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xtruss · 8 months

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How Much of the World Is It Possible to Model? Mathematical Models Power Our Civilization—But They Have Limits.

— By Dan Rockmore | January 15, 2024

Illustration by Petra Péterffy

It’s Hard For a Neurosurgeon to Navigate a Brain. A key challenge is gooeyness. The brain is immersed in cerebrospinal fluid; when a surgeon opens the skull, pressure is released, and parts of the brain surge up toward the exit while gravity starts pulling others down. This can happen with special force if a tumor has rendered the skull overstuffed. A brain can shift by as much as an inch during a typical neurosurgery, and surgeons, who plan their routes with precision, can struggle as the territory moves.

In the nineteen-nineties, David Roberts, a neurosurgeon, and Keith Paulsen, an engineer, decided to tackle this problem by building a mathematical model of a brain in motion. Real brains contain billions of nooks and crannies, but their model wouldn’t need to include them; it could be an abstraction encoded in the language of calculus. They could model the brain as a simple, sponge-like object immersed in a flow of fluid and divided into compartments. Equations could predict how the compartments would move with each surgical action. The model might tell surgeons to make the first cut a half inch to the right of where they’d planned to start, and then to continue inward at an angle of forty-three degrees rather than forty-seven.

Roberts and Paulsen designed their model on blackboards at Dartmouth College. Their design had its first clinical test in 1998. A thirty-five-year-old man with intractable epilepsy required the removal of a small tumor. He was anesthetized, his skull was cut open, and his brain began to move. The model drew on data taken from a preoperative MRI scan, and tracked the movement of certain physical landmarks during the surgery; in this way, the real and predicted topography of the exposed brain could be compared, and the new position of the tumor could be predicted. “The agreement between prediction and reality was amazing,” Roberts recalled recently.

Today, descendents of the Roberts and Paulsen model are routinely used to plan neurosurgeries. Modelling, in general, is now routine. We model everything, from elections to economics, from the climate to the coronavirus. Like model cars, model airplanes, and model trains, mathematical models aren’t the real thing—they’re simplified representations that get the salient parts right. Like fashion models, model citizens, and model children, they’re also idealized versions of reality. But idealization and abstraction can be forms of strength. In an old mathematical-modelling joke, a group of experts is hired to improve milk production on a dairy farm. One of them, a physicist, suggests, “Consider a spherical cow.” Cows aren’t spheres any more than brains are jiggly sponges, but the point of modelling—in some ways, the joy of it—is to see how far you can get by using only general scientific principles, translated into mathematics, to describe messy reality.

To be successful, a model needs to replicate the known while generalizing into the unknown. This means that, as more becomes known, a model has to be improved to stay relevant. Sometimes new developments in math or computing enable progress. In other cases, modellers have to look at reality in a fresh way. For centuries, a predilection for perfect circles, mixed with a bit of religious dogma, produced models that described the motion of the sun, moon, and planets in an Earth-centered universe; these models worked, to some degree, but never perfectly. Eventually, more data, combined with more expansive thinking, ushered in a better model—a heliocentric solar system based on elliptical orbits. This model, in turn, helped kick-start the development of calculus, reveal the law of gravitational attraction, and fill out our map of the solar system. New knowledge pushes models forward, and better models help us learn.

Predictions about the universe are scientifically interesting. But it’s when models make predictions about worldly matters that people really pay attention.We anxiously await the outputs of models run by the Weather Channel, the Fed, and fivethirtyeight.com. Models of the stock market guide how our pension funds are invested; models of consumer demand drive production schedules; models of energy use determine when power is generated and where it flows. Insurers model our fates and charge us commensurately. Advertisers (and propagandists) rely on A.I. models that deliver targeted information (or disinformation) based on predictions of our reactions.

But it’s easy to get carried away—to believe too much in the power and elegance of modelling. In the nineteen-fifties, early success with short-term weather modelling led John von Neumann, a pioneering mathematician and military consultant, to imagine a future in which militaries waged precision “climatological warfare.” This idea may have seemed mathematically plausible at the time; later, the discovery of the “butterfly effect”—when a butterfly flaps its wings in Tokyo, the forecast changes in New York—showed it to be unworkable. In 2008, financial analysts thought they’d modelled the housing market; they hadn’t. Models aren’t always good enough. Sometimes the phenomenon you want to model is simply unmodellable. All mathematical models neglect things; the question is whether what’s being neglected matters. What makes the difference? How are models actually built? How much should we trust them, and why?

Mathematical Modelling Began With Nature: the goal was to predict the tides, the weather, the positions of the stars. Using numbers to describe the world was an old practice, dating back to when scratchings on papyrus stood for sheaves of wheat or heads of cattle. It wasn’t such a leap from counting to coördinates, and to the encoding of before and after. Even early modellers could appreciate what the physicist Eugene Wigner called “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics.” In 1963, Wigner won the Nobel Prize for developing a mathematical framework that could make predictions about quantum mechanics and particle physics. Equations worked, even in a subatomic world that defied all intuition.

Models of nature are, in some ways, pure. They’re based on what we believe to be immutable physical laws; these laws, in the form of equations, harmonize with both historical data and present-day observation, and so can be used to make predictions. There’s an admirable simplicity to this approach. The earliest climate models, for example, were essentially ledgers of data run through equations based on fundamental physics, including Newton’s laws of motion. Later, in the nineteen-sixties, so-called energy-balance models described how energy was transferred between the sun and the Earth: The sun sends energy here, and about seventy per cent of it is absorbed, with the rest reflected back. Even these simple models could do a good job of predicting average surface temperature.

Averages, however, tell only a small part of the story. The average home price in the United States is around five hundred thousand dollars, but the average in Mississippi is a hundred and seventy-one thousand dollars, and in the Hamptons it’s more than three million dollars. Location matters. In climate modelling, it’s not just the distance from the sun that’s important but what’s on the ground—ice, water (salty or not), vegetation, desert. Energy that’s been absorbed by the Earth warms the surface and then radiates up and out, where it can be intercepted by clouds, or interact with chemicals in different layers of the atmosphere, including the greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Heat differentials start to build, and winds develop. Moisture is trapped and accumulates, sometimes forming rain, snowflakes, or hail. Meanwhile, the sun keeps shining—an ongoing forcing function that continually pumps energy into the system.

Earth-system models, or E.S.M.s, are the current state of the art in combining all these factors. E.S.M.s aim for high spatial and temporal specificity, predicting not only temperature trends and sea levels but also changes in the sizes of glaciers at the North Pole and of rain forests in Brazil. Particular regions have their own sets of equations, which address factors such as the chemical reactions that affect the composition of the ocean and air. There are thousands of equations in an E.S.M., and they affect one another in complicated couplings over hundreds, even thousands, of years. In theory, because the equations are founded on the laws of physics, the models should be reliable despite the complexity. But it’s hard to keep small errors from creeping in and ramifying—that’s the butterfly effect. Applied mathematicians have spent decades figuring out how to quantify and sometimes ameliorate butterfly effects; recent advances in remote sensing and data collection are now helping to improve the fidelity of the models.

How do we know that a giant model works? Its outputs can be compared to historical data. The 2022 Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows remarkable agreement between the facts and the models going back two thousand years. The I.P.C.C. uses models to compare two worlds: a “natural drivers” world, in which greenhouse gases and particulate matter come from sources such as volcanoes, and a “human and natural” world, which includes greenhouse gases we’ve created. The division helps with interpretability. One of the many striking figures in the I.P.C.C. report superimposes plots of increases in global mean temperature over time, with and without the human drivers. Until about 1940, the two curves dance around the zero mark, tracking each other, and also the historical record. Then the model with human drivers starts a steady upward climb that continues to hew to the historical record. The purely natural model continues along much like before—an alternate history of a cooler planet. The models may be complicated, but they’re built on solid physics-based foundations. They work.

Of Course, there are many things we want to model that aren’t quite so physical. The infectious-disease models with which we all grew familiar in 2020 and 2021 used physics, but only in an analogical way. They can be traced back to Ronald Ross, an early-twentieth-century physician. Ross developed equations that could model the spread of malaria; in a 1915 paper, he suggested that epidemics might be shaped by the same “principles of careful computation which have yielded such brilliant results in astronomy, physics, and mechanics.” Ross admitted that his initial idea, which he called a “Theory of Happenings,” was fuelled more by intuition than reality, but, in a subsequent series of papers, he and Hilda Hudson, a mathematician, showed how real data from epidemics could harmonize with their equations.

In the nineteen-twenties and thirties, W.O. Kermack and A.G. McKendrick, colleagues at the Royal College of Physicians, in Edinburgh, took the work a step further. They were inspired by chemistry, and analyzed human interactions according to the chemical principle of mass action, which relates the rate of reaction between two reagents to their relative densities in the mix. They exchanged molecules for people, viewing a closed population in a pandemic as a reaction unfolding between three groups: Susceptibles (“S”), Infecteds (“I”), and Recovereds (“R”). In their simple “S.I.R. model”, “S”s become “I”s at a rate proportional to the chance of their interactions; “I”s eventually become “R”s at a rate proportional to their current population; and “R”s, whether dead or immune, never get sick again. The most important question is whether the “I” group is gaining or losing members. If it’s gaining more quickly than it’s losing, that’s bad—it’s what happens when a covid wave is starting.

Differential equations model how quantities change over time. The ones that come out of an S.I.R. model are simple, and relatively easy to solve. (They’re a standard example in a first applied-math course.) They produce curves, representing the growth and diminishment of the various populations, that will look instantly familiar to anyone who lived through covid. There are lots of simplifying assumptions—among them, constant populations and unvarying health responses—but even in its simplest form, an S.I.R. model gets a lot right. Data from real epidemics shows the characteristic “hump” that the basic model produces—the same curve that we all worked to “flatten” when covid-19 first appeared. The small number of assumptions and parameters in an S.I.R. model also has the benefit of suggesting actionable approaches to policymakers. It’s obvious, in the model, why isolation and vaccines will work.

The challenge comes when we want to get specific, so that we can more rationally and quickly allocate resources during a pandemic. So we doubled down on the modelling. As the covid crisis deepened, an outbreak of modelling accompanied the outbreak of the disease; many of the covid-specific models supported by the C.D.C. used an engine that featured a variation of the S.I.R. model. Many subdivided S.I.R.’s three groups into smaller ones. A model from a group at the University of Texas at Austin, for instance, divided the U.S. into two hundred and seventeen metro areas, segmenting their populations by age, risk factors, and a host of other characteristics. The model created local, regional, and national forecasts using cell-phone data to track mobility patterns, which reflected unprecedented changes in human behavior brought about by the pandemic.

S.I.R.s are one possible approach, and they occupy one end of a conceptual spectrum; an alternative called curve fitting is at the other. The core idea behind curve fitting is that, in most pandemics, the shape of the infection curve has a particular profile—one that can be well-approximated by gluing together a few basic kinds of mathematical shapes, each the output of a well-known mathematical function. The modeller is then more driven by practicalities than principles, and this has its own dangers: a pandemic model built using curve fitting looks like a model of disease trajectory, but the functions out of which it’s built may not be meaningful in epidemiological terms.

In the early stages of the pandemic, curve fitting showed promise, but as time went on it proved to be less effective. S.I.R.-based models, consistently updated with mortality and case data, ruled the day. But only for so long. Back in the nineteen-twenties, Kermack and McKendrick warned that their model was mainly applicable in an equilibrium setting—that is, in circumstances that didn’t change. But the covid pandemic rarely stood still. Neither people nor the virus behaved as planned. sars-CoV-2 mutated rapidly in a shifting landscape affected by vaccines. The pandemic was actually several simultaneous pandemics, interacting in complex ways with social responses. In fact, recent research has shown that a dramatic event like a lockdown can thwart the making of precise long-term predictions from S.I.R.-based models, even assuming perfect data collection. In December, 2021, the C.D.C. abruptly shut down its covid-19 case-forecast project, citing “low reliability.” They noted that “more reported cases than expected fell outside the forecast prediction intervals for extended periods of time.”

These kinds of failures, both in theory and practice, speak at least in part to the distance of the models from the phenomena they are trying to model. “Art is the lie that makes us realize the truth,” Picasso once said; the same could be said of mathematical modelling. All models reflect choices about what to include and what to leave out. We often attribute to Einstein the notion that “models should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.” But, elegance can be a trap—one that is especially easy to fall into when it dovetails with convenience. The covid models told a relatively simple and elegant story—a story that was even useful, inasmuch as it inspired us to flatten the curve. But, if what we needed was specific predictions, the models may have been too far from the truth of how covid itself behaved while we were battling it. Perhaps the real story was both bigger and smaller—a story about policies and behaviors interacting at the level of genomes and individuals. However much, we might wish for minimalism, our problems could require something baroque. That doesn’t mean that a pandemic can’t be modelled faithfully and quickly with mathematics. But we may be still looking for the techniques and data sources we need to accomplish it.

Formal Mathematical Election Forecasting is usually said to have begun in 1936, when George Gallup correctly predicted the outcome of the Presidential election. Today, as then, most election forecasting has two parts: estimating the current sentiment in the population, and then using that estimate to predict the outcome. It’s like weather prediction for people—at least in spirit. You want to use today’s conditions to predict how things will be on Election Day.

The first part of the process is usually accomplished through polling. Ideally, you can estimate the proportions of support in a population by asking a sample of people whom they would vote for if the election were to take place at that moment. For the math to work, pollsters need a “random sample.” This would mean that everyone who can vote in the election is equally likely to be contacted, and that everyone who is contacted answers truthfully and will act on their response by voting. These assumptions form the basis of mathematical models based on polling. Clearly, there is room for error. If a pollster explicitly—and statistically—accounts for the possibility of error, they get to say that their poll is “scientific.” But even with the best of intentions, true random sampling is difficult. The “Dewey Defeats Truman” debacle, from 1948, is generally attributed to polls conducted more for convenience than by chance.

Polling experts are still unsure about what caused so many poor predictions ahead of the 2016 and 2020 elections. (The 2020 predictions were the least accurate in forty years.) One idea is that the dissonance between the predicted (large) and actual (small) margin of victory for President Biden over Donald Trump was due to the unwillingness of Trump supporters to engage with pollsters. This suggests that cries of fake polling can be self-fulfilling, insofar as those who distrust pollsters are less likely to participate in polls. If the past is any indication, Republicans may continue to be more resistant to polling than non-Republicans. Meanwhile, pre-election polling has obvious limitations. It’s like using today’s temperature as the best guess for the temperature months from now; this would be a lousy approach to climate modelling, and it’s a lousy approach to election forecasting, too. In both systems, moreover, there is feedback: in elections, it comes from the measurements themselves, and from their reporting, which can shift (polled) opinion.

Despite these ineradicable sources of imprecision, many of today’s best election modellers try to embrace rigor. Pollsters have long attributed to their polls a proprietary “secret sauce,” but conscientious modellers are now adhering to the evolving standard of reproducible research and allowing anyone to look under the hood. A Presidential-forecast model created by Andrew Gelman, the statistician and political scientist, and G. Elliott Morris, a data journalist, that was launched in the summer of 2020 in The Economist, is especially instructive. Gelman and Morris are not only open about their methods but even make available the software and data that they use for their forecasting. Their underlying methodology is also sophisticated. They bring in economic variables and approval ratings, and link that information back to previous predictions in time and space, effectively creating equations for political climate. They also integrate data from different pollsters, accounting for how each has been historically more or less reliable for different groups of voters.

But as scientific as all this sounds, it remains hopelessly messy: it’s a model not of a natural system but of a sentimental one. In his “Foundation” novels, the writer Isaac Asimov imagined “psychohistory,” a discipline that would bring the rigor of cause and effect to social dynamics through equations akin to Newton’s laws of motion. But psychohistory is science fiction: in reality, human decisions are opaque, and can be dramatically influenced by events and memes that no algorithm could ever predict. Sometimes, moreover, thoughts don’t connect to actions. (“I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies but not the madness of people,” Newton wrote.) As a result, even though election models use mathematics, they are not actually mathematical, in the mechanistic way of a planetary or even molecular model. They are fundamentally “statistical”—a modifier that’s both an adjective and a warning label. They encode historical relationships between numbers, and then use the historical records of their change as guidance for the future, effectively looking for history to repeat itself. Sometimes it works—who hasn’t, from time to time, “also liked” something that a machine has offered up to you based on your past actions? Sometimes, as in 2016 and 2020, it doesn’t.

Recently, statistical modelling has taken on a new kind of importance as the engine of artificial intelligence—specifically in the form of the deep neural networks that power, among other things, large language models, such as OpenAI’s G.P.T.s. These systems sift vast corpora of text to create a statistical model of written expression, realized as the likelihood of given words occurring in particular contexts. Rather than trying to encode a principled theory of how we produce writing, they are a vertiginous form of curve fitting; the largest models find the best ways to connect hundreds of thousands of simple mathematical neurons, using trillions of parameters.They create a vast data structure akin to a tangle of Christmas lights whose on-off patterns attempt to capture a chunk of historical word usage. The neurons derive from mathematical models of biological neurons originally formulated by Warren S. McCulloch and Walter Pitts, in a landmark 1943 paper, titled “A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity.” McCulloch and Pitts argued that brain activity could be reduced to a model of simple, interconnected processing units, receiving and sending zeros and ones among themselves based on relatively simple rules of activation and deactivation.

The McCulloch-Pitts model was intended as a foundational step in a larger project, spearheaded by McCulloch, to uncover a biological foundation of psychiatry. McCulloch and Pitts never imagined that their cartoon neurons could be trained, using data, so that their on-off states linked to certain properties in that data. But others saw this possibility, and early machine-learning researchers experimented with small networks of mathematical neurons, effectively creating mathematical models of the neural architecture of simple brains, not to do psychiatry but to categorize data. The results were a good deal less than astonishing. It wasn’t until vast amounts of good data—like text—became readily available that computer scientists discovered how powerful their models could be when implemented on vast scales. The predictive and generative abilities of these models in many contexts is beyond remarkable. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of understanding just how they do what they do. A new field, called interpretability (or X-A.I., for “explainable” A.I.), is effectively the neuroscience of artificial neural networks.

This is an instructive origin story for a field of research. The field begins with a focus on a basic and well-defined underlying mechanism—the activity of a single neuron. Then, as the technology scales, it grows in opacity; as the scope of the field’s success widens, so does the ambition of its claims. The contrast with climate modelling is telling. Climate models have expanded in scale and reach, but at each step the models must hew to a ground truth of historical, measurable fact. Even models of covid or elections need to be measured against external data. The success of deep learning is different. Trillions of parameters are fine-tuned on larger and larger corpora that uncover more and more correlations across a range of phenomena. The success of this data-driven approach isn’t without danger. We run the risk of conflating success on well-defined tasks with an understanding of the underlying phenomenon—thought—that motivated the models in the first place.

Part of the problem is that, in many cases, we actually want to use models as replacements for thinking. That’s the raison d’être of modelling—substitution. It’s useful to recall the story of Icarus. If only he had just done his flying well below the sun. The fact that his wings worked near sea level didn’t mean they were a good design for the upper atmosphere. If we don’t understand how a model works, then we aren’t in a good position to know its limitations until something goes wrong. By then it might be too late.

Eugene Wigner, the physicist who noted the “unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics,” restricted his awe and wonder to its ability to describe the inanimate world. Mathematics proceeds according to its own internal logic, and so it’s striking that its conclusions apply to the physical universe; at the same time, how they play out varies more the further that we stray from physics. Math can help us shine a light on dark worlds, but we should look critically, always asking why the math is so effective, recognizing where it isn’t, and pushing on the places in between. In the nineties, David Roberts and Keith Paulsen sought only to model the physical motion of the gooey, shifting brain. We should proceed with extreme caution as we try to model the world of thought that lives there. ♦

#Covid-19 | Pandemics | Mathematics | Statistics #Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)#Mathematical Models #Our Civilization #Dan Rockmore #The New Yorker

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f-nodragonart · 4 years

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Worldbuilding, briefly

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I approach worldbuilding in my own work, and how worldbuilding appears in the media that I admire, and just want to share some thoughts

so, y’know how lot of writers admit that it feels like their characters end up writing themselves? hijacking the creators’ brains and acting out their own lives? I feel the same can be said for settings, if they’re given the chance to breathe freely

suffice to say, a setting should feel dynamic-- a living, changing thing that affects (and is affected by) characters/plot/etc., and has solid internal logic. I think the two central concepts which make for good worldbuilding, in this respect, are:

a sense of history

holistic integration with all other story elements

History

when a setting only exists in the present moment, it comes off flat and static-- merely a cardboard set-piece that could fall over at a gust of too-strong wind (or critical thought). settings need history to feel vibrant and alive, just as any individual character needs history to inform their actions and beliefs

essentially, good worldbuilding answers the question of, “How did we get here?”

in practice, having a sense of history helps a great deal in predicting and designing how a setting looks at the present. think of it like following branching pathways back to the source-- the main divergence(s) from real-life. as humans living on planet Earth in our particular sociocultural environments, whatever we create will automatically borrow from what we’re familiar with, so it helps to track down where we may be subconsciously starting at. once we find that initial divergence, it’s a simple matter of following logical stepping-stones from that source, up to the present point

thus, you can break the broad question of, “How did we get here?” down into smaller, more manageable chunks by carefully tracking along a path of history

some examples of what I’m talking about here:

need an explanation for the current geopolitical climate? trace back the basic history of all the countries in question, follow it back to basic sources (fighting over resources/territory, power/ideological struggles, etc.), to figure out why the geopolitical landscape looks as it does today. want to figure out how a particular culture came to their current beliefs/practices? look back to the history of their land-- what resources do they use, what ecological cycles impact them, how much cultural overlap do they have with their neighbors, and how does this impact what they most cherish in themselves and others? want to figure out how/why a creature exists in your world? map their evolutionary taxonomy and ecological relationships back to a point that connects to the other creatures on your planet-- where exactly did they “start” out and what pushed them to evolve the way the did?

most of these sub-questions will likely never be directly answered in your story, and you don’t even need to have detailed answers for most of them. but trust me when I say that YOU knowing the answers (even answers that you may consider broad and simple) will affect how you craft the present setting and its sense of history

of course, the level of divergence from real-life will impact how much reworking a given setting needs in order to feel self-sustaining and whole. a world where political history diverges from real-life only a few years previous is going to have different needs than a story whose very life-forms are built on different molecular structures than Earth life, for example. it can be intimidating in some cases, but if you’re willing to put in the work and research for it, you can make some pretty incredible discoveries

Holistic Integration

I’ll fully admit, Folding Ideas’ video on Ludonarrative Dissonance is what rly got me thinking abt this topic (and more deeply abt my own thoughts on stylistic/tonal consistency). his central idea about how we can approach story elements as separate or integrated rly clarified some of my vague opinions/feelings on certain media

essentially, worldbuilding shouldn’t be treated as separate from other story elements like plot and themes, if you want it to work holistically in your world. otherwise, your worldbuilding may start telling a different story from the plot/themes/etc. you’re consciously trying to craft. in fact, I’ll even argue that it’s impossible to treat worldbuilding separately, on a fundamental level

let me focus specifically on themes for a moment when I say, humans don’t create objectively. we don’t craft worlds or stories without automatically inserting our own beliefs and ideas into the settings. to say that a setting is free of theme in particular is highly arrogant, imo, and a sign that the creator likely thinks their own views are simply the “norm”. a magic system will reflect a creator’s views on souls and energy and existence; creature designs will reveal the aesthetic and types of animals a creator gravitates towards; various political systems will reflect a creator’s background and assumptions about the power/morality of said systems

in this way, I think it’s downright impossible to craft a world without themes in the first place. so it just makes sense to recognize and lean into that, while crafting the more deliberate themes of a story

but even if we do assume, for sake of argument, that worlds COULD be crafted objectively, I just don’t understand why they would? why/how a world functions the way it does will affect the ways characters move through that world, and how they experience their arcs and subsequent themes. like, it’s genuinely baffling for me to imagine crafting a story without every element organically weaving into and affecting one another, it just doesn’t feel like it would even work

because when an element of the story doesn’t exist in service of the other elements around it, that element becomes a useless distraction rather than an asset. folks complain all the time about useless characters-- people that take up precious screentime without moving any other element (plot, character arcs, tone, etc.) forward. yet the same can absolutely be said for settings-- settings which just exist as spaces to set characters while they experience a plot, separate from that given setting. when these settings don’t touch any other element of the story in any meaningful way (or vis-versa), they become distracting and useless, and ultimately destabilize/undermine the other elements

like, when we’re told a setting is rough and dangerous, but the characters that live there don’t act like it (no street smarts, no sense of caution towards their environment, no sense of where they are and how to get where they need to quickly--), it undermines the reliability of the characters’ personalities/arcs. when we’re told a setting is full of casual magic which affects everything, yet we’re shown a 1:1 picture of real life with no sign of how people using magic, how tech may integrate with magic, how magic affects aesthetic or history, it distracts from and undermines the fantasy/escapism. when we’re explicitly told that a story’s themes center around defying expectations/roles, yet the setting we’re supposed to root for only reinforces pre-defined roles and rules, it completely undermines any of the deliberate themes the creator intends. when we’re following a plot through various environments meant to showcase the variety of culture and aesthetic a world has cultivated, but we’re merely shown variations on a very similar theme, it’s distracting and boring

worldbuilding should not feel like a dissonant piece from other story elements. worldbuilding should harmonize with and enhance all other story elements, and those elements in turn should enhance the worldbuilding. while it absolutely is useful to tackle or talk about certain elements separately (I mean, I am taking a whole post to discuss worldbuilding, specifically), ultimately a good story is a whole whose parts can’t be fully removed from one another

Internal Logic

you may be wondering why I have yet to make any real mention of “logic” up to this point, since that’s how most folks analyze worldbuilding. hell, even I usually judge worlds based on how well they stick to their “internal logic”. but I think focusing on a vague sense of “logic” puts the cart before the horse, so to speak

if you don’t know the history of a particular setting, how can you track any cultural/political/etc. logic to its source? to say that logic “pre-establishes” certain rules is to admit that there is a sense of history there in the first place, thus specific events preceding the present text which explain why the present exists as it does. like, the big bang is a historical event that’s set up the logic of our entire universe, the same way a war sets up the political logic of a nation going forward. thus, history precedes logic

but before history can set precedents in worldbuilding, it’s really the other story elements which decide what history is important enough to establish in the first place. a story whose themes center around biological imperatives and ecology will need worldbuilding with a strong biological history; a story whose plot centers on political intrigue will need a world with a strong political history; a story with characters ranging across all different cultures will need to establish history for those cultures, etc. you aren’t obligated to establish the history of every single aspect of a setting, merely the parts that are actually relevant to the rest of the narrative in some way

this is how the internal logic of a story is established: by knowing exactly what history needs to be established to enhance the other story elements. logic should organically follow, once you have a strong grasp of history and holistic integration

-Mod Spiral

#worldbuilding #mod spiral #me: *holds worldbuilding/lore/specevo* I just think it's neat :)

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fire-the-headcanons · 5 years

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Lionheart chuckled. "No, you're supposed to respect them as dangerous opponents to the work we do. Five of these tribes still operate in Anima today, though their influence is nowhere near what it once was. You may find this lesson a little more… practical than most."

Gods. It had to come up eventually—Huntsmen didn't just fight Grimm. They knew when they signed up there would be lessons on… on killing bandits… But the second month of school? Some luck.

Qrow watched the professor through his bangs as Lionheart set the chalk on the tray and folded his arms behind his back, tail swishing slowly behind him as always.

"They're just bandits," the same girl said.

Follow the Beacon Qrow—Doomed to Repeat It

[Link to Masterpost]

[TW: child abuse, abuse, PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks. A lot happens here. I think I got all relevant warnings. Summary at the bottom as always.]

[In Volume 5, Yang mopped the floor with the cousins Branwens without breaking a sweat, but in World of Remnant Qrow also described the bandits as being surprisingly competent. This is why I have a few good fighters leading the tribe, and the rest are just opportunistic a*holes.

Anyways, here you go! Have a pile of my angstiest headcanons...]

"…letting Vale rebuild the southern wall. On to Anima—does anyone know what was happening in Mistral during the Xan Era?" Lionheart asked, glancing over his shoulder as his chalk hovered an inch from the board.

"The Bandit Queen!" someone shouted. "I love that movie!"

Qrow's pen froze in his notebook. Had he misheard? But no, Raven stopped too.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid the film embellishes some details," Lionheart chuckled, writing THE GREATER BANDIT WAR on the board. "But yes, that is the general idea. Bandits have always been a problem in Anima, much more than in Sanus. Any ideas as to why?"

"…Well, Anima has a lot more villages outside the main kingdom than Sanus."

"It does. Anima’s climate is far milder and more predictable. Homesteading outside of the kingdom has always been easier, and sadly in the case of banditry more prey means more predators."

The pen shook in Qrow's hand as he copied what Lionheart was writing on the board. He'd been having an okay day until now...

"Historians agree it was actually a drought that began the war. Crops failed, and people began to congregate in the cities—especially in Mistral. As Marin mentioned, there were six major tribes roaming Anima at the time, and they quickly found themselves with no one to take food from."

"What, are we supposed to feel sorry for them?" someone grumbled from the third row.

Gods. It had to come up eventually—Huntsmen didn't just fight Grimm. They knew when they signed up there would be lessons on… on killing bandits… But the second month of school? Some luck.

Qrow watched the professor through his bangs as Lionheart set the chalk on the tray and folded his arms behind his back, tail swishing slowly behind him as always.

"They're just bandits," the same girl said. Tiffany? That was her name, right?

"Bandit tribes are the second-best fighters on Remnant, after Huntsmen," Lionheart warned. "And you cannot afford to take them lightly. I am from Anima, I fought plenty before I took up teaching."

"What makes them so dangerous?" someone else asked.

Lionheart smiled. "That is precisely the sort of question you should be asking to get the most from this subject. But to answer it—bandits are just as practiced in the use of aura as any Huntsman or Huntress, and every single one has had their Semblance unlocked since the age of five."

The class broke into astonished mutters and whispers, and Qrow looked down at his notes again. "How's that possible?"

"The tribes have some… unique practices. Some anthropologists go so far as to call it a religion—they justify their actions through a simple code: 'the strong live, the weak die'."

Qrow's stomach curdled.

"Most of you found your Semblances in a moment of need, or intense emotion, correct?" Lionheart continued. "In order to make their people stronger, they do not train their children to generate a defensive aura until after their Semblance is unlocked." More shocked whispers from the students. "As Semblances frequently manifest during times of duress… if a bandit has not found theirs by the age of five, they face a trial of some kind—most often beatings—until they do, or die trying.”

He dropped the pen and folded his hands under the desk so no one would see them shaking. Next to him Raven continued to scratch out notes. But it had been easier for her—Raven’s portals were obvious, showy, and manifested within a few minutes. It hadn't taken the tribe any time at all to figure out what she could do.

...Maybe if he'd been allowed to discover his Semblance naturally, he'd be able to control it.

“That’s barbaric!”

"True, but remember their code, 'the strong live, the weak die'." Lionheart's voice dragged his attention back to the current danger. "If a bandit does not have a Semblance, the tribesmen see them as unfit to survive. And while cruel, it is effective—the practice is one reason the tribes persist to this day.”

His tail lashed as he began to pace in front of his desk. "Another is their hit-and-run tactics… raiding a village generates a lot of negative emotions, and will almost always draw in the Creatures of Grimm. Huntsmen sent to aid the town are frequently too occupied fending them off to catch the bandits before they disappear into the wilderness."

He turned to the other chalkboard, the one with the permanent map of Remnant, and began to draw lines across Anima. "The tribes each have their own territory, bordered by natural barriers just like the kingdoms, preventing them from fighting with each other too much. Since the Great War and the founding of the Huntsman academies, the territory that contains Mistral was cleared when the Mathon tribe was wiped out."

Bones had been furious. The tribe burned three villages to the ground without even taking anything, and Qrow and Raven earned their brands a year early.

Please. Please, just let the bell ring.

"The other tribes have weakened considerably as well, particularly those close to Mistral. As technology has improved, so have our response times. The current council is hopeful that the rest of the tribes will fall before the end of this era, and have dedicated significant resources to fighting them. …Mister and Miss Taupe, you are from Anima, correct?"

Qrow's blood froze. Every eye in the room was staring directly at them.

"Do you know which tribe was active near your home?"

He didn't look up. The question hung in the air, demanding an answer. Raven was shaking, he could feel through the bench. He swallowed and croaked out, "Branwen."

"Ah, hem, yes," Lionheart said. "In the Xan Era, the Branwen tribe was the largest of the six…"

* * *

The bell rang, mercifully cutting off the discussion of battle tactics during the sacking of Mistral. Lionheart glanced at the clock in surprise, finally returning to the present. "We got a little off-track there, didn't we?" he chuckled, finally setting down his chalk.

Qrow and Raven hurriedly shoved their things into their bags as he continued. "Make sure you've read chapter three in the textbook. Instead of a write-up, let's do an essay comparing the modern tribes to their Xan Era counterparts—you'll find some information on the contemporary tribes in chapter seventy-eight, but use at least a few additional sources and cite them appropriately. I’ll set the due date at the end of the month—"

"How about after Halloween?"

"Ah, yes. I'll post the specifics online tonight. Class dismissed."

Raven took off, almost running for the door and disappearing through. None of the other students seemed to notice as they gathered their things, but Lionheart was staring. Qrow just busied himself with writing the assignment down.

"I'm sorry." Qrow jumped—the professor had moved right in front of his desk. "I didn't consider whether you may have encountered the tribes before."

Qrow stared at him, frozen, uncomprehending.

“But, I suppose everyone in Anima's lost someone to bandits or the Grimm attacks they cause. Particularly the Huntsmen…“

"…Our parents," he lied.

He nodded, eyes closing for a moment. "The Branwens are particularly vicious.” Qrow’s hand tightened on his bag. “If I may offer a word of advice, young man… if you came here to get revenge, do not underestimate them."

His mouth went bitterly dry. "Have you…met…"

"A very long time ago. Probably before you were born. Please, pass my apology on to your sister?"

"Yes, sir." Qrow slung his bag over his shoulder and headed down the stairs, but Lionheart caught him as he passed.

"It's good to have you here with us." He gently squeezed before letting go and turning toward his desk.

Qrow forced himself not to run from the room, and went to find Raven.

[Summary— Lionheart has a history lesson on the bandit tribes of Anima and triggers Qrow's PTSD while also terrifying Raven. Bones was not a good person. Lionheart assigns an essay, due at the end of the month, on the difference between the historical tribes and the modern ones.]

Next Chapter: Taiyang—HATCHING a Plan

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #qrow branwen #raven branwen #leonardo lionheart #bones branwen #follow the beacon #this chapter's a bit dark tread with care #whump #im so sorry #MIND THE WARNINGS

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celticfeather · 5 years

Link

Akatsuki Fanfic: Campfires

On: FF Ao3 Tumblr

First. 1. Dawn

Previous: 4. Slaughter’s Court

Campfires chapter 5: Kraken Hall

-Hoshigaki Kisame-

Thukk.

Right by his ear. His awakened eyes slid right. The tag of a paper bomb waved from a kunai.

Kisame sprung away in the fraction of a second before its detonation. Adrenaline damped pain: his neck and shoulder had been torn open, he did not know how much. His priority was seizing a few seconds of distance and time.

Midleap he looked for the boy, he was gone, the white cloth that bound him a twisting ribbon snaking to the forest floor.

Flickers manifested into crouching shapes on tree branches. Their animal masks denoted the Anbu of the Hidden Leaf, though the rogues were outside the Leaf's territory. The masks' inset eyes were round and black like a shark's, but leaf ninja moved like ghostly gray leopards. The assailants were three ninja: two men, one woman, and a ninja hound.

He had to get them out of the trees, the leaf ninja the advantage there. They met him on the ground. He grasped Samehada's hilt, and from the reserves of stolen chakra, his steaming flesh began to rapidly regrow where it was damaged. He grinned at the three masked ninja.

"Tell me, am I next to Itachi in your bingo book?"

There was no answer and a lightning jutsu struck at Kisame then. Huge and white and it sucked the air from the ground. He let it strike along Samehada, most of it was absorbed and channeled along the sword's scales, with the rest of the lightning shocking off into something behind him.

He felt Samehada purr. Or perhaps it was more like a stomach growling. As the leaf ninja stared in disbelief, he smashed the sword into someone's body, the shock traveled up his arms, and the exhilaration of combat flooded him.

He quickly dispatched the other two ninja with crushing strikes from his sword. Then the dog sprung at him. Dogs were not pets in the Mist. He grabbed the beast by its forelegs and winched them apart.

One, two, three, dog, down. Done.

He stepped forward to the bodies to make sure the job was finished, but his limbs didn't obey him. He looked down, an ink black shadow had reached to his foot, and somehow he could not move. One of the crumpled men he'd thought dead had wielded a shadow like a tentacle. He tried to budge his leg,

Kisame struggled against the bind. He could move slightly. A few more seconds of fighting and he would break free. He stared inevitable death at the man, and Kisame did not smile.

At that moment a shape, small and angular, inspective and fearless as a crow beside a carcass, appeared beside the crumpled Anbu. The Anbu's head turned to regard the sudden darkness over his shoulder.

"Uchiha...Itachi..."

Well? Kisame wondered of his partner. What will you do?

Itachi's red eyes looked deeply into the mask. Kisame could not know what nightmare was shared. But what he did see was Itachi's kunai strike. The tentacle around Kisame's leg uncoiled, and the fight was over.

Kisame wondered what summoned the assailants. Like a bird Itachi was so visually focused. Last night he had allowed for no fires, no loud noises. But as fine as his sharingan was, it could never see a scent. From their skirmish hours before, the boy smelled like a bloodbath. And Kisame, feeling responsible, knew that he should have been wiser.

Itachi stepped to each of the three corpses and lifted their painted masks. He stared into their faces.

"No member of the Leaf's two ninja hound clans are among these dead," the former Leaf ninja said.

Kisame's eyes slid suspiciously to the surrounding forest. So, their main course was elsewhere.

Then Itachi placed the masks back on. To face the afterworld as they lived, he supposed. The sanctity of a human body never really mattered to Kisame. Dead meat was dead meat. He accepted none of the people in this clearing, alive or not, would ever receive a proper funeral.

Itachi parsed signs and raised a hand. Dozen of crows and ravens and hulking raptors bigger than cats arrived from somewhere. The birds were fearsome, but lightweights by nature, and Kisame wondered what a bird did with a human pelvis.

"You know what doesn't leave bones?" Kisame suggested.

Itachi's expression did not change.

"Sharks."

Icy Itachi looked at his expectant wards and then at Kisame. "Leave them the hound."

Kisame lifted the human bodies and threw them into the river, and summoned four freshwater tolerant sharks. At a scarcely perceptible twitch of Itachi's finger the obedient ravens plunged. His bull sharks needed no such instruction, and when one did not not focus closely, the splashing sounded peaceable in comparison. The ravens, social and hierarchical, argued noisily with each other over the best positions. With a businesslike demeanor, the two ninja turned their backs to the clamor of devouring.

"The Leaf will have sent a second jounin squad after us. I will reroute them," Itachi said.

Itachi intended to bait an informed jounin team alone, in his condition, and probably half his unimpressive chakra with a shadow clone.

Kisame smiled. "Still slightly suicidal, I see."

"I expect no problems."

"Are you gonna say something to me about last night? Or are you just gonna let it fester?" Kisame said.

Itachi's eyes were sharp. "Do you want me to apologize for attempting suicide? Or for abusing you?"

"I want you to acknowledge that you looked into my head, revived my dead-sister's dead-kid, impregnated her, and stabbed her through the spine. To try to get me to kill you, because you decided that you can't cope with the fact that you're a killer. Have I got that right?"

Itachi continued aloofly. "I am different from all of you. Senseless killing bothers me deeply."

"You are so elitist. You think I wasn't bothered by it? You think when I was a boy, I wanted this?" Kisame gestured at himself, huge and beastly and covered in scars.

Itachi was midstride, but he stopped at Kisame's words. Kisame continued menacingly.

"I grew up in the Blood-Mist Village. I was younger than you when I became a killer. I have no family, no purpose, and almost no friends. So what I want to know, Itachi, is why you don't accept it like the rest of us."

"I can deal with the fact that I'm a killer. What I could not accept last night, Kisame, is my continuing existence in the Akatsuki causing dozens of unnecessary deaths. But whatever. It doesn't matter- you were right anyway. Ending myself is not going to solve this problem. It must be fought directly."

"Directly?" Kisame repeated. The word insinuated rebellion. Wars were won with less manpower than that would require for a rebellion against the Akatsuki, and Kisame knew he was under orders to take Itachi out if he did so.

Wisely, Itachi did not elaborate. The dark haired young man looked somewhere and Kisame followed his gaze down. The dog was just a skeleton. The winged scavengers took the bones in their slender beaks and flew away with them.

"We must leave now," Itachi said.

Kisame stepped onto the now-still water to hide his tracks and scent. He showed the scroll between his knuckles. "I'll start Kakuzu's other mission," he said gruffly.

"Hm."

Only a few wind-trembling feathers testified what happened at the scene, and the two ninja vanished with the wind that scattered them.

—Uchiha Itachi—

Itachi broke a twig between his fingers. In this moist climate, a twig would not have snapped naturally. The Anbu would halt to discuss the stick for a few precious moments and come to the same conclusion. Animals could leave smears in the moss. But only ninja leave decoys. Even if they did not have a second dog, they would know it was him.

But these Anbu would have another dog. No Inuzuka had been among the dead. No Hatake had been among the dead...

Ninja who abandon the rules are scum. But ninja who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.

Itachi thought he had embodied the persona of cold parricide. Apparently not. His ruse of coldness had been translucent as ocean water. Strange round, silver and black eyes regarded him from his memory:

You might just be the only friend I've ever had.

He had been cruel to manipulate his partner last night. Kisame had been uncomfortable fighting him, even as easy as Itachi planned to make it. He would find Kisame and apologize properly for his manipulative attempt. Maybe he could convince him to spare some of the bandits, Kisame probably would probably kill most of them if he did not interfere. Itachi hated these Akatsuki kill missions: Kakuzu, Pain, could just try and punish him for leaving some people alive after the goal was achieved. Kisame was right. Death would not solve the problem of Itachi's existence; he would have to think his way out.

That was far enough to cost the Anbu the necessary time. He parsed signs for a shadow clone, and his double unceremoniously continued forward. Last he tested, he could be separate from his clone for two kilometers before it disappeared. The real Itachi jumped some twenty meters to the water, expecting that if he did not touch solid matter, his scent would vanish in seconds in the air.

But he was not sure. He did not see his world through scent. He threw a final glance towards the past, towards the Anbu, towards his old captain Kakashi, then ignited his sharingan and focused on the way before him. Now, to track Kisame.

—Hoshigaki Kisame—

Kisame lowered the hand-drawn map and stared at the island that filled its place on the horizon. It was a fine little place for a bandit camp.

He stepped across the ocean water to where the stolen wooden skiffs crowded the island's white sand shore. He found the cave entrance by smell. Men: those lazy brutes had taken to pissing where they ate.

He walked into the tunnel. It would be inconvenient to swing Samehada in such a small place, but he did not expect the bandits would want to stay there long. Someone saw him and asked him a question. Kisame shoved their head into the wall and kept walking deeper into the cave. The scroll's task had been to 'eliminate the bandit threat,' and he would do that in the way he decided most enjoyable and convenient.

Two bigshots argued in the common area, surrounded by lower members. The two leaders raised swords at him, but he twisted their arms around, and thrust one into the blade of the other. Then the screams started. He threw the trembling survivor to the ground and stepped on his neck. A surrounding man threw a knife, Kisame returned it.

A woman called her comrades to flee. The remaining members streamed around him, out of the cave, down the beach, and Kisame stalked after the prey unhurriedly. They untethered their rowboats and launched them into the waves, running astride their vessels, tossing oars to each other.

He wet his feet in the surf and shed his robe on the beach. A grin slit his lips. He parsed a few signs and a water dragon overturned the skiffs and spilled their human cargo into the sea. He let Samehada's spiked pommel embed in the skin of his palm. What a terrible day to be a pirate, he thought as the cool tide sloshed against his now-sandpaper hide.

He smashed a skiff with a whip of his tail. The electricity in his snout fired ablaze, they were so alive, so frantic, so afraid. This prey was small, a tenth of his weight, almost small enough to swallow whole. Their tender bones waned and crunched in his jaws. He'd bite, tear, release when the muscles flexed limp, and bite the next thing that moved. The blood was intoxicating, heavy, arousing. The meat in his mouth did not taste bad.

He pictured Itachi. The cruel face he made last night shined in his mind's eye. With his grinning teeth and the weasel look in his bloodthirsty, fight-hungry eyes. Bring out Samehada!

An impulse occurred to him. He had not done that before. But that did not mean he could not start. He was frightfully hungry. A chemical of frenzied excitement flooded his brain, no longer fully human, at the prospect.

He identified a target. He sank into the depths for a pregnant moment. Then he snapped the red-muscled braided whip of his tail, shot dart-fast towards the surface, and a second before he breached, yawned wide a razored chasm of death.

—-—

Kisame staggered human out of the waves. He descended from the fogging rausch, the tremendous high. His hands trembled from ecstasy, from shock, from disbelief.

An uncomfortable feeling plagued him. It was the first time in fifteen years that he felt it. Not quite fear, not quite cold, but it gripped him around the chest like those. It was the unfamiliar realization that, maybe, he had done something wicked.

He swung Samehada off his body and flung it viciously against a palm tree, and he leered at it with shark teeth bared.

"Look what you made me do!"

The words felt hollow when they became reality. He knew better than to decry an object. It was not Samehada's fault, it was not Itachi's fault. The deed had been his alone. He knew not which god to pray to forgiveness, or demon for sanctuary.

"Holy Buddha, Amaterasu, Susanoo, fuck it, Jashin, anybody."

He knelt on the sand.

"Why did I do that?"

Kisame's gods, as always, remained silent.

Looking at the familiarity of his own limbs made him want to retch, but he knew retching would not absolve his sin. He did not know the physics of it. If he ate something big, and then he shrank back down to normal size. But he felt gorged and sick and he could not bear the thought of eating. He could not bear the thought of meat, of flesh. Of muscles pulling under skin, of intricate ligaments gently meshed to slippery bones... He looked away from his own body and towards the ocean horizon.

He did not indulge in the sleep his exhausted body craved. He sat on the beach, feeling strangely nervous. He let the surf wash coolly over him, but it brought little relief. Something brushed by his hand on a wave. He feared what it could be. He held it in front of his face to eclipse the setting sun, but it was just a harmless abalone sea shell, and the iridescent mother-of-pearl material glittered gently like mica in his hand.

He stood up from the surf and took Samehada off the tree. The moment he did, he was blasted with the instrument's chakra sensing ability. Itachi was tracking him, and a shock of unease probed him: he did not want to see Itachi right now.

Water crested around his ankles. He rubbed the smooth abalone shard with his thumb like a netsuke. He felt the sharingan-wielder nearing and decided it would be too much effort to evade him.

"Hey." A pause. "Bandits are taken care of?"

"Yeah."

"Do we have bodies to dispose of?"

"No."

Itachi had speared two fish next to a burning, salt-blue piece of driftwood. "You want some?"

"I'm not hungry."

Itachi's vivisecting black eyes probed him. Or maybe it was just a normal look. Kisame feared what he could see with those eyes, if he could read inside his mind, and pluck his nightmares into reality, like he had with Akaei.

Itachi waved his hand. "Come sit by me."

Kisame sat by him.

"Kisame, I'm sorry I attacked you last night. I thought a world minus me was for the best."

"Itachi, the day men like you are the bad ones, is the day this world has gone to shit," he said.

"I manipulated you, and I terrorized you, and I tried to kill myself. Do you forgive me?"

"Yeah. But do it again, I'll..." bite you in half, he would have said to someone else, sometime else, but he found his usual bravado unappetizing. "Don't do it again."

"Thank you, Kisame."

Itachi ate alone, neatly and quietly. Kisame stared at the abalone shard and stroked it between his thumb and finger. It was smooth and flat and not quite triangular, like a tooth, or maybe a teardrop.

"I did something I regret today, Itachi," Kisame eventually said.

Itachi looked over the moon-streaked water. "At times it's hard to live with our crimes. But we need to understand that we are worthy of our own acceptance."

Did he know? Maybe. Maybe those eyes saw every thought Kisame had ever thought. But Itachi did not grasp the crux of the incident that troubled Kisame.

"It felt good."

Now Itachi understood the severity of the problem. The young man bridged his hands before his nose and closed his eyes, and stayed quiet. Somehow Itachi's recognition sobered Kisame.

"I understand if you want to spend a few days away from me, or want to leave altogether," Kisame said.

"If you're sorry, I'll forgive you."

Kisame raised a calm eyebrow, looking down at his sea shell. This was different from Itachi's crime. "I'm not sure this is yours to forgive."

"Then, I accept you."

He contemplated the sentiment. Unlike forgiveness, acceptance invoked no debt, no guilt, and nothing to prove. There was nothing about it he could interpret as ingenuine or undeserved. It was merely a validation of his existence. He did not ask for forgiveness, or was so forward as to say he deserved it. Acceptance… Kisame liked that.

Itachi's eyes slid to the object in Kisame's upturned palm. "What is that?"

"It's an abalone shell." He passed it to his partner.

Itachi's eyes flashed red for a second and he smiled small. "It's beautiful. It has many unique colors, ones humans cannot even see. What kind of animal lived in it?"

"An abalone is a big, ugly, sea snail the size of a rat that eats slime."

"The universe is wise, how even such a wretched creature must not stay ugly at its core, is it not?"

"You can have it if you want," Kisame said. Itachi was a small, pretty man who seemed to like small, pretty things.

Itachi handed it back. "I think you'd better keep it."

He turned the silvery rainbow shard around in his palm. Yes. He would keep it, to remind him of the stupid, ugly, scum-eating, ocean creature that Itachi decided was still beautiful. He was glad Itachi found him this night. He would be miserable alone. The two ninja sat before the glow of the salt-blue flames, and stared up at the thick belt of stars.

"If you're not a bad person, and you've hated killing in the Akatsuki the whole time, why did you decide after this mission to off yourself?" Kisame asked.

"Utilitarian ethics. I had a goal, but I realized that fewer people will die if I was dead."

"Avoiding physical trauma… it might not be the most ethical thing, you know," Kisame said.

Itachi gave him a doubting look. He was starting to not be terrible at reading Itachi's expressions.

"Have you ever thought about what makes you happy?"

"Rarely," Itachi said.

"Maybe this eye of the moon scheme can make the world a better place for people like us," Kisame said.

Kisame noted Itachi's flinch. Of course Itachi would know, he and their leader were related, after all, but it was a privilege for Kisame to know the secret of the Akatsuki's true plan, the Eye of the Moon.

The Uchiha looked at him intensely. "You know the truth."

"That our leader is Uchiha Madara? Yes. He recruited me personally," Kisame said.

"Even I… was not strong enough to kill the Uchiha clan alone. Madara helped me do it."

Itachi's lips were uncharacteristically loose, and Kisame, always a hunter, identified when to act. "History paints Madara as a fanatic for his clan. Why would he cull his own legacy?"

"Some sixty years ago, Madara thought the Uchiha betrayed him when we wanted peace alongside the Senju."

"Then maybe it makes sense for him to kill his clan. But you… I can't explain why you'd do it."

The silence hung. Itachi did not relieve it with an explanation. Kisame's luck had run out and Itachi returned taciturn.

Kisame looked around. It was well into the night. Itachi probably did not like this exposed beach for a campsite. "Where should we sleep?"

Itachi signaled their departure by standing. "I noted a possibility on my way."

Kisame looked out into the blackness. "You can see in this?"

Red eyes gleamed. "Moderately."

Kisame took a torch from the fire for himself, washed the evidence into the waves, and followed Itachi.

With the starfield and ocean on his left, Kisame followed the small swift shadow through the dark hemisphere along the rocky coast. Itachi sprang down the sharp rocks with the same limberness of the Leaf Anbu, and he realized the boy had spent his formative years among their ranks. Kisame felt somewhat clumsier, hindered by the dark and a torch. They found themselves in a tidal cave which overlooked the sea, with shallow tide pools on its sharp floor. He peered into one: an octopus wilted into the cracks at his face.

"Need we be concerned about the tide?" Itachi asked him.

Kisame noted the lack of algae on the wall and the height of the moon. "No."

Itachi leaned his back against the sharp wall and let his legs sink. Kisame doused his torch in an unoccupied tidepool. With the moonlight that reflected in flashing tortoise-shells from the ocean, he could see the silver edge of Itachi's short, angular face.

Itachi stared at him for a moment, as if deciding to say something. He said, "Good night, Kisame."

Kisame was caught off guard. But he too formed his lips around the strange words. "Good night, Itachi."

Itachi closed his eyes and Kisame leaned himself on the wall opposite him. But now Kisame was watchful, and for a while he stayed awake to the sounds of waves. Comforting, hollow sounds, that like the breaths of ghosts, reminded him of a home that no longer existed.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading!

I am looking for a new Beta for this story. If you are 18+ and might be interested in looking over this story with me for style and plot, please write me a message. I'd love to have a partner to make this piece as strong as it can be. Thanks!

And if you like reading this, please do let me know your thoughts!

Steadfast,

Kelto

#Campfires #sorry im a few days late i had to find a new place to live #and rent an apartment in a language i dont speak legalese of #But I did it because I am unkillable!#and also im flying home for christmas which will be nice #I am also looking for a new beta for this story so please let me know if you are interested #its a lot of fun I think!#thanks for reading #naruto #fanfiction #itachi #kisame #kisaita #celticfeather #keltodier #And again this is super M rated but I guess this chapter is as bad as the story gets

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noirornothing · 5 years

Text

An Instrumental Drive

Finale – 4346 Words

Part One, Two, Three

The Island acted a crossroad, of sorts. For example, when C.C. Tinsley crossed the road heading into the township, he was dive bombed by a rather large seagull. He had a pistol in his pocket and a case which desperately needed solving, and yet, the pest lived to see another day.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, there was a car pulled up outside the station as promised. It was a newer model, polished to perfection. The kind of car that got where it needed to go and didn’t bother making stops along the way. Tinsley climbed in the back, assuming he wasn’t meant to get a good look at the man behind the wheel. He recognized him anyway.

“You almost threw me into a train last month,” Tinsley snapped his mouth shut, forcing any harsh words to stay locked inside. He felt for his pistol, tucked in its usual spot inside his jacket. It didn’t make him feel any safer.

At his and Ricky’s last meeting, they’d had a minor disagreement over who was following who. Unfortunately for him, Ricky hadn’t been alone. The driver, who seemed to be some mix between a crony and a chauffeur had been with him. After exchanging some harsh words, Tinsley had found himself being gripped by the shoulders and held dangerously close to some railroad tracks.

“I’d do it again,” the driver shrugged. His voice was like crunching gravel under car tires—rough and daunting. The man served his purpose well.

Tinsley nodded, catching the man’s eye off the central mirror, “so would I.”

The driver gave a deep chuckle and revved the engine, pulling away from the station like an officer on his way to a ten-car pileup. No one gave a second glance.

They had been on the road for about an hour before Tinsley decided to try his luck. A seagull flew close by, and he could catch glimpses of the Delaware through the buildings. They were making good time.

“Ricky told me I shouldn’t talk to you,” Tinsley had one elbow propped up on the window as he watched the driver.

“You probably shouldn’t.” The man appeared to be entirely focused on the drive, but Tinsley could sense the familiarity in each action. The man didn’t need to concentrate, he was simply looking busy.

“But it is a long drive,” he shifted in the seat, trying to settle in, “and I’m curious.”

The driver flicked on the directional. “About?”

“How long you’ve been here. I never meant to stay longer than a week, but here I am.”

Sunlight shone through the windows, forcing Tinsley to squint. He wanted to complain, but daylight meant a better chance of finding McClintock. He couldn’t let himself get too distracted.

“Driving dipshits around or living here,” the driver asked, knowing his intentions. “I’ve been at it about four months. Lived in the city my whole life.”

Four months. So just after Ricky’s escape from Pennhurst. Tinsley tapped the door, considering the timeline he’d been mapping out since he’d arrived.

“Did Ricky hire you?” Tinsley asked, noticing no change in the other man’s expression.

“Probably not the same way he hired you,” the driver looked at him in the mirror. He considered Tinsley and then set his eyes back on the road before continuing. Tinsley opened his mouth to protest but fell back to let the other man speak.

“When he noticed you were following us before we pulled over at the tracks, he told me about you. Said you weren’t half bad at your job—just that he was better. He couldn’t believe you were a cop. Said you’d be a lot better on the other side.” Another left. “Was he right?”

Tinsley frowned, forced to consider it himself. As an investigator, he’d had to skirt around certain legal territory. But it was always done for the sake of helping other people, never with the intent of causing harm. That was the reason he figured the Chief had trusted him in the same way that other law-abiding men had in the past. He believed himself to be a man working to make the world a better place. How great a part honesty played in that role he couldn’t say.

“Deception is part of the job,” he tried to explain, “but I’d like to think I do it for the right reasons.”

The driver gave no further indication he was listening. They rode in silence for some time until he spoke once more.

“You ever been to la Bella Rouge?”

Tinsley tensed a bit, then forced his shoulders to relax. La Bella Rouge had been the first place he’d seen Ricky after their abrupt parting at the penitentiary. He’d be lured in under false pretenses, only to find himself having dinner with the man who’d promised to kill him when he’d least expect it. It had been uncomfortable, painfully so, but by the end of it, they had reached an understanding. People were products of their environments, and some climates were much harsher than others.

It wasn’t an excuse, but it made sense. And, it had given Tinsley what he’d needed to make a very important decision. Ricky Goldsworth was no longer the first person on his most wanted list. No, at the moment he was a tentative third. Or fourth, depending on the McClintock situation.

Back to the situation at hand. Of course, the driver must have brought Ricky to their meeting. He’d probably been a new hire at that point. But why ask that question now?

“I don’t think so, where is it?”

Something deep within Tinsley told him to deny it. If the driver knew he’d been there, it was no harm in lying. He’d just admitted to being a man of deception, after all. At most, it would seem like a perfectly normal coverup. That was something shady figures and investigators did all the time, right?

But if the driver didn’t know, then whatever was said at that meeting was a secret. And, on the off chance that it was, Tinsley saw no harm in keeping it that way.

They reached The Island with just enough daylight to spare. Tinsley watched the driver pull away and recede into the distance before heading into the township. He’d had a hell of a time convincing the man he didn’t need an escort, and that he could bring McClintock back by himself, alone.

In the end, the only way he’d managed to do it was by promising to take the fallout from Ricky if the man didn’t approve of his decision-making. Tinsley wasn’t afraid of whatever that wrath might be, not yet at least, because he intended to deliver that car to its rightful place in perfect condition by the end of the night. He’d come too far to end up with anything less.

The waters of the Delaware sloshed lazily along the breakwaters as he found himself by the docks— the blue-black ooze containing enough toxicity to eat away at the docks and slurp up the town for dessert. It was tainted and unnerving, much like the great city he found himself living in. Though if he had to choose, he’d take the dry land in a heartbeat. Better to run from a bullet than swim from a shark. If sharks lived in the Delaware.

Tinsley pondered these hypotheticals, among others, until he caught something out the corner of his eye. It was dark and reflective, much like the driver’s car had been, only it commanded more attention. It was simply better. Instantly, he knew himself to be in the presence of a Goldsworth’s trinket.

He tipped his hat down, shielding his eyes from the low-hanging sun. It was beginning to dim, but the car was unmistakable. It sat atop the hill of The Island which wasn’t an island at all. And the closer he got the clearer picture became. The license plate was correct, and the presumed thief sat inside. The engine was off, and there was no noise save for the cries of the diving gulls by the water.

Knowing it to be now or never, Tinsley chanced the passenger door. It opened with ease, and he slid into the vehicle to take a spot next to the man who had caused him so much hassle.

“McClintock, I presume.” He settled into the seat, feeling the comfortable leather wrap around him. It was a nice car indeed.

“That’s what they call me,” the man said with a nervous air. He was dressed in a thin gray coat, gaze trained on the churning river before them. Dark circles outlined those eyes giving Tinsley the feeling the man hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep since he’d done the job.

“You knew I’d be coming.” Tinsley slid the pistol out of his jacket, resting it in his lap. Mere months ago, he wouldn’t have been so forward. But, the more he found himself involved with the city’s proceedings the easier he found it. All he had to do was stay a stranger to the trigger.

“I did,” the man’s fingers were wrapped around the steering wheel—knuckles white as marble.

“Then I assume you know what kind of danger you’re in.” He thumbed the barrel of the gun as the other man continued to watch the river.

“I never really do,” he answered, almost as quiet as Norris had spoken to him earlier that day. He finally took his eyes off the water and turned to face the back seats of the car. A large canvas bag, which Tinsley presumed to contain the paintings, rested on the floor.

“I can make it all go away,” Tinsley started, “if you just come with me.”

McClintock shook his head, facing forward again, mind lost in the vortex.

“Then I’m going to have to place you under arrest,” he didn’t move, only watched the man for a reaction.

McClintock finally released the steering wheel, stretching as blood returned to his fingertips. Then, he flipped each hand so that his wrists were facing the roof of the car. He held them there, waiting.

Tinsley got the message, but not quite the execution. “I, ah, appreciate the cooperation but it’s easier if you get out of the car first.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, it’s been a while.” The man slid out of the driver’s seat, making no moves to run. He met Tinsley at the hood of the car where he found his wrists swiftly cuffed behind his back.

Tinsley led the man to the passenger seat and shut the door, taking up his place behind the wheel. He rested one hand on the ignition, contemplating how long it would be before they made it back to the station. The Sun had finally submerged itself behind a row of buildings across the river, leaving only a golden aura to illuminate the dingy marina.

“Alright,” Tinsley affirmed himself, turning the key, “let’s get you and these paintings back where they belong.”

At that moment, McClintock raised his head, looking quite curious.

“The paintings?”

It was Tinsley’s turn to look curious, he leaned over the back of the seat, eyeing the burlap sack behind him. McClintock seemed to realize what he was looking for immediately. A look of genuine innocence crossed the man’s face.

“Those were for my laundry. Just realized I left it in the motel. I shipped the paintings off this morning,” he ticked his head towards the docks, not noticing Tinsley’s sharp inhale.

“That’s not good,” he mumbled through gritted teeth, hoping the other man knew how much harder of a task this would be thanks to his efficient trade skills.

“My bad.” The other man shrugged, a bit guilty.

“It’s okay,” Tinsley told them both, “you’re a thief, it’s what you do. I’m sure Watcher will—”

“I just hope I haven’t made too much trouble for Fran,” the man was drifting again, lost in the waves, “she mentioned you.”

“Did she.” So that was how McClintock had known he’d be coming. He’d been double-crossed. But then again, it had all lead to a clean arrest so he supposed he should thank her for talking some reason into the somewhat erratic man.

“Said you were probably crooked,” Tinsley felt himself being scanned, “but might be worth trusting.”

“And you believed her?” The clock was ticking, and they had to get back to the station, but Tinsley had to know. Had McClintock really been so scared of a mystery man’s anger that he’d fess up to his crimes, or was there more to it?

“I wanted to. I did.” McClintock had finally decided he was done staring into the canal and gave Tinsley his full attention. It was a passionate thing, and the man’s eyes held an irrefutable truth. “I do believe her. I believe she doesn’t want to see me dead.”

The man held up his cuffed hands, the indication of his surrender. “So, take me away, detective. I’m not dying on her tonight!”

Tinsley answered the declaration by throwing the car into drive and taking off out of the lot at an unsettling speed. Usually, he was careful, inconspicuous. Most of what he did in his life was so as to not draw attention to himself. However, now was one of those rare occasions when there wasn’t much time for caution. The man’s short speech had rallied something within him.

“Then let’s get you back where you belong,” he said, pressing hard on the accelerator. The new car switched from a growl to a scream, thrilled at the chance to exercise its full potential.

As they sped through a yellow light, just missing a taxi, a thought crossed Tinsley’s mind.

Some people stood for a single cause and others played on both sides. A few stuck their fingers in every pie imaginable.

Tinsley never had never imagined thoughts of pie would make him so anxious.

When Tinsley arrived at the station, McClintock, and car in tow, the driver was waiting outside on the curb. He turned the key slowly, letting the engine rumble to a stop before he decided what to do. He reached for the handle and opened the door, motioning for McClintock to stay where he was-- handcuffed and moderately safer than the alternative.

He gently brushed his coat aside, making it clear he was armed. The driver was stone-faced; hands clasped behind his back as Tinsley made his approach.

"It's late. I can take it from here," Tinsley tried, each step taking him closer.

"Sorry," the driver stepped aside to open the back door of his own car. "Ricky asked me to pick up the crim. Said you can have him once he's done."

"Once he's done there won't be anyone left to arrest," Tinsley stood directly across from him, not willing to step aside. Ricky wasn’t someone to stop fighting, so long as the will to live and prosper prevailed.

"Not my problem," he shrugged. The man eyed McClintock in the passenger seat. Tinsley knew for a fact the driver was armed. They were at a stalemate.

Tinsley made up his mind and stuck out a hand. "Fine, but I'll bring him over. You start driving and I'll follow.”

The driver watched him with one brow cocked. "Ricky said you might try something like that."

"What did he say to do about it?" Tinsley left his hand outstretched. In a sudden movement, the other man snatched it up. They shook once and both dropped their hands aside.

"If you take a wrong turn," the driver closed the back door, "he cleared me to break the windows."

"Understood." They parted then, returning to their respective vehicles. Tinsley climbed back into the driver's seat and took a long look at McClintock.

The man was quiet in all ways of the word. His hands were folded in his lap as he stared ahead, not once looking at the driver and his car. Tinsley wondered if the man believed in the inevitable, or simply had faith in him to carry out the law as it should be done. He didn't ask.

They drove quickly, darting through the streets like two ducks in a row. Tinsley recognized the route as one to Ricky's office. He didn't mention it to McClintock, who watched the pavement roll by.

"What do you think he'll do to me," the man asked as they came to a stop. The light blinked red, signaling their halt.

"I don't know," Tinsley admitted, watching the light.

"Does he know Fran?" Not for the first time, Tinsley wished McClintock were much less aware of the details surrounding their situation. It was almost to the point that they were on even playing fields of knowing how things were about to go down.

“Probably does now.”

McClintock waited a couple of seconds before turning to face Tinsley, who kept his eyes on the light.

"Whatever card this guy wants to deal me-- I can take it. But if something does happen, can you tell her it's my bad?"

"Yeah." They started up again, and the building containing Ricky's office was in view. They parked alongside the street, the driver getting out first to open Tinsley's door. He had only one hand behind his back this time.

"I'll escort the crim," no room to barter. Tinsley stepped out and let the driver open the passenger side, guiding McClintock by the shoulder. Neither protested as they were brought inside and up the stairs. Tinsley had traveled them only one day previous. He took them two at a time, chasing the other two men at their heels.

The driver knocked heavily on the door and opened it when there was no response. Ricky's own way of disconcerting those about to enter his domain. On the first few occasions, it had served its purpose well.

The man of the hour was leaning against his desk, facing them. His hands rested on the edge, a pistol laying just inches from his right.

"Well if it isn't Banjo McClintock. You've caused me a lot of trouble this week Banjo. I don’t appreciate that."

Ricky slid his hand over the pistol, finger navigating its way around the trigger as he sauntered closer. The driver held McClintock by the cuffs.

"It wasn't intentional, sir." McClintock swallowed, tugging at the cuffs just a bit.

"No, I'm sure it wasn't." Ricky stood mere inches away, craning his neck to keep contact with the taller man. Tinsley watched on in silence, counting the quarter seconds it would take him to reach his own pistol.

“Now, I’m not overly fond of complimenting people who take my things,” the barrel of the gun found McClintock’s abdomen and pressed in just a bit. “But no one seems to know who you are. Any chance you’d like to tell me exactly where you came from?”

McClintock’s eyes fluttered down to the gun. “I’m a busy guy, y’know? I show up, do my thing, and head out.”

“And how has that worked out for you so far?” Tinsley watched Ricky tap the trigger, no closer to pulling it but all too happy with the effect it was having on their nerves.

“Very well, sir. If I may?” He gestured to his coat pocket, earning a head tilt from the man aiming the gun. The driver reached into McClintock’s pocket, found what the man had been referring to, and held a checkbook out towards Ricky.

Ricky laughed—a shallow cackle. No real humor in it. He switched the gun into his left hand and snatched up the checkbook with the other.

“You think you can buy me out?” Ricky was still grinning when he flipped open the book. McClintock averted his eyes, finding solace in the ceiling. He seemed to find it quite quickly, as Ricky hissed a what.

“Forged, it’s forged.” His eyes burned through McClintock, but the other man wouldn’t meet them. “You.”

Tinsley found himself being pointed at, unfortunately with the hand containing the pistol. He raised both hands halfheartedly. “Yes?”

“You’re a detective, aren’t you?” Ricky tossed the checkbook, which Tinsley only just managed to catch. Only then did he realize how much his palms were sweating. Gingerly, he opened the book, eyes widening as he scanned the transaction numbers within. He moved on to the account numbers. For all intents and purposes, they seemed legitimate.

“I think it’s real,” he said, watching the gun. It moved off him after that, refinding its place at McClintock’s stomach.

“With that kind of money,” Ricky’s finger was now comfortably resting on the trigger. Comfortably and pressing dangerously hard. Tinsley gritted his teeth, waiting to hear a click. The driver watched on, unflinching from behind McClintock. “You could’ve been in New York by now.”

McClintock blinked, finding no more comfort in the ceiling. He looked to Tinsley, catching him off guard.

“I met someone,” Tinsley nodded, realizing McClintock appealing to him was an appeal to Ricky. To find some friendly presence in the room.

“What, him?” Ricky shifted to face them both, his mean streak faltering. Tinsley might’ve laughed if the circumstances were different.

“No, not him,” McClintock shook his head, “well, I did meet him, but—”

A deep frown had settled onto Ricky’s face. “Get on with it.”

“I was supposed to leave this afternoon, but I got a call,” the faintest flush had appeared on the man’s face, “and decided to stick around.”

Tinsley willed Ricky to have some compassion—any compassion. He’d never known the man to show any indication that he was familiar with the concept of love. But, true to his character Ricky Goldsworth was a pseudo-romantic flirt. He only hoped that was enough.

“You met somebody,” Ricky was piecing the puzzle together in his mind. He seemed to recall an earlier phone call with one of his discreet people. “The girl from the bar. And that was who?”

“Francesca Norris, Armand’s secretary.” Tinsley had his thumbs in his pockets, leaning as far away from the situation as possible. He’d hoped Ricky would’ve figured that out before they found themselves in this situation, but such was not the case. It was only a matter of time before that bomb went off, so Tinsley decided to detonate it himself. Maybe coming from him it would sound more reasonable.

Also, not the case.

“Y’know, after you told me you found out where this guy was hiding,” the pistol was at play again, being carelessly pointed towards McClintock’s chest as Ricky faced Tinsley. “I didn’t give it much more thought. Figured, we’ve got him. I’ll get what I want, you’ll get what you want, and the details won’t really matter.”

“And now you tell me,” Tinsley watched the pistol drop to the floor as Ricky let it slip out of his hands, “the only reason we caught this moron is because he thinks he’s in love?”

Ricky left the pistol on the floor, unattended. He spun back towards his desk, walking briskly around it until he could plop into the chair. He let the mood simmer before gesturing for McClintock to take a seat. The driver walked the man over, finally releasing his grip after McClintock was seated.

The driver picked up the pistol and took a position standing next to Tinsley. They caught one another’s eyes for the briefest moment. Curiosity in one, dread in the other.

“I don’t care where she is, or what time it is,” Ricky started, “I want Francesca Norris in my office in half an hour or somebody’s legs are getting broken.”

Ricky was speaking mostly to the driver, who nodded stiffly, returning the pistol to the desk before making a quick exit. Tinsley figured he wouldn’t be sticking around long enough to see the man return.

“I still have to bring him in. I’m working a case,” he stressed.

“You will,” Ricky glanced at both men in the room, “after I decide how long ‘til he gets out on bail.”

Tinsley meant to say words but found himself spluttering. Ricky rolled his eyes, the business side of his persona more prevalent than any other.

“What we have here is a case of pressure. Banjo here has an exceptional talent for vanishing off the face of the fucking Earth. But he won’t do that because we have what he wants. All he has to barter with is an ungodly amount of cash in an account somewhere. See all the possibilities, Tinsley?”

Unfortunately, he did. Tinsley took his hands out of his pockets and backed away towards the door. He stopped once his hand was on the doorknob and gave it a twist without letting the door swing open.

“Should I wait outside,” he asked, knowing the answer.

“Go home, detective.” Ricky was now entirely focused on the man sitting before him. Tinsley knew there was no chance he’d be keeping his promise to the Chief. The twenty-four hours had not gone as planned, just as everything else in the city seemed to do.

Tinsley let himself out, closing the door gently. He stood outside it, scanning the hallway for a moment. He took a breath, and started down the stairs, willing his mind not to dwell on it. McClintock would be fine. Norris wouldn’t come across any trouble. Armand wouldn’t be too upset.

And once again, he found himself dwelling on the well-being’s of criminals. It didn’t concern him nearly as much as it should have. In fact, it almost made him feel at home. People to worry about, errands to run, little things to keep track of and budding feuds to keep at bay.

He stood outside under a lamppost. It was a warm evening, but he’d already kept his coat on all day. Nothing felt more like home than that. A rat scurried across the street. He watched it disappear down a sewer grate and came to realize that if he ever saw that rat again, he’d have no way of knowing.

The city breathed. When it shook at its core, it was with the breaths of countless corruptible creatures toiling underneath. Endless packs of brothers, sisters, friends, and foes. And Tinsley could never tell which was which.

The pied piper crossed the street, beginning the long walk back to his apartment. Dozens of beady eyes watched him go as he realized he might never be alone again.

notes - thanks for the read! i’ll be making a masterpost with all of the parts linked soon, and removing character tags from the individual parts so they don’t take up so much space when people are browsing those tags

more to come...soon

#an instrumental drive #hope y'all enjoyed!#lots of little hints and unanswered questions #just in case I decide it deserves more content later on #but for now #it's back to the drawing board

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irispublishersagriculture · 3 years

Text

Iris Publishers

Soil Salinity Research and Mapping using Remote Sensing GIS

Authored by Sahib Shukurov

Soil salinity in irrigated soils in underground rocks accumulation of soluble salts in the root zone to adversely affect the growth of most crops [1]. This results in increasing impact on crop yields and agricultural production in both dry and irrigated areas due to poor land and water management and expansion of the agricultural frontier into marginal dry lands. Arid area crop jeld be achieved with irrigation and this reason expand the salinization hazard.

Guidelines for irrigation water quality generally focus on the physical, chemical, and microbiological factors that may affect crop growth or the soil environment. Trigger values or thresholds are provided for [2].

Furthermore, salinity also affects other major soil degradation phenomena such as soil dispersion, increased soil erosion, and engineering problems. When soil salinization Advances in Environmental and Agricultural Science is assessed in economic terms, reasons to be concerned about it become more apparent. To keep track of changes in salinity and anticipate further degradation, operational research is needed so that proper and timely decisions can be made to modify the management practices or undertake reclamation advances in the application of remote sensing technology in mapping and monitoring degraded lands, especially in salt-affected soils, have shown great promise of enhanced speed, accuracy and cost-effectiveness.

The approach to the problem of delineating saline soils using remote sensing data and GIS techniques has been proved in many recent studies to be most efficient [3].

Methods and Techniques Used

Geographical location

Salinity intrusion is a pressing issue in the coastal areas worldwide. It affects the natural environment and causes massive economic loss due to its impacts on the agricultural productivity and food safety [4,5].

The study was conducted in the coastal areas of Salyan and Neftchala districts of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Development of agriculture in the coastal areas of the Caspian Sea, which is below the world sea level (Figure 1).

The territory is a dry and semi-arid, seaside main agricultural zone of Azerbaijan.

The soils of the arid and semi-arid regions are generally deficient in organic matter where saline and sodic soils are commonly found. The dispersed sodium in soil degrades the soil structure and restricts root growth and water movement in soil [4]

Climate

The climate of the area is temperate-hot semi-desert and dry-steppe type with dry summers. Semi-desert and saline, gray-meadow, carbonate alluvial-meadow and meadow soils are widespread. The Kura River flows into the Caspian Sea, forming a delta in this area. There is gray-meadow, carbonate alluvialmeadow and meadow wetlands. Salinity is found. Vegetation is desert and semi-desert.

Remotely sensed data is an efficient data source to produce variety of salt-affected soil maps in conjunction with field measurements. As such, soil analysis by utilizing modern technological tools of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) provides a valuable resource inventory related to the well-being of land especially those allocated for agricultural production [6] (Figure 2).

The main goal is to confirm the remote sensing information with the results of laboratory analysis. These are the results of a joint study of Azercosmos LLC and the Institute of Soil Science and Agro chemistry of ANAS base on Azersky satellite images. The methodology used to research the salt affected soil area and soil pattern. In dry and irrigated areas, salts tend to concentrate on the soil surface. As salinity increases, more salts will appear at the soil surface, favoring the use of conventional remote sensing tools. To keep track of changes in salinity and anticipate further degradation, operative research method is needed so that proper and timely decisions can be made to modify the management practices or undertake reclamation and rehabilitation. The fields of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are expanding very fast and the methods are constantly adapted to new fields of application.

Our work was carried out by means of space and ground soil surveys of the research area that were synchronous in time and location. For this purpose, by means of conducting ground reconnaissance survey of the area, were have chosen sub satellite areas with contrasting soil salinization, and satellite images have been ordered from Azersky 1A/1B in panchromatic mode with spatial resolution of 1.5m on the site, and in multispectral mode (4-channel mode) with spatial time-resolution about 2.0m on the site. In addition, Azersky satellite data for done aimed at exploring of soil salinization. In regard to satellite data processing methods and decoding of soil salinity state, we can outline the following main approaches:

• Calculating vegetation indexes that facilitate identification of soil salinity.

• Using statistical models and methods (multiple regression, method of principal components, maximum probability method, and regression of partial least squares).

• Using geostatistical techniques (kriging, co-kriging, modified kriging).

• Carrying out laboratory analysis

Regression analysis of the correlation between magnitude of results of laboratory tests, and space images, was used for decoding satellite images. During the classification, a total of 24 bands were used, including 4 different time satellite images (4*4 = 16), each with 4 bands, and 4 NDVI and 4 SVSI indexes (4 + 4 = 8), each with 1 band. The following predictors were used for regression analysis: image was utilized to derive indices for soil salinity estimate including the single bands, Vegetation Soil Salinity Index (VSSI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Normalized Difference Salinity Index (NDSI).

Two salinity indices based on the concept of spectral response to salt-affected soils were calculated. It is noted that spectral response in terms of digital number (DN) of salt-affected soils is relatively higher than other categories in band-1 (B1) and band-3 (B3). The following two salinity indices were used:

1) Salinity Index (S.I.). This index which gives relatively adequate results in the re-classification of salt-affected soils.

1) S. İ. = (Band1 x Band3)1/2

Normalized Differential Salinity Index (NDSI). The NDSI is basically the difference between the red and near infrared band combination divided by the sum of the red and near infrared band combination. The algorithm used was:

2) NDSI = (𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑑3−𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑑4) / (𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑑3−𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑑4)

Reflectance variations of vegetation on the image are attributed to the different species of vegetation and their densities, which together provide evidence of shallow ground water table conditions and saline agricultural areas.

Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) which easily grasps the state of vegetation. NDVI was the most common form of vegetation index and was basically the difference between the red and near infrared band combination divided by the sum of the red and near infrared band combination or (Figure 3&4):

3) NDVI = (𝑁İ𝑅−𝑅) / (𝑁İ𝑅+𝑅)

Was executed isolate clustering algorithm to determine the characteristics of the natural groupings of cells in multidimensional attribute space. Maximum probability classification has been performed on a number of raster bands and creates a raster classified as output (Figures 5).

Statistical analysis between results of laboratory tests and the environmental indices derived from Azersky image was performed. Results indicated that spectral values of near-infrared (NIR) band and VSSI were better correlated with severe salinity and salinity indicators than the other indices. Comparative results show that soil salinity derived from Azersky was consistent with in situ data with coefficient of determination, R2 = 0.89 and RMSE = 1.06 dS/m for NIR band and R2 = 0.80 and RMSE = 1.50 dS/m for VSSI index. Findings of this study demonstrate that Azersky images reveal a high potential for spatiotemporally monitoring the magnitude of soil salinity at the topsoil layer.

Results and Discussions

Our work began with the creation of the basic GIS layers within the Salyan and Neftchala rural districts (research objects), including borders of irrigated sites, settlements, roads, lakes, rivers, irrigation network, etc. All the layers that make up the GIS were obtained by decoding Azersky space imagery for 2018-2019, and also land use maps of local farmers. After conducting fieldwork, field observation points and results of satellite imagery of the research object were added into GIS. Then the image of NDSI indices was divided into three classes corresponding to non-saline, slightly saline, and medium-saline soils. Quintile counted on imagery for day 250 in 2018-2019 was used as class boundaries.

The main goal of our research was to investigate the potential of thermal imagery as a rapid, non-destructive landscape-level method for assessing the soil salinity of areas under crops. Our results confirm that remotely sensed canopy temperature at the landscape level is significantly related to soil salinity. Statistical analysis showed significant differences between salinity classes.

The assessments were confirmed by laboratory tests. IN the laboratory, the iCAP 7200 ICP-OES Duo device was used to measure the amount of Na+, K+, Mg+, Ca +cations. Soil layer analysis (0- 20cm, 20-50cm, 50-100cm) was analyzed at 250 points (Figure 6).

Controlled Classification (MLC) operation was performed for soil analysis. A salinity map has been compiled based on salinity prices and type (Figures 7&8).

Conclusion

Using regression analysis of linkage between spectral properties of Azersky space image and laboratory analysis of irrigated soils, it became possible to build, it became possible to build salinization regression models only for particular soil layers. Salinity maps were built on a semi-quantitative level using automated image classification on learning selection using and dividing soil imagery based on NDSI salinity index values. Strongly saline soils were identified most accurately, while soils with other salinity degrees were outlined with less precision

To read more about this article: https://irispublishers.com/wjass/fulltext/soil-salinity-research-and-mapping-using-remote-sensing-gis.ID.000614.php

Indexing List of Iris Publishers: https://irispublishers.com/irispublishers-indexing-list.php

Iris publishers google scholar citations

https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=irispublishers&btnG=

#agriculture #journal of agriculture #Agriculture and Soil Science #Food science #soil science

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Best Games to Play in 2021

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While 2020 was a landmark year for the gaming industry thanks to the release next-gen consoles and PC graphics cards, there are plenty of exciting new games to play 2021. From highly-anticipated sequels like Halo Infinite and Resident Evil Village to brand-new experiences such as New World and Deathloop, there are plenty of titles to try.

We’ve curated a list of the 2021 games we absolutely loved, as well as the upcoming ones we’re most excited about, including big AAA blockbusters and imaginative indie titles. Keep in mind that we’ve only included games that at the very least have a vague “2021” release window attached, which is why we’re not including games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel or Final Fantasy XVI. We’ll of course update this article as new 2021 titles are announced.

Here’s what you have to look forward to this year:

Age of Empires IV

October 28 | Relic Entertainment | XSX, XBO, PC

Real-time strategy fans have been waiting a very long time Age of Empires IV, which was announced in 2017. Set in the Middle Ages across 8 different civilizations at launch, Age of Empires IV is the first new installment in the series in 16 years. Fortunately, the game is finally out this year, letting players take control of some of the most powerful kingdoms in human history, including the English, French, Mongols, and the Dehli Sultanate.

The Ascent

July 29 | Neon Games | XSX, XBO, PC

The Ascent was originally planned as an Xbox Series X launch title before it slipped into 2021. A twin stick shooter at its core, The Ascent features a cover system as well as the ability to target high and low points on enemies, all in a destructible, open world cyberpunk setting. You can also fully customize your character with a variety augments.

Though Neon Games is a small studio, Epic Games was so impressed with early work on the title, that Neon was awarded a grant to help cover development costs. The result is a top-down co-op shooter that, while it isn’t wholly original, has a lot of style. Fans who want to return to the aesthetic of Cyberpunk 2077 and also want something they can play with friends should absolutely check this one out.

Axiom Verge 2

TBA | Thomas Happ Games | Switch

Metroidvanias from indie developers are a dime a dozen nowadays, but the original Axiom Verge stood out thanks to its tight controls, varied weapons, and compelling story. Axiom Verge 2 looks to largely be more of the same, but with even better graphics and more complex enemy patterns. The game has been in development for the past four years, but should finally be out in early 2021.

Balan Wonderworld

March 26 | Balan Company and Arzest | XSX, PS5, PS4, XBO, PC, Switch

Balan Wonderworld is a modern take on classic platformers of the 32-bit era. You choose from one of two characters and explore a variety of worlds mixing reality and imagination, but the real hook is the 80 different costumes you can find that unlock new abilities for your characters.

The game was directed by Yuji Naka of Sonic the Hedgehog fame. Fans of the platformers of the early ’90s don’t want to miss this one.

Back 4 Blood

October 12 | Turtle Rock Studios | XSX, PS5, PS4, XBO, PC

Valve may not have been able to get its act together to make a new Left 4 Dead game, but the developer behind the best-selling franchise has a spiritual successor in the works. Just like in Left 4 Dead, you’ll team up with three other players to take on waves of the undead in missions that change every time you play. There will also be a competitive 4v4 mode with one team taking the role of the zombies.

We went hands-on with the Back 4 Blood alpha, and so far, it does play a lot like Left 4 Dead with updated graphics, which isn’t a bad thing at all if you miss the classic horde shooter. The card system, which bestows interesting perks (and buffs) to players and zombies, does add a bit of variety to the usual formula that make this one a sleeper hit in the streaming world.

Battlefield 2042

October 22 | DICE | XSX, PS5, XBO, PS4, PC

Battlefield is returning to its futuristic timeline for this year’s installment. Set after climate change has completely devastated the planet, resulting in a global blackout, Battlefield 2042 sees the United States and Russia at war for what few resources are left. But you won’t be able to explore the themes within this setup through a single-player campaign, as this is a multiplayer-only installment.

Fortunately, the online play sounds impressive, with up to 128-player battles on next-gen consoles and PC. Classic modes like Conquest and Breakthrough are back, while the game will also introduce a new co-op mode called Hazard Zone. There are also tons of customization options that allow you to create your own multiplayer modes. What we’ve seen so far looks promising.

Bravely Default II

February 26 | Claytechworks | Switch

The first two Bravely Default games released on the 3DS were typical fantasy RPGs bolstered by their unique risk-reward battle system. Players could use brave points to stack up attacks for big damage, or default to save them up and take less damage in a turn. It kept those games fresh, even if they sometimes dragged on for too long.

Bravely Default II brings the series’ unique combat exclusively to the Switch for the first time. And true to its Final Fantasy inspirations, the characters and story are completely original, so you don’t need any familiarity with the earlier games.

Call of Duty: Vanguard

November 5 | Sledgehammer Games | XSX, PS5, XBO, PS4, PC

Call of Duty returns to World War II for the first time since 2017 with Vanguard, which takes things into alternate history territory with its story campaign that follows an elite squad of soldiers as they try to dismantle the Nazi war effort once and for all. Multiplayer offerings include the usual favorites as well as a new mode called Champion Hill that’s like a tournament-style battle royale. The game is also getting its own Zombies mode as well as introducing a new map for Warzone.

Chivalry 2

June 8 | Torn Banner Studios | XSX, PS5, PS4, XBO, PC

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare was a huge multiplayer hit on the PC when it was released in 2012. Unfortunately, with lagging developer support, most of the community moved on to other games long ago.

But Torn Banner is back with the sequel, which boasts next-gen graphics, improved combat, and massive 64-player battles. Bloodier and more violent than its predecessor, Chivalry 2 pits the Agatha Knights against the Mason Order once again in a battle for supremacy that will leave the battlefield littered with corpses. If you’re tired of modern-day competitive shooters, and have a strong stomach, this might be the online multiplayer game for you.

Chorus

TBA | Fishlabs | XSX, PS5, PS4, XBO, PC, Stadia

There’s been a serious lack of good third-person space combat shooters in recent years, but Chorus looks to rectify that. In this single-player game, you’ll play as Nara and her sentient ship Forsaken as they work together to track down the cult that created them in what Fishlabs is calling a “dark new universe.” It kind of looks like Goth Star Fox.

Unfortunately, we haven’t really seen anything more from Chorus since it was announced last summer. Hopefully, the radio silence ends soon.

CrossfireX

TBA | Smilegate Entertainment and Remedy Entertainment | XSX, XBO

CrossFire is a hugely popular tactical first-person shooter in China and South Korea, even though it’s barely made a mark in the West. Fortunately, Microsoft is bringing an updated version of the shooter exclusively to its consoles in hopes that it’ll catch on. Expect lots of tense, objective-based multiplayer action, and though the series isn’t known for its single-player, we’re looking forward to what Remedy can do with this mode hot on the heels of the excellent Control.

Like several of the titles on this list, CrossfireX was planned as a launch title for the Series X, but was delayed into 2021 due to development issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait that much longer for this one.

Deathloop

September 14 | Arkane Studios | PS5, PC

What if you could combine the movie Groundhog Day with the Hitman series? It’s likely that no one had actually asked that question before Deathloop. You play as Colt, an assassin stuck in a time loop on an island in the midst of a party that resets every day. You have to eliminate eight targets before midnight and avoid dying yourself, or you’ll end up at the beginning of the loop again.

Deathloop also features a multiplayer component that allows players to jump into your game as an assassin named Julianna, who is tasked with taking Colt down before he can complete his mission. This PvP aspect should result in some very interesting playthroughs.

While Microsoft now owns Arkane as part of its purchase of ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks, don’t expect Deathloop on the Xbox any time soon. It’s still launching exclusively on the PS5 and PC.

Diablo 2: Resurrected

September 23 | Vicarious Visions | XSX, PS5, XBO, PS4, PC, Switch

While Diablo III’s reputation has improved substantially since its controversial 2012 launch, there’s still a vocal group of gamers who prefer the second game in Blizzard’s genre-defining action RPG series. Knowing how much this game means to a lot of people, Vicarious Visions has said it’s not out to reinvent the wheel for Resurrected. The updated 3D graphics will display in 4K, but you can switch back to the original graphics at any point with the press of a button.

And while there will be some quality of life improvements like a shared item stash and automatic gold pickup, don’t expect any revolutionary changes that will spoil the original experience. This should be exactly what we need to tide us over until Diablo IV hits shelves.

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny

June 29 | Nippon Ichi Software | Switch

After a couple of well-received remakes, the first new Disgaea title in more than five years is finally here! This time around, the offbeat story focuses on Zed, a zombie who attempts to use something called “super reincarnation” to stop the seemingly invincible God of Destruction who is slowly destroying all worlds. If you’re in the west, your Japanese tactical RPG fix is waiting for you on the Switch.

Dying Light 2

December 7 | Techland | XSX, PS5, XBO, PS4, PC

Few sequels are as highly anticipated as Techland’s follow-up to its surprise survival horror action game, Dying Light. Bringing back the parkour and combat mechanics of the original, Dying Light 2 Stay Human is sticking to the winning formula of any sequel: the same but bigger and (hopefully) better. Set in Europe on a sprawling map that’s four times bigger than than the setting of the first game, Dying Light 2 tasks you with building alliances among the game’s many warring factions while also making tough choices that will have serious consequences. It’s type of game Techland excels at, so you should be excited.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood

June 1 | ZeniMax Online Studios | XSX, PS5, XBO, PS4, PC, Stadia

Last year’s Elder Scrolls Online expansion finally brought the world of Skyrim to the MMO, and ZeniMax is keeping the blasts from the past coming. This year’s expansion, Blackwood, brings back elements from Oblivion, with a whole new campaign that sees you face off against Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon 800 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls IV. It’s all part of the year’s big Gates of Oblivion storyline.

The expansion adds the Blackwood region to the game, which includes the Imperial city of Leyawiin from Oblivion, and also finally brings a Companion system to the game. Recruit an NPC to fight by your side and explore the land of Tamriel.

Far Cry 6

October 7 | Ubisoft | XSX, PS5, PS4, XBO, PC, Stadia, Luna

By now we all know what to expect from Far Cry: hop into a tropical paradise, blow up a bunch of outposts, and methodically take back the land from the big bad guy. After a detour into the American wilderness with Far Cry 5, the next entry in the series heads to Yara, a fictional Caribbean country heavily based on Cuba. And with Giancarlo Esposito of Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian fame playing the big bad El Presidente, you know we’re in for some especially awesome villainy.

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

November 23 | Square Enix | PS5, PS4, PC

After one of the worst MMORPG launches ever, it’s a miracle that Final Fantasy XIV is still around a decade later. Not only did Square Enix turn things around, this game is now regarded as one of the very best in the genre.

Endwalker, the game’s fourth major expansion pack will conclude the story of the warring gods Hydaelyn and Zodiark, which has been running since the game’s 2013 relaunch. This won’t be the end of the MMO, though. Square still says it has several years worth of stories to tell.

Along with the obligatory new zones and quests, Square has promised two new classes: the sage, a healer who battles with floating swords, and the reaper, a melee-DPS class armed with a scythe. We can’t wait to try these out!

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach

TBA | Steel Wool Studios | PS5, PS4, PC

The Five Nights at Freddy’s series has been terrorizing gamers for more than a half decade now, and Steel Wool Studio is looking to up the scares with the power of next-generation graphics. We don’t know how exactly the game will play yet, but the announcement video showcased a very cool looking shopping mall with an ‘80s motif. On the PS5 and PC, Security Breach will support real-time raytracing, so Freddy and the gang should look better than ever.

Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection

February 25 | Capcom | Switch

After a lengthy absence, the crushingly difficult Ghosts ‘n Goblins series has been revived. Resurrection, which is a whole new installment and not just a remake, features the series’ classic 2D gameplay, with the knight Arthur fighting his way through hordes of monsters and environmental hazards. And of course, the new graphics look much better than the old NES and SNES games. Best (worst?) of all, this modern take is just as punishing as its predecessors so be prepared to die A LOT.

Guilty Gear Strive

June 11 | Arc System Works | PS5, PS4, PC

Billed as “a complete reconstruction” of the long-running fighting game franchise, Guilty Gear Strive introduces interesting new fighters as well as exciting returning characters. There is also a dedicated dash button and a new feature that lets opponents who are knocked into walls cling to them. If you can land enough attacks, you will break through the wall and initiate a stage transition.

It’s beautiful anime aesthetic also means you’ll really struggle to find a more stylish fighting game out this year. Come for the visuals, stay for the excellent gameplay.

Halo Infinite

December 8 | 343 Industries | XSX, XBO, PC

After a disappointing reveal last July, Halo Infinite was bumped from the Series X launch to Fall 2021. The game has been described as both a sequel and a “spiritual reboot” for the series, so it will be interesting to see how far 343 Industries handles Cortana’s heel turn after the fan backlash Halo 5: Guardians received. A new AI character known as “The Weapon” has already provided some clues.

Many fans weren’t happy to hear more microtransactions will be added to Infinite in the form of “coatings” (shaders) that can be purchased to customize Spartans in multiplayer. The good news that we recently played a little bit of Halo Infinite‘s multiplayer mode and came away really impressed with it! But let’s hope this game can deliver as a whole.

Hitman III

January 20 | IO Interactive | XSX, PS5, PS4, XBO, PC, Switch, Stadia

IO’s rebooted Hitman games are among the most underrated titles of the last few years, streamlining the series’ once finnicky systems and placing Agent 47 in huge sandbox levels with more ways than ever to eliminate his targets. If you own the previous two games, you can import maps and progress to take advantage of Hitman III’s improvements on any platform, but only the PS4 version supports the PSVR headset for the ultimate Hitman experience.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

July 16 | Nintendo | Switch

The Legend of Zelda series turned 35 this year and Nintendo is celebrating the milestone with an HD remaster of one of the most underrated installments in the long-running franchise. Skyward Sword takes things back all the way to the very beginning of the Zelda timeline, telling the story of how the mythical Master Sword was created. Along the way, players are in for a fun adventure including some interesting experiments with motion control.

While it’ll likely never be as beloved as the games before it or Breath of the Wild, this Wii installment is still worth experiencing, especially if you missed it back in 2011.

Mario Golf: Super Rush

June 25 | Nintendo | Switch

It’s been a while since Nintendo dropped a new Mario Golf game, but a new Switch installment is finally here. While Super Rush offers up much of the same Mario Golf action you know and love, it does have an interesting new mode called Speed Golf, which pits competitors against each other as they race down the course in real time to see who scores first. It adds a bit of pep to the chill vibes of the series.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

October 26 | Eidos Montreal | XSX, PS5, XBO, PS4, Switch, PC

Square Enix’s latest foray in the Marvel universe comes just a year after the release of Marvel’s Avengers, a dull loot shooter starring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes that left a bit to be desired. So why are we excited for Guardians of the Galaxy? For one thing, it looks like it has a lot more personality, as players take control of Star-Lord, who not only has to use his skills as a warrior to fight bad guys and monsters but also has to play leader to keep his band of rogue misfits in line during big battles.

Eidos also plays to its strengths as a developer of single-player, story-focused games — if you love the choice-based gameplay and dialogue from recent Deus Ex games, there’s plenty more of that in Guardians. This planet-hopping adventure also takes players to some of the most exotic locations in the Marvel cosmos, such as Seknarf Nine and Knowhere, meaning you won’t be stuck fighting robots and scientists in Utah for half of the game.

This is Square Enix’s Marvel do-over. Let’s hope they don’t waste it.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

May 14 | BioWare | XSX, PS5, PS4, XBO, PC

Nearly a decade since its conclusion, the Mass Effect trilogy remains a favorite among many gamers. Now, BioWare has brought the series back to next-gen consoles with a fresh coat of paint. A laundry list of improvements, including upgraded visuals and 4K compatibility, are the highlights of this collection, with much of the core gameplay and story you know and love staying the same. They did tweak that dang Mako, though.

The Medium

January 28 | Bloober Team | XSX, PC

Originally announced way back in 2012 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U, The Medium was shelved for years due to technological constraints before finally resurfacing in 2020. Gameplay focuses on a medium who can instantaneously travel between the real world and the spirit realm to solve puzzles, something that just wasn’t possible until the current crop of consoles adopted solid state drives.

Bloober Team has quietly built a reputation for itself with excellent single-player horror games like Observer and Layers of Fear, and The Medium is their most ambitious game yet.

Metroid Dread

October 8 | MercurySteam & Nintendo | Switch

Also known as “Metroid 5,” this unexpected sequel to the original mainline series of Metroid games will bring Samus Aran’s story with the X parasite to an end, according to Nintendo. Set after Metroid Fusion, Dread sees Samus exploring the planet ZDR where she must find the X parasite and destroy it once and for all. That won’t be so easy, though. With a few relentless villains constantly pursuing her around the map, she’ll have to move fast, while also uncovering a new piece of Chozo history to complete her mission.

This game looks like a revival of the excellent side-scroller gameplay we’ve always loved from this series, with a bit pf horror thrown in for good measure. This is easily one of our most highly anticipated games of the fall.

Monster Hunter Rise

March 26 | Capcom | Switch

The excellent Monster Hunter: World helped the series find a large audience in the West, although the game’s more demanding performance requirements kept it off the Switch. Fortunately, Rise is built specifically for Nintendo’s portable-console hybrid. And rather than a watered down port of World, Capcom this is a full-featured sequel with a new, more vertical map and all 14 weapon types from Monster Hunter: World and Monster Hunter Generations. If you’ve been waiting to jump on the Monster Hunter craze on the Switch, now is the time!

New Pokemon Snap

April 30 | Nintendo | Switch

Nintendo unleashed peak late ’90s nostalgia with this revival of the Pokemon Snap series for the Switch. Wrapped in a modern package, New Pokemon Snap is more of the on-rails photography game you loved when you were a kid. The game features over 200 Pokemon to capture with your trusty camera, which you can upload online to share with other players. And true to the Instagram era, you can now touch up your pictures, adding blur and filters, adjusting the zoom, and more. This is a must-buy for Nintendo fans.

New World

September 28 | Amazon Games | PC

Amazon has had its sights set on the gaming world for quite some time, quietly pumping money into a number of projects, and New World could be its breakthrough hit. In this MMORPG set on an unnamed land in the Atlantic Ocean in the 1600s, you’ll wield bows, hammers, hatchets, magical staffs, musket rifles, spears, and swords against a variety of fantastical creatures. There will also be plenty of opportunities to gather resources, craft, and build settlements. Best of all, there’s no monthly fee to play.

Launching a new IP is always difficult, and MMOs are a particularly difficult genre to break into, but if any company has the resources to succeed, it’s Amazon. That said, New World had some issues during the beta that will hopefully be addressed in time for the full release.

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection

June 10 | Team Ninja | XBO, PS4, Switch, PC

Before there was Dark Souls, masochists flocked to the Ninja Gaiden series, which basically wrote the book on punishing action games. If you’ve been missing this franchise of late, Koei Tecmo is re-releasing three of the 3D installments in a sleek new collection for modern platforms. Included in the box are Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, plus most of the downloadable content released for these games.

Outriders

April 1 | People Can Fly | XSX, PS5, PS4, XBO, PC

Outriders combines the shooter and RPG genres in some unique and engaging ways. At the start of the game, you’ll pick from one of four classes: the time manipulating Trickster, fire-controlling Pyromancer, the seismic-powered Devastator, or the Technomancer, each of whom has a full-featured skill tree. Some have compared the title to live service games like Destiny and The Division, but Outriders also has a style of its own, presenting itself as a grittier alternative to those games.

Persona 5 Strikers

February 23 | Omega Force and P-Studio | PS4, PC, Switch

It’s a tradition at this point for Atlus to spin-off a Persona game into as many other titles as possible. We’ve already seen rhythm and dungeon crawler spin-offs of Persona 5 (and even a Super Smash Bros. cameo from Joker), but this is The Phantom Thieves’ first foray into the hack and slash genre. Gameplay is a mix of the usual Dynasty Warriors combo attacks, but there are also turn-based persona battles as well. And of course, expect plenty of Persona 5’s usual style and flare.

Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis

June 9 | Sega | XSX, XBO, PC

Wait, didn’t Phantasy Star Online 2 just come out? Well yes, but only in the West. Japan has been playing the game since 2012, which is why the MMORPG might feel a little dated. New Genesis is a half update-half sequel with updated combat, and for the first time in the series, open world areas. It’s more like the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn update instead of a whole new game. The best part is that you’re be able to transfer over your character from PSO 2 to New Genesis, and like its predecessor, it’s completely free-to-play.

Psychonauts 2

August 25 | Double Fine | XSX, PS5, PS4, XBO, PC

Fans have waited for a Psychonauts sequel for 15 years, but Double Fine has finally released the follow up. Psychonauts 2 sees Raz once again delving into the psyches of other characters, with hilarious and frightening results. Raz isn’t completely alone for this journey this time around. He’s joined by a new glowing companion, known as the Mote of Light, who is voiced by Jack Black. We really loved this game!

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

June 11 | Insomniac games | PS5

There hasn’t been a bad Ratchet & Clank game yet, and Rift Apart continues that trend. The basic gameplay is be similar to the excellent 2016 reboot, but Insomniac also introduces instant travel between completely different worlds. While PlayStation may have oversold just how much of the rift jumping is happening in real-time versus the more scripted reality of the sequences, it’s still a lot of fun to explore the multiverse with our dynamic duo. The game’s visuals, which support real-time ray-tracing and full 4K resolution, also happen to look stunning.

Resident Evil Village

May 7 | Capcom | XSX, PS5, PC

Resident Evil Village is a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, but it’s much more than Resident Evil 8, as Ethan investigates the mysterious occurrences in an isolated European village haunted by vampires and werewolves. But has Resident Evil really gone all Hammer Horror or is there more to these creatures of the night than meets the eye? And what do they want with Ethan’s baby?! This survival horror banger will keep you invested and digging for the answers.

Scorn

TBA | Ebb Software | XSX, PC

Scorn looks like an absolute nightmare, but in the best possible way. It is, after all, directly inspired by the art of H.R. Giger of Alien fame and Polish painter Zdzisław Beksiński. In Scorn, you play as a skinless humanoid searching for answers in a horrific techno-organic open world. At the very least, it promises to be the most disturbing title of the year.

Shin Megami Tensei V

November 12 | Atlus | Switch

While the Persona spin-off series gets most of the attention nowadays, the original Shin Megami Tensei franchise is still going strong, and the latest title in the long-running series should be out worldwide next year.

This is the first Shin Megami Tensei developed using the Unreal Engine 4, so it should look fantastic, but expect similar gameplay to previous titles, including turn-based combat and lots of negotiating with demons to try to get them to join your party.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury on Switch

February 12 | Nintendo | Switch

When it was released in 2013, Super Mario 3D World was easily one of the best Mario games in years, effortlessly combining the 3D movement of newer games in the series with the level design and multiple characters of the original NES games. You could play as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, or Rosalina, and they could each don catsuits that opened up all sorts of new platforming opportunities. But maybe 10 people played it because no one bought the Wii U.

Fortunately, the game received the re-release it deserved this year. Plus you get a whole new campaign called Bowser’s Fury, an interesting twist on the usual Mario level structure that’s worth a playthrough.

Valheim

February 2 | Iron Gate AB

Valheim came out of nowhere to become one of the big success stories of 2021, selling more than a million copies less than three weeks after its early access release. If you aren’t caught up on the latest Steam phenomenon, think of it as Minecraft mixed with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. You and up to nine other friends are dropped off in the middle of a Viking afterlife to survive, craft, and battle mythical creatures.

Iron Gate AB has been vague about what exactly to expect from future updates, but the studio has teased future customization options for homes and ships, and eventually even a new biome to explore.

Wrath: Aeon of Ruin

TBA | KillPixel

First-person shooters have come a long way in the last couple of decades, but some times you just want to run and gun in a dark fantasy setting as quickly as possible. And remarkably few modern games provide that experience. Enter Wrath: Aeon of Ruin, a spiritual successor to Quake, Doom, and Hexen, built on the 25-year-old Quake Engine.

Wrath has been in Early Access since November 2019, and what’s been released so far is very promising, looking and sounding like a lost PC shooter from the late ‘90s. The full game should be out later this year.

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hudsonespie · 4 years

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Breaking Down the US Navy’s Blueprint for a Blue Arctic

With climate change and an increasingly unstable international order, the U.S. Navy is releasing new Arctic strategies at an accelerated pace.

Five years after it published the 2009 Navy Arctic Roadmap, it came out with the Arctic Roadmap: 2014-2030, in step with the Quadrennial Defense Review published that year. Although the updated roadmap’s title made it seem as if the document were supposed to stick around, five years later, it was replaced by the February 2019 Strategic Outlook for the Arctic.When asked by reporters why the Navy was already revising its strategy document just four years after its publication and 12 years before its supposed expiry date, then-U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson retorted, “The Arctic triggered it. The damn thing melted.”

Less than two years later, the Navy evidently feels that the situation has changed again enough to warrant yet another update. Last week, it released its Strategic Blueprint for the Arctic, which replaces the 2019 outlook. The new blueprint does three main things, which I break down below:

It represents the Arctic as an American homeland rather than frontier, encompassing three oceans stretching from Maine to Alaska

It marks Russia and China as enemies

It portrays the Arctic as a navigable blue ocean rather than an inaccessible frozen periphery

A three-ocean Arctic homeland

The 2019 outlook described America’s Arctic following the definition codified by the 1984 Arctic Research and Policy Act, which encompasses the lands and waters in Alaska north of the Arctic Circle, along the Bering Strait, and in the Aleutians. The 2019 outlook also used the US Arctic Research Commission’s very basic map of the region, seen below.

The map included in the U.S. Navy’s 2019 Strategic Outlook for the Arctic.

In contrast, the 2021 Strategic Blueprint for the Arctic takes a more expansive view crossing three oceans, from the Atlantic to the Arctic to the Pacific. The document opens by describing the area encompassing the United States’ Arctic interests: a huge swatch of land and sea “stretching from Maine in the North Atlantic across the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait and Alaska in the North Pacific to the southern tip of the Aleutian Island chain.”

It may come as a surprise to see Maine mentioned before Alaska. For the northeast state, which only began leaning into its Arctic connections a few years ago (once Icelandic shipping company Eimskip began regularly calling at the port of Portland), this is a pretty big coup. The blueprint also directly references Maine’s participation at the annual Arctic Circle conference, which testifies to the Icelandic gathering’s importance for track two Arctic diplomacy.

Despite this geographically more expansive stage-setting, the Navy still acknowledges the same definition of the term “Arctic,” following the 1984 legislation. However, it now uses a map borrowed from the State Department with a widened scope that captures and labels three oceans – the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific – along with the capitals of Russia and Scandinavia. The eight Arctic Council member states are labeled, too. So is Maine, representing a small but important edit to the original State Department map. Finally, while the borders of various Asian countries, including China, remain visible in the 2021 map just like in the ARCUS map included in the 2019 blueprint, the actual countries remain unlabeled.

The map included in the 2021 U.S. Navy Strategic Arctic Blueprint.

If the American Arctic is really going to become a home, however, it will need a lot more investment in infrastructure. In a press conference on January 5, US Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite recounted a recent trip to Adak, Alaska, where he had been stationed as a young pilot. He remarked, “Unfortunately, it looks like the set from a zombie apocalypse, to be very honest with you. That’s a very harsh environment, it’s been very harsh on the infrastructure there. It would cost an inordinate amount of money to reopen it.”

The Navy thus recognizes that more ports and facilities are needed but doesn’t specify plans for any investments in the blueprint. Instead, it seems like it will put its energy into improving its posturing, exercises, and fleet synchronization while fretting about the ports that countries like Russia and China are seeking to improve or control. Meanwhile, the Navy may have to keep relying on other friendly countries’ Arctic infrastructure, as Secretary Braithwaite stressed:

“There are other options that we have to be able to operate out of other airfields in that part of the world, in the Arctic. Of course we have our partnerships with our NATO allies: there’s a new air station opening up in Evenes, Norway, that can support both the P-8 and the Joint Strike Fighter.”

It wouldn’t be America without baseball in this icy field of dreams. In the photo of the first-ever baseball game at the North Pole played by members of USS Seadragon in August 1960, TM2 SS Thomas J. Miletich is up at bat while Lt JG Vincent Leahy playing catcher. Source: National Archives/Mariners Museum

From conquering to domesticating the Arctic

The Navy’s interest in sketching out a wider Arctic region—one that protrudes northward not only from Alaska but from the Lower 48, too—supports the force’s effort to transform the Arctic from a frontier into a homeland. The blueprint mentions the word “frontier” zero times, while it mentions “home” five times.

The apparent domestication of the Arctic was already underway in the Navy’s 2019 outlook, which clearly set out its three strategic objectives for the Arctic as follows:

2019 U.S. Navy Strategic Objectives in the Arctic

Defend U.S. sovereignty and the homeland from attack

Ensuring the Arctic remains a stable, conflict-free region

Preserving freedom of the seas

The Navy’s three strategic objectives in 2019 aligned with the country’s three national security interests expressed in the Department of Defense’s 2019 Arctic Strategy, which define the Arctic in three ways: “as the U.S. homeland, as a shared region, and as a potential corridor for strategic competition” (here directly mentioning the need to constrain China and Russia).

Now in 2021, the Navy’s three objectives have broadened. The need to have a presence is expressed in more general terms, while the aim of strengthening naval capabilities has replaced preserving freedom of navigation.

2021 U.S. Navy Objectives in the Arctic

Maintain enhanced presence

Strengthen cooperative partnerships

Build a more capable Arctic naval force

In trying to lay a claim to a wider slice of the Arctic and recast the region as American homeland, the blueprint emphasizes the navy’s historical presence in the region by referencing past expeditions by American explorers and military personnel. It also makes sure to namedrop not just the white men who led these missions, but their team members, too, whose knowledge was critical to their success.

For instance, the blueprint notes: “Just as [Robert] Peary, a Civil Engineer Corps Officer, led successful Arctic expeditions – together with Matthew Henson, Ootah, Egigingwah, Seegloo, and Ooqueah – this regional blueprint recognizes the long-term challenges and opportunities of a Blue Arctic – and the role of American naval power in. (No mention is made of the doubt that many historians, including Dennis Rawlins writing in the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings in 1970, cast on Peary’s claims to being the first at the North Pole in 1909.)

A photo of the Robert Peary sledge party posing with flags, allegedly at the North Pole, on April 7, 1909 from the National Archives. The official caption reads, “Ooqueh, holding the Navy League flag; Ootah, holding the D.K.E. fraternity flag; Matthew Henson, holding the polar flag; Egingwah, holding the D.A.R. peace flag; and Seeglo, holding the Red Cross flag.”

References to a historical American presence in the Arctic – one that is diverse and inclusive, no less – bolster the narrative that the U.S. has successfully tamed the region and lend confidence to the belief that the U.S. can maintain an enhanced presence today. A parallel can be drawn with the conquering and settling of the Western frontier in the nineteenth century, which U.S. historian Frederick Jackson Turner (in)famously declared “closed” in 1890. By becoming a part of the American homeland, the Arctic no longer represents the enemy to be conquered. Instead, the country’s northern home has to be defended from new enemies at the doorstep.

Russia: From friend to enemy

In the introduction, immediately after describing America’s Arctic homeland as a region stretching from Maine to Alaska, the blueprint names America’s enemies in the north: Russia and China. The document posits, “Without sustained American naval presence and partnerships in the Arctic Region, peace and prosperity will be increasingly challenged by Russia and China, whose interests and values differ dramatically from ours.”

The casting of Russia as the enemy is striking given that just a little over a decade ago, the 2009 Navy Arctic Roadmap repeatedly pointed to American naval cooperation with the Russian Navy, Russian Border Guard, the Russian-America Long Term Census of the Arctic Ocean, and the Tiksi Arctic Observatory, located on the Arctic shores of the Russian Far East.

Happier days in 2010 onboard the Russian research vessel Professor Khromov during a joint US-Russia expedition to the Bering Strait. Photo: Aleksey Ostrovskiy/RUSALCA (NOAA).

There were peaceful times in the past, too, even if the blueprint overlooks these in favor of a focus on Cold War-era enmity. The document notes, “Over 150 years ago, USS Jamestown stood our northern watch as the U.S. flag was raised over Alaska.” Left out of the story is the fact that this historical moment marked the peaceful passing of control over the territory from Russia to the U.S. in Sitka, the former seat of the Russian American Company in Alaska (even if we acknowledge that both empires’ reigns destroyed livelihoods and lifeways for Alaska Natives). Rather than pay homage to these more cordial times, the blueprint evinces a deep suspicion of Russia’s Arctic activities, which it interprets as a “multilayered militarization of its northern flank.”

This cold and combative description contrasts with depictions of the American Arctic, which use cozier turns of phrase like “our local Alaskan and indigenous communities.” No such language is used to characterize Russia, despite the fact that the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic ties connecting people across the Bering Strait run deep.

China: A near- non-Arctic state

If Russia is the friend that’s been uninvited to America’s Arctic housewarming, China is the new kid on the block that the U.S. seeks to keep out in the cold.

China – or rather “The People’s Republic of China,” as the blueprint names it, underscoring the bogeyman’s communist status, is described in even harsher terms than Russia. China is not just undermining global interests and degrading security in the region, as the blueprint claims of Russia. In fact, China’s growing “economic, scientific, and military reach…presents a threat to people and nations, including those who call the Arctic Region home.” I’m left scratching my head as to whether this means the Navy thinks that China would present a threat to Russia, since the latter calls a greater territorial extent of the Arctic home than any other northern nation.

The blueprint’s fixation with China, which it mentions six times (versus Russia’s nine times), is striking – especially seeing as the country was totally absent from the Navy’s 2009 Arctic blueprint. Consider the international governments and militaries listed then as having an interest in the region:

Japan is the only Asian country listed, and China is nowhere to be found.

While the Navy’s 2021 blueprint doesn’t make any mention of China’s claims to “near-Arctic” statehood (unlike the 2019 Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy, which actively contested it), the department slipped up in its press release by announcing, “The blueprint places focus on the rising maritime activity spurring from Arctic states, like Russia and China.”

Klaus Dodds, professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London, was among the first to catch this mistake. Puzzled, he wondered, “Did they mean to say this???”

The Navy has since corrected what must have been a typo (but at the same time, perhaps a subconscious acknowledgement of the fact that China cannot be overlooked in Arctic relations). The press release now states, “The blueprint places focus on the rising maritime activity spurring from Arctic and non-Arctic states, like Russia and China, which posture their navies to protect sovereignty and national interests while enabling their ability to project power.”

To nobody’s surprise, the U.S. Navy did not issue an erratum.

Wild blue yonder, tame blue Arctic

Representing the third notable development with regard to the Navy’s shifting perceptions of the Arctic, the blueprint repeatedly uses the phrase “Blue Arctic.” The evolution from white to blue mirrors predictions that over the next two decades, the Arctic region will become increasingly navigable and ice-free. As a result, the Navy asserts, “Our defense posture must be regularly and rigorously assessed to adapt to a Blue Arctic.”

To adapt, the Navy will seek to grow its presence in the Arctic not only underwater, where its submarines have accumulated over 70 years of experience, but on the increasingly open and accessible surface of the ocean, too. The Navy aims to achieve this by “regionally posturing our forces, conducting exercises and operations, integrating Navy-Marine Corps-Coast Guard capabilities, and synchronizing our Fleets.”

Massive joint military exercises like ICEX, the U.S. Navy’s biennial “submarine force tactical development and torpedo exercise,” have helped evaluate and enhance American naval preparedness for operations in the Arctic. Whether the navy can keep up with other countries like Russia and China remains to be seen.

Acknowledging the Transpolar Sea Route

Pointing to another central dimension of the blue Arctic, the 2021 blueprint elaborates upon the 2019 strategy’s mentioning of the Transpolar Sea Route, the shipping route via the North Pole that could emerge once sea ice melts sufficiently in summertime in the next two decades. The blueprint indicates, “The projected opening of a deep-draft trans-polar route in the next 20-30 years has the potential to transform the global transport system.”

As I’ve written about previously on Cryopolitics and in a 2020 paper in Marine Policy, the Transpolar Sea Route would represent the most direct maritime link between Europe and Asia. It could also facilitate access to new fishing grounds in the Central Arctic Ocean should the 2018 moratorium not be renewed when it expires around 2034.

Defending the virtual homeland with C5ISR

It’s not just the physical environment that the Navy deems important to protect: the virtual one is, too. The blueprint states that the Navy will “assess and prioritize C5ISR capabilities in the Arctic.” That’s shorthand for “command, control, communications, computers, cyber, information, surveillance, and reconnaissance” – a mouthful confirming that the world has come a long way from C2, or “command and control.”

The military’s domain awareness in the Arctic is limited by a lack of satellite and terrestrial communications, as a report by the Department of Defense in 2016 warned. Making investments in remote sensing, ice prediction, and weather forecasting are crucial to closing this gap. At the same time, the U.S. will likely keep its eye on China, which recently announced that it will launch a new satellite to monitor Arctic shipping routes next year.

Yet enhancing C5ISR involves more than just being better able to determine whether the next day will bring snow or sleet. The U.S. Army rather chillingly describes the term as “technologies that enable information dominance and decisive lethality for the networked Soldier.”

But, not to fret. The Arctic is America’s homeland, and, as the blueprint reminds, “The United States will always seek peace in the Arctic.”

This article appears courtesy of Cryopolitics and is reproduced here in an abbreviated form. The original may be found here.

from Storage Containers https://maritime-executive.com/article/breaking-down-the-us-navy-s-blueprint-for-a-blue-arctic via http://www.rssmix.com/

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rowanacnw311-blog · 5 years

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10 Things Everyone Hates About holiday packages australia

What do you believe of any time you listen to the phrase Australia? Kangaroos, beaches, and ‘g’day mate’? Nicely Indeed, Australia does have its truthful share of ‘roos, however the land Down Underneath offers Much more than that! We’re talking awe-inspiring mountains, epic road journeys, massive national parks, wonderful waterfalls…the checklist actually is countless. We’ve rounded up some top Aussie journey bloggers who may have given us their recommendations with regards to the most effective locations to go to in Australia – and you may be selected that no matter what you’re looking for as part of your trip, Australia can supply it and much more. Continue reading for 24 of the greatest destinations to go to in Australia!

New South Wales

Victoria

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

Tasmania

South Australia

Finest spots to visit in New South Wales

one. Blue Mountains

Best Places To Visit In Australia - Blue Mountains

Suggested by Rachel and Jeremy from The Kiwi Pair

Should you’re searching for a dose of character, the Blue Mountains are for yourself. Only one.5 hrs with the hustle and bustle of Sydney, it could be frequented as a day excursion or simply a weekend getaway, dependant upon your travel time-frame. Make sure you have enough time to go to Wentworth Falls. This spot provides walks of various problem with gorgeous sights of your waterfall, and it’s just a brief travel from the principle celebration – The A few Sisters. These well-known rock formations would be the emphasize of this picturesque postcard space.

Should you head to Echo Stage you can find an epic see of them, or hop on Scenic Globe’s gondola. While you’re there, don’t pass up the Scenic Railway – the steepest passenger railway on this planet! Past although not the very least, Lincoln’s Rock is a necessity. With sights of your large landscape as well as a top secret very little cave great for viewing the sunset, it’s the best close on the day.

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two. Bathurst

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Advisable by Tara from Where Is Tara

Bathurst is one of my favorite spots in Australia for countless explanations. One of these is the fact that my cousins have farms in existence. They allow me to stay whenever I go through and bring me to cattle markets, and that is an actual novelty to me acquiring grown up in the city. Another explanation I love Bathurst is since it is usually missed by travellers, Regardless of getting a lot of to provide. It’s the oldest inland metropolis in Australia which is the site of the first Australian gold rush.

Visit the T-Rex on the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum, have a spin around the well known Mount Panorama Circuit. Or simply get a cup of coffee from Campos, have a stroll by means of Machattie Park and check out the commemorative plaque from Charles Darwin’s check out in 1836. For a unique day excursion in the Bathurst region look into the gold rush city of Sofala (it appears like a ghost city and it has an incredible guide store), or head to the Jenolan caves for some natural splendor, limestone-design!

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three. Sydney

Finest Sites To Visit In Australia - Sydney

Suggested by Rachel and Jeremy from your Kiwi Pair

Sydney is the largest town in Australia – full of beautiful shorelines, enjoyable activities and good foods. Among the finest methods to perspective The fantastic thing about Sydney is by taking a comforting stroll. A wonderful Beach front walk, and the most effective, is from Bondi Beach front to Coogee Seaside. It offers beautiful views of the region’s renowned rocky beaches, slim seashores and sandy shorelines. Another well known stroll is alongside the Sydney Harbour Bridge walkway. Equally walks are no cost and are a great way to appreciate Sydney.

We like receiving up superior and observing metropolitan areas from over. The ideal way To achieve this in Sydney is by performing the Skywalk at Sydney Tower. At 268 metres superior, it’s guaranteed to get your coronary heart pumping. You’re harnessed in even though so it’s not (also) Frightening! And at last, a necessity do of Sydney is to eat your heart out. Try a deep fried Golden Gaytime ice product from Just what the Fudge Cafe, you received’t regret it!

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four. Byron Bay

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?@eloisejulier

Advisable australia packages by Dane from Getaway From Where by

Byron is among Australia’s best tourist Places but for those who’re willing to place in somewhat do the job it is possible to nevertheless locate some more effectively concealed gems just out the back during the hinterland mountains. From numerous waterfalls and swimming holes to incredible mountains and bush walks this tiny region disguise a lot of elegance. I'd personally counsel setting up which has a hike to The underside of Minyon Falls for the swim, a hike to the top of Mt Warning for an unbelievable dawn, another swim at Killin Falls then a hike to the Purely natural Arch. These are definitely just many of the most accessible but there's so considerably more if you’re willing to investigate.

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Best spots to visit in Victoria

five. Melbourne

Greatest Spots To Visit In Australia - Melbourne

Encouraged by Aditi from Diary of the Cusp

Melbourne has secured its place of probably the most liveable town on the globe the seventh time in a row. Most times see a various climate – hail, sunshine, rain, wind – but that doesn’t impede the livelihood of Melbourne. Any provided working day you will find an party, an show, a new music gig, or perhaps a clearly show to relish. You will get usage of absolutely free trams in the town circle to wander throughout without the need of outlaying a buck on transportation. Melbourne can be a multicultural metropolitan with copious eating places serving slavering foods and cafes in your caffeine repair – Melbourne’s coffee is a lot of the finest in the world.

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six. Wonderful Ocean Street

Best Sites To go to In Australia - Terrific Ocean Street

Encouraged by Jack and Jenn from Who Desires Maps

Lorne is a well-liked end alongside The good Ocean Highway (and to the Twelve Apostles). It’s the proper place to chill out along the seaside, maybe go for a surf, try to eat a number of the very best fish and chips, and benefit from the surroundings. Jack is actually a surfer and likes to go out to The good Ocean Highway for a surf. Even so the trip isn’t total with out a halt in Lorne for the parma and a pot write-up-surf. Lorne also has some wonderful walks and waterfalls to discover, like Erskine Falls and Phantom Falls. My favorite, is in the event you go in the suitable period, you'll be able to capture a couple of whales at sunset. Get a wine at a seaside restaurant and enjoy the serenity.

seven. Mornington Peninsula

Most effective Locations To go to In Australia - Mornington Peninsula

Suggested by Aditi from Diary of a Cusp

Mornington Peninsula is actually a peninsula Found southeast of Melbourne, just an hour drive from town. It has been an immensely popular day excursion or staycation internet site for the inhabitants of Victoria, Specially Melbourne for decades now. Mornington Peninsula has a lot to provide to its site visitors – beaches, nationwide parks, scenic sights, relaxing spas, vineyards, golfing classes, mazes, camping web pages and so far more. This myriad of actions as well as the short distance can make it so appealing to go to in the course of long weekends like Queen’s Birthday, Xmas, Boxing Day, New Yr and so forth. Sampling some Pinot Noir even though during the peninsula is a necessity.

Very best places to visit in Queensland

eight. Sunshine Coastline

Best Destinations To go to In Australia - Sunshine Coast

Advised by Sophie from Adventures of Soph

The Sunshine Coast has received for being one of the most wonderful strips of coastland in all of Australia, boasting beautiful, prolonged white shorelines lined with wellbeing conscious cafes and boutique garments retailers. When you aren’t soaking up the sunshine on on the list of lots of beaches, you could head out for the hinterland for every day of mountain mountaineering or hop off the beaten track to find secluded swimming holes and waterfalls with not a soul in sight. Noosa National Park and fairy swimming pools is definitely an complete should do, just stay away from the midday hurry from the crowds.

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9. Brisbane

Best Sites To go to In Australia - Brisbane

@anitababic3

Encouraged by Erica from A woman Who Wanders

Brisbane is my hometown and a location I intend on keeping for an exceedingly long time. Why? Mainly because it has all the things! Unlike its cash town counterparts of Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane offers every one of the perks at a fraction of the fee. Substantial on my listing of locations to visit is Southbank, the house of doing arts and Queensland tradition along with back alley bars and river front dining. Southbank also capabilities Australia’s only interior-town Beach front, a person-designed marvel which requires you from the hustle and bustle of the city and into a tropical oasis with glowing waters and white, sandy beaches.

West Close is an additional suburb I remarkably suggest traveling to, with its hipster vibe, insanely very good espresso and street marketplaces to maintain you buying hrs. Should you’re following a watch of town in the best, head as much as Mt Coot-tha for its amazing 360 sights of the town and the surrounding hinterland. I also highly endorse climbing the Brisbane Tale Bridge For an additional Unique addition to the vacation, as the perspective is gorgeous as well as the adrenalin hurry a person not to be skipped!

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10. Gold Coast

Finest Locations To Visit In Australia - Gold Coast

@scottypass

Recommended by Erica from A woman Who Wanders

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My favourite thing concerning the Gold Coastline is how the vibe is amazingly laid again but also electric powered, with locals and holidaymakers alike savoring the “Sunday sesh” ambiance in the day plus the occasion scene that concerns existence once the sun goes down. In the event you’re preparing on going to the Gold Coastline whenever quickly, my individual tips for the top spots to visit are Burleigh Heads Seashore as well as Lamington Countrywide Park.

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11. Airlie Seaside/Whitsundays

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@jessea_h

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Airlie Seaside is a great hub to meet other backpackers who definitely have a hankering for journey. We had a great deal of enjoyable happening all sorts of nautical adventures. We even husked our individual coconuts and played with turkeys and wallaby’s about the island. Airlie Beach is additionally known for its person-created lagoon, a superb spot for beachside/poolside cocktails.

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12. Noosa

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@emelianjellachas

Proposed by Fanny from Minka Guides

Expanding up, I usually listened to about Noosa from other Australians as this aspiration coastal vacation spot. Becoming within the place, I didn’t really realize why right until I lastly frequented a handful of calendar year back and fell in appreciate. Compared with all kinds of other iconic coastal towns, Noosa isn’t full of towering skyscrapers and massive procuring malls. In fact, the neighborhood council don’t Permit anybody Establish larger than the trees, making certain this sub-tropical town retains its surprisingly beautiful seaside city vibe – although also becoming an unbelievably well known spot to visit!

The key Beach front could get rather hectic with sunbathers, so I’d advise executing a trek by means of close by Noosa Nationwide Park to at least one of its wonderful and deserted stretches of sand. A forty five-moment wander alongside the Tanglewood Track can take you to definitely Alexandria Bay, where by little, translucent fish swimming inside the shallows (as well as the occasional nudist) are your only firm. Absolute paradise.

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thirteen. Atherton Tablelands

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Consider countless waterfalls, rolling environmentally friendly hills dotted with dairy cows and rustic, spouse and children operate cafes. All within just one hour’s drive clear of Cairns, the Atherton Tablelands is the perfect gateway to the countryside, whether it's for on a daily basis journey or for a protracted weekend. The simplest way to begin to see the Tablelands would be to hop in a car, seize an area map and just push. The waterfall circuit of Elinjja Falls, Millaa Millaa Falls and Zillie Falls are usually not to generally be skipped and when you occur to end up there on the final Saturday on the month make sure to look into the Yungaburra markets.

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14. Townsville

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Advisable by Sam from Sam World wide

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15. Cairns

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sixteen. Whitehaven Seashore

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Advisable by Dane from Vacation From In which

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Best areas to go to in Northern Territory

seventeen. Uluru

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Proposed by Crystal from Castaway With Crystal

Uluru is probably Australia’s most recognisable landmark. But this big chunk of rock can also be extremely sacred into the neighborhood Anangu Aboriginal persons right here, an area of fantastic electricity. It is the centre in the universe and the home on the ‘Earth Mom’. During the outskirts of Uluru, in just tiny caves, Aboriginal rock artwork might be noticed that is tens of 1000s of a long time old. These are definitely considered nationwide treasures and Uluru is often a UNESCO Entire world Heritage site.

Although you'll be able to even now climb to the very best of your rock and encounter the undoubtedly magical views, doing so is some extent of controversy involving the local Aboriginal persons as well as countrywide park assistance that manages the region. For this reason, travellers are closely encouraged never to climb. Uluru rises 348 meters over the bottom, but the majority of the rock lies underground. It's a circumference of sixteen kilometres and may be walked all over in whole using a cleared route.

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eighteen. Darwin

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Proposed by Edit From Edit World wide

Whilst Darwin is the cash city on the Northern Territory, it is very compact – nonetheless it’s actually an excellent place for purchasing. Moreover, for heritage fans, it’s a true treasure city Along with the Museum and Artwork Gallery of the Northern Territory and several other aboriginal art galleries. On the flip side, journey seekers can look into the Crocosaurus Cove, wherever the Cage of Loss of life encounter offers the thrill of being in the same setting, much more precisely inside of a special cage in the water, together with a 5m very long croc. Crocodile will also be found on lots of restaurant menus close to Darwin. From crocodile sandwich to croc pizza, The range is large and really delectable. It preferences relatively like hen, but it really arrives in a A great deal better value.

Using a tour about the Adelaide river gave me the chance to begin to see the tactics in the crocs every time they’re preparing to assault. Litchfield National Park is a wonderful destination to see crocodiles of their natural habitat –

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#Australia #Tourist in Australia #Undiscovered Australia #Australia Vacations

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exoticlifestyles-blog1 · 6 years

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AMAZING ADELAIDE WITH EXOTIC LIFESTYLES

Adelaide is South Australia's cosmopolitan beach front capital. Its ring of parkland on the River Torrens is home to prestigious historical centres i.e. the Art Gallery of South Australia which shows broad accumulations including noted indigenous craftsmanship and the South Australian Museum. The city's Adelaide Festival is a yearly global expressions gathering with turn offs including periphery and film occasions. Be that as it may appearbecause nowadays things are unique. Multicultural flavours implant Adelaide's eateries; there's a siphoning expressions and unrecorded music scene; and the city's celebration date-book has vanquished dull Saturday evenings. There are still a lot of chapel towers here, however they're pitifully dwarfed by bars and a developing number of hip bars concealed in paths. Right down the cable car tracks is beach Glenelg: Adelaide with its watch down and boardshorts up. Close-bytheir lays Port Adelaide which keeps on improving yet remains a raffish harbour.

ADELAIDEBOTANIC GARDEN

Adelaide Botanic Garden is a desert spring in the cosmopolitan heart of the city, including flawlessly arranged patio nurseries, lofty roads and shocking engineering. Crossing 50 hectares, the noteworthy garden includes a portion of Australia's best plant accumulations. Things to see incorporate the wonderfully re-established 1877-manufactured Palm House, First Creek Wetland, the Amazon Water Lily Pavilion, the Santos Museum of Economic Botany and the Bicentennial Conservatory. There are standard occasions for all ages in the garden. Offices incorporate the Visitor Information Centre and Diggers Garden Shop. It offers a wide scope of seeds, cultivating books and garden products. You can likewise have an easygoing dinner in one of the bistros, Simpson Kiosk and Cafe Fibonacci. Otherwise you can enjoy special food with full gusto at the Botanic Gardens Restaurant.

TANDANYA - NATIONAL ABORIGINAL CULTURAL INSTITUTE

Tandanya is the main Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts and Cultural Association. Tandanya's central goal is to create, advance and grandstand the decent variety of ATSI expressions practice.Secondly it perpetuates discussions and talks through an energizing project of visual and performing expressions through workshops, craftsman/caretaker talks, gatherings, social introductions and film screenings. Tandanya is a solitary National Indigenous Aboriginal Art Code and it specialises in promoting indigenous Australian art, music and storytelling.It showcases artists' work and multi performances within its galleries and theatre through sale of tickets. Tandanya is open from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday to Saturday. It remains closed on Sundays and Public Holidays.

BAROSSA VALLEY

A Barossa Valley wine visit is one of Adelaide's features. The Barossa Valley is the most famous wine developing district in the Adelaide Zone of Australia. It is a prevalent goal for both Australian and worldwide wine sightseers. It is less than 100 kilometres from Adelaide, with more than 150 wineries going from recognizable top picks like Jacob's Creek, Wolf Blass and Penfolds, to family run tasks cutting out their own specific specialty. On the off chance that you are progressively keen on finding the Barossa at your calm pace, ensure you visit Maggie Beer's Farm Shop, the Barossa Farmer's Markets, each Saturday in Angaston and for something eccentric The Herbig Family Tree additionally in Angaston. The tree was home for two or three years to Friedrich and Caroline Herbig and two youngsters around 1860. In the long run the family developed to 16 kids and as anyone might expect exceeded the tree which is presently recorded with the National Trust.The laws of natural growth and origin of species hold good in the long run.

SEMAPHORE BEACH

Take a plunge in the perfect waters of Semaphore Beach with its staggering white sandy shorelines and low rise foundation. It gives you a feeling of being far from everything, except you are in reality just a short ways from Adelaide's CBD. The foreshore is a hive of movement with its popular offshore garden, offering two kilometres of open space saved and saved for what shoreline occasions should be about - having a ton of fun! Play smaller than expected golf, crawl down the waterslide, ride the vintage merry go round or ferries wheel, walk, cycle or run along the drift way. Kite-surfers, wind-surfers and every single climate swimmer make the waters their play area. You would love to take a ride on the steam train that puffs along the shoreline amid the mid- year months.

MCLAREN VALE

Albeit best known for its dry red wines the McLaren Vale wineries likewise create some fine white wines and the mix of a Mediterranean atmosphere and incredible fish make the zone a gourmet's enjoyment. One couldn't know whether it is the nature of their wines and they are probably the best or closer to aparticular quality mark. Its progressively confirmation that great wine and satisfaction go inseparable ally. Wirra likewise includes Harry's Deli sitting above the patio nurseries and vineyards where you can round out your morning with a quality lunch. The town of Willunga has cornered the market way of life and acquires its title of the "Market Town". Each Saturday morning, they hold the Willunga Farmers Markets, off St Peter's Terrace, where the neighbourhood ranchers and makers offer their items direct to you. This is your chance to meet the general population who are in charge of the fine deliveries utilized all through the locale. The Willunga Quarry Markets are held each second Saturday in Aldinga Road. Local people craftsmen and their handcrafted articles are the otherelements of this market.

VICTOR HARBOR

When South Australia was obscure and not even on the map of Australia, the eminent surveyor Mathew Flinders in his exploits discovered Victor Harbour in the beginning of 19th century. It connected North Adelaide with South Australia and gradually communications paved the ways for systematic improvements in accessibilities and transportation modes. It is 80 kilometres away from Adelaide and one can reach there thru 2 way train service, luxury buses and motor boats. It is part of Adelaide sightseeing. There is Horse Drawn Tram Service on causeway of Victor Harbour which delights the travellers as the city is in the periphery and the tram takes them to Granite Island. From time to time on some special occasions Grand Prix Motor Boats Races are conducted.The Steam Ranger Heritage Railways with locomotive run Cookie Train Service between Victor Harbour and Goolwa on Fleurieu Peninsular along harbour railway line. This train journey takes hardly 30 minutes and you can return quicklyto, from where you started.This train service is kept alive despite of modernity and has heritage status. Fishing opportunities are plenty on shore reefs. Excellent surf fishing is done on beaches closer to Murray Mouth. The city hosts three days Schoolies Week Festival for students who finish year long school graduation and they all celebrate the festival in November end. Victor harbour has a warm Mediterranean climate and sea breeze moderates the rising temperature. Mount Breckan is a grand 38 rooms residence which is having a typical edifice and iconic status. Over the years it was reclaimed and changed many hands since it was constructed in April,1879 by Alexander Hay. The huge mansion overlooks the sea and the tourists visit to see the grandeur. There is Granite Island Recreation Park and it is protected area. It is the most popular destination for tourists. This park is 120 kilometres away from Adelaide and lies in South of Adelaide. One-way train or bus journey costs $17 for reaching Victor Harbour from Adelaide. There is another spot for tourists and that is Green Hills Adventure Park near the harbour. There are many attractions viz canoes rides, paddle boats, aqua bikes, waves slides, 4 wheels motor bikes riding, electric cars riding, rock climbing, mini golf etc. All these activities attract tourists and they enjoy participating. No excursion to Victor Harbour would be finished without riding the pony attracted tramway to Granite Island. The principal cable cars kept running in 1894 until the 1950's, with administrations restarting in June 1986 as a major aspect of South Australia's 150th Anniversary. Additionally, arranged in Victor Harbour is the South Australian Whale Centre, where you can find out about whales and whaling in the territory. It is really a fun to see novelties and experience the exuberance of bounties of nature with extremely close encounters.

GLENELG

Glenelg is a prominent beachside suburb around 10 kilometres south of Adelaide CBD. In the event that you need to go on South Australia's solitary staying open transport cable car, you can get a cable car from Hindmarsh to reach Glenelg. Lamentably, it is presently just conceivable to go on the legacy style cable cars as a feature of extraordinary occasions. On the off chance that you feel burnt out on the shoreline or when shopping on Jetty you mix up with other tourists who give free maps that cover strolling and cycling trails in the territory. Glenelg is a beach holiday rental site where villas, apartments, hotels and homes on the ocean front have been built which have world class furnishing and modern kitchen wares and other amenities. This type of isolated living is the main attribute of Glenelg. Families or individuals coming to stay for short term or for long term in the splendid peaceful vicinity feel privileged where all cares are taken for healthy living in the lap of nature. In built roads and civic administration categorically provide security, comfort ability, luxury and extreme mobility for doing your jobs. For history buffs Glenelg has a copy of the HMAS Buffalo, the ship that purchased European pioneers to the zone. You can likewise observe the 'Old Gum Tree' close to which, in 1836, South Australia was announced. The first tree itself is a distant memory, however you can presently visit the territory where the announcement occurred.

MOUNT LOFTY

Mount Lofty is fifteen kilometres away toward east from the focal point of Adelaide. From the 710 meters high summit, the vista is breathtaking as you see the drift and also eminent perspectives over Adelaide. You won't have any desire to miss the Mt Lofty Botanical Gardens. It covers 97 hectares and is an unquestionable requirement to see. There are strolling trails inside the patio nurseries and the Friends of the Gardens run free guided strolls. The Summit bistro is open 7 days a week and is an incredible place to sit and unwind. For individuals who have additional time prefer eating at "The Summit" eatery with perspectives that are amazing. The summit can be reached by motor vehicle or by open transport or by climbing from Waterfall Gully. This is a well known track and consistently followed by tourists and local people. Mt Lofty stands at the highest altitude in the southern ranges. The truck from Water Fall Gully to the summit is 4 kilometre uphill trek. There is a gift shop and a cafe-restaurant at the summit. It is apopular spot for tourists and also for cyclists. Visit Adelaide and get your self and amazingly discounted holiday break. Call Exotic Lifestyles on 1300 20 88 55 to know more.

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taswhapstuff · 6 years

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Andrew Marr’s History of the World - SHEN

Ep.1 - SURVIVAL

Starting with the earliest beginnings of humankind in Africa around 70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens were driven by familiar basic needs – food, water, and shelter. This led to the migration out of Africa that many tribes followed animal migration paths to spread out over thousands of years; however, they perished. So how can you and I still live today? Scientists have concluded that only one tribe lasted long enough outside Africa. Almost all of us alive today is related to one woman in this tribe who was a survivor because there is a tiny genetic mutation in most of the people alive today. After this important journey, her tribe kept on moving and modern humans later spread out the rest of the planet.

Later, humans began to spread out across Europe and coexisted with Neanderthals, competing for the same scarce resources. But the Neanderthals had been driven to extinction around 30,000 years ago. Some theories suggest that our ancestors pushed them out of their hunting areas, or they hunted them for foods. Now, no more competitive neighbor, but the Earth's temperatures started to decrease around 20,000 years ago. Once again, they had to adapt so they invented the sewing needle made out of bone, allowing them to shape and stitch clothing. As a result, they could withstand the harsh winters better and track animals further. Humans are armed with language, organizational skills, and sewing skills; therefore, they were increasingly inventive and wanted to leave a record of their existence since their basic needs are fulfilled. There is evidence of human handprints and paintings at the caves in the south of France, Argentina, and Australia.

To sustain progress, humans found new ways to feed the expanding population. Around 16,000 years ago when the weather was warmer, one of the tribes that lived at the Fertile Crescent started to plan ahead and take more control over the food supply by selecting the best seeds and planting crops, marking a beginning of Agriculture Revolution. However, archeologists have found evidence that farming was a harder life than hunting and gathering. The average height decreased since they did not run around for hunting. Repetitive labor in the fields and the sugary diet of oatmeal introduced arthritis and tooth decay.

With a great food surplus, humans started to care about their living conditions. In Turkey, archaeological remains of the earliest towns show that 3,000 years after the farming revolution, whitewash had been used to coat the walls, heated bowls made out of clay are used to cook meat, and people sophisticated religious rituals to honor the dead people. Farming life in towns also brought new danger that people and livestock living close together, which created the perfect conditions for disease, such as influenza, to spread. But the humans still survived and its population still increased. Farmers who built up a surplus of goods began to trade. Merchants, craftsmen, and priests emerged and society became divided by rich and poor. Landlords, religious leaders, and kings emerged from the farming revolution as well.

Natural disasters are also dangerous to humans. For example, the Minoan civilization was plagued by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that they could not do anything to control that. In fact, many ancient societies around the world practiced human sacrifice in an attempt to appease the gods. In China, people developed a vast network of channels to control the floods. Unlike Chinese and Minoan civilization, the Nile of Egypt had a vast fertile floodplain and its flood patterns were predictable, which brought life to the land. So it allowed architecture, religion, and law to develop in society, which made Egypt become the ancient world's greatest civilization.

The Chinese recorded a vast network of channels.

A remarkable invention, writing, could record trading events and improve communication. Writing is widely available in every social class. It also allowed the Egyptians to codify the law and create a judicial system, which would help establish a stronger framework for social order. New ideas, knowledge, and beliefs could spread faster, sustaining the development of humankind.

An old woman recorded about her sadness as she had raised her children but they did not take care of her.

Humans have shown their great ability to survival under many harsh conditions such as climate change, natural disasters, deadly diseases, and competitive enemies. They slowly developed new ways of life once they successfully adapted to new environments, leading to the rise of the Agriculture Revolution and the world's greatest civilizations.

Ep. 2 - AGE OF EMPIRE

Before watching the second episode of History of the World, it reminded me of one of the best games that I have ever played in my childhood, Age of Empires. I only played the second and third version of this historical real-time strategy game; however, the first one is the true version which focuses on events in Andrew Marr's video. He tells the story of the first empires which laid the foundations for the modern world by conquering lands. However, humans also witnessed their development and progress through culture and politics. More and more thinkers such as Buddha, Confucius, and Socrates who proposed new ideas about how to rule more wisely and have a better life.

In the first minutes of the video, it explains that the ruthless conquerors were driven by new territories, slaves, and wealth. In order to achieve these, they came with brutality in their reign. For example, archaeologists have found the evidence of the Assyrian slaughter which was the mass graves and paintings recorded on the ancient walls. However, there was one king who became known through his tolerance, Cyrus the Great, by listening and showing respect to other cultures and religions. For example, he spared the life of a wise prisoner and appointed him as his adviser. He also set the slaves in Jerusalem free and paid for the rebuilding of their temples. As a result, he created an enduring empire with progress and prosperity while the Assyrian empire declined rapidly.

Cyrus the Great spared the life of a wise prisoner.

In the Middle East, the Phoenicians living on the western edges of the Assyrian empire developed the alphabet for trade and communication in the Mediterranean. As the trade was flourishing, the Libyans used their rich natural deposits of gold and silver to develop a standardized currency which was also minted in Greece.

In Athens, the Greeks were developing the world's first democracy that people overthrew tyrannical ruler and established a public assembly. Under this new system, all male citizens had equal political rights, freedom of speech, and the opportunity to participate directly in the political arena. Furthermore, this also allowed them to make the decisions by which they lived and actively serve in the institutions that governed them; therefore, they directly controlled all parts of the political process.

Although this system survived for only two centuries, it was one of the most enduring contributions to the modern world.

A young military commander who also left one of the greatest legacies for ancient Greek and non-Greek cultures was Alexander the Great. He led his army on his campaigns of conquest that he founded many Greek towns in North Africa and Asia. Because of that, Greek became the common language across these areas, which resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization. Additionally, he combined different cultures together in order to consolidate his empire. For example, he mingled Macedonian, Greek, and, Persian customs. So he was fascinated by the people he conquered, which is similar to Cyrus the Great.

Map of Alexander’s empire.

In this age, some individuals began to emerge who proposed new ideas about life. One of them was Siddhartha Gautama who started to think about the meaning of human existence. He later reached enlightenment through meditating and traveled through northern India to teach his followers. His philosophy was passed down from generation to generation by monks, laying great foundations to Buddhism. This religion later spread to China but before that, Confucius traveled and taught his followers to honor traditions such as respecting families and elders. Another thinker who left the greatest legacy for ancient Greece was Socrates. He was a critic of how the rulers ruled and of how the people lived that he accused the political leaders in Athens of corruption. In the time of political instability in Greece, this was a dangerous topic and the city leaders considered him as a threat to their young democracy. Finally, he was arrested and the sentence was death but Western societies were built on based on his ideas and principles.

This episode basically showed how the empires rose and their influences on the world at that age. Also, there were great individuals among those empires who left great legacies for the world.

Ep. 3 - THE WORD AND THE SWORD

In the third episode "The Word and the Sword", the themes are about the spiritual revolutions happened between 300 B.C and 700 A.D, which was an age of the spread of the biggest religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam and how they challenged the power of the emperors.

At the beginning of the video, two emperors from China and India had a similarity that they both used cruelty and terror to rise their empires; however, Ying Zheng remained with violence in the way he ruled while Ashoka regretted and decided to rule more softly.

Ying Zheng, also known as Qin Shi Huang, conquered all the rival states in China. Over a million people were slaughtered and forced to build the Great Wall. Moreover, he ordered to burn the books and kill the scholars of Confucianism in order to consolidate his power. However, he also brought the prosperity that new roads, canals, and waterways were constructed.

Burning of the Books and Burying of the Scholars.

Similar to China, the Marine Empire was forged by conquests and slaughters, which led by Ashoka. But he was different from Qin Shi Huang's cruelty that he later renounced violence, embraced Buddhism, and established new rules. For example, he abolished the slave trade and established schools and hospitals for the poor. According to ancient accounts, Ashoka carved the edicts in stone which are seen as the first International Declaration of Human Rights over 2000 years ago. He sent Buddhist missionaries across other lands. As a result, there are over a billion Buddhists across the world today.

Ashoka - a great emperor who abandoned the path of violence to spread the noble message of love and peace.

In Egypt, as the empire was on the brink of collapse, Cleopatra formed a political alliance with Julius Caesar who intended to marry her and move the capital of the Roman Empire to Egypt. But political elites in Rome disagreed and murdered him, which resulted in years of civil war and the battle later spread to Egypt.

Cleopatra and Julius Caesar

After ending the civil wars, the Roman Empire started to rise but its emperors were challenged by a new religion, Christianity. Paul the Apostle convinced thousands of people that Jesus had come to save them. His martyrdom encouraged others to die for their beliefs. Therefore, the courage of Christian martyrs would threaten the emperors of Rome because the worship of Christianity was against the prosperity of the Roman Empire.

Men and women listen to Paul's teachings of Jesus Christ.

At the Colosseum, a young woman later known as Saint Perpetua was executed for refusing to deny her Christian faith. The promise of heaven attracted more and more people so Christianity had spread across the empire within a hundred years after her death. Finally, Constantine the Great converted to Christianity. In Arabia, Muhammad and his followers took over Mecca and spread Islam. Like Christian martyrs, Islamic warriors were promised to enter heaven when they died for their faith so Islam expanded faster than any religion in history within more than 100 years after Muhammad's death.

Saint Perpetua guided the young Gladiator’s sword to her throat. She was ready to die for her Christian faith.

Not only the religions affected the civilizations, but also the power of nature. The Nazca believe the gods were in nature so they made human sacrifices to appease them. Experts suggest that this brutal ritual was practiced for the gods to guarantee fertility and regeneration and to protect them from natural disasters. Ironically, the Nazca civilization declined because of environmental changes. Evidence suggests that the Nazca people cut down trees to make room for crops as the population grew while these trees played an important role in the ecosystem of this landscape. As a result, it led to drought and crop failure.

The Nazca people carved these huge images into the landscape in the 5th and 6th centuries.

These ancient Peruvians tightened their heads until they became elongated as a mark of status.

In short, this episode mostly focused on the religions of the ancient world such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam which later spread more widely and attracted more followers. They either combined with the power, like how Ashoka embraced Buddhism to rule better or challenged the power of the emperors.

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charlesandmartine · 8 years

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An Epilogue

It sounds a cliché to say Australia is a diverse country/ continent but that is exactly what it is. It is diverse, very very big and absolutely fabulous. It encompasses tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, dry arid desert, lush farmlands rich in fertile soil, and maritime climates similar to the UK. Its agricultural outputs are surprising; everything for making a beverage – tea, coffee, sugar. Everything you need for puddings; mangos, bananas, grapes, apples and much more fruit. And of course above the city of Adelaide, in the rich flat lands that used to be covered by sea, vines as far as the eye can see with so many household names in wine; wine that is second to none in the wine world.

I have said many times in this tome how BIG this country is, and Australia never ceases to amaze me. Do you know it took 5 hours of flying to cross it. You can almost get to the USA in that time from the UK. Half way, diagonally across the continent, we reached Alice and looking down on the dry landscape, we could make out lines that intersected others that were simple long ruler straight dirt tracks leading to somewhere, but even from 35,000 feet impossible to tell where. I had no concept of this amount of nothingness until we travelled this country.

Your Aussie has a bit of a reputation of, and is stereo typed as being a bit brash, loud, assured and certainly not shy and retiring. They can be a little loud, but they are big hearted, generous, very comfortable in their own skin and they are immensely passionate about their own very young country. When we left our ship’s first Australian port of call, Darwin, and the Voyager set a course for Port Douglas, the very loud female entertainer who heads the activities team on board, lead a misty eyed rendition of ‘I still call Australia Home’ The lyrics, designed to pull at the Aussie sense of home:

I've been to cities that never close down from New York to Rio and old London town, but no matter how far or how wide I roam I still call Australia home.

This they truly believe in a way that we, in the UK, do not seem to understand or view our own homeland. They are proud of their journey as a country and recognising it as being not much more than 200 years old, they have come a very long way from a tiny penal colony to an important independent state.

We loved this country and will undoubtedly try to return and travel to the west coast starting at Perth. We have visited five of the seven states; Northern Territory, Queensland, NSW, Southern Australia and Tasmania. We didn’t do Western Australia or Victoria and we feel beholden to the good people in those states to do this sometime in the future. Perhaps our favourite state has to be Queensland. The beautiful rainforests, the deserted areas with tiny townships with huge distances between them, the strategic history of Cooktown, the Great Barrier Reef, crocodiles, deserted beaches (because of the crocodiles most likely), the wildlife, especially the dawn bird song, and OF COURSE the fabulous sunshine and warmth of said sunshine on your skin. And not forgetting the beautiful city of Brisbane.

We loved behaving as Australians; believing we lived in Sydney as of course we did for what seemed quite a time. As we strolled around the city so often we felt a part of it, a member and so familiar with it as a city. As time progressed we no longer needed a map to guide us around the simple grid system of streets. The Rocks became our favourite area of Sydney, so pertinent to the development of the new settlement back in the 1780s and full of stories both of the suffering of the early colonials/ convicts and also the successes of some. And of course we never tired of taking photos of the Bridge and also the Opera House. The first time we saw the Opera House in all its glory was at breakfast on Voyager just before we disembarked for the last time. We went up to the top restaurant, sat down at a port-side table and there in front of our eyes, eye poppingly, just a couple of hundred metres away, was the Opera House; so iconic and representative of Sydney and for that matter of the entire continent of Australia.

On the subject of the Opera House, the locals were aghast when the city planners first suggested building an opera house. Do you know, they said, for a moment I thought you just said you were going to build an opera house! We are, they said. Why? They said. And when we heard that, we realised that opinion regarding the arts hasn’t really changed much. Maybe I am being a bit harsh, but there is no West End as such in Sydney and culturally speaking they seem a bit backward. They do like ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’ though. ‘Nuf said I guess. Celebrity?? Didn’t recognise a single one of them.

We like the way the Australians live. It is a more relaxed way of life; often a walk along the beach before work, or exercise along the grassy areas, or even time in the surf. Manly is very much split between an area Sydney dwellers use for relaxation (they come over on the ferry) and a dormitory town for Sydney Business workers, who I am told do get stressed but it doesn’t seem to show much to me. The myth of the Aussie bloke as an outdoor type, barbequing at every spare moment doesn’t seem to hold up. We did not see much evidence of this going on. Someone said there are too many flies to spend too much time eating outdoors. We had to hand our allocated fly over on departure. The advertising urging us to participate in a Foster’s Lager is another part of the Australian lie. There is no Fosters available. The beer in general is not good and more of a lager anyway. Hungry Jack’s is a very popular alternative to the Golden Arches and the Whopper is far superior let me tell you. People sadly don’t seem to say ‘g’day’ as often as you might believe, and I was only once called cobber, which was in Tasmania. I never met anyone called Sheila and the only Bruce was the hound where we lived. Bondi beach is often heralded as one of the best beaches in the world. The Northern Beaches from Manly upwards are better. People come for miles for the surfing and the jelly fish. It is fascinating to see schools giving surf lessons as part of the curriculum. What a way of life. Oh, did I mention the sunshine. You can actually make plans for outdoor activities, BBQs without the fear it will chuck it down. Mind you, when it does chuck it down, it really chucks it down.

We in the UK often seem to think everything is always better overseas and they have all the answers. Well, the Australian MPs are being investigated for fraudulent expenses at the moment. Sound familiar? Each State has its own assembly and then there is the all Australian Parliament made up of the Senate, the House of Representatives and then The Queen. (our one but normally represented by the Governor General) There is just as much bickering as in our own parliament. The state pension appears to be means tested and they are looking at including the value of your main residence to assess how much, if any, state pension you will receive. Nobody seem to give us a straight answer on health issues, but it would seem that you will get some amount of free health care, but you need to pay monthly into a Medicare system for the bits the government scheme does not cover. As in UK, there are petitions against closures of wards/ hospitals. There are at least three types of schooling; State, Private and semi-private where you pay some. They are arguing that standards are falling both locally and internationally. Martine has said that innovations are being proposed that were introduced to UK schools five to ten years ago! Then there are big issues with child protection. There is a Catholic order that apparently had possibly up to 75% of its number involved in child abuse! Then there are issues with immigration and refugees. Especially the people Trump has said he will not take from Australia. That is not to even mention the indigenous population problems. So there you go, on all levels the grass is always greener. It is always too tempting to compare one country with another and think they have bigger mountains, deeper lakes, better canyons than we have in the UK. We can’t change any of those things, but we can appreciate our own country for what it has. But it all seems much better when you have wall to wall sunshine.

We feel extremely privileged to have been able to spend this amount of time away in another continent and very grateful to our children for allowing us to spend their inheritance. We will take a vote on that one later. It has been the gap year that we never had in our youth. We have enjoyed this time immensely and it was worth every dollar of it. We have gained a real taste for railway travel from our time spent on the Ghan. Every single bit of the trip was fantastic we have fantastic memories. Our regrets were that we didn’t have another month to do the bits missed. It was good we made it to NZ. Unlike everyone else we know, we preferred Australia. We liked NZ but we loved Australia. It might well have been different if we had visited the south island instead of or as well. It has been so interesting to be in the land that we have heard so much about over the years; to see the place where the ten pound poms went from our class at school in the 1960s. In some ways Australia is a little bit of Britain but with sunshine: we share a Queen and a language, we both drive on the left, we have a common history prior to 1770, and we have a similar structure of parliament with the same royal standard above the buildings.

When we stepped out of Terminal 4 at Heathrow, sensed the cold, we almost turned around and got on the next plane back again. Australia is a very desirable place to be but it is so far away from anywhere and even the Aussies feel this I think. Those who have had links to the UK, if the truth be told, have a yearning for the homeland, but most say it is too cold and wet in the UK. We will strive to go back; we miss it already. It is good to be home and we will be meeting our new grand-son for the first time tomorrow and that we are most looking forward to and there is much to do ahead of us. The B&B diary is filling already and 2017 promises to be a busy year. So if you have, thank you for reading this. If you haven’t, well what can I say? What I can say is, if you haven’t been yet and get the opportunity, go see for yourself.

THE END

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graciegarner16 · 4 years

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Network Forensics Market Business & Investment Opportunity

A new market intelligence report released by Data Bridge Market research with titled “Global Network Forensics Market” (covering USA, Europe, China, Japan, India, South East Asia and etc) that provide information, statistics, facts and figures, corporate intelligence, economic data, innovation drivers which are very supportive for the companies to maximize or minimize the production of goods depending on the states of demand. This Network Forensics business research report is a careful investigation of current scenario of the market and future estimations which spans several market dynamics. This research report focuses on the several analysis viewpoints, market rankings, industry key points, and business profiles that integrate together and form a platform. This platform looks into the solutions in relation to import/export data, global sales, market rivalry, value chain analysis, and many more. Moreover, the report also estimates the vital market features that comprises of revenue (USD), price (USD), capacity utilization rate, production, gross, production rate, consumption, import-export, supply-demand analysis, cost, market share, gross margin and market CAGR value. A number of business challenges can be conquered with this excellent Network Forensics business research document.

Global network forensics market is set to witness a healthy CAGR of 15.50 % in the forecast period. This rise in the market can be attributed due to rising need of advanced attack, complexity in strategies of attack and government regulation

Get Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts Here@ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-network-forensics-market

If you are involved in the Network Forensics industry or intend to be, then this study will provide you comprehensive outlook. It’s vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by By Solution (Solutions, Services) Application Area (Data center security, Endpoint Security, Network Security, Application Security, Others) Deployment Mode (Cloud, On-Premises) Organization Size (Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Large Enterprises), Vertical (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI), Government, Healthcare, Energy and Utilities, Education, Telecom and IT, Manufacturing, Retail, Others) Geography

What are the major market growth drivers?

Increased need for networks to be protected from advanced attacks such as ransomware, DDoS, and APT is driving the market growth

Increased complexity in strategies of attack / hacking is enhancing the market growth

Growing demand for market solutions for forensics for the cloud-based network is flourishing the market growth

Need of government regulations and compliance with laws is propelling the market growth

Rapid Business Growth Factors

In addition, the market is growing at a fast pace and the report shows us that there are a couple of key factors behind that. The most important factor that’s helping the market grow faster than usual is the tough competition.

Key Insights that Study is going to provide:

Gap Analysis by Region. Country Level Break-up will help you dig out Trends and opportunity lying in specific area of your business interest.

Market Share & Sales Revenue by Key Players & Emerging Regional Players. [Some of the players covered in the study are Wireshark Foundation, IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., FireEye, Inc., Symantec Corporation, NETSCOUT, RSA Security and others] A separate chapter on Market Entropy to gain insights on Leaders aggressiveness towards market [Merger & Acquisition / Recent Investment and Key Developments]

Patent Analysis** No of patents / Trademark filed in recent years.

Competitive Landscape: Company profile for listed players with SWOT Analysis, Business Overview, Product/Services Specification, Business Headquarter, Downstream Buyers and Upstream Suppliers.

May vary depending upon availability and feasibility of data with respect to Industry targeted

Business Strategies

Key strategies in the Global Network Forensics Market that includes product developments, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, etc discussed in this report. The potential of this enterprise section has been rigorously investigated in conjunction with main market challenges.

Key Market Competitors: Network Forensics Market

Few of the major competitors currently working in the global network forensics market are Wireshark Foundation, IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., FireEye, Inc., Symantec Corporation, NETSCOUT, RSA Security LLC., VIAVI Solutions Inc., LogRhythm, Inc., NIKSUN Inc., Savvius, Inc., Proofpoint Inc., Fortinet, Inc., McAfee, LLC, Rapid7, Synack.com, CrowdStrike, Digital Defense, Inc., Trend Micro Incorporated and others.

Market Dynamics: Set of qualitative information that includes PESTEL Analysis, PORTER Five Forces Model, Value Chain Analysis and Macro Economic factors, Regulatory Framework along with Industry Background and Overview

Key Developments in the Market:

In February 2019, IBM announced the recent Internet of Things solutions created by artificial intelligence technicians and creative analytics to keep resource-intensive organizations as with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority in the process of preservation. The main aim is to help organizations reduce prices and risk of failure of physical resources such as automobiles, robots, turbines, mining equipment, elevators, and electrical transformers

In February 2019, IBM Corporation developed technology to predict and track when and where trees and vegetation try to intimidate electricity lines. That can boost power distribution operations and reducing power blackouts. IBM's system utilizes data from drones, satellites, unmanned flights, detectors and climate models to assist enterprises to monitor the situation and maintenance of hundreds of kilometers of transmission and distribution lines. They help companies to observe vegetation growth beyond their service territory, recognize and predict breaches of energy lines

Some extract from Table of Contents

Overview of Global Network Forensics Market

Network Forensics Size (Sales Volume) Comparison by Type

Network Forensics Size (Consumption) and Market Share Comparison by Application

Network Forensics Size (Value) Comparison by Region

Network Forensics Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate

Network Forensics Competitive Situation and Trends

Strategic proposal for estimating availability of core business segments

Players/Suppliers, Sales Area

Analyze competitors, including all important parameters of Network Forensics

Global Network Forensics Manufacturing Cost Analysis

The most recent innovative headway and supply chain pattern mapping

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To comprehend Global Network Forensics market dynamics in the world mainly, the worldwide Network Forensics market is analyzed across major global regions. DBMR also provides customized specific regional and country-level reports for the following areas. • North America: United States, Canada, and Mexico. • South & Central America: Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. • Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa. • Europe: UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, NORDIC {Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark etc}, BENELUX {Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg}, and Russia. • Asia-Pacific: India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia.

Why Is Data Triangulation Important In Qualitative Research?

This involves data mining, analysis of the impact of data variables on the market, and primary (industry expert) validation. Apart from this, other data models include Vendor Positioning Grid, Market Time Line Analysis, Market Overview and Guide, Company Positioning Grid, Company Market Share Analysis, Standards of Measurement, Top to Bottom Analysis and Vendor Share Analysis. Triangulation is one method used while reviewing, synthesizing and interpreting field data. Data triangulation has been advocated as a methodological technique not only to enhance the validity of the research findings but also to achieve ‘completeness’ and ‘confirmation’ of data using multiple methods

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The Brief – Is Eastern Europe more resilient to COVID-19? – EURACTIV.com

Have you ever wondered why the numbers of people contaminated with COVID-19 are substantially bigger in the western part of our continent than in the former communist countries? The subscribers to our The Capitals and the Coronavirus tracker haven’t failed to notice that in central and eastern Europe, the number of confirmed cases, of hospitalisations, and of deaths is much smaller. In recent days, on top of the list of most-read stories, especially in eastern Europe, are the translations and adaptations of an article by Science magazine titled “Can a century-old TB vaccine steel the immune system against the new coronavirus?” The vaccine, known as BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin), is indeed 100 years old and has been unevenly used in the eastern and western part of Europe. According to Prof. Dr Lyubima Despotova, president of the Bulgarian Society for Long-Term Care and Palliative Medicine, the worldwide distribution map of COVID-19 “overlaps” with the vaccine policy map. Countries that have abandoned BCG are currently in the midst of the epidemic and are heavily affected. She cited the example of Germany – which publishes a map tracing the development of the epidemic throughout its territory and illustrating the spread of the disease in great detail – and stressed that there is a significant difference between former East Germany and former West Germany: the former GDR is up to three times less affected. Another example she gave is Portugal, which practiced BCG vaccination, unlike Spain, one of the most affected countries. A possible glimpse of hope comes from the fact that BSG vaccination has been widespread in developing countries. We will leave it to scientists to confirm or dismantle this theory. There could be other explanations. Possibly the former communist countries continue to be less exposed to massive movements of population, illustrated by the size of airports in the West. Also possibly, the population in Eastern Europe is more disciplined in respecting the instructions of self-isolation and confinement. In capitals in Eastern Europe, one can hardly see anyone in the street without a mask. In Brussels, the author of this text has seen few people wearing a mask, and actually, masks are not easy to come by, which is scandalous. Possibly, Eastern Europeans take the coronavirus threat more seriously. In the same vein, Eastern Europeans have staunchly opposed migration, as if the “aliens” would destroy their societies in the manner of science-fiction movies. Eastern Europeans, in general, fail to understand the Western laissez-faire. There could be other reasons as well. But the BCG track will be investigated – researchers from four countries will soon start clinical trials with 1,000 healthcare workers in Dutch hospitals. Perhaps vintage medicine will be vindicated in the end. The Roundup Make sure you stay up-to-date with everything to do with coronavirus across the capitals with EURACTIV’s comprehensive overview, regularly updated with the help of our pan-European network of reporters and media partners. Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called on Europe to show “common house” and demonstrate it can respond to the epoch-making challenge of coronavirus. Member states will provide guarantees to raise up to €100 billion for a new temporary fund to support workers in countries that have been hit hard by coronavirus, such as Italy and Spain, according to the proposal seen by EURACTIV.com. Meanwhile, African finance ministers want the EU, International Monetary Fund and World Bank to support a multi-billion debt relief programme for the continent amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The EU-Iran trading mechanism INSTEX, designed to allow Europeans to bypass US sanctions and continue trade with Tehran, has successfully concluded its first transaction for the pandemic-hit country. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced the creation of a panel of 10 experts to determine NATO’s future after French President Macron declared last autumn that the alliance was experiencing “brain death”. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a scathing statement seeking to belittle and ridicule North Macedonia’s recent accession to NATO. The ongoing coronavirus crisis is feeding into the narrative that the EU is “turning its back” on the Western Balkans, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said in an updated report on ongoing disinformation campaigns surrounding the pandemic. Outgoing Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti has said that the government has decided to annul tariffs on imports from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. But head of the Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo, Marko Đurić, says this is fake news and urged the public not to fall for it. European Parliament President David Sassoli has asked the European Commission to assess whether the new laws introduced in Hungary under the disguise of coronavirus emergency comply with the most important text of EU treaties. As the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the European Commission has tried to stay the course on green policies, launching a public consultation to raise the bloc’s climate target for 2030. Giorgio Gori, the mayor of Bergamo, one of the worst hit cities from coronavirus, has called on the Italian government to speed up the issuing of the yearly decree that regularises non-EU migrant workers, as Italy is in desperate need for agricultural workers before the harvest season begins. As the debate over distribution of EU funds continues in Belgium, the country’s two nationalist parties are consciously spreading disinformation about the coronavirus crisis and spicing it up with ‘xenophobic sauce’, an Belgian MEP criticised. The European Council and Commission are under pressure to make headway on rules to stamp out online terrorist content, the substance of which could provide a precedent for the upcoming Digital Services Act, an MEP involved with the matter has said. The European Commission will allow France to defer some aeronautical taxes up to two years in order to help embattled airlines, after Brussels decided that the plan is in line with its new looser state aid rules. Look out for… NATO foreign ministers meeting for their first-ever virtual teleconference tomorrow. Views are the author’s [Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

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