Saturday, January 7
Europe's Most Misunderstood Country
Stretching 192km, the Peak of the Balkans Trail bridges three previously war-torn nations and crosses through some of the continent's least-explored landscapes.
Hiking through the green valleys and wildflower-strewn meadows under blazing sunshine, with the gunmetal-grey Albanian Alps towering overhead, I was struck by the utter remoteness of this landscape. Unlike Europe's more famous alpine resorts, there were no hotels or ski lifts in sight.
Instead, the sweeping setting evoked a startling sense of isolation, and I couldn't help but feel I'd entered a back-of-the-wardrobe secret land that had somehow evaded the attention of the outside world.
Stretching from Northern Albania into southern Kosovo and north-eastern Montenegro, the Albanian Alps are better known by their local Albanian (Bjeshkët e Nëmuna) and Serbo-Croatian (Prokletije) names – both of which mean "The Accursed Mountains".
Stretching from Northern Albania into southern Kosovo and north-eastern Montenegro, the Albanian Alps are better known by their local Albanian (Bjeshkët e Nëmuna) and Serbo-Croatian (Prokletije) names – both of which mean "The Accursed Mountains".
Yet, the question of how these serrated limestone slopes got their unusual moniker remains something of a mystery.
According to local legend, the devil escaped from hell and created the jagged glacial karsts in a single day of mischief. Some say the alps' name stems from a woman who cursed the mountains when she was trekking through them with her children on a scorching-hot day and couldn't find any water.
According to local legend, the devil escaped from hell and created the jagged glacial karsts in a single day of mischief. Some say the alps' name stems from a woman who cursed the mountains when she was trekking through them with her children on a scorching-hot day and couldn't find any water.
Others claim Slavic soldiers gave the mountains their name as they struggled to march through them. In a way, the peaks' puzzling origin story is something of a metaphor for Albania as a whole. READ MORE...
Friday, January 6
French Baguettes At Risk
Recently described as "250 grams of magic and perfection" by President Emmanuel Macron, the French baguette is at risk from surging energy prices, with some bakers warning they can no longer afford to fire up their ovens.
Already struggling with sharp hikes in the price of butter, flour and sugar over the last year and a half, the prized industry is now alarmed by astronomical electricity bills looming in 2023.
"It was absolutely inconceivable to me that a power bill could make me close my shop and stop my life here," Julien Bernard-Regnard, a distraught baker in the village of Bourgaltroff in eastern France, told AFP by phone.
He is still coming to terms with closing his doors for the final time in early December having decided that continuing his business, built up over the last five years, was impossible given the cost of electricity.
"I had to renew my contract at the beginning of September and it increased by three and half times," he said.
His monthly power costs rose from around 400 euros ($420) a month to nearly 1,500, while shopping around for an alternative supplier brought no relief.
"I'm in lots of online groups with other bakers and on social media. There are bakeries closing every day. Some have bills that are multiplied by 10 or 12. There's someone else 40 kilometres (25 miles) from me who's just shut down," he added.
In a country where the availability of crusty daily bread is a political issue fraught with danger for any government, Macron's cabinet is keen to show it is doing everything possible to safeguard the nation's 35,000 bread and croissant makers. READ MORE...
Pakistan Closes Due To Market Crisis
Pakistan’s government has ordered measures to conserve energy, including closing all malls and markets by 8:30pm (15:30 GMT), as the country grapples with a crippling power and economic crisis.
The cabinet-approved measures are expected to save the country about 62 billion Pakistani rupees ($273m), Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told journalists on Tuesday.
Pakistan finds itself strapped for cash as money expected to come in under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme has been delayed. Its foreign exchange reserves now barely cover a month of imports, most of which are for energy purchases.
The defence minister said additional measures that will take immediate effect include shutting restaurants and wedding halls by 10pm (17:00 GMT). He said some market representatives had pushed for longer hours, but the government decided that an earlier closure was needed.
Asif also said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had ordered all government departments to reduce electricity consumption by 30 percent.
The measures are being implemented as Pakistan struggles to quell fears of a default after the $1.1bn in IMF funding was delayed. Islamabad has differences with the IMF over a review the agency is conducting of policy and reforms it is requiring in Pakistan. The review should have been completed in November. READ MORE...
England's Biggest Wind Turbine
Work to build England's biggest wind turbine will start in February.
The 150-metre structure will dwarf the other turbines already in Avonmouth, Bristol, when it is finished. Around 100 tonnes of steel and 1,000 tonnes of concrete will be needed to build it.
Project development manager David Tudgey said the turbine would be a "real testament of hope for the future". It is hoped it will be up and running by spring, providing low-carbon electricity to 3,500 homes and saving 1,965 tonnes of CO2 per year.
The turbine is owned by community group Ambition Community Energy and planning permission was granted by Bristol City Council in 2020.
It is one of only a handful of onshore wind turbines to be approved since new planning laws came into effect in 2016 which made it much harder to build them.
The government vowed to relax these rules earlier in the month, after backbenchers threatened to rebel. Charles Gamble, from Ambition Community Energy, said it was "quite a difficult site" because of the turbine's size. READ MORE...
Thursday, January 5
House Republicans & the US of A
What is going on in the House is no different that the former GONG SHOW on TV...
I wouldn't vote for a REPUBLICAN now if you paid me...
On the other side of the coin, I wouldn't vote for a Democrat either after listening to all their lies and what they have done since Biden became President.
This country's leadership SUCKS...
- We deserve to become a 3rd rate nation
- We deserve piss poor education and educator
- We deserve crime and violence in our cities
- We deserve an increase in drug addiction
- We deserve immigrants to ruin our quality of life
I am so glad that I am retired and 75... Cannot wait to see what the next generation does after experiencing what this one is doing...
There won't be anything left but Billionaires and IDIOTS... and, people like me.
African American Artist - Kara Walker
Kara Elizabeth Walker (born November 26, 1969) is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. She is best known for her room-size tableaux of black cut-paper silhouettes. Walker was awarded a MacArthur fellowship in 1997, at the age of 28, becoming one of the youngest ever recipients of the award. She has been the Tepper Chair in Visual Arts at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University since 2015.
Walker was born in 1969 in Stockton, California. Her father, Larry Walker, was a painter and professor. Her mother Gwendolyn was an administrative assistant. A 2007 review in the New York Times described her early life as calm, noting that "nothing about [Walker's] very early life would seem to have predestined her for this task. Born in 1969, she grew up in an integrated California suburb, part of a generation for whom the uplift and fervor of the civil rights movement and the want-it-now anger of Black Power were yesterday's news."
Setting Aside ONE THIRD of our Planet for Nature
It's being called a last chance for nature - 100 countries backing calls to protect 30% of the planet. The aim is to reach this goal by 2030 and conserve forests and other vital ecosystems in order to restore the natural world. The "30x30" target is the key ambition of the UN biodiversity summit, COP 15
But as the talks in Montreal, Canada, move into their final days, there is division over this and many other targets. Biodiversity refers to all living things, from polar bears to plankton, and the way they fit together to sustain life on Earth.
Scientists have warned that with forests and grasslands being lost at unprecedented rates and oceans under pressure from pollution and over-fishing, humans are pushing the Earth beyond safe limits. This includes increasing the risk of diseases, like SARs CoV-2, Ebola and HIV, spilling over from wild animals into human populations.
Under the proposed agreement, countries would sign up to targets to expand protected areas, such as nature reserves. It draws inspiration from the so-called "father of biodiversity", the biologist Edward O Wilson, who called for half of Earth to be protected.
But there is debate over how much land and sea to include, and some scientists fear the targets may be diluted. READ MORE...
Existential Threats of Truth and Reality
For example, when one media outlet reports that there are illegal immigrants coming across our southern borders and another media outlet does not report that at all... which one is telling the truth?
Just because something is reported does not make it true, nor does not reporting something make it true either...
So what then in TRUTH?
Is my truth just my reality and belongs to no one else or is reality shared? And how many people must share that reality in order for it to be perceived as truth?
Here is another example...
What about the theoretical?
Some physicists believe that everything is composed of very tiny vibrating filaments of energy called strings, but they cannot be seen... it is just a theory.
Where is the truth in this and is that truth enough to create a reality?
Yet another example...
We live in the present truth of time. What is happening right now. But, a second after that reality of time, it is gone.
- Where did it go to?
- Did it really exist?
- Was it real?
- Is that time reality our truth?
Some say that truth is whatever that is written down by those who won the war. And, while that makes sense... it may not be that truthful... for example... do you think that the history of slavery would be written any differently if it had been written by slaves instead of slave owners?
Of course it would...
So, is our slavery history not correct and if so, then it is not truthful... and the reality of slavery is fundamentally different than we think its reality has been portrayed.
This is a serious existential threat... to our future as well as our present... however, it does not really impact the past as the past has already happened and cannot be replayed... replaying the past is not the same as retelling the past.
Who is responsible for accurately conveying the TRUTH that ultimately creates our REALITY?
Pipebots to Stop Leaks
Around three billion litres of water are lost through leaks across hundreds of thousands of miles of water pipe in England and Wales daily, says water industry economic regulator Ofwat. Engineers have now developed miniature robots to patrol the pipe network, check for faults and prevent leaks. They say maintaining the network will be "impossible" without robotics. Water industry body Water UK told BBC News that companies were already "investing billions" in leakage.
But a recent Ofwat report pointed to a lack of investment by water companies. It named several that it said were "letting down customers and the environment" by not spending enough on improvements. Water UK responded saying that leakage was at "its lowest level since privatisation".
Leaks are a widespread and complicated problem: Across the UK, hundreds of thousands of kilometres of pipe - of varying age and in varying condition - supply millions of properties with water.
Colin Day from Essex and Suffolk Water said: "In [this region] alone, we look after more than 8,500km (5,282 miles) of pipe and only about half the leaks in those pipes are visible, which means it's complicated to pinpoint where [the rest] are."
Wasted water has been a particularly sensitive issue this year. According to Water UK, three companies - South East Water, South West Water, and Yorkshire Water - still have localised hosepipe bans in place following the summer drought. And, amid the cost of living crisis, Ofwat estimates 20% of customers in England and Wales struggle to pay their water bill. In the last year, though, according to Ofwat, companies have reduced leakage by an average of about 6%.
The industry has committed to a government target of halving the amount of water lost by 2050. Water UK accepted that progress needed to "accelerate". "We're adopting the latest technology, including special in-pipe cameras; satellite imaging; thermal drone technology, high-tech probes, and artificial intelligence," it told BBC News. READ MORE...
Relativism
So, what does this mean to us?
It means that we can never achieve the pursuit of equality and equity since this perception of relativism is prevelent in our society. This is going to be hard for some of us to understand and/or accept. Logically, we can see that everyone is not the same regarding their height, beauty, athletic or musical ability, and intelligence... This makes sense to us... to some degree. BUT PERCEPTION is not as easily accepted. And, when one marries perception and personality, then it becomes even more difficult to accept becasuse we do not associate either one of those terms with behavior or ccommunications.
Therein lies our problem.
- What causes someone to become seen as a genius?
- What causes someone to be a doer instead of a thinker?
- What causes someone to be a leader rather than a follower?
While we can never be definitive on answering those questions as there so so many factors that could contribute to the influence, we do accept that perception and personality are some of those influences.
- What motivates a thinker is different than a doer...
- What motivates a genius is different than what motivates a non-genius...
- What motivate a leader is different than what motivates a follower...
Not only is this logical but it is also common sense.
How many people do you know that have no or little common sense?
If you are like me, there are many...
TO ME... THIS IS THE FOUDATION OF RELATIVISM... think about that...
How long will it last if we try to FORCE EVERYONE to accept EQUALITY and EQUITY which is exactly what the liberals, progressives, and blacks want us to do...
What I find really interesting is that blacks only represent 12% of the US population whereas whites represent 60% five times greater...
These different percentages are a perfect example of relativism... all we have to do is look at the way we were raised and the stories that we share with our children... and, even more important is the way whites and black worship...
I was raised in the South, NC specifically, and my upbringing and history lessons were different than those who were raised in the North... this alone causes relativism...
Wednesday, January 4
Venezuela and Socialism
In the 1950s, Venezuela was the fourth wealthiest country in the world. Today, Venezuela is poorer than it was prior to the 1920s, its infrastructure is deteriorating, and its economy has been shrinking since the turn of the century. Hyperinflation (out of control price increases) has left the currency worthless and made it almost impossible for Venezuelans to afford basic necessities. Millions have fled the country’s inhospitable conditions.
How did the country go from having a GDP on par with that of the United States, New Zealand, and Switzerland to having almost 90% of the population living in poverty?
This brief takes a closer look at Venezuela’s past and present social, political, and economic circumstances, the role socialist policies played, and how this relates to conversations within our own government. Understanding the history of such an evolution is an important way to keep similar tendencies from reaching other shores, including our own.
In what was once Latin America’s richest nation, over 75% of Venezuelans are living in extreme poverty. According to a September 2021 report from the National Survey of Living Conditions, created in 2014 to make up for the absence of official data, the percentage of Venezuelans living in extreme poverty rose from 67.7% to 76.6%. This is a reversal of the improvement in previous years after the government started cash transfers and relaxed price controls. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the crisis in Venezuela that had already been ongoing for years; before the pandemic, the UN World Food Programme estimated one-third of Venezuelans struggled to get enough food to meet the minimum nutritional requirements.
Food assistance;
Emergency shelter;
Access to health care, water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies;
COVID-19 support;
Protection for vulnerable groups including women, children, and indigenous people;
Assistance to democratic actors within Venezuela;
Integration support for communities that host Venezuelan refugees and migrants, “including development programs to expand access to education, vocational opportunities, and public services.”
As of early 2022, more than 7 million Venezuelans in Venezuela are in critical need, and almost 6 million have fled to 17 countries across the region. READ MORE...
Emergency shelter;
Access to health care, water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies;
COVID-19 support;
Protection for vulnerable groups including women, children, and indigenous people;
Assistance to democratic actors within Venezuela;
Integration support for communities that host Venezuelan refugees and migrants, “including development programs to expand access to education, vocational opportunities, and public services.”
As of early 2022, more than 7 million Venezuelans in Venezuela are in critical need, and almost 6 million have fled to 17 countries across the region. READ MORE...
Venezuela and OPEC
Venezuela has played a crucial role in OPEC’s history
Vienna, Austria, 14 September 2021--Article by HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC Secretary General, on the occasion of the Organization’s 61st Anniversary.
The fourteenth of September is a date of profound significance for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It was on this day in 1960 that the five Founding Fathers of OPEC, Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo of Venezuela; Abdullah al-Tariki of Saudi Arabia; Dr Tala’at al-Shaibani of Iraq; Dr Fuad Rouhani of Iran; and Ahmed Sayed Omar of Kuwait gathered together in the Al-Shaab Hall in Baghdad and brought the Organization into being.
It is a tremendous source of pride for me, as Secretary General that I can commemorate this year’s ‘OPEC Day’ on an official visit to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. As a Founder Member, Venezuela has played a crucial role in the Organization’s formation and its subsequent successes throughout its history. On behalf of the entire OPEC Family, I would like to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Government and people of Venezuela who have done so much to make OPEC the distinguished Organization that it is today.
Following the establishment of OPEC, Pérez Alfonzo said: “We are now united. We are making history.” These words proved extremely prescient. Pérez Alfonzo had midwifed the birth of our Organization through his strong partnership with Abdullah al-Tariki of Saudi Arabia. Pérez Alfonso was ably supported at this time by another distinguished contributor to OPEC’s successful history, Dr. Alirio Parra. Subsequent generations of distinguished public servants took up the baton passed to them and have served our Organization with distinction in various capacities.
One of the most significant events in the history of the Organization was the Second Summit of Heads of State and Government of OPEC Member Countries, held in Caracas, Venezuela, 27–28 September 2000. The Second Solemn Declaration responded to new developments in the energy industry brought on with the dawning of a new millennium. This included addressing environmental issues, broadening the concept of economic development to embrace the key component of stability and at the same time placing a heavy stress on eradicating energy poverty. READ MORE...
Facts About Venezuela
Venezuela, officially known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a South American country that has over 31 million people, stunning scenery and nice tropical weather that makes swimming in the Caribbean Sea a year-round activity for many Venezuelans and tourists. Sounds great, right? Let’s learn more about this charming region through these 10 fun facts about Venezuela and discover a land full of spectacular wildlife and delicious cacao.
Venezuela is home to the world’s largest rodent.
Tourist Attractions in Venezuela
Venezuela is a country of beautiful landscapes and surprising sights, from the coast to the mountain tops. Magnificent waterfalls tumble off table top mountains, and coastal towns and offshore islands offer pleasant escapes and soft-sand beaches.
Inland, the Andes Mountains, soaring to over 16,000 feet, provide a stunning backdrop to colorful and lively cities, and the Orinoco Delta is teeming with wildlife. Caracas, the capital and largest city in the country, offers its own type of adventure, with a number of cultural sites and surrounding attractions.
The best places to visit are not always the easiest to reach, and Venezuela is no exception. Some of these destinations are well off the beaten path. For inspirational ideas, see our list of the top tourist attractions in Venezuela.
1. Angel Falls (see photo above)
TO READ ABOUT THE OTHER ATTRACTIONS, CLICK HERE...
All About Venezuela
Venezuela, country located at the northern end of South America. It occupies a roughly triangular area that is larger than the combined areas of France and Germany.
Venezuela is bounded by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the southwest and west. The national capital, Caracas, is Venezuela’s primary centre of industry, commerce, education, and tourism.
Venezuela administers a number of Caribbean islands and archipelagos, among which are Margarita Island, La Blanquilla, La Tortuga, Los Roques, and Los Monjes.
Venezuela administers a number of Caribbean islands and archipelagos, among which are Margarita Island, La Blanquilla, La Tortuga, Los Roques, and Los Monjes.
Since the early 19th century Venezuela has claimed jurisdiction over Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River totaling some 53,000 square miles (137,000 square km)—nearly two-thirds of the land area of Guyana. Venezuela also has had a long dispute with Colombia over the delimitation of maritime boundaries in the Gulf of Venezuela and around the archipelago of Los Monjes.
A physiographically diverse country, Venezuela incorporates the northern Andean mountain chains and interior highlands, the main portions of the Orinoco River basin with its expansive Llanos (plains), Lake Maracaibo, which is the largest lake in South America, and the spectacular Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall. The republic’s development pattern has been unique among Latin American countries in terms of the speed, sequence, and timing of economic and demographic growth.
A physiographically diverse country, Venezuela incorporates the northern Andean mountain chains and interior highlands, the main portions of the Orinoco River basin with its expansive Llanos (plains), Lake Maracaibo, which is the largest lake in South America, and the spectacular Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall. The republic’s development pattern has been unique among Latin American countries in terms of the speed, sequence, and timing of economic and demographic growth.
In the 20th century Venezuela was transformed from a relatively poor agrarian society to a rapidly urbanizing one, a condition made possible by exploiting huge petroleum reserves. These changes, however, were accompanied by imbalances among the country’s regions and socioeconomic groups, and Venezuela’s cities swelled because of a massive and largely uncontrolled migration from rural areas, as well as mass immigration, much of it illegal, from Colombia and other neighbours. READ MORE...
Tuesday, January 3
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)