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home / active tourism / Educational potential in tourism
Educational potential in tourism
Baikov Aleksandr Vladimirovich, Post-graduate student of the Russian International Academy of Tourism, Department of Economics and National Economy Management, Sales Manager of Transportation, CJSC DATE, Russia
Translation will be available soon.
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Tourism is a complex and complex area of the world economy. In the XXI century. it is capable of influencing both the entire world economy as a whole and the economy of individual regions and countries. Tourism is often the key or even the only source of income, which maintains a high level of development and prosperity in a particular country. Thus, the share of receipts from foreign tourism in the GDP of Spain, Austria and Greece reaches 25-30%, Cyprus and Panama - 50%.
Tourism is a complex and complex area of the world economy. XXXIc. it is capable of influencing both the entire world economy as a whole and the economy of individual regions and countries. Tourism is often the key or even the only source of income, which maintains a high level of development and prosperity in a particular country. Thus, the share of receipts from foreign tourism in the GDP of Spain, Austria and Greece reaches 25-30%, Cyprus and Panama - 50%.
Tourism, both international and domestic, has an impact on many sectors of the national economy. Currently, the demand for services provided by tourism is so great that it leads to a dynamic increase in the number of jobs in the hospitality industry. Tourism is a rich source of foreign exchange earnings and expansion of international contacts, acting as a multiplier of socio-economic development.
The development of the tourism sector in the regions partially neutralizes such negative consequences of progress as the outflow of the population to large cities, the reduction of agricultural land under cultivation, and the destruction of the traditional way of life of the rural population. In addition, the growth of the hospitality industry contributes to the revival of cultural values, the protection and restoration of historical monuments, and an increase in demand for locally produced goods.
To increase the level of attendance in Russia, it is necessary to develop cultural and historical potential, recreational facilities, tourism infrastructure, and professional personnel. The listed factors are tourist resources, they are able to satisfy spiritual needs, contribute to the restoration and strengthening of the health of tourists.
Due to its geographic location, Russia cannot become a place for mass summer beach holidays and, in addition, there are many problems with the tourist infrastructure. Nevertheless, the country has what in the coming years will be in the greatest demand among travelers - unique historical and cultural attractions and natural values, extreme and unrepeatable originality.
The territory of Russia stretches from west to east for 10,000 km and almost 3,000 km from the northern arctic latitudes to the southern subtropical ones. The variety of landscapes allows for the development of many types of tourism. Russia has resorts on the Black and Baltic Seas, which makes it suitable for beach holidays, treatment and recovery. The High North offers the chance to observe the northern lights and go on ethnic tours, as well as participate in a reindeer safari on the tundra.
The presence of mountains opens up opportunities for all types of mountain tourism, as well as spa treatment in places where there are sources of mineral waters. Full-flowing, wide and long rivers Volga, Yenisei, Lena are literally created for cruises, fishing, rafting, catamarans and boats. The seas of the northwest of the country are one of the cruise tourism destinations.
The forests of Central Russia, the foothills of the Caucasus, the taiga of Siberia and the Far East are full of animals and birds, which attracts fans of hunting tours. There are many places in Russia with untouched, wild nature, which creates ideal conditions for ecological tours. In the Astrakhan region, during the transfer to the fishing spot in the Volga delta, the huntsman will show flamingos, pelicans and other rare birds. Horseback riding along the fabulous land - Altai Mountains - will not leave indifferent any nature lover.
The Vikings, ancient Slavs, Cumans, Scythians, Swedes, Teutons, Greeks, Genoese and other peoples have left their traces in the rich history of Russia at different times. Our ancestors inherited from them appearance, faith, different cultures, languages and traditions. This stimulates the development of domestic tourism - it makes modern Russians interesting to each other. Great dukes, monarchs and emperors annexed and lost lands and peoples, travelers went deeper and deeper into the North, Siberia and the Far East and discovered new expanses, rivers, seas and oceans. Democratic and authoritarian sovereigns, replacing each other, built palaces and estates, created museums, destroyed churches and Buddhist temples, left behind mausoleums, grandiose high-rise buildings, powerful hydroelectric power plants and at the same time camps for the repressed, corn fields, opened the space age, created unique samples weapons and restored temples. All these events have made Russia the way everyone can see it on an excursion (cultural and educational) tour.
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Salman Nazir, Ian Hiskens. "Load Synchronization and Sustained Oscillations Induced by Transactive Control". IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, July, 2017.
Transactive or market-based coordination strategies have recently been proposed to control the aggregate demand of a large number of electric loads. While several operational benefits can be achieved, such as reducing the demand below distribution feeder capacity limits and providing users with flexibility to consume energy based on the price they are willing to pay, our work focuses on studying the impact of market based coordination mechanisms on load synchronization and power oscillations. We adopt the transactive energy framework and apply it to a population of thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs). We present a modified TCL switching logic that takes into account market coordination signals, alongside the natural switching conditions. Our studies suggest that several factors, in a market-based coordination mechanism, could contribute to load synchronism, including sharp changes in market prices broadcast to loads, lack of diversity in user specified bid curves, feeder limits being encountered periodically and being set too low, and the form of user bid curves. All these factors can contribute in various ways to synchronization of TCL behavior and lead to power oscillations. The case studies provide novel insights into challenges associated with market-based coordination strategies, thereby providing a basis for modifications that address those issues.
Society General Meeting, July, 2017.
Sustained Oscillations Induced by Transactive Control".
IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, July, 2017.


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UPDATE: Boesak and Sooliman receive honorary doctorates from UWC
1 December 2022, 2:36 PM |
SABC | @SABCNews
Aerial view of the University of the Western Cape
Image: Twitter: @UWConline
The University of the Western Cape (UWC) has awarded honorary doctorates to struggle cleric Dr Allan Boesak and humanitarian Dr Imtiaz Sooliman. The event was held at the institution's main hall.
Honoured for their services to humanity, their contribution to academic excellence, Boesak and Gift of the Givers founder Sooliman were given the accolade by the university.
Thabo Makgoba Archbishop of Cape Town and UWC Chancellor says, "I'm just so happy, I feel inspired when I look at the names of the people that are going to get the awards. I know we are facing many challenges in South Africa but when you look at them you just say yeah yeah, we've got wonderful human beings that do extraordinary things for the country."
UWC Rector Prof Tyrone Pretorius says, "This year we wanted to put the spotlight firmly on the reciprocates. We wanted to get up close and personal and chat to them and have interviews with them and have a conversation."
Dr Boesak is a notable theologian and author of a number of books. He was also at the forefront of the liberation struggle during the 1980s and was incarcerated several times for his fight against apartheid. Boesak also recieved 14 honorary doctorates from universities across the globe.
He says it's a huge honour being recognised by UWC.
"This is where we stood in the struggle I was here connected to this university for over 10 years as Chaplin with the students that was the 70's – 80's. I was privileged to be with these students just about everyday and the students here were the front troupes against the assault upon apartheid. I think back now and I'm still amazed at the courage that those young people displayed in the face at the time here."
Sooliman, a medical doctor and founder of Gift of the Givers, says none of this would have been possible if it weren't for the efforts and support of others.
"To me, it's recognition collectively of what the organisation has achieved. The recognitions are very special because it's about service, about human compassion, about giving people hope, about getting them out of darkness into light."
UWC has a proud history of activism and hopes to inspire future generations.
🎓Dr. Zamani Saul, w/ Dr. Imitiaz Sooliman who was conferred an honorary Doctorate by @UWConline at a special event where they recognised Honorary Doctorate and Gold Medal Award recipients.
Dr. Sooliman is the founder of the Humanitarian Organisation, @GiftoftheGivers pic.twitter.com/Vx9doe3Z1L
— Northern Cape Provincial Government (@NCProvGov) November 30, 2022
EDITORIAL NOTE: Earlier we reported that Boesak and Sooliman also received gold medals. They received honorary doctorates from the university but not gold medals as well.
Tags: Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Soolimanstruggle cleric Dr Alan BusackUniversity of Western Cape
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Watch Irresistible full HD on 123Tomovies.com
A Democratic political consultant helps a retired Marine colonel run for mayor in a small, conservative Wisconsin town.
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Director: Jon Stewart, Jonas Spaccarotelli
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On this page you will find the prediction for the FOOTBALL match of Orlando vs Colorado of the Major League Soccer, USA. In this personally prepared preview we use h2h stories, over/under stats, Orlando - Colorado match facts and team news. For more accurate analysis we use any additional information like injuries, suspensions or weather forecasts. On BetFAQ.com website we provide information for helping you make your own decision regarding a bet on this event. Odds for the Orlando - Colorado match prediction are relevant at the time of publication.


If you haven't heard the term "discovery phase", you might have referred to it as Ideation, Concepting, or simply Planning. In the context of software development, all these terms apply to the same process: "developing the initial product idea into a clear understanding of its business goals, functional goals and the effort behind implementing this solution".
In fixed-cost projects, discovery is the best practice for initiating the project.
In agile, initial discovery activity establishes the high-level vision and scope of the solution and an initial milestone-based plan for the delivery of the product.
Duration: the discovery phase may last from several days to several weeks depending on project complexity.
In the market economy, the value of something is determined by comparing the cost of implementing it and the risks of not implementing it — which outweighs the other?
Skipped Discovery in a rush? See no point to it? Think again. A smart product owner should not neglect the value of Discovery stage, be it for a fixed-cost / fixed-bid / waterfall project, or an agile project.
Apart from the basic justification "Measure twice, cut once", below is a list of benefits product owners will get from investing effort and funds into the discovery phase, and what could go wrong if they didn't.
If you are new to product development, check our article Guide on Managing Your Remote Product Development Team [Client's Handbook].
In addition to putting you and the solution provider on the same page and completely transferring your vision to them, the output of the discovery phase defines the scope (either for the whole project or MVP). Based on that, features can be estimated at a much higher level of accuracy.
Estimates produced without the discovery stage, are largely referred to as guesstimating. If neither the product owner nor the implementation team wants to invest their time into preliminary discussions, the estimates will be based on assumptions and will include significant risks. The higher the risks, the higher is the uncertainty factor. Discovery phase can help eliminate most of the uncertainty and reduce risks early in the process.
Thanks to the proofs of concept and prototyping techniques applied at the discovery stage, product owners can confirm the technical feasibility of their ideas or specific product features before taking the project further.
Imagine how disappointing it would be to discover that some features are not possible halfway through the project, after so much work has been done already. What if the feature that was deemed to be impossible is, in fact, the core feature of the product?
At the discovery phase, Business Analysts together with implementation experts assess your business needs and/or market requirements, evaluate possible solution options and make recommendations. This way, your initial requirements can be complemented by the Supplier's technical knowledge, the limitations and possibilities of the current technology state. This also includes getting professional recommendations about the most relevant tech stack that would suit your project's needs.
Brainstorming can lead to a discovery of new ideas or approaches, and combining features in such a way that transforms your solution on many levels to best address the need.
compare offerings and make the best choice of vendor.
Without the clarified and documented scope, the product owner compares a set of numbers (that rarely represent the same things) from several vendors, then makes a decision based on the received results. Different firms have different approaches to estimating.
Read also a blog article Mobile App Development Company: How to Choose a Right Technology Partner.
If you're planning a major rollout, you have to arrange all the logistics well in advance, align all resources nicely so that all pieces of the puzzle come together smoothly as you progress. In this case, it is adamant to have your software product in the best form on time.
As the discovery phase results in clear scope and estimated due dates, it grants you the highest chance of timely delivery. If the production starts without the defined scope and its limits, timeline estimates are rarely true to life.
Fixed cost. If the solution and its boundaries (What is in scope? what is out of scope?) have not been clearly defined in the beginning of the project (Discovery), projects are at high risk of struggling with the scope creep (uncontrolled growth of project scope): your budget is stretched ad infinitum it seems.
It has to do with misinterpretation of requirements: minor difference in understanding in the beginning of the project can lead to frequent clashes with the development team about what is in or out of scope. Discovery phase is there to sync solution visions from the start, establish an effective process for change request management, to prevent scope creep.
Agile. As the product vision evolves with each sprint, each new proposed feature is reassessed against the current business context to ensure that it will effectively align with the business goals.
Without the initial product vision statement (and its documented evolution over time), it may be challenging to recognize the most relevant functionality.
The outputs of the discovery phase set the bar for managing expectations from the solution.
If all sides know what to expect from the project, in the end, the product owner is happy because he got a solution that meets his business needs, within a reasonable time and expected budget. Developers are happy to deliver.
Not having synced their expectations at the start, the product owner(s) and the software vendor will have had one too many misunderstandings, which can lead to mistrust, hard feelings, even broken partnerships. A proper alignment early in the process, a discovery phase, can help eliminate some of the uncertainty and keep risks at bay.
When dealing with innovative ideas of startups, we combine workshops with producing proofs of concept, to validate the feasibility of their ideas early in the process. For startups, the deliverables of the discovery phase are also a significant credibility point during investor negotiations; wireframes can be used for early adopters' feedback. Generally, the whole exercise is a good start into the Lean product development strategy.
Explore Lemberg's services for startups and established businesses which include: discovery workshops, HW and SW prototyping, new product development, dedicated teams.
Here at Lemberg Solutions, we have been working with both startups and established businesses to help meet their business goals and deliver successful products. From our experience, a professionally conducted discovery phase lays down the foundation for a product that is valuable, meets the market needs/business requirements and individual needs of all stakeholders, is on budget and with the fastest time to market.
Complying with the best practices of business analysis, agile software development and lean startup ecosystem, Lemberg Solutions has established an effective discovery phase process with clear steps and deliverables. You can trust us to guide you through discovery, to MVP, to product launch and maintenance. Reach out to get started!


What is the largest Chinese community in South America? | Cafe Arjun - 15 times WordPress Top Blog!
What is the largest Chinese community in South America?
Barrio Chino is the China town in Lima, also called Barrio Chino de Lima.
Peru has the largest Chinese community in South America.
During the colonial 19th century, there was a strong demand for workers and labourers in South America, South-east Asia and other parts of the world. The Chinese, then under the Qing Dynasty, were forced to move with these colonial powers. Most Chinese preferred South east Asia (No wonder Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia have the highest Chinese populations) and the some moved to Peru, United States and Canada.
Except for China, Singapore is the only country with a majority Chinese population.
All the best everyone! Winners please come back and share.
Tags : bario chino lima, barrio chino, barrio chino lima, Chinese population South America, largest Chinese community, What is the largest Chinese community in South America?
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Barrio Chino is the correct answer !
Thanks Ogunquit, Wendy and Winner for your help.
Thanks for taking the time to research then post your findings for those of us with slower computers, children barking at ya, and not enough hours in the day.
This is fun. Thanks for the answers. I know you supposedly don't need to be correct, but it is more fun that way.


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I was selected to exhibit at Formex Young designers last week on the fair Formex AW16. With me this time I had my lamp Fire Cloud, of brass mesh. To meet the response from journalists, bloggers and interior designers was fantastic! I have had this idea of a burning fire cloud lamp for so long, and now I got the chance to show the prototype for "the world", It was a treat!
This dinner table chandelier is made out of mesh and gives a delightful varm light to your interior. Fits nicely in the conference room, as well as in your entrance or over the dinner table. The lamp is made by hand, making each piece unique. I thought of a burning cloud when I made this and the copper or brass mesh truly comes to life when the retro lightbulb catches fire!
Please note that this lamp is not available in store yet. I have recently exhibit it on Formex fair in August (AW-16) and I am currently working on ways to improve it and find ways to distrubute on the market. Stay tuned for more news about this.
Pictures taken by talented Per Gunnarsson at Birdcam Umeå.


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Reopening: A shared responsibility of education departm...
Coronavirus & Schools
Reopening: A shared responsibility of education departments and stakeholders
By Mary Metcalfe and Shabir Madhi• 15 May 2020
Readiness to reopen schools must be built from the ground up by schools, parents, school governing bodies and community leadership working together, say the writers. (Photo: Gallo Images / Grant Pitcher)
The public debate is not assisted by commentators who position the unions as 'opposed to' the education department. That is not our reading of the ongoing conversation: The conversation is about how unions as key stakeholders are collaborating with the education department to ensure that schools are ready in terms of the institutional practices of managing health so that teachers, workers and learners are protected.
Public confidence requires an inclusive decision-making process to open and support schools. As has transpired, one of the greatest challenges of having embarked on a lockdown with the looming threat of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa, is how exactly to get out of the lockdown.
This is no less manifest when it comes to the closure of schools that was imposed by the lockdown. The country is now gripped with the need for certainty in decision making around the opening of schools, and this is contributing to heightened tensions and anxieties.
In our view, the certainty that is required by learners, parents and communities — and the public in general — is the confidence that the education authorities and stakeholders, particularly teacher unions, have worked together to take all of the necessary steps to ensure the safety of teachers, workers, and learners at schools.
As the public, we must have confidence that these decision-makers and key stakeholders have a solid understanding of the science that underpins this virus and its epidemic, and what this means for how and when we open schools. We need to balance the need for firm decisions with the need to be responsive to new information and to understand how the actions we are taking are influencing the development of the epidemic, or the suppression of the development of the epidemic.
Demanding certainty at this time is the enemy of learning.
We need to be open to new learning, and open to changing our minds on the basis of evidence.
The pressure from the public for certainty and finality is not sensitive to the need for extensive and detailed collaboration and planning between the unions and the national and provincial education departments as we establish readiness. We should not cause mis-steps because of our need for certainty in these uncertain times.
The public debate is not assisted by commentators who position the unions as "opposed to" the education department. That is not our reading of the ongoing conversation: the conversation is about how unions as key stakeholders are collaborating with the education department to ensure that schools are ready in terms of the institutional practices of managing health so that teachers, workers and learners are protected.
To portray unions as being opposed to the department is a misreading of the conversation. It is the public need for certainty and simplicity that makes us commit these errors and heighten tensions. There is no doubt in our minds that both the unions and the education departments want a return to school urgently, but when the necessary conditions are in place for this to happen.
A risk-adjusted approach — opening schools is inevitable, so how do we manage risks?
The country has adopted a risk-adjusted approach to opening the economy and to the opening of schools under conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. As decisions are being taken about the opening of schools, we as a country need to have an understanding of the role of schools in managing the epidemic and support rational, informed and careful decision-making.
What this means with regard to opening schools is that we must collectively understand the risks that are there — but we also need to do an analysis of the risks of not opening schools and then take the management decisions that are necessary to manage these competing risks. We believe that this is possible, but we must commit to working together as government and stakeholders.
The delay in opening schools has huge implications for the country and for individual learners and their anxieties. It has implications for families and for the way that they manage their working and social lives relative to the needs for childcare and support. It has implications for further opening the economy because workers need to know that their children are safe while they are at work.
The need for schools to open does not only have to do with the need to "cover the curriculum" and ensuring learning, it also has to do with the social institutionalisation of learners in a context of social interaction, of a disciplined social and institutional life within which their social, emotional and health needs are considered, and of personal routines of planning and accountability.
Schools play a critical role in basic health needs. We believe that school feeding should resume urgently as schools reopen.
As we take these decisions, we need to be very clear about time frames and planning. Managing the rate of Covid-19 infections in the country and in schools will be a challenge for at least the next 18 months. The decisions that we take now are not just about opening schools in May or June, but they are about establishing best practices of health management in our schools for the next two years — we need to be planning for December 2021 and beyond.
Schools cannot remain closed for the next 18 months or two years which means we have to open schools on the basis of sustainable practices that protect teachers, workers and learners.
What does the science say?
We are fortunate to have a health scientific community which is continuously monitoring developments internationally and interpreting these in terms of what they mean for the unique features of our context.
In order to manage schools effectively under conditions of Covid-19, we must start with a very clear and common understanding of the available science. We must learn from the best evidence that our excellent health professionals in this country are providing, and from the understanding of the virus and the epidemic that they share with the public.
Key points from the health scientists, and from the task team established by the College of Medicine of South Africa, and recently corroborated by the WHO, for the management of schools at the time of Covid-19 can be summarised as follows:
The majority of SARS-CoV-2 infections (virus that causes Covid-19) are asymptomatic; the figures vary between 50% and 80%. What this means is that there will be many people in society — and in schools — who are infected and be carriers of the virus (including during the pre-symptomatic phase in those who develop Covid-19 illness when the viral load is high) but who will not themselves be aware that they are carrying the virus.
There will be no visible symptoms to indicate to those who wish to support them to identify that they are infected. This is why the fundamental principle of managing Covid-19 is in every situation to "manage oneself as if infected", and to "treat others as if they are infected" so that we are both protecting others and protecting ourselves. This means we must manage schools on the assumption that there are infected learners, teachers and workers who will not be detected by a thermal screening or taking temperatures or even assessing for respiratory symptoms.
What the health experts advise, is that screening at school level by thermo-screening (temperature taking) is not helpful. Screening should begin at home, and at school level there should be a routine check if any teachers, learners or workers present with symptoms that suggest that the learner or teacher may have the virus.
If any do, the person should be kept out of school until the test results show they are negative or non-infectious. Those tests should not be done at schools; they need to be done at the nearest health facility and while the results are awaited the teacher, or the learner or the worker must self-quarantine at home. If it is confirmed that the individual has the virus they must self-quarantine at home. Quarantining facilities are not needed at schools, but boarding schools may require that these be provided.
As the country heads into winter, the convergence of the normal influenza epidemic with the Covid-19 epidemic means that wisdom will be required in differentiating between flu cases and Covid-19 cases, and we are expecting a spike as the flu virus kicks in.
The current science also tells us that children who do become infected are unlikely to be transmitters to other children or adults. That is the best available scientific knowledge now. The World Health Organisation confirms that serious illness due to Covid-19 is seen infrequently in children.
When schools return, the greatest risk is to teachers and to workers because the infection is more likely amongst adults than among children. We need to manage our schools with great care toward teachers and workers as adults are the higher at-risk category. This is why the role of the unions in working with the employer to ensure the safety of teachers and workers needs to be appreciated and valued.
We also need to identify teachers that are at high risk because we know that risk is associated with age, comorbidity and other factors. In adults, greater than 85% of the ~30% (ie ~25% of overall infections) individuals that become infected would have a mild, self-limiting illness. The risk for severe illness from Covid-19 is greatest in those older than 65 years of age, chronic hypertension, type-II diabetes, obesity, cancer and chronic lung and heart disease. Collectively, these high-risk groups also contribute to >80-90% of all Covid-19 deaths.
As schools return, the school management teams (SMTs) and the district officials that support them must make sure that the health protocols around staff rooms, teachers' and workers' masks, teachers' and workers' hand sanitising are in place as a non-negotiable.
Schools must be places where children learn the importance of hand sanitising, the importance of physical distancing, the importance of masks. This will be one contribution of schools to the massive public health education project that we face. The more that children understand the risks, understand what actions are necessary to combat the risks, and the reasons for those actions, the more that we as a country will be taking into every home in the country these lessons of safe community and self-care for the next 18 months.
In doing so, children could become vectors of the spread of knowledge on how to reduce the rate of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, assisting us in avoiding a massive surge of Covid-19 cases over a narrow window period.
Part of the routine health practices that we all need to adopt in schools, in workplaces and at home is the sanitising of surfaces. We know that the virus settles on surfaces and could survive for two to three days on such surfaces.
Consequently, surfaces need to be decontaminated as often as is necessary — this will be determined by the number of people who touch the same surface. For schools, decontaminating surfaces as part of the daily routine is a huge additional responsibility that will possibly require new resources that schools may not have, and schools may need support from the community in decontaminating desks and chairs with alcohol solution or other detergents every day. Where learners move in between classes during the course of the day, this may need to be done more frequently; or movement of learners between classes should be restricted if feasible.
Schools will need to assist learners to understand mask management as masks that are touched by hand can be contaminated with the virus. Learners need to understand why they should not be touching their masks.
Learners, teachers and workers should have at least two masks so that one can be washed every night and a clean mask used. The health advice is that children should wear masks in classrooms, but it is not necessary for them to wear the masks all day, and the playground access of learners should be managed by the school management team so that it is phased during the day and not too many learners are in the playground at one time or gathering in groups.
The greatest challenge for us as a country in terms of managing best practices at schools in times of Covid-19 is how to manage physical distancing. Physical distancing is a key element of management of the epidemic together with the wearing of masks, washing of hands and not touching faces.
We know that the risk of infection is greatest when a person is in the proximity of less than 1.5m to another person for more than 15 to 30 minutes — this is close contact.
How schools are going to manage physical distancing between learners, and between learners and teachers, in conditions of overcrowding and limited space is a challenge that the school management teams will need to work on with all of their energy and creativity once they return. This can only be managed at school level.
The situation will be different in different schools.
When Grade 12 and Grade 7 return, the schools will have many spaces to support physical distancing, but that needs to be managed with the available teachers and subject expertise among the teachers required to teach the different subjects multiple times if that is what is required.
We need to have more desks, more classrooms (or classrooms that are large enough for desk spacing) and more teachers.
Schools need to consider how to extend school infrastructure by using community halls or churches, or by rotating school attendance so that not all learners are at school at the same time in order to achieve the necessary physical distancing.
Some schools that are not able because of space constraints to have minimal levels of physical distancing may need to look for additional premises. As classes become smaller, there will be implications for the number of teachers needed. Or — there will have to be fewer hours per day of instruction for different grades, with a modified curriculum.
The education complication of providing appropriate teaching to learners in the specific condition of the school can only be resolved once the school management team is back — and school management teams can only return when the basic elements of providing a safe environment are in place.
The WHO's advice confirms these guidelines
The World Health Organisation (WHO) document, Considerations for School related Public Health Measures (issued on 10 May) confirms the best advice, outlined above, that we are receiving in South Africa. The WHO confirms that decisions around whether to open or close schools depends on current understandings of transmission and severity among children and teachers: on local situations and the epidemiology in areas where schools are located; and the ability of schools to maintain prevention and control measures.
It confirms that schools need to have policy and resources in place to ensure hand and respiratory hygiene, and distancing to limit crowding.
It confirms that we need to manage classrooms so there is a desk spacing of one metre between desks — and this is our greatest challenge.
It confirms that schools need to have access to the necessary supply of materials to prevent transmission.
It confirms that all activities — even recreational — have to be adjusted to ensure adherence to recommended measures.
It also confirms that we need to consider the age of children. Foundation Phase, or children in Early Childhood Development centres need a different support to adolescence — and children in special schools require urgent attention. It confirms that food security is a major consideration in the capability of children to withstand the infection and its complications and that we should be ensuring that children receive a meal at school.
A team at the College of Medicine of South Africa has produced guidelines for schools and a guideline for public transport that are invaluable resources for all of our schools and all of our communities in terms of understanding the way forward in the management of the virus in schools.
These guidelines and the WHO document of 10 May can be accessed on the organisations' websites.
What is a readiness in relation to the opening of schools?
Readiness will not be uniform and will be context-dependent.
Some schools might need running water or additional resources for social distancing — all these cannot be determined nationally but need to be resolved locally within a national and provincial enabling policy framework and guidelines. And the implementation problems can only be solved at a local level by stakeholders working together.
As the president continuously calls upon us to do, we must take responsibility at the local level — schools in partnerships with school governing bodies and the community to ensure that schools are safe spaces over the next 2 years.
What this means for a date to "reopen" schools is that while national and provincial departments are working hard to support the readiness preparations at every school, it is each and every school community that needs to be confident about re-opening.
The more that the public is involved at a local level in considering the routines and the resources that are necessary for health safety at schools, the more that they will have confidence that their schools will be ready to receive learners.
The public confusion about readiness and when schools will open needs to be understood. The Minister announced a phased return to school of the leadership of each school before the learners return. This is a rational approach that must be supported with each new phase following from assessments of readiness for the next phase.
It was hoped that principals would return to school on 4 May — if the basics were in place. The basics included the cleaning of surfaces (which we believe is not necessary as the schools have been closed for five weeks, and the virus does not survive outside a host for more than three days), and having water in place in all schools.
The minister has been in consultation with the provincial departments and the unions to assess this readiness, and there is unevenness across the country.
Once the principals are at school to prepare for the next phase — the return of school management teams (deputies, department heads) — there would again need to be a readiness assessment. Once the SMTs return to school, there will be a considerable amount of preparation before the teachers return.
Each phase of the return of the school leadership is a progressive deepening of preparation for all of the conditions for the next phase — with the final phase being the return of learners in Grades 12 and 7 into secondary and primary schools that are thoroughly prepared educationally and in terms of health protocols to receive them — and with parents and communities being ready because they understand the steps that have been taken to safeguard learner and communities.
We also need to identify which teachers are more at risk (as described above) than others before the teachers return. We know that risk is associated with age and that older teachers are more at risk and that multiple comorbidities put that teacher at greater risk.
The process of planning which teachers need to be in place for when children return is a massive human resource management challenge. We need to first identify which teachers are at risk, then schools need to do their planning. Having teachers who are able to teach at the lower secondary level does not help if the need is for subject-specific Grade 12 teachers. Where we have an ageing population such as in Foundation Phase, we may have greater levels of comorbidity. That planning process is, in our view, even bigger than getting water and sanitiser to school.
We need to give that process time.
The process to plan how many teachers and with what subject and phase specialisations need to be in place when schools return is a massive human resource management challenge that will take some time to put in place. Schools need first to identify teachers at risk, manage the associated HR processes, then do a detailed planning of teacher needs relative to the new timetable and the teachers who cannot report for duty. Having eight teachers who can teach at the lower secondary level does not help when you need subject specialists at Grade 12.
Where we have an ageing population (such as in Foundation Phase) we may have much more complex comorbidities, and we may not have the teachers needed to replace the teachers who should not report for duty.
This process will need more time than even getting water into schools. We need to give that process time.
And it is only once the teachers return in safe conditions, that teachers can concentrate on their professional work which includes making judgments (in their teaching teams) and supported by district advisers of what content needs to be learned in the time available, how and when to assess this, and how to take forward this professional work in the context of supporting learners with the emotional, social and economic impacts of the epidemic on their lives.
Schools also need to do the work of reconceptualisation of some of the routines in school, assembly, contact sports, how to organise after school care; all of these have to be practices developed at local level based on the best information that is available and in consultation with school communities.
Achieving shared understanding among key stakeholders
The hard part of the current conversation is achieving a shared understanding of the nature of the virus, and what health steps are necessary. It is this conversation informed by correct science that needs to be collaboratively agreed between unions and the department before there can be agreement about what steps need to be in place when.
We need a shared understanding — not only between the education departments and the unions — but between all stakeholders about when it is safe for the SMT to return, when it is safe for teachers to return, and when the school is ready for the learners to return.
Those processes are complex and we have to build the confidence of every SMT to be able to ensure a safe environment; to make sure they can report as to whether or not they have the necessary resources to manage a safe environment, and to know that their reports will be responded to.
The school management teams need, from the time that the principals return, to be in close contact with their circuit managers, with their school governing bodies, with parents and with all community structures in order to communicate a sense of confidence to their immediate communities that they serve. And the school leadership must be confident to listen to concerns and to provide reassurance.
We strongly support the opening of primary and secondary schools with a limited number of learners (Grades 12 and 7) so that the necessary institutional practices can be put into place as schools gradually open. When these practices are in place and have been properly monitored and managed, we can then accelerate the return to school of children within the constraints of physical distancing at each school.
If schools are able to manage the standard operating procedures/health protocols and can do it with all the children, then that school should be permitted to reopen to all of their children. When those institutional processes and practices are in place and are properly resourced and managed and monitored, we can then accelerate the return to school of children within the constraints of physical distancing at that school and within the special timetabling arrangements that the school has developed. If a school is able to manage physical distancing, mask management, surface cleaning and hand sanitation, and it can do it with all of the children confidently, then schools should reopen to all of their children.
So when should school open?
This is not something that can be emphatically determined at national or even provincial level. Schools must open within the national guidelines when in each province and in each district the work has been done to ensure that the risks are managed so that children and teachers will be safe. That is the work that needs to be done now, and it is work that must be done with the support of parents, communities and the public. The more that the public is involved at the local level in considering and monitoring the routines and the resources that are necessary for health safety at school, the more the public will have confidence that their school is ready.
Opening schools and inequality
A hard issue that we will have to face is the way in which the SARS-CoV-2 has shone its spotlight on our inequalities at home and at school. There will be ongoing inequalities in terms of the ability of learners to learn at home — the majority do not have access to online learning, and our geography of virus "hotspots" is likely to mean that some children will be able to return to school before others.
Our constitutional imperative in terms of the absolute centrality of education as a human right means that we will have to take special measures to ensure that the children whose education is interrupted by this virus are given additional measures of support in order to catch up.
This is a shared task.
Our need for certainty must not rush decision-making. We need the education department together with their stakeholders, the teacher unions, the school governing body associations to put plans in place that will carry us through the next 18 months.
It is essential that all structures of civil society are seen as allies and stakeholders in this huge task that we face as a country. Churches, community organisations of activists at every level need to be taken into our confidence so that they share the responsibility with us for taking care of our children and our learners and ensuring that the opening of schools is something that contributes to the management of the virus and does not result in increased infections.
Even our sternest critics have views that we need to listen to.
This is a time where we all need to accept responsibility for creating the conditions for schools to return safely. Asking for firm timeframes from the Minister and from provincial MECs is asking for more certainty than is possible from above. We all need to assist by being involved in multilevel processes that are inclusive and collaborative at the level of school; at the level of community and building up from that to district-wide and provincial-wide processes.
Readiness must be built from the ground up by schools, parents, school governing bodies and community leadership working together empowered by accurate information and committed to monitoring processes at school level to identifying weakness and to addressing those weaknesses.
Our schools and our teachers need our support as schools reopen. DM/MC
Mary Metcalfe is Education and Change Director at PILO, Improving Learner Performance; Shabir Madhi is Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand.
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The CAF has been in Minnesota since 1971 when the Minnesota Wing was formed in 1971. The Minnesota Wing was the very first charter unit of the national headquarters wing of the Commemorative Air Force and operated as a maintenance support arm to help the CAF's mission and its ever growing fleet of rare aircraft.
The Minnesota Wing, Commemorative Air Force, St. Paul, had a WWII PBY Catalina amphibious aircraft. Disaster struck in 1998 when a wind storm flipped it over, basically destroying it.
The group purchased a similar replacement (Bureau 64092) and their insurance company demanded the aircraft be stored in a hangar. Since the Minnesota Wing's hangar was to small the only other facility large enough to house the PBY with its 104-foot wingspan was an abandoned hangar in Duluth.
This PBY had been among other things a search & rescue aircraft, a general cargo carrier, and finally a fire bomber and in this configuration flew for several years but significant fuselage corrosion eventually grounded her as well in 2002.
Once it was determined that this PBY would never fly again, the Lake Superior Detachment then inquired about PBY-6A Bureau No. 64097 which had been flipped on her back during a heavy storm and was it available.
In 200x the Commemorative Air Force chartered Lake Superior Squadron 101 as a free-standing organization with the CAF, separating it from the Minnesota Wing.
Today, the Squadron is doing something radical, and probably never before attempted outside of the military. They are rebuilding the damaged, but relatively corrosion-free fuselage of Bureau 64097 (known as the Blue Plane) and replacing the crumpled wing with that from their other former fire bomber, Bureau No. 64092 (known locally as the Red Plane) . In addition the engines from the other PBY have been mounted on the existing blue fuselage which along with the red wing and motors marry the two aircraft together.
It is a massive undertaking, but the team has made remarkable progress since the project began in 2009. They have already grafted the two aircraft together and are well on the way to forming one airworthy airframe. Since the fuselage came from Bureau No. 64097, that will be the identity of the aircraft once the restoration is complete.
The PBY Catalina played a crucial role in World War II, both in long-range reconnaissance and U-boat suppression, not to mention air sea rescue missions and other vital activities. The CAF Lake Superior Squadron, based in Duluth, Minnesota, is currently hard at work restoring a PBY back to flying condition.


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in Opinion/Features
The biggest shock results from the international break: Werner's horror miss, Ireland's new low, Dutch fold
by Ste McGovern 01/04/2021, 08:30
The much-maligned international break produced a plethora of excellent matches and unpredictable results as the qualification campaign for the 2022 Fifa Men's World Cup in Qatar got underway.
Here are the standout upsets and shock results from the past week of international games in Europe.
Germany 1-2 North Macedonia
The past three world champions all had a bit of a weird international break, as we'll get to in due course. But this was undoubtedly the most shocking result of the week, and maybe even in years.
North Macedonia took the lead in first-half stoppage time through former Inter Milan forward Goran Pandev, who is somehow still knocking about despite his career being roughly 90 years long at this point.
İlkay Gündoğan found an equaliser from the penalty spot on the hour mark, at which you would have fully expected Germany to power on and put the visitors to the sword. Instead, Timo Werner missed an absolute sitter, and the Macedonians struck a late winner.
Germany now sit third in Group J with six points after three games, while Armenia sensationally top the table with a 100% record. North Macedonia lie in second place, while Iceland languish in fifth.
Ireland 0-1 Luxembourg
The Republic of Ireland have been on a downward trajectory for many years now, with their inability to develop young talent biting them on the arse big time. But this might be the lowest point in 50 years for the Irish game.
Stephen Kenny's team came into this tie on the back of a spirited but ultimately unsuccessful performance away to Serbia, losing 3-2 in their opening World Cup qualifier. The home tie against Luxembourg was seen as a perfect opportunity to bounce back and get the Kenny era up and running.
Instead, Dynamo Kiev striker Gerson Rodriguez did this with just six minutes remaining in the match:
"The gloom really does deepen for Ireland now…"
Oh dear 😬 Republic of Ireland concede an 85th minute goal to Luxembourg.
Watch live on Sky Sports Main Event 📺 pic.twitter.com/P900OTtX3P
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 27, 2021
A historic victory for Luxembourg, but an absolute disaster for the Boys In Green. Given the fact that the Red Lions drew against world champions France in Paris last year, perhaps this is not quite as big an upset as one might initially think. Whatever your viewpoint, it all but confirms Ireland will not be going to the World Cup next summer.
Following a friendly draw with Qatar on Tuesday night, Ireland are now winless in 12 matches. Worth noting, however, that North Macedonia lost 1-0 to Luxembourg back in 2015, so it's only a matter time before Ireland are world beaters, too.
Rock bottom: Ireland's worst qualifier defeats in recent history
Turkey 4-2 Netherlands
Once again this might not truly belong in the shock result column given the relative form of both sides.
Turkey had lost just three of their preceding 18 matches, including a win and draw against France in the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Netherlands experienced an upturn under manager Ronald Koeman, but his successor Frank de Boer has overseen a reversion to the kind of form that saw the Dutch fail to qualify for the last two major international tournaments.
It was the manner of the defeat that should worry Netherlands supporters, though. Their side were 2-0 down by the break, and conceded a third just 31 seconds into the second-half. There was an element of bad fortune to all of the goals: Burak Yilmaz' opener took a wicked deflection, the second was more clumsy than unlucky as they conceded a penalty off the back of a poor challenge, and the third was your standard Hakan Çalhanoğlu belter from range.
Sometimes these things happen in football. But the Dutch never really looked in the game until they scored two goals in quick succession around the 75th minute mark. Five minutes later, however, the game was done when Yilmaz found his hat-trick with a stunning free-kick.
Netherlands have since bounced back with a win over Latvia and a seven-goal thrashing of Gibraltar. It's not a good sign, though, that they looked thoroughly second-best against a side with far less talent at its disposal.
In such a tight group with Montenegro and Norway also on six points each, the Oranje cannot afford to give up goals so cheaply in this campaign. Otherwise they will find themselves sitting at home for the third time in four tournament cycles.
Turkey 3-3 Latvia
Turkey immediately followed up their brilliant win over the Dutch with a convincing 3-0 victory against Norway, putting them in the driver's seat in Group H.
They proceeded to put the handbrake on, leading by two goals twice against Latvia before ultimately drawing 3-3 against the weakest side in the group.
The Turks should have sailed to a third consecutive victory, but they somehow conspired to give up a pair of cheap goals in the second-half. Along with the Netherlands match, this is starting to look like a bit of a pattern. This team could be dark horses at Euro 2020, but not if they fail to defend leads like this.
In their defence, these six day windows in which teams are expected to play three competitive matches may lead to more of these kind of wild swings in the qualifiers. It certainly makes the international break more interesting.
12 of the biggest upsets in international football
France 1-1 Ukraine
The world champions have had some weird results since attaining glory in 2018, but there can be no glossing over this one. A draw at home to Ukraine is a disappointing start to the defence of France's crown.
Olivier Giroud missed a glorious chance from six yards out in the first-half, before Antoine Griezmann scored a beautiful strike to give Les Bleus the lead. That should have been the catalyst for a definitive France win, but the Chelsea striker missed another chance from the exact same spot.
The one-goal lead only held for 12 minutes into the second-half, at which point they conceded a most unfortunate own goal from Presnel Kimpembe.
The ball trickled over the line at an agonisingly slow pace. Despite having over half an hour to retake the lead, France failed to create anything of note from therein.
Spain 1-1 Greece
As you would expect in a meeting between these two nations, Spain dominated matters against Greece last Thursday. They had 80 percent possession, made nearly a 1000 passes, and took nine shots, some of which were very good chances, while not conceding any shots from open play. And yet, they were held to a 1-1 draw at home.
Alvaro Morata opened the scoring with a wonderful chest-and-volley shot in the 33rd minute. Their failure to put away their other opportunities is all on them, but the penalty they conceded was odd and arguably unfair.
Iñigo Martínez miscontrolled the ball in his box, but recovered to clear it. Except he followed through slightly to collide with Giorgos Masouras, and the referee pointed to the spot. It was a harsh decision, and ultimately led to the Greeks securing a point with their only shot of the game.
In isolation this result shouldn't cause alarm, but it does when they barely squeaked past Georgia on Sunday. Again they had nearly 80 percent of the ball and had nine attempts on goal, but the underdogs took a first-half lead and would have come away with a draw had it not been for a Dani Olmo screamer deep into injury-time.
They completed a handy win over Kosovo on Wednesday night, but Luis Enrique's side seem well off the pace, which is not a good sign ahead of a European Championship they will be hoping to contend for.
The best football kits in the international game right now
Slovenia 1-0 Croatia
Croatia came into this tie on the back of some bad form, winning just one of their six Uefa Nations League matches. Still, they would have expected to roll past Slovenia, who had just lost 1-0 to Cyprus.
Sandi Lovric found the net in the 15th minute and the Slovenians managed to hold on for the remainder of the tie. A terrible start for the World Cup runners-up, although they have bounced back with consecutive wins to go top of a competitive Group H, as the next result will show.
Slovakia 2-1 Russia
Having just drawn 2-2 with minnows Malta, Slovakia could hardly argue with being tagged as the underdogs in their qualifier against Russia.
Yet they came away with a massive victory thanks to goals from Milan Škriniar and Róbert Mak either side of a Mário Fernandes equaliser. It's a massive boost for the unfancied Slovaks' chances of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
That being said, before the qualifiers got underway, Russia had not won in their previous six matches, including a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Serbia. While they would have been favourites here, the Russians can not take their rivals lightly if they wish to finish in the top two.
This spate of unpredictable results mean Group H is wide open, with just three points separating first from fifth in the six-team table after three matches.
Read: Six Premier League players who've been smashing it on international duty
See Also: Loan Watch: Liverpool's Harvey Elliott is making waves in the Championship
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Everyone has an interesting life – some more so than others. As many as possible should be recorded – the objective of The Official Biographer is to inspire everyone to either write their own story or have someone write it for them.
It doesn't have to be a massive tome with every detail of one's life – a 5000 word "Mini-Biography" if nothing else. If one has children of their own it is very important to let them know about YOUR childhood and your life.


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A Glimpse of Ancient Yemen @ Freer Sackler
When caravans transported commodities to the Mediterranean world and Indian subcontinent, cities along trade routes like Timna (in today's Yemen) became known for artistic production. Fine alabaster figures, impressive metal work, and funerary busts became hallmark's of Yemen's ancient cultural traditions. Long-distance trade with the Greeks, Romans, and Persians introduced artistic and cultural traditions to ancient Arabia. A Glimpse of Ancient Yemen highlights a selection of objects excavated from the region by the pioneer archaeologist Wendell Phillips and his team in 1950 and 1951. See this exhibit on display at the Freer|Sackler until August 2019.
Categories: Exhibit Update Freer and Sackler Galleries Freer Sackler Freer│Sackler
A Monument to Shakespeare @ Folger Shakespeare Library
Henry Clay Folger and his wife Emily wanted to create a monument to Shakespeare in the U.S. capital. This would be their gift to the American people, an architectural presence on Capitol Hill, and an anchor to the nation's cultural mile. This exhibition shows how Henry, and after his death, his wife Emily, worked with architect Paul Philippe Cret to create a marble building that looks like a book, and speaks to the hope that Washington DC would become a cultural center.
APR 13, 2019 – JAN 05, 2020
Mon–Sat: 10am–5pm | Sun: noon–5pm
Categories: Exhibit Update
A Piece of Her Mind: Culture and Technology @ DAR Museum
Today's culture makes it easy for American women to engage in the world around them, thanks to advances in both women's rights and technology. But between 1820 and 1920, many women chose to respond to current events and trends creatively, through one of their prescribed activities: needlework. Quilts allowed women to engage in the world while conforming to their era's gender roles, which restricted middle-class women to the private, domestic sphere. This exhibition will present quilts that reflect their makers' interest in their world.
Open Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 4 pm and Saturday 9 am – 5 pm.
Questions? Contact Museum staff at 202.879.3241 or museum@dar.org
Animals Collected @ National Building Museum
Roughly 320,000 objects relating to the built environment reside inside the National Building Museum. In Animals, Collected, the museum showcases the treasures that connect to the animal kingdom specifically. Architectural pieces that showcase both real and mythological animals are on display. These objects – found ornamenting municipal buildings, churches, warehouses – will have you pondering why animal objects were chosen for said locations and what they mean to the structure and inhabitants of the space.
Anytime Audio Tours
We are proud to offer our newest, affordable sightseeing option – AUDIO TOURS. Can't make one of our guided tours? Well, we have recorded some of our best tour guides giving their tours and put them on a GPS enabled app. We've also included downloadable PDF maps of each walk, so that you don't need to have GPS maps running with the app (save your battery).
Download our free app on (iTunes) or (Android)
Download any audio tour (Free – $1.99/each)
Even if you don't download any tours, you will still have access to valuable information on sightseeing, eating and playing in the Washington, D.C.
Available Tours:
Historic Georgetown
Categories: Tours
Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975 @ Smithsonian American Art Museum
By the late 1960s, the United States was in pitched conflict both in Vietnam, against a foreign power, and at home—between Americans for and against the war, for and against the status quo. Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965–1975 presents art created amid this turmoil, spanning the period from President Lyndon B. Johnson's fateful decision to deploy U.S. ground troops to South Vietnam in 1965 to the fall of Sài Gòn ten years later.
Artists Respond is the most comprehensive exhibition to examine the contemporary impact of the Vietnam War on American art. The exhibition is unprecedented in its historical scale and depth. It brings together nearly 100 works by fifty-eight of the most visionary and provocative artists of the period. Galvanized by the moral urgency of the Vietnam War, these artists reimagined the goals and uses of art, affecting developments in multiple movements and media: painting, sculpture, printmaking, performance, installation, documentary art, and conceptualism.
MARCH 15, 2019–AUGUST 18, 2019
Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and F Streets, NW)
Celebrating New American Gardens @ US Botanic Garden
Public gardens across America are engaging, inviting, and dynamic. Gardens are living creations, as they display seasonal changes along with a constant ebb and flow. This exhibit celebrates American gardens created or renovated within the last five years. These gardens showcase new plant collections, create spaces for people to connect with nature, and foster sustainability. Come explore what's new in public gardens!
Categories: Exhibit Update Tags: DC
Day + Night Bus Tours of D.C.
There are many other bus tours currently running. Be sure to read our comparison post on Washington, D.C. bus tours to help you navigate all the different bus tour options available to you, from open-top double-deckers to small group sprinter vans, from day trips to night tours. We cover it all and provide you with the insight necessary to choose what is best for you.
First Ladies @ Madame Tussauds
Meet America's most popular First Ladies at Madame Tussauds Washington, DC.
Madame Tussauds is an international chain of wax museums, and the Washington D.C. location opened in 2007 and is the 12th of their many locations. These museums are popular due to their themed rooms featuring famous people from politicians to actors to athletes. with one of D.C.'s most popular rooms being the President's Room. This tourist stop is the perfect place for photo ops and "Instagrammable" moments.
Flickering Treasures @ National Building Museum
Movie theaters are where our culture's dreams and desires have been projected since the arrival of nickelodeons, providing an enchanting portal into a world where moviegoers could escape their everyday lives. Yet many historic theaters have not escaped the impact of social and technological change, nor the abandonment that has diminished our aging cities. Baltimore, thriving at the dawn of the cinema age, has been home to more than 240 theaters since its first Nickelodeon opened in 1905. Only a handful still function as theaters, but many survive in some form—ghosts on the gritty main streets of Charm City.
Hoops @ National Building Museum
March Madness comes to the National Building Museum in the work of photographer Bill Bamberger. The Hoopsphoto exhibit shows outdoor public and private basketball courts and hoops from across the U.S. and around the world. Whether makeshift backyard hoops or playground hubs in the city, Bamberger's large-format photographs illustrate the worldwide appeal of basketball. Hoops opens on Saturday, March 9 at 10 am and features a tour of the exhibit with the photographer at 11 am. The exhibit continues through January 5, 2020.
Categories: Exhibit Update Ongoing Activities
Inside Today's FBI @ Newseum
Explore headline-making FBI cases and learn how the bureau is fighting terrorism and cybercrime in this special update to one of the Newseum's most popular exhibits.
From the Boston Marathon bombing to the Internet's sinister Silk Road, go behind the scenes with the FBI to explore how crime and crime-fighting have evolved in the post-9/11 age. As the nation's top crime-fighting force embarks on its second century, the exhibit will explore how the FBI detects and disrupts terrorists both at home and abroad, and thwarts powerful cyber criminals who steal data and money.
Mark Bradford: Pickett's Charge @ Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Mark Bradford's new work at the Hirshhorn spans roughly 400 linear feet inside the cutting-edge Smithsonian museum. Pickett's Charge is a series of eight abstract paintings that depict the final charge of the Battle of Gettysburg, commonly noted as the most important battle of the Civil War. The result is a thought-provoking rumination on how we interpret history and the complexities of war. Bradford's installation will also suggest issues faced by the American people today.
10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Free admission
Nature's Best Photography: Windland Smith Rice International Awards @ Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
See the best nature photography in the world on the second floor of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. More than 26,000 photos were submitted for the Windland Smith Rice International Awards and 60 were selected for display in this visually inspiring exhibit. In addition to the photos, you'll see a video of manta rays and sharks feeding and a camera display that shows how they have evolved over time. The exhibit is open through September.
10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20560 Free admission.
Open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 AM to 5:30 PM
Categories: Ongoing Activities
Old Korean Legation Museum Tour @ Old Korean Legation Museum
The Old Korean Legation is the cradle of Korea-U.S. friendship. In 1889, Korea (then Joseon) established her first diplomatic mission in the U.S. at Logan Circle, Washington, DC, but lost ownership of the legation building in 1910. 102 years later, Korea repurchased the building in 2012; restored it to its original 19th century beauty; and opened it to the public as the Old Korean Legation Museum in May 2018.
ㅇ Open from 10:00 to 17:00
ㅇ Closed on Mondays
ㅇ Free Admission / Free Tour (Both Group and Individual visits)
ㅇ Reservations available at website
ㅇ Tel : (202) 844 – 3330
ㅇ Email : info@oldkoreanlegation.org
Categories: Current Exhibit Family Day Historical Activity Kids and Family Ongoing Activities Ongoing Tours Ongoing Tours & Activities Tours Tags: DC History Exhibition Free free events Free tour Guided Tour History History tour Korean Logan Circle Museum
Organic @ Zenith Gallery
Working in an array of media, Nancy Frankel has found her niche in sculpture. She describes her work as "organic geometry," where she combines her love for natural forms with architecture. This produces an exploration into the deeper meaning of the materials rather than on a surface level. "Space, either encapsulated or activated, and a sense of balance, precarious yet centered, are integral to my work." Working since 1950s, Frankel has established her importance as a women sculpture in the DC art scene.
1111 Pennsylvaina Ave Open: Monday – Friday, 8 am-5 pm, Saturday, 8 am-4 pm
(On Saturday knock and a guard will let you in)
Portraits of the World: Korea @ National Portrait Gallery
Pioneering feminist artist Yun Suknam (born 1939) uses portraiture to gain insights into the lives of women, past and present. A wood assemblage portrait of her mother is the centerpiece of this exhibition, which includes portraits of American artists, such as Louise Bourgeois, Louise Nevelson, Marisol, Kiki Smith and Nancy Spero. This presentation focuses on shared themes and artistic approaches that have activated women artists from different parts of the globe. Robyn Asleson, the National Portrait Gallery's associate curator of prints, drawings and media arts, is the curator of this exhibition. "Portraits of the World: Korea" is the second exhibition in a series dedicated to highlighting the global context of American portraiture and follows the series' inaugural focus on Switzerland.
Categories: Current Exhibit
Private Walking Tour – $195
Interested in taking a private walking tour? If you're flexible with your timing and can book a private tour at the time listed, we can offer a discounted rate! These tours are offered at 10am-12pm or 2pm-4pm or 7pm-9pm.
You can choose either our National Mall tour, Lincoln Assassination or Arlington National Cemetery Walking Tour. We also offer a 7pm private option to take one of evening tours – Ghosts of Georgetown, Haunted Georgetown (Adults Only) or White House at Night (Secrets and Scandals – Adults Only)
No adjustments or customizations, please. If you need a customized tour or different time, please contact us at info@dcbyfoot.com. Any of our tours are available for private bookings but our online booking at this discounted rate is only available for our three most popular tours.
Rate: $195 for up to 10 persons. Groups larger than 10 must contact us first.
Tour must be booked at least two days in advance. Last minute tours may be accommodated but must be booked via emailing us to check on availability.
Section 14: The Other Palm Springs, California @ National Museum of the American Indian
Palm Springs, California is known as a playground for the rich and wealthy. However, the area was once a desert outpost and home to Native Americans. This exhibit focuses on the conflict that arose over a one-square-mile-tract of the city's downtown, which formed the heart of the reservation belonging to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Section 14 will show how the area became a hotbed for issues like tribal sovereignty, economics, race and land zoning from the 1940s through the 1960s.
Tiffany Chung: Vietnam, Past Is Prologue @ Smithsonian American Art Museum
Through maps, videos, and paintings that highlight the voices and stories of former Vietnamese refugees, Tiffany Chung probes the legacies of the Vietnam War and its aftermath. A centerpiece of the exhibition is a new series of video interviews with former Vietnamese refugees who live in Houston, Southern California, and Northern Virginia that was commissioned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Smithsonian American Art Museum – Open Daily: 11:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
March 15, 2019–September 2, 2019


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Football Sierra Leone
Faroe Islands' top-tier side�NS� Runav�k�have confirmed the signing of Sierra Leone international Alfred Sankoh.
"I signed a two-year deal and hoping to do my best with this club. I turned down offers from Turkey to joined a very ambitious club," Sankoh explained.
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