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Home / Triangle game / Big Picture in 2019 / Overall evaluations
Overall evaluations, worldwide and regions
Historical overview – navalism
One of the America's greatest military strategists, Alfred Thayer Mahan, in his book The Influence of Sea Power upon History about a hundred years ago, saw the value of world oceans and activity there as the foundation for national greatness and power. The pivot of this greatness was a powerful navy. The theory of Navalism reached the US administration later in the 19th century and all other major powers at that time, Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Russia.
As a central postulate of Navalism – large, expensive fleets became the main force which embodied both national prestige and safety for the trade of the nation which possessed them. The era of battleships and cruisers was followed by the era of submarines. The doctrine of the Shipping Lanes of Communications (SLOC) and maritime Choke Points became defined factors in Western strategic thinking of the 20th Century during WW I and especially so during WW II.
In the post WW II, US Navy became more than just a concentrated material expression of American national pride and of industrial-technological prowess; it became the guarantor of the safety of those numerous SLOCs and Choke Points on which American prosperity depended then and continues to depend even more so today.
When entering the 21st century, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US Navy lost its only modern peer the Soviet Navy. Up to now, the US Navy has reigned supreme over the vast spaces of the world oceans, thus controlling the world's maritime trade which amounts to almost 90 percent of all global trade.
It seems that the United States with her massive navy is a living proof of the old geopolitical truism that the one who controls the world oceans controls the world's trade and thus controls the world.
New time – new isms
The changes in the international trade patterns, China's growing industrial capacity and trade volumes have created a new situation. Trade deficit between China and the US formally caused a trade war condition between the countries but a much larger global scenario began to emerge since 2013 and it is China's Belt and Road initiative (BRI), the New Silk Road.
Later in 2017-2018, in Chinese-Russian high-level talks, the Chinese BRI and Russia's EAEU were "combined by the aims as a Great Eurasian Partnership". China-Russia's long-term purpose seems to create a huge uniform commercial and societal continent from Pacific to Atlantic covering Asia-Pacific, Eurasia, Middle East and Europe (the whole Europe not just EU), bypassing the interests of the US.
The position of the US in this context is following
huge trade deficits not only with China but with several European countries as well
threatening with numerous sanctions, tariff ups and other punitive measures
exercises hard pressing on European energy arrangement with Russia (NordStream, TurkStream)
has expressed aggressive attitude towards Chinese BRI over the world, seeing it threatens her national interests
interests of the US are well known in the Central Asia by the famous American political scientist Zbigniew Brzezinsky
With China securing the safety of her strategic rear and crucial resources by entering into military-political partnership with Russia, China seems poised to complete the BRI's land-bridge, a part of which will go through Russia.
Modern transportation technologies, including high-speed rail – the exact field in which China is one of the global leaders – may significantly change the matrix of goods' flow and interconnect Eurasia with a highly developed railroad network, which work is already in progress. However, commercial marine transport still remains the most efficient way of delivering large quantities of goods. China needs these "maritime roads" which connect her ports with the Mediterranean and this is here the "check point of reality" regarding Chinese BRI.
Sino-Russian naval partnership vs. the US Navy
In the Western recent discourse there has been much talk about the Russia-Chinese alliance, as well as about Russia being a junior partner in such an alliance. All this is a result of not seeing by Western analysts the real factors behind the BRI & Great Eurasian Partnership and on the other hand in the partnership between China and Russia.
The US Navy the most powerful naval force in history
One of the major reasons is the fact that the US Navy and the Chinese Navy (PLAN) are simply in different leagues. Although the US Navy has nowadays its weaknesses and deficiencies but there can be no denial that the US Navy still remains the most powerful naval force in history.
It is precisely this force which can stop any maritime trade in almost any part of the world. The "almost" qualifier is extremely important here.
The Chinese Navy (PLAN) has been in construction overdrive for a decade now and it has built a large number of surface combat ships. By 2030 it plans to have four aircraft carriers in its order of battle. China is also building more offshore naval bases (besides the present in Djibouti, one in Pakistan).
But the question remains, will the Chinese Navy (PLAN) be able to defend its SLOCs from the interventions by the US Navy? The answer today is an unequivocal NO. China may already have a very serious A2/AD (Anti-Access/Area Denial) costal capability which would deter the US Navy and make its life difficult in the South China Sea but blue water operations are a completely different game.
The US Navy today and in the next five years future has an ace up its sleeve and that is a massive nuclear attack submarine force which, considering the US Navy's powerful surface element, will not allow PLAN to defend its SLOCs. The PLAN is not able to face such odds, especially when one considers the rather unimpressive technological reality of PLAN's submarine force—this inferiority in technology and numbers will not be overcome any time soon. In the open ocean the US Navy can and will sink the Chinese Navy and that will mean the end of the Road, leaving only the Belt to China.
However, here is that point where Russia has her own strategic ace to serve.
The present Russian Navy and especially the modernized strategic offensive nuclear submarines and new hypersonic weapons form such a valuable military asset in balancing threat that combined capability and capacity of Chinese-Russian naval force form a peer competitor to the US Navy.
This fact is obviously noticed also in Pentagon, because so much worried announcements have been stated in last few years by American high-rank officers.
The Russian-Chinese military alliance-like partnership today seems unshakable and it will remain so for the time being but, contrary to Western analyses, this is not because just Russia needs China – certainly no more than China needs Russia.
It is a situational, global alliance-like partnership but it is also the economically natural alliance of two very close neighbors. China needs Russia's resources and energy, which Russia sells in huge quantities to China but China needs Russia's military technology as well. While it is primarily Russia-derived military technology which has already used in Chinese and Russian littorals and their near sea zones and air space against foreign threat, Russia may hold yet another joker.
The Northern Sea Route – an Arctic Silk Road
It is the Northern Sea Route, which China supports strongly with sound reasons. Unlike the Indian Ocean where PLAN would have to face the powerful US Navy, Russia controls the Arctic and possesses a world-class A2/AD and other military capability there, from advanced nuclear submarines, patrol and missile carrying aviation to a system of surveillance and reconnaissance sensors and coastal weapons, which make this route a desirable trade route, also being much shorter than other maritime routes.
The pace of Russian construction of ice-breakers for year-round operation of this ice route, now greatly mitigated by climate change, testifies to the fact that this route is already becoming an important economic and geopolitical factor. The strategic implications are significant – neither the US Navy, nor any other navy, would be able to interdict Arctic SLOCs.
Russia already has enough fire-power in the Arctic to ensure that passage is possible under any geopolitical conditions, while retaining the capacity to shut it down. China has no such capabilities. As The Diplomat magazine noted "as long as solid Russia-China relations exist, the future of the Ice Silk Road is bright."
Sino-Russian partnership, a geopolitical factor
As Russia's relations with Western countries gradually deteriorated over the course of the post-Cold War period, the Eurasian vector in Russian foreign policy has increased in importance, rising to the point where it now supplies one of the guiding paradigms of the country's international vision, the Greater Eurasian Partnership.
This is Russia's vision of a more pluralistic and polycentric world, transforming the world's normative landscape and potentially reconfiguring the global geopolitical chessboard. Moscow's "Pivot to the East" (Putin's Edicts 2012) was designed, in part, to support the foundations of Russia's independent great power status and strengthen the Kremlin's hand toward Europe by deepening ties with dynamic Asian markets.
It seems now obvious that West pushes Russia and China closer together. With Beijing celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party's rule in late 2019, there's been a heated discussion across the Western world about the role that China is going to play in the global affairs. In the discussion, it has been noticed the growing military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow but the relationship between countries has been described as a marriage of convenience with limited impact on American interests.
But when Western nations have imposed more sanctions on both countries since 2014, Chinese and Russian authorities have increasingly found common cause to offer themselves as alternatives to America's post-war leadership.
Large-scale cooperation between China and Russia has become a major geopolitical factor. As China and Russia are growing even closer, it becomes evident that this new arrangement is going to present a challenge to Washington's dominance on the geopolitical stage.
Deeper military cooperation between China-Russia
The present close ties between Russia and China go back to early 1990s but those countries re-updated a full-fledged military cooperation pact in 2018. Among the reasons behind this rapprochement one can name the omnipresent external threat to the very existence of those states, as the West has done nearly-all-possible to undermine Russia and China both internally and externally.
Moscow and Beijing are coordinating their goals, military planning and production capabilities and they have been doing this since the early 2000s. However, the turning point in the bilateral military relations between Russia and China can be traced to a major spike in anti-Russian sanctions that occurred in 2017.
Against this backdrop, Moscow proposed that a comprehensive roadmap should have been developed, covering the time span of three years and encompassing all the areas of military cooperation between the states. China was ready to accept this proposition largely to the fact that it was facing the prospect of a full-blown trade war with the United States that was later launched by the Trump administration.
With Beijing being yet unable to reach nuclear parity with the United States, it gravitates closer to Moscow and its massive nuclear stockpiles. In 2019, China's Defense White Paper states that the cooperation between the states remains on a particularly high level, with a special emphasis being laid on the fact that it will not threat any third party, unless the latter decides to attack any of the two states.
The intention of pursuing further rapprochement can be observed in the way Xi Jinping's visit to Russia was carried out in June 2019. In particular, he signed a number of military deals with his Russian counterpart, with the parties pledging their commitments to pursue the goal of preserving security, addressing threats and creating favorable conditions for further rapprochement. The scale of this cooperation covers large-scale arms sales, joint military exercises, voting alike in the United Nations and having similar positions on Iran and North Korea. Both have become much more active in the Middle East, where Russia is regaining its standing as a major power and China is trying to cultivate relations with energy suppliers like Iran and Iraq.
When the two countries (China, Russia) integrate their early warning systems into one joint system, it will constitute a major shift in the existing balance of powers.
Moscow's growing mutual trust with China is capable of redrawing the entire geopolitical layout in the world. Just recently, Vladimir Putin would announce Russia's intention to help Beijing build a strategic missile early warning system. To the present day, Russia and the United States have been the only ones to possess such capabilities. It has been noted that the system will allow the two countries to warn each other of launches carried out by a third-country. According to Russia's leader such a development will result in a quantitative change in Beijing's ability to ensure its security.
As the US-Russia relations carry on deteriorating it is hard to imagine any other development than Moscow and Beijing formally recognizing their status of close military allies.
Recently, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingric revealed that this activity creates a real potential for a China-Russia strategic alliance which would turn much of Western national security planning and strategy upside-down.
Although the US remains the paramount military power, its ineptitude has resulted in Russia and China joint development surpassing the US in many critical areas (hypersonics, EW, ASAT) so that the US has found limited capability of defending itself against a nuclear second strike.
If the US could deliver a nuclear first strike without having to worry about a retaliatory second strike thanks to its ABM systems, then its quest for perpetual unipolarity could possibly be realistic. But Washington's peer competitors have shown that they have the means to defend themselves against a nuclear first strike by being able to deliver a massive second strike, thereby communicating that the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD) is here to stay.
Measures and counter-measures in the triangle game
Now, in 2019, even though the number of nuclear weapons is four times lower than in the early 1980s, the likelihood of some form of nuclear catastrophe has arguably risen to an unprecedented level. The new risks today are manifold. Many basic political and military communication channels that the US and Russia had used for decades to avoid misperception and share information have been suspended.
Arms control treaties are now collapsing at a time when both parties are facing with serious challenges to strategic stability from non-nuclear high-precision weapons, hypersonic weapons, advanced cyberwarfare, unmanned and robotic systems, space weapons, third countries' nuclear arsenals, vulnerabilities in command and control, terrorist hacking etc. The opportunities for nuclear risk reduction today seem to be far apart. President Donald Trump has threatened to "outspend and out-innovate" any competitor in an arms race.
China and Russia have organized extensive international cooperation networks worldwide, thus trying to contain and reduce the US influence in world affairs. This work seems to be achieved some apparent results in Eurasia, Middle East and Africa.
Simultaneously, the US is persistently trying to mobilize all its foreign partners to contain Russia and China. It does not conceal the desire to sow discord between Moscow and Beijing and undermine multilateral alliances and regional integration projects in Eurasia and Asia-Pacific that are being implemented without its oversight.
On the other hand, it seems that the more aggressive the US foreign policy becomes, the more it reveals its tactical and strategic limits, which in turn only serves to accelerate its loss of hegemony.
The actions of US Presidents George W. Bush, Obama and Trump have served to accelerate the world's transition away from a unipolar world to a multipolar direction or to something else. As Trump follows in the steps of his predecessors by being overaggressive towards nearly all countries, he only serves to weaken the US global position and strengthen that of his opponents.
At the end of the nineteenth century, a British Lord Palmerston stated that
"England has no eternal friends, England has no perpetual enemies, England has only eternal and perpetual interests."
Palmerston was saying that national interests should drive the relationships with foreigners. A nation will have amicable relations most of the time with some countries and difficult relations with some others but the bottom line should always be what is beneficial for one's own country and people.
If Palmerston were alive today and observing the relationship of the United States of America with the rest of the world, he might well find Washington to be an exception to his rule. Sanctioning the majority of the humanity, the US has been adept at turning adversaries into enemies and disappointing friends and by belief that doing so will somehow bring democracy and freedom to all.
Europe and great powers
The EU has not been in the analyses of this website. The disintegration trends and fragmentation among EU-family are strong and growing so that it is very difficult to see any "great power role" played by EU in the short or mid-term (Covid-19, Union's economic, financial and structural problems, Brexit, domestic turmoils in France, Spain, Greece, Italy, political disputes with Poland, Hungary, domestic political disputes in Germany, refugee and migration problems, populist and separatist movements etc.).
Besides, the EU lacks of the European independent military force. So far, the majority of EU members have been in the structure of NATO, which is fully led by the US military leadership and fully dependent on the US military force. NATO's European military forces are primarily in a servant-relation to the US masters, perhaps except the British armed force, which partly holds its own independent capability to project power offshore as well as in some extent with France's military force. All others European national military forces are more servants to their master. The present Turkey, under presidency of Erdogan, is a very exceptional and particular case, on its own.
While the US and EU officials continue to claim that the US-Europe alliance /trans-Atlantic relations are functioning as usual, the fact is that the post-World War II arrangement is slowly falling apart. This was pretty obvious at the latest Munich security conference in early 2020.
The US officials have been warning the EU on "too close relations" with China and Russia, in other words the division rests significantly on how the EU should handle China and Russia. "We cannot be the United States' 'junior partner," said Macron, citing recent failures in the West's policy of defiance. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas echoed the sentiment, warning that China and Russia were ascendant in a new world order where the United States is taking a more confrontational role.
Ukrainian crisis is today the only European open armed conflict case and taking into account the domestic difficulties and deteriorating situation in Ukraine as well as the uncertain EU position, the case will be open and unsettled for far in the future.
Asia – Pacific area
The two worst discomfort points in China – the US relationship are Taiwan and South China Sea, where strategic military analysts worldwide have made various scenarios for future incidents and even war potential. Both cases are especially sensitive and essential to China and geopolitically vital near-regions as well but not vitally important to the US. However, the US resumes the arms sales to Taiwan and supports its military preparedness and maintains "freedom of navigation" in South China Sea and Taiwan Straits for political reasons. The trade war situation between these countries will continue quite far in the future due to many fundamental "competition factors" in their bilateral relations.
South China Sea – what for to dispute – in nut shell
Sovereignty over two largely uninhabited island chains, the Paracels and the Spratlys, is disputed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Malaysia
China claims the largest portion of territory, saying its rights go back centuries – in 1947 it issued a map detailing its claims
Nowadays main disputes between China and the US with "freedom of navigation"
The area is a major shipping route, a rich fishing ground and is thought to have abundant oil and gas reserves as well as valuable minerals
In early 2020, The United States announced intentions to deploy new units of ground forces on the Pacific Islands to level out the capabilities of the armies of Russia and China. According to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, special units of the US Army deployed on the islands east off Taiwan and the Philippines will conduct cyberattacks, information warfare and use hypersonic and other high-precision weapons against naval and ground targets to clear the way for the US Navy and Air Force in the event of conflict. China earlier warned of a possibility to use anti-ship missiles if US carrier groups crossed the first and the second chain of islands stretching to Guam, Kalimantan and New Guinea. Yet, McCarthy believes, the appearance of new American units on those islands will change the balance of power, because new units of the ground forces would "punch a hole" in China's defenses.
McCarthy's recent statements come in line with the plans of the Pentagon chief Mark Esper to redeploy forces to the Pacific Ocean from Europe, Africa and the Middle East to strengthen the US military capabilities in confrontation with China and Russia. In October of 2019, it became known that Washington was conducting negotiations with Tokyo about the deployment of new medium-range missiles in Japan.
North Korea resumes missile tests and this problem case will be open at least till the date when new American President starts in early 2021. The détente between North and South Korea is moved again far to the future. The Philippines, the long-term loyal US partner, is making distance with the US, in the middle of growing discomfort between the presidents of the countries. Japan is also "leach-slipping" with the US and aiming at greater military force in the region, while Abe's government is trying to change the status and paragraphs of the defense forces in the Japanese constitution.
Japanese-Russian peace negotiations regarding Kurils have been failed so far but the bilateral trade is booming. Sino-Japanese relations are still stressed with the hard history but the trade and economic relations are booming. However, China, Japan and South Korea have now strengthening mutual relations in trilateral summit in late 2019, by which China is aiming at closer bonds weaken influence of Washington in Northeast Asia.
The relationship of old allies, the US and South Korea, got an extra stress in late 2019 when negotiations between the US and South Korea on cost-sharing of the US military presence ended in failure and there were no more talks scheduled before the existing deal expires on December 31. President Trump's last-minute demands for a massive increase turned be a huge mistake, as South Korea was already paying more than most nations do for US troops, and had agreed to a more modest increase. Getting from $800 million per year to around $1 billion per year was one thing, but Trump's demand for $5 billion per year angered many in South Korea. The final settlement is still open.
India is trying to maintain neutrality and good relations both with the US and Russia, Prime Minister Modi trying to balance with conflicting interests. Relations with China are slowly becoming more pragmatic and businesslike. Russia has been active in Asia during last five years. President Putin had a large Asian tour in 2018 indicating that Russian pivot has moved to Asia.
Central Asia, "Chinese Juggernaut", BRI and "Russian Grandeur", Greater Eurasian Partnership
China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the largest undertaking in the country's modern history connecting 65 countries and costing worth of over $1 trillion. First proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the initiative would develop and construct a vast network of railroads and shipping lanes between China and 65 countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Both Iran and Russia are fighting US sanctions. Despite historical frictions, Iran and Russia are getting closer in their business and political relations. Tehran provides crucial strategic depth to Moscow's Southwest Asia presence and Moscow unequivocally supports the JCPOA. Iran will become a formal member of the Russia-led Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) before the end of 2019 and with solid Russian backing Iran will be accepted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) by 2019.
Two great initiatives, China's BRI and Russia's Great Eurasian Partnership are "walking hand in hand" in Central Asian Region, covering step-by-step more countries and regions and including more economic and political activities. The pairing of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Russia's supported Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in recent years has turned into an important part of the whole complex of Russia-China interaction.
Both Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have openly discussed the possibility of uniting Eurasia and developing something wholly new entity, known as the Great Eurasian Partnership. This concept brings together the members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and ASEAN as a huge economic bloc where China and Russia may play as leading powers in geopolitical and military matters as well.
Prominent American foreign policy expert and decision maker, Zbigniew Brzezinski, said that having lost the competition in Central Asia, means losing the competition of world power. Now it seems that such a destiny is facing the US. China and Russia are playing skillfully together realizing their common interests in the region. The future great power quadrate in Eurasia: Russia – India – China – Pakistan, all nuclear powers have already entered in multidimensional and complex cooperative network and the US is slowly pushed aside.
Russia-China strategic partnership is the backbone of all this Eurasian process. Beijing defines it as rolling towards a "new era" that implies strategic long-term planning with the key date being 2050, the centennial of New China. Beijing expects to have fully woven a new, multipolar paradigm of sovereign nations/partners across Eurasia and beyond.
China's assessment is that the result seems to be that after five centuries of Western domination which, incidentally, led to the decline of the Ancient Silk Roads – "the Heartland is back with a bang", asserting its preeminence.
This Sino-Russian apparatus proceeds smoothly in complex geopolitical issues over the whole Eurasian chessboard covering MENA region as well. In summer2019, Iran-Iraq-Syria trilaterally established discussions of transport corridor and gas pipeline as part of a wider plan for reviving the new Silk Road where Iran is a key node of BRI. China will be heavily involved in the rebuilding of Syria and Beijing-Baghdad signed multiple deals, especially major oil deal and set up an Iraqi-Chinese Reconstruction Fund.
What is ultimately at stake is a massive geo-economic prize: "geo-economic and geopolitical highway" from the Eastern Mediterranean Latakia/Syria, via Iraq – Iran- Central Asia-China connection, taking along Pakistan and India, all the way to the Pacific.
American viewpoint
A quick look at the map reveals the "secret" of the US refusing to pack up and leave Iraq, as demanded by the Iraqi Parliament and Prime Minister, to prevent the emergence of this highway by any means necessary. This explains also the US staying in Syria and in Afghanistan as well as the recent US efforts to deepen cooperation with India. The Russia-China-Iran joint naval exercise in late December 2019 can be seen now in this light.
A devastating investigative report was published in the Washington Post on December 9th 2019. Dubbed the "Afghanistan Papers" the report relied on thousands of documents to similarly expose how the US government at the presidential level across three administrations, acting in collaboration with the military brass and civilian bureaucracy, deliberately and systematically lied repeatedly to the public and media about the situation in Afghanistan. Officials from the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations have all surged additional troops into Afghanistan while also regularly overstating the "success" that the US was attaining in stabilizing and democratizing the country. While they were lying, the senior officers and government officials understood clearly that the war was, in fact, unwinnable. The story should have been featured all across the US but the mainstream media was largely unresponsive, preferring to cover the impeachment saga.
The MENA region
Political tectonics are now moving fast in the Middle East and North Africa. The assassination of Iranian General Soleimani, in January 2020, upon the order of the President of the United States on the territory of another sovereign state once again undermined the legal foundations of the entire system of international relations. It is very clear that the situation in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf has become even more tense and unpredictable.
The oil industry sources state that Russia and China are quietly preparing the ground to relaunch the Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline from Iran's huge Persian Gulf South Pars gas field it shares with Qatar. A US-backed proxy war began against Syria's Bashar al-Assad in 2011 just after he signed a deal with Iran and Iraq to build the pipeline, rejecting an earlier Qatar proposal for an alternative route. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar poured billions of covert funds to finance different militia groups such in a vain effort to topple Assad.
Beijing is looking at its prospects, along with Russia to replace the domination of Iraqi politics that Washington has held since its 2003 war. In October 2019, just after Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi's successful Beijing talks, Iraq started exporting 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to China as part of the 20-year oil-for-infrastructure deal agreed between the two countries. This Iraq-China oil deal has caused a deteriorating dispute between Iraq and the US.
New cooperative constellations are emerging around two leading opponents Iran – Saudi Arabia, where Russia is supporting Iran and the US supporting SA, all other Arabic countries and Israel are looking and seeking their positions in the new setting. Iran has managed to develop domestically (and with Russian technical support) a powerful missile offensive and defensive capacity and capability as well as a capable navy, which have enabled to Iran a robust military position in the region.
Russia's role in the Middle East has strengthened significantly during last five years, partly due to Russia's decisive role in Syrian war, partly skillful and capable relations policy and robust management in energy sector. So far, China has kept lower profile but is looking carefully at opening possibilities, especially in the context of BRI. The joint naval tripartite drills of Iran, Russia and China in December 2019 in Persian Gulf, is an interesting indication of new political-military change both in the regional power balance and in the great power triangle game. The position of the US has become a target of increasing counter-acts by various actors and the US influence has been declining both politically and militarily in the whole area.
More new and dangerous dimensions have emerged in Libya's collapsed state case, where "new Ottoman" Turkey and new coalition players are taking shape: Russia, Egypt, Libya's LNA (marshal Haftar) and others.
In addition to this, oil and natural gas deposits in Eastern Mediterranian area will make the situation even more complex.
More analyses on this topic in coming blogs.


COUN7001, COUN7002, COUN7005, COUN7006, COUN7012, COUN7014, COUN7016, SWSP7267. Students undertake COUN7020 during their final year of study.
Journal, Presentation, Portfolio, Project Plan, Project Report. Please note that supplementary assessment on the practical component of this course is not available to students.
Students will gain in-depth supervised practice experience in an agency setting, either government or non-government. In the practicum, students will have the opportunity to apply counselling theory, knowledge and skills with clients. To pass this course, students must demonstrate competency in counselling within a range of presenting issues and demonstrate critical reflection on knowledge of theory and issues related to counselling practice and supervision. Students are to contact the Field Education Unit (fielded@uq.edu.au) for a pre-placement interview in October of the preceding year for semester 1 commencement and April of the same year for semester 2 commencement. Students undertake COUN7020 as a year long course in their final year of study.


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Tag: summer fun
On February 22, 2016 February 21, 2016 By kjw616In Miscellaneous Mom AnticsLeave a comment
Growing up, Labor Day signified several things: the end of summer, the town firemen's parade and fair, and a telethon hosted by a comedian named Jerry Lewis, which raised money for muscular dystrophy. For a twenty-one hour period, you could turn on the television to watch a plethora of comedians, singers, and dancers entertaining the audience while the show's viewers called in their donations. Celebrities from Frank Sinatra to Carrie Underwood appeared on the show, which ended its run in 2010.
I am sure that by now you are wondering what has caused me to write about this particular event. What could possibly be the relevance to my life? It probably sounds like I have really meandered way off the path of our family story. Am I losing it or grabbing at straws because I am running out of material?
Not so fast. I am not desperate for material yet. I am going to tell you a story I am positive is new to all of you. In addition to raising money via this annual telethon, Jerry Lewis also called on kids throughout America to raise money for this disease via backyard carnivals. We had one at our house.
While I cannot remember all the details due to my advanced age, I can recall enough so that I can paint you a picture of the event. Hopefully, with some help from my siblings or my friend, Karen, I will be able to fill in the blanks later.
I know I sent away to Jerry for a carnival packet, which included suggestions for games, tickets, and signs to display around the neighborhood. We had a fortune telling booth, which we created by putting up a sheet over the slide of the swing set. One of us was the gypsy, who dressed up in some sort of costume which was comprised of a cloth head covering and an old dress belonging to Grandma. We invented stories to predict the future of our young customers.
In the sandbox we placed dishes, which was similar to the nickel toss at the firemen's fair. The idea was to stand at the edge of the sandbox and try to gently, but with great accuracy, throw a coin so that it would stay on one of the plates. We also had a milk bottle toss, which involved dropping a clothes pin into a milk bottle.
Of course we had refreshments, which may have been nothing more than some lemonade. So we put up our signs, and the kids from the block beyond Wootton Street came. They spent their pennies and nickels on our games and drinks, and at the end of the carnival, Grandma sent our measly profit back to Jerry Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy fund. It was not a waste of our time at all because we had fun planning it, a great time that day, and when it was over, we felt we had helped the cause just a bit.
The Summer of Awesome-2000
On January 13, 2016 January 12, 2016 By kjw616In Children2 Comments
The summer of Y2K was extremely fun-filled, according to Casey's "Summer Fun" assignment for her sixth grade English class. I am not going to go into the panic that the world was feeling because of the wacko fears that something horrific would happen or that the world would end. We all know that, unless you don't because you are reading this many years in the future and were not born yet.
In June we went to Houston for Aunt Linda's wedding. Poor Jamie! She had to spend her thirteenth birthday on an airplane, and we all know about Jamie's paranoia about air travel. But I tried to ease her anxieties by bringing along mommy's cupcakes and some decorations so we could all celebrate at thirty thousand feet. This turned out to be good for me as well because I shared our goodies with the flight attendants, who in turn, gave me a free drink.
Aunt Linda announced Jamie's birthday to all her guests, so she could bask in the glory of her temporary family fame. We swooped in for the wedding, and since she and Phil were leaving on a cruise, we did not stay in Houston.
We did quite the tour of Florida after Texas, first stopping at the home of our old friends from Yorktown Heights, New York, who had relocated to Naples. Next, we visited Dad's friend, Jerry in Tampa, where we went to a place called Adventure Island. You all (including Daddy) enjoyed the go carts, video games, and mini-golf.
How could we go to the Sunshine State without a stop at Disney World? We drove there from Tampa and stayed at Port Orleans. It all sounded so good during the planning stages, but Disney World Independence Day 2000 was a madhouse. The lines were ridiculous, and even the fast track tickets resulted in long waits.
The 4th of July Fireworks from Epcot were memorable, and so was the very long journey back to our hotel. The crowds were so unpleasant that none of you wanted to return for one more day at one of the most fun places on the planet.
In July, I took Jamie, Casey and Carly to Madison Square Garden to see NSYNC. What an amazing mom I am! I really do not enjoy going to concerts with young teenage girls. That is when I developed my concert earplugs, which made me friends with all the other moms surrounding me. Concert earplugs are constructed with wadded-up tissues, which are carefully inserted in one's ear. They are quite effective. I used them for NSYNC, O-TOWN, an American Idol Concert in Charlotte, and a recent football game here in Columbia where I had a shrieker from Florida sitting behind us.
The following week, I also took the three of you to Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags with Aunt El and the kids. You enjoyed the water rides. Was there a lazy river for wimpy me?
Before that summer came to a close, Dad and I took you to Liberty Science Center. Apparently there was a roller coaster exhibit. As the family chicken, that is about as close to a roller coaster that I would go.
Holy Cow! Was I awesome! I also took you all into New York City to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We had a very New York lunch—hotdogs on the steps of the museum.
Sadly, the summer had to end. That meant purchasing your school supplies and clothes. That was the infamous trip to Willowbrook Mall. You know the trip. That was probably the birth of Jamie's insanity with celebrities. We were in the dressing room trying on clothes. It was a coed room as you all know. Suddenly, from the dressing room next to us came some music. It was the new boy band O-Town, doing their preconcert shopping. I searched in my purse and found a scrap of paper—the infamous autograph paper which still stands framed today.
Can you girls ever compete with me??
Girls at Liberty Park- Summer 2000
O-Town Autograph 2000 Willowbrook Mall
On December 9, 2015 December 8, 2015 By kjw616In Miscellaneous Mom Antics2 Comments
I liked to climb trees. There was this great big maple tree located in the yard of our neighbor Mr. Shelton. Its branches were situated high enough to be impossible for my younger siblings to climb but low enough for me. My friend Karen and I spent many hours after school hanging out in our hideaway, chatting and telling each other our fourth grade secrets. The worst revelation was that we liked the same boy, and then to make matters even more devasting, he liked Karen and would walk her home from school. This was particularly distressful because she and I walked to school together, so I had to watch the romance unfold before my eyes every day.
But back to the tree. I cannot imagine our tree-climbing antics ever occurring in today's world because of the fear of lawsuits. Mr. Shelton had no children and I do not ever recall having a single conversation with him. I just remember sneaking into his yard to pick his oh so delicious blackberries and climbing his tree when he was not at home. If we fell, our parents would never have considered suing him despite the fact that Grandpa loved to pick up the phone to complain about something. Back then, you never saw commercials on television encouraging you to call your neighborhood lawyer like you do today. My favorite here in Columbia has the catchy slogan, "Don't scream. Call Akim!" (pronounced Ah-Keem)
Several years later Grandpa built a treehouse. It was not really a house. A better description would be a "tree platform." One year I spent the summer up in the treehouse trying to build up my frequent reader points at the local library starting with authors whose names began with the letter "A" and trying to see how many books I could read before Labor Day. That was the year I read "Wuthering Heights" and "Jane Eyre," (by two of the Bronte sisters), but got slowed down in reaching the end of the alphabet by the discovery of the Agatha Christie mysteries. (She wrote eighty-two!)
I survived the summer of the tree platform, but I think Uncle Mart may have visited the hospital for a stitch or two after taking a dive from it. It's what he did.
The following summer we got a pool. It was only eighteen feet in diameter, but to us, it was so big and luxurious. It was like having our own private swimming hole in the backyard. We were the luckiest family in town.
Sea Legs
On September 7, 2015 September 6, 2015 By kjw616In BeginningsLeave a comment
I was surprised to learn that my first sea excursion was not the cruise around the Hawaiian Islands with Dad shortly after we were married. Instead, it was on a ferry to a small island off the coast of Rhode Island one month after my second birthday. I got seasick both coming and going to Block Island. Fortunately, only Kelly has been plagued with that curse.
From what Grandma has told me, the accommodations were anything but luxurious, but at the incredibly cute age of two, I didn't care and sadly, I have no memory of the trip. We went with friends of Grandpa, and the biggest excitement during the entire week was created when a man who did the NBC 11:00 nightly news appeared on our side of the island. One of the friends traveling with us was so excited that she had him autograph her cigarette. His name was John K.M. McCaffrey.
It was not a good time to vacation on the island, since we were all awoken several times by Coast Guard lights looking for survivors of three plane crashes and one drowning.
It was a summer of much rain in New England. Grandma and Grandpa dodged a bullet by traveling then, because just three weeks earlier, the island was hit by the first hurricane of the season. Still, there was enough rain to cause one problem for us as we were leaving the island. According to my autobiography, written when I was twelve, "It had rained the night before and the small boat kept filling up. My mother had to bail with a tin can while holding me. We just reached the ship on time. They lifted us up on the gangplank and we sailed into the sunset."
Grandma was twenty-eight on that vacation; Grandpa thirty-eight. They were so young. Can you just imagine that scene?
Me, with Grandpa- July 1957 on ferry to Block Island, RI
The Good Old Summertime
On September 4, 2015 August 8, 2017 By kjw616In Cornelia Street Memories3 Comments
I grew up in a small town where everyone was either related to you or knew your mother or your grandmother. It was like the television show Cheers, but on a much grander scale. This gave all the parents a sense of security.
We could walk everywhere or easily ride our bikes from one end of town to the other with relative safety because sidewalks were on nearly every street. I don't remember hearing about crime and I knew no one who owned a gun. It was a happy, carefree place to grow-up. Boonton, USA.
During the summer, you didn't whine about having nothing to do. We played with our friends all day until we were called home for supper. We didn't eat dinner growing up; it was always supper. There was hopscotch, jump rope, hide-and-seek, SPUD, bikes, the park, and our pool. There were no computers, video games, or infinite television on demand. We had to create our own fun.
Our town had a summer school program. It was located in "The Flats" at John Hill School, which was my school for seventh and eighth grade. I remember playing Chinese checkers, making plastic lanyard key chains, and creating a craft in wood shop, which was for boys and girls alike.
The most popular project was the duck. Everyone had one. We'd spend days sanding the little devil until she was silky smooth around the edges and then we would decorate it, bring it home, and hammer it into the yard. It looked like this:
Wooden Duck- Courtesy of my cousin Patrick Cooney.
We looked forward to Fridays when we would participate in themed competitions such as "hat day." Everyone would wear a hat and be judged for the silliest hat, or prettiest hat, or smallest hat.
When we wanted to go on an adventure, we would hop on our bikes and head to the Dairy Queen in Denville. I would order either a vanilla cone with sprinkles or a pineapple blizzard, which was a very thick pineapple-flavored milk shake. There was something very special about a Dairy Queen treat, which tasted even more delicious after working so hard to get there.
The distance to the Dairy Queen was very long. I know that sometimes childhood memories distort reality, but when I mapped the route today, I was shocked to learn that my imagination was accurate. It was a round trip of over ten miles. There is no way I would have allowed any of you to take such a long ride at what I know was a fairly young age. But the times were different, the roads were less traveled, and nothing ever happened to anyone in my town back then.
Those summers were so long, or that's how it seemed to all of us. As the days grew shorter and the nights cooler, we sadly realized the end of our carefree days were coming to a close. Grandma took us shopping for our school clothes, and we anxiously awaited the Labor Day Parade, Firemen's Fair, and fireworks. We'd check out the rides, have some cotton candy, and meet the friends we hadn't seen since June.
Those days are long gone for me, but as Labor Day approaches each year, I know the tradition of the annual Labor Day celebration continues in my hometown. Maybe someday I will go again.
Summer Hunting
On August 17, 2015 August 16, 2015 By kjw616In Cornelia Street MemoriesLeave a comment
When I planted the lantana under the palm trees in our yard, I never realized that those bright yellow flowering plants, which grow like weeds but look like sunshine on my lawn, would also prove to be so entertaining. It turns out they are butterfly magnets—a discovery which Bryce just made this past week. We spent over an hour in the hot Carolina sunshine chasing two butterflies around and around the tree, then pausing to watch it disappear into the back yard. Naturally, we had to follow it. Bryce did not grow tired nor did he notice the sweat dripping from his brow. He was having too much fun.
It reminded me of my childhood chasing lightning bugs on a warm summer evening, attempting to trap them in a jar so we could see what they looked like during the day. (They were usually dead by morning!) We never learned that lesson because we would continue the chase the next night and never consider not coaxing them into our jars.
Those were not the only creatures we would hunt, but those intriguing little fireflies were the only ones we could successfully trap. Birds were another source of entertainment for us. We had two methods to ambush our feathered friends, both courtesy of Grandpa (although my cousin Tricia also recalls being taught this by our grandfather. Maybe Grandpa learned it from Papa.)
The first approach was quite simple and required no props except a shaker of salt. It was so easy, was never successful, and was therefore sheer genius on Grandpa's part, because it kept us happily entertained for hours.
As we grew older and wiser and finally realized how much time we had invested in a project with no rewards, we sought Grandpa's advice on a plan to increase our odds at succeeding. The second scheme to a possible victorious hunt required constructing a trap consisting of a shoebox and some long string attached to a stick. What we did was prop the box up with the stick, insert some bread inside with a trail of crumbs leading up to it, and then wait very quietly for a bird to take the bait. We truly believed that a bird would follow the trail into the box, then curiously hop inside to investigate and voila, we would tug on the string to catch our prey.
Similar to hunting with the salt shaker, we spent many hours in the backyard, this time lying on our bellies trying method #2, which of course, never succeeded. But we were patient and we were believers. Looking back, it seemed like we were really naïve kids, but you know, it was just part of our lazy days of summer and kept us busy and out of Grandma's hair!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Clinton's handling of emails, protect our forests
Protect our forests
In a recent guest editorial, Rep. Ryan Zinke likened himself to President Theodore Roosevelt. He proclaimed his commitment to conservation and his opposition to efforts to transfer national forest land to the states. Now he has joined his Republican colleagues in the latest of the never-ending schemes to transfer control of public land to private hands by voting in support of the "Self-Sufficient Community Lands Act."
If passed, the bill would strip the authority of the U.S. Forest Service to manage national forests and transfer management to a state-appointed "advisory committee" consisting of at least one local official, one member of the timber products industry, one rancher holding federal grazing rights and one member representing recreational users. Environmental laws meant to protect clean water, wildlife habitat and recreation would no longer apply.
There's no question that balancing the many varied and conflicting uses on national forest land is extremely difficult. But national forest land is the heritage of all Montanans and all Americans. Managing the forest by a few select interest groups that stand to profit from their own decisions would destroy that balance.
It's worth remembering that most of the nation's national forests were created by Roosevelt. If Zinke really wants to follow in the footsteps of a giant like Teddy Roosevelt, he should start by supporting and adequately funding national forests — not trying to dismantle them.
— Dan Bennett,
Declining country
Grandpa always said, "I'd rather die standing up for the 'America' established by our founding fathers than drooling down the front of my shirt in a rest home."
On Sept. 17, 1787, the day our Constitution was signed, Ben Franklin asked James Wilson to read Franklin's words. Franklin was too ill to take the floor himself. James Madison recorded these words in his notes on the convention, and I quote only the second paragraph of the words recorded. "In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to the Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such: because I think a general government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and I believe further that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other."
At 9 a.m., Montana time, on July 5, most news channels covered a press conference called by FBI Director James Comey. He announced no criminal charges would be brought against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for doing all of her government business on an unsecured, unapproved e-mail server. Donald Trump will need to change his "crooked Hillary" to "incompetent Hillary."
Have the American people become so corrupted "as to need a despotic government, being incapable of any other?"
— Britt B. Davis,
Sand Coulee


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"Young American" by Photographer Marie Tomanova
Where Should Art History Go in the Future? As Survey Courses Change, the Past Evolves
Paper Wildlife Sculptures by Artist Diana Beltrán Herrera Document Nature's Most Striking Details
All images © Diana Beltrán Herrera, shared with permission
In 2012, Bristol-based artist Diana Beltrán Herrera (previously) began sculpting impeccably layered paper birds and other wildlife as a way to record her surroundings. Her lifelike pieces continuously have captured nature's finely detailed and minuscule elements, like the fibrous texture of feathers and the veins running through leaves.
Today, the artist has expanded the practice to include exotic species and environments she's never seen up close, developing her paper techniques to express the more nuanced details of the shapes and textures she studies in biology books. Now focusing on the structural elements of fungi, fruit, and florals, Beltrán Herrera shares with Colossal:
Paper as a medium for documentation allows me to register and create notions and ideas of subjects that I have not experienced in real life but that I can experience when a sculpture is completed. I like this approach because it is not harmful, and through my work, I can show and tell my viewers about the things I have been learning, of the importance of nature just by researching and making it myself.
Much of her work centers on conservation efforts and environmental justice. For example, a recent commission by Greenpeace UK bolstered the organization's Plastic Free Rivers campaign. " I am constantly looking for more subjects that are relevant to the times we are living in, so that through my work I can communicate important information that can educate or just make things more visible. The approach is very (graphic) and visual, which helps to deliver a message," she says.
Beltrán Herrera's upcoming projects include a commission for a coral sculpture, in addition to plans to launch a studio with her brother by the end of 2020. Her hope is to merge graphic and digital design with her paper pieces, potentially adding in animation, as well. Ultimately, her goal is to dive into larger projects. "I don't see my work as something I want to know how to make and stay safe, but as a challenge, that will always allow me to wonder how to execute and create things that were never made with paper," she says.
To see more of Beltrán Herrera's creative process and follow her future pieces, head to Behance and Instagram.
This entry was posted in Art and tagged Animation, art, art news, art review, artist, birds, books, bqxpd, bqxpd art, bqxpd art news, bqxpd art roundup, butterflies, Colossal, Conservation, coral, Design, digital, fruit, fungi, illustration, leaves, Nature, paper, sculpture, uk, wildlife by blurg. Bookmark the permalink.
Carl Solway, Dealer Who Welcomed the Avant-Garde in Cincinnati, Is Dead at 85
Our Last, Our Very Last, Picks of This Year's Amazon Prime Day Deals
ICA London Names Bengi Ünsal as New Director Amid 'Rebalancing of Multidisciplinary Program'


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Dague was one of a dozen s built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Completed in 1912, the ship was initially assigned to the 1st Naval Army () in the Mediterranean Sea. During the First World War, she escorted the battle fleet during the Battle of Antivari off the coast of Montenegro in August 1914 and escorted multiple convoys to Montenegro over the next six months. Dague struck a mine in Antivari harbor in February 1915 and sank with the loss of 38 crewmen.

Design and description

The Boucliers were the first class of destroyers designed in response to a new doctrine for their use. Nearly double the size of previous classes and more powerfully armed, they were built to a general specification and each shipyard was allowed to determine the best way to meet that specification. Dague and her sister  were built by the same shipyard and had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draft of . Dague displaced slightly less than her sister at  at normal load. Their crew numbered 4 officers and 77–84 men.

The sisters were powered by a pair of Breguet steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four du Temple boilers. The engines were designed to produce  which was intended to give the ships a speed of . During her sea trials, Dague reached a speed of . The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of  at cruising speeds of .

The primary armament of the Bouclier-class ships consisted of two  Modèle 1893 guns in single mounts, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and four  Modèle 1902 guns distributed amidships. They were also fitted with two twin mounts for  torpedo tubes amidships, one on each broadside.

Construction and career
Dague was ordered on 26 August 1908 as part of the 1908 naval program from C.A. Gironde. She was laid down at the company's shipyard at Lormont near Bordeaux on the Gironde estuary in 1910. The ship was launched on 27 June 1911 and began her sea trials on 20 February 1912. Dague was commissioned on 20 May 1912 and was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla () of the 1st Naval Army in the Mediterranean. Shortly after the start of the First World War, the flotilla escorted the battle fleet during the Battle of Antivari on 16 August and when they bombarded the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro, Montenegro, on 1 September. Four days later, the fleet covered the evacuation of Danilo, Crown Prince of Montenegro, to the Greek island of Corfu. The flotilla escorted multiple small convoys loaded with supplies and equipment to Antivari (now known as Bar), Montenegro, beginning in October and lasting for the rest of the year, always covered by the larger ships of the Naval Army in futile attempts to lure the Austro-Hungarian fleet into battle. Amidst these missions, the 1st and 6th Flotillas were led by the  as they conducted a sweep south of Cattaro on the night of 10/11 November in an unsuccessful search for Austro-Hungarian destroyers.

The torpedoing of the  on 21 December 1914 caused a change in French tactics as the battleships were too important to risk to submarine attack. Henceforth, only the destroyers would escort the transports, covered by cruisers at a distance of  from the transports. The first convoy of 1915 to Antivari arrived on 11 January and was followed by two others in over the next few weeks. An Austro-Hungarian force of one destroyer and two torpedo boats bombarded Antivari on 14 February and were able to lay some mines in the harbor. That same day Dague ferried General Paul Pau to Athens, Greece, for consultations with the Greek government. Dague and her sister  were the close escort for the two transports of the next convoy that arrived on 23 February. The following evening, Dague was struck by a drifting mine in the harbor while at anchor and broke in half with the loss of 38 crewmen. The ship was struck from the navy list on 25 February.

The ship's wreck lay undisturbed until expansion of the harbor facilities in 1973 forced its removal. The wreck was cut into five pieces and moved to its current location, except for the stern. The bow has been buried by more recent construction, but the middle three sections are diveable at a depth of .

References

Bibliography

Bouclier-class destroyers
Ships built in France
1911 ships
Maritime incidents in 1915
Ships sunk by mines
World War I shipwrecks in the Adriatic Sea

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Protect public service organisations from partisan political influences — Oppong-Fosu Featured
A former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Akwasi Oppong-Fosu, has enjoined the Public Services Commission (PSC) to protect public service organisations from partisan political influences.
He said it was strange for the PSC to remain silent in the midst of the "politics of identity and difference" that was creeping into the public and civil service.
Speaking at the third P.V. Obeng Memorial Lectures in Tema, Mr Oppong-Fosu indicated that the creeping politicisation tended to undermine the professional conduct and ethics of the organisations and was also a major threat to democratic development and sustainable national development.
The memorial lectures was attended by politicians, some alumni of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), family members, among others.
At the time of his death on May 17, 2014, Mr Obeng was the Senior Presidential Advisor in the President Mahama administration.
Mr Oppong-Fosu, who was one of the two major speakers on the occasion, spoke on the topic: "P.V. Obeng, public servant par-excellence."
The other speaker was a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Hanna Tetteh, who spoke on the topic: "P.V. Obeng, the political giant.''
No more trust
Tracing the history of the civil and public service in Ghana, Mr Oppong-Fosu recalled how civil and public sector organisations and the government worked in tandem in the past without any suspicion, which propelled the country to achieve successes but noted, "Today the situation is different."
"And it is all about people seeking to claim some greater edge over others on the basis of the philosophy of difference – the 'we' and 'them'," he told the gathering.
Mr Oppong-Fosu said it was frightening to hear and see political activists chasing officials from their offices while some high-ranking government officials advocated the dismissal of public officials not for acts against the code of ethics of their profession but for working under the previous administration.
In the light of that, he stressed the need for politicians to be circumspect in their utterances and actions with regard to the civil service and public service organisations.
"I have said it on a number of occasions that politicians are akin to the thermometer as public servants are to a thermostat in the laboratory; the thermometer responds to changes in temperature while a thermostat regulates temperature," the former minister stated.
Taking a look at violence and conflicts in parts of the world, the former minister said they were symptoms of the politics of difference.
"With scarce resources, limited opportunities, lack of access, exclusiveness, inequality and isolation; frustrated individuals and groups whose needs are not being met and who cannot predict what the future holds for them are venting their sentiments in various forms," he said.
Instead of giving hope, he noted, leaders were more inclined to exploit people's frustrations and sentiments and rather sowed seeds of suspicion and fear among their followers and incited them to anger and hatred against perceived enemies of their progress.
PV eulogised
Eulogising the late P. V. Obeng for his role in national development, Mr Oppong-Fosu said Ghana's success story could not be complete without mentioning Mr Obeng.


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Coconut palms like these in Islamorada flourish in the tropical climate of the Florida Keys
The Keys were formed near the edge of the Florida Platform
Florida Straits
24°40′01″N 81°32′39″W / 24.66694°N 81.54417°W / 24.66694; -81.54417Coordinates: 24°40′01″N 81°32′39″W / 24.66694°N 81.54417°W / 24.66694; -81.54417
Satellite image of the Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and defining one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern part of Key West is just 90 miles (140 km) from Cuba. The Florida Keys are between about 24.3 and 25.5 degrees North latitude.
More than 95 percent of the land area lies in Monroe County, but a small portion extends northeast into Miami-Dade County, such as Totten Key. The total land area is 137.3 square miles (356 km2). As of the 2010 census the population was 73,090 with an average density of 532.34 per square mile (205.54/km2),[1] although much of the population is concentrated in a few areas of much higher density, such as the city of Key West, which has 32% of the entire population of the Keys. The US Census population estimate for 2014 is 77,136.
The city of Key West is the county seat of Monroe County. The county consists of a section on the mainland which is almost entirely in Everglades National Park, and the Keys islands from Key Largo to the Dry Tortugas.
Lower Matecumbe Key to Key Largo, captured by Sentinel-2 satellite
Key West to Big Pine Key, seen from Sentinel-2 satellite
The Keys were originally inhabited by the Calusa and Tequesta tribes, and were charted by Juan Ponce de León in 1513. De León named the islands Los Martires ("The Martyrs"), as they looked like suffering men from a distance.[2] "Key" is derived from the Spanish word cayo, meaning small island. For many years, Key West was the largest town in Florida, and it grew prosperous on wrecking revenues. The isolated outpost was well located for trade with Cuba and the Bahamas and was on the main trade route from New Orleans. Improved navigation led to fewer shipwrecks, and Key West went into a decline in the late nineteenth century.
Overseas Railway
The Keys were long accessible only by water. This changed with the completion of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railway in the early 1910s. Flagler, a major developer of Florida's Atlantic coast, extended his Florida East Coast Railway down to Key West with an ambitious series of oversea railroad trestles. Three hurricanes disrupted the project in 1906, 1909, and 1910.
1935 Labor Day hurricane
Main article: 1935 Labor Day hurricane
The strongest hurricane to strike the U.S. made landfall near Islamorada in the Upper Keys on Labor Day, Monday, September 2, 1935. Winds were estimated to have gusted to 200 mph (320 km/h), raising a storm surge more than 17.5 feet (5.3 m) above sea level that washed over the islands. More than 400 people were killed, though some estimates place the number of deaths at more than 600.
The Labor Day hurricane was one of only four hurricanes to make landfall at Category 5 strength on the U.S. coast since reliable weather records began (about 1850). The other storms were Hurricane Camille (1969), Hurricane Andrew (1992), and Hurricane Michael (2018).
In 1935, new bridges were under construction to connect a highway through the entire Keys. Hundreds of World War I veterans working on the roadway as part of a government relief program were housed in non-reinforced buildings in three construction camps in the Upper Keys. When the evacuation train failed to reach the camps before the storm, more than 200 veterans perished. Their deaths caused anger and charges of mismanagement that led to a Congressional investigation.
The storm also ended the 23-year run of the Overseas Railway; the damaged tracks were never rebuilt, and the Overseas Highway (U.S. Highway 1) replaced the railroad as the main transportation route from Miami to Key West.[3]
Seven Mile Bridge
One of the longest bridges when it was built, the Seven Mile Bridge connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon in the Middle Keys) to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. The piling-supported concrete bridge is 35,862 ft (10,931 m) or 6.79 miles (10.93 km) long. The current bridge bypasses Pigeon Key, a small island that housed workers building Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway in the 1900s, that the original Seven Mile Bridge crossed. A 2.2-mile (3.5 km) section of the old bridge remains for access to the island, although it was closed to vehicular traffic on March 4, 2008. The aging structure has been deemed unsafe by the Florida Department of Transportation. Costly repairs, estimated to be as much as $34 million, were expected to begin in July 2008. Monroe County was unable to secure a $17 million loan through the state infrastructure bank, delaying work for at least a year. On June 14, 2008, the old bridge section leading to Pigeon Key was closed to fishing as well. While still open to pedestrians—walking, biking and jogging—if the bridge were closed altogether, only a ferry subsidized by FDOT and managed by the county would transport visitors to the island.
Overseas Highway
After the destruction of the Keys railway by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the railroad bridges, including the Seven Mile Bridge, were converted to automobile roadways. This roadway, U.S. Highway 1, became the Overseas Highway that runs from Key Largo south to Key West. Today this highway allows travel through the tropical islands of the Florida Keys and view exotic plants and animals found nowhere else on the US mainland and the largest coral reef chain in the United States.
Cuban exiles
Following the Cuban Revolution, many Cubans emigrated to South Florida. Key West traditionally had strong links with its neighbor ninety miles south by water, and large numbers of Cubans settled there. The Keys still attract Cubans leaving their home country, and stories of "rafters" coming ashore are not uncommon.[4][5][6]
Main article: Conch Republic
In 1982, the United States Border Patrol established a roadblock and inspection points on US Highway 1, stopping all northbound traffic returning to the mainland at Florida City, to search vehicles for illegal drugs and undocumented immigrants. The Key West City Council repeatedly complained about the roadblocks, which were a major inconvenience for travellers, and hurt the Keys' important tourism industry.
After various unsuccessful complaints and attempts to get a legal injunction against the blockade failed in federal court in Miami, on April 23, 1982, Key West mayor Dennis Wardlow and the city council declared the independence of the city of Key West, calling it the "Conch Republic". After one minute of secession, he (as "Prime Minister") surrendered to an officer of the Key West Naval Air Station (NAS), and requested one billion ($1,000,000,000) dollars in "foreign aid".[7]
The stunt succeeded in generating great publicity for the Keys' plight, and the inspection station roadblock was removed. The idea of the Conch Republic has provided a new source of revenue for the Keys by way of tourist keepsake sales, and the Conch Republic has participated in later protests.
The northern and central sections of the Florida Keys are the exposed portions of an ancient coral reef, the Key Largo Limestone. The northernmost island arising from the ancient reef formation is Elliott Key, in Biscayne National Park. North of Elliott Key are several small transitional keys, composed of sand built up around small areas of exposed ancient reef. Further north, Key Biscayne and places north are barrier islands, built up of sand.[8] The islands in the southwestern part of the chain, from Big Pine Key to the Marquesas Keys, are exposed areas of Miami Limestone.[9]
The Florida Keys have taken their present form as the result of the drastic changes in sea level associated with recent glaciations or ice ages. Beginning some 130,000 years ago the Sangamonian Stage raised sea levels about 25 feet (7.6 m) feet above the current level. All of southern Florida was covered by a shallow sea. Several parallel lines of reef formed along the edge of the submerged Florida Platform, stretching south and then west from the present Miami area to what is now the Dry Tortugas. This reef formed the Key Largo Limestone that is exposed on the surface from Soldier Key (midway between Key Biscayne and Elliott Key) to the southeast portion of Big Pine Key and the Newfound Harbor Keys. The types of coral that formed Key Largo Limestone can be identified on the exposed surface of these keys. Minor fluctuations in sea level exposed parts of the reef, subjecting it to erosion. Acidic water, which can result from decaying vegetation, dissolves limestone. Some of the dissolved limestone redeposited as a denser cap rock, which can be seen as outcrops overlying the Key Largo and Miami limestones throughout the Keys. The limestone that eroded from the reef formed oolites in the shallow sea behind the reef, and together with the skeletal remains of bryozoans, formed the Miami Limestone that is the current surface bedrock of the lower Florida peninsula and the lower keys from Big Pine Key to Key West. To the west of Key West the ancient reef is covered by recent calcareous sand. While the islands of the upper and middle keys, consisting of Key Largo Limestone, form a long narrow arc, the islands of the lower keys are perpendicular to the line of that arc. This configuration arose from an ancient tidal-bar system, in which tidal channels cut through a submerged oolitic deposit. The bars lithified into Miami Limestone, and with changes in sea level are presently exposed as the islands, while the channels between the bars now separate the islands.[10]
Just offshore of the Florida Keys along the edge of the Florida Straits is the Florida Reef (also known as the Florida Reef Tract). The Florida Reef extends 270 km from Fowey Rocks just east of Soldier Key to just south of the Marquesas Keys. It is the third-largest barrier reef system in the world.[11]
Royal Poinciana tree in full bloom in the Florida Keys.
The Coconut palm trees are grown all over South Florida.[12]
Sunset near Marathon
The climate and environment of the Florida Keys are closer to that of the Caribbean than the rest of Florida, though unlike the Caribbean's volcanic islands, the Keys were built by plants and animals. The Upper Keys islands are composed of sandy-type accumulations of limestone grains produced by plants and marine organisms. The Lower Keys are the remnants of large coral reefs, which became fossilized and exposed when the sea level dropped.
The natural habitats of the Keys are upland forests, inland wetlands and shoreline zones. Soil ranges from sand to marl to rich, decomposed leaf litter. In some places, "caprock" (the eroded surface of coral formations) covers the ground. Rain falling through leaf debris becomes acidic and dissolves holes in the limestone, where soil accumulates and trees root.
A male Key Deer on No Name Key in the lower Keys
The Florida Keys have distinctive plant and animals species, some found nowhere else in the United States, as the Keys define the northern extent of their ranges. The climate also allows many imported plants to thrive. Some exotic species which arrived as landscape plants now invade and threaten natural areas.
The native flora of the Keys is diverse, including members of both temperate families, such as red maple (Acer rubrum), slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa) and oaks (Quercus spp.), growing at the southern end of their ranges, and tropical families, including mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba), stoppers (Eugenia spp.), Jamaican dogwood (Piscidia piscipula), and many others, which grow only in tropical climates. Several types of palms are native to the Florida Keys, including the Florida thatch palm (Thrinax radiata), which grows to its greatest size in Florida on the islands of the Keys.
The Keys are also home to unique animal species, including the American crocodile, Key deer (protected by the National Key Deer Refuge), and the Key Largo woodrat. The Keys is part of the northernmost range of the American crocodile, which is found throughout the Neotropics. The Key Largo Woodrat is found only in the northern part of its namesake island, and is a focus of management activities in Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge. About 70 miles (110 km) west of Key West is Dry Tortugas National Park.
The waters surrounding the Keys are part of a protected area known as the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The climate of the Florida Keys is tropical savanna (Köppen climate classification: Aw).[13] Other than some areas of coastal Miami (Miami Beach), the Florida Keys are the only areas in the continental United States to never report freezing temperatures since settlement. The record low in Key West is 41 °F (5 °C) (in both 1886 and 1981), and low temperatures below 48 °F (9 °C) are rare. Most of the Florida Keys fall into USDA zone 11a to 11b (upper Key Largo is 10b, and Key West is 12a).
There are two main "seasons" in the Florida Keys, a hot and wet season from June through October, and a dry season from November through April, that features little rainfall, sunny skies, and warm breezy conditions. The warm and sunny winter climate, with average highs around 75 °F (24 °C) and lows above 60 °F (16 °C), is the main tourist season in the Florida Keys. Key West is the driest city in Florida, and most of the Florida Keys can become quite dry at the height of the dry season. Some of the more exposed vegetation in the keys is scrub, stunted due to the intense sun, quick draining sandy soil, and arid winter climate.
Climate data for Key West Int'l, Florida (1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1872−present)[b]
Daily mean °F (°C)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)
6.9 4.9 4.8 4.5 7.5 11.2 11.6 14.6 15.8 12.1 6.3 6.4 106.6
Source: NOAA (relative humidity and sun 1961−1990)[14][15][16]
Typical current flows
throughout the Florida Keys
(NOAA June 2010)
The Keys are occasionally threatened by tropical storms and hurricanes, leading to evacuations to the mainland. Hurricane Georges, after destroying much of the housing and infrastructure on many of the Caribbean islands, caused damage and extensive flooding in the Lower Keys in 1998, before making landfall in Mississippi. In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma affected the Keys (although none made a direct hit), causing widespread damage and flooding. The most severe hurricane to hit the area was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, a Category 5 hurricane.
Tropical cyclones present special dangers and challenges to the entire Keys. Because no area of the islands is more than 20 feet (6.1 m) above sea level (and many are only a few feet elevation), and water surrounds the islands, nearly every neighborhood is subject to flooding as well as hurricane winds. In response, many homes in the Keys are built on concrete stilts with the first floor being not legally habitable and enclosed by breakaway walls that are not strongly attached to the rest of the house. Nonetheless, Monroe County, as reported in the Federal Register, has estimated that there are between 8,000 and 12,000 illegal enclosures inhabited by people.[17]
Because of the threat from storm surge, evacuations are routinely ordered when the National Weather Service issues a hurricane watch or warning, and are sometimes ordered for a tropical storm warning. Evacuation of the Keys depends on causeways and the two-lane highway to the mainland. Time estimates for evacuating the entire Keys range from 12 to 24 hours. Evacuation estimates are significant in emergency planning, of course, but also because they are a factor in local and state regulations for controlling development. The building permit allocation was increased in 2005 when local governments reduced estimates for evacuation.
On September 10, 2017, Hurricane Irma made landfall in Cudjoe Key. The storm destroyed an estimated 25% of the houses on the Keys and another 65% suffered major damage.[18] Most residents had evacuated before the storm hit the area. On September 12, parts of the Keys were still inaccessible by causeway and some areas were closed to the public.[19] Governor Rick Scott reported devastation; most areas were without power or water.[20] The damage was the worst in the Lower Keys, though less severe in Key West;[21] parts of the Lower Keys may be uninhabitable for months.[22]
Major islands
Map of the Florida Keys, from the Dry Tortugas to Little Torch Key, showing boundaries of National Marine Sanctuaries
U.S. Highway 1, the "Overseas Highway", runs over most of the inhabited islands of the Florida Keys. The islands are listed in order from southwest to north. Mile markers are listed for keys that the Overseas Highway runs across or near.[23]
Dry Tortugas
Loggerhead Key
Marquesas Keys
Wisteria Island
Key West (MM 0-4)
Fleming Key
Sigsbee Park (off to the north at MM 2¾)
Stock Island (MM 5)
Raccoon Key (off to the north at MM 5¼)
Boca Chica Key (MM 7-8)
Rockland Key (MM 9)
East Rockland Key (MM 9½)
Big Coppitt Key (MM 10)
Geiger Key (off to the south at MM 10¾)
Shark Key (off to the north at MM 11¼)
Saddlebunch Keys (MM 12-16)
Lower Sugarloaf Key (MM 17)
Park Key (MM 18)
Sugarloaf Key (MM 19-20)
Cudjoe Key (MM 21-23)
Knockemdown Key
Summerland Key (MM 24-25)
Ramrod Key (MM 27)
Middle Torch Key, Big Torch Key (off to the north at MM 27¾)
Map of the Florida Keys, from Key West to the Ragged Keys in Biscayne National Park, showing boundaries of National Marine Sanctuaries (overlaps map above from Key West to Little Torch Key)
Little Torch Key (MM 28½)
Big Pine Key (MM 30-32)
No Name Key
Scout Key (MM 34-35), formerly known as West Summerland Key
Bahia Honda Key (MM 37-38)
Ohio Key (MM 38¾), also known as Sunshine Key
Missouri Key (MM 39¼)
Little Duck Key (MM 39¾)
The Seven Mile Bridge (MM 40-46¾) separates the Lower Keys from the Middle Keys.
Pigeon Key (off to the north near MM 45; access is at MM 46¾)
Knights Key (MM 47)
Vaca Key (MM 48-53)
Boot Key (off to the south at MM 48; bridge closed)
Fat Deer Key (MM 53¼-55)
Shelter Key (off to the south at MM 53¾)
Long Point Key (MM 56)
Crawl Key (MM 56½)
Grassy Key (MM 58-60)
(Knights, Vaca, Boot, Long Point, Crawl, and Grassy Keys, as well as most of Fat Deer Key, are incorporated in the city of Marathon.[24] The remaining portion of Fat Deer Key and most of Shelter Key are part of Key Colony Beach.)
Duck Key (MM 61)
Conch Key (MM 62-63)
The Long Key Bridge (MM 63¼-65¼) separates the Middle Keys from the Upper Keys.
Long Key (MM 66-70), formerly known as Rattlesnake Key
Fiesta Key (off to the north at MM 70)
Craig Key (MM 72)
Lower Matecumbe Key (MM 74-77)
Lignumvitae Key
Indian Key
Indian Key Fill (MM 79)
Tea Table (MM 79½)
Upper Matecumbe Key (MM 80-83)
Windley Key (MM 85)
Plantation Key (MM 86-90)
(Lower Matecumbe through Plantation Keys are incorporated as Islamorada, Village of Islands. The "towns" of Key Largo, North Key Largo and Tavernier, all on the island of Key Largo, are not incorporated.)
Key Largo (MM 91-107)
Cross Key (MM 109-112)
All keys north of Broad Creek are in Biscayne National Park and Miami-Dade County. The following are "true" Florida Keys (exposed ancient coral reefs):
Old Rhodes Key
Totten Key
Reid Key
Rubicon Keys
Adams Key
Elliott Key
The following are "transitional keys", made of exposed ancient reef surrounded by sand.
Sands Key
Boca Chita Key
Ragged Keys
Soldier Key
Key Biscayne is not one of the Florida Keys, but the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida.
The Seven Mile Bridge is part of the Overseas Highway.
The main chain of Keys islands can be traveled by motor vehicles on the Overseas Highway, a 127-mile (204 km) section of U.S. 1, which runs from Key West to Fort Kent, Maine in its entirety. The highway was built parallel to the original route of the Overseas Railway, which was not rebuilt following the Labor Day hurricane of 1935. Even before the hurricane, road sections and highway bridges allowed automobile traffic to travel from Miami to Lower Matecumbe Key, where a car ferry connected with another roadway section through the Lower Keys. Following the hurricane, some of the original railway bridges were converted to carry the highway roadbeds. These bridges were used until the 1980s, when new highway bridges were built alongside. Many of the original railroad and highway bridges remain today as pedestrian fishing piers.
The Florida Keys has public bus transportation.
Road hazards
Despite this reconstruction, U.S. 1 was not widened on a large scale, and today most of the route consists of just two lanes. Due to their tropical climate,[25] the Florida Keys attract several hundred thousand tourists annually.[26] While some visitors arrive via Key West International Airport and Florida Keys Marathon Airport in Marathon, cruise ship or ferry from Miami, Fort Myers, or Marco Island, Florida, the vast majority of tourists drive down from the mainland on U.S. 1.[27] This influx of traffic, coupled with the two-lane nature of U.S. 1 through most of its length in the Keys, and the fact that no alternative road routes are available mean that Monroe County has the highest per capita rate of fatal automobile accidents in the state of Florida.[28]
Fishing in the Florida Keys
The major industries are fishing and tourism, including ecotourism, with many visitors scuba diving in the area's protected waters. A ferry takes riders between Key West and Fort Myers, as well as Marco Island due north on the mainland, along the western edge of Florida Bay.[29]
Dark skies recreation
25s long exposure of Milky Way at Scout Key - April 2018
20s long exposure of Bahia Honda State Park Milky Way - October 2016
Middle and Lower Florida Keys are among a few remaining South Florida dark skies locations accessible by car, thanks to their position along the Atlantic Ocean, and therefore with southern skies unobstructed by light pollution associated with urban development.
Scout Key is home to Winter Star Party, a prominent annual amateur astronomy event in the United States, and one of the Top 10 star parties in the world according to BBC Sky at Night. It is an international gathering that attracts 500+ people each year who enjoy stargazing, astrophotography and Milky Way photography.[30]
Bahia Honda State Park is a well known dark skies location among locals offering unobstructed views of the southern night sky year-round. It also hosts amateur astronomy gatherings.[31]
Florida portal
^ Official records for Key West were kept at the Weather Bureau in downtown from January 1871 to February 1958, and at Key West Int'l since March 1958. For more information, see ThreadEx.
^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
^ Journal of Antonio de Herrera quoted in Goodwin-Nguyen, S (2008) Key West: A Comprehensive Guide to Florida's Southernmost City, Channel Lake, p. 19.
^ "about". overseasrailroad.railfan.net.
^ "Cuban migrant boat found on Miami Beach from Florida Keys". miamiherald.com.
^ "Cuban migrants arrive on shore in the Florida Keys". miamiherald.com.
^ "Cuban Migrants Make It To Shore In Key Biscayne". cbslocal.com.
^ The Conch Republic Archived 2012-11-02 at the Wayback Machine
^ U.S. National Park Service Link recovered from Internet Archive December 23, 2010
Blank, Joan Gill. 1996. Key Biscayne. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. ISBN 1-56164-096-4. P. 150.
^ "Miami Limestone". USGS. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
^ "Pleistocene geology". USGS South Florida Information Access. September 4, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2019. Check |archive-url= value (help)
^ Florida NOAA's Coral Reef Information System Accessed December 14, 2010.
^ "The Coconut Palm in Florida", Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida
^ Köppen Climate Classification Map Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine on John Abbott College.
^ "NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
^ "Summary of Monthly Normals 1991-2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
^ "WMO Climate Normals for KEY WEST/INTL, FL 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
^ "U.S. Government Printing Office". United States Government. June 27, 2000. pp. 39276–39578. Archived from the original on September 28, 2006.
^ Yan, Holly; Park, Madison. "25% of Florida Keys houses destroyed as 15 million Floridians have no power". CNN. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^ McLaughlin, Eliott C. "Florida Keys: Level of destruction uncertain, but it's not looking good". CNN. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^ Achenbach, Joel (11 September 2017). "Hurricane Irma's impact, from the air: Florida Keys battered but spared the worst in near miss". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^ "Damage heavy on Key West, but booze still flows". usatoday.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
^ Luscombe, Richard; Pilkington, Ed (11 September 2017). "Florida Keys facing potential 'humanitarian crisis' in Irma aftermath". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^ FDOT straight line diagrams Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 2014.
^ "Code of ordinances, City of Marathon, Florida". [permanent dead link]
^ Tourism Development Council information Accessed September 27, 2007.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved 2010-02-08. CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ Monroe County Tourist Development Council Survey Archived 2007-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Accessed September 27, 2007.
^ Florida Highway Patrol 2006 accident statistics Archived 2007-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Accessed September 27, 2007.
^ "Key West Express in Fort Myers Beach, FL". Visit Florida. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
^ in SCAS | Winter Star Party
^ in Florida Keys Astronomy Club | Events
Jeff, Ripple (1995). The Florida Keys: the Natural Wonders of an Island Paradise, Photographs by Bill Keogh, Stillwater, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 0-89658-262-0.
Jason Project The Story of Water Movement and Land Formation – accessed January 28, 2006.
About the Florida Keys
Florida Keys Fish
A Gazetteer of the Florida Keys
My Florida Access
Florida Keys travel guide from Wikivoyage
City of Key West
City of Marathon
History of the Conch Republic
National Park Service: Dry Tortugas
NOAA Marine Sanctuary
Florida Keys Watershed - Florida DEP
Key West Citizen
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Florida Keys.
Wikisource has the text of the 1921 Collier's Encyclopedia article Florida Keys.
Boca Chita
Caesar's Rock
Meig's
Old Rhodes
former CDP
Windley
Upper Matecumbe
Tea Table
Lignumvitae
Lower Matecumbe
Middle keys
Duck Key
Fat Deer
Key Colony Beach
Lower keys
Little Duck
Bahia Honda
Spanish Harbor
Scout (West Summerland)
Knockemdown
Cudjoe
Lower Sugarloaf
Saddlebunch
Big Coppitt
East Rockland
Stock Island
Sigsbee
Mule Keys
Joe Ingram
Big Mullet
Barracouta
Cottrell
Little Mullet
Tortugas Banks (submerged)
Florida Bay
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
National Key Deer Refuge
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Key West National Wildlife Refuge
Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge
Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Florida Reef
Overseas Railroad
Card Sound Bridge
Jewfish Creek Bridge
Bahia Honda Rail Bridge
Fort Jefferson
Theater of the Sea
Hurricane Wilma
Key Deer
Florida Keys Keynoter
Outstanding Florida Waters
Regions of Florida
Archipelagoes of the United States


text:
Probeyeria pulex är en skalbaggsart som först beskrevs av Ivan T. Sanderson 1943.  Probeyeria pulex ingår i släktet Probeyeria och familjen kortvingar. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

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Wine is a biodynamic, living, and breathing drink that depends on the macro- and micro-climate, soils, and environment in which the vineyards are grown (which the French call 'terroir'). The winemaker's approach to viticulture and to winemaking can also have a fundamental effect on the wine that ends up in our bottles.
We believe that wine made in India should be a true reflection of the local conditions, tastes, and palate, rather than a copy of wine from more established wine regions. So, while we appreciate and accept technology, expertise and feedback from other parts of the world, we rely on our own skills, instincts, and local knowledge to produce our wine. It is this winemaking philosophy that makes Soul Tree's wines mainstream and distinctive in the same breath - excellent wines with a tropical twist in the tail.
Produce wines with a distinctive, though evolving, Indian style.
Combine a deep and intrinsic understanding of spices and of the flavours and textures of Indian cuisine with our Indian winemaker's natural instints to produce wines that not only complement but greatly enhance, and even harmonise, a wide range of spicy dishes.
Partner with small independent farmers to source grapes, and aim for very little intervention in the vineyard.
Follow natural processes and use only fining agents or additives like bentonite, cream of tartar, gum Arabic, and potential metabisulphite, avoiding animal-sourced agents like gelatine and isinglass.