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Hot Springs Arkansas Days 67

Wayne had the FULL bathmassage experience at the Buckstaff Bathhouse this morning. He loved it I shopped around downtown while he was there. The nicest shop I found is called Girlie Girls. They design their own jewelry and it is beautiful. If you are th




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Hot Springs Arkansas Days 45

We played a lot of cards today and just lazed around. We went out to eat lunch at Colton39s Steakhouse as there was a coupon in the paper for 2 lunch entrees for 12.99. It was a great deal as most of our entrees were over 9 originally. I made a Mock L




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So much has happened

Hey everyoneI really need to start writing blogs more often because now I have soo much to talk about lol Ok let me start a couple days back. On Tuesday we had orientation in the morning but in the afternoon Puran and Bikash took us out to get to kn




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While I Was Reading . . .

Okay so in a moment of sanity I actually decided to take it a bit easy yesterday and not run around like a mad man probably a result of having climbed a 7000ft mountain Hua Shan the day before. So I spent half of yesterday visiting the Army of Terra




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Sun Kissed and Running with the Wild Ajummas

After a week or so of the kind of weather that made me want to curl up in bed or in front of a fireplace the sun decided he wanted some time in the limelight and came out to strut his stuff over Guemsan. Thank god because I crave vitamin D like a crackhea




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Our Last Week in Namibia

After the excitement of the desert we then headed to Luderitz a small town sandwiched between the Namib Desert and the battered Atlantic Coast. There is little plant life here just dry barren rocks and colourful German heritage buildings.We drove to




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Last Update

Left Varna for Sofia on Thursday and it's the first time I have nearly missed a plane I was literally the last person on the plane. If it had not been for someone coming to the Hotel and waking me up I would have missed it altogether. 2 uneventfull nights




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First Class

Yesterday was Orientation and I met my fellow classmates. I was incredibly nervous and really anxious...funny how the shoe changes foot from teacher to student and I really appreciate what they go through. Of course the teacher leading us through the




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The Forgotten Coast

92910Left the Moose Lodge in Panama City headed for Port St. Joe. We stopped at That Boot Store and tried on some things but nothing was perfect...I've been looking for a new pair of cowboy boots since we left California...but the owner of the shop




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As I sit here in the stairwell

I just realised I saved this blog but never published it. So it's a week late but here it isI am supposed to be working right now but with only 14 stayovers of about 10 minutes each and the need of a full days pay I am chilling in the stairwell unti




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Irving Dallas and Fort Worth

Howdy from Texas...Fri 24th Sept Managed to find the train station from the greyhound station in downtown dallas got the train to Irving a suburb where the hostel was a woman and her daughter gave us a free lift from the train station to the hostel




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Our last few days in Africa

After a few days alone in Vic falls me and craig wanted out of Zim but guess what happend we got stuck literally We tried the train fully booked we tried flights fully booked our only option was to get the chicken bus to Bullawayo and hope we co




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New Zealand Way to Taupo over Gisborne East Coast Road Opotiki and Rotorura

Arrived in Hasting we're slept on a nice Campsite near a Beach. The german Couple was 3 Days before us there. Manu and Vera are now 9 Month in NZ and have a Working Visa for 1 Year. On the next Day our 2 Vans heading to the North. We visit the Peninsula Ma




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Last day in Brisbane then Home Sweet Home

Hi allWell we're home now safe and sound and seem to have adjusted to the different time zone after a few nights of broken sleep We're both enjoying looking back on on the blog and on what a brilliant time we had in Oz so thought we would wrap it all




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random stuff like rain visas and movies

Sometimes I cannot believe that I actually live in this Central American country. It has been raining and raining and raining since we came home from Managua on Friday. Like the pants 7 pairs 3 mine that I washed in the rain on Saturday morning




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pleasure and pain

Hello slight break in the blog and alots been happening......so the journey continues onto Franz Josef glacier. There was some poetic licence in the description of the 'rain forest canopy' but the tree hut was very nice and comfortable and the




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4 Day Cruise to Cozumel Jan 711 2010. Carnival's Fantasy

I had not had a real vacation since April 2009 and I was going crazy for warm weather. Jason knew how badly I wanted to get away and gave me one of the best Christmas presents a girl could ask for a CRUISE I'm apologizing now for the lack of detail




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Up the East Coast of USA Cape May MD

Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in




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Marthas Vineyard.

Weather was going to turn on us to get to the next destination so our Captain decided to leave Newport early to bit the storm. The boss drove the rental car and took the ferry while we took the yacht Pretty odd. They got in to a little adventure that w




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Spring season in New Zealand

Premier jour Taupo.. o il ne fait pas spcialement beau L'occasion pour moi de revisiter mes premiers jours en NouvelleZlande




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Gamergate: the internet is the toughest game in town – if you’re playing as a woman | Charlie Brooker

It’s a stealth adventure with nowhere to hide and hundreds of respawning enemies waiting to attack you the moment you stand out in any way

I haven’t always been the kind of man who plays videogames. I used to be the kind of boy who played videogames. We’re inseparable, games and I. If you cut me, I’d bleed pixels. Or blood. Probably blood, come to think of it.

Games get a bad press compared with, say, opera – even though they’re obviously better, because no opera has ever compelled an audience member to collect a giant mushroom and jump across some clouds. Nobody writes articles in which opera-lovers are mocked as adult babies who never grew out of make-believe and sing-song; obsessive misfits who flock to weird “opening nights” wearing elaborate “tuxedo” cosplay outfits.

Continue reading...




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Charlie Brooker | The fashion industry is responsible for everything that’s wrong with the world

If the fashion industry truly cared about the future of our planet, it would issue a solitary line of unisex, one-size-fits-all smocks, then shut down for good

So then. Alongside “eating a sandwich” and “holding up a copy of a newspaper”, we now have to add “wearing a T-shirt” to the growing list of Ordinary Things Ed Miliband Somehow Just Can’t Do. The other week he was pictured in Elle magazine wearing the Fawcett Society’s “This Is What a Feminist Looks Like” T-shirt. Last Sunday the Mail claimed those T-shirts are stitched together in a Mauritian sweatshop by women earning 62p an hour.

A T-shirt. He can’t even wear a T-shirt without somehow condemning both himself and any surrounding witnesses to ridicule. What’s going to trip him up next? A doorknob? Next week he operates a doorknob so badly he fractures his wrist, and as the medics wheel him to the operating theatre, they accidentally knock an ageing war veteran off a waiting room chair, leaving him groaning in pain on the floor, at which point Miliband insists they stop his gurney so he can lean over and help the guy up, but he forgets about his fractured wrist, so as the 96-year-old decorated-war-hero-and-humbling-inspiration-to-us-all gingerly grabs his hand, Miliband abruptly screeches a barrage of agonised obscenities directly into his face, causing him to hit the floor again, fatally this time, in front of the world’s media, oh and also Miliband does a frightened little wee at the end, and they film that too.

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How to solve the election debate fiasco: Cameron watches at home, Gogglebox-style

The prime minister has refused to go head-to-head with Ed Miliband – and the multi-party debate we are getting will be a 90-minute cry for help on behalf of the democratic system

Last week, Germany chose its entry for this year’s Eurovision: Heart of Stone, performed by Andreas Kümmert, former winner of the German version of The Voice (which is known as The Voice of Germany in its native country, rather than Die Stimme von Deutschland. Presumably the producers didn’t want to put viewers off by making it sound too German).

After wailing his guts out and winning the public vote, Kümmert abruptly announced, on live TV, that he didn’t actually want to “do” Eurovision after all, and awarded his “prize” to the runner-up instead. A chorus of boos broke out. German boos. Buhen.

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Pippi Langstrumpf wird 75: "Ich weiß noch, dass ich Annika beneidet habe"

Silke Weitendorf war das erste Mädchen, das in Deutschland Pippi Langstrumpf lesen durfte. Später wurde sie Astrid Lindgrens Verlegerin. Hier erzählt sie, was die Schriftstellerin und ihre berühmteste Figur gemeinsam hatten.




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"M.O.M - Milf oder Missy" bei Joyn: Suhlen im flachen Plattitüdenbassin

Das Streamingportal Joyn versucht sich an einem Datingformat: "M.O.M - Milf oder Missy" lässt zwei Männer aus Frauen verschiedenen Alters wählen – und versumpft in faden Klischees. 




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Sebastian Pufpaff: "Ich habe nicht die Antwort, aber ich habe einen guten Witz"

Der Kabarettist Sebastian Pufpaff tritt nun notgedrungen ohne Publikum auf. Hier spricht er über die Stille nach der Pointe - und über den Angriff auf das Team der "heute-show".




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Monika Schnitzer: VW-Skandal wäre mit Frauen im Vorstand nicht passiert

In den Vorständen deutscher Firmen sitzen kaum Frauen - und deshalb fehle "eine Instanz für Zweifel", sagt die neue Wirtschaftsweise Monika Schnitzer. Männer unter sich einigten sich leichter auf "eine genehme Sicht der Dinge".




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Social Design Award 2018: The Final Dash in Our Readers' Competition!

Joint activities, joint projects and improved cooperation: SPIEGEL ONLINE and SPIEGEL WISSEN are looking for the best ideas for creating a vibrant neighborhood. Send us your proposal by August 31!




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Claas Relotius Reporter Forgery Scandal

A DER SPIEGEL reporter committed large-scale journalistic fraud over several years. Internal clues and research have provided significant evidence against reporter Claas Relotius, who has since admitted to the falsifications and is no longer employed by DER SPIEGEL. Other media organizations may also have been affected.




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DER SPIEGEL Statement on Relotius Fraud Case

Claas Relotius wrote many seemingly excellent feature stories for DER SPIEGEL, but unfortunately most of them apparently contain fabricated passages. We are sorry about what has happened and we are investigating with the requisite humility.




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Astronomer Avi Loeb on the Interstellar Body 'Oumuamua

Astronomer Avi Loeb believes that the interstellar object dubbed 'Oumuamua could actually be a probe sent by alien beings. Given the evidence that has so far been gathered, he says, it is a possible conclusion to draw.




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Detecting Linux kernel process masquerading with command line forensics

Guest Post: Learn how to use Linux command line to investigate suspicious processes trying to masquerade as kernel threads.



  • <a href="https://blog.apnic.net/category/tech-matters/">Tech matters</a>

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How to: Build an XDP based BGP peering router

Guest Post: XDP allows you to build a high-performance peering router using just Linux, while leveraging various open-source routing daemons.



  • <a href="https://blog.apnic.net/category/tech-matters/">Tech matters</a>

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Measuring the IPv6 network periphery

Guest Post: IPv6 network periphery is a new term to describe newly measured intricacies of IPv6 CPE and routers at the edge.



  • <a href="https://blog.apnic.net/category/tech-matters/">Tech matters</a>

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SRv6: Deployed use-cases

Guest Post: As of 2019, Segment Routing over IPv6 data plane (SRv6) has been deployed in eight large-scale networks; supported more than 25 hardware implementations at line rate; and implemented in 11 open-source platforms/applications.



  • <a href="https://blog.apnic.net/category/tech-matters/">Tech matters</a>

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Germany: The Big Wave of Corona Cases Will Hit Hospitals in 10 to 14 Days

The German health-care system is considered one of the best in the world. But the coronavirus is mercilessly exposing its weaknesses, with some hospitals already facing difficulties. Can Germany prevent the kind of collapse seen in Italy?




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Corona: German Cabinet Agrees to 750 Billion Euros in Emergency Aid Measures

The German cabinet on Monday agreed to an unprecedented aid package to prop up the country's economy as the coronavirus pandemic takes hold. Parliament is set to approve the package later this week.




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Scientific Experts Release Proposals for Loosening the Lockdown

The Leopoldina National Academy, Germany’s academy of sciences, recommends that schools be reopened soon. Businesses and public authorities are also expected to be reopened gradually. Travel should also be permitted under certain conditions, according to the report, which DER SPIEGEL obtained in advance of publication.




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Corona Crisis: We Should Be Adopting Stricter Measures, Not Loosening the Lockdown

People are growing increasingly impatient over the coronavirus lockdown, and politicians are now debating whether to loosen measures. From a scientific point of view this is a disaster. Measures should actually be tightened until we know more about the virus.




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New Podcast Episode - UEN Homeroom




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Did COVID-19 Improve Air Quality Near Hubei? -- by Douglas Almond, Xinming Du, Shuang Zhang

Ambient pollution is a byproduct of economic activity. It has been widely reported that COVID-19 and associated lockdowns have generated large improvements in air quality worldwide, including to China's notoriously-poor air quality. We analyze China's official pollution monitor data and account for the large, recurrent improvement in air quality following Lunar New Year (LNY), which essentially coincided with lockdowns in 2020. With the important exception of NO2, China's air quality improvements in 2020 are smaller than we should expect near the pandemic's epicenter: Hubei province. Compared with LNY improvements experienced in 2018 and 2019 in Hubei, we see smaller improvements in SO2 while ozone concentrations increased in both relative and absolute terms (roughly doubling). Similar patterns are found for the six provinces neighboring Hubei. We conclude that whether COVID-19 actually decreased pollution in China depends on the pollutant and reference period considered.




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Global Behaviors and Perceptions at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic -- by Thiemo R. Fetzer, Marc Witte, Lukas Hensel, Jon Jachimowicz, Johannes Haushofer, Andriy Ivchenko, Stefano Caria, Elena Reutskaja, Christopher P. Roth, Stefano Fiorin, Margarita G

We conducted a large-scale survey covering 58 countries and over 100,000 respondents between late March and early April 2020 to study beliefs and attitudes towards citizens’ and governments’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most respondents reacted strongly to the crisis: they report engaging in social distancing and hygiene behaviors, and believe that strong policy measures, such as shop closures and curfews, are necessary. They also believe that their government and their country’s citizens are not doing enough and underestimate the degree to which others in their country support strong behavioral and policy responses to the pandemic. The perception of a weak government and public response is associated with higher levels of worries and depression. Using both cross-country panel data and an event-study, we additionally show that strong government reactions correct misperceptions, and reduce worries and depression. Our findings highlight that policy-makers not only need to consider how their decisions affect the spread of COVID-19, but also how such choices influence the mental health of their population.




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The Spread of Coronavirus: Eastern Europe Prepares for the Inevitable

Many countries in Eastern Europe are taking drastic measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 -- in part because their health-care systems may not be up to the task.




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Euro Bonds or Bust? Europe Struggling to Find a Joint Approach to the Corona Catastrophe

Faced with a growing economic crisis, many European Union member states are clamoring for the introduction of so-called corona bonds. Just like it was in the euro crisis, though, Germany is opposed. In the end, Berlin may not have a choice. By DER SPIEGEL Staff




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Portugal: How Lisbon Has Managed the Corona Crisis

While Spain continues to battle a dire coronavirus outbreak, the situation is vastly better in neighboring Portugal. But why?




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European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni: "The EU Cannot Afford to Get Bogged Down in Past Discussions"

On Thursday, European leaders will discuss how to navigate the block through the economic crisis triggered by the novel coronavirus. In a DER SPIEGEL interview, European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni talks about what is at stake and the need to find at least 1 trillion euros.




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Interest Rate Uncertainty as a Policy Tool -- by Fabio Ghironi, G. Kemal Ozhan

We study a novel policy tool—interest rate uncertainty—that can be used to discourage inefficient capital inflows and to adjust the composition of external accounts between short-term securities and foreign direct investment (FDI). We identify the trade-offs faced in navigating between external balance and price stability. The interest rate uncertainty policy discourages short-term inflows mainly through portfolio risk and precautionary saving channels. A markup channel generates net FDI inflows under imperfect exchange rate pass-through. We further investigate new channels under different assumptions about the irreversibility of FDI, the currency of export invoicing, risk aversion of outside agents, and effective lower bound in the rest of the world. Under every scenario, uncertainty policy is inflationary.




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ASCD Express: Yoga and Mindfulness Tools for Managing Trauma

When mindfulness tools become a regular part of the school day, students have productive strategies to deal with stress and e -More



  • New from ASCD

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The Environmental Bias of Trade Policy -- by Joseph S. Shapiro

This paper documents a new fact, then analyzes its causes and consequences: in most countries, import tariffs and non-tariff barriers are substantially lower on dirty than on clean industries, where an industry’s “dirtiness” is defined as its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per dollar of output. This difference in trade policy creates a global implicit subsidy to CO2 emissions in internationally traded goods and so contributes to climate change. This global implicit subsidy to CO2 emissions totals several hundred billion dollars annually. The greater protection of downstream industries, which are relatively clean, substantially accounts for this pattern. The downstream pattern can be explained by theories where industries lobby for low tariffs on their inputs but final consumers are poorly organized. A quantitative general equilibrium model suggests that if countries applied similar trade policies to clean and dirty goods, global CO2 emissions would decrease and global real income would change little.




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China Eases Back Toward Normality Three Months after Outbreak

Twelve weeks after the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in China, leaders in Beijing are gradually reopening the country. But how can they be sure their decision won't backfire?