 17-year-old boy tried to board the bus.
He showed his one-day, scratch-off saver ticket to the driver but kept his finger over the date on the card.
The driver asked him to move his finger and found the ticket was dated Thursday, October 25.
The driver politely asked the boy to pay but was met with a volley of abuse, Brighton & Hove Buses communications manager Marie Sansom said.
The teenager then spat at the driver before getting off the bus and running away.
The drivers' assault screen caught most of the spit but some of it went on the driver's jacket and trousers.
He used the spit kit he had with him, supplied by the company, and this was then sealed and taken to the police for DNA testing.
A Brighton & Hove Buses spokesman said: "Our response car quickly attended the scene and one of the response team drivers took over the drivers' duty, continuing with passengers on board to the Marina, while the driver who had been spat at returned to the Whitehawk Garage."
The bus firm's police liaison officer is currently reviewing CCTV footage of the incident.
Brighton & Hove Buses managing director Martin Harris said: "This is an assault on one of our staff and it is totally unacceptable.
"Just as our passengers deserve to feel safe on our buses, so do our drivers.
"I feel sorry for our driver - who has 15 years' of experience and rarely calls for back up - but also for the passengers who witnessed this behaviour, many of whom were shocked by the level of vitriol directed at our driver.
"While these type of incidents are rare, when they do arise we won't let the perpetrators off the hook."
LETTER: The Mayor of Brighton appears to be completely ignorant of the English Constitution


From Syria to Yemen, from South Sudan to Venezuela, war and political crisis are causing human anguish on a scale unseen in a generation.
That conflict and crisis take a high human toll is hardly new, of course. Yet the scope of suffering today is striking. The number of people displaced globally by conflict and persecution stood at 65.6 million at the end of 2016, the greatest number since World War II.
Figures released earlier this month show that there were 11.8 million new internal displacements in 2017, nearly double the 6.9 million in 2016.
The number of people facing acute hunger globally due largely to conflict and instability reached almost 74 million across eighteen countries in 2017. The trend is clear: war and crisis are destroying more lives and livelihoods, pushing more people toward starvation and driving more people from their homes.
First is simply that the last decade has seen an increase in conflict and political violence.
But deepening human misery comes not only from more war and violence. It also comes from the manner in which many actors – whether leaders, governments or non-state armed groups – are pursuing military and political objectives.
Too often these actors gain from human deprivation. Sometimes they deliberately inflict pain on civilians, attacking, forcibly displacing or otherwise controlling populations, including by determining whether, where and how they get access to aid. At other times, they use heavy-handed military or political tactics without attention to the enormous suffering they are causing.
This instrumentalisation or disregard of civilian harm is clearly in evidence in some of today's worst conflicts, from Yemen to Syria to South Sudan.
Such disregard is also a worrying feature of many political and socio-economic crises that fall short of armed conflict yet still produce large-scale humanitarian crises, like that of Venezuela.
Yemen is in the throes of regionalised civil war.
The main protagonists all have used tactics that exact a terrible human cost.
All sides have exacerbated a humanitarian crisis on an astounding scale: over 22 million Yemenis, 75% of the population, need humanitarian assistance; some 8.4 million are on the brink of famine.
After completely closing Hodeida port in response to a Huthi missile fired at Riyadh in November 2017, the coalition partially lifted the blockade the following month. That move has alleviated Yemen's plight to some extent. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also announced a $1.5 billion contribution to UN humanitarian efforts. Yet aid is a stopgap measure that cannot be a substitute for commercial imports.
The war in Syria also has seen horrendous human suffering as a result of actions by all sides, none more consequential than thse of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. The regime has repeatedly used tactics that deliberately harm civilians for political and military gain. Its core strategy in taking back opposition areas has been to drain them of resources, degrade infrastructure and target civilians and rebels alike, in order to drive those who oppose it out and leave no option other than submission to regime authority for those who remain. The aim is also to send a clear message about the price of resistance.
Tactics include controlling whether and how humanitarian aid reaches civilians in need, now numbering some 13.1 million overall – roughly two thirds of the population that remains in the country and a proportion equivalent to over 50% of the pre-war population. These numbers include over six million facing acute food insecurity and over two million in UN-declared besieged and hard-to-reach areas.
Backed by Russian air power, government forces have bombed civilians and civilian infrastructure – including schools and hospitals – in rebel-held areas. They have also used chemical weapons against civilians.
Rebel groups notably have carried out their own atrocities and sieges of civilian areas, if not on the same scale as the regime. Meanwhile, the Islamic State (ISIS) has used chemical weapons, albeit on a much smaller scale than the regime, and mass executions in areas under its control.
In South Sudan, too, parties to the civil war use tactics that either deliberately cause human suffering or show insufficient regard for their humanitarian impact.
Government troops, rebel forces and armed groups of all stripes have repeatedly attacked civilians or, through raiding and pillaging, left them without the means of sustaining themselves.
Armed groups often try to direct aid to populations they control, while seeking to withhold it as a way to punish or demand the loyalty of populations they perceive as supporting their enemies. The government itself has sought to deny aid to populations under rebel control as a means of pressuring them to accept peace on the government's terms (though aid groups usually have been able to negotiate access eventually).
Harassment of and attacks upon aid workers are common. Such incidents are aspects of a broader "scorched earth" approach to fighting that does not spare aid operations, medical facilities, religious institutions or schools.
Fighters often double as bandits and, given the economic crisis, humanitarian aid is one of the few assets available to steal. Lawlessness, in the form of attacks on aid convoys and roadblocks set up to extort agencies, also contributes to the need for expensive airdrops of food – reducing the amount available for hungry civilians.
Venezuela's humanitarian crisis stems not from war, but from political crisis and malfeasance, as illustrated in a recent Crisis Group report.
With the economy in freefall, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are fleeing poverty, hunger and deadly disease epidemics.
Yet President Nicolás Maduro's increasingly repressive government rejects economic reform, fearing such measures would threaten its grip on power and resources. Current economic policies – including price and currency controls, state subsidy and rationing of food, and expropriation of commercial assets – directly benefit key constituencies in the regime, above all the military. Reversing those policies would threaten these interests.
Venezuela's neighbours are left to cope with the consequences. Colombia now hosts an estimated 800,000 Venezuelans, 450,000 of whom are believed to be staying in the country without residency papers. Many, especially those with limited funds, are concentrated in the border city of Cúcuta, compounding the poverty, urban sprawl and unemployment that already existed there. With Colombian armed groups competing for control of lucrative smuggling routes along the border, the spillover could endanger the country's fragile peace process.
As these cases illustrate, the deliberate harm of civilians or the use of tactics with scant regard for human suffering are all too common across today's landscape of war and crisis.
All the more disconcerting is that state parties and their allies almost certainly shoulder the lion's share of blame.
It is difficult to generalise about reasons for this trend – in other words, to identify the geopolitical currents that underpin the widespread use of tactics that target or otherwise harm civilians. The conflicts are diverse as are the states involved. Indeed, it is debatable whether parties are more likely to resort to the use of such tactics today or whether their use is simply more prevalent because conflict has increased.
Greater visibility of such tactics, given expanded media coverage, may also contribute. But a handful of factors appear to have helped create an international environment permissive of such abuse.
The first follows from the protracted nature of many conflicts. While today more wars tend to be intrastate, most involve outside powers and an array of non-state armed groups.
It is hard to find a settlement that meets the interests of the warring parties – from the major or regional powers involved, to national actors, to local commanders that may have direct access to revenue streams and thus considerable autonomy.
Violence often spreads across wide swathes of the country, leaving few areas unaffected and few safe havens for civilians. Warfare is increasingly urbanised, with non-state armed groups embedded in the general population, which also means fighting exacts a higher civilian cost.
In wars characterised by mass atrocities from the beginning, the behaviour of belligerents rarely improves during the course of the conflict.
In some cases, as wars drag on, growing hatred and resentment, the desire to avenge abuses and, in many instances, the wish to protect financial interests that instability sustains tend to increase incentives on all sides for more brutal forms of violence, or tactics that result in greater civilian harm.
In wars characterised by mass atrocities from the beginning, the behaviour of belligerents rarely improves during the course of the conflict. Indeed, parties often point to excesses by their opponents to justify their own.
Second, mounting geopolitical tension, including among major powers, is likely to have contributed. Major powers tend to pull their punches on abuses by allies, while reserving the harshest criticisms for their enemies.
Last, it is difficult to escape the fact that a decade and a half of post-9/11 Western counter-terrorism operations have played some role, albeit difficult to define precisely. Fairly or not – and undoubtedly in the service of self-interest in many cases – leaders across the world have interpreted these operations, and the militarisation of what tends to be a political problem, as a signal that draconian tactics are more permissible against their own enemies.
Whatever the precise causes, the pervasive use of tactics that cause such civilian suffering – whether deliberately or through calculated disregard – should be a cause for alarm.
It is not just a moral concern. While such tactics might serve the immediate interests of some leaders, governments or militias, the massive humanitarian crises they provoke can themselves be sources of instability and recurrent conflict. At a minimum, they inject further uncertainty into wars and crises that are already difficult to resolve.
Without redoubled efforts to forge political solutions, today's overwhelming levels of displacement, the destruction of cities, homes and infrastructure, and the hunger, destitution and trauma, likely will only grow.


text:
450+ cases: Men sentenced for sexually abusing 34 girls, boys at German campsite
Posted 11:40 am, September 5, 2019, by CNN Wire Service, Updated at 11:42AM, September 5, 2019
LUDGE, Germany — Two men were sentenced to prison in one of the worst child sex abuse cases in Germany's post-war history.
The Detmold district court convicted the two men of sexually abusing dozens of young girls and boys between 3 and 14 years old and for producing child pornography in more than 450 cases.
The men, known only as Andreas V., 56, and Mario S., 34, were sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison, respectively. German privacy laws prevent authorities from releasing full names.
Both men would be held in preventative custody after serving their jail sentences and, based on verdict, could effectively end up being locked up for the rest of their lives.
Thirty-four girls and boys were subjected to sexual abuse by the two men at a campsite in the Luegde Forest in central Germany between 1998 and 2018, the public prosecutor said.
A third man — known as Heiko V. — linked to the case was charged in a separate trial in July for aiding and abetting the sexual abuse of children. He was ordered to attend therapy and handed a two-year probationary sentence.
Andreas V. lived in the campsite permanently, and among his victims was his 6-year-old foster daughter, who prosecutors said he used as "bait" to lure other children.
German police believe Andreas V. went on to become the ringleader of a pedophile gang that used his family's camper van as its base of operations for decades, abusing dozens of children and recording their crimes for profit on the dark web.
Authorities said they collected 10 computers, nine mobile phones, more than 40 hard drives, and more than 400 additional data carriers as evidence from Andreas V. and two other men.
Judge Anke Grudda said it was "difficult to express what happened in words," and that words like "abhorrent, monstrous, repugnant" were not enough to describe the atrocities.
The case scandalized the nation, especially after police admitted that some of the data confiscated as evidence had been "lost" while in police hands.
Axel Lehmann, the district council in charge of police oversight, admitted to CNN that "considerable mistakes" had been made by individuals, but said, "We are regarded as the safest circle in NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia)."
Lehmann said an investigation was ongoing, and as such, he could not comment more specifically on the failings of authorities.
Despite sex abuse allegations against Andreas V., he was granted permission in 2016 to become the guardian of a 6-year-old foster daughter.
Germans have been left wondering why he was allowed to foster children despite numerous red flags. Roman von Alvensleben, a lawyer whose office represented three victims in the case, shared those concerns in an interview with CNN earlier this week.
"I find it absurd to entrust someone a child who lives in a caravan, or a shack. The authorities were aware of what was going on," Von Alvensleben said. "This foster child became a bait to lure and attract other children. The children got to know each other at birthday parties. It was suggested that the children can play with each together, or that they can visit the amusement park together. The thinking was, 'I'll do something with them. We can go swimming sometimes.' That's what my client's mother did. She was not aware of what was really going on."
Von Alvensleben criticized officials for failing in their duties to protect the children, adding: "I call this a breach of duties by authorities. These official breaches by police, the youth welfare office led to the fact that my client could be abused in the first place."
An investigation was underway by the local Youth Welfare Office to determine how Andreas V. was allowed to become a foster parent.
Topics: German Youth Welfare Office, Germany, Luegde Forest
Wednesday on FOX6 News at 10
Looking to be your own lawyer? What you need to know.
Lawsuit claims Boy Scouts overlooked leader's alleged abuse
Woman who posed as teenage boy to abuse young girls jailed for 8 years
Jury rules USA Swimming not liable in sexual abuse case
Former pastor, owner of St. Louis pizza shop gets 65 years in prison for child sex crimes
Boy missing for more than 2 years found in closet of child pornography suspect in Germany
Los Angeles prosecutors reviewing 8 cases against Weinstein
Unique sex-abuse suit filed against Boy Scouts in US capital
Woman sues church for reporting her husband's sex abuse confession to the police
5 men acquitted of rape because unconscious teenage victim didn't fight back
Study: Child sex abuse cases treated in ERs rose more than 70% in 7 years
Pastor found guilty on 24 child sex abuse charges, faces 38 years in prison


Australia is a notoriously beautiful and amazing place but, truth be told, much of the country has been left relatively unexplored. Almost larger than the continental United States, there should be little surprise that there are many areas of natural splendour that have not yet been made popular tourist destinations.
If you are planning a trip 'down under' and want to stray from the usual tourist spots, consider checking out a few of these totally beautiful but relatively uncommon destinations.
Home to Australia's whitest beach, Lucky Bay, this area on the southern coast of Western Australia was a dream come true for a beach lover like me. The stunning seascape has views of the 110 islands of the Recherche Archipelago. I was looking for adventure and picturesque coves and bays for swimming, snorkelling, and surfing — and I found that all in Esperance. The cobalt blue water, dramatic coastlines, and vibrant wildflower-filled landscapes were some of the highlights from this heaven on earth.
Kangaroo Island is located just south of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and was the perfect place to escape from everyday life. Luckily, I have a friend with a house there so I was able to experience some of the 500 kilometers of coastline last year. I was almost overwhelmed by the abundance of amazing activities including culture tours, eco adventures, and sanctuaries to visit. The pristine beaches, bushland, wildlife, and flora and fauna of the land were unlike any other in the world. Easily one of the most gorgeous destinations in Australia, Kangaroo Island was an awesome place to explore.
I was in serious need of a weekend spent outside of the city and fortunately Wilson's Prom is only a short drive from Melbourne. This quaint but plentiful national park is the epitome of natural beauty. Fern gullies, salt marshes, mountainous forests, granite ranges, and pristine beaches? What more could you want? Wilsons Prom is also inhabited by a variety of wildlife. I didn't have to go to the zoo to see emus, reptiles, birds, amphibians, wombats, wallabies, and kangaroos, this national park has got it all.
Just an hour north of Brisbane, this national park was like a dream come true for me (and other nature lovers). I would recommend devoting enough time to truly be able to experience the many rainforests and magnificent hiking tracks. Glasshouse Mountains National Park will forever have a place in my heart for the breathtaking panoramic views that I was able to see. This heritage-listed national park is certainly a one-of-a-kind destination and I can't wait to go back.
After crossing the Great Barrier Reef off my bucket list, someone suggested that I head north to Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Queensland. This island is a truly hypnotic destination that boasts an average of more than 320 days of sunshine per year. While I was there I fell in love with the natural parks, some with pockets of rainforest — all with opportunities for adventure. I spent the day exploring the various walking tracks and checking out the spectacular lookouts. In the evenings, I relaxed on one of the stunning beaches while watching the beautiful and colorful sunset.
While this state is relatively underrated and unknown to even many Australians, Tasmania was and forever will be one of my favourite places in the world. This region of Tasmania is home to breathtaking white beaches that are a backdrop for even more beautiful crystal clear blue water and rocks covered with brilliantly coloured orange lichen. The Bay of Fires was so isolated and remote that I felt like I travelled back in time. Surrounded by reserves and national parks, this is an ideal and magnificent location to camp, hike, fish, swim, walk, surf, bird watch, or simply take in all the natural wonders that the northeastern coast of Tasmania has to offer.
If tranquil lagoons, picturesque views of pines and ferns, and dramatic towering cliffs are your thing, then Norfolk Island is the place for you. I feel so happy to have heard about this Pacific island, one of Australia's external territories. Norfolk Island is home to less than 2,000 people and known for its natural beauty (specifically, the Norfolk Pine tree). I felt like I discovered a secret slice of paradise as soon as I arrived and was immediately surrounded by the lush green landscape and stunning beaches.
Located in the Northern Territory, just south of Darwin, the natural park is truly a sight to be seen. I was mesmerised by the countless swimming holes and numerous breathtaking waterfalls. The 1,500 square kilometres of national park offer so many opportunities for adventure and beautiful sights — just thinking about it makes me want to go back right now.
Although I had heard of this one before travelling here, Broome is certainly underrated when it comes to all that it has to offer. Located in an extremely remote location, it is typically too far for most travellers, contributing more to its appeal as a somewhat secret destination. Broome is home to a rich Indigenous heritage and pristine white beaches. Considered to be one of the world's last wildernesses, the tropical climate, world-famous beaches and abundant wildlife make Broome one of the most beautiful and unique places I've ever been.
As you can see Australia is home to some amazing and beautiful places. So which one are you going to visit first?


This figure includes 2 million Syrians registered by UNHCR in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, 3.5 million Syrians registered by the Government of Turkey, as well as more than 33,000 Syrian refugees registered in North Africa. Regional demographic breakdown below is based on available data from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
The second edition of "Heya" Campaign will kick off at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina - مكتبة الاسكندرية to celebrate The International Women's Day. The event will take place on 12-14 March at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center (BACC) with UNHCR Egypt's participation. Heya campaign aims at focusing on the irreplaceable role of women in the Egyptian society, and at tackling women empowerment in three main fields: leadership, health and arts this through various activities, workshops, and lectures. Three refugees will be speaking at the closing event to share their experiences in Egypt: their adversities, their resilience and their hopes. Refugees and asylum-seekers will also be performing a play and other musical acts which focuses on women issues particularly pertaining to refugees. The campaign is organized in partnership with UNHCR, The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Alexandria Volunteers for Awareness and Development Club (AVAD), Fund for Drug Control and Treatment of Addiction (FDCTA), Bibliotheca Alexandrina Friends Association, VI Markets, Injaz Egypt, Egyptian Banking Institute and others.
Learning Support Services continued to be offered in Makani centres. Since 2017, the sector reached 111,050 in both camps and host communities .
The Common Operational Datasets (CODs) are critical datasets that are used to support the work of humanitarian actors across multiple sectors. They are considered a de facto standard for the humanitarian community and should represent the best-availble datasets for each theme.
Documents from partners on this portal and views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or the United Nations.