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2018 Bucharest to Amsterdam

July 30 2018. Nuremberg. The first stop on our Nuremberg tour was at the Zeppelinfeld originally the spot where one of Count Zepppelin's airships landed thus Zeppelin Field. In 1933 and 1934 it became the rally grounds for the Nazi party. Later Albert S




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No Ed and Michele are not traveling

Like hopefully the rest of you we are home keeping a low profile. And with no travel plans in the foreseeable future i have had a chance to start going thru 35 yrs of travel pics and at least 20 journals of various trips that were written the old fash




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Lares trek notes in the margin

Okay how is everyone doing After 3 weeks I finally figured out how to use my blackberry on WIFI Now I will send out my updates without any issues....I forgot another couple of updates from the LARSE trekOkay so everyone know that I have d




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Lares Trek

Hallo zusammenSo ich bin wieder zurueck vom Lares Trek. Es hat mir super gefallen. Leider war das Wetter nicht so optimal aber wir hatten Glueck dass es immer erst anfing zu regnen wenn wir bereits unsere Zelte aufgestellt habenSodeli von Anfan




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Chapter 6 The Only Thing on Time in Paris are the Strikes

Onward we go to the last known city on our itnerary ParisWe boarded a train from Nice to Marseille and then Marseille to Paris. I have to say having been a feast for mosquitos the last dew nights I was kinda glad to be out of Nice that morning.




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Arequipa

From Ica we took our first overnight bus 12 hours down to Arequipa. The bus companies in Peru don't have the most reliable reputations Cruz del Sur is supposed to be the most safe but a bit more expensive than the others. We got the last two tickets on




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Arequipa Volcanoes Condors

When I got to Arequipa a white city within view of three volcanoes in the middle of the desert I was really feeling the absence of Conny and Jennie. It was odd to suddenly be on my own again after 2 weeks of being part of a three. And for the four month




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Apple’s software updates are like changing the water in a fish tank. I’d rather let the fish die | Charlie Brooker

The all-new iPhones and Apple Watch can be easily avoided but there’s no escaping iOS 8

The past few weeks haven’t been great for Apple. First they were implicated in the stolen celebrity nude photo disaster, which reminded everybody how easily clouds leak. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think the iPhone is generally marketed as a diabolical timewasting device with the potential to wreak a grotesque and devastating invasion of your personal privacy. They tend to focus more on all the cool colours it comes in.

Then they launched the horrible-looking Apple Watch, which does everything an iPhone can do, but more expensively and pointlessly, and on a slightly different part of your body. Only an unhealthily devoted Apple fanatic could bear to wear a Apple Watch, and even that poor notional idiot would have to keep putting their iPhone down in order to operate the damn thing. It’ll scarcely be used for telling the time, just as the iPhone is scarcely used for making calls. It’s not a watch. It’s a gaudy wristband aimed at raising awareness of Chinese factory conditions. Or a handy visual tag that helps con artists instantly identify gullible rich idiots in a crowd.

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A trafficked penguin, a creepy talking doll and trench warfare | Charlie Brooker

The John Lewis and Sainsbury’s ads have kickstarted an earlier-than-ever festive season in which we’ll shop or click our way to bankruptcy chasing 15% off the top Christmas products. But beware of My Friend Cayla …

Hey, remember when Christmas used to last 12 days? Now it’s so bloated it’s virtually an epoch, lasting twice as long as the year it falls in. The early-warning signs keep changing: not so long ago the start of the holiday season was signified by the release of the Christmas edition of the Radio Times. Now it’s the annual unveiling of the John Lewis ad, which this year features a boy arranging for a trafficked overseas bird to be smuggled into the country inside a small container and presented like a gift-wrapped object to the laddish penguin mate who exists only in his troubled mind. They say psychopathic murderers often start their “careers” by doing ghastly things to animals: hopefully they’ll keep the storyline going year after year, as his illusory brain-penguin commands him to carry out increasingly hideous yuletide ceremonies, until eventually the advert consists of nothing but him appeasing the Penguin King by dancing in the moonlight wearing a necklace of ears and eyeballs, all of it seen through the sights of a police marksman positioned on the roof of a neighbour’s evacuated home.

But this year, the John Lewis ad has been overshadowed by gargantuan supermarket and noted humanitarian anti-war campaigner J Sainsbury PLC, and its tear-jerking period piece in which a perfectly good war is ruined by a tragic outbreak of football.

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Never mind the 'selfie stick' – here are some REALLY useful inventions | Charlie Brooker

Products I’ve made up for the sheer giddy thrill of it include Total Farage Plus, which skilfully Photoshops the Ukip leader into whatever you’re looking at

This week it’s the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, an annual opportunity for tech companies to unveil their latest gizmos during January’s traditional slow news week, thereby picking up precious coverage that might otherwise be spent detailing something – anything – more important than an egg whisk with a USB port in the side.

At the time of writing, the show is yet to kick off, although some of the offerings have already been unveiled – such as “Belty”, the world’s first “smart belt”, which monitors your waistline and tells you when it’s time to lose weight, just like a mirror or a close friend might. More excitingly, it adjusts to your girth (again, like a close friend might), and will tighten or loosen itself according to your current level of blubber. No word yet on whether it’s possible to pop a Belty round your neck and order it to squeeze you into the afterlife, but there’s no reason they can’t incorporate that feature in Belty 2.0, except maybe on basic ethical, moral and humanitarian grounds.

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The new Mario is self aware. How long before he goes inside you to fix things? | Charlie Brooker

Researchers have created a version of Mario that experiences basic emotions – now he needs a purpose that affects the real world

It’s-a-me, Mario! And soon I’ll be playing my games without your help …

January is traditionally a fairly sleepy month, current affairs-wise, but a horrified gawp at the news confirms that 2015 has already had one heck of a morning. Clearly it takes a lot to knock a garish underage sex allegation involving Prince Andrew off the news agenda, but the Parisian terror attacks managed it, partly because the horror of it all warranted such blanket coverage, but also because the resulting conversation about freedom of speech is taking up so many column inches, there’s scarcely room to run anything else. There hasn’t been this much furious debate about the merits of a cartoon since the introduction of Scrappy Doo.

(Fun imaginary scenario: in a bid to revive their flagging ratings, ITV launch a live, feelgood Saturday night version of Celebrity Pictionary. But chaos ensues when Paddy McGuinness pulls the first card from the deck to discover it requires him to sketch the Prophet Muhammad.)

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Stiftung Warentest über Bluetooth-Kopfhörer: "Ein Gerät hat 'sehr gut'"

Viele Bluetooth-Kopfhörer liefern gute Klangqualität, sagt Peter Knaak von der Stiftung Warentest. Worauf Sie beim Kauf achten sollten.




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The Corona Crisis In Retirement Homes: A Threat for Seniors and Caregivers Alike

The gravest threat posed by the coronavirus is that high-risk groups like the elderly and other high-risk groups will get infected by it. The pressure on staffs at nursing homes is growing. Some patient advocates are calling for emergency contingency plans. Are the facilities safe enough for the people living in them?




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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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Corona: How People Around the World Are Supporting Each Other

The coronavirus is forcing us to keep our distance from other people. Yet these extraordinary times have also brought forth moments of warmth and solidarity. People are offering each other words of encouragement and banding together to fight their loneliness.




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Changes in Black-White Inequality: Evidence from the Boll Weevil -- by Karen Clay, Ethan J. Schmick, Werner Troesken

This paper investigates the effect of a large negative agricultural shock, the boll weevil, on black-white inequality in the first half of the twentieth century. To do this we use complete count census data to generate a linked sample of fathers and their sons. We find that the boll weevil induced enormous labor market and social disruption as more than half of black and white fathers moved to other counties following the arrival of the weevil. The shock impacted black and white sons differently. We compare sons whose fathers initially resided in the same county and find that white sons born after the boll weevil had similar wages and schooling outcomes to white sons born prior to its arrival. In contrast, black sons born after the boll weevil had significantly higher wages and years of schooling, narrowing the black-white wage and schooling gaps. This decrease appears to have been driven by relative improvements in early life conditions and access to schooling both for sons of black fathers that migrated out of the South and sons of black fathers that stayed in the South.




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Employer Policies and the Immigrant-Native Earnings Gap -- by Benoit Dostie, Jiang Li, David Card, Daniel Parent

We use longitudinal data from the income tax system to study the impacts of firms’ employment and wage-setting policies on the level and change in immigrant-native wage differences in Canada. We focus on immigrants who arrived in the early 2000s, distinguishing between those with and without a college degree from two broad groups of countries – the U.S., the U.K. and Northern Europe, and the rest of the world. Consistent with a growing literature based on the two-way fixed effects model of Abowd, Kramarz, and Margolis (1999), we find that firm-specific wage premiums explain a significant share of earnings inequality in Canada and contribute to the average earnings gap between immigrants and natives. In the decade after receiving permanent status, earnings of immigrants rise relative to those of natives. Compositional effects due to selective outmigration and changing participation play no role in this gain. About one-sixth is attributable to movements up the job ladder to employers that offer higher pay premiums for all groups, with particularly large gains for immigrants from the “rest of the world” countries.




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Does Economics Make You Sexist? -- by Valentina A. Paredes, M. Daniele Paserman, Francisco Pino

Recent research has highlighted unequal treatment for women in academic economics along several different dimensions, including promotion, hiring, credit for co-authorship, and standards for publication in professional journals. Can the source of these differences lie in biases against women that are pervasive in the discipline, even among students in the earliest stages of their training? In this paper, we provide evidence on the importance of explicit and implicit biases against women among students in economics relative to other fields. We conducted a large scale survey among undergraduate students in Chilean universities, among both entering first-year students and students in years 2 and above. On a wide battery of measures, economics students are more biased than students in other fields. Economics students are somewhat more biased already upon entry, before exposure to any economics classes. The gap is more pronounced among students in years 2 and above, in particular for male students. We also find an increase in bias in a sample of students that we follow longitudinally. Differences in political ideology explain essentially all the gap at entry, but none of the increase in the gap with exposure. Exposure to female students and faculty attenuates some of the bias.




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Germany Prepares for an Economic Downturn

Clouds are gathering on the horizon of the global economy and the risk of a recession is growing. Many experts believe that the international banking system is unprepared and Germany has begun getting ready for the worst.




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German Cybersecurity Chief: Threats Posed by Huawei Are Manageable

In an interview, Arne Schönbohm, 49, the head of Germany's Federal Office for Information Security, discusses the potential danger posed by Huawei, why he thinks it is "manageable" and the general state of IT threats in Germany.




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Germany: Carmakers Prepare To Restart Production

German carmakers are going to have to open up their factories and car dealerships again soon – otherwise they could face a widespread collapse. And that would be disastrous for the German economy.




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For Latinos and COVID-19, doctors are seeing an ‘alarming’ disparity




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Founders of Utah’s R&R BBQ are retiring




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Letter: Bad things happen when we aren’t looking




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Trump’s valet tests positive for coronavirus, but both the president and Pence are fine

A member of the U.S. Navy who serves as one of President Trump’s personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus.




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Jimmy Glenn, boxing cornerman and owner of ‘Jimmy’s Corner’ bar in Times Square, dies at 89 of coronavirus

Glenn, a former boxer and owner of popular Times Square bar Jimmy's Corner, died of coronavirus early Thursday morning at 89.




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Ahmaud Arbery supporters are running 2.23 miles on what would be his 26th birthday

Supporters for Ahmaud Arbery, the unarmed black jogger who was fatally shot by two white men on a Georgia road in broad daylight, are planning to run 2.23 miles Friday to celebrate what would be his 26th birthday and call for justice in the case. Organizers of the virtual run are asking people to go for a walk, jog or run and post a photo, video or written message on social media with the hashtag #IRunwithAhmaud.




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DC Comics superhero Hershey bars are coming but sent to frontline coronavirus workers first

Talk about a sweet gesture. A line of DC Comics superhero chocolate bars is coming, but before you can get your hands on them, Hershey’s is first giving them out to workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.




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All buzz and no sting? Experts say ‘murder hornets’ are overhyped

They don’t want people bugging out.




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Taking government money? Disclose your political spending: Companies should opt for transparency now more than ever

With increasing reports of large public companies and politically connected ones receiving COVID-19 rescue aid and the Trump administration blocking proper oversight, business leaders can act on their own to protect the integrity of the government aid effort and of companies themselves. They can do that by disclosing their companies’ political spending to show that political influence is not a factor in who gets help.




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GREENE: Same profiling, same brutality, same disrespect — social distancing enforcement shows NYC ‘not as far as we think we are’

As much as Mayor de Blasio wants to pretend these arrests are just a drop in the bucket, from the point of view of those being constantly dropped in the bucket, the city’s heavy-handed coronavirus crackdown is just more of the same.Same profiling. Same brutality. Same disrespect.




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If dairy is essential, why aren’t my rights? A N.Y. farmworker’s plea

I am proud that companies and farms are donating milk to many people. I am proud because I am one of the workers who helps produce that milk.




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The world’s largest Starbucks opens tomorrow in Chicago. Here’s what to expect if you go, from rare beans to coffee cocktails.

The Reserve Roastery Chicago opens Friday, transforming the former Crate & Barrel space into five floors of coffee wonderland.




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Orlando housing: As Baby Boomers die, area may have too many excess homes

Over the next 20 years more than a quarter of the nation’s currently owner-occupied homes will be on the market as owners pass on with Orlando being one of the top impacted areas.




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‘Be prepared for the Wild West’: As real estate’s busy season winds up, here’s how to buy or sell a home during the coronavirus pandemic

Real estate data suggests the market took a downturn in March that might already be rebounding. Here's what experts predict.




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Wicklow jockey Jackson cheered on to biggest career win

Irish jockey Shane Jackson achieved the biggest win of his eight-year Australian stint with victory in the Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool on Tuesday.




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Koeman issues upbeat update after health scare

Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman is feeling "fit as a fiddle" after undergoing a heart procedure in Amsterdam at the weekend, the former Everton and Southampton boss confirmed.




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Immigration, Innovation, and Growth -- by Konrad B. Burchardi, Thomas Chaney, Tarek Alexander Hassan, Lisa Tarquinio, Stephen J. Terry

We show a causal impact of immigration on innovation and dynamism in US counties. To identify the causal impact of immigration, we use 130 years of detailed data on migrations from foreign countries to US counties to isolate quasi-random variation in the ancestry composition of US counties that results purely from the interaction of two historical forces: (i) changes over time in the relative attractiveness of different destinations within the US to the average migrant arriving at the time and (ii) the staggered timing of the arrival of migrants from different origin countries. We then use this plausibly exogenous variation in ancestry composition to predict the total number of migrants flowing into each US county in recent decades. We show four main results. First, immigration has a positive impact on innovation, measured by the patenting of local firms. Second, immigration has a positive impact on measures of local economic dynamism. Third, the positive impact of immigration on innovation percolates over space, but spatial spillovers quickly die out with distance. Fourth, the impact of immigration on innovation is stronger for more educated migrants.




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Optimal Regulation of E-cigarettes: Theory and Evidence -- by Hunt Allcott, Charlie Rafkin

We model optimal e-cigarette regulation and estimate key sufficient statistics. Using tax changes and scanner data, we estimate relatively elastic demand and limited substitution between e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes. In sample surveys, historical smoking declines for high- and low-vaping demographics were unchanged after e-cigarettes were introduced; this demographic shift-share identification also suggests limited substitution. We field a new survey of experts, who report that vaping is almost as harmful as smoking cigarettes. In our model, these results imply that current e-cigarette taxes are far below the social optimum, but Monte Carlo simulations highlight substantial uncertainty.




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South Brooklynites are fed up with spotty R and D train service: report

The survey of more than 700 people in Sen. Andrew Gounardes’ district — which stretches from Bay Ridge to Manhattan Beach — found that half of those who take the subway to work need to transfer at least once during their commutes.




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Church desecration suspect in custody after Brooklyn priest, altar are splashed with juice during Sunday morning service

A 14-second video captured the unsettling scene inside St. Anthony of Padua Church in Greenpoint as the Rev. Jossy Vattothu presided over the 9:30 a.m. Mass, with the man strolling casually inside the house of worship with a container of juice in his right hand.




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11-year-old Brooklyn girl dies in fire amid probe into whether her parents abused her, say sources

Shirr Teved was inside her home near Foster Ave. in Flatbush when a fire broke out about 10:30 p.m. Monday.




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After legendary 53-year career, Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein hangs up his robe at age 98

Judge Jack Weinstein on Monday moved to inactive status, closing out a 53-year career. A highlight of his law career was working with Thurgood Marshall on the legal arguments that led the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation was illegal. He was named a federal judge in 1967, and on his retirement was the last appointee of President Lyndon Johnson still on the bench.




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Two NYC Education Dept. employees who shared building with principal who died of coronavirus also hospitalized: sources

Rona Phillips, the principal of KAPPA V High School in Brownsville, is in intensive care with pneumonia, officials said. “Our thoughts are with Principal Phillips and her family for a speedy recovery, and we’ll support the school community in every way we can,” said Education Department spokeswoman Miranda Barbot.




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New Jersey mom-to-be gets coronavirus, delivers baby daughter in a coma, lives to tell the tale: ‘I’m extremely grateful that my baby and I are alive’

“I’m still going through the motions. The wounds are still really fresh,” said Johana Rocio Mendoza Chancay. “But I’m extremely grateful that my baby and I are alive,” she said, breaking down in tears.




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‘It’s as bad as you think’: Public defense attorney reports seeing inmates in Brooklyn federal jail ‘begging’ for medical care, guards without protection

When Deirdre Von Dornum and the others arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal Bureau of Prisons staffer wearing no gloves or mask greeted them in the lobby, according to the email.




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Resilient New Yorkers share messages of hope and support across the city as the war against coronavirus stretches on

New Yorkers leave messages of hope through the coronavirus pandemic.




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NYC schools Chancellor apologizes to Queens parents, promises meeting

Carranza made an early exit from a community meeting in Bayside last week after two parents demanded answers about violent incidents at Marie Curie Middle School. “I in no way want to show disrespect to any parent that wants to be heard, and I apologize because as a parent myself, I can only imagine the pain parents are feeling when their children have been hurt,” he said.




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Parents fight to keep key autism therapy when kids enter NYC schools

Applied Behavior Analysis is administered frequently to 0-3-year-olds in the state’s Early Intervention system.