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Middle East visitors to Egypt to increase 50% by 2022, ATM report reveals
Arrivals from the Middle East to Egypt are expected to increase 50% from 1.49 million in 2018 to 2.23 million in 2022 with visitors from Saudi Arabia driving this growth, according to data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2019, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 28 April – 1 May 2019.
While arrivals from Europe are expected to be the largest contributor on a regional basis, increasing from 6.2 million in 2018 to 9.1 million tourists in 2022, the latest research from Colliers International revealed arrivals from the Middle East will actually witness the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) at 11%.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: "Over the last 12 months, Egypt's tourism industry has witnessed healthy and steady growth, with arrivals up 14.5% from 8.3 million in 2017 to 9.5 million in 2018. Growth has been fuelled by the cheaper Egyptian Pound and government incentives for charter airlines operating international flights.
"Adding to this, we are witnessing this growth first hand at ATM with the total number of attendees coming from Egypt increasing 16% YoY."
Taking advantage of this resurgence in tourists are some of Egypt's most prominent tourism companies including Dana Tours, Nicolas Tours and Standard Tours who will exhibit at ATM 2019 – and of course the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board who will have a major presence too.
Egypt tourism capital investment is estimated to reach US$ 4.2billion (EGP 75bn) in 2019, up 25 per cent on 2018, as the country strives to keep pace with an ongoing leisure travel boom and GDP growth.
The data from Colliers revealed that Egypt's total tourism revenue will increase at a CAGR of 16.5% between 2018 and 2022 – outperforming the business segment. During 2017 and 2018, the leisure spend was US$ 13.79billion (EGP 239bn) and US$ 16.67billion (EGP 289bn) respectively, while business totaled US$ 1.93billion (EGP 33.5bn) and US$ 2.36billion (EGP 41bn) over the same period.
"The overall revenue generated by the leisure segment in 2018 represented 87% of total tourism spend and we expect this growth to continue as a series of new government and private sector attractions and investments are unveiled – including the development of new airports and new luxury hotel resorts in Red Sea destinations Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada," Curtis said.
Egypt has a diverse range of source markets – decreasing the risk of being over-reliant on one specific market. Germany, Russia, the UK and Italy are Egypt's top four source markets, with the first and last in top gear – both growing 29% in 2018 – and showing the highest CAGR growth of 11%.
The UK, which recorded just a 4% increase in arrivals between 2017 and 2018, has traditionally been a long-standing major source market for the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh. However, an ongoing ban on direct flights between the two destinations has stifled visitor numbers.
Curtis added: "It is hoped the recent resumption of Serbian flights to Sharm El Sheikh after a six-year absence and the introduction of Turkish Airlines' daily flight from Moscow to the Red Sea via Istanbul, will kick-start direct flights between the UK and Egypt, and of course Russia and Egypt."
ATM, considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed over 39,000 people to its 2018 event, showcasing the largest exhibition in the history of the show, with hotels comprising 20% of the floor area.
Brand new for this year's show will be the launch of Arabian Travel Week, an umbrella brand comprising four co-located shows including ATM 2019, ILTM Arabia, CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa – a new route development forum and new consumer-led event ATM Holiday Shopper. Arabian Travel Week will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 27 April – 1 May 2019.
About Arabian Travel Market (ATM)
Arabian Travel Market is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2018 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, with representation from 141 countries over the four days. The 25th edition of ATM showcased over 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre. Arabian Travel Market 2019 will take place in Dubai from Sunday, 28th April to Wednesday, 1st May 2019. To find out more, please visit: www.arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com.
About Arabian Travel Week
Arabian Travel Week is an umbrella brand comprising four co-located shows including Arabian Travel Market and ILTM Arabia as well as CONNECT Middle East, India and Africa – a new route development forum launching this year and ATM's first ever consumer event – ATM Holiday Shopper. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East's travel and tourism sector – under one roof over the course of one week – the inaugural Arabian Travel Week will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from Saturday 27th April – Wednesday 1st May 2019. For more information visit: arabiantravelweek.com
CONNECT Route Development Forum delivers a total networking experience, bringing together airports, airlines and aviation suppliers in a format that offers formal one-to-one pre-arranged meetings, engaging industry seminars together with social opportunities to cement relationships with existing clients and engage with new ones. Created and organised by The Airport Agency-France, CONNECT is now in its 16th year and set to attract over 650 participants in June 2019 at its flagship event taking place in Cagliari, Sardinia. For more information, visit: www.connect-aviation.com
The inaugural CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa event will be the first and only networking forum in the Middle East. Ideally located in Dubai to address the booming aviation market of the Middle East, it will bring together the aviation and the tourism industry which are the backbone and catalyst to economic development. For more information, visit: www.connect-aviation.com/2019-meia/
About ATM Holiday Shopper
ATM Holiday Shopper is the brand-new travel event for consumers offering the very best travel and tourism discounts and deals plus the chance to learn about a range of emerging and unexplored destinations and activities from destinations around the world. The inaugural event will take place in Hall 1 of the Dubai World Trade Centre on Saturday, 27th April 2019 from 12:00 – 20:00. For more information, visit: www.atmholidayshopper.com
About ILTM Arabia
International Luxury Travel Market Arabia is an exclusive event for those looking to attract HNW travellers from the Middle East to their destination. Returning for its third year, ILTM will allow international luxury suppliers and key luxury buyers to connect via one-to-one pre-scheduled appointments and networking opportunities. ILTM will take place on Sunday 28th April and Monday 29th April 2019. For more information, visit: www.iltm.com/arabia/
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Zanzibar sets for second, Grand Tourism Show in September
March 28, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease
After a successful and the first international tourism show held in Zanzibar last year, now the Indian Ocean Island is organizing a second premier exhibition that is scheduled to take place in September this year.
An organizing committee that will oversee the preparations of the second Zanzibar Tourism Show, scheduled to take place between September 26 and 28 this year has been formed.
Zanzibar Tourism Minister, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo said when launching the committee that the exhibition was expected to be bigger this year than the previous one held in October last year and which had attracted over 4 000 visitors, 150 tourism companies and 100 international buyers from 17 countries.
He said that the organizing committee he had launched would ensure that the exhibition was successful. The committee would also be involved in advertising the exhibition both locally and internationally, to motivate tourists to visit the island, now the fast growing tourist destination in East Africa.
The show is part of the Zanzibar government's strategy to promote tourism in Zanzibar, which is famous for beach and marine tourism.
The Zanzibar Tourism Show is the leading tourism business platform that showcases current tourism offers, first-hand expert knowledge from industry players and significant networking opportunity to all participants.
Zanzibar is aiming to increase the number of international tourists annually, from the current 376,000 to 500,000 by 2020, as tourism accounts for more than 80 percent of the Island's foreign revenue collections.
The Island strides well in tourism sector after the government embarked on economic reforms and transformation, thus shifting from mono-crop economy to more diverse economies.
"The Zanzibar Tourism Show is part of promotional strategies in tourism sector initiated by the government of Zanzibar in collaboration with the private sector to promote Zanzibar destination in its sustainable positioning in global market", Mr. Kombo said.
He said that the contribution of tourism to economic well-being of the Island is immense. Zanzibar depends on the quality of services provided to international class tourists and the scale of promotion of its tourist products and services to global holidaymakers.
Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: and, aviation-website, beach, bigger, Breaking Travel News, Business, buyers, class, collaboration, Committee, companies, contribution, countries, current, Destination, East, East Africa, economic, economies, Economy, exhibition, expected, expert, famous, first, First-hand, foreign, Global, global market, government, Grand, hand, held, holidaymakers, in, increase, Indian, Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean Island, Industry, International, international tourism, international tourism show, international tourists, internationally, island, knowledge, last, launched, launching, leading, locally, marine, marine tourism, Market, meetings.travel, MICE Industry News, minister, Mr, nbsp, networking, News articles, number, ocean, October, offers, opportunity, organizing, over, oversee, participants, percent, Place, platform, players, premier, preparations, private, private sector, products, promote, promotion, quality, reforms, Revenue, s, said, scale, scheduled, second, second Zanzibar, second Zanzibar Tourism Show, sector, September, services, sets, show, significant, strategies, strategy, successful, sustainable, Tanzania travel news, The Island, to, TO BE, tourism, tourism business, tourism companies, tourists, Travel Destination News, Travelwire News, year, Zanzibar, Zanzibar tourism, Zanzibar Tourism Show
Uganda travel and trafficking
Sub-Saharan Africa has enormous tourism potential: leopards lounging in acacia trees, elephant herds drifting across vast savannah plains, gorillas and chimps rioting in deep forests, the earliest traces of human beings and their works. But according to the World Bank, the region receives a mere 3% of global tourism arrivals.
What scares tourists off may have something to do with an unfair, continent-wide reputation for lawlessness. There is a way around this. During the 1970s, entrepreneurs created the idea of eco-tourism as an alternative to the sun and sand package tours that wreaked havoc on the environment and local communities. Perhaps the eco-tourism concept could be expanded to encompass human rights more broadly, focusing not just on the ethical conduct of companies but on governments as well. Thus, travelers could be assured that their fees, taxes and entertainment dollars aren't being used to support regimes engaged in grand corruption, human rights abuses, wildlife trafficking and the persecution of minorities.
Uganda's new tourism push is a case in point. The government hopes to welcome four million visitors in 2020, more than double the current number. The Uganda Investment Authority is expediting bids from eco-tourism companies to develop ten sites in the nation's national parks, including Queen Elizabeth, Masindi and Kidepo Valley. The World Bank has lent Uganda $25 million dollars to build a new hotel and tourism school, purchase equipment such as buses, game drive trucks, boats and binoculars and hire public relations firms to market Uganda in US, Europe, the Middle East and China. In October, Kanye West boosted the publicity effort by recording a music video in one of Uganda's fine resorts and also visited Statehouse where he presented President Yoweri Museveni with a pair of his patented sneakers. Then in January, Tourism Minister Godfrey Kiwanda launched a beauty contest to identify Miss "Curvy" Uganda, whose zaftig figure will appear in tourism brochures.
The downside of Uganda's tourism campaign is that every safari-goer it attracts will pay fees to government agencies such as the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which is currently engaged in a program of violent evictions that have left thousands of people in northern Uganda's Acholi region destitute, and has also been implicated in trafficking in ivory, pangolin scales and other illegal wildlife products, both inside Uganda and in neighboring countries.
Since 2010, thousands of huts in Apaa, northern Uganda have been burned to the ground, and animals and belongings stolen by UWA officials and members of other security agencies. The government claims the area is gazetted for a game reserve, but residents say their families have lived in the area for generations and have nowhere else to go. Sixteen people have been killed and thousands, mainly women and children are now homeless. Some of the raids appear to have been carried out by members of the neighboring Madi ethnic group, and government officials have characterized them as ethnically motivated. However, the Madi and Acholi have lived in peace for generations and some suspect that senior government officials may be inciting the attackers.
Meanwhile, CITES, the international body that tracks endangered species has named Uganda as a global hub for the illegal wildlife trade. After damning reports about the scale of poaching in Kenya and Tanzania revealed that elephant populations were plummeting in both countries, stricter laws and better enforcement resulted in a nearly 80 percent decline in poaching in Kenya since 2013. Tougher enforcement has also resulted in steep declines in poaching in Tanzania. But between 2009 and 2016 an estimated 20 tons of ivory were trafficked via Uganda, along with over 3000 kilograms of pangolin scales.
The trade in wildlife products appears to be organized by senior officers of the army and UWA. Ivory traffickers working along the Uganda-Congo border told Belgian political scientist Kristof Titeca that much of their loot came from Congo and the Central African Republic, where the Ugandan Army, with US support, unsuccessfully tried to track down the notorious warlord Joseph Kony between 2012 and 2017. Thus, US taxpayers may have inadvertently facilitated Uganda's wildlife crimes.
Uganda's recently established Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court, which is supposed to deal with trafficking crimes has begun prosecuting and convicting low level traffickers—the men who transport the goods to Kampala for export – but as yet there have been no prosecutions of those suspected of organizing the trade. When 1.35 metric tons of confiscated ivory disappeared from a Uganda Wildlife Authority storehouse in 2014, the director was suspended for two months and then reinstated. According to a 2017 Enough Project report, two senior Uganda Wildlife Authority officials quit the force in despair after apprehending traffickers and then being ordered by officials in President Yoweri Museveni's office to drop the cases.
Uganda's own elephants have largely been spared, and their numbers may even have increased in recent years. But other animals have not been so lucky. In 2014, the UWA granted a local company a license to collect thousands of pounds of scales from the shy, aardvark-like creatures known as pangolins. While officials claimed that the intention was to purchase the scales from people who'd collected them from animals who had died of natural causes, there's little doubt that huge numbers of pangolins were killed as a result.
Unfortunately, the World Bank's assistance to Uganda could be making things worse. It's $25 million Tourism Sector Competitiveness and Labor Force Development loan, approved in 2013, is part of a larger $100 million Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project which, according to project documents, allocates 21% – or $21 million, to government agencies, including the Uganda Wildlife Authority. World Bank spokespersons declined say how much of that will go to the UWA, and what the money will spent on, other than "systems strengthening and procuring tourism assets."
Before the World Bank launches any project, it commissions an environmental impact assessment, as well as a review of safeguards to protect habitats and indigenous people who might be affected by it. In this case, the safeguards and Impact Assessment documents don't consider the risk that Ugandan security agencies, including the army and UWA, might use funds raised from the project to engage in human rights abuses and trafficking.
This matters because countless development groups, including the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the Red Cross and the World Bank itself– have seen millions of dollars in funding sink into Uganda's swamp of corruption. Billions more have been siphoned out of the Treasury and the workers' pension fund and or in inflated bids for infrastructure projects such as roads and dams.
In power for 33 years, Uganda's leader Yoweri Museveni has hung on in part by spending funds looted from various development projects on voter bribery and harsh repression. In 2017, he sent Special Forces troops into Parliament to beat up MPs who were trying to block debate about a bill that would enable him to rule for life. One of the victims, MP Betty Nambooze, may never walk unaided again. Then in August, the same Special Forces arrested and tortured four other MPs and dozens of their supporters, including the famous pop star-politician Bobi Wine
Some of Museveni's opposition-politician-victims, if allowed to govern, might – like the leaders of Tanzania and Kenya–do a better job of protecting Uganda's people and its wildlife than he has. But as long as the World Bank and other donors keep allowing Museveni's government to get away with corruption, human rights abuses and wildlife trafficking, these activities will only continue. While the World Bank continues to ignore this reality, Uganda's prospective investors and tourists should steer their dollars towards less odious regimes.
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Africa Tourism is hot: WTTC and the African Tourism Board are on it
Africa Tourism is hot right now. Overlooked in the past, the tourism potential of the African continent is now becoming visible.
The first African Tourism Board (ATB) is about to be launched in Cape Town during the upcoming World Travel Market Africa in South Africa on April 11 with a list of impressive speakers, ministers, private industry leaders, and stakeholders attending.
A week before the ATB launch in Cape Town on April 11, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) is getting ready for their annual summit in Seville, Spain. With a price tag of $4,000 for a delegate to attend the summit, WTTC is catering to the hundred largest companies in the travel and tourism industry.
Keynote speaker at the summit is none other than former US President Barack Obama who is getting paid an enormous amount of money to share his views on tourism with WTTC CEO Gloria Guevara.
In Cape Town at the African Tourism Board launch, former UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai is paying his own way, and so are a number of tourism celebrities and stakeholders from both larger and smaller entities. They want to show their excitement and support for the new African Tourism Board and the potential Africa has for new tourism developments. It's free to attend the African Tourism Board launch event.
In the last 7 days, the news on tourism growth and potential for African destinations couldn't have been better and must have come as a surprise for many.
WTTC issued one press release after another on their research reports for Africa. eTN received such releases not only from WTTC but also from ministers, embassies, and tourism boards showing their pride and maybe their surprise and encouragement.
African Tourism Board interim Chairman Juergen Steinmetz, who is also CEO of the eTN Corporation, owner of eTurboNews, which is a media partner for WTTC, applauded Gloria Guevara, CEO of WTTC, for putting Africa in the spotlight for the world's largest travel and tourism companies.
WTTC: Travel and Tourism is Zambia's 2018 fastest-growing national economic sector
WTTC: South Africa Africa's largest Travel & Tourism economy in 2018
Botswana tourism now accounts for one in seven dollars in the…
Ethiopia records biggest growth of Travel & Tourism in the world
Kenya Travel & Tourism exceeding global and regional levels in 2018
To attend the WTTC summit, click here; to attend the ATB launch, click here.
Anyone attending both events should indicate this on the African Tourism Board launch registration to receive additional extensive visibility.
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WTTC: African tourism sector booming
March 13, 2019 by forimmediaterelease.net -
Travel & Tourism in Africa is booming, growing 5.6% in 2018 compared to the global average of 3.9% and the broader African economy rate of 3.2%. This places Africa as the second-fastest growing tourism region behind only Asia-Pacific.
Such growth is partly explained by North Africa's rebound from security crises as well as the development and implementation of policies that promote travel facilitation.
eTN Chatroom: Discuss with readers from around the world:
For over 25 years, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global private sector of Travel & Tourism, has produced the authoritative research on the economic contribution of the sector. Our research also shows that in 2018:
Travel & Tourism contributed $194.2 billion to the region's economy, representing 8.5% of the continent's GDP
The sector contributed 24.3 million African jobs, or 6.7% of total employment.
71% of tourism spending across Africa was leisure-driven and 29% business
Domestic spending accounted for 56% of the tourism economy versus 44% for international
International tourism spending comprised 9.6% of the region's total exports, worth $58.5bn
Ethiopia stands out not only as Africa's fastest growing travel economy but indeed the world's, growing by 48.6% last year to be worth $7.4bn. Notably, international Travel & Tourism spending made up a massive 61.0% of exports in the country. This stunning growth can be attributed, in part, to Ethiopia's improved connectivity as a regional transport hub and to recent visa relaxation policies.
Then, Egypt's tourism sector has demonstrated considerable resilience, growing by 16.5% last year with international visitor spending accounting for 27.3% of exports. This follows huge safety improvements in the country and in key destinations such as Sharm El-Sheikh, helping to entice international tourists back to the northern coast.
WTTC President & CEO Gloria Guevara commented, "In 2018, the World Travel & Tourism Council hosted its first ever Africa Leaders Forum in Stellenbosch, South Africa, recognising the increasing significance and power of this great region's travel economy.
"We commend the tourism leaders in Africa who are helping to boost connectivity, promote travel facilitation and ensure traveller safety – all of these measures make for supreme growth; the kind of growth that we are now witnessing across the continent and that provides millions of good jobs."
WTTC is the body which represents the Travel & Tourism private sector globally. Members consist of CEOs of the world's Travel & Tourism companies, destinations, and industry organisations engaging with Travel & Tourism.
WTTC has a history of 25 years of research to quantify the economic impact of the sector in 185 countries. Travel & Tourism is a key driver for investment and economic growth globally. The sector contributes US$8.8 trillion or 10.4% of global GDP, and accounts for 319 million jobs or one in ten of all jobs on the planet.
For over 25 years, WTTC has been the voice of this industry globally. Members are the Chairs, Presidents and Chief Executives of the world's leading, private sector Travel & Tourism businesses, who bring specialist knowledge to guide government policy and decision-making and raise awareness of the importance of the sector.
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WTTC: Greek tourism sector growing over three times faster than wider economy
WTTC
In 2018, the Greek Travel & Tourism sector grew at a rate of 6.9% – over three and a half times the pace of its wider national economy, which grew by 2.0%.
The sector represents 20.6% of Greek GDP compared to the global average of 10.4%. This means that one in every five Euros spent in Greece last year came from the Travel & Tourism sector, worth €37.5bn (USD $44.6bn).
Meanwhile, one quarter of all employment in Greece is based in Travel & Tourism – equivalent to 988.6k jobs. In 2019, this figure is forecast to surpass one million for the first time since WTTC records began.
Even at the height of economic performance before the financial crisis, Greece still employed less people in Travel & Tourism than they did in 2018 (934.5k in 2006), indicating that not only has the sector economy recovered but it is now outperforming its previous peaks.
The same is true for GDP contribution, which has never before amounted to 20% of total GDP.
These figures come from the World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC) annual review of the economic impact and social importance of the sector. The research, conducted for almost 30 years by WTTC, which represents the global private sector of Travel & Tourism, shows that in 2018 the Greek sector:
• Outpaced the EU's regional Travel & Tourism growth rate of 2.4%. Both the EU and Greece's wider economies grew at a rate of 2.0%, but the Greek travel sector leapt ahead of regional averages.
• Benefitted from €18.5bn international visitor spend, representing 27.9% of total exports.
• Two-thirds of inbound Greek travel spend came from international visitors (66%), and one-third from domestic travel (34%).
• Was driven by leisure spending, which comprised 94% of tourist spend compared to 6% for business.
WTTC President & CEO Gloria Guevara remarked, "We are hugely impressed by the Greek growth rate, and the government strategies that have spurred it on. Travel & Tourism has had a huge role to play in driving Greek economic recovery, and is a chief employer of people. Greece is an exemplary case study of how valuable an asset Travel & Tourism can be when the government prioritises the sector."
The Minister of Tourism of the Hellenic Republic, Elena Kountoura remarked: "Our long-term tourism strategy that we implement since 2015 led to outstanding results in Greece's tourism growth, and supported profoundly the Greek economy in the most difficult years of the crisis. We achieved our target in creating thousands of new jobs, new business activity, new sources of income, and in mobilizing new tourism investments.
With our growth plan for the next day, we intend to maintain Greece's strong momentum in tourism and maximize its benefits for the local communities across Greece, acknowledging tourism's immense value as a major driving force for employment, economic and social prosperity."
About the World Travel & Tourism Council
For over 25 years, WTTC has been the voice of this industry globally. Members are the Chairs, Presidents and Chief Executives of the world's leading, private sector Travel & Tourism businesses, who bring specialist knowledge to guide government policy and decision-making and raise awareness of the importance of the secto
Filed Under: Press Release, Travel & Tourism Tagged With: amp, and, annual, average, Awareness, based, benefits, body, Breaking Travel News, Business, businesses, case, case study, CEO, CEOs, chief, chief executives, come, communities, companies, compared, contributes, contribution, council, countries, Crisis, day, decision, Destinations, domestic, domestic travel, driver, driving, economic, economic growth, economic impact, economic recovery, economies, Economy, employer, employment, EU, euros, even, executives, exports, Feature, figures, financial, financial crisis, first, For immediate Release, force, Forecast, GDP, Global, globally, Gloria Guevara, government, Government Affairs, Greece, Greece travel news, Greek, Greek economy, Greek GDP, Greek sector, Greek tourism, Greek Travel, Growth, Growth Rate, guide, half, history, impact, importance, in, inbound, income, Industry, International, international visitors, Investment, investments, IT, Jobs, knowledge, last, leading, LED, Leisure, less, local, maintain, members, million, minister, Minister of Tourism, momentum, most, national, national economy, nbsp, New, new jobs, new tourism, News articles, one million, only, outstanding, over, People, performance, plan, planet, play, policy, president, presidents, private, private sector, prosperity, quarter, raise, rate, records, recovered, recovery, regional, represents, republic, research, results, review, role, s, sector, sector economy, sector globally, sector Travel, shows, social, sources, spending, strategies, strategy, strong, study, surpass, target, term, The Minister, The World, thousands, time, times, to, total, tourism, tourism businesses, tourism companies, tourism council, Tourism growth, tourism investments, tourism sector, tourism strategy, tourist, Travel, Travel Destination News, travel sector, Travelwire News, trillion, US, USD, value, visitor, visitors, We, WHO, World, world travel, worth, WTTC, year, years


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What is Contemplative Correspondence?
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An ancient waiting
December is, in Nature and in many world religions, a month marked by waiting. Waiting for the magic of snow (or waiting for it to melt!). Waiting for daylight to wane and then again to grow. Waiting for the birth of a child, or for hope or a miracle of healing, long promised. Waiting, with the Maccabees, for the oil to run out, or better yet, for the flames to keep burning.
Today, we know what resulted from the waiting in these stories of old. But perhaps we come closer to the meaning and spirit of this season by faithfully entering the waiting of our own times. By participating in the difficult waiting required by stories still being written today, with endings as yet unknown.
As in the ancient stories, we are still, now, waiting for peace. For an end to the violence that rattles our world, not just in San Bernadino and Colorado Springs, in Sandy Hook and Boston, but on a more horrific scale around the world in wars waged daily against the armed and unarmed alike.
As in the ancient stories, we are waiting for shelter in the night. Not just two weary travelers waiting for a room before their child is born, but millions today who have left their homes of necessity only to be turned away at the door, at the border, at the shore, with their children already born and waiting for a bed.
As in the ancient stories, we are waiting for the oil to run out, now globally, hoping for the lights to stay on, for the sacred temple of this earth to be rededicated to life, and to be healed from our long human history of plunder and pillaging.
We are waiting for justice. Not mythically or in the abstract, but in the very real questions raised day after day about black lives lost and about the ongoing cost of racism that so cruelly rules here at home and around the world.
These are not just distractions erupting from the news, interrupting the sacred stories celebrated in this season. They are the same holy story still being told. Which parts will we play as the stories unfold? (The innkeeper or the shepherds? The Magi or Herod?) How will we wait and prepare? Where will we place our faith, our hearts and our lives? What will we do to keep the lamps burning, to reclaim what is holy, to attend to the birth of tomorrow's child and to prepare the way for peace paired with justice, for a shelter that is shared?
As we light the candles that illuminate these long-nighted holidays, may we also kindle an inner flame that will help us each find our way in the stories still being told today.
Writing to Wake the Soul
karenhering.com
© 2021 Karen Hering | Contact | design by Josh McCall

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


BEREEK started his music career as a group, a music duo called B2L comprising BEREEK and Lanrewaju. In 2015, the group, BEREEK and Lanrewaju was signed under Simline records owned by a popular nollywood actress Laide Bakare.
BEREEK broke out of the record label and the group in 2018 and ever since then doing music underground as a single artiste. Now he has rebranded and set to take a top space in the music industry. He recently has dropped a smashing record titled "FEBRUARY". February is the first official song BEREEK will be dropping as a single artiste after one year break, off the music scene.
"February" talks about his experience with a girl he was so much in love with, all his life, when he didn't have much, but the girl left him hanging and just immediately when she left him things started turning around for good for him. The song February is a good vibe couple with some nice melody and percussions, produced by Vikwynbeatz. More melodies are promised to be released subsequently.


Created by award-winning composer and international baby music expert, Raimond Lap, Lovely Baby CDs are the only original music series in the world specifically created for babies, prenatal to 36 months. Through carefully crafted arrangements, they have been optimized for a baby's sensitive ears.
Through carefully crafted arrangements, these original recordings have been optimized for a baby's sensitive ears, and contribute to their emotional, intellectual and physical development.
Lovely Baby creator, Raimond Lap, integrates baby, toy and nature sounds - along with an assortment of styles and musical elements - into this primarily all-instrumental series, that stimulate babies' brains. The music also produces extraordinary physical responses from its young listeners.
Millions of babies in more than 80 countries have benefited from the music of Raimond Lap. With music so overwhelmingly successful around the world - regardless of ethnic background, nationality or native language - Lovely Baby CDs are truly the international language of babies!
These unique recordings both stimulate and relax babies. By gently stimulating babies and putting them in a positive mood, they are in the most receptive frame of mind to learn and develop. Our music has been embraced by the early childhood development and early literacy communities, and is used in elite infant education programs around the world - including those of the U.S. Military. They are also popular in the children's rooms of public libraries across the nation.
Lovely Baby CDs are the first and only original music series in the world created specifically for babies, prenatal to 36+ months of age. Our music helps with their emotional, intellectual and physical development. This groundbreaking baby music is enjoyed by as many adults as babies, making it the perfect choice of music for the entire family. By creating a peaceful, loving home environment, Lovely Baby CDs help build stronger family relationships by strengthening parent-child bonding as well as getting dads involved - for the first time – in the early music integration process.
Lovely Sleepy Baby is a magnificent collection of songs that will relax your baby, helping to find their comfort zone and fall asleep. It's also for those moments when you need to calm your baby down. By playing this music softly on a regular basis, it will become a magical moment of relaxation for the entire family.
Lovely Baby & Daddy - the first CD in the world created especially for new and recent dads. Lovely Baby & Daddy raises the awareness of how valuable and important it is to be a dad. Written from a dad's perspective, the songs focus attention on the often-overlooked bond that dads have with their little ones.
We are proud to announce the long-anticipated release of our Lovely Baby & Mommy CD.This collection of ten special songs celebrate the importance of mom and her integral role in her baby's development. This unique collection will surely strengthen the natural bond between mother and child.
Finally, Christmas music created just for babies. Don't settle for those irritating holiday collections dressed-up to look like music for your baby. Lovely Baby creator, Raimond Lap, has come up with a wonderful collection of holiday classics (plus four originals) that will thoroughly please the little ones, while entertaining the entire family. So cozy up by the tree and cherish these special moments.
Due to the overwhelming reaction to our original Baby Christmas CD, Raimond returned to the studio and has completed the brand new Baby Christmas 2 CD, featuring eleven more beautiful songs for this special time of year, including four more original compositions you are sure to fall in love with.
Lovely Baby continues to be the only company offering high-quality, highly-effective holiday music for your little ones. Enjoy yourselves as you sample this wonderful recording.
Lovely Family CDs have a harmonious, positive, restful and - above all else - pleasant effect on people of all ages. Thanks to the powerful and melodic compositions, supported by balanced harmonies - often with humorous undertones -it cheers everyone up. Play them when ready for a few moments of serene quiet, solidarity and relaxation.
"The Famous Composers Series" is a specially-priced 3-CD box set, featuring the world's best-loved classics in the most delightful way imaginable. Thanks to international baby music expert, Raimond Lap, your baby will interact with, and respond joyfully to the music of the great masters.
Lovely Baby Brain Power continues in the successful tradition of the world's finest music for babies. It'll provide your baby with hours of enjoyment and gentle stimulation.


Avocados The next 2 weeks are crucial shipping weeks for the industry to harvest and attempt to maintain a healthy supply. Suppliers are scrambling to get fruit to cover Holy Week (Week16 No Harvest) and ramp up the volume thereafter for Cinco. The industry started week 12 with less inventory available at the border (compared to weeks prior) and leaner inventories. We are in a demand exceeds supply situation. Field pricing in Mexico has increased substantially, the field costs started to increase last week and continue to climb today. Last week the industry received roughly 20% less fruit than the week prior. Ripe and preconditioned fruit will be limited. Prices have increased about $30 in just a 10 day period and still increasing daily.
Green Bell Pepper– Light volume of green bell pepper arriving in Nogales this week. Mostly small and medium size being harvested from both Mexican growing districts. The quality on the green bells from the Sinaloa district is fair. The quality from the Sonora district is fair to good. Green bell pepper demand currently exceed supplies. Green bell pepper supplies are expected to start decreasing from the Sinaloa growing region and give one last strong push from the Sonora growing area in the month of April. Market on green bells have started to increase again, mostly on medium size and Larger. Green bell peppers from Mexico are also available to load in McAllen, TX.
Red Bell Pepper– Steady supplies of Red bell pepper arriving in Nogales, AZ from Mexico this week. The market/price on red bell pepper has slightly increased after better demand being shown. Better volume on Hot House variety and in all hot house pack styles. Light volume on elongated variety. Steady volume on Hot House variety expected through the week. Quality of red bell on both varieties is good. Red bell supplies from Mexico currently crossing through both Nogales, AZ and McAllen, TX.
Broccoli- The broccoli bunch market continues to stay steady with the nice weather in Yuma and Mexico while the crown market has picked up. This warmer weather the next several days in Yuma and Mexico is helping to spur growth. Look for supplies to stay steady with the improved weather. Quality is good with slight purpling, some mechanical damage, and occasional yellow cast.
Cauliflower- Cauliflower continues to come off this week with more supplies in all areas. The Yuma weather continues to spur the growth process which has brought the fields ahead of schedule. The fields next week are looking to gap with supplies becoming much tighter. Overall, the quality is good with minor bruising and yellow cast with weights in the 25 to 28-pound level. Look for the market to get tighter going into next week.
Celery- Overall, this market has remained steady, with pricing continuing to be at record numbers. Suppliers continue to struggle to cover orders, especially on the value-added side. Escalated pricing continues to be in effect. Carton business has been more readily available compared to past weeks. Light supplies are expected thru the month of April. Production out of Mexico has helped to ease the strain of low production in Oxnard and Santa Maria. The overall quality is fair, with pith, insect damage and leafy tops being reported upon arrival.
Jalapenos– Good supply of Jalapeno continues to be available to load in Nogales, AZ from Mexico. Growers continue to harvest jalapeno out of the Sonora and in Northern/Southern Sinaloa. Quality is good out of both growing districts. Mostly medium to large size continue to be available from both growing regions. Market on jalapeno continues to be in the mid-teens. Jalapenos from Mexico are also available to load in McAllen, Texas.
Pasilla– Good supply of Pasilla peppers continue to be available in Nogales, AZ from Mexico. Good volume is expected to continue through the week. Quality on Pasilla is good. Size on the pepper currently ranges from Medium to Extra Large. Market on Pasilla is currently steady. Pasilla crossing through Nogales is being harvested in Sinaloa. Quality from Sinaloa is good. Pasilla from Mexico also available to load in McAllen, Texas.
Anaheim– Good supply of Anaheim available to load in Nogales, AZ from Mexico. Steady Anaheim production expected to continue. Anaheim crossing through Nogales continues to be harvested in the Mexican states of Sinaloa. Quality of peppers from Sinaloa is good with mostly large size being packed. Market on Anaheim is steady/lower. Anaheim from Mexico also available to load in McAllen, Texas.
Serrano – Good supplies of Serrano peppers available to load in Nogales, from Mexico. Supplies are expected to remain steady throughout the week. Supplies currently meet demand. Serrano supplies also crossing through McAllen, Texas.
Tomatillo – Husk and Peeled tomatillos are available to load in Nogales, from Mexico. Quality on both varieties continues to be good. Good supplies on both husk and peeled tomatillos are expected to continue through the week. The tomatillo market is expected to remain steady.
Lemons- District 1&2 (Central Valley & Southern California Coastal Region) continues to peaking on 75ct/95ct/115ct. The foodservice sizes 165's and smaller are tight, expect limited availability moving forward. Prices are firming up and looking to remain steady in the high $20's low $30's on choice and fancy fruit. The rain and cold weather brought on the larger fruit and smaller fruit is staying limited on sizing and green on the trees.
Limes– As we approach April the market looked promising to come off but this is expected to change again this week due to the unpredictable border shut down. Suppliers are thinking prices will go back up by the end of this week, but realistically it'll be a day to day deal if that happens. Suppliers will be doing their best to load up their coolers to have product available. We are advising customers to avoid running lime ads for April due to unpredictable quantity and lack of commitments from the growers.
Oranges- Good supplies to start the month of April on navels, with plenty of volume to promote on most sizes. Quality is looking great and markets are looking steady with plenty of deals to be made to help move fruit. On Specialty Citrus we still have plenty of Delite Mandarins that are peaking on 15's & 40's. Pummelos Sunkist grade is peaking on 12/14/18/23 size, quality looks great. Cara Caras & Blood are moving along, steady supplies are available. Golden Nugget Mandarins Ojai Pixie Tangerines are coming along nicely, quality is looking a lot better and the taste is excellent.
Cucumbers- Good supplies of cucumbers continue to cross through Nogales, AZ this week from Sinaloa, MX, and Sonora, MX. Quality out of both growing district continues to be good. Good growing temperatures are expected to continue in both of the growing regions through the week. Currently, all sizes being packed in 1 1/9 bushel pack and carton cucumber from both districts. The cucumber market is currently steady but could increase due to better demand. The quality of both growing regions is good. Mexican cucumbers are also available in San Diego from the Baja growing district.
Green Grapes- Import green grape supplies are becoming increasingly limited. No new arrivals of fruit are expected for the remainder of the season. All shippers are utilizing storage crop to fill demand. As volumes are low and being controlled closely, market prices continue to increase weekly. We saw another jump in price this week and expect it to climb moving forward. As we continue to move through the storage crop and look toward transition, we can expect quality to become a challenge. Currently, reports are good. However, with age, comes issues. We can expect fair quality, limited supplies and higher prices for the remainder of April. New harvest is expected to start in Coachella and Mexico by mid-May. Supplies are limited and prices are higher. Quality will be a challenge moving forward.
Iceberg Lettuce- Yuma will continue to have production for a week or two longer. Huron will continue to harvest for 2-3 more weeks. Salinas will begin by the end of this week in light supplies. Better availability will follow in the following two-three weeks. There is a gap in pricing in the marketplace. New crop which is in Huron has weights at 39-43 pounds on liner lettuce. The quality continues to be hit and miss in Yuma. Defects being reported to include ribbing, mechanical, mildew, and puffiness. The quality in Huron has been reported as cleaner. Overall this market is stronger. Warm temperatures in the growing regions have caused insects to be more readily in arrivals.
Leaf Lettuce- As the Yuma season begins to wind down, the market has picked up on romaine as well as all leaf items. Production is occurring in Yuma, Huron, Santa Maria and Salinas. The quality of romaine has been fair, with discoloration, blister, pinking, and insects being reported upon arrivals. The quality overall is better in Huron and Salinas, but production is limited. Insects have been seen most from product in Huron and Yuma. Yuma will continue to have production for approximately one-two weeks more, at most. These plants are tired. Green and red leaf, as well as butter, has a quality that is also fair at best, much like romaine. Demand overall is fair.
Onions– Yellow onion markets in the Northwest are lower with good supplies and shippers looking to move out storage as Texas new crop will hit markets soon and California desert is a couple of weeks away. Red onion supplies are lighter with steady to higher markets and heavy demand. White onions are in few hands with high prices. Mexican onions are crossing this week with Texas domestic struggling to get started due to rain in the growing regions. Forecasts call for more rain mid-week and this coming weekend which will slow production. California desert is expected to start the week of April 22nd. Markets will be volatile over the next 2-3 weeks. Translucency will continue to be an issue with Northwest storage crop while the new crop coming in from Texas and soon to be California will exhibit thin, flaky skins.
Potatoes- Russet potato markets are holding steady with some slightly lower pricing on small size Burbanks. Consumer demand remains sluggish but expected to pick up for Easter. Larger size Norkotahs are available with sporadic supply. Washington, Colorado, and Wisconsin continue production with limited availability on larger sizes. Internal/external bruising, light hollow heart, external cuts, light peepers, and occasional soft rot can be seen in some lots. Advanced orders are recommended to ensure coverage of large size potatoes. Smaller sizes remain in abundance.
Tomatoes- A warm weather trend has helped boost production in new crops harvesting in Sinaloa to start the Spring season. In turn, fruit is picked as the tomatoes begin to ripen on the vine before they can grow to XL and Jumbo sizes, resulting in XL Vine Ripe FOBs increasing slightly this week. Overall, the market is steady with little to no change to FOBs spanning roma, grape, and cherry tomatoes so far. Just a week after western markets returned to minimums, the threat of a U.S. border closure continues to materialize with rumors of extreme shortages occurring overnight. As customs agents are redirected to aid the humanitarian crisis reported at the border, crossings may slow or worse halt, but as long as inspection points remain open, tomatoes have been crossing in good supply.


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Thrive Global Project was founded by a family. The Dashiell Family to be exact. The Dashiell Family like many families has a loyalty and love that is contained within the names that grace their family tree. There are stories and memories that bind those names together and have held them tight for many years. Each one of them holds a special place within that close-knit community. They are a support system of constant encouragement, selfless love and countless apologies just like many other families that inhabit this world.
They have shared a myriad of experiences,	and to put it simply-they like many other families are incredibly blessed to know one another's stories and hold hands through it all. To have the opportunity to be there for each other in all the hard and good times, and to selflessly give because they are so filled.
A 100% of our public donations fund educational resources to vulnerable students across the globe.
Thrive Global Project is not just about our family though. It is about many families coming together to impact students across the globe! If your family is made up of 100 or just 1, impact can be made. We just created the model to make it easy.
So here is how your family comes in
We depend on the Dashiell family and other families to cover everything from staff salaries to basic office systems to office rent and supplies. These donors are some of our most passionate and committed: their investment fuels our long-term mission, our ability to scale as an organization and our mission to continue using 100% of public donations for resources to the needy.
Our family has a saying that is coined by one of the other brothers in the Dashiell Family, Bill. He always says when one of our family members goes out of the way, "it is just what we do." It is a humble phrase that is not looking for thanks or recognition because it is wrapped up in love for others. It has become a family mantra and we want it to be yours too.
The Front Office: Giving Society
Our goal for the 100% transparency is ambitious. To support our growth, we bring together a like-minded community of families to fund our operating budget on a regular basis.
We promise you are not in trouble! The Front Office is a good thing to be apart of. The Front Office is a giving society where donors give a set amount to our operating costs each year. Their support paves the way for us to continue doing what many said was impossible: scale the organization using 100% transparency and give educational resources to every vulnerable student on the planet.
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The ranks and rank insignia of the Soviet Armed Forces between 1955 and 1991 were distinguished by the reorganisation of the Soviet armed forces after the death of Stalin, resulting in changes to ranks, insignia, and uniforms.

Changes to distinction insignia

Shoulder straps to field utilization
In December 1956 the coloured border piping on officers' shoulder straps was changed. A cinnamon-brown color was used instead of the burgundy red previously worn by commanders and commanding officers. All other officers and other ranks wore corps colours as follows:
 Motorised & mechanised rifles – raspberry
 Artillery & armored troops – black, red
 Air Force & aviation  – blue
 Technical troops of any kind and the navy – black

The regimental numberings of the 1943 system were removed altogether.

Enlisted men, non-commissioned officers, warrant officers, and michman

Army, Air Force

Colors by type of troops:
 motorized infantry troops – red (scarlet);
 artillery, rocket, tank, engineering, construction, automobile, railway troops, signal-corps, troops of radiation, chemical and biological protection – black;
 air force and airborne troops – sky blue;
 state security troops (KGB troops) – dark blue, instead of the letters "СА" () the letters "" ( – State Security);
 internal troops (Interior Ministry troops) – crimson (dark red), instead of the letters "СА" () the letters "" ();
 border troops – green, instead of the letters "" () the letters "" ().

Ratings of the Navy, coastal services and other shore commands

Letter codes from 1972 onward
 The letter imprint "" on army shoulder boards stood for  () and was the symbol of adherence to the Soviet Army.
 The letter imprint on Soviet navy shoulder boards symbolised the adherence to the appropriate fleet or naval major command.
 – Fleet (), general personnel of the Navy
 – Baltic Fleet ()
 – Black Sea Fleet ()
 – Northern Fleet ()
 – Pacific Fleet ()
 Other letter symbols
 – () – Internal Troops
 – () – students of military musician schools or cadets of military bands
 – () – armed forces (Soviet Army, later USSR armed forces, also Armed forces of the USSR)
 – () – Committee for State Security (KGB)
 – () – higher military college student
 – () – cadet in the  Nakhimov Naval School
 – () – border troops
 – () – special school
 – () – cadet at a Suvorov Military School

Army officers and generals (all services)

Naval officers and flag officers (all services)

Top ranks

See also
 History of Russian military ranks
 Ranks and insignia of the Imperial Russian Armed Forces
 Military ranks of the Soviet Union (1918–1935)
 Military ranks of the Soviet Union (1935–1940)
 Military ranks of the Soviet Union (1940–1943)
 Military ranks of the Soviet Union (1943–1955)
 Ranks and rank insignia of the Russian Federation´s armed forces 1994–2010

References

Bibliography

Russian Federation Army
Military ranks of the Soviet Union

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


WASHINGTON – In a letter to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Seema Verma, Consumers for Quality Care, Consumer Action, the Black Women's Health Imperative and the National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved raise concerns about problematic provisions in the new Medicaid managed care proposed rule and the negative consequences it would have on consumers. The groups point to the weakening of network adequacy and loosening the uniformity of quality rating systems across the United States as areas that could hurt consumers.
Their letter calls on CMS to add more rigorous requirements or withdraw the proposal to protect patient access to quality, affordable care.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Proposed Rule, Medicaid Program; Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) Managed Care (CMS-2408-P). As health care advocates who have come together to speak up for patients and health care consumers, we would like to express our concern with certain provisions in this proposed rule.
The Medicaid Program: Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) Managed Care rule, also known as the "Medicaid MCO" rule, was finalized in 2016 to make it easier for consumers to choose a plan based on quality, to navigate Medicaid health plan information more easily through tools like provider directories, and to have access to an adequate health plan provider network. The rule also made strides in reforming payment and delivery systems.
While the proposed rule seeks to reduce the administrative burden for states, it may also reduce access to quality care for vulnerable Medicaid consumers.
Network Adequacy: While the 2016 final rule requires states develop and enforce travel time and distance to ensure an adequate coverage network for patients, this proposed rule would loosen this requirement and allow states to choose among quantitative standards to ensure network adequacy, including provider-to-enrollee ratios, maximum wait times and hours of operations.
The Medicaid population is complex with diverse needs. While expanding the quantitative measures of network adequacy standards could help maximize patient access to care, CMS must continue to work to ensure that states are setting the right standards and that insurer networks are not too narrow or inaccessible. Otherwise, patients may encounter barriers to accessing care, such as a very limited number of providers in their network or needing to travel long distances to receive care from a doctor who accepts their insurance.
The rule also proposes allowing states to define the number and types of providers that are classified as "specialists." While we appreciate the need for states to have flexibility to best meet the needs of state Medicaid enrollees, we believe that the definition of specialist should remain at the Federal level (81 FR 27,661). Should a patient need to travel across state lines for care, the definition of "specialist" could vary, leading to a patient losing access to treatment or specialized care for a specific condition. A disruption in care could also lead to a disruption in continuity of care for specified treatments, including medically necessary prescription medicines.
Quality Rating System: Although the proposed rule would still require states to maintain quality rating systems, it would loosen the uniformity of standards by allowing states to set their own quality rating systems and eliminate the need for those to have prior CMS approval. While we recognize that states need certain flexibility in assessing specific quality improvement needs, we urge CMS to continue to work toward the alignment of state efforts to improve quality for all. As proposed, it would be difficult to control for quality of care if a state is not required to receive CMS approval before implementing its own alternative quality rating system. The Medicare Part D star rating program could be a basis for use and has been looked to as a model for ease of use and comprehension of quality measures, as well as having driven improvements in quality. The state process in developing quality rating systems needs to be transparent, and ensure that measures are relevant to the population, support current clinical standards of care and accurately assess all facets of care.
The 2016 "Medicaid MCO" rule updated the standards governing Medicaid managed care plans for the first time since 2002 and created a structure to ensure consumers were provided with an adequate level of care as part of the Medicaid program. The new proposed rule would scale back the progress of the previous rule, weaken networks and lower quality standards for Medicaid managed care enrollees.
We firmly believe that if approved in its current form, this rule will hurt patients across the United States. We are asking that you add more rigorous requirements or retract this proposal and protect consumer access to quality care.


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Andrew Lothian at the Five Glaciers, Banff National Park, Canada in 2009
DR ANDREW LOTHIAN
DIRECTOR, SCENIC SOLUTIONS
Dip Tech (Town Planning), MSc (Environmental Resources), PhD, FEIANZ
Since 2003, Dr Andrew Lothian has become Australia's leading practitioner in landscape quality assessment – the art and science of measuring and mapping scenic quality based on community preferences. He has undertaken a range of studies at the State, regional and micro levels.
Projects completed include:
Measuring and mapping landscape quality of South Australia, 2000;
Assessing the visual impact of wind farms in coastal and inland locations, 2004;
Assessing the scenic amenity value of large remnant trees in agricultural land, 2004;
Measuring and mapping the landscape quality of the South Australian coast (4800 km),2005;
Assessing the visual impact of coastal developments including housing, marinas and aquaculture, 2005;
Measuring and mapping the scenic quality of the Barossa region, 2005;
Advising a power authority about the scenic quality impact of wind farms in a range of localities across South Australia, 2006;
Advising wind farm companies about the scenic quality impact of wind farms at Myponga-Sellicks and Yankalilla, 2006;
Assessing the scenic quality and landscape characteristics of part of the City of Victor Harbor and advising planning policy, 2006;
Measuring and mapping the scenic quality of the River Murray, Lakes and Coorong, 2007;
Assessing community perceptions of developments on the River Murray, 2007;
Measuring and mapping the scenic quality of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, 2009;
Visual impact assessment of Adelaide Interconnection Water System Works, 2010
Clare Region landscape quality and potential visual impact of wind farms, 2010
Crystal Brook region landscape quality assessment, 2012
Generic landscape survey, 2013;
Measuring and mapping the scenic quality of the Lake District National Park (UK), 2013;
Measuring and mapping the scenic quality of the Mt Lofty Ranges, 2015;
World's best landscapes project, 2016;
Published The Science of Scenery book, 2017.
Assessing the visual impact and acceptability of wind farms in SA, Victoria and NSW, 2018.
Details of each of these are available here.
In 2005, he established Scenic Solutions, a consultancy providing services in landscape quality assessment.
In April, 2006, the Planning Institute of Australia awarded Dr Lothian its National Award for Planning Excellence in the category of Environmental Planning or Conservation for his report: Coastal Viewscapes of South Australia.
This followed the award of the 2005 State Award for Planning Excellence in November, 2005 by the South Australian Division of PIA for the same report.
NATIONAL AWARD FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE 2006
In the Environmental Planning or Conservation Category
Awarded to Dr Andrew Lothian at the PIA Conference, Gold Coast, Queensland 3 April 2006 for the project: Coastal Viewscapes of South Australia.
Award Citation
This is a high quality project with a comprehensive approach to the investigation of urban pressures on the South Australian coastline.
Measuring and mapping scenic quality established a comprehensive and innovative methodology. This thorough and well researched study lead to significant planning recommendations.
The PIA President, Sue Halliday, said of the Awards:
Not only do these awards provide leading examples of planning practice, they also demonstrate what can be achieved through innovative and creative thinking, collaboration, and commitment to a vision of vibrant and sustainable communities.
Earlier professional involvement
Until late 2002, Dr Lothian worked at a senior level in the South Australian Department for the Environment for several decades.
Areas in which he contributed included:
Sustainability initiatives and environmental policy development at both the State and National levels;
Greenhouse policy in South Australia and contributed to National policy;
South Australia's first State of Environment report and contributed to subsequent reports;
Preparation of the first Environmental Resources Study of the Murray-Darling Basin covering three States of Australia;
Advanced environmental valuation studies and the development of the environmental industry in South Australia;
Preparation of site contamination legislation;
Preparation of zero waste policy;
Development of legislation for housing energy rating.
He has also played a significant role in improving the aesthetics of Adelaide and rural towns through advising on the undergrounding of powerlines and associated streetscaping through his long involvement on the Government's Powerline Environment Committee (PLEC).
Originally trained in Town Planning, in 1973 he graduated in the UK with a MSc (Environmental Resources), and in 2001, graduated with a PhD for the dissertation, Landscape Quality Assessment of South Australia.
He has presented papers at many conferences and seminars and has published on a wide range of subjects including:
Environmental valuation
Environmental industries
Community environmental attitudes
Landscape aesthetics
Visual impacts of wind farms
Understanding greenhouse and ozone
Greening of business
Rural environmental issues
Wetlands conservation
Natural hazards management
In 2002 he established Environmental Policy Solutions, a consultancy providing services in environmental policy. In 2005 he established Scenic Solutions, a consultancy in measuring and mapping scenic quality and visual impact assessment.
Dr Lothian has served as an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Geography, Population and Environmental Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide and a Visiting Lecturer at the School of Social Sciences in the University of Adelaide. He has also taught carbon accounting at a TAFE college.
From 2003 to 2014, Dr Lothian served as a Sessional Commissioner of the Environment, Resources and Development Court in South Australia.
He is a past President and Secretary of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (South Australian Division). He has also served as a Councillor on local government.


London Biggin Hill airport has appointed a customer service manager to lead the facility's executive handling unit.
Sarah Dennis has ben appointed to the new management position, and will be responsible for customer service development and the airport's executive handling unit, which includes SkyPets, the specialist unit for handling animals travelling with passengers on business aviation flights.
The appointment comes in light of Dennis' considerable experience within the leisure industry. She has spent nine years as operations manager at the David Lloyd group.
Robert Walters, the airport's business development director, says that the recent increase in business traffic is mainly by larger corporate aircraft flying over longer distances.
He said: "This trend calls upon us to create a new emphasis on passenger and flight crew requirements. The appointment of Sarah Dennis is to develop and enhance our customer performance and relationships in all key FBO-related areas."


text:
package openblocks.common.item;

import java.util.List;

import net.minecraft.block.Block;
import net.minecraft.client.renderer.texture.IIconRegister;
import net.minecraft.creativetab.CreativeTabs;
import net.minecraft.entity.player.EntityPlayer;
import net.minecraft.item.Item;
import net.minecraft.item.ItemStack;
import net.minecraft.nbt.*;
import net.minecraft.nbt.NBTBase.NBTPrimitive;
import net.minecraft.util.ChatComponentTranslation;
import net.minecraft.util.IIcon;
import net.minecraft.util.StatCollector;
import net.minecraft.world.World;
import net.minecraftforge.common.util.ForgeDirection;
import openblocks.Config;
import openblocks.common.tileentity.*;
import openblocks.common.tileentity.TileEntityImaginary.ICollisionData;
import openblocks.common.tileentity.TileEntityImaginary.PanelData;
import openblocks.common.tileentity.TileEntityImaginary.StairsData;
import openmods.item.ItemOpenBlock;
import openmods.utils.*;
import openmods.utils.ColorUtils.ColorMeta;

import com.google.common.base.Objects;

import cpw.mods.fml.relauncher.Side;
import cpw.mods.fml.relauncher.SideOnly;

public class ItemImaginary extends ItemOpenBlock {

	public static final float CRAFTING_COST = 1.0f;
	public static final String TAG_COLOR = "Color";
	public static final String TAG_USES = "Uses";
	public static final String TAG_MODE = "Mode";

	public static final int DAMAGE_PENCIL = 0;
	public static final int DAMAGE_CRAYON = 1;

	private enum PlacementMode {
		BLOCK(1.0f, "block", "overlay_block", false) {
			@Override
			public ICollisionData createCollisionData(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player) {
				return TileEntityImaginary.DUMMY;
			}
		},
		PANEL(0.5f, "panel", "overlay_panel", false) {
			@Override
			public ICollisionData createCollisionData(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player) {
				return new PanelData(1.0f);
			}
		},
		HALF_PANEL(0.5f, "half_panel", "overlay_half", false) {
			@Override
			public ICollisionData createCollisionData(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player) {
				return new PanelData(0.5f);
			}
		},
		STAIRS(0.75f, "stairs", "overlay_stairs", false) {
			@Override
			public ICollisionData createCollisionData(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player) {
				ForgeDirection dir = BlockUtils.get2dOrientation(player);
				return new StairsData(0.5f, 1.0f, dir);
			}
		},

		INV_BLOCK(1.5f, "inverted_block", "overlay_inverted_block", true) {
			@Override
			public ICollisionData createCollisionData(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player) {
				return TileEntityImaginary.DUMMY;
			}
		},
		INV_PANEL(1.0f, "inverted_panel", "overlay_inverted_panel", true) {
			@Override
			public ICollisionData createCollisionData(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player) {
				return new PanelData(1.0f);
			}
		},
		INV_HALF_PANEL(1.0f, "inverted_half_panel", "overlay_inverted_half",
				true) {
			@Override
			public ICollisionData createCollisionData(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player) {
				return new PanelData(0.5f);
			}
		},
		INV_STAIRS(1.25f, "inverted_stairs", "overlay_inverted_stairs", true) {
			@Override
			public ICollisionData createCollisionData(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player) {
				ForgeDirection dir = BlockUtils.get2dOrientation(player);
				return new StairsData(0.5f, 1.0f, dir);
			}
		};

		public final float cost;
		public final String name;
		public final String overlayName;
		public final boolean isInverted;
		public IIcon overlay;

		private PlacementMode(float cost, String name, String overlayName, boolean isInverted) {
			this.cost = cost;
			this.name = "openblocks.misc.mode." + name;
			this.overlayName = "openblocks:" + overlayName;
			this.isInverted = isInverted;
		}

		public abstract ICollisionData createCollisionData(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player);

		public static final PlacementMode[] VALUES = values();
	}

	public static float getUses(NBTTagCompound tag) {
		NBTBase value = tag.getTag(TAG_USES);
		if (value == null) return 0;
		if (value instanceof NBTPrimitive) return ((NBTPrimitive)value).func_150288_h();

		throw new IllegalStateException("Invalid tag type: " + value);
	}

	public static float getUses(ItemStack stack) {
		NBTTagCompound tag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(stack);
		return getUses(tag);
	}

	public static PlacementMode getMode(NBTTagCompound tag) {
		int value = tag.getByte(TAG_MODE);
		return PlacementMode.VALUES[value];
	}

	public static PlacementMode getMode(ItemStack stack) {
		NBTTagCompound tag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(stack);
		return getMode(tag);
	}

	public static boolean isCrayon(ItemStack stack) {
		return stack.getItemDamage() == DAMAGE_CRAYON;
	}

	public ItemImaginary(Block block) {
		super(block);
		setMaxStackSize(1);
		setHasSubtypes(true);
		setMaxDamage(0);
	}

	public static ItemStack setupValues(Integer color, ItemStack result) {
		return setupValues(color, result, Config.imaginaryItemUseCount);
	}

	public static ItemStack setupValues(Integer color, ItemStack result, float uses) {
		NBTTagCompound tag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(result);

		if (color != null) {
			tag.setInteger(TAG_COLOR, color);
			result.setItemDamage(DAMAGE_CRAYON);
		}

		tag.setFloat(TAG_USES, uses);
		return result;
	}

	@Override
	protected void afterBlockPlaced(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player, World world, int x, int y, int z) {
		NBTTagCompound tag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(stack);

		NBTTagInt color = (NBTTagInt)tag.getTag(TAG_COLOR);
		PlacementMode mode = getMode(tag);
		ICollisionData collisions = mode.createCollisionData(stack, player);
		world.setTileEntity(x, y, z, new TileEntityImaginary(color == null? null : color.func_150287_d(), mode.isInverted, collisions));

		if (!player.capabilities.isCreativeMode) {
			float uses = Math.max(getUses(tag) - mode.cost, 0);
			tag.setFloat(TAG_USES, uses);

			if (uses <= 0) stack.stackSize = 0;
		}
	}

	@Override
	public boolean onItemUse(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player, World world, int x, int y, int z, int side, float hitX, float hitY, float hitZ) {
		if (stack == null) return false;

		NBTTagCompound tag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(stack);
		float uses = getUses(tag);
		if (uses <= 0) {
			stack.stackSize = 0;
			return true;
		}

		if (uses < getMode(tag).cost) return false;

		return super.onItemUse(stack, player, world, x, y, z, side, hitX, hitY, hitZ);
	}

	@Override
	public String getUnlocalizedName(ItemStack stack) {
		NBTTagCompound tag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(stack);
		return tag.hasKey(TAG_COLOR)? "item.openblocks.crayon" : "item.openblocks.pencil";
	}

	@Override
	public String getUnlocalizedName() {
		return "item.openblocks.imaginary";
	}

	@Override
	@SideOnly(Side.CLIENT)
	@SuppressWarnings({ "unchecked", "rawtypes" })
	public void addInformation(ItemStack stack, EntityPlayer player, List result, boolean extended) {
		NBTTagCompound tag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(stack);

		result.add(StatCollector.translateToLocalFormatted("openblocks.misc.uses", getUses(tag)));

		NBTTagInt color = (NBTTagInt)tag.getTag(TAG_COLOR);
		if (color != null) result.add(StatCollector.translateToLocalFormatted("openblocks.misc.color", color.func_150287_d()));

		PlacementMode mode = getMode(tag);
		String translatedMode = StatCollector.translateToLocal(mode.name);
		result.add(StatCollector.translateToLocalFormatted("openblocks.misc.mode", translatedMode));
	}

	@Override
	@SuppressWarnings({ "unchecked", "rawtypes" })
	public void getSubItems(Item item, CreativeTabs tab, List result) {
		result.add(setupValues(null, new ItemStack(this, 1, DAMAGE_PENCIL)));
		for (ColorMeta color : ColorUtils.getAllColors())
			result.add(setupValues(color.rgb, new ItemStack(this, 1, DAMAGE_CRAYON)));
	}

	@Override
	public int getSpriteNumber() {
		return 1; // render as item
	}

	private IIcon iconCrayonBackground;
	private IIcon iconCrayonColor;
	private IIcon iconPencil;
	private IIcon iconBlank;

	@Override
	@SideOnly(Side.CLIENT)
	public void registerIcons(IIconRegister registry) {
		iconCrayonBackground = registry.registerIcon("openblocks:crayon_1");
		iconCrayonColor = registry.registerIcon("openblocks:crayon_2");
		iconPencil = registry.registerIcon("openblocks:pencil");
		iconBlank = registry.registerIcon("openblocks:blank");

		for (PlacementMode mode : PlacementMode.VALUES)
			mode.overlay = registry.registerIcon(mode.overlayName);
	}

	private IIcon getOverlayIcon(ItemStack stack, boolean inGui) {
		return inGui? getMode(stack).overlay : iconBlank;
	}

	private IIcon getIcon(ItemStack stack, int pass, boolean inGui) {
		if (!isCrayon(stack)) return pass == 1? getOverlayIcon(stack, inGui) : iconPencil;

		switch (pass) {
			case 0:
				return iconCrayonBackground;
			case 1:
				return iconCrayonColor;
			case 2:
				return getOverlayIcon(stack, inGui);
		}

		throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid pass: " + pass);
	}

	@Override
	@SideOnly(Side.CLIENT)
	public final IIcon getIcon(ItemStack stack, int pass) {
		return getIcon(stack, pass, true);
	}

	@Override
	@SideOnly(Side.CLIENT)
	public IIcon getIcon(ItemStack stack, int pass, EntityPlayer player, ItemStack usingItem, int useRemaining) {
		return getIcon(stack, pass, false);
	}

	@Override
	@SideOnly(Side.CLIENT)
	public int getColorFromItemStack(ItemStack stack, int pass) {
		if (isCrayon(stack) && pass == 1) return Objects.firstNonNull(ItemUtils.getInt(stack, TAG_COLOR), 0x000000);

		return 0xFFFFFF;
	}

	@Override
	@SideOnly(Side.CLIENT)
	public boolean requiresMultipleRenderPasses() {
		return true;
	}

	@Override
	public int getRenderPasses(int metadata) {
		return metadata == DAMAGE_CRAYON? 3 : 2;
	}

	@Override
	public boolean doesContainerItemLeaveCraftingGrid(ItemStack stack) {
		return false;
	}

	@Override
	public boolean hasContainerItem(ItemStack stack) {
		return true;
	}

	@Override
	public ItemStack getContainerItem(ItemStack stack) {
		NBTTagCompound tag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(stack);
		float uses = getUses(tag) - CRAFTING_COST;
		if (uses <= 0) return null;

		ItemStack copy = stack.copy();
		NBTTagCompound copyTag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(copy);
		copyTag.setFloat(TAG_USES, uses);
		return copy;
	}

	@Override
	public ItemStack onItemRightClick(ItemStack stack, World world, EntityPlayer player) {
		NBTTagCompound tag = ItemUtils.getItemTag(stack);
		if (getUses(tag) <= 0) {
			stack.stackSize = 0;
		} else if (player.isSneaking()) {
			byte modeId = tag.getByte(TAG_MODE);
			modeId = (byte)((modeId + 1) % PlacementMode.VALUES.length);
			tag.setByte(TAG_MODE, modeId);

			if (world.isRemote) {
				PlacementMode mode = PlacementMode.VALUES[modeId];
				ChatComponentTranslation modeName = new ChatComponentTranslation(mode.name);
				player.addChatComponentMessage(new ChatComponentTranslation("openblocks.misc.mode", modeName));
			}
		}

		return stack;
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Panama Underground in DR Congo
The revelations in the Panama Papers –offshore account details held by the global rich and powerful, unearthed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) last week- have caused turmoil in the Democratic Republic of Congo because of their mention of President Joseph Kabila's twin sister, Jaynet. All of a sudden, the rumours around Jaynet's business deals and suspicions that she was the channel through which the wealthy family is moving Congo's money out of the country, started to make sense. But journalists have been threatened with jail if they write about Jaynet and her account.
"It's not against the law to have a bank account abroad," DRC government spokesman Lambert Mende told journalists last week. "Therefore, if I was a journalist I would be careful not to smear anyone's reputation. A person whose reputation is smeared by the mere allegation of having a foreign bank account, might well take such a journalist to court." In the DRC, 'press delicts' are a crime which can be, and have been, punished with real jail time.
Slices and stakes
As a result, investigative-minded Congolese journalists are working extra hard to unearth more detail around Jaynet Kabila's business dealings and the source of her wealth. So far the stories they are seeking to extend are those to do with her involvement in the US$ 500 million upgrade of Matadi harbour on the Congo river, a deal in which she stands to gain a neat slice of US$ 36 million; her indirect 9,6 % stake in mobile phone operator Vodacom Congo and the benefits reportedly accrued to her from the privatisation of the DRC's state printing agency, which prints official papers such as passports.
Congolese journalists in the AIPC -ZAM network –who prefer to remain underground for the time being- have offered the ICIJ their full cooperation in combing through the Panama papers sections that impact on the DRC.
Oil fields
The Panama Papers have so far also drawn renewed attention to mysterious business dealings in the DRC in 2010 by South African President Jacob Zuma's nephew, Khulubuse Zuma. It is still unclear how exactly Khulubuse Zuma then came to possess a US$ 6 billion share of Congolese oil fields a few months after his uncle Jacob had had a meeting with President Joseph Kabila. The ICIJ investigation now unearthed a Panama bank account held by Caprikat Ltd, the company through which Khulubuse Zuma dealt at the time.
Photo: 'DRC, Kinshasa: He's 100% sure', by Kool/Flickr.


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text:
Gjensidige NOR was a Norwegian bank and insurance company that was in existence between 1999 and 2003. The company was created when the two savings banks Sparebanken NOR (bank) and Gjensidige (insurance) were merged in 1999. In 2002 Norwegian savings banks were allowed to become public limited company and was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In 2003 the company was merged with Den norske Bank to form DnB NOR, while the original insurance company Gjensidige was demerged and again became a separate company in 2005.

When the company was made a public limited company, a foundation was created to own part of the corporation, which still exists as Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR and owns 10.95% of DnB NOR. After the demerger, Gjensidige became a self-owning institution.

References

External links

 Gjensidige web site
 DnB NOR web site

Defunct banks of Norway
Financial services companies of Norway
Companies formerly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
Former mutual insurance companies
Cooperatives in Norway
Companies based in Oslo
Banks established in 1999
Financial services companies disestablished in 2003
Banks disestablished in 2003
Insurance companies of Norway
1999 establishments in Norway
2003 disestablishments in Norway