Daniele Fiandaca and Nadya Powell to ‘re-wire business for the age of creativity’ with Utopia consultancy – The Drum

Posted on by

Creative Social and Innovation Social co-founders Daniele Fiandaca and Nadya Powel have set up a business consultancy which they hope will disrupt businesses in order to harness the power of creativity.

Utopia will see the pair work with the self-imposed mission to re-wire business for the age of creativity which will aid clients to become more agile, innovative and faster to reach market.

If you look at the power of efficiency then creativity is the only way, Fiandaca states while speaking to The Drum about the business.

This idea of creativity I've been exploring for two years and as time goes on we are seeing more people talking about it, he added before explaining that the idea was forged between the pair while attending SXSW in Austin where the idea of robots and emotional intelligence really hit home.

He went on to explain that the consultancy will aim to introduce business transformation across four service areas: relevant business purpose, the use of creative leadership models, cultural creativity being embedded within each organsation alongside innovation to improve thinking and business outcomes.

We are trying to redefine how business should run, states Powell matter of factly.

A lot of people are falling out of networks as they frustrated over the creativity within these business... the time was right, the people are there and brands want to bring creativity into the heart of their business, continues Powell who believes that the creation of the business would have been impossible just three years ago.

Explaining the ambition to Rewire business for the age of creativity, Fiandaca explains his view that now it's about time and everyone is starting understand that automation is taking away the mundane. Businesses are feeling lost and they don't know how to navigate the new world. What digital has done is create change and they don't know how to navigate that speed of change.

The business will be supported by 30 Utopians expert professionals in different creative fields who will be brought in when their expertise fit the problems that clients aim to overcome.

Those involved include Ali Hanan from Creative Equals, Selma Nichols from Looks Like Me, Jonathan Lindon from Digital Futures, Marc Runacus from Pride AM and John Monks and Lizzie Shupak from Curve.

Over the coming months it is hoped that the number involved will rise to as many as 60 Utopians potentially offering bespoke services when required.

Continuing to explained the rational for the consultancys creation, Fiandaca claimed that three quarters of employees within businesses are disengaged. Everyone is creative - I'm a qualified chartered accountant for example and Ive done a lot of work with big brands around hacking. Weve been on a mission to get everyone to be hackers - getting people to look at what is broken and fixing it. That's what creativity is. Delivering solutions that can solve problems.

Fiandaca and Powell also intend to continue to run Creative Social and Innovation Social alongside the new endeavor.

More here:

Daniele Fiandaca and Nadya Powell to 're-wire business for the age of creativity' with Utopia consultancy - The Drum

This Is Why Bernie Sanders Thinks His Political Revolution Is Winning – Mother Jones

Posted on by

At the Peoples Summit, the left plots its takeover.

Tim MurphyJun. 12, 2017 12:24 PM

Michael Bowles/Rex Shutterstock via ZUMA Press

When supporters of Bernie Sanders convened the first Peoples Summit last year in Chicago, an air of anxious optimism suffused the event. The gathering came days before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and the attendees, drawnfrom the ranks of the candidates most passionate supporters, held onto hopes that the independent senator from Vermont might still be on the path to the White House.

He wasnt, but 12 months later, some 4,000 lefty organizers, activists, campaign vets, candidates, and Sanders himself returned to Chicago for what amounted to a three-day celebration of the movements political ascendancy. In speeches, breakout sessions, and interviews, attendees offered a similar refrain: The political revolution is already happening, and it is already remaking the Democratic Party.

Over three days at the sprawling McCormick Center, they huddled in small groups to discuss best practices for organizing, lessons learned from 2016, and how to prevent, er, Bernout. The sessions ranged from trainings on nonviolent resistance (attendees were sequestered in a breakout room where they took turns role-playing as protesters and police) to PowerPoint presentations on neoliberalism and the emerging possibility of utopia.

The event was put together by a collectionof Sanders-aligned organizations, including the grassroots group People for Bernie, the Democratic Socialists of America, Sanders political nonprofit Our Revolution, and the new Sanders Institute, a think tank run by his wife, Jane. The bulk of the funding came from National Nurses Unitedthe union that was instrumental in backing both Sanders presidential campaign and the single-payer health care bill that recently passed Californias Senate.

One thing was clear: The diverse movement Sanders assembled last weekend looks far different from the lily-white one that first set out to win Iowa and New Hampshire for him. Attendees submitted applications to take part in the summit,and organizers looked for racial and socioeconomic diversity. If we had open registration to the general public, it would have looked like a Bernie rally in Wisconsin, said Winnie Wong, a People for Bernie co-founder who helped organize the summit. Just 46 percent of the 4,000 attendees were white and a third were under 30. There were undocumented Latino students, Oglala Lakota water protectors, Black Lives Matter activists, and yes, at least one white factory worker from Wisconsin who once voted for Scott Walker.

The Peoples Summit didnt have the cattle-call quality that has come to define similar events on the right, such as the Conservative Political Action Conferenceand the Values Voters Summit. Sanders gave a keynote, but only a handful of other elected officials dropped byand most of them were not household names. They included Rep. Ro Khanna of California, a tech bro turned populist; Chokwe Lumumba, the newly elected mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, who promised to turn his city into the most radical city on the planet; and khalid kamau, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who recently won election to the city council of South Fulton, Georgia (and spells his name without capital letters).

The West Virginia environmental activist running against conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin was there; so was Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosis Democratic challenger. You could hardly refill your coffee without meeting someone running for county commissioner.

Bernie would have won may have been the mantra of some of the attendees, but many of the organizers took seriously the fact that he ultimately didnt win, and they wrestled with the mechanics and messaging of a campaign that could.

At a breakout panel on Saturday, Becky Bond, a former senior Sanders aide who helped assemble the campaigns national field operation, was challenged by an African American attendee about the whiteness of the campaigns leadership. Bond acknowledged that the homogeneity of the campaigns top guns had hurt them. She pointed to the recent district attorneys race in Philadelphia, where Larry Krasnera defense attorney supported by groups including Our Revolution, the DSA, and Bonds Big Organizing Projecthad won an insurgent victory in the Democratic primary by campaigning on his record opposing police brutality and cash bail.

Had we done years of that work, she said of the issues animating the DAs race, I think we would have won the presidential primary.

As it happens, Krasner was holding court about his win a few floors down, at a training session for would-be candidates and campaign workers. Krasner had been opposed by almost every Democratic ward boss in the city, but he ended up winning 44 of 66 wards. He accomplished that by boostingturnout almost by 50 percent over previous municipal races. He even found some voters who hadnt turned out last fall when Donald Trump won the state. Most of those new Krasner voters were African American.

The reality that I represented activists and organizers for 25-plus years unquestionably meant that the campaign activated people who are incredibly good at politics but dont normally do it, he said, giving a description that also applied toa lot of the people who showed up in Chicago. That might be the big lesson: All over the country there are networks of activists and organizers who might just be better at politics than the people in politics.

In Krasners view, his race offered a template for similar candidates to succeed. Candidates of color and white candidates who are able to form that coalition will be unbeatable with their own party, he said. And theyll be unbeatable by any other party.

The summit represented a very different view of the political landscape than that being discussed by many Resistanceminded Democrats. If you got your political news from speakers at the conference, you might not know about the Obamacare repeal bill making its way through the Senate or Democrat Jon Ossoffs lead in the upcoming Georgia congressional special election. Hardly anyone mentioned Russia, except to say that no one should mention Russia. We need to keep the focus of our work on our vision, not the latest scandals, Jane Sanders said. The hell with Russia! said Nina Turner, a potentialcandidate for governor of Ohio, who may have been Bernies most popular surrogate at the conference.

You would, on the other hand, be fully up to date on the status of California Senate Bill 562, which would create a single-payer health care plan in the nations largest state. And youd probably know about Christine Pellegrino, a Berniecrat who recently won a special election for a New York state assembly seat in a Trump-voting Long Island district.

British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn got more mentions onstage than Trump, and he got a special shout-out from Sanders during his keynote. In this context, Corbyns surprisingly strong showing in Thursdays UK election was just a higher-profile version of what Krasner, Lumumba, and kamau had done. In fact, some Bernie veterans had worked on Corbyns behalf.

Claire Sandberg, a former Sanders campaign stafferwho spoke to a group of organizers Saturday, was fresh off the plane from the United Kingdom, where she spent six weeks volunteering for Corbyns Momentum campaign. Everyone here is looking to the UK right now and feeling this wellspring of hope, she said. The Labour Party defied expectations , she believed, less through innovative campaigning or the raw charisma of Corbyn than through a compelling message, in the form of the Labour Manifesto. It wasnt too hard to find a Bernie parallel. (It also didnt hurt that Corbyns success had come at the hands of the Democratic elites Sandernistas rail against: Obama 2012 campaign chief Jim Messina helped run the Tory campaign.)

A major aim of the conference was to build a political left that can transform the Democratic Party, inSanders words. Organizers persuasively made the case that from California to Mississippi to the halls of Congress, this transformation is already happening. The idea is to take what started as one long-shot campaign and turn it into hundreds or thousands of different onessome electoral and some notand build an intersectional movement strong enough to walk on its own without a presidential race to guide it.

But the glue for the weekend, the element that united such diverse groups of lefty organizers, was still Bernie. You could pose next to cardboard cutouts of the senatorat booths in the exhibit hall or sign a petition to Draft Berniepart of an effort to coax the senator into running for president again under a new Justice Party. People for Bernie, the grassroots group that helped turn a 70-year-old curmudgeon into a millennial icon, offered T-shirts with the senators hair and glasses over the phrase Hindsight is 2020. The official conference store was filled with Bernie swag. The senator came and went, but Jane Sanders was everywhere.

He is a global meme, says Wong, the People for Bernie co-founder who helped organize the summit. And we have direct access to the global meme, so we should really utilize this moment. Why mess with what works?

Even the best-run campaigns have a tendency to fade away the further they get from the race in question. (Barack Obamas Organizing for America famously fizzled out during the 2010 midterms.) But Sanders army is very much alive. Whenone of his closest allies, National Nurses United executive director Rose Ann Demoro, referred to Sanders at a pep-rally-style Friday event as our real president, chants of Bernie would have won! broke out in the crowd.

Sanders has expressed frustration with questions about his future prospects, but at the Peoples Summit the speculation was coming from inside the room. He was interrupted repeatedly by supporters shouting Draft Bernie! and clutching signs from the Justice Party booth. His hourlong address was part stump speech and part manifesto. He rattled off a list of movement-backed candidates (many of them Sanders delegates) who had won local elections since November, and he outlined a platform and message by which heor someone like himmight effectively run against a faux-populist bomb-thrower.

When it was over, he gave the microphone back to Demoro. I want to say to the Draft Bernie people: Im with you, she said.

Bernie and JaneSanders smiled awkwardly, and Demoro shrugged. Heroes arent made, she said. Theyre cornered.

Mother Jones is a nonprofit, and stories like this are made possible by readers like you. Donate or subscribe to help fund independent journalism.

Follow this link:

This Is Why Bernie Sanders Thinks His Political Revolution Is Winning - Mother Jones

Solomon Islands and All Whites to clash in Oceania qualifying final – Stuff.co.nz

Posted on by

Last updated21:04, June 13 2017

PETER MEECHAM

All Whites striker Chris Wood makes a run against the Solomon Islands during a clash in Auckland in 2012. New Zealand will meet the same opponent in the Oceania qualifying final.

The Solomon Islands stand between the All Whites and a place in the intercontinental playoffs for the 2018 Fifa World Cup.

New Zealand's opponent for the two-legged Oceania qualifying final was determined after the Solomon Islands won their final game in Pool B, overcoming Papua New Guinea 2-1in Port Moresby on Tuesday night.

The two legged final will be contested over August 28 and September 5 with New Zealand overwhelming favourites.

Should the All Whites account for Solomon Islands they would face the fifth placed team in Conmebol (South America) over two legs in November for a spot at next year's Fifa World Cup.

READ MORE: *All Whites have pressing concerns *All Whites poor in Belarus loss *All Whites eye a win against Belarus

Tahiti, who started the day level on points with Solomon Islands, but with no games remaining, were given a glimmer of hope when Papua New Guinea opened the scoring through Raymond Gunemba, who turned out for Hamilton Wanderers in the national league this past season.

The key moment in the game came when PNG central defender Felix Komolong, who played for Canterbury United this summer, was shown red in the 31st minute.

Henry Fa'arodoscored from the resulting penalty to level the scorefor the Solomons. They then went ahead in first half added time through Jerry Donga, which proved to be the decisive goal.

AT A GLANCE:

Group A final points (four rounds):

New Zealand 10, New Caledonia 5, Fiji 1.

Group B final points (four rounds):

Solomon Islands 9, Tahiti 6, Papua New Guinea 3.

-Stuff

Original post:

Solomon Islands and All Whites to clash in Oceania qualifying final - Stuff.co.nz

Australian Olympic Committee: Victory for Australian young guns at … – Australian Olympic Committee

Posted on by

EQUESTRIAN: Australias Young Rider team cruised to a comfortable victory in the CCI2* Young Rider leg of the 2017 Oceania Championships yesterday at the Melbourne International 3 Day Event.

The team of four women including Gemma Tinney, Shenae Lowings, Olivia Barton and Tayah Andrew went into the final show jumping phase with a dominant lead and they maintained their strong position right until the very end to win by 65 penalties.

Three of the four riders jumped clear in front of a packed crowd at Werribee Park and proved they each have exciting futures and could one day grace the world stage for Australia.

We are really proud of the guys not only today but all this week. Under the leadership of Will Enzinger the team including reserves have prepared really well as a group,"said Equestrian Australias High Performance Director Chris Webb.

All three phases have been a standout and a real testament to the future talent of eventing in this country.

Off the horse the guys have become a really close-knit group and this has translated to their performance in the saddle.

The group has been extremely well supported by their families and support networks who have all rallied together, said Webb.

Gemma Tinney (45.70) finished the competition on her dressage score and secured second in the overall standings behind NSW rider Andrew Barnett (41.90).

Tinney gave huge credit to her Warmblood x Thoroughbred mare Annapurna for the result.

The mare has been so good. She still surprises me every event and we have a great partnership and I enjoy every moment I sit on her, Tinney said.

She also praised her Oceania Championships team mates.

I think we work really well as a team and we bonded well and have established great friendships out of this.

Shanae Lowings was 4th placed overall (51.60), Olivia Barton 5th (51.90) and Tayah Andrew finished 11th (59.30) on her talented grey gelding Silver Force that travelled all the way across from Western Australia.

Webb commended the Young Rider team on the preparation of their horses for this weeks event.

All horses came into the competition extremely well conditioned and ready for the task at hand, he said.

The final results can be viewed HERE>>>

In the senior ranks the Australians were unable to beat a strong New Zealand contingent of riders that ventured across the Tasman this year.

Jock Paget and Angus Blue won the CCI3* class (46.90) and his team mate Samantha Felton was second (49.20).

Stuart Tinney was the highest finishing Australian representative rider in fifth with War Hawk (53.60). Reserve rider Rohan Luxmoores performance to end in 7th position was encouraging.

Final results can be viewed HERE>>>

Sam Lyle and his team were presented with some challenges throughout the weekend and although we are disappointed with the results this gives us something to work on with the group going forward, said Webb.

Future talent both horse and rider in this country has proven that the Eventing community in Australia is really making a mark.

Equestrian Australia

Follow this link:

Australian Olympic Committee: Victory for Australian young guns at ... - Australian Olympic Committee

Canon Oceania launches 2017 Grants Program – Inspiring Tomorrow – Wide Format Online

Posted on by

On World Environment Day, Canon Oceania announced that its inaugural Grants Program - Inspiring Tomorrow, is now open for applications. The program intends to support schools and not-for-profit groups who are addressing issues that are impacting the environment or society to make a positive difference in their communities.

Canon believes in empowering every person and community to strive towards a better tomorrow, supporting causes that look to improve our world. Canon is offering over $30,000 worth of grants made up of Canon equipment in-kind across Australia and New Zealand within Environmental, Education and Community sectors. The winners will be selected based on the positive impact their project will have on their environment or community, as well as the importance of Canon products to the projects success. Canon is thrilled to launch our new Grants Program - Inspiring Tomorrow, which brings to life our corporate philosophy of Kyosei, meaning living and working together for the common good. Canon supports those making a positive contribution in their communities and wants to empower them with the tools to share their story. Each year were humbled by the selfless acts of not-for-profit organisations, schools, environmental and community programs, and we are excited to broaden the program this year to also give a helping hand to those addressing social issues and encourage anyone who fits this criteria to apply, said Yusuke Mizoguchi, Managing Director, Canon Oceania. Living Ocean (NSW), won the 2016 Environmental Grant in the Community Category, receiving $5,000 worth of Canon devices and equipment including a digital camera and a video recorder. These devices went towards their mission to raises awareness of human impact on oceanic health through two key projects; a marine studies program that monitors ocean wildlife and a beach clean-up campaign called No Plastic Please. Robbi Newman, Founder of Living Ocean said, We were grateful to receive two Canon cameras, the XC10 and the G3X, which have allowed us to raise awareness of the fragility of our oceans and to highlight the need to care for them. We use the equipment to document Shearwater populations and the impact of plastics in their diet plus population effects from overfishing on Lord Howe Island. The cameras provide both portability and extraordinary range of image capture for our beach clean ups, events and wildlife monitoring exercises. Winning the 2016 Canon Grant has meant we dont have to rely on borrowed equipment to communicate the importance of ocean sustainability. This year the grants will be awarded under the following categories: Australia 1 x Environmental Grant - $5,000 1 x Education Grant - $5,000 1 x Community Grant - $5,000 1 x Runner-up Grant - $1,000 New Zealand 1 x Environmental Grant - NZ$5,000 1 x Education Grant - NZ$5,000 1 x Community Grant - NZ$5,000 Applications are open from now until Friday 4th August with the winners announced by Friday 29th September. To apply for a grant, entrants should fill in the application form and entrants can post an image that showcases their initiative with the hashtags #InspiringTomorrow #CanonGrantsProgram and @CanonAustralia or @Canon.nz (depending on their region).

Canon Australia http://www.canon.com.au

See the rest here:

Canon Oceania launches 2017 Grants Program - Inspiring Tomorrow - Wide Format Online

Seychelles concludes 3rd edition of Eastern Europe Roadshow, providing added boost to growing market – eTurboNews

Posted on by

The Seychelles islands captivated the attention of travel agents across four main Central European capitals, as the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) and trade partners hosted another successful edition of the Seychelles Eastern Europe Roadshow. The 3rd edition of the annual event was held from May 22-25, in Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, and Budapest.

Through their train and dine setup, the Seychelles Tourism Board and local trade partners held networking sessions with the travel agents, which proved to be an effective way of grabbing their attention in a more friendly and relaxed atmosphere. For the main presentations that followed the tte--tte, around 60 agents embarked on the journey, which provided them with an overview of the Seychelles unique selling points, the diversity of what the destination has to offer, and the various products.

To conclude the roadshow, the Seychelles Tourism Board and partners joined together to present a prize to one lucky winner who was offered an 8-night stay in Seychelles, hence the opportunity to fully experience the island destination.

The Seychelles delegation at the 2017 Eastern Europe Roadshow was headed by the Seychelles Tourism Board Manager for Scandinavia, CIS & Eastern Europe, Karen Confait, accompanied by Marketing Executive Elsie Sinon, as well as representatives of hotels, Destination Management Companies, and airlines. The local trade partners consisted of Constance Hotels & Resorts: Dominika Janta, Kempinski Seychelles Resort: Marko Dobrus, Hilton Seychelles: Katerina Konarikova, Savoy Resort Seychelles & Coral Strand Hotel: Valeria Gavrikova, Masons Travel: Gerhard Bartsch, Le Duc de Praslin, Valmer Resort & La Digue Island Lodge: Derek Savy and Emirates: Zsolt Nemeth, Michaela Lechnov, Agata Rasala and Raphael Grugl.

The Seychelles Eastern Europe roadshow has become a highlight of promotional efforts on the market, generating more and more interest each year. Ms. Confait said this years event was a great success, having received positive feedback from both the travel trade and local partners.

The interest on the market has grown considerably since we started 4 years ago. This is clearly visible in the arrival figures with Poland and Czech Republic dominating the market. For this year, a 61% increase has been recorded so far on these 4 markets collectively compared to same period last year, said Confait.

Dedicated Seychelles events such as the Eastern Europe Roadshow, aimed at bringing the island nation and its products directly to the doorstep of the travel agents and boosting their confidence to sell the destination, also helps to put Seychelles in the forefront through the unified collaboration of all trade partners. Ms. Confait said the event also allows the Seychelles Tourism Board to build closer relationships with both the trade and local partners, which provides an advantage when growing and maintaining the market.

It is to be noted that our constant presence is recognized and appreciated by the travel trade especially in smaller cities like Bratislava, she added.

In additional to promotional efforts, theres also been significant increase in air access which is helping to make the destination more accessible to potential travelers. While Emirates has been a faithful partner over the years, more flight options are now available following the resumption of daily flights by Qatar Airways in December last year and introduction of thrice weekly flights to the island nation by Turkish Airlines, in October 2016.

With the increasing potential in this region and demand from both the Seychelles partners and travel trade, we look forward to working and growing this market further, while planning other activities for later this year, said Confait.

Go here to read the rest:

Seychelles concludes 3rd edition of Eastern Europe Roadshow, providing added boost to growing market - eTurboNews

Western Caribbean Bears Watching for Tropical Development This Weekend – The Weather Channel

Posted on by

Story Highlights

An area of low pressure could form in the northwest Caribbean this weekend.

If the low develops, there is some chance that it could eventually become a tropical depression or tropical storm.

The western Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico are typical formation areas during June.

The western Caribbean could be an area to watch for the potential development of a tropical depression or tropical storm by this weekend.

Current satellite imagery shows no vigorous shower and thunderstorm activity in the western Caribbean, but that may change in the days ahead.

(MORE: Hurricane Central)

The output from various computer forecast models has beenindicating an overall increase in stormy weather in the western Caribbean later this week into the weekend. Those models have also depicted that an area of low pressure may eventually form near or on either side of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula (southwest Gulf or northwest Caribbean).

A well-defined low-pressure system is needed for a tropical depression or tropical storm to organize.

The potential development may be tied to a tropical wave that is expected to move near Central America this week before turning north towardthe northwest Caribbean, according to theNational Weather Service in Houston. Tropical waves can sometimes help spark the formation of a tropical depression or tropicalstorm.

Interaction withland areas of Central America and the Yucatan, however, could hinder the possible development of this system. Tropical systems need to be located over warm waters to grow.

If an area oflow pressure does form, most of the forecast guidance suggests it would track in the direction of the southwest Gulf of Mexico early next week.

That said, there is no cause for concern if you come across images on social media of computer model forecasts indicating a potential tropical storm next week in the Gulf of Mexico.

The situation bears watching, but it's far from certain whether any tropical system will actually develop. At the very least, we may see a surge of tropical moisture work its way northward towardthe Gulf Coast.

Check back with weather.com during the week ahead for updates on this potential system.

The western Caribbean andGulf of Mexicoare two of the areas we typically look for the development of tropical storms in June.

Any storms that do form typically track north or northeastward, which brings the Gulf Coast and the Southeast coast in play for potential impacts.

On average, there's one June named storm in the Atlantic, Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico every one to twoyears.

June 2016 was an outlier with Bonnie, Colin and Danielle all spinning through the Atlantic basin as tropical storms.

(MORE: What to Expect During June)

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Atlantic Basin Retired Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

See the rest here:

Western Caribbean Bears Watching for Tropical Development This Weekend - The Weather Channel

Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea could yield second tropical system in the Atlantic Basin of 2017 – AccuWeather.com

Posted on by

The tropical Atlantic Basin is expected to remain quiet this week, but conditions for development may arise in the vicinity of southeastern Mexico next week.

Several disorganized clusters of showers and thunderstorms known as tropical waves will continue to move westward over the open tropical Atlantic this week. However, negative factors will keep these waves weak and disorganized in the short term.

The most significant negative factor is wind shear. Wind shear is the change of the direction and speed air currents at different levels of the atmosphere. Strong wind shear can prevent the development of tropical systems.

"Wind shear is likely to remain significant in the potential development area from the western Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico this week," according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.

However, weakening wind shear may open the door for possible development in the area by early next week.

The lowering wind shear may produce a suitable environment for development somewhere from the northwestern Caribbean to the southwestern Gulf of Mexico during June 18-24.

"Water temperatures are marginally warm at best over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico but are sufficiently warm in the northwestern Caribbean," Kottlowski said.

"As a result, there's a chance a system gets going in the northwestern Caribbean first then wanders into the Gulf of Mexico."

Tropical systems rely on warm ocean water as fuel. If the water is not warm enough or the depth of warm water is not deep enough, then storms can struggle to develop or maintain intensity.

While formation of a tropical system is one thing, projecting where the system will track is another.

The latest indications are that a path in the northern Gulf of Mexico may be blocked next week.

"If this new blocking idea holds up, any tropical system that forms may be more likely to track westward toward Mexico rather than northward toward the United States," Kottlowski said.

Given all of these factors, there is a low chance but not a high chance for the formation of a tropical depression in the general area of the Yucatan Peninsula by early next week.

RELATED: Atlantic Hurricane & Tropical Storm Center 2017 Atlantic hurricanes to pose threat to southeastern US despite possible onset of weak El Nino How to ensure the safety of family pets during a hurricane

Early in the hurricane season, the typical breeding grounds for tropical systems are in the Gulf of Mexico and far western Caribbean.

While it is still too early to tell exactly where and if a tropical depression will form, folks along the Gulf Coast and others with interests in the area will want to monitor the situation over the next week.

If a tropical system were to develop, it would be the second of the 2017 Atlantic season.

The second name on the list of tropical storms for this year is Bret. Arlene, the first storm on the list, formed back in April in the open Atlantic well west of the Azores.

Regardless if an organized system does develop or not, an uptick in tropical downpours will be possible along the Gulf Coast next week.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially started June 1 and runs through Nov. 30, with the peak of the season occurring in late August through September.

Report a Typo

See the original post:

Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea could yield second tropical system in the Atlantic Basin of 2017 - AccuWeather.com

Bahamas Minister of Tourism to lead Caribbean Tourism Organization – South Florida Caribbean News

Posted on by

Bahamas Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio DAguilarassumes role of CTO Chairman

Bahamas Tourism and Aviation Minister, Hon. Dionisio DAguilar

NEW YORK The new Bahamas Tourism and Aviation Minister, Hon. Dionisio DAguilar, was announced as the new chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) during a press conference at CTO Caribbean week in New York City.

The CTO is the Caribbeans tourism development agency comprising membership of over 30 countries and territories including Dutch, English, French and Spanish, as well as a myriad of private sector allied members.

Minister DAguilar , who assumed the role as Bahamas Tourism Minister a month ago, mid May will lead the CTO charge for the next year. Bahamas Tourism Director General, Joy Jibrilu, currently serves as the Chair of theCTO Board of Directors. She was appointed in September 2016.

I look forward to leading the charge for the region as we work together to further improve our tourism industry and address the many vexing challenges we face. We must work together to enhance our tourism product across the board and increase the number of stopover visitors to our region, DAguilar said of his appointment.

In his role as CTO chairman, Minister DAguilarprovided updates regarding the regions performance for the first quarter of 2017 and developments from CTO Caribbean Week.

View original post here:

Bahamas Minister of Tourism to lead Caribbean Tourism Organization - South Florida Caribbean News

Things not to worry about on a Royal Caribbean cruise – Royal Caribbean Blog (blog)

Posted on by

Royal Caribbean Blog (blog)
Things not to worry about on a Royal Caribbean cruise
Royal Caribbean Blog (blog)
Many first time cruisers have concerns about what a Royal Caribbean cruise is all about, and what it entails. There is certainly a fair amount of pre-trip planning that can be beneficial to improving a trip, but there are also a few aspects of cruise ...
Pounding the Pavement on Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)Financial Newsweek
An End-of-Day Technical Review: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL), CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (CBL)Post Analyst
Legal & General Group Plc Has $70.85 Million Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL)Sports Perspectives
BBNS -FlintDaily.com -Markets Daily
all 15 news articles »

Visit link:

Things not to worry about on a Royal Caribbean cruise - Royal Caribbean Blog (blog)

Trump’s offshore tax plan may mean extra perk for Apple, Pfizer – The Denver Post

Posted on by

By Lynnley Browning, Bloomberg News

Multinationals are in line for a windfall from President Donald Trumps call to cut the tax rate on U.S. companies stockpiled overseas earnings, but a select few would do better than others.

Apple Inc. and Pfizer Inc. may enjoy an extra earnings bump because of their previous accounting maneuvers, while companies including Microsoft Corp., Merck & Co. Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. might have to log a one-time earnings hit, data recorded in their public filings suggest.

The difference, which could mean a bookkeeping boost of as much as $7.9 billion for Apple and $5.3 billion for Pfizer, can be found on both companies balance sheets. Both have created multibillion-dollar deferred tax liabilities to reflect the U.S. taxes they expect to owe on their accumulated offshore income.

Those liabilities are based on the current U.S. corporate income tax rate of 35 percent but Trump and congressional Republicans have proposed slashing the rate on accumulated foreign earnings to just 10 percent or lower. If they succeed, Apple and Pfizer would be able to pay their lower-than-anticipated tax bills and then adjust their balance sheets, with one-time additions to their earnings worth billions, tax experts say.

These companies will be happy campers, said Bret Oliver, a tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The bookkeeping adjustments wouldnt be tied to actual business growth, so from an investors point of view, theyd drive a lower quality rise in earnings per share, said Ronald Graziano, a director and global accounting strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG. Still, companies that have created large tax liabilities for their offshore earnings wouldnt have to come up with cash for their tax bills because theyve already accrued for it, he said. Its a massive benefit.

Its impossible to discern the precise effect on companies they generally disclose only portions of their tax planning to shareholders every year. Also, its unclear how extensively companies could lower their U.S. repatriation taxes further by claiming credits for foreign taxes theyve already paid on overseas income the congressional plan and Trumps plan have been silent on that question.

If the goal is to raise revenue, we would assume that they will limit the use of foreign tax credits, said Eric Toder, co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and a former Treasury tax-policy economist.

To arrive at its estimates, Bloomberg used public disclosures from a number of companies that report large offshore earnings, along with calculations endorsed by three tax and accounting specialists.

Microsoft created a relatively small deferred tax liability for its offshore income, so it may have to take a one-time earnings hit of as much as $11.7 billion for its repatriation tax bill. For Merck, the tab could be as much as $5.1 billion, and Exxons could be as much as $5.4 billion. A spokesman for Microsoft declined to comment, while a spokeswoman for Merck didnt respond to emailed requests and calls for comment.

Scott Silvestri, a spokesman for Exxon, said the oil company doesnt have any deferred tax liabilities for unremitted foreign earnings, but does have foreign tax credits that could help to reduce its tax bill.

Differences in corporate tax planning stem from some quirks of the U.S. tax code that Trump and congressional Republicans want to end. Unlike other developed countries, the U.S. taxes its corporations on their global income not just their domestic earnings. However, companies can defer paying tax on their foreign income until they decide to return it, or repatriate it, to the U.S.

The deferral provision has incentivized U.S. companies to amass more than $2.6 trillion in untaxed profit overseas, according to an estimate by Congresss Joint Committee on Taxation. Thats more than the annual gross domestic product of California, the worlds sixth-largest economy, based on data from the International Monetary Fund.

Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have proposed ending the global approach to corporate taxation. As part of the transition to a system that would tax only domestic economic activity, they propose reduced tax rates for companies accumulated foreign earnings. During his campaign, Trump called for a 10 percent rate though the tax-plan outline he released in April didnt specify a rate. Ryan and others have proposed taxing foreign earnings held as cash at an 8.75 percent rate, and all other foreign earnings at 3.5 percent.

Both plans call for deemed repatriation taxes. That means companies would owe the tax regardless of whether they actually repatriate the income. Thats an important distinction and it helps explain why some companies would see bookkeeping benefits and others wouldnt.

Under the current system, companies can choose to classify at least some of their foreign income as permanently reinvested offshore, meaning they plan to leave it where it is and dont plan to owe any U.S. taxes on it. For that portion of their income, theres no need to book a deferred tax liability. As a result, investors arent always provided with enough detail about what kind of hit a company would take from bringing money back, according to Thomas Selling, a retired accounting professor and a former academic fellow at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

But a few companies choose not to label large amounts of their offshore earnings as permanently reinvested because they may need to tap that money in the future. In such cases, they have to book a deferred tax liability as Apple and Pfizer have.

The strategy that both companies used now looks prescient, said Robert Willens, a tax and accounting expert in New York. These companies, unlike most other multinationals, will see substantial benefits from the enactment of a deemed repatriation tax rule.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said during an exclusive interview with Bloomberg Television last week that he supports the deemed-repatriation approach, and he thinks the resulting tax revenue should be spent on upgrading U.S. infrastructure.

In their public filings, companies often disclose the amount of a deferred tax liability, but not the amount of earnings to which it applies. To estimate different companies positions, Bloomberg News assumed that their tax liabilities anticipated a 25 percent tax rate thats the current 35 percent statutory rate, reduced by credits companies can claim on foreign taxes theyve paid. Willens, Selling and John Robinson, an accounting professor at Texas A&M University, endorsed that approach.

Apple had $109.8 billion of permanently reinvested offshore earnings at the end of its 2016 fiscal year. The company also booked a gross deferred tax liability of $31.4 billion almost all of it attached to a separate pot of untaxed foreign income, according to regulatory filings.

At a 25 percent rate, Apples DTL would cover earnings worth $125.6 billion. Combining that total with the companys permanently reinvested earnings yields a total estimate of $235.4 billion that would be subject to a deemed repatriation tax.

Applying a 10 percent tax rate to that amount leads to a tax bill of $23.5 billion about $7.9 billion less than the deferred tax liability on Apples books. For accountants, that amount would morph into a so-called negative tax expense and shift from the companys balance sheet to its income statement, according to Edward Maydew, a tax and accounting professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Functionally, its a one-time addition to the companys after-tax income.

In response to a request for comment, Josh Rosenstock, a spokesman for Apple, said: We dont have anything to add.

Pfizer disclosed having $86 billion in permanently reinvested earnings at the end of its 2016 fiscal year, along with a $23.1 billion gross deferred tax liability for a separate chunk of unrepatriated foreign earnings.

Applying a 25 percent rate to that tax liability yields estimated earnings of $92.4 billion. Combined with the permanently reinvested income, the companys total estimated offshore earnings would reach $178.4 billion and a 10 percent repatriation tax on that amount would be about $17.8 billion.

Thats $5.3 billion less than the deferred tax liability that Pfizer has booked. Joan Campion, a spokeswoman for Pfizer, didnt respond to requests for comment.

Companies with big DTLs really, really want a repatriation, Texas A&Ms Robinson said. Its like getting something for nothing.

Read the original post:

Trump's offshore tax plan may mean extra perk for Apple, Pfizer - The Denver Post

Three Petrobras Workers Die After Offshore Explosion – TheStreet.com

Posted on by

Three workers died of burn injuries received after a Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR) offshore drill rig explosion Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Brazilian state-run oil company's unions said the accident, which is the worst since 2015, is proof that recent layoffs and cost cuts aimed at reducing Petrobras' heavy debt load have impacted safety.

Petrobras hasn't commented on the cause of the explosion. A commission has been formed to investigate.

Petrobras stock traded down over 1% in early afternoon trading.

What's Hot on TheStreet

Apple and all of tech remains in focus: European tech shares such as SAP SE (SAP) , Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY) and ASML NV (ASML) fell sharply on Monday after last week's late Nasdaq rout. Not helping matters was a rare downgrade on Apple AAPL on Sunday on fears the stock may be too richly valued.

Walmart is under siege from a German rival: Aldi is coming after Walmart's (WMT) grocery market share, as the German discount retailer says it will invest $3.4 billion to expand its U.S. presence. The privately-held German grocery store said it plans to increase its store base to 2,500 by 2022. Aldi currently operates 1,600 U.S. stores.

GE's CEO is stepping aside: Industrial conglomerate General Electric (GE) said Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO, plans to step down. Immelt has been with GE since 1982 and has served as chairman and CEO since September 2001. John Flannery, the current president and CEO of GE Healthcare, was named chairman and CEO. He will become CEO effective Aug. 1, and also take over the chairman role effective Jan. 1, 2018, a day after Immelt officially retires.

TheStreet reported last week that General Electric may sell additional businesses as investor Trian Partners pressured Immelt to meet aggressive performance targets.

Apple and General Electric are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL and GE? Learn more now .

Visit here for the latest business headlines.

Link:

Three Petrobras Workers Die After Offshore Explosion - TheStreet.com

Govt working on legal framework for quick offshore auction – Business Standard

Posted on by

The government today said that the mines ministry is closely working with its law counterpart to evolve an enabling framework which would result in auction of offshore mineral blocks quickly.

"We are working with the Law Ministry to work on what enabling framework can be quickly brought up by which we can quickly start that auction," Mines Minister Piyush Goyal said while addressing a press conference here.

As far as the current law is concerned, Goyal said, there are some restraints because of which the mines ministry is not able to auction these offshore mineral blocks.

These offshore blocks contain minerals such as zirconium, titanium, thorium, tungsten and rare earth elements.

"The current law as it stands, I will have to give it out on a literally first come first serve basis which you know is not in my scheme of things. So the department (mines ministry) is working with the law ministry to see how we can make requisite legal framework because I would like to start that auction quickly," the minister said.

The government had said in January that it will soon come out with redrafted rules with regard to exploration and mining in offshore mineral blocks and allot 60 blocks under auction route in first phase.

Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002 will be redrafted soon, the government had said.

Once the Act is redrafted, the allotment of offshore mineral blocks would be done through auction route.

In the present Act, there is no provision for auction of offshore mineral blocks. Earlier, the offshore mineral blocks were given through allotment route. Applications were invited and allotment of blocks was done which was not transparent.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) carries out surveys in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Territorial Waters (TW) of India to assess the offshore mineral resources.

TW is the belt of coastal water that extends up to 12 nautical miles (around 22 km) from the coast of a country.

EEZ is a sea zone on which a country has special rights regarding exploration as well as the use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind.

See more here:

Govt working on legal framework for quick offshore auction - Business Standard

A Quarter Of EU’s Electricity Demand Could Be Met By Offshore Wind At 54/MWh – CleanTechnica

Posted on by

Published on June 12th, 2017 | by Joshua S Hill

June 12th, 2017 by Joshua S Hill

Up to a quarter of the European Unions electricity demand could be met by offshore wind energy at an average of 54 per megawatt-hour in the most favorable locations, according to a new report published this month, which also suggests offshore wind could generate between 2,600 to 6,000 terawatt-hours per year.

These are the key findings from a new report published this month by renewable energy consultancy BVG Associates, for WindEurope, the wind energy trade body for the European Union. Specifically, the report looked at the economically attractive resource potential of offshore wind in the EU as well as the location for lowest cost resource, assessing them on two policy scenarios a baseline scenario based on current frameworks and assumptions, and an upside scenario based on what could happen if governments responded positively to cost reductions, as well as if there are positive developments on grid access, market support mechanisms, site development and supply chain development.

The report found that offshore wind could, in theory, generate anywhere between 2,600 and 6,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year at a competitive cost of65 per megawatt-hour (MWh) or below, including grid connection, based on the use of technologies that will have been developed by 2030 technologies such as 13 MW wind turbines (as compared to the largest currently ready for manufacturing, 9.5 MW). Amazingly, this would represent between 80% (for the baseline scenario) and 180% (for the upside scenario) of the EUs total electricity demand.

Further, focusing solely on the most favorable locations, 25% of the EUs electricity demand could be met by offshore wind energy at an average of 54/MWh. This assumes seabed-fixed foundations and includes grid connection, and in the baseline scenario would see development focused inUK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and France. Meanwhile, in the upside scenario, additional offshore wind capacity could also be added in Ireland, Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Installed capacity in the baseline scenario to the end of 2030 for the EU member states in all sea basins

Installed capacity in the upside scenario to the end of 2030 for the EU member states in all sea basins

However, these are the best-case scenarios we could hope for, and WindEurope is currently focusing simply on EU governments working to see offshore wind account for between 7% to 11% of the EUs electricity demand by 2030. To hit this target, the authors of the new report are calling on EU governments to:

The report has been welcomed by wind energy advocates across the EU, especially in the (Brexiting) UK. The report specifically highlighted that the UK could install a total of 25 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030, which is enough to power 75% of all UK households. Meanwhile, the report predicts that Germany could install up to 14 GW of new offshore wind capacity by the same time.

Cumulative installed capacity by country by the end of 2030

This report shows what our innovative offshore wind industry can deliver in the years ahead, securing economic growth and cheaper electricity, said Emma Pinchbeck, RenewableUKs Executive Director, in response to the reports findings. The Government can help us by continuing to hold fiercely competitive auctions for financial support, as well as putting offshore wind at the heart of its upcoming Industrial Strategy. Clear, bold, modern energy policy will attract billions of pounds of investment.

The report confirms that the cost reduction seen in offshore wind over the last two years could translate into significant volumes of clean, competitive and reliable power for the UK by 2030, added Giles Dickson, CEO WindEurope. The UK should factor this into their long-term energy planning. We need to see a deployment of at least 4 GW per year in Europe for offshore wind to maintain its cost reduction trend. This would allow offshore wind to be competitive with conventional power before very long.

The new report was accompanied by a WindEurope report which highlighted the fact that floating offshore wind energy technology is no longer a demonstration technology, and is ready for the big time. Specifically, the report highlighted a current pipeline of floating offshore projects totaling nearly 350 MW, and an estimated European potential of 4,000 GW.

Check out our new 93-page EV report.

Join us for an upcoming Cleantech Revolution Tour conference!

Tags: BVG Associates, Denmark, EU, EU offshore wind, europe offshore wind, European offshore wind, European Union, France, Germany, ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Netherlands, UK

Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

Continued here:

A Quarter Of EU's Electricity Demand Could Be Met By Offshore Wind At 54/MWh - CleanTechnica

These New Editions of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Celebrate Hotel Byblos’ 50th Anniversary – Robb Report

Posted on by

Robb Report
These New Editions of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Celebrate Hotel Byblos' 50th Anniversary
Robb Report
Audemars Piguet is marking the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the iconic Hotel Byblos Saint-Tropez with a duo of new limited-edition watches, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore summer editions. The pair of watches comprise a rose gold men's ...

See the original post:

These New Editions of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Celebrate Hotel Byblos' 50th Anniversary - Robb Report

The Electric, Driverless Revolution Is About to Hit the High Seas … – Bloomberg

Posted on by

Its not just in Google laboratories that the revolution in electric, driverless transportation is gathering pace: a Norwegian shipping company is aiming to be able to deliver cargoes by sea on unmanned vesselsfrom 2020.

The fully electric, zero emissions YARA Birkeland will set sail next year in Europe, Oslo-based Yara International ASA said a statement Saturday. By 2019 it will be able to work by remote control and at the start of the next decade it will be able to deliver on a fully automated basis. The container ship, being built by Kongsberg Gruppen ASA, will transport fertilizer.

Exclusive insights on technology around the world.

Get Fully Charged, from Bloomberg Technology.

A breakthrough by Yara could have far-reaching implications for the maritime industry, which has historically consumed the dirtiest fuels available from refineries. On land, automakers are boosting their efforts to develop driverless vehicles alongside electrification. Ford Motor Co., Bayerische Motoren Werke and Volkswagen AG have said they aim to develop driverless cars by the early 2020s, while Googles sister company Alphabet Inc. is testing technology already.

Yara uses more than 100 diesel truck journeys a day to haul products from its Porsgrunn plant, in Norway, to the domestic ports of Brevik and Larvik from where it ships to customers around the world, said Svein Tore Holsether, the chief executive officer of Yara.

Yara estimates that the new vessel will reduce truck-powered haulage by 40,000 journeys a year, although the journeys in question -- between Norwegian ports -- are a fraction of those taken by conventional international shipping. The companys shares rose 7.7 Norwegian kroner to 322.8 kroner, on Monday.

While shipping lanes contain less traffic than on-land roads, maritime trade still comes with its own complications that will provide challenges for automation. Those include strong ocean currents, bad weather and -- in some parts of the world -- piracy.

The new vessel will allow Kongsburg to test out new technology that could ultimately curb pollution from the shipping industry, which accounts for about 2.3 percent of global emissions. The International Maritime Organization plans to release an initial plan next year to cut greenhouse gases as the industry isnt included in the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change.

Read the original post:

The Electric, Driverless Revolution Is About to Hit the High Seas ... - Bloomberg

‘Skull & Bones’ takes open world online gaming to the high seas – Engadget

Posted on by

Ubisoft Singapore just announced its next game here at E3 2017, called Skull & Bones. It challenges players to rise to the rank of ultimate pirate kingpin while playing with their friends and against their enemies in an online open world. During the conference, the developers showed off 5-on-5 multiplayer, as ships jostled about in combat and, eventually, escaped with their ill-gotten loot. If this sounds a bit familiar, it shouldn't be a surprise, as the team previously worked on the ocean gameplay in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.

According to the game's description, you will set sail on the Indian Ocean, amass a fleet, and ally with other pirate captains to form gangs. Your character refused a king's a pardon and sailed from the Caribbean to hijack trading ships and take down your rivals. Since a lot of people thought ACIV's ocean-going sections were the best part, there's a lot to be excited about here -- interested gamers can sign up for more information on the upcoming beta test right here, although, with a fall 2018 release window, you're probably in for a wait.

Read the original:

'Skull & Bones' takes open world online gaming to the high seas - Engadget

High Seas, High "C"s: "The Little Mermaid," at the Prospect Park Auditorium through June 18 – River Cities Reader

Posted on by

Let me begin by stating, honestly, that I am a huge Disney fan, and have a major bias toward anything Disney-related. So when seeing The Little Mermaid come to life during Quad City Music Guild's June 8 preview, the show would've had to be a catastrophe for me to not enjoy myself. Thankfully, it wasn't one. Right from the get-go, as we took our seats, director Heather Beck did an excellent job of setting the oceanic scene through projections on the walls and watery sound effects that reminded me of a Disney-theme-park ride which, again, made my inner Disney fan excited to be there before the curtain even rose.

If, by chance, you're unfamiliar with this Little Mermaid, its the story of Ariel (played by a spot-on Hillary Erb) the mermaid daughter of the underwater mer-King Triton (Nathan Bates) and her desire to travel to the human world. Considered part of Disneys 20th-Century renaissance period, what really made the 1989 film stand out was the amazing music by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Harold Ashman, and the stage show's chief merit with added musical numbers by Menken and lyricist Glen Slater is no exception. Once again, under the music direction of Valeree Pieper, Music Guild's pit orchestra sounds fantastic.

With her program biography stating that she's a big fan of Ariel, Erb had the characters mannerisms down to a T, making it clear that she has seen the film a few (or few hundred) times. Right down to her wobbly legs when trying to stand on them for the first time, Erb definitively embodied Ariel.

Hillary Erb and Nathan Bates in The Little Mermaid

In a rare and unique opportunity, Hillary Erb gets to play opposite her husband John Erb, whose Prince Eric is the human Ariel risks everything for in order to join him on dry land. John delivers a few strong vocal moments, particularly in the song written expressly for the stage show (Her Voice) that finds Eric, after being rescued by the mermaid, trying to remember what Ariel sounded like.

Ariel's sisters, meanwhile, pack a powerful vocal punch when performing together, and Sheri Olson, Megan Warren, Olivia Gasper, Danielle Clark, Michelle Steen, and Kailey Ackermann sounded fantastic in their group numbers. In another tune I'd never heard before, titled Shes in Love, these women were soulful and full of energy, and that number that also marked the first time we got to hear the singing of Ariels best friend Flounder (played by the wonderfully impressive 12-year-old Lillian Cobert).

Some say that in every great story, you find a great villain, and that's certainly the case with Beth Marsouns delightfully wicked sea witch Ursula. Arriving complete with purple skin, four moving tentacles, and a wildly evil laugh, Marsouns vocals sent her performance into the sky (rather than the sea). In Ursula's Poor Unfortunate Souls, especially, Marsouns voice will blow you, too, out of the water.

John and Hillary Erb in The Little Mermaid

Other members of The Little Mermaid's cast include J. Adam Lounsberry as Sebastian the Jamaican crab with the funny one-liners and the always funny and delightful T.J. Green as Chef Louis. A tap-dancing Faith R. Hardacre plays the very confused seagull Scuttle, while Harold Truitt, as Erics caretaker Grimsby, treated us to stage voice that was crystal clear and a pleasure to listen to.

I did have some issues with the show, based mostly on its script and some confusing staging toward the end. Considering that most of The Little Mermaid takes place in one of two different worlds one undersea, one human I knew it would be intriguing to see how Beck handled the worlds' collision, even if the stage script's finale wound up different from the film's. (And it was: Rather than a wedding between Ursula and Eric that Ariel and her friends have to break up, the climax here involves a singing contest.) In this staging, though, seemingly out of nowhere, Ursula is suddenly in the castle ballroom as are the other sea creatures and mermaids and it became confusing as to whether we were actually on land or in the sea. (If Flounder really was in that ballroom, that might make for some serious breathing issues.) Some more-creative staging might have helped clear up the audience's bewilderment, even if this was purely a script-based problem.

But in the end, if you know and love The Little Mermaid as either a movie or a stage musical, you'll still see all of the story's iconic visuals in Quad City Music Guild's latest presentation, thanks to the hard work of Beck, costume designer Angie Stark, scenic designer Michael Turczynski, and lighting designer John Weigandt. And, of course, you'll hear all that wonderful music.

The Little Mermaid runs at the Prospect Park Auditorium (1584 34th Avenue, Moline) through June 18, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)762-6610 or visiting QCMusicGuild.com.

See the rest here:

High Seas, High "C"s: "The Little Mermaid," at the Prospect Park Auditorium through June 18 - River Cities Reader

5 idyllic private island retreats – CNN International

Posted on by

( CNN ) How do you avoid the throngs of sun seekers when you just want a waterfront vacation away from it all?

A private island, where you're secluded from all but a handful of staff and fellow guests, may be just what the doctor ordered.

Here are four tropical, and one not-so-tropical, island getaways where you can escape and unwind.

Necker Island is available for $80,000 a night.

One of the most famous and over-the-top private islands is this Caribbean compound owned by Sir Richard Branson.

You, along with 33 of your best friends and family, can live it up here as well for a cool $80,000 a night.

For that sum you'll have access to the island's 17 guest bedrooms, along with the bunkhouse that sleeps up to six kids; multiple pools; tennis courts; spa; a full staff, including Michelin-trained chefs; all sorts of recreational toys and watersports (there's even a zip line); and more.

If the entire island is a bit out of reach, you can also sign up for one of what they call their Celebration Weeks, when you can rent out an individual room for three to 10 nights.

$80,000 per night for the entire island for up to 34 people; $4,280 per couple per night during Celebration Weeks

The Meridian Club's Sand Dollar Cottage is steps from the beach.

All of the rooms here look out onto the water and feature a screened-in porch where you can sit back and savor the view.

Another major perk of a stay here is that the Meridian Club is all inclusive, so everything from your meals to your equipment rentals is included. Heck, even the postcards are included.

Rates start at $895 per night.

The way you get the staff's attention here is with flags; hoist up the yellow flag to let them know you need room service, transportation somewhere or have some other request, and let the red flag fly when you just want to be left alone.

Here, amid the miles of white-sand beach and tropical woodland, you can fully unwind and take a break from all of the texts, emails and phone calls that bombard our daily lives.

Your only tasks involve sampling some locally caught seafood at one of the weekly beach barbecues, enjoying an alfresco massage at the hillside spa and taking a leisurely barefoot stroll under the starlit sky.

Rates start at $1,100 a night.

The Renaissance Aruba ferries guests to its own private island.

Just head to the boat dock on the lower level immediately below the lobby for the eight-minute ride to the resort's 40-acre private enclave, where you can feed the flamingos, go snorkeling, grab lunch and a cocktail, or simply kick back in a hammock with a good book.

The island is even separated into two distinct sides -- one for families and one for adults only.

Room rates start at $168.

Of course, not all islands have swaying palms and sandy beaches. Take this remote 80-acre refuge in the heart of New England. Its landscape is mostly spruce forest, surrounded by a granite shoreline and clusters of small neighboring islands almost as far as the eye can see.

A vacation here reminds you a bit of summer camp, with sailing and fishing, horseshoes, badminton and roasting marshmallows over a toasty fire.

Proprietor Colie O'Donnell, who bought the island back in 1986, says that kids who stay here often just pitch a tent and sleep out by the water's edge, despite the fact that the property has a total of 18 beds in both the big main house and the bunkhouse.

Rates start at $8,500 a week in peak season from mid-June to Labor Day.

See the original post:

5 idyllic private island retreats - CNN International

The path from Dignity Village to the new Kenton Women’s Village … – kgw.com

Posted on by

App users, tap here to view

PORTLAND, Ore. -- For years, a graveled lot directly north of Kenton Park in North Portlands Kenton neighborhood, sat vacant. But on June 5, a work crew arrived on North Argyle Street to begin transforming the empty site, roughly an acre in size, into Kenton Womens Village, a temporary intentional community the likes of which the city has never seen.

A half-dozen neighborhood residents spread across an adjacent southern slope. Some tore out invasive blackberries and other weeds; others used picks and shovels to clear way for a staircase that would connect the lot to Argyle Street.

Related: How the Kenton Women's Village's roots came from a protest in Southeast Portland's Lents neighborhood

Three small bulldozers zipped around the site, delivering piles of dirt and gravel and leveling the packed ground.

Standing in the middle of the lot,MargiDechenne, program manager of the housing transitions program of Catholic Charities of Oregon, watched a truck hauling two small shipping containers pull into the lot. Oh good, she said, the restrooms are here.

Debbie Haskett, a 55-year old-woman who has been homeless for eight years, walked to the far end of the lot where 14 sleeping pods, super-tiny homes approximately 96 square feet each, stood in an oblong semi-circle.

Haskett, one of 14 homeless women chosen to occupy the structures, was deciding where to live. She chose a pod at the far end of the semi-circle that was painted black and turquoise. Turquoise is my birthstone, she said.

She rubbed her hands together at the thought of a home, however small, that she could claim as her own. Im so excited, she said.

Portland has been a leader in the homeless village movement since a group of homeless agitators wrested control of a vacant city-owned property near the Portland International Airport in 2000, cobbled together a cluster of shacks on it, established a system of self-government, and named it Dignity Village.

Dignity Village had antecedents in Seattle and Los Angeles, which it outlived, establishing itself as what appears to be the longest continuously sited community of its kind in the country.

Although the model didnt immediately proliferate in Portland, it persisted. A second group of homeless individuals pitched tents on a prominent Old Town/Chinatown corner in 2011; that settlement, Right 2 Dream Too, recently moved to a parking lot near the Moda Center. A third group launched Hazelnut Grove, to much controversy, in late 2015 in North Portlands Overlook neighborhood.

But Kenton Womens Village, which opened to residents on June 10, is different from these predecessors.

Its physically different. Tucked on expendable lots out of public view, Portlands other villages evolved from tent encampments and share an improvised, homemade look. Kenton Womens Village sits on prime real estate in an established residential community, a tidy collection of clean-lined, sturdy tiny homes designed by 14 different local architecture firms, shepherded by Portland State Universitys Center for Public Interest Design.

Its socially different. Portlands other villages are resolutely self-governed communities; residents make up their own rules and hold one another accountable to them. Residents of Kenton Womens Village will do the same, but within limits that dont apply at other villages. The village is operated by Catholic Charities, which has a contract with Multnomah County to do so. Each resident had to pass a criminal background check, will have an assigned case worker through Catholic Charities, and will agree, as a condition of her residency, to actively work toward moving back into permanent housing. There will be 24-hour security and a full-time, professional village manager.

And its politically different. Dignity Village, Right 2 Dream Too and Hazelnut Grove were founded as acts of civil disobedience. Groups of homeless individuals built settlements on public properties, without permission, in protest of city laws prohibiting public camping. But its creators conceived Kenton Womens Village as a publicly backed, community-supported venture. It is sited on land loaned by the city, funded with city and county dollars, approved by a vote of the Kenton neighborhood association, and designed and built with the help of hundreds of volunteers.

Not coincidentally, Kenton Womens Village is designed to be temporary. Organizers promise to remove the settlement within a year. The sleeping pods will be hauled to another site, if an appropriate one can be found. Catholic Charities aims to help at least seven of the 14 residents find permanent homes, but its possible some will be referred to shelters at the end of the year.

Thats a risk the residents, who would otherwise spend the coming year sleeping in shelters, alleys or in the woods, appear more than happy to take.

Catholic Charities case manager Bernadette Stetz contacted the women to let them know theyd been accepted. Their reactions were crying, screaming, like I feel like I won the lottery, Stetz recalled on June 9, her voice quavering.

Whether one classifies Kenton Womens Village as a mainstreamed homeless village or as a radically reoriented homeless shelter, organizers consider it a model strategy for addressing the citys out-of-control homelessness crisis one that could be replicated in other neighborhoods.

The driving force of the project is the Village Coalition, whose members include residents of Dignity Village, Right 2 Dream Too and Hazelnut Grove. They say villages offer something shelters dont: a secure, reliable place to sleep and store belongings. More than that, villages give residents a sense of self-determination, common purpose and belonging, keys to healing and self-transformation that even transitional and permanent housing options cant often match. Those benefits, coupled with villages relatively low cost of construction and operation, make villages a better public investment than shelters, advocates say if they can be structured, as Kenton Womens Village has been, in a way that appeals to neighbors.

That hopeful idea has attracted a small army of supporters, while eliciting skepticism on various sides.

At one extreme are Portland residents who say that homeless villages, government-backed or not, are public nuisances: unlawful, unsafe, unhygienic and apt to attract criminal behavior that burdens surrounding neighborhoods.

At another extreme are some longtime homeless activists who see the transitional-housing model being attempted at Kenton Womens Village as a watered-down version of first-generation homeless villages: politically palatable but, without homeless residents truly in charge, unlikely to sustain momentum.

In between are policymakers who see villages as a helpful but incomplete model for addressing homelessness, better than some alternatives but not proven effective at moving chronically homeless people 46 percent of whom experience severe mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness into permanent affordable housing or true self-sufficiency.

But regardless of whether they can cure mental illness, make neighborhoods safer or advance the movement for homeless empowerment, many are betting that enclaves modeled after Kenton Womens Village could be a scalable answer to an undeniable and pressing conundrum: With permanent affordable housing in short supply, and mental health and addiction treatment services limited, chronically homeless people must live, sleep and move their lives forward somewhere.

Mayor Wheeler discusses Kenton home pod

This story is part of Giving Ground, an investigative series exploring the rise of the homeless village movement. It is produced by the Open: Housing Journalism Collaborative, a joint project of Open: Housing, Pamplin Media Group and KGW. Look for other stories in this and related series at OpenHousing.net.

Published June 12, 2017

More:

The path from Dignity Village to the new Kenton Women's Village ... - kgw.com