#from the fire nation especially if the place is established as a central port area then you tie in some okinawan or even hawaiian reference | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bountyofbeads · 5 years

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How to Help Hurricane Dorian Survivors in the Bahamas https://nyti.ms/34gfarn

Bahamas Relief Efforts Frustrated as Dorian Pulls Away

By Kirk Semple, Rachel Knowles and Frances Robles |Published Sept. 3, 2019 Updated Sept. 4, 2019, 12:32 p.m. ET | New York Times | Posted September 4, 2019 2:14 PM ET |

NASSAU, Bahamas — As Hurricane Dorian pulled away from the Bahamas, relief workers, medical personnel, pilots and others gathered at a private terminal of the Nassau airport on Wednesday amid boxes of supplies, anxiously awaiting permission from the government to fly to devastated areas and provide assistance.

But with most of the runways on Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama — the islands most heavily pummeled by the storm — flooded or covered in sand, it was difficult to deliver help or even assess the damage wrought by the storm. In addition, the government has given priority to helicopter evacuations.

“It is frustrating,” said Wes Comfort, director of operations for Heart to Heart International, a Kansas-based group. “There are people who want to help and professionals who know how to help.”

Dorian made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on Sunday, then lingered, pummeling the northern islands of the Bahamian archipelago for more than three days. At least seven people have died, including children, government officials said, adding that the toll is expected to rise. Now a Category 2 storm, Dorian is heading toward the Eastern Seaboard.

Despite the limited access to the islands, pilots have conducted flyovers revealing scenes of absolute devastation. Entire neighborhoods were reduced to unrecognizable fields of rubble, houses were crushed into splinters and boats were tossed into heaps like toys.

The Bahamian prime minister, Hubert Minnis, was able to go on a reconnaissance mission over Abaco on Tuesday afternoon, though storm conditions still prevented flying over Grand Bahama, the larger island.

“People need mostly food, security and shelter,” Mr. Minnis said in brief comments to reporters when he returned.

Videos taken by helicopters flying over the islands showed desperate residents stranded on rooftops amid swirling currents, roads turned to rivers, and basic infrastructure — including shelters, hospitals and public buildings — under water.

“It’s not just the power and ferocity of the storm, it’s also the length of time it spent over Abaco and Grand Bahama,” said Marvin Dames, the minister of national security for the Bahamas. “That’s a disastrous outcome.”

The deputy commander for the United States Coast Guard’s Altantic area, Rear Adm. Todd Sokalzuk, said on Tuesday they had brought seven helicopters into the central Bahamas. The Coast Guard, together with Customs and Border Patrol, were able to airlift 61 people from the Bahamas over two days, the United States Embassy in Nassau said on Twitter Wednesday.

The prime minister said that roughly 60 percent of homes in Marsh Harbour were badly damaged. The town “looks like a lake” and the roads are flooded, he said.

Cindy Russell, a resident of Marsh Harbour whose home was destroyed, said she had no words to describe what Dorian left in its wake.

“It’s like we just need to be rescued and put on another island to start over again,” she said. “Complete devastation.”

Rebecca Roberts, who lives in Nassau but grew up on Green Turtle Cay, which is part of the Abaco Islands, said her family there suffered heavy losses. The extended family had 12 buildings among them, between businesses and homes. Of the four they had been able to check up on, three were completely demolished.

The one building that stood, which was made of cement, was housing the entire family, she said.

“My aunt was out in the road picking up pieces from her house,” she said.

Though the weakened hurricane is pushing its way toward Florida, it did not clear the islands until early Wednesday.

“Storm surge is the number one killer in a tropical storm,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, speaking of the rising sea level that results from the wind and pressure changes brought on by a storm.

In Freeport, the largest city on Grand Bahama, Sarah Kirkby watched helplessly as a massive tidal flood poured in and inundated her house.

“It was absolutely terrifying,” she said. “I have never seen water come in like that. You don’t realize the power until you’re in it.”

Some local rescue efforts began on Tuesday, she said, as the water began to recede, with neighbors manning Jet Skis to rescue people trapped on their roofs — but it was unclear where they might go, since many shelters were also flooded or damaged by the storm.

All of the rescues on Abaco were conducted by the Coast Guard, which also provided the prime minister and Bahamas emergency management officials with their first flyover to assess the damages. But with conditions on Grand Bahama too poor for even military helicopters, the Coast Guard attempted no rescues there.

Rear Adm. Todd Sokalzuk said officials still had a “large volume” of calls for help from people stranded on their rooftops.

[Live updates as the storm turns toward the southeast coast of the United States.]

Responders were trying to take advantage of a window of opportunity after the eye passed over Grand Bahama to try to rescue people, but many police cruisers and other emergency vehicles were under water.

“Some of the bigger vehicles, dump trucks and fire engines, are trying to get through the water,” Kevin D. Harris, director general of the Bahamas Information Service, said. “Grand Bahama is flat, and you can imagine the devastation we are going to incur.”

There was so much water that government offices, including the government radio station, had to leave their lower floors.

The islands in the northwestern Bahamas that were hit the hardest — the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama — are 30 feet at their highest point, and the storm surge reached up to 23 feet, not counting the waves, said Joel Cline, the Tropical Program Coordinator at NOAA.

Photographs from flights over Abaco show trees sheared of limbs and leaves and saltwater ponds covering swaths of land where homes once stood. Some houses had their roofs ripped clean off, while others were reduced to piles of debris mired in water. All around, a rough ocean lapped at the low-lying islands.

The Grand Lucayan Resort and Casino on Grand Bahama had opened its doors to those who needed shelter, said Michael Scott, who is the chairman of the government-owned hotel.

“It’s a catastrophic and dystopian mess,” he said on Tuesday, estimating that more than 400 people were now being cared for at the hotel. “Other shelters which have been compromised are having their people decanted into our facility.”

How to Help Hurricane Dorian Survivors in the Bahamas

By Elisabeth Malkin | Published Sept. 3, 2019 | New York Times | Posted September 4, 2019 2:18 PM ET |

Hurricane Dorian struck the northern Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane on Sunday and stalled over the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Island for two days. The destructive winds, torrential rains and relentless flooding has likely destroyed more than 10,000 homes and wiped out much of the infrastructure, especially in the Abacos.

Aid experts say there will be immediate emergency needs before the long, arduous task of rebuilding begins.

Several organizations are working in the Bahamas:

The Red Cross has 200 volunteers in the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama. Shelter, food, water, medicine and communications are the most urgent needs, said Stephen McAndrew, the deputy director for the Americas of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

“All shelter materials are going to be highly needed,” he said. “We know that there will be a need for psychological support. That will continue.”

Global Giving has established the Hurricane Dorian Relief Fund to provide emergency supplies and long-term assistance to help in rebuilding.

World Central Kitchen, set up by the chef José Andrés, provides food to people after natural disasters. Mr. Andrés and a relief team have arrived in Nassau, the capital, and have begun to identify places where they can set up kitchens on the affected islands.

HeadKnowles is a Bahamian organization that organized relief operations during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Joaquin in 2015. They have set up a site through Go Fund Me.

Yacht Aid Global has set up “Operation Topaz” to bring emergency supplies like food, tarps, hygiene kits and medicine to Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands. The organization works with yachts in the region to coordinate support.

Team Rubicon, an organization of military veterans that provides disaster relief, is in the Bahamas.

Charity Navigator offers this list of reputable charities that are working in the Bahamas.

Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said people wishing to help could donate to the Salvation Army, which works closely with the government’s National Emergency Management Agency.

Waterkeeper Alliance, a charity that works with local partners to preserve water ecosystems and fight for clean water, is taking donations on behalf of its affiliate in Grand Bahama, Save the Bays. Type in “Bahamas” on its donation site.

The Grand Bahama Disaster Relief Foundation was set up by the Grand Bahama Port Authority, which acts as the municipal authority for Freeport, the main city on the island. The site offers suggestions on how to help, including several addresses where donors can drop off supplies in the United States.

Hurricane Dorian Tests Florida’s Ability to Move Older Adults Out of Harm’s Way

By Patricia Mazzei, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Richard Fausset |

Published Sept. 3, 2019 Updated Sept. 4, 2019, 12:10 p.m. ET | New York Times | Posted September 4, 2019 2:15 PM ET

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As the outer bands of Hurricane Dorian began brushing the Florida coast on Tuesday, a woman raced to pick up her mother-in-law at a retirement community, where the elevator was about to be shut down. The staff of a nursing home packed up more than 200 residents as well as the supplies they might need: cases of water, air mattresses and board games. At another center, residents were evacuated in specialty ambulances, rented motor coaches and private vehicles.

Across the state, a scramble was underway to move older Floridians to safer ground as a weakened but still dangerous Hurricane Dorian, once a Category 5 storm but now a vast Category 2, threatened the state’s Atlantic coast.

[Follow live updates on Hurricane Dorian here.]

The last major storm to hit the state was foremost in officials’ minds. When Hurricane Irma came ashore two years ago, a dozen patients died after a nursing home in Hollywood, Fla., lost its air-conditioning. The tragedy prompted new regulations and an acknowledgment that evacuation orders were not enough to protect the state’s large older population. When it comes to older people, no state has more retirees than Florida, where they make up one-fifth of the population, according to the AARP.

A new state law requires backup generators and enough fuel to maintain comfortable temperatures at nursing homes and assisted living centers, a mandate first tested last year when Hurricane Michael struck the Florida Panhandle. Last week, four nursing home workers were charged in the Hurricane Irma deaths, which were ruled homicides.

At the Towers of Jacksonville, a retirement community in Jacksonville, Fla., officials advised residents with just a few hours’ notice that it would disable its elevator on Monday afternoon. That would have left Lois Evelin, 72, unable to get downstairs unless someone carried her, said her daughter-in-law, Ester Evelin, who rushed to pick her up earlier than she had planned.

“It was a little frustrating, because we were still trying to get our place hurricane-ready,” said Ms. Evelin, 45, whose mother-in-law is now safely at home with her, her husband and their son in Neptune Beach. “But there are a few people that had to stay because they didn’t have any family near that could get to them in time.”

North of Florida, the worry, preparations and evacuations for Hurricane Dorian’s next possible targets could be found for hundreds of miles up the coast. Meteorologists warned that the storm could bring tornadoes, life-threatening storm surges and dangerous winds along the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas into Thursday.

In Georgia, a mandatory evacuation order was in effect for coastal counties.

In South Carolina, an evacuation order was issued for all or part of eight coastal counties, an area whose population is roughly 830,000. Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that 244,000 people had already left the region.

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper said he would issue an evacuation order for all of the state’s barrier islands.

Some 190,000 people live in Florida nursing homes and assisted living centers, most of them in the state’s southeastern tip. Patrick Manderfield, a spokesman for the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration, said on Monday that all but 42 of the state’s 3,062 licensed assisted living centers had an on-site generator. Five centers had emergency plans to evacuate “if needed,” he said in an email.

Nursing homes, which tend to be larger and have more beds than assisted living centers, are a different story. Reuters reported on Friday that some nursing homes were still waiting for temporary generators, though a state website suggested that they might have all been supplied by Monday afternoon. The Miami Herald reported last week that nearly 60 percent of the state’s 687 nursing homes did not yet have enough power backup.

Large centers for elderly residents who require constant care have put complex emergency plans into action. Among them was the Samantha Wilson Care Center in St. Augustine, Fla., which is near the Intracoastal Waterway. Fearing a dangerously high storm surge, the center evacuated its 126 residents to three separate facilities in Orlando and DeLand, said Shellye Nutter, vice president for clinical and residential services in the center’s skilled nursing unit.

The residents in more delicate health traveled in specialty ambulances. Other traveled in rented motor coaches, sometimes with caregivers and relatives in tow. Clearing out the entire center took all of Monday, Ms. Nutter said.

“They’re the most vulnerable population — they’re totally dependent on us for care,” she said.

About four dozen residents temporarily settled into the Orlando Lutheran Towers, a community with skilled nursing and assisted living centers. Amy Dickens, the director of nursing, said it was the first time that the center was taking in evacuees, so it stocked up on extra food, mattresses and clinical staff to support the caregivers coming in from St. Augustine.

“If you’re taking an elderly patient from their normal room to transport them to another facility where they’re maybe on a bed or a mattress, you just try to make it the best atmosphere,” she said.

At the Good Samaritan Society’s retirement home in DeLand, nearly 400 residents milled about in a building that until Sunday had housed about 150. They bit their nails, worked on crossword puzzles or dozed as a television showed a local newscast featuring footage of waves crashing on Cocoa Beach. Water and stacks of fans sat nearby, and in another room a group of women were filling in outlines of hummingbirds with paintbrushes.

Administrators said they had moved 237 residents to the home in buses and ambulances because of mandatory evacuation orders that included Good Samaritan’s homes in Daytona Beach and Kissimmee.

It was a far cry from two summers ago, when a last-minute evacuation stretched past nightfall before flooding from Hurricane Irma submerged golf carts, soaked rooms and caused $500 million in damage at the nursing home. During that storm, many residents were moved to local shelters.

“Here we have sunshine and nice sky,” said Mark Barglof, the executive director of the group’s three Florida locations. “Before, we had floodwater and were working into the night.”

Nate Schema, vice president for operations of the Good Samaritan Society, flew from the organization’s headquarters in South Dakota to keep an eye on the storm. He said the nursing home was lucky to have just completed a new, 80-unit wing, most of which was sitting vacant before the evacuations.

“The good Lord had a little hand in pulling that together,” he said.

Most residents on Tuesday said they felt safe and were thankful for the care they were getting, even if the move to DeLand was a hassle and they had to sleep on air mattresses.

Melanie Gentry, a retired member of the Air Force, was at the nursing home on Tuesday with her mother and father. She said that while her family had been prepared to leave for Hurricane Irma, she was grateful there was more notice this time.

During past storms, they grabbed only important documents and an heirloom or two and put everything else on high shelves, Ms. Gentry said.

“Now, you have so much time you have to stop yourself because you can’t take everything,” she said with a laugh.

For older people who live alone, storms also present a challenge. Sometimes, they also need a nudge from a friend or relative to get out of harm’s way.

PeggyAnn Cromartie, 72, left her home in the inland Palm Beach County town of Pahokee, Fla., after a friend in South Carolina encouraged her to make a plan to avoid getting stuck in case of an emergency.

“I wanted to be safe, because you never know what may happen,” said Ms. Cromartie, who evacuated to the West Boynton Park and Recreation Center in Lake Worth, Fla., on Sunday. “It’s not really scary, but I thought about the flooding or the lights going out.”

Randye Carol Pollack, 68, of Boynton Beach, Fla., said she feared her 30-year-old apartment building might not fare well in a strong storm but planned to stay if she could not find accommodation with her parakeet, Sweet Pea. That did not prove to be a problem: The pet shelter had an area set aside for birds.

Patricia Mazzei reported from West Palm Beach; Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs from DeLand, Fla.; and Richard Fausset from Atlanta. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.

#hurricane dorian #dorian #bahamas #worldpolitics #world news #international news #uk news #u.s. news #u.s. military

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blogeasyworklife-blog · 5 years

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The Requirement for Centralized Medical Records

Combining your household’s medical records is one essential action you can require to assist guarantee your liked ones get the very best healthcare. In this period of medical expertise, the schedule of central medical records can make an important distinction in results.

Precise, central medical records can yield much better care throughout the world If you’re like many people, you get your healthcare from more than one physician-- a household medication expert, an OB/GYN if you’re a lady, maybe a skin specialist, an orthopedist, or a cardiologist. That indicates the records each doctor collects on your health and treatment are spread throughout workplaces all over town, possibly even all over the area. Naturally, you do your finest to notify each medical professional of all of your conditions, tests, and treatments, however it’s difficult to bear in mind whatever throughout a consultation and often you might not understand what details is germane.

Not having access to your total medical record has repercussions, some merely a problem, others possibly lethal. You have to duplicate your health and household history to each brand-new medical professional you see.

There’s an option to the issue of scattered medical records that’s getting a bargain of attention from health specialists and insurance companies in addition to from President Bush-- the debt consolidation of medical records to produce a total individual health profile.

Americans desire centralized, available health records The Markle Foundation, a personal structure that concentrates on speeding up using info and interaction innovations to enhance individuals’s lives especially in health and nationwide security, has actually studied the concern of whether Americans want to have actually centralized medical records available by means of the Internet. The research study discovered over 70% of those questioned think these records would enhance the quality of care they get.

Physicians would likewise like to have access to more total centralized records. A combined record would likewise offer the doctor with “the huge image,” consisting of household history, medications recommended and any responses or possible interactions, way of life elements such as workout, diet plan, and cigarette smoking, and more.

“As a main care doctor, an essential part of my task is to collaborate the care my clients get. Otherwise the details stays fragmented and information might fall through the fractures and make the shipment of health care less effective.”

For the majority of, combined medical records are still years away There are a number of public and personal tasks simply getting in progress created to develop combined medical records. HMO giant Kaiser Permanente is midway through a $2 million effort to put members’ health records on a network that can be accessed by Kaiser’s health care service providers and medical facilities. In a press release last summer season, the structure explained the task this method: “In developing the Health Record Network, Duke leaders imagine a service that will supply to medical systems throughout the nation anywhere/anytime access to client health info.

The Duke task visualizes the facility of an online individual electronic health record where clients input their own health info. That details might then be accessed, with the client’s authorization, by any healthcare expert treating him or her in addition to by the client. The objective of the task is three-fold-- to enhance healthcare results, to empower individuals to comprehend and more actively handle their health and healthcare, and to reduce expenses.

The advancement of the Health Record Network is still in the earliest phases, nevertheless, with pilot programs being developed to check the principle in Toronto and Wyoming.

Central medical records and the mindful attention of a supporter bring much better treatment and comfort While there are a variety of medical records centralization jobs on the drawing board around the nation, members of PinnacleCare are gaining the lots of advantages of central records today.

Members’ records are thoroughly collected, put together, and scanned into a computer system to produce a digital record to which Members and their doctors have quickly, protected gain access to. Each member’s initial paper records are kept in a locked, fire-resistant vault.

When a PinnacleCare Member just recently saw a professional for kidney issues, the doctor was astonished that he had actually brought his total case history with him. The physician commented that with the complete records right away offered, he had the ability to offer a far better, more effective level of care to the Member.

Due to the fact that the info remains in a compact digital format, it can quickly be moved at any time to any area around the world if the requirement develops. The company presently remains in the procedure of establishing a medical records flash drive keychain gadget that will enable Members to bring their health history with them and provide the flash drive at a doctor’s workplace and even in an emergency clinic. Strategies are likewise underway for the production of an extremely safe and secure online website that enables access to a Members’ total health record anywhere there’s Internet gain access to.

2 PinnacleCare Members who live on their private yacht for numerous months each year off the coast of Panama and Costa Rica feel more safe and secure understanding their medical records are constantly within reach. PinnacleCare put together total medical records for each member of the household and likewise offered them with info on the finest medical professionals and medical centers near their ports of call.

In addition to centralizing each Member’s medical records, PinnacleCare provides something none of the other medical records debt consolidation jobs offer-- the attention, competence, and guidance of an individual PinnacleCare Advocate teamTM. This customized and expert group evaluates Members’ records at the start of the Membership and they frequently keep in mind crucial conditions or signs Members forget to point out to their doctors or learn that required follow-up screening has actually not taken place.

That was the case for a healthy, active 24-year-old PinnacleCare Member who just recently broke his collarbone and had surgical treatment to fix it. After examining his medical records, his PinnacleCare Advocate kept in mind the Member had a longstanding history of fainting and notified his cosmetic surgeon.

Another PinnacleCare Advocate discovered a doctor’s note in a Member’s records suggesting follow up for raised cholesterol levels, however discovered no additional follow up had actually been finished. After contacting the Member and finding out that the problem was never ever dealt with, the PinnacleCare Advocate right away arranged a visit with the Member’s doctor for screening. The doctor then recommended the suitable medication and the member’s cholesterol is now under control.

By integrating the advantages of total, central medical records with the individual attention supplied by a PinnacleCare Advocate, PinnacleCare Members are years ahead in their mission for the most reliable, effective take care of themselves and their households.

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businessliveme · 5 years

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India Needs Its Own Canary Wharf

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Even as India is consumed by its upcoming elections, the world’s biggest, the country is nearing another milestone: It’s set to overtake the U.K. to become the world’s fifth-largest economy. By 2030, its GDP could top $10 trillion. Yet, unusually for such a geographically large and economically vibrant country, India has no states to compare to California in the U.S., China’s Guangdong province or Japan’s Kanto prefecture — all regions with $1 trillion economies. Nor does it have a city on par with New York or Tokyo, both of which boast bigger economies than countries such as Canada and Indonesia, accounting for over a tenth of national GDP apiece.

India’s next leader will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to change that by transforming the country’s commercial capital, Mumbai. A better one might never come along.

Mumbai is the engine of the prosperous western state of Maharashtra, India’s largest regional economy with a GDP somewhere between $350-400 billion; the city contributes well over half the total. For Maharashtra to become a $1 trillion economy, Mumbai would need to double or triple the size of its economy, on the back of its preeminent role in service industries, especially finance. That means competing with the likes of Singapore and Shanghai to attract global banks and other world-class financial institutions to the humid, traffic-choked city.

This poses obvious challenges. It’ll require regulatory changes, in particular ending the uncertainty and complexity around taxation for financial services firms, which has led to the bulk of the local fund-management industry moving to Singapore. Maharashtra will also have to establish a first-rate system for resolving commercial disputes, involving everything from fast-track courts to international arbitration.

Just as importantly, the chaotic city needs to create an efficient core — a business district attractive enough for leading global businesses to want to locate there. Dense urban clusters create agglomeration benefits, one of the very few ways available to improve productivity permanently.

This is, to say the least, hard to imagine. However much residents love Mumbai’s freewheeling, cosmopolitan spirit, the city is an infrastructural mess. Headlong growth has worsened congestion, air pollution and the general quality of life. Urban planning is mostly an afterthought. Haphazard development and an explosion in car ownership have made parts of the cramped city virtually unnavigable during rush hour, when the average commute from the airport to downtown Mumbai can take over 1.5 hours.

However, Mumbai has a unique opportunity to turn its fortunes around. The city’s port, which occupies about 900 hectares along the prime eastern waterfront, is slowly vacating the area because shipping and allied activities have moved elsewhere. Redevelopment plans so far have focused on infrastructure, including a cruise ship terminal. The area could be something much bigger: a means to transform Mumbai into a financial powerhouse on par with Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Remember that the City of London occupies only 290 hectares. Canary Wharf, London’s new financial district where most major banks are located, is just over 40 hectares. This tiny area hosts financial services firms that provide 160,000 jobs with an average wage in excess of £100,000, while serving as a magnet for other businesses; those 40 hectares generate economic output of over $50 billion annually. Harvard’s Ed Glaeser shows that the area in midtown Manhattan between 41st and 59th Streets houses 600,000 workers, earning $100,000 on average. In Asia, the central business district of Singapore is built on 184 hectares and the Dubai International Financial Centre on 45 hectares.

Working with city and state officials, India’s next government should aim to redevelop the port area into an efficient, dense, walkable cluster offering the high quality of life and green spaces lacking in the rest of the city. The experience of reviving the London Docklands shows what’s possible. Much like Mumbai, the port of London also suffered the impact of containerized traffic in the 1960s. Soon, the entire port closed, leaving nearly 2,000 hectares of land derelict. Redeveloping the area and building Canary Wharf into a global financial center took a coordinated effort from the government, the transport authority and the property developer.

A dedicated development authority, the London Docklands Development Corporation, provided focus. Priority was placed on creating buildings with large trading floors, a key need for financial services and, in particular, robust public transport links. The latter allowed for density and access to the labor market of greater London, without worsening road congestion. Indeed, there are only 5,000 parking spaces in Canary Wharf and they are rarely full. Strategic communication efforts were designed to withstand changes in political and economic cycles.

The challenge in Mumbai will be greater. Federal structures, overlapping jurisdictions and limited state capacity make change harder. The ghosts of past planning mistakes loom large, while mechanisms to fund infrastructure through the promise of future growth are less mature. The new zone must operate with a plan that emphasizes jobs and economic dynamism, flexibility and mixed use, rather than one that is static and heavily zoned. It will also require greater coordination between government agencies to fully integrate the area with the rest of the city, with dense transportation networks being key.

Nonetheless, a big idea such as transforming the waterfront into the National Financial Capital Region could fire up imaginations among bureaucrats, bankers and citizens. What’s more, Mumbai’s port is just one of many public sites that are either unutilized or underutilized. India’s railways, ports, defense services and state-owned companies control hundreds of thousands of hectares, a large proportion of which are unproductive relative to their location in the heart of big cities. Success in Mumbai could potentially unlock much larger tracts of land across the country, boosting the economy and dramatically improving the quality of life in Indian cities. Whoever triumphs at the polls next month shouldn’t let this opportunity slip.

The post India Needs Its Own Canary Wharf appeared first on Businessliveme.com.

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weditchthemap · 6 years

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A Week in Seattle and Surrounding National Parks

Our drive into Seattle was one of our longest days on the road. The trip from Glacier National park to our Airbnb was 530 miles and took us all day. We were tired and just wanted a quick meal so we went to a Subway to split a veggie sub. The doors were locked but the place was clearly still open so I gave a firm couple of knocks and waited a few minutes. After a while a greasy man unapologetically opened the door while pointing to the open sign, which apparently was not lit up. As we entered he said, “I heard you knocking and was squeezing very hard”. Sylvie and I looked at each other and without a word knew the other’s thoughts. Let’s get the fuck out of here! We found another Subway 5 minutes away, but our Chagrin the price was even higher. Can you believe we paid $8.50 for a sub with only veggies on it? No meat, not cheese, no tofu, just the normal fixings. At least we weren’t overly concerned about getting E. Coli!

2 Days in Seattle

Although we typically shy away from large tourist attractions our first day in Seattle actually took us through the top 3 attractions in Seattle—Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, and the Ballard Locks. During our next day we walked around Pike and Pine street in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood, International District, and 5th Avenue.

Pike Place Market:

After shopping around for reasonably priced parking we settled on a garage charging $18 for 10 hours. We made sure to get to the market early because we had read it can get packed. We walked the multitude of layers of the market as various vendors set up for the day. We were a bit disappointed by the market itself. There were only a handful of produce vendors and their food was grossly overpriced. I couldn’t help but compare it to Reading Terminal, an enormous market I visited often in Philadelphia. I found that Pike Place Market came up short in almost every comparison. It had far fewer food venders and the ones they did have were less unique. It’s clear that Pike Place Market exists solely for tourists and a local would never be caught dead in that place. Who in their right mind would pay $9.99 for a single dragon fruit? No thank you!

The Space Needle:

We spent the day walking through several popular neighborhoods. The Space Needle was in our path so we took a glance. We took a few seconds craning our heads and then moved onwards. I guess that’s another box we can check off on some arbitrary list?

Fremont and Ballard Locks:

We walked various hilly streets in Queen Ann admiring the various houses. I was shocked to see boarded up and condemned buildings immediately next to multi-million dollar modern homes. After a few miles we crossed over the Fremont Bridge, where Google had a local campus, and walked into the Fremont neighborhood. Fremont is a small hip area that consisted of a few streets filled with brew houses, ethnic food, and cafes. We walked onwards for another couple miles until we reached the Ballard Locks.

Ballard Locks: “Officially known as the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, the Ballard Locks is one of Seattle’s most popular tourist attractions, especially during the sunny months. The grounds also feature a fish ladder and the Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden — one of the most beautiful park settings in Seattle”. Read more about the locks here!

In a shared Uber we took back in the direction of our car we talked with another passenger and she provided us with some advice for the city along with call out to a vegan ice-cream parlor called Frankie & Jo’s. We checked it out prior to walking back to our car and tasted the Golden Milk and the Chocolate Date flavors. Frankie and Jo’s was generous and let us taste many of their flavors. They tasted pretty good considering they use coconut milk, but I prefer ice-cream made with real milk. Frankie and Jo’s is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

We hightailed it back to our car with 1 minute to spare before our $18 parking charge increased to $25. For our first day in Seattle we walked over 30k steps and logged more than 10 miles. We were left mostly unimpressed by the central downtown areas and decided to concentrate our next day in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Capitol Hill – Pike/Pine Streets

We started our second day in this university left-leaning neighborhood. Gay pride flags, tattoo parlors, hip cafes, and even a Trader Joe’s make Capitol Hill a fun liberal area to pass some time. We ventured into a large bookstore called Elliot Bay, but I thought it smelled like dirty cat litter so I didn’t stay too long. Sylvie thinks it was just the smell of books. Wooden electricity/phone poles were decorated 8 feet tall in flyers and pamphlets—most were monotone and slightly gothic in feeling. I’ve noticed that many people here in Seattle wear very muted colors. Black is definitely the most popular, but grey doesn’t fall too far behind. Grudge is alive and well here in Seattle. Although everyone we met was very kind I found that most people in the streets seemed very serious. This is in stark contrast to our recent experience walking through the small towns in Wyoming and Montana. It may just be that we haven’t been in a large city for a while but even Denver felt more ‘bubbly’ that here.

Seattle had quite a few game stores that sold board games and let people play while eating cheap pub food and brews. Many bars and cafes had pinballs machines set up for customers to play for a small fee. There were so many that it makes me think that Seattle’s history is somehow connected to pinball games. Did I mention that Seattle has a pinball museum that consists of dozens of machines spanning a multitude of decades? $15 for all you can play per person was just too steep for our budget-conscience pockets.

5th Ave & Chinatown-International District

We happened to stumble onto 5th Ave, which is a key shopping area in downtown Seattle. We were almost trampled by commuters, a stampede only matched by those found in Manhattan. We exited this area as quickly as we found it.

Before long we made our way to the Chinatown/International District, a Neighborhood hosting many of Seattle’s Asian communities. We stopped into a large indoor Asian grocery called Uwajimaya and walked around for a little. There were half a dozen food stands lining the entrance to the grocer. Sylvie and I have been a bit spoiled when it comes to Asian markets—we’ve been to some of the largest ones in the world. Considering Seattle’s closer proximity to Asia I had higher expectations for Chinatown—granted we didn’t spend too much time wandering around. I was a bit shocked on how modern and Americanized many of the establishments were. What I value a Chinatown is the authenticity of the food and overall atmosphere. I imagine the Asian communities in Seattle have done well for themselves and it does show. If you hoping for the grit-filled streets you would uncover in Manhattan’s Chinatown, then you’ve come to the wrong place. We have been extremely spoiled living in Philadelphia with the enormous Chinese and Vietnamese communities so places take these comments with a grain of salt.

1 Day in Mount Rainier National Park

We enjoyed a great quick loop hike along the Skyline Trail Loop, which is located in the main south side hub park. This are is called Paradise and is the most impressive part of the park. The first part of the hike was paved but as we gained altitude the trail got a little rockier. The hike was better than average and we enjoyed our time and our great views of Mount Rainier during autumn.

Give yourself a day to travel from the Seattle area to Olympic National Park if you plan to set up camp in the evening!

2 Days in Olympic National Park

We found a free campsite near a logging road west of Olympic National Park (about 2 hours west of Port Angeles). The campsite is located off of Swan Bay and is a primitive site with 1 fire pit. You may be able to set a couple tents on the site but probably only one vehicle. Here is the camping information.

We watched sunset at a small boat dock down the road and crossed paths with two other long-term travelers. The young couple had been on the road for 3 months so far and still had another 2 months. The guy had spent several months gutting and rebuilding the inside of a van for the trip. He showed us everything he had done. He added insulation to the new wood ceiling and floor along with a gas stove, refrigerator, and faucet with a 28-gallon reservoir. Wooden cabinetry lined the van and a bed resided in the rear. It was all powered by 3 solar panels affixed to the van’s roof. Not too bad for a house that also gets 20 mpg. The next day we drove a short distance to hike a 9-mile loop known as Ozette Triangle Trail (it’s also known at the Cape Alava Loop). The first and last 3 miles were through a thick rainforest, while the middle portion of the hike took us right up to the Pacific Ocean. The 3 miles along the coast was definitely the most beautiful scenery I’ve seen in the United States so far. We managed to make it to the ocean during low tide so we got to witness a craggy and kelp-ridden shore. Upon walking down to the water’s edge I could actually hear the billions of flies consuming the kelp. It was like a scene from a Hitchcock movie. We met up with two older hikers, Dick and Mike. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll for several hours as we learned more about these 70-year-old outdoorsmen. They talked about their childhood adventures on the very same beach and how it has become a bit more touristy over the years, however still remaining largely untouched. They pointed out how lucky we were to see the coast at low tide and that during high tide navigating over the terrain was much more challenging. Dick picked up various sea specimens and educated us. We talked about his travels which were quite impressive. He worked in a small Maasai village conducting oral surgeries for a month. He talked about his upcoming travel plans to sail the Dalmatian Islands for 3 weeks. Mike reminisced about his time working for the parks department during his college summers. Do yourself a favor and hike the Ozette Triangle, it may be the pretties and most unique hike an American National Park has to offer.

After the hike we drove to Cape Flattery and hike a short while to watch sunset over the ocean. There were numerous picnic tables and designated areas to sit down and we enjoyed a warm meal for our sunset.

The next day we hiked up to Hurricane Ridge but were moderately disappointed. The view was average and the hike was relatively boring. Many sources state, “If you only have 1 day at Olympic National Park you need to hike to Hurricane Ridge”. I disagree, if you only have 1 day go do the Cape Alava Loop (Ozette Triangle) Trail.

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passportsymphony · 6 years

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What to expect when traveling to Turkmenistan, one of the last police states in Central Asia

Turkmenistan is a socialist, tightly controlled by the police, country in Central Asia roughly the size of Thailand, inhabited by only 5 million people. However, it’s a country with a rich history, and definitely a must-visit place. If you’re wondering what to expect when traveling to Turkmenistan, keep reading. This former Soviet country is home to the biggest archeological site in Central Asia, the former biggest city in the world, the door to hell, the birthplace of the Zoroastrianism and arguably the strangest capital in the world. To add to that, petrol is cheaper than water here.

The bad part about traveling to Turkmenistan is that outside of Ashgabat you need to have a guide. In fact, you need to have a letter from a tourist agency in order to obtain a visa. And the whole process will take around 6 weeks. Yes, that means you will have to do all the exploring accompanied by a guide. And you have to pay for them and their meals which will cost around $30 – $50 USD. They can let you roam around Ashgabat and other big cities alone but you’re legally forbidden to travel around the country without them. Additionally, tourists are charged a tourist tax of $2 USD per day. You will see this on your hotel bill.

A few things you should know about Turkmenistan

Avoid walking alone in the north-east of Ashgabat, especially in the late evenings. These areas are notorious for drugs trade and violent crimes.

Turkmen are the only people in Central Asia that don’t eat horse meat. In fact, the Ahal Tekke horse breed, which is one of the fastest and strongest in the world, is their national symbol. Today, there are only 2,800 horses of this breed, mostly because the Bolsheviks were slaughtering them for food during the Soviet era.

You can find prostitutes in the Florida Disco on Gorogly Street but you don’t want that. I’ve seen a lot of tourists that were imprisoned, harassed by the police or even deported just because they were accompanied by a prostitute.

Since I mentioned it, if you actually are harassed by the police, you will need to find a translator. The Turkmen police officers only understand Turkmen.

Most hotel rooms are bugged so be careful what you say. Never forget that the big brother is watching.

If you’re traveling as an unmarried couple, you won’t be allowed to share a hotel room.

Homosexuality is illegal in Turkmenistan and punishable by law.

Police have the right and power to stop and search you on the street at any time. So if that happens to you, stay calm and don’t let them put their hands in your pocket in the process. You don’t want to end up as a victim of drug planting in a country with notoriously corrupted police that seems to have unlimited power.

Smoking is completely banned in public areas, including the streets. However, you can find some restaurants and cafes where this is allowed.

Finally, if you’re sending a postcard, government agents will probably check what you wrote before they actually send it out. Keep that in mind.

Watch out for the weather… Seriously!

Most of Turkmenistan is made up of the Karakum Desert. Hence, the temperatures in Ashgabat in the summer go up to 50° C, making travel really difficult. What makes things even worse is that most Turkmen leave their gas stoves burning 24/7. Why? As you may or may not know, Turkmenistan is a country that has an abundance of gas, which is free for all citizens. However, lighters and matches aren’t. Apparently, that’s enough reason to have your stove burning all the time.

Don’t underestimate the curfew

Funny enough, according to government sources, Turkmenistan is a crime-free state. This is, obviously not correct but it is a fairly safe country. One of the reasons is the police curfew that doesn’t allow anyone to be out on the streets after 11 PM. And you should too. Trust me you don’t want to get in trouble with the Turkmen police, one of the most corrupted and notorious units in the world.

No travel zones

There are several regions in Turkmenistan that have been declared as restricted areas. These are the areas surrounding the Caspian Coast, the borders with Iran, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan and the Dashoguz region. If you still want to visit one or more of the restricted areas, you need permission from the government. Keep in mind that Turkmenistan Airlines will not even sell you a ticket to one of these regions if you don’t have that permission. The whole process of getting that permit takes at least 10 days.

Be careful with the ‘Cargo Ferries’

If you’re browsing the internet or going through guidebooks, you’ll probably come across the ferries that travel the Caspian Sea. They enter the port in Western Turkmenistan from either Iran or Azerbaijan. These ‘ferries’ are in fact cargo ships that take passengers if they have enough space. The main issue if you would like to go on this adventure I the fact that you might not have enough food and water to make the trip. Don’t even get me started about the toilet and sleeping facilities. And the worst part is that when ships reach the port, they often wait at least a week for a vacant dock because everything goes so fast in Turkmenistan. Hence, I’ve met some travelers that had their Turkmen visa expire while they were waiting in the ferry with very limited resources of food and water.

Ashgabat, a capital like no other

When you land in Ashgabat, there will be no sign welcoming you or telling you where you are. There’s not even a sign marking the terminals or anything of that kind. In 1948, a major earthquake completely destroyed the city, killing over 100,000 people. After that the city was rebuilt in completely Soviet style. However, after 1991, Turkmenbashi came to power. Yes, he changed his last name to “leader (or father) of all Turkmen”, building a personality cult similar to the North Korean dictators.

The eccentric dictator completely changed the face of Ashgabat. The city had to look appropriately for what he claimed to be the Golden Era of Turkmenistan. That’s how we got modern Ashgabat. A brand new city full of sterile white marble and golden statues, surrounded by teeming bazaars, mosques, and mysterious alleys.

Have in mind that internet is almost non-existent in Turkmenistan and heavily controlled by the government. There are only 4 internet cafes in the capital with a horrific connection. On top of that, there are pictures of the president everywhere just to remind you that the big brother is watching.

The forgotten city of Merv

Located in the middle of the Silk Road, Merv was arguably the largest city in the world in the 10th century. After the establishment of the Silk Road, the city of Merv was growing with the speed of light. Until Genghis Kahn’s son slaughtered 700,000 people in 1221. Today, this is the largest archeological site in Central Asia and a place where the empires of Alexander the Great, Genghis Kahn and the Soviet Union meet. The whole place just smells of history and it seems like it connects these three, at first sight, completely unrelated empires. If you’re a sucker for history (like me) Merv is a place you need to visit at least once in your life.

Gonur Tepe

Back in the days, this place was a real trade hub, covering over 3,000 square kilometers and countless of settlements on the Murgab River. Only a three hours driving from Merv, you will find Gonur Tepe. This ancient place is supposedly the birthplace of the Zoroastrianism and a home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world! The old temples and palaces look completely different than anything you’ve seen before and they’re in a surprisingly good condition.

The door to hell

The Darvaza Gas Crater looks like it came out of a Sci-Fi movie. That’s how it got its name: “A door to hell”. I don’t know if there is a door to hell on our planet but if there is I bet it would look like this. Back in the 1970s, Soviet scientists discovered what they thought was an oil deposit. But when they started drilling they were really surprised when they realized that was actually a gas deposit. The area completely collapsed releasing gas all over the place. The scientists thought the gas was poisonous so they set the whole place on fire. 50 years down the stretch- that fire is still burning. This is something you can’t see anywhere in the world and it’s slowly emerging as Turkmenistan’s main tourist attraction.

Karakum Desert

When I came here I was expecting to see nothing but sand dunes and camel riders. However, I was in for a big surprise in the Repetek Nature Reserve in the middle of the desert. The reserve is a home to over 1,500 different species like vegetation of shrubs and thorny plants, invertebrates and other small animals. All this led to UNESCO making Repetek a Biosphere Preserve back in 1979. Karakum will definitely change the way you feel about deserts and it’s certainly a place worthy of your time.

Swimming Underground

Another amazing site is the Kow Ata Underground Lake, located in the Bakharden Cave, east from Ashgabad. It’s a sulfur lake which means that the water is naturally heated and the temperature is around 35°C. The lake also includes 37 other chemical elements and many people believe coming here a few times might help you cure pretty much any disease. To add to this amazing experience, once you get out of the lake you can lay down on a colorful Central-Asian style carpet and have some black tea and freshly grilled shashlik.

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