#Agence Acapulco

[yvesmaisonyvesmaison]

Agence Acapulco (Acapulco H.E.A.T.)

[ogcaballero]

Sinfonia

[stele3]

[captain-sassy-socks]

I loved Remington Steele. Mildred was my favorite character. I remember an episode where a client was cheating his wife or something like that and when Mildred was about to leave she gave him a look and simply said “Pig” 😂

Dear Anon,

oh yes, I love Mildred.

When she joined the show, she breathed new life into it. She was a kind soul who never held back with her opinion and showed me that life doesn't stop once you reach a certain age. You can still start a new chapter.

From the beginning (not necessarily the first two episodes when she followed Remington to Acapulco), she idolized Remington only to find out later that he's a fake. And yet, she stayed because she was valuable and Remington and Laura wanted her to be part of the agency. Inspired by her bosses, she even attempted to become a private investigator.

Great character.

[newstfionline]

Friday, October 27, 2023

Biden weighs striking Iranian proxies after attacks on U.S. troops (Washington Post) President Biden faces mounting pressure to strike Iranian proxies that have repeatedly attacked—and injured—U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria this month, but he is weighing any decision to retaliate against his broader concern that the war in Gaza could be on the precipice of erupting into a regionwide tempest, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the administration’s deliberations. Biden said Wednesday that he warned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, that if Tehran continues to “move against” U.S. forces in the Middle East, “we will respond.” The president’s disclosure followed reports that nearly two dozen American troops were hurt within the last eight days after 14 or more aerial assaults on their bases in Iraq and Syria. An additional attack was recorded Wednesday, after three rockets were launched at a U.S. outpost in northeast Syria and one landed inside, a defense official said. No one was reported injured.

With House speaker installed, US Congress returns to spending battles (Reuters) The morning after U.S. House of Representatives Republicans united around new Speaker Mike Johnson, lawmakers on Thursday returned their attention to spending bills urgently needed to avert a government shutdown and respond to crises overseas. Congress has just over three weeks until a stopgap measure to keep federal agencies funded runs out on Nov. 17, and Democratic President Joe Biden is also pushing for $106 billion in new spending to aid Israel and Ukraine, and beef up enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border. Meanwhile, House Republicans are pushing for a full plate of 12 separate funding bills to keep agencies running until Sept. 30, 2024, the end of the fiscal year. This rare feat requires close negotiation between the narrowly Republican-controlled House and the Senate, which has a two-vote Democratic majority.

Millions more Americans were food insecure in 2022 than 2021—USDA (AP) Millions more Americans had difficulty securing enough food in 2022 compared to the year prior, including 1 million more households with children, a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed on Wednesday. The increase interrupted a years-long trend of declining hunger in the United States. Previous reports from food banks and the U.S. Census Bureau have indicated that hunger is increasing as low-income Americans struggle to recover from the pandemic and from the end of expanded food assistance. The USDA report, which did not provide an explanation for the rise, found that 12.8% of households—equivalent to 17 million households—struggled to get enough food in 2022, up from 10.2%, or 13.5 million households, in 2021. Nearly 7 million households faced very low food security, meaning members’ normal eating patterns were disrupted or food intake dropped because of limited resources, USDA said.

Acapulco residents are left in flooded and windblown chaos with hurricane’s toll still unknown (AP) A day after Hurricane Otis roared ashore in Acapulco, unleashing massive floods and setting off looting, the resort city of nearly 1 million descended into chaos, leaving residents without electricity or internet service and a toll of at least 27 dead. The early images and accounts were of extensive devastation, toppled trees and power lines lying in brown floodwaters that in some areas extended for miles. Many of the once sleek beachfront hotels in Acapulco looked like toothless, shattered hulks a day after the Category 5 storm blew out hundreds—and possibly thousands—of windows. There seemed to be a widespread frustration with authorities. While some 10,000 military troops were deployed to the area, they lacked the tools to clean tons of mud and fallen trees from the streets. Hundreds of trucks from the government electricity company arrived in Acapulco early Wednesday, but seemed at a loss as to how to restore power, with downed electricity lines lying in feet of mud and water.

Shoplifting Surges in U.K., Putting Workers in Scary Situations (NYT) Stashing six bottles of wine into a bag, a man wearing a dark jacket and beanie heads straight to the store exit without paying, barging by a female shop worker who blocks his way and only stopping when her colleague overpowers him just outside the doorway. For the supermarket’s owner, Richard Inglis, the early morning fracas—captured on CCTV—was the day’s first attempted theft but was unlikely to be the last. “I’ll probably have another three or four today,” Mr. Inglis said, adding that, while trying to stop shoplifters, he and his staff members had been punched, kicked, bitten, spat at, threatened with needles, racially abused and attacked with bottles. “It’s like the Wild West out there at the moment.” Britain is seeing a surge in theft from its stores at the hands, stores say, of opportunistic shoplifters, marauding teenagers, people stealing to finance drug use and organized gangs intent on looting. According to official figures, shoplifting incidents recorded by the police rose by 25 percent in the year ending June 2023, and Co-op, a British supermarket chain with about 2,400 stores, recorded its highest ever levels of theft and aggressive behavior, with almost 1,000 incidents each day in the six months to June 2023, a 35 percent spike from the previous year. One of its stores was “looted” three times in one day, it said in a news release.

Russia prison population plummets as convicts are sent to war (Washington Post) Russia has freed up to 100,000 prison inmates and sent them to fight in Ukraine, according to government statistics and rights advocates—a far greater number than was previously known. The sharp drop in the number of inmates is evidence that the Defense Ministry continued to aggressively recruit convicted criminals even after blocking access to prisoners by the Wagner mercenary group, which pioneered the campaign to trade clemency for military service. The Russian prison population, estimated at roughly 420,000 before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, plummeted to a historic low of about 266,000, according to Deputy Justice Minister Vsevolod Vukolov, who disclosed the figure during a panel discussion earlier this month. Russian forces are now heavily reliant on prisoners plucked from colonies with the promise of pardons, a practice initiated by the late Wagner boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who began recruiting convicts to fight in Ukraine a year ago and amassed a 50,000-strong force.

Delhi air turns very poor but ‘worst is yet to come’ (BBC) The air quality in India’s capital Delhi has fallen to poor levels and is expected to deteriorate further in the coming days, officials have said. Delhi is one of the world’s most polluted cities through the year. But its air turns especially toxic in winter due to various factors, including burning of crop remains by farmers, low wind speeds and bursting of firecrackers during festivals. The polluted air causes severe health issues to Delhi residents every year. Some residents said these were the early days in Delhi’s pollution cycle and “the worst was yet to come”.

U.S., Russia veto each other’s U.N. resolutions on Israel-Gaza war (Washington Post) The U.N. Security Council failed again to adopt a unified position on stopping the carnage in the Middle East, with the United States and Russia vetoing each others’ resolutions. The principal difference between the competing resolutions was Washington’s call for “all measures, specifically to include humanitarian pauses,” to allow aid to flow into Gaza—a position it rejected as recently as last week and with no specific mention of ongoing Israeli airstrikes—vs. Moscow’s call for a complete cease-fire. The United States is in an increasingly minority position in rejecting a cease-fire, which is supported by the U.N. Secretary General, Arab states and much of the rest of the world.

Israel’s Strikes on Gaza Are Some of the Most Intense This Century (NYT) Israel’s 19-day bombing campaign in Gaza has become one of the most intense of the 21st century, prompting growing global scrutiny of its scale, purpose and cost to human life. Since terrorists from Gaza raided Israel on Oct. 7, killing roughly 1,400 people according to the Israeli government, the Israeli military says it has struck more than 7,000 targets inside Gaza. That is a higher number than in any previous Israeli military campaign in the territory, a narrow enclave less than half the size of New York City. It also outstrips the most intense month of the United States-led bombing campaign against ISIS, according to Airwars, a British conflict monitor. For Palestinians, the scale of the bombing campaign has appeared vengeful and unfocused, killing Gazans from across a wide spectrum of civilian life and destroying residential areas. The Hamas-run Gazan health ministry says Israeli strikes have killed more than 6,500 people, a number that if verified would make this the deadliest conflict for Palestinians since at least the Lebanon war of 1982. Israelis say the strikes are not about retaliation but defense.

The ‘Devil’s Playground’ of Urban Combat That Israel Is Preparing to Enter (NYT) Heavy fire from rooftops and booby-trapped apartments. Armor-piercing projectiles blowing up troop carriers. Fighters blending in with civilians, launching drone ambushes, or surging from tunnels full of enough ammunition, food and water to sustain a long war. As the Israeli Army gathers tanks at the Gaza border for a threatened invasion aimed at crushing Hamas, experts are warning that the country’s troops could face some of the fiercest street-to-street combat since World War II in Gaza City and other densely packed areas. Urban warfare studies and American officials offer dire comparisons to Iraq: Think of Falluja in 2004, the most intense battles that American troops had faced since Vietnam, or the nine-month fight to defeat the Islamic State in Mosul in 2016, which led to 10,000 civilian deaths. Then multiply the destructive toll, possibly exponentially. Hamas has three to five times as many fighters—perhaps 40,000 in all—as the Islamic State had in Mosul. It can draw reserves from a young, restive population, and has international support from countries like Iran. Even on its own, Hamas’s leadership has had years to prepare for battle across Gaza, including in city streets, where the superiority of tanks and precise munitions can be stymied by guerrilla tactics. “It’s going to be ugly,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Arnold, a U.S. Army strategist who has published studies on urban operations in the Middle East. “Cities are the devil’s playground—they make everything infinitely more difficult.”

Lonely (Gallup) Nearly one in four people worldwide—which translates into more than a billion people—feel very or fairly lonely, according to a recent Meta-Gallup survey of more than 140 countries. Notably, these numbers could be even higher. The survey represents approximately 77% of the world’s adults because it was not asked in the second-most populous country in the world, China. With the World Health Organization and many others—including the U.S. surgeon general—calling attention to the dangers of loneliness, these data, collected in partnership between Gallup and Meta, provide a much-needed global perspective of social wellbeing. Global results indicate that the lowest rates of feeling lonely are reported among older adults (aged 65 and older), with 17% feeling very or fairly lonely, while the highest rates of feeling lonely are reported among young adults (aged 19 to 29), with 27% feeling very or fairly lonely.

[pennstateuniversitypress]

Q&A with Stephanie Porras

The author of The First Viral Images: Maerten de Vos, Antwerp Print, and the Early Modern Globe discusses St. Michael the Archangel and how the internet and art from 1600 aren't so different.

Why use the internet to explain artworks made around 1600?

The whole idea for the book started with an offhand comment made at a conference–the idea of a meme going viral was at first a kind of off-the-cuff analogy to this print (St. Michael the Archangel, the book's central case study) that seemed to be copied just about everywhere around 1600. For those of us who spend too much time on the internet, it made sense: a meme gets copied, adapted, reshared, and circulated, creating new variations, combining with other memes, and becoming divorced from its original context. But when I started to think about it, this flippant remark hit on a few things I was particularly interested in–namely, how do new image technologies (in this case, print, or today’s memes) adapt and change as they move between communities of viewers? Reading media studies scholars’ work on internet culture gave me a vocabulary and a framework to analyze the movement of early modern prints–it made me think about gatekeepers and infrastructures of print media and made me question art-historical notions of artistic agency. Now of course, there are lots of ways the sharing of memes on the internet differs from the sixteenth-century circulation of printed images–things happen so quickly now, there is a dematerialization of artistic labor, and the infrastructure of the web is complex in ways that differ from the transoceanic trade of the early modern period. But this analogy helped me see this vast, in some ways undocumented process–the concerted export of printed imagery across the globe by colonial, missionary, and commercial agents, prints that were then copied and recirculated by a whole range of local actors–in a new and hopefully productive way.

Why did you choose these case studies?

My central case study, St. Michael the Archangel, is just a straight-up weird image. This archangel almost always has a sword, but here he doesn’t; he carries a martyr’s palm and has this strange, open, upraised hand. Frankly, this made variants of this image easy to spot. The 1581 painting hangs only a few miles from where one of the later Filipino ivory variants is now held, in Central Mexico, and I think that juxtaposition really compelled me. I started collecting them; for a while, every time I gave a paper it felt like someone in the audience knew another version (in Quito, in Cusco, in Valencia). So I started with that one iconographic image and within a year or two had a sizeable corpus. I am sure there are more out there–in fact, while the book was in press I was able to finally get to Portugal and see a couple more!

So I had this one iconographic image, but I wanted it to speak to a wider phenomenon. So I decided to also include the Evangelicae historiae imagines because it is the most copied thing in the early modern world, and, it turns out, many of the same folks were involved in both projects. Many talented and diligent scholars have done the work of locating and describing a lot of the Imagines copies, so I was able to focus on how the St. Michael images anticipated this kind of movement, arguing that the Jesuits knew and exploited the viral potential of print.

How did this print (the St. Michael, published in Antwerp) end up in Manila?

Well, the print had to be smuggled out of Antwerp first, probably overland with a Flemish book publisher who had ties in Spain. Then it was likely sold in Seville before being taken by missionaries or merchants to New Spain. Once landing in Veracruz, the print would have been taken overland, via Mexico City, to Acapulco before making the 100-day sea voyage to Manila in the cargo of a priest or trader. There are a lot of unknowns in this itinerary, but we do have letters from Jesuit priests thanking their brethren in Seville for sending prints to them. But the better answer is to read my book (particularly the chapter on Manila)!

The First Viral Images: Maerten de Vos, Antwerp Print, and the Early Modern Globe is now available from Penn State University Press. Find more information and order the book here: https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-09283-6.html. Save 30% with discount code NR23.

[warningsine]

The official death toll from Hurricane Otis has risen to 52, while authorities assure that the search continues for 32 people still missing, two months after the devastating Category 5 hurricane hit Acapulco on Oct. 25.

The governor of Guerrero, Evelyn Salgado, gave the update during President López Obrador’s Wednesday morning press conference, citing figures from the state Attorney General’s Office. She said that the remains of 46 of the dead have been given to their families, while six more bodies have yet to be recovered.

“Search actions on land continue, together with the main effort [at sea] by the Navy, but the national and state search commissions are also participating,” Salgado said. “The government’s principal and most sensitive task is to attend to the victims’ families.”

Salgado added that 31 people were missing at sea, and one person on land. Navy Minister Admiral Rafael Ojeda Durán said that the Navy has already carried out 100 searches at sea, 30 on land and 7 by air, to locate sunken boats and the bodies of missing sailors. So far, these searches have recovered 87 vessels and 17 bodies.

The update comes a month after families of missing sailors protested outside Acapulco’s Icacos Naval Base, alleging that authorities appeared to have stopped looking for their loved ones – many of whom were crew members on luxury yachts moored in Acapulco Bay. The group of protesters demanded that Governor Salgado and President López Obrador give more support to the Navy to continue and extend the search.

Nevertheless, the official count of the dead and missing from Hurricane Otis remains well below unofficial local estimates. The latest figure added only two dead and two missing to the last count given in November, while some local media have asserted that the true death toll could be up to seven times higher.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to reconstruct Acapulco’s devastated economy. The Fitch credit rating agency has estimated the losses from Hurricane Otis at US $16 billion. Although there is still extensive reconstruction to be done, there are also signs that the Pacific resort town is starting to get back on its feet, with 127 hotels partially reopening for the holiday season.

“We are going to be reporting periodically so that soon, very soon, the recovery, the rebirth of Acapulco is achieved,” the president said.

[swldx]

BBC 0426 26 Oct 2023

12095Khz 0357 26 OCT 2023 - BBC (UNITED KINGDOM) in ENGLISH from TALATA VOLONONDRY. SINPO = 55445. English, dead carrier s/on @0357z then ID@0359z pips and newsday preview. @0401z World News anchored by Chris Berrow. Police in the US city of Lewiston, Maine have warned a gunman is on the loose, with reports that at least 16 people have been killed. Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are taking emergency cases only, the UN says, amid fears fuel supplies will run out across the territory in the coming hours. UN facilities are also overwhelmed by 600,000 displaced Palestinians seeking shelter, four times their capacity. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, which runs the largest humanitarian operation in Gaza, also says it will have to halt all its operations in Gaza on Wednesday night if it does not get more supplies of fuel. Israeli airstrikes continue throughout Gaza. Ford and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union have reached a tentative deal to end a nearly six-week strike, which includes a record 25% pay rise. Hurricane Otis has made landfall on the coast of southern Mexico, bringing wind speeds of up to 165mph (270km/h). President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said there was "material damage and blocked roads" and that there were landslides on the highway to Acapulco. South Korea, Japan and the United States strongly condemned the supply of arms and military equipment by North Korea to Russia and said they had confirmed "several" deliveries of such weapons. Tens of thousands of Bolivian pupils had their classes suspended as schools closed their doors due to air pollution caused by massive forest fires, the education minister said Wednesday. Some 3,650 schools, about 15 percent of the national total, have been closed until Friday. China sent a fresh crew to its Tiangong space station, in the latest mission for a growing space programme that plans to send people to the Moon by 2030. @0406z "Newsday" begins. 250ft unterminated BoG antenna pointed E/W, Etón e1XM. 250kW, beamAz 315°, bearing 63°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 15359KM from transmitter at Talata Volonondry. Local time: 2257.

[usbongkalikasan]

Pasig River Under Threat

Author: Geo Paulo Tambalo and Joshua Ezekiel Pante

Graphic Designer: Astrid Apellado

Pasig River In Retrospect

The Pasig River is a rightful Filipino treasure for its countless contributions to the nation’s history and success. Without its strong currents, natural interconnectedness, and formerly pristine waters, Manila would not have had the Tagalogs establish early civilization and the rest of the world subsequently rushing in for economic activity, development, and cultural and religious exchange. Even the very appearance of the capital city can be attributed to the river itself, as it allowed the lucrative Manila-Acapulco galleon trade to continue from 1565 to 1815 and eventually influence the infrastructures being built. Despite its utility in Filipino triumph and everyday life, the Pasig River was neglected and left to become a dumping ground of polluting waste, thus obtaining the "biologically dead" status [1].

A Looming Threat to Pasig River’s Potentials

With the Philippine government giving the green light to the Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) project, the two decades' worth of multisectoral rehabilitation efforts put into the Pasig River may all come to waste. At 19.37 kilometers long and six lanes wide, the proposed infrastructure by San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is elevated to traverse the entirety of the Pasig River and, more importantly, create more traffic space between the eastern and western sections of Metro Manila. SMC has control measures, as indicated in their Environmental Impact Statement, that address some emerging ecological concerns associated with the PAREX, like dredging to prevent flooding and waste removal to counter existing solid waste pollution [2]. However, an elevated expressway constructed on the riverbanks, partially covering the entire river, is nothing short of a structural limitation to the many potentials of Pasig River.

Potential to Support Diverse Forms of Life

Though SMC believes otherwise [3], the Pasig River is not dead. The river, including its banks, has now become home to 118 species of trees and vegetation, 39 species of birds, eight species of fish, and several aquatic plants, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) [4]. Life is especially evident for the groups of Filipino fisherfolks who have even shared their daily catches from the river, like "tilapia" and "hito," on social media platforms. Aside from sustenance, the Pasig River supports Filipino lives by providing space for recreation and a reliable route for humanitarian aid during earthquakes and other natural calamities [5].

But, should PAREX be built, the maximum potential of the Pasig River to support life may remain unfulfilled. Among the many possible ecological impacts of riverine highway development noted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency are the immediate destruction, fragmentation, and degradation of natural habitats, pollution from vehicular and construction processes, and disruption of soil and river processes, including the increased risk of flood, erosion, and chemical contamination in the long run [6]. Meanwhile, science advocates slam the elevated expressway for partially blocking the natural sunlight needed for making oxygen available to the recovering food chains in Pasig River [7].

Potential to Become a Natural Transportation Route

A perfect example of utilizing the water transportation capacity is the Pasig River Ferry Service (PRFS). Unbeknownst to many Filipinos, despite being free of charge, this alternative mode of transport also links Metro Manila's eastern and western sections, from Escolta to Pinagbuhatan, while taking its passengers on a tour of several cultural landmarks along Pasig River, like the Manila Post Office. However, PRFS remains limited in services, with only 11 boats, each capable of carrying 36 to 55 passengers, and 12 stations [8].

SMC claims that PAREX, a project devoid of taxpayers' money, may complement the PRFS during its operational phase [9]. Though this ultimately suggests that Filipinos may fully maximize their monetary contributions, researchers suggest such an outcome is unlikely. The internationally recognized Braess Paradox states that new roads result in further traffic congestion in congested urban transportation networks [10], like the one in Metro Manila. Poor traffic flow is still the most likely case in the future since PAREX is designed to accommodate—and inevitably encourage—more private than public vehicles.

Potential to Protect Communities from Extreme Natural Events

Since time immemorial, the Pasig river has been protecting its vicinity from heat waves and flooding. Its natural ability to prevent the sun’s heat from being emitted back to ambient air keeps surrounding cities relatively cool [11]. With its constant currents, the Pasig River also keeps erratic rainwater from flooding communities [12].

PAREX presents the people near Pasig River with assurance and uncertainty. More heat-absorbing concrete structures from PAREX–and less sunlight reflected by the river–could only mean extreme heat incidents that threaten the lives of vulnerable Filipinos and other organisms. As the DENR still probes for the possible environmental impacts of the project, Filipinos are left with uncertainty over the effectiveness of dredging against floods [13].

Pasig River vs PAREX: The Final Verdict

Prioritizing the mobility of cars over the mobility of people, PAREX is just another life-depleting structure, a primary source of pollutants, and a structural symbol of non-inclusivity and environmental imprudence. Given that only about 12% of Metro Manila households own at least one car [14], the government must instead divert its political will from band-aid traffic solutions to long-term improvements on public transportation, waste management, and green spaces for the majority. Investments must not be made in such environmental risk that is ultimately incapable of addressing the increasing volume of private road vehicles—the underlying reason behind Metro Manila's traffic woes.

References

‌1.

Gilles SN. Revitalization of the Pasig River Through the Years: Bringing a Dying Ecosystem Back to Life [Internet]. Muhon Journal for UP College of Architecture (draft for review)2019 [cited 2023 Sep 24];Available from: https://www.academia.edu/5765195/Revitalization_of_the_Pasig_River_Through_the_Years_Bringing_a_Dying_Ecosystem_Back_to_Life

2.

San Miguel Corporation Infrastructure. Project Description for Scoping: Pasig River Expressway Project [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2023 Sep 24]. Available from: https://eia.emb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/PDS-Pasig-River-Expressway-Project.pdf

3.

Mangubat L. Pushback against the 19.4km PAREX, explained [Internet]. Spin.ph2021 [cited 2023 Sep 24];Available from: https://www.spin.ph/life/cars-and-tech/the-parex-protests-explained-a1017-20210929-lfrm

4.

The Philippine Star. The Pasig River: Our nation’s lifeline [Internet]. Philstar.com2019 [cited 2023 Sep 24];Available from: https://www.philstar.com/business/science-and-environment/2019/07/28/1938828/pasig-river-our-nations-lifeline#:~:text=More%20than%2030%20million%20kilograms,fish%2C%20and%20several%20aquatic%20plants

‌5.

GMA Public Affairs. “Trip to Pasig,” dokumentaryo ni Howie Severino | I-Witness [Internet]. YouTube2023 [cited 2023 Sep 24];Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiWqL1uq9f8&ab_channel=GMAPublicAffairs

6.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Evaluation of Ecological Impacts from Highway Development [Internet]. 1994 [cited 2023 Sep 24]. Available from: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2014-08/documents/ecological-impacts-highway-development-pg_0.pdf

7.

Mangaluz J. DENR still probing possible environmental impact of PAREx [Internet]. INQUIRER.net2023 [cited 2023 Sep 24];Available from: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1793793/denr-still-probing-possible-environmental-impact-of-parex

8.

Naguna JL. Looking for a better commuting experience? The Pasig River Ferry Service might be for you [Internet]. PIA2023 [cited 2023 Sep 24];Available from: https://pia.gov.ph/features/2023/03/31/looking-for-a-better-commuting-experience-the-pasig-river-ferry-service-might-be-for-you

9.

San Miguel Corporation. SMC reaffirms commitment to build PAREX sustainably, reports gains in Pasig River cleanup initiative [Internet]. Sanmiguel.com.ph2022 [cited 2023 Sep 24];Available from: https://www.sanmiguel.com.ph/news/smc-reaffirms-commitment-to-build-parex-sustainably‌

10.

Nagurney A, Nagurney L. The Braess Paradox [Internet]. 2020. Available from: https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/articles/braess-encyc.pdf

11.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Learn About Heat Islands | US EPA [Internet]. US EPA2014 [cited 2023 Sep 25];Available from: https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/learn-about-heat-islands

‌12.

Pedrajas J. PAREX would bring more heat, more flooding in NCR, various groups warn [Internet]. Manila Bulletin2021 [cited 2023 Sep 25];Available from: https://mb.com.ph/2021/09/29/parex-would-bring-more-heat-more-flooding-in-ncr-various-groups-warn/

‌13.

Mangaluz J. DENR still probing possible environmental impact of PAREx [Internet]. INQUIRER.net2023 [cited 2023 Sep 25];Available from: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1793793/denr-still-probing-possible-environmental-impact-of-parex

‌14.

Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities. “Liberate the 88%!”: Rep. Legarda echoes experts’ calls to prioritize Metro Manila majority of non-car owners [Internet]. ICSC | Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities2020 [cited 2023 Sep 24];Available from: https://icsc.ngo/liberate-the-88/

[industryhbo]

6 for the ask game? ❤️

> which shows do you think are underrated and need more love?

oh my god so many!!! industry, the newsreader, hacks, acapulco, girls5eva, and silo

these ones are cancelled/finished but still worth watching imo: dirk gently's holistic detective agency, kevin can fuck himself, the resort, american auto, hbo perry mason, made for love (this is the only one with a bad cliffhanger)

tv show asks <3

[amilst]

Cannabis, Marijuana. This year’s crop is just beautiful and already six feet tall. It is the same strain as last year’s: Acapulco Gold. 

You might recall the etymology of the various names for the plant in last year’s post. “Cannabis” comes from the Scythians word “kanab” which the Greeks made into κάνναβις or kánnabis, their word for “hemp.” “Marijuana” has its origins in a Central African word “mariamba,” used by American slaves in the 1700s, which became the Spanish word “marihuana,” again meaning “hemp.” “Pot” comes from the Spanish phrase “potacion de guaya,” which is a wine or brandy used to soak Cannabis buds during the 1930s.  And “grass” comes from the thousand-year- old Hindu text Atharvaveda, in which the plant is deified as “Sacred Grass.” 

The anatomy of the plant is quite amazing and remarkably engineered. The entire flower structure is called the “cola.” If you look at the close up, you can see small pear-shaped leaves within the structure. These are called “brachts,” designed to protect the precious flowers or buds. The white threads in the flowers are the pistils and would catch the pollen from a male plant if the gardener foolishly allowed males to mix with the girls and produce seeds. The pistils should turn to a goldish brown when the season ends and the plant is ready for harvesting. The white dots are the trichomes, small hairs from the epidermis of the plant. These are heavy in THC content and keep the deer and other wildlife from attacking the plant and being too wonked out to find their way home. The flowers continue to multiply up and down the plants at the bases of the gorgeous fan leaves.

Last year and this, I grew Acapulco Gold because it was a favorite in my college dorm. It is what in tomato plants would be called an heirloom plant. It was an original strain of cannabis and is eschewed by today’s growers because the plants prefer the outside air and do not do well indoors. The stems are strong, as evidenced by the fact we have had some ferocious storms this summer and nary a leaf has been shed.

Acapulco Gold was traditionally cultivated in the Guerrero Mountains outside the city. In the seventies, no less an authority than the Oxford English Dictionary called it "a special grade of cannabis  . . . with a color of brownish gold, or a mixture of gold and green.” It has also been called "connoisseur pot," Another report from the time highlighted its "exquisite taste." 

It was the favorite strain of such luminaries as Jack Nicholson, Mick Jagger and rock photographer Paul Ferrara. Reportedly, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle tried it to understand if marijuana would cause problems for his players. And it was in the joint my father famously brought back for his kids when he and my mother vacationed in Acapulco.

Acapulco Gold is still an icon of the counter-culture, still being written about 60 years on. It appeared prominently in literature and film of that golden era. The 1972 novel Acapulco Gold by Edwin Corey, set in an impossible to imagine future world where marijuana would be legal, described the competition among advertising agencies to market it. Norman Spinrad’s novel Bug Jack Barron similarly described a futuristic world where the leading brand Acapulco Gold was promoted in a commercial like this:

"In the high country of Mexico evolved a savoury strain of marijuana which came to be known as Acapulco Gold in the days of the contraband trade. Prized for its superior flavor and properties, Acapulco Gold was available only to the favored few due to its rarity and the difficulties involved in importation." 

In Cheech and Chong’s classic film, Up in Smoke, Cheech says "You know like I smoke that Acapulco Gold, man," and in the duo’s debut album, he sings, "No stems no seeds that you don't need, Acapulco Gold is some badass weed."

In their debut album, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, with Jerry Garcia on the pedal steel, included a song titled “Henry.”  They sang:

Every year along about this time it all goes dry There's nothing round for love or money That'll get you high Henry got pissed off and said he'd run to Mexico To see if he could come back holdin' Twenty keys of Acapulco Gold

Now the road to Acapulco is very hard indeed And it isn't any better if you haven't any weed.

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#Breaking: A #Mexican #journalist was #shot to #death in a store parking lot on Saturday in the southern tourist town of #Acapulco

#UPDATE A Mexican journalist was shot to death in a store parking lot on Saturday in the southern tourist town of Acapulco, regional authorities said, in the country's second journalist killing in a week.https://t.co/3ZPezmLwb9 pic.twitter.com/30Gb4V42KF — AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 16, 2023 Source: Twitter

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#fotografos #fotografomty #mty #monterrey #cdmx #regia #regios #photoshoot #photographer #la #ny #miami #acapulco #nl #model #modelo #castingcall #talentsearch #filmmaker #filmdirector#film #talentscout #scout #agency #agencia#actress#actor#hollywood

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Esto es Acapulco, un balneario en la costa del Pacífico de México nos abre sus puertas para recorrer este hermoso puerto, famoso gracias al jet set en los años 1950 y 1960. Una producción realizada para la Secretaría de Turismo del Estado de Guerrero . . . . #dta #dtaestudio #agency #agencia #somosagencia #studio #estudio #film #video #audiovisual #audiovisuales #branding #acapulco #guerrero #ocean #dji #djimavicpro #mavicpro #commercial #beach #playa #people #gente (en Acapulco, Guerrero) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwztdA7BchH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=n8pltv5wg59v

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Monday, January 15, 2024

On the Ballot in Iowa: Fear. Anxiety. Hopelessness. (NYT) Presidential elections traditionally speak to future aspirations, offering a vision of a better tomorrow. Yet this year, even before a single vote has been cast, a far darker sentiment has taken hold. Across Iowa, as the first nominating contest approaches on Monday, voters plow through snowy streets to hear from candidates, mingle at campaign events and casually talk of the prospect of World War III, civil unrest and a nation coming apart at the seams. Four years ago, voters worried about a spiraling pandemic, economic uncertainty and national protests. Now, in the first presidential election since the siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, those anxieties have metastasized into a grimmer, more existential dread about the very foundations of the American experiment. “You get the feeling in Iowa right now that we’re sleepwalking into a nightmare and there’s nothing we can do about it,” said Doug Gross, a Republican lawyer who has been involved in Iowa politics for nearly four decades.

Mexico sent 25,000 troops to Acapulco after Hurricane Otis. But it hasn’t stopped the violence (AP) The Mexican government sent 25,000 troops to Acapulco after the resort was hit by Hurricane Otis on Oct. 25, but apparently that hasn’t stopped the violence this week. The main Acapulco business chamber reported that gang threats and attacks have caused about 90% of the city’s passenger vans to stop running, affecting the resort’s main form of transport. The chamber said the violence was forcing businesses to close early on Thursday and Friday. Local media reported that at least three vans had been burned, a practice that gangs often use to enforce extortion demands for daily protection payments from van drivers. The Category 5 hurricane killed 52 people and left 32 missing, and severely damaged almost all of the resort’s hotels. Acapulco’s economy depends almost completely on tourism, and there are comparatively few visitors in the city, in part because only about 4,500 hotel rooms have been repaired, a small fraction of the tens of thousands the city once had. Moreover, since the government has also sent about 3,000 federal employees to help in the rebuilding and repair efforts, they occupy many of the hotel rooms.

Colombia: at least 34 killed after mudslide hits busy road (AP) The death toll from a mudslide in western Colombia has risen to 34, authorities have said. At least 35 injured people were taken to hospitals. The mudslide struck a busy municipal road on Friday in a mountainous area connecting the cities of Quibdó and Medellín.

Volcano Erupts in Iceland After Series of Earthquakes (NYT) A volcano in Iceland erupted on Sunday after hundreds of earthquakes shook the Reykjanes peninsula, prompting evacuations in a town near where a fissure opened up and spewed lava last month. The eruption happened at about 8 a.m. local time near Sundhnjúkar north of the town of Grindavik, according to local news media and the nation’s civil defense agency. At least 200 earthquakes struck the area near Grindavik, 32 miles southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, on Sunday starting at about 3 a.m. local time, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office. Before the eruption, the civil defense agency ordered the evacuation of Grindavik and said an eruption was imminent. The latest eruption happened along a row of volcanoes on the Reykjanes Peninsula, where a fissure opened up in December and erupted, creating a glowing and winding river of lava.

Denmark’s King Frederik X takes the throne after abdication of Queen (CNN) Denmark entered a new era as King Frederik X assumed the throne following the shock abdication of his mother Queen Margrethe II. For many in Denmark, Margrethe was the only monarch they had ever known. But her abdication, after more than five decades on the throne, paved the way for her son, the former Crown Prince Frederik, to succeed her. The handover took place at a cabinet meeting at Christiansborg Palace in the capital Copenhagen, when Margrethe signed a declaration of her abdication, officially transferring the crown to Frederik. Margrethe, 83, was Europe’s longest-reigning monarch and the world’s last reigning queen. She announced her historic tenure would come to an end after 52 years in a stunning live address on New Year’s Eve.

Paris mint melts 27 million coins after E.U. said stars were hard to read (Washington Post) Un sou est un sou (every cent counts) goes the French idiom—just not when the European Commission disagrees, as the Paris mint found out in a recent blunder. The Monnaie de Paris was forced to remelt and remake 27 million coins after failing to ask for design approval from the European Commission, which later rejected the new coin. The reason: The E.U. stars were too hard to see, French daily La Lettre reported Thursday. This saddled the Paris mint with costs of $768,000 to $1.6 million to melt and remint the coins.

Climate, chaos and war fill a doomy agenda at Davos (Guardian) The limos have been booked. Hotels have loaded up with champagne. Shops have been converted into pop-up offices for the tech giants. The annual Davos talkfest is about to begin. The collective mood of the 2,800 participants is anything but cheery as they make their way to the small Alpine for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). That’s because there are four “C”s that will dominate this year’s event: conflict; the new cold war; climate; and chaos—or the potential for it, arising as a result of misuse of artificial intelligence by hostile states and criminals. As usual, there will be plenty of partying and business deals clinched behind closed doors, but the WEF’s dream of a peaceful, prosperous, globalised world have been shattered by recent developments.

Russia Regains Upper Hand in Ukraine’s East as Kyiv’s Troops Struggle (NYT) The Ukrainian soldier stared at the Russian tank. It was destroyed over a year ago in the country’s east and now sat far from the front line. He shrugged and cut into its rusted hull with a gas torch. The soldier was there for its thick armor. The metal would be cut and strapped as protection to Ukrainian armored personnel carriers. The need to cannibalize a destroyed Russian vehicle to help protect Ukraine’s dwindling supply of equipment underscores Kyiv’s current challenges on the battlefield as it prepares for another year of pitched combat. Ukraine’s military prospects are looking bleak. Western military aid is no longer assured at the same levels as years past. Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive in the south is over, having failed to meet any of its objectives. And now, Russian troops are on the attack, especially in the country’s east. The town of Marinka has all but fallen. Avdiivka is being slowly encircled. A push on Chasiv Yar, near Bakhmut, is expected. Farther north, outside Kupiansk, the fighting has barely slowed since the fall. The Kremlin has more of everything: more men, ammunition and vehicles. And they are not stopping despite their mounting numbers of wounded and dead.

‘A Lifelong Nightmare’: Seeking Justice in India’s Overwhelmed Courts (NYT) When the armed men stormed into the village of lower-caste Indians, fanning out through its dirt lanes and flinging open the doors of its mud homes, Binod Paswan jumped into a grain silo and peered out in horror. Within hours, witnesses say, upper-caste landlords massacred 58 Dalits, people once known as “untouchables,” most of them farmworkers in the eastern state of Bihar who had been agitating for higher wages. Seven of them were members of Mr. Paswan’s family. The next day, he lodged a police complaint. That was 26 years ago. He is still waiting—after conflicting verdicts and hundreds of court hearings, with some witnesses now dead or impaired by fading eyesight—for a resolution. “A cry for justice turned into a lifelong nightmare for us,” said Mr. Paswan, 45. In a vast nation with no shortage of intractable problems, it is one of the longest-running and most far-reaching: India’s staggeringly overburdened judicial system. More than 50 million cases are pending across the country, according to the National Judicial Data Grid—a pileup that has doubled over the past two decades. At the current pace, it would take more than 300 years to clear India’s docket.

Taiwanese voters have snubbed Beijing for a third time, all but ensuring tensions with China will persist. (WSJ) For eight years, China has raged against Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, accusing it of pursuing a separatist agenda that must be confronted with economic muscle and shows of military might. Lai Ching-te’s win yesterday is likely to stoke anxiety in Beijing, while also fueling concern in Washington that China may lean toward the use of force to bring Taiwan’s democratic government to heel. A key question is whether Lai, who has spoken openly in the past about his desire for Taiwanese independence before moderating his language in recent years, will walk a steady line in dealing with Beijing—or if his election heralds an even more turbulent phase in relations.

A defiant Netanyahu says no one can halt Israel’s war to crush Hamas (AP) Israel will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the world court, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a defiant speech Saturday, as the fighting in Gaza approached the 100-day mark. Netanyahu spoke after the International Court of Justice at The Hague held two days of hearings on South Africa’s allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, a charge Israel has rejected as libelous and hypocritical. South Africa asked the court to order Israel to halt its blistering air and ground offensive in an interim step. “No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else,” Netanyahu said in televised remarks Saturday evening.

U.N. Warns Gaza Is Heading for Famine as Specter of Wider War Looms (NYT) The twin specters of a widening regional war and intensified suffering of civilians loomed over the Middle East on Saturday, after the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen threatened to respond to American airstrikes and a senior U.N. official warned that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was hurtling toward famine. In northern Gaza, where a crippling three-month Israeli siege has hit hardest, corpses are left in the road and starving residents stop aid trucks “in search of anything they can get to survive,” Martin Griffiths, the top U.N. aid official, told the United Nations Security Council on Friday. Saying that the risk of famine in Gaza was “growing by the day,” he blamed Israel for repeated delays and denials of permission to humanitarian convoys bringing aid to the area. Since Jan. 1, just three of 21 planned convoys intended for northern Gaza, carrying food, medicine and other essential supplies, have received Israeli permission to enter the area, a U.N. spokesman said on Thursday. Famine experts say the proportion of Gaza residents at risk of famine is greater than anywhere since a United Nations-affiliated body began measuring extreme hunger 20 years ago. Scholars say it has been generations since the world has seen food deprivation on such a scale in war.

In Yemen’s Houthis, U.S. and Britain face a ready, war-tested foe (Washington Post) President Biden said U.S.-led strikes on Houthi militants across Yemen sent “a clear message” that the United States would not tolerate attacks on its personnel or commercial shipping in the Red Sea. But analysts say the assault early Friday, which the Houthis said killed five people, played directly into the hands of a battle-tested militant group whose standing in the region has only been enhanced. The Houthis, targets of a years-long Saudi-led bombing campaign, have proved their ability to absorb such strikes. Laurent Bonnefoy, a researcher who studies Yemen at Sciences Po in Paris, said the strikes were what the Houthis were “looking for.” “They are gaining what they want, which is to appear as the boldest regional player when it comes to confronting the international coalition, which is largely in favor of Israel and does not care for people in Gaza,” he said. “This generates some form of support for them, internationally as well as internally.”

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Real Estate In Horseshoe Bay: A Great Investment For Your Future

It can be difficult to make a decision about Horseshoe Bay real estate. There are many things to do in this area. Its beautiful natural beauty and landscaping have earned it the title of one of the most beautiful areas on the planet. Brushy creek lake, Cedar Falls, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and many other attractions are just a few of the top attractions. This article will highlight some of the most popular areas of interest and what to do in Horseshoe Bay.

Brushy Creek Lake is just outside of Laredo. It is one the most well-known and most visited lakes within the region. This stunning natural lake has miles of beauty and attracts millions of visitors each year. Many anglers from Texas come together to enjoy their favorite activities at the numerous public fishing and boating locations.

Cedar Falls is another popular attraction. It is made up of many huge waterfalls that surround large areas of mountain. It is one the most popular real estate opportunities in the Bay Area. This natural waterfall provides visitors with a refreshing sight and thousands of years of history. There are picnic areas and hiking trails around the falls.

Another popular spot in the area is Big Bend Ranch State Park. Located to the south of Laredo, it is also home to many unique wildlife species. You will see many species of wildlife such as wild turkeys, wild deer, wild quail, and other migratory birds. Many campgrounds are available near the park so visitors can enjoy quiet and restful nights. Guided tours are offered to allow visitors to understand some of these native cultures.

Real Estate Lake LBJ has many attractions that visitors can take advantage of. It is the home to Laredo, a state park that is considered one of the most beautiful in America. It is located close to Del Rio and Acapulco. It is a popular spot for Horseshoe Bay Texas real estate because of its beautiful scenery and abundance of wildlife. There are many attractions and activities available including hiking, golfing, swimming, boating and more.

There are miles of trails for hiking, biking, and picnicking, as well as nature programs, museums, and art galleries. You will find many award-winning private and public sites along the beautiful beaches north of the park. The bay is also home to many hotels and restaurants. Many homes are also available for sale, as well as fishing charters. There are many night clubs, bars, restaurants and shopping centers.

Laredo is the ideal place for visitors looking for entertainment. Harlingen Opera House offers a variety of live performing arts, including classical and contemporary music. There are many bars, restaurants, and discos. During the week, you can enjoy world class cuisine and fine dining while the weekends are reserved for sporting events and concerts. Laredo has a lot of real estate and many businesses and homes offer excellent amenities for residents.

If you visit Laredo, you will also be able to enjoy some of Laredo’s nightlife. Harlingen downtown boasts a beautiful central block, several restaurants, and bars. You can also visit City Center Park which features a variety shops, restaurants and movie theatres. Visitors have a variety to choose from in nearby communities like Converse, Granada, South Padre Island.

There are plenty of resources for people with special needs who need help in Laredo when it comes to real property. There are many agencies available online as well as through local real agents that can help with your decision making about your new house. They can help to find the right community for you and help you get a mortgage that suits your financial needs. They can also help with the application process, assist you in completing paperwork, and show properties that suit your needs.

If you decide to visit Laredo, you can enjoy a number of attractions, including museums, theatrical performances and restaurants. You can also attend or take part in many sporting events. For horseback riders in particular, there is the Alamo Drafthouse in Laredo that features movies and plays on its big screen. Laredo real estate has everything you need for making your new home a place you and your family enjoy.

If you're interested in purchasing property in Laredo you will be happy to know that most properties can be sold via a contract. This allows the seller to purchase the property back at any time during the contract. Laredo is a great place to find property that you can afford and in a pleasant environment. The prices of real estate in Laredo depend on the location and the amenities. Open houses can be found on the internet. You can also search for properties for sale in your local area to maximize your future investment.