Five facts about financial independence – finder.com.au

Posted on by

As our longevity has increased over the past 100 years, so has our desire to live better lives, ones where we're not tied to a job for 40 or 50 years.

One of the greatest freedoms that we enjoy today is the ability to add value to society and collect wealth as a result.

The goal of many Australians today is to reach financial independence and this can be achieved by understanding some of the facts.

This may sound simple, but dont underestimate its importance. If you spend more than you earn, youll always owe other people money.

If youre spending less than you earn, you should aim to save the difference. However, most Australians who save, save to consume, not to invest. Once theyve accumulated a tidy sum, they spend it.

Of course, no one ever saved their way to true wealth, its just too hard with todays low interest rates and tax eating away at the little interest you receive. The only way to take advantage of true money-growing opportunities is to invest in assets that grow in value and to recognise that becoming financially independent takes time.

If you continue to funnel money into your investment accounts, youll grow your wealth on a larger scale through the magic ofcompounding. You cant get much compounding if youre saving just to save (or to spend, like most people do).

Stay disciplined and keep saving so that you eventually have a big enough sum to invest in property or shares where your return will be greater than the paltry interest you get on your savings account.

Many people believe that a high-paying job will be their ticket to financial independence, but unfortunately theyre wrong. Of course its easier to become wealthy if you have a lot of money coming in, but as Ive already explained, you have to spend less than you earn to really become wealthy.

It seems like common sense, but studies have demonstrated that high-earning doctors are the group least likely to amass significant wealth. So use your income to buy assets that will grow in value and provide you with cash flow, things like well-located residential real estate or blue chip shares.

Wealth creation doesnt happen by chance. It takes a good plan and a team effort, so when it comes to taxes, get the best advice that you can afford.

Everyones tax liabilities are different, so you must consult a professional who understands your personal situation. There are myriad tax deductions available to investors and business owners and its your responsibility to legally minimise your tax liability.

This requires a fine balance because you dont want to sacrifice tomorrow for today, but you dont want to be miserable today either.

Financial independence is a journey that requires some long stretches and it certainly requires patience. Enjoy your journey, because if you dont, its unlikely that youll enjoy the destination. If theres something that youve always wanted to do, dont postpone your happiness, because none of us can know what tomorrow will bring.

Michael Yardney is a director of Metropole Property Strategists, which creates wealth for its clients through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He is a best-selling author and one of Australia's leading experts in wealth creation through property, and he writes the Property Update blog.

Picture: Shutterstock

Read more from the original source:

Five facts about financial independence - finder.com.au

Sealand – The Principality of Sealand – thoughtco.com

Posted on by

The Principality of Sealand, located on an abandoned World War II anti-aircraft platform seven miles (11 km) off the English coast, claims that it is a legitimate independent country, but that's quite doubtful.

In 1967, retired British Army major Roy Bates occupied the abandoned Rough's Tower, located 60 feet above the North Sea, northeast of London and opposite the mouth of the Orwell River and Felixstowe.

He and his wife, Joan, discussed independence with British attorneys and subsequently declared independence for the Principality of Sealand on September 2, 1967 (Joan's birthday).

Bates called himself Prince Roy and named his wife Princess Joan and lived on Sealand with their two children, Michael and Penelope ("Penny"). The Bates' began issuing coins, passports, and stamps for their new country.

In support of the Principality of Sealand's sovereignty, Prince Roy fired warning shots at a buoy repair boat that came close to Sealand. The Prince was charged by the British government with unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm. The Essex court proclaimed that they didn't have jurisdiction over the tower and the British government chose to drop the case due to mockery by the media.

That case represents Sealand's entire claim to de facto international recognition as an independent country.

(The United Kingdom demolished the only other nearby tower lest others get the idea to also strive for independence.)

In 2000, the Principality of Sealand came into the news because a company called HavenCo Ltd planned on operating a complex of Internet servers at Sealand, out of the reach of governmental control.

HavenCo gave the Bates family $250,000 and stock to lease Rough's Tower with the option of purchasing Sealand in the future.

This transaction was especially satisfying to the Bates as the maintenance and support of Sealand has been quite expensive over the past 40 years.

There are eight accepted criteria used to determine whether an entity is an independent country or not. Let's examine and answer each of the requirements of being an independent country with respect to Sealand and its "sovereignty."

1) Has space or territory that has internationally recognized boundaries.

No. The Principality of Sealand has no land or boundaries at all, it's a tower built by the British as an anti-aircraft platform during World War II. Certainly, the government of the U.K. can assert that it owns this platform.

Sealand also lies within the United Kingdom's proclaimed 12-nautical-mile territorial water limit. Sealand claims that since it asserted its sovereignty before the U.K. extended its territorial waters, the concept of being "grandfathered in" applies. Sealand also claims its own 12.5 nautical miles of territorial water.

2) People live there on an ongoing basis.

Not really. As of 2000, only one person lived at Sealand, to be replaced by temporary residents working for HavenCo.

Prince Roy maintained his U.K. citizenship and passport, lest he ends up somewhere where Sealand's passport wasn't recognized. (No countries legitimately recognize the Sealand passport; those who have used such passports for international travel likely encountered an official who didn't care to notice the passport's "country" of origin.)

3) Has economic activity and an organized economy. A State regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money.

No. HavenCo represents Sealand's only economic activity up to now. While Sealand issued money, there's no use for it beyond collectors. Likewise, Sealand's stamps only have value to a philatelist (stamp collector) as Sealand is not a member of the Universal Postal Union; mail from Sealand can't be sent elsewhere (nor is there much sense in mailing a letter across the tower itself).

4) Has the power of social engineering, such as education.

Perhaps. If it had any citizens.

5) Has a transportation system for moving goods and people.

No.

6) Has a government which provides public services and police power.

Yes, but that police power is certainly not absolute. The United Kingdom can assert its authority over Sealand quite easily with a few police officers.

7) Has sovereignty. No other State should have power over the State's territory.

No. The United Kingdom has power over the Principality of Sealand's territory. The British government was quoted in Wired, "Although Mr. Bates styles the platform as the Principality of Sealand, the U.K. government does not regard Sealand as a state."

8) Has external recognition. A State has been "voted into the club" by other States.

No. No other country recognizes the Principality of Sealand. An official from the United States Department of State was quoted in Wired, "There are no independent principalities in the North Sea. As far as we are concerned, they are just Crown dependencies of Britain."

The British Home Office was quoted by the BBC that the United Kingdom does not recognize Sealand and, "We've no reason to believe that anyone else recognises it either."

The Principality of Sealand fails on six of eight requirements to be considered an independent country and on the other two requirements, they're qualified affirmatives. Therefore, I think we can safely say that the Principality of Sealand is no more a country than my own backyard.

Note: Prince Roy passed away on October 9, 2012, after battling Alzheimer's. His son, Prince Michael, has become the regent of Sealand.

Go here to see the original:

Sealand - The Principality of Sealand - thoughtco.com

Gardening club launch at Sealand and Queensferry Dementia Caf – Deeside.com

Posted on by

A drop-in caf in Garden City, Deeside, for people living with dementia and their carer, has started their own gardening club.

The Sealand and Queensferry Dementia Caf meets on the last Monday of every month at St Andrews Hub, in a community partnership initiative has enabled the group to branch out and organise their own gardening club.

Clwyd Alyn Housing Association, who manage homes nearby supported the Caf with 200 donation from their Charitable Donation fund and also put them in touch with Construction Partners Anwyl who ran an activity session making bird feeders, nesting boxes and planters to launch the new gardening club.

The Anwyl Team were superb, they were joined by Ian Gibbons from IGJ Contractors and Huws Gray from Queensferry along with Anwyl kindly donated materials, said Louise Blackwell, Community Development Officer at Clwyd Alyn, who thanked Natalie Palframan, Communications Co-ordinator at Anwyl for her help with all the arrangements and partners at Flintshire County for their support.

The Caf volunteers are an absolute inspiration. It was an absolute delight to join them for the morning and wish them well with their future gardening initiative, added Louise.

Chris Owen, Assistant Site Manager of Maes Helyg Project in Garden City, who assisted with activities on the day, said As part of our Thoughtful Building ethos we support a number of community initiatives and it was a privilege and pleasure to be involved with the Dementia Caf

It was wonderful to see how the caf is helping improve the lives for people living with dementia and their carers, allowing them to feel involved in their local community, by feeling valued, and enabling friendships to be made,

Joinery sub-contractor, Ian Gibbons from IGJ Contractors, added: it was extremely rewarding to see how the members and their carers enjoyed the activity, enabling everyone to have a go and for some, re-igniting a passion for joinery work.

Read the original here:

Gardening club launch at Sealand and Queensferry Dementia Caf - Deeside.com

Utopia lost: Man wants Berrien ‘town’ on the map – Valdosta Daily Times

Posted on by

UTOPIA Phil Jones wants to put Utopia on the map.

For 45 years, Jones has been the unofficial mayor of this unincorporated Berrien County community.

Unlike several other unincorporated Berrien communities, such as New Lois and Cottle, Utopia is not named on county maps.

Partly because some of the other communities were named a century or more ago. They are part of the historic fabric of Berrien County but Jones claims so is Utopia.

On March 28, 1972, Jones, his parents and neighbors were walking backroads through their neighborhood which is a short distance north of Nashville, the county seat.

They decided to name their community. They chose the name Utopia. They viewed their "town" as a "quiet, peaceful place."

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines utopia as:1. an imaginary and indefinitely remote place;2.often capitalized: a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government and social conditions;3.an impractical scheme for social improvement.

For Jones, his hopes for his community and the reality of Utopia's status, all three definitions fit.

He was 15 years old in 1972. He took the concept of Utopia seriously. Jones constructed signs reading "Utopia: Population 41," for example. He fixed the signs to denote population changes for decades. He affixes the signs to posts marking the unofficial boundaries of the mile-long stretch of the Enigma Road.

"How many 15-year-olds do something like this?" Jones said.

He named several dirt roads for community families, such as Griner Lane, Rogers Street, Dale Avenue, and Christy Lane. He named Griner Lane for Joe Griner, a one-time resident who in his 80s and 90s, walked every day from Utopia to Nashville and back. The county later officially named three streets combined as Utopia Circle and kept Griner Lane.

As a youth, Jones worked a deal with Nashville leaders for old Christmas decorations. Jones put up decorations throughout Utopia each holiday season. Neighbors gave him permission to place decorations on his property but no one ever helped him.

Jones said he has always worked alone for Utopia.

He was already referred to as the mayor as early as the mid-1970s, according to a Feb. 22, 1976, article in The Valdosta Daily Times. Even then, Jones was considered the lone advocate of Utopia.

He was a student enrolled at Young Harris College then. The 1976 article noted, "Utopia is not the same when Mayor Phil Jones is gone."

When he became an educator, when he moved away from Berrien County the "mayor" has not lived in Utopia for years,he still returns to install new signs. He's had signs made that resemble official town signs with white lettering on a green backdrop.

Now, Jones wants to see Utopia added to Berrien County maps.He wants to see the community listed on Wikipedia; past media reports in newspapers and television even a salute on the old syndicated "Hee-Haw" show are 30 to 40 years ago, prior to the internet reports required to validate a Wikipedia entry.

He's created a Facebook account supporting Utopia, remembering past residents, and pushing for its inclusion on maps and Wikipedia.

With the recent passing of the 45th anniversary of the walk that named the community, why now?

The one-time boy mayor is pushing 60. He's a retired teacher who worked with at-risk students. He spends half a year living in South Georgia and the other half living in North Carolina.

He sees time slipping away. He sees Utopia lost.

"I loved growing up in Utopia," Jones said. "But I'm not getting any younger. I want to see Utopia last beyond me."

Visit link:

Utopia lost: Man wants Berrien 'town' on the map - Valdosta Daily Times

Stellaris: Utopia review | PC Gamer – PC Gamer

Posted on by

Need to know

What is it? Spacebound grand strategy with 4X elements. Or is it a 4X with grand strategy elements? Expect to pay $20/15 Developer Paradox Development Studio Publisher Paradox Interactive Reviewed on Windows 10 64-bit, Core i7-4770K, 16GB RAM, GeForce GTX 1070 Multiplayer Up to 32 Players Online (Steam) Link Official site

When Stellaris launched almost a year ago, its biggest void wasn't space itself, but its relatively challenge-light mid-game, especially regarding internal politics. Utopia attempts to enliven player empires, and force interesting choices in between the initial phase of wonder and exploration and the climactic finale when scripted endgame crises bring it all together. It attacks this problem with new political mechanics, a bunch of exciting late game goals that dont involve waiting for a robot rebellion to happen, and sweeping, feedback-informed reworks of core systems. It may be the studios largest and most transformative expansion yet, which is saying something. Yet some of the additions feel as underdeveloped as areas of Stellaris were at launch.

Alongside the 1.5 patch, Utopia rethinks just about everything relating to building and managing your stellar empire internally. Gone are set government types like Plutocratic Oligarchy and Enlightened Monarchy. In their place is a more versatile and interesting system where you chose an authority type (Democracy, Oligarchy, Dictatorship, or hereditary Empire), and then build on that with two starting civics (a third can later be unlocked with society tech) like Police State and Philosopher King to create a custom government that does exactly what you want it to. The type of government you create will influence how likely the population units ('Pops') scattered across your planets are to adopt certain viewpoints, such as Militarism, Spiritualism, or Xenophobia. As ethics used to be assigned to Pops semi-randomly, this system gives you a lot more of an active role in influencing your people.

This feeds into what I think is Utopias best feature: the new Faction system. Pops that follow a common ethos are now likely to found factions (such as Xenophiles starting an Alien Rights Movement, or Pacifists demanding an end to costly wars), with one of your existing governors, scientists, or military officers becoming the leader. Each faction has a list of agenda items, and depending on how many of them are fulfilled (or blatantly ignored), the faction will establish a happiness value that applies to all Pops who are part of that faction. Not only does displeasing factions potentially tank the happiness of a large base of your citizens, but keeping them very happy will grant you Influence that can be spent on useful edicts across the empire.

If you want to build a giant Dyson sphere around a sun to steal all of its energy and make any planets that depended on it freeze to death, you can do that.

The upshot of all of this is that internal politics actually feel interesting and participatory, which was a major weakness of Stellaris at launch. In one campaign, the two most powerful factions in my empire were the conservative religious bloc and a profit-driven party of business moguls. They usually werent directly at odds, but fulfilling all of the agendas to satisfy both of them required me to do some serious juggling of my usual playstyle. If I started to neglect one or the other, I would see the effects on my bottom line, just as Id bask in the benefits when I managed to keep everyone happy. Its a big, big step towards making Stellaris more interesting in the mid game, and giving you challenges to contend with that dont involve blowing up spaceships.

The flashier, more attention-grabbing new features dont slack either. Using a new resource called Unity, empires can progress down Civ 5-style Tradition trees. The perks in these trees each provide big, thematic bonuses when fully completed, as well as granting you an Ascension Perk, which is where things get really crazy. If you want to upload your entire population into robot bodies, you can do that. If you want to build a giant Dyson sphere around a sun to steal all of its energy and make any planets that depended on it freeze to death, you can do that. If you want to genetically modify your species to have 400 babies, you can do that. Theres nothing stopping you besides earning enough Unity. And while Unity can feel like one too many extra currencies to juggle in a game that already has minerals, energy, food, influence, three types of science, and strategic resources, the perks it provides are an effective way to guide your playstyle through the early and mid game, building towards some exciting, new toys in the late game.

My favorite of these Ive come across so far is The Shroud. A parallel realm accessible by a conclave of psychics once youve unlocked the highest tier of the Psionic ascension path, most interactions are text-based and relegated to the diplomatic menu but its effects in the game world can be quite tangible. At one point, my telepaths were given the chance to manifest a psychic entity of great power into a physical avatar that could fight with my fleets in battle. Some of the other events are worth not spoiling, but suffice to say, galaxy-changing. However, most of these short, choose-your-own-adventure interactions essentially culminate in a dice roll. There doesnt seem to be any way to affect the result, and it often felt underwhelming to be asked to gamble for a tiny, tiny chance of something really cool, or settling for a somewhat higher chance of something significantly less cool.

One other issue with ascension is that you have to progress through all seven of the Tradition trees to unlock all the perk slots. When I was playing a race of killer bugs that quite literally ate everyone they met, I was pretty excited to complete the first few. Heres one that lets me kill people better. Heres one that lets me spread my broods to new worlds faster. But in order to unlock those last few perk slots, I had to spend points on the Diplomatic Tradition tree, which had nothing even remotely useful for genocidal insects shunning friendship and spreading terror through the stars. Part of the appeal is specialization and distinguishing your civilization further, so it seems odd that everyone is going to eventually end up with all the traditions, and it somewhat cheapens the choice you have to make between them initially.

My favorite of these Ive come across so far is The Shroud. A parallel realm accessible by a conclave of psychics.

There are a few other features that give this same impression. For example, you can now play as a hive mind species that doesnt use happiness, doesnt start factions, and is ruled by an immortal consciousness that can be everywhere at once. In theory, it sounds absolutely awesome. In practice, its a little awkward. For one thing, when creating your own single-minded swarm, you can get a refund on some trait points by picking a negative trait that gives you -5% happiness even though hive minds dont use happiness. Very little of the event text has been altered to account for hive minds, so youll still get notifications about how the new aliens you just met are being portrayed in the media. Perhaps most significantly, without happiness or factions, hive mind play is basically electing to turn the best parts of the expansion off. Its a really cool idea, but it doesn't feel totally integrated with all aspects of the game.

When it stumbles, Utopia stumbles in the same way vanilla Stellaris did: introducing new ideas that have a lot of potential, but clearly arent quite ready for prime time. However, where it succeeds is in fleshing out a lot of those areas that felt imperfect at launch. The changes to Pops, governments, and factions have me designing new empires in my head and wanting to sink another hundred-something hours into this universe. I didnt come close to scratching the surface of all the endgame ascension paths in the time Ive had so far, but the ones I have seen make me excited to discover more. Utopia may not deliver on all the promises and expectations Stellaris is tied up in, but it does bring it one, giant leap closer.

Follow this link:

Stellaris: Utopia review | PC Gamer - PC Gamer

Best of the Week: Focal Utopia, Sonos Playbase, Sgt. Pepper reissue, new 4K Xbox and more – What Hi-Fi?

Posted on by

This week there are more details on Microsoft's Project Scorpio 4K console, Apple Corps and Universal Music detailed a huge reissue of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and LG has shown off its home cinema line-up for 2017, including the SJ9 Dolby Atmos capable soundbar.

In reviews, we have Focal's Utopia headphones, a soundbar alternative in Sonos' Playbase and B&W's 805 D3 standmount speakers.

It's also new What Hi-Fi? week, with the May issue now on sale. There's plenty for any home cinema/hi-fi enthusiast with reviews of a Sony 4K TV, Blu-ray players under 100, a set-top box showdown between BT, Sky and Virgin and budget turntable fight between Audio Technica, Dual and Sony.

You can buy the issue from your local newsagent, subscribe or buy the digital versions on Android and iOS.

MORE: May 2017 issue on sale now!

Read more:

Best of the Week: Focal Utopia, Sonos Playbase, Sgt. Pepper reissue, new 4K Xbox and more - What Hi-Fi?

Why Open Borders Would Strengthen Our Economy | The Huffington … – Huffington Post

Posted on by

Why do you think open borders are a good idea? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

A mountain of scientific evidence shows that immigration is the most powerful weapon we have in the fight against global poverty. Four different studies have shown that, depending on the level of movement in the global labor market, the estimated growth in gross worldwide product would be in the range of 67% to 147%. Effectively, open borders would make the whole world twice as rich.

I understand that arguing in favor of immigration is not going to make you very popular these days. But as a historian, its easy to see that immigration is one of the most important drivers of prosperity in world history - from the Roman Empire to the United States. And many of the arguments against it (theyll take our jobs, they are too lazy to work, theyre all criminals - etc.) are factually incorrect.

Immigrants are often very productive and entrepreneurial and are actually job creators. People making a new life in the U.S. commit fewer offenses and less frequently end up in prison than the native population. Immigration has virtually no effect on the wages of the native population. Theres no evidence that immigrants are more likely to apply for assistance than native citizens. In reality, if you correct for income and job status, immigrants take less advantage of the welfare state.

Obviously, you cant win this debate by just churning out facts like these. Its really important to develop a different story around immigration. A country that is proud of itself, of its own heritage and traditions, a country that doesnt lack self-confidence will also be open to others.

Its the same with individuals: if youre confident of who you are, you will be open to new experiences. But if youre insecure, dont know who you are and where you want to go, you will probably be hostile to others as well. It doesnt surprise me that theres a rise in xenophobia and right-wing populism in a time when the centre has no ideology anymore, no new utopian visions.

This is why I wrote my book Utopia for Realists: weve achieved a lot in the past, but the problem today is that we dont know where to go next. Its time for a new Utopia for the 21st century.

This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions:

Continue reading here:

Why Open Borders Would Strengthen Our Economy | The Huffington ... - Huffington Post

The post-Brexit fantasy of a utopia of flammable sofas – New Statesman

Posted on by

Brexit means Brexit. For nine months now, Ive been puzzling over this sentence. Theresa Mays later clarification that Brexit means leaving the single market and the jurisdiction of the European courts hasnt stopped the itch. What is Brexit, really? Whats the core of it, the essence the thing that has to happen for Brexit to have happened? Im not sure that triggering Article 50 is it, but a good test will be whether this simple act calms the hysterics of the sorest winners in history. What is it that the Brexiteers so fear will be snatched away from them? Surely no one feels this emotional about the possibility of a free trade deal with Canada.

I wonder if Brexit is a magic mirror, in which everyone sees what their heart most desires. For Nigel Farage, theres an end to mass immigration and a return to a Britain where Romanians dont live next door, hijabs have disappeared and only English is spoken on commuter trains to Kent. For some in the right-wing press, theres an end to all those slights and restrictions inflicted on our proud, independent nation by faceless bureaucrats and busybodies, even if these often turned out not to be quite as advertised, if not wholly made up. (In 1994, the Sun claimed that the EU had brought in standardised condom sizing that simply couldnt handle British manhood. This seems, shall we say, unlikely.)

But its the final group whose vision of Brexit should be most alarming, because its more subtle and thus harder to counter than Freudian laments about bendy bananas or straightforward, unabashed xenophobia. For some Eurosceptics, Brexit was a means, not an end: the first step to a different kind of economy. Call this what you want: a less humid (and less interventionist) Singapore, a tax haven with terrible weather, a place where red tape can be banished (read: where pettifogging luxuries such as statutory maternity leave are no longer interwoven with international obligations).

If this latter point sounds exaggerated, consider the Whitehall career of Steve Hilton, who was David Camerons blue sky thinker before moving to California to become a Silicon Valley sage, then returning last summer to detail the case for Brexit and show off his tan. In government, Hilton ran a red tape challenge, hoping to banish reams of dead weight from the statute books. Instead, as the former Liberal Democrat adviser Giles Wilkes records, weary civil servants had to defend basic safety measures: Only the determination of hardy officials saved the public from the return of flammable sofas.

Perhaps Hilton was unconvinced of the merits of red tape, even then. Perhaps our unwillingness to risk death from furniture-induced burns shows how unready Britons are to compete in the global marketplace. But the saga suggests the possibility that basic employment rights will soon receive the same treatment meted out to benefits and international aid, with every outlying example and every rare piss-taker used to damn the whole system. The left will find itself having to refight battles that it thought were long since won.

To a certain type of Tory, the answer to every problem is to shrink the state. So Brexit provides another opportunity for the new Bolsheviks such as Michael Gove to smash the bits of Whitehall that they dont like. (Gove kept a picture of Lenin in his office at the Department for Education as a semi-ironic reference to his revolutionary fervour.) It is no coincidence that the TaxPayers Alliance that scourge of public spending provided the intellectual ballast behind Vote Leave. When Philip Hammond said that he was ready to change our economic model to become a low-tax, low-regulation state if the rest of Europe played hardball during the Brexit negotiations, the Chancellor intended to deliver a threat. But some wish it were a promise.

There is only one problem. Only a fraction of the 52 per cent of people who voted Leave want any of this. You can tell because, during the referendum campaign, Boris Johnson began to fret earnestly about the bankers, as if he hadnt spent eight years as London mayor telling the City it shouldnt be at all apologetic about that rum business with the bailouts. Much was made of how immigration (allegedly) depresses wages.

Voting Leave was presented in protectionist, even left-wing terms: a vote for higher wages and stronger communities, a vote against London and its metropolitan elite. No one said: Oh, and by the way, well make it easier for you to be sacked. Or: Have you ever tasted salmonella? Its delicious! Or: We send 350m a week to the EU. Lets spend it on bribing companies to stay here after we leave the single market instead. Brexit was sold as a route to a better life for ordinary workers, not a chance to cast off the shackles of the welfare state and buccaneer into a utopia of Randian self-reliance.

Thats why I find the sullen, boorish machismo of Farage and Arron Banks less dispiriting than the smooth-tongued sales patter of the liberal Leavers. At least Farage is open about what he is and what he wants. Some high priests of Euroscepticism chunter endlessly about sovereignty to mask a libertarian agenda for which they know there is no public appetite.

The competing priorities of these two right-wing visions will define the politics of the next decade. Brexit was not the end of an era. It was just the beginning.

View post:

The post-Brexit fantasy of a utopia of flammable sofas - New Statesman

Portugal’s MAAT could become the world’s most exciting venue for art and architecture – The Architect’s Newspaper

Posted on by

The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) is a new exhibition space created for EDP, a Portuguese foundation in Lisbon. The building opened in October of 2016 and just created its first curated exhibition. I had an opportunity to visit its exhibit Utopia/Dystopia: A Paradigm Shift in Art and Architecture and it provided an opportunity to see how the new structure functions and is being programmed.

Designed by British architect Amanda Levetes firm AL_A, The MAAT operates as a Kunsthalle, with no permanent collection of artifacts, but as a space to promote and stage cross-cultural or interdisciplinary experimentation. The building has several functional exhibition galleries, but its focus is an enormous, 13,000-square-foot, centralized elliptical space, ringed with steep inclined viewing ramps made for theatrical performances and temporary installations. The ramps are meant as viewing platforms but the steepness of the slope propels viewers down and then up and around the central ellipse. This constant movement by viewers can allow themif curated properlyto be part of the action or to become the event itself. Its an interactive public space for an age more familiar with digital and VR images on a screen than in a physical gallery.

(Courtesy MAAT)

The low, long profile of The MAATs exterior appears like a slightly opened oyster shell set in the mud along the facing Tagus river and estuary. If one imagines the shell opened ever so slightly, this is where Levete has placed the entrance into the building. Up a curving set of long, narrow steps, with a hovering deep overhang meant to capture the dappled reflection of the river, the public is pulled in a short entrance into the lobby and then into the grand open performance ellipse. Its facade is covered in 15,000 crackle glazed three-dimensional tiles that give it a fish scale like dimension on the cityscape and honors the citys many tiled facades. When these ceramic rectangles catch beams of natural dappled or artificial light the building magically glows like a light bulb.

But it is not simply the facade of the building that comes alive through refraction. This is a building meant to perform on every surface. It is, in some ways, as much landscape as it is anenclosure and thus a structure meant to perform. The term performative architecture stands for several older and newer ideas in architecture and the design of urban public space. If by the term one means buildings created to encourage active public engagement and themselves actively participate like Roman baroque urban experiments or even worlds fairs, then Levetes building is an unqualified success. It becomes a pedestrian promenade and visitors areg meant to walk along, onto, or over its tiled sloping roofscape like Foreign Office Architects 2003 Yokohama terminal.

(Courtesy MAAT)

Last weeks opening programmed performances to take place on every surface of the structure. It started with a musician playing the ceramic tile facade with a vibraphonists soft mallets and group of musicians dancing and singing on the top step of the covered front entry platform. The central oval space featured an opening night performance by Mexican artist Hector Zamora that featured crews of migrant laborers destroying a fleet of old unusable (but beautiful) fishing boats as a protest against the disappearance of a way of life represented by the small craft. The highlight of the first-day performance featured O Terceiro Paraiso, choreographed by Italian Michelangelo Pistoletto on the sloping roofscape public space. The Italian arte povera and action artist theorized a potential new utopiain accordance with the exhibition opening in the galleries downstairsthat asked several hundred participants to hold hands in three labyrinths made of a single line that would create a new third utopia from the two earlier ones that he theorized as an everyday Gesamtkunstwerk. The performance was pushed along by the large sloping facade of the roof that stands as an open space above the riverside promenade and facing back to the city in the distance.

It should be pointed out that the Levete renderings show the roofscape with a whiplash-like tail flying over the adjacent freeway to the roof of The MAAT. This freeway acts as a wall that cuts off Lisbon from its waterfront as if it were lifted out from any number of American cities. When (and if) this tail ramp is finished it will bring the city across the freeway and onto the roofscape and be the performative space the museums want to be for their home city.

(Courtesy MAAT)

Levette has delivered a potentially valuable new focus and hub for the Portuguese capital but it remains for the MAAT director Pedro Gandhao and his curatorial staff to realize the spatial and performative qualities of the museum. They have the opportunity to make this one the most exciting venues in the world that programs architecture and technology alongside art.

View post:

Portugal's MAAT could become the world's most exciting venue for art and architecture - The Architect's Newspaper

Stellaris Utopia DLC Review – Paradox’s spacefaring grand strategy … – PC Invasion (blog)

Posted on by

Game Details Developer: Paradox Development Studio Publisher: Paradox Interactive More Info: Stellaris Utopia

DLC for Paradox-developed titles has traditionally been based around a particular region or theme. If you wanted to set up in India in Crusader Kings 2, youd buy Rajas of India. Europa Universalis IV players who wanted more depth to trading could pick up Wealth of Nations. Utopia, the first major expansion forStellaris, follows the thematic route (idealised forms of space empire; whether from the perspective of enlightened psychics, or purge-happy space fascists), but in a looser manner than its predecessors.

Thats partly because the ahistorical sci-fi subject matter lends itself better to abstract themes of power than specific regional histories, and partly because Paradox are still bolstering some of the weaknesses lingering from the games May 2016 launch.

Every piece of DLC for Paradoxs main developed titles is released alongside a free (usually substantial) update which adds features to the base game too. Where Utopia is concerned, the studio has tried to strike a balance between including unique, enjoyable features in the DLC, without withholding other key mechanics from the main game.

Ship colours now correspond to those of your empire, which is handy (and thats a freebie).

Two of the features which I think will do most to revitalise Stellaris are actually free ones coming with the 1.5 Banks update. The addition of proper political factions and Traditions (more on those later) provide that familiar Paradox feeling of having to wrestle with your own internal problems as much as external threats; something the game had definitely been missing.

Several of the paid Utopia features are extensions of a free Banks feature, and even those which arent can be difficult to talk about in complete isolation. Ill do my best to keep it clear which things are exclusive to the expansion, and what parts will be in all versions of Stellaris after 6 April.

The DLC features can be divided broadly into three categories: greater depth to species customisation and roles (which in part overlaps with the free stuff), expanded mid-to-end game species evolution options, and the building of Megastructures (both separate and unique to Utopia).

Everybody, for example, will get access to Civics. These are additional perks and quirks you add to your created race to make them feel a little more specialised. Things like Cutthroat Politics (+1 influence) or Mining Guilds (10% Minerals boost), and some of which (Imperial Cult) can only be picked with certain ethical pre-requisites. But only owners of Utopia have access to the unique Hive Mind government type and its special civics, or to Fanatical Purifiers; available only to those who really love genocide, and despise diplomacy.

As part of Utopia, you can now also Indoctrinate the hell out of pre-spacefaring race.

The difficulty presented to a reviewer by a DLC which is focused quite heavily on divergent and distinct species customisation is that running a full game with every new option is pretty much impossible. I settled for covering as many angles as I could by creating a race of deeply spiritual (for potential psychic powers) and overtly authoritarian (because slavery has been expanded to include distinct types in Utopia) bird people, who would beeline for the chance to build the new Megastructures and/or pierce the veil of reality. Preferably while cawing in triumph and preening themselves in a ritualistic manner.

Species customisation adds more flavour to what was already a pretty superb early game experience, but what Stellaris tended to lack was a compelling mid-to-late-game period. Unless you were poking at the edges to make your own entertainment (which usually just meant starting a war with somebody), that central era could often stagnate. Political factions and the Traditions mechanic (again, free features) help to mitigate this issue, giving you potential internal strife to deal with and further mid-term goals to achieve, respectively.

My spiritualist, authoritarian bird race ultimately liberated their domestic servants (the polite way to frame slavery) and ended the associated caste system. I did this partly for role-playing reasons (a new imperial ruler had taken the throne, and I decided hed be a reformer) and partly for practical ones (full citizens made better, happier workers and my economy was shifting). Immediately, the two existing political factions, a set of authoritarian traditionalists and some ultra-spiritual devotees of the imperial religion, were joined by a third, left-leaning, group desiring even greater policy reforms.

Looks like the Hierarchical Union are heading the way of the Whigs.

Throughout the next few decades, any policy or edict decisions I made had to be weighed against pleasing or irritating one or more of these factions. Juggling those choices, along with the impact it might have on the productivity of my colonies (which in turn made me delve into the murky world of government propaganda, and covert support for a favoured party), kept that period of time vibrant and captivating.

Traditions, meanwhile, are a reflection of your galactic priorities. Funded by a new Unity resource, which has its own buildings you need to plan around, Traditions are divided into seven categories with headings like Expansion, Diplomacy, or Domination. Each category has five associated aspects to unlock with Unity points, tied to buffs and benefits (the Expansion set, for example, make it easier and swifter to colonise new planets). Though not as immediately compelling as the faction system, Traditions and their attendant resource are another aspect of internal management around which to strategise.

With Utopia, they gain another layer of relevance. For every Tradition category you complete in the DLC, your species gains an Ascension Perk. Some are powerful benefits like being able to clear almost any tile blocker on a colony world (bypassing a lot of research time). Others are intriguing and unique evolutionary goals for your species, like unlocking latent psychic abilities (very helpful for admirals who get a sizeable evasion bonus, or governors, who get a bonus to quelling unrest) or embracing a synthetic singularity.

Forget battleships, were going to Zen our way to supremacy.

My birdman psychic race eventually became so powerful that they were able to peer into the cosmic realm itself. That in turn enabled a little espionage-based revenge on a Fallen Empire who had previously beaten my fleets into submission and killed a former ruler. Gazing for too long into this Shroud, however, seems as if it may attract the unwelcome attention of unknown entities.

When theyre not turning your Stellaris species into mighty telepaths, Ascension perks are also used to unlock the secrets of Megastructures. Like a lot of this DLC they have both practical and flavourful elements. I wasnt able to experiment with every different type, but the Habitats (which can be constructed a great cost around most planetary bodies) proved to be a terrific way of sticking another readily-colonisable planet in a nearby orbit. What you lose in Habitat mineral investment costs, you probably can make up from other resources. Their solar plants can generate great amounts of energy, and the science labs give three of each science resource across the board.

Ringworlds (for which, sadly, I didnt reach the necessary requirements) are such feats of engineering that they require an Ascension perk all of their own. Again though, as well as a sense of pride in your species achievement, the structures reward your investment. When complete, Ringworlds provide the equivalent space of a whopping four maximum size habitable planets.

My beautiful Birdman Sanctuary Habitat, ready to prosper.

The division of mechanics between the free Banks 1.5 patch and Utopia itself feels pretty much correct. Banks is doing the heavy lifting on features vital for a more dynamic Stellaris mid-game (radically reworked factions, Traditions), and adding quality of life tweaks like ship colours which match those of your species. That leaves Utopia to delve into areas of more optional luxury; specialised role-play options like Hive Minds under the new government system, new late game event chains linked to Ascension perks, and vast engineering projects to expand or consolidate your empire in ambitious ways.

At $20 its not exactly cheap, so to get full value youre going to have to be interested in a significant majority of the DLC-specific additions. I had a fine time with everything I saw in Utopia, but its difficult to claim anything included in the paid expansion is as essential as the new (free) faction mechanics. Thats as it should be, really; and if youre keen to mercilessly dominate the galaxy, enslaving all before you as consumable livestock, before uploading your species minds to synthetic bodies, then this expansion has all the tools you need.

7/10

Rating: 9.2. From 10 votes.

Please wait...

Excerpt from:

Stellaris Utopia DLC Review - Paradox's spacefaring grand strategy ... - PC Invasion (blog)

Big moves in NZ aged care ahead of Oceania IPO – The Australian Financial Review

Posted on by

Metlifecare was not the only capital markets deal in New Zealand aged care on Thursday.

It's amazing how often one company's IPO marketing makes way for an already listed rival to tap capital markets.

With Macquarie's Oceania Healthcare in the market educating Australian fund managers about the New Zealand aged care sector ahead of a sharemarket listing, rival retirement village owner Infratil spotted an opportunity.

Infratil owns 20 per cent of Metlifecare, New Zealand's second largest retirement village owner behind the $NZ4.4 billion listed Ryman Healthcare.

And that Metlifecare stake, worth about $NZ250 million, was on the block on Thursday night, with brokers seeking Australian fund managers to bid into the selldown book, as first reported by Street Talk.

It is understood Kiwi broker Forsyth Barr secured the trade at $NZ5.61.

The block trade markedan opportunistic move ahead of Oceania's bookbuild scheduled for next week. It madesense for Infratil to sweep the market for any demand,offering investors a company they already know and management team they can trust.

Interestingly, it was not the only capital markets deal in New Zealand aged care on Thursday.

As this column also revealed, Australian private equity firm Adamantem Capital made its maiden investment by picking up a controlling stake in Heritage Lifecare.

Heritage is a New Zealand aged-care and retirement village operator with 969 beds and 320 living units under management, across 19 facilities.

Heritage Lifecare's existing shareholders, including members of the board and the management team, will retain a stake in partnership with Adamantem

The acquisition values Heritage Lifecare at an enterprise value of NZ$115 million.

It's the first deal for Adamantem, the Sydney-based private equity firm set up by former Pacific Equity Partners dealmakers Anthony Kerwick and Rob Koczkar.

Adamantem reached first close on its new fund late last year, and is expected to hit a final close at about $600 million in coming months.

There is plenty of interest among private equity investors and Adamantem's rivals to see how the new firm fares. Kerwick and Koczkar were well regarded at Pacific Equity Partners, working on deals including Spotless, Griffin's Foods, Energy Developments and Tegel Foods.

See more here:

Big moves in NZ aged care ahead of Oceania IPO - The Australian Financial Review

ITTF Signs Strategic Investment Agreement with ITTF-Oceania – Around the Rings (subscription)

Posted on by

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has signed a ground breaking Strategic Investment Agreement with ITTF-Oceania.

The deal, which was signed today, involves the ITTF investing significant financial and human resources into the region to assist its commercial growth, and the popularity of the sport. Apart from through the award winning ITTF Development Program, ITTF-Oceania has not had full-time staff previously, and this investment will provide significant opportunities to grow the sport throughout the region.

ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT stated: "Since taking back the marketing rights in house and doing a strategic overview of the current table tennis commercial state, we concluded that working closer with the continents is vital for the overall commercial growth within table tennis. Oceania is the first contract of this nature, and we aim to have more exciting announcements with other continents in the coming months!"

The ITTF will work very closely with ITTF-Oceania to develop and implement their 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, with the goal of improving their Continental events, to have them all meet the quality and presentation standards set by the ITTF-Oceania Cup. Also making the sport more popular in the region through an increased push in communications overall, especially through media and social media, and ultimately to create table tennis stars from Oceania who can compete on the world stage.

ITTF-Oceania President James MORRIS added: "I am very excited with this new Strategic Investment Agreement with the ITTF. This agreement will allow more resources for our Continental Federation and our National Associations so we can all become even more capable and sustainable.

I am very pleased to see the opportunity to have more full-time staff on the ground and I applaud our President Thomas WEIKERT and his ITTF team for understanding our commitment to best practice with our soon to be adopted Strategic Plan, which aligns to this Investment very well and will have many benefits moving forward."

ITTF & Africa-Oceania Development Co-ordinator Michael BROWN, who was instrumental in making this deal happen concluded: "In recent years ITTF-Oceania has been putting a lot of hard work into developing the ITTF-Oceania Cup, which has seen considerable improvements within its commercial viability. It was evident that the improvements to these major events have assisted in building the profile of table tennis within Oceania. Through the new investment made by ITTF, these improvements will be seen across more ITTF-Oceania events, including the Championships, as well as establishing the ITTF-Oceania Tour."

This is a milestone moment in the history of table tennis within Oceania, that will create opportunities and benefits for both ITTF-Oceania, ITTF and table tennis in general.

For more information, please contact:

Email:media@ittfmail.com

As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.

These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics iswww.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only

See the article here:

ITTF Signs Strategic Investment Agreement with ITTF-Oceania - Around the Rings (subscription)

Vector Wins Asia-Oceania Financial Performance Award | Scoop … – Scoop.co.nz (press release)

Posted on by

07 April 2017

Vector Wins Asia-Oceania Financial Performance Award

Auckland based energy company, Vector, has won a Platinum EEI Asia-Oceania Index Award in Washington D.C. for superior and sustained financial performance.

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies in addition to having numerous international members. The EEI assessed 44 Asia-Oceania utility companies for their performance over three years based on rigorous financial metrics in small, medium, and large capitalisation categories. Vector CEO, Simon Mackenzie, accepted the award for the small capitalisation category yesterday at the International Utility Executive Summit.

Its a significant accomplishment for Vector to be recognised by a major organisation like the EEI, and against tough international competition, says Mr Mackenzie.

Vector is owned 75.4 per cent by Entrust, on behalf of Aucklanders who are also our consumers. That plays a huge part in the way we approach our business and the balance we must achieve.

Were in a great place being able to provide good shareholder returns, while investing ahead of the sector in new energy solutions that will deliver better service, choice and control than ever before.

Our financial performance will continue to support an ongoing programme of investment both in our current network and in new solutions that take Aucklanders into a new energy future.

Mr Mackenzie is also part of a delegation led by the Energy Minister, Hon Judith Collins, examining international trends in energy innovation, technology, and sustainability.

ends

Scoop Media

See original here:

Vector Wins Asia-Oceania Financial Performance Award | Scoop ... - Scoop.co.nz (press release)

Rocket League Oceania: Open Qualifiers Recap – The Roar

Posted on by

On Wednesday, March 15th, 2017, ThrowdownTV announced their collaboration with Psyonix and RLCS to host the Rocket League Oceania RLCS Open Qualifiers.

With the announcement came a multitude of newly-found support, including a $20,000 prize pool and the chance for the Top 2 contending teams to compete at the Rocket League World Championships.

In just two weeks time from this announcement, Rocket League players of Oceania would receive the update they were all waiting for brackets were live, seeded, and ready to go all in due preparation for the 1-day Open Qualifiers.

The Open Qualifiers kicked off spectacularly with 106 completing their registrations and finding the necessary members to compete, the tournament was split quickly into four pools, for management purposes. These pools consisted of roughly 26 teams, randomly seeded from there, the top 16 teams would continue onto a top 64 bracket whittling away the teams until there were only eight teams remaining.

These top eight teams would undoubtedly be the best the Oceanic region has to offer both in skill and in determination for players, as they now face the weekly struggle of ThrowdownTVs RLCS League Play.

Coming into the day, we saw the teams whittle down extremely quickly. The strongest teams took their place at the top, knocking down anybody who stood in their path. While many players had their assumptions on who would be filling those top eight spots, every single team went into the competition with admirable determination, grit, and hope.

As the number of competing teams were slimmed down smaller and smaller with every passing completed match, we saw small upsets begin to form here and there, the underdogs were taking advantage of the small, imperfect cracks of slightly stronger teams and taking them down. However, despite the strength of the underdog teams, the strongest teams of Oceania disposed of them extremely quickly.

It wasnt until later in the day where we saw the first major upset of the tournament Corvidae versus JAM Gaming.

With JAM coming into the ThrowdownTV RLCS OCE Qualifiers considered one of the top four teams to look out for, their loss to Corvidae was a strong, confusing mixture of immense praise for the underdog Corvidae side as well as unsettlement in the competitive Oceanic Rocket League community.

Their loss meant that Corvidae solidified their spot in the League Play tournament, and pushed JAM down into the losers bracket just one more loss away from missing out on RLCS.

Theres no doubt that the day was completely packed full of incredible displays of Rocket League skill, with close games coming up left, right and center throughout both the winner and loser brackets most notably, the incredible reverse sweep that Sand Castle pulled off against the formidable Trident esports team, who seemed more collectively in-form and on-point than they had in their recent weeks.

Despite these extremely close games, however, nothing could have possibly stood out over the final game of the Open Qualifiers tournament Masterminds versus Trident esports.

With Trident esports coming into the tournament in form and convincingly strong, it was already surprising to see Sand Castle recover from their 2-0 deficit and overcome Trident who seemed to be struggling to close out games. What would ensue with the Masterminds versus Trident esports game would be far more surprising.

Masterminds were a team who had seen better days, still struggling with the leaving of up-and-coming powerhouse Kia but they were slowly beginning to look more formed, more on-point and clearly much more focused. With the line-up coming into the tournament being the new core roster of Nerd, Kamii and Requiem a core roster who had huge amounts of experience with competitive Rocket League Masterminds actually looked focused and feisty enough to take out a spot in the League Play, but the odds were weighed against them.

The Trident esports team were playing well together, just struggling to finish up games without dropping their defence.

The series saw an insane level of play from both teams, who had been playing the game the entirety of the day to get to this point. Both teams were tired, out of energy, and lacking focus but Masterminds saw cracks in the Trident esports defence, and capitalized whenever they could.

The series went into an incredible five-game total series, with the fifth game being the clear-cut decider on who would be progressing onto RLCS League Play. At the end of the day, Masterminds Requiem finished the final games overtime with a perfectly-placed shot from above the goal, which Tridents Dreameh just wasnt quick enough to defend the shot, ending the game with Masterminds taking the victory and progressing onto League Play.

With the Masterminds versus Trident eSports games finishing, we see the top eight teams progressing into RLCS League Play become outlined; these teams being 1More, Corvidae, Alpha Sydney, Masterminds, JAM Gaming, Scylla esports, Sand Castle and Legacy esports.

These teams will be competing for the next few weeks against each other, all aiming for one of the top two contending spots, and henceforth, a chance at Rocket League World Championships.

With the Open Qualifiers being a tournament full of nail-biting games, most of which displayed amazing levels of skill, its safe to say that the upcoming League Play will likely house its own fair share of upsets and eventful moments for all players involved.

If the League Play is going to be anything like the Open Qualifiers, which it may very well be, we may see one of the underdogs of the top eight securing a spot at the Rocket League World Championships an event which would be utterly incredible to witness.

Follow this link:

Rocket League Oceania: Open Qualifiers Recap - The Roar

Young South Canterbury speed skaters hunting medals in Australia at Oceania Championships – The Nelson Mail

Posted on by

STU PIDDINGTON

Last updated17:48, April 4 2017

JOHN BISSET/FAIRFAX NZ

South Canterbury will be well represented at the Oceania championships in Brisbane(from left, at rear) Ella Benson, Sophie Lowen, Keaton Swindells, Jan Kuepper, Leah McDonald and Ariana Snook, (front, from left) Charli Nevin, Roshean O'Connor and Charlotte Clarke.

South Canterbury speed skaters will form the basis of the 26-strong New Zealand team to compete at the 2017 Oceania championships in Brisbane.

Ten junior and cadet skaters from Timaru will be vying for titles over Easter.

Last year in an impressive performance South Canterbury skaters won more Oceaniatitles than the whole Australian team.

It could however be a tougher prospect this year with the Australianshavinghome advantage on the roads of Brisbane.

Also South Canterbury will only have under 20 and under 14 representatives, withsenior sprinter Dale Christofferson away.

Christofferson is in Europe for amonth competing in some big races in France andGermany, plus the Slovenia national championships.

Five of the six junior girls are from South Canterbury, along with the well performed Renee Teers from Wanganui.

Leah McDonald is the defending junior champion over1000m, 10,000m points and marathon and will be favourite again having had some impressive performances in the build-up.

Arianna Snook is another juniorlooking for titles after winning the open 10,000m and20,000m road races at the New Zealand championships in Auckland inJanuary.

Snook is however recovering from a recent compartment syndrome operation on both legs and is not 100 per cent fit but is still likely to be in the mix.

Sophie Lowen is also back after a long term shoulder injury, sustainedfrom a kayaking accident, but after winning threenational titles should also be a good chance of a podium finish.

The Kiwi juniors will face a tougher assignment however as three Australians girls gained valuable experience at last year's junior world championships, while New Zealand had no female representatives.

In the junior men the talented Jan Kuepper should be more competitive as it his second year in the grade.

Keaton Swindells made a clean sweep of the cadet boys' races last year, but the 15-year-old steps up into the junior grade and will face competitors up to fouryears older than himself.

Upper Hutt's Hadley Beech Upper Hutt and Sam Portchfrom Palmerston North will alsorace in the junior men's grade.

In the cadet girls (under 14), Ella Bensonstarts out as favourite after winning two titles last year, with the other title holders moving up into the junior ranks.

Charli NevinandRoshean O'Connor are both determined competitors and could feature prominently in the longer events.

Palmerston North's Serenity Griffith is likely to be a contender in the sprints while three Nelson skaters,Holly Ward, Lydia Stack andOcean Collinson-Smith make up the seven-strong cadet girls team.

Timaru's experienced Bill Begg will coach the team with Rebecca Smith fromWanganui his assistant.

The South Canterbury presence in the team is completedwith managerChristene Swindells and Lisa Snook as her assistant.

-Stuff

See the original post:

Young South Canterbury speed skaters hunting medals in Australia at Oceania Championships - The Nelson Mail

Davis Cup: Mahesh Bhupathi drops Leander Paes from Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan – Bangalore Mirror

Posted on by

Veteran tennis player Leander Paes was dropped from the Indian team today for the Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan that will be held in Bengaluru from April 7 to 9.

Indian captain Mahesh Bhupathi took the decision and selected Rohan Bopanna to pair with Sriram Balaji in the second round Davis Cup tie in Group 1 of the Asia/Oceania zone to be played at the KSLTA.

Leander Paes in an interview to Times Now, said, "The sport of tennis is a lot bigger than me, playing for the country is a lot bigger than me. I feel I am in good form. I won an ATP challenger tournament. I have come here to represent the country."

When asked about the strategy of having three singles and one doubles players, he said, "I think that every captain has the right to have their choice in choosing the team, especially the best team that can put forward for the tie. For me, that criteria should remain a constant. It should not fluctuate, and it seems to fluctuate a lot in this case."

While Paes has been dropped out, Bopanna and Balaji will feature in the doubles match against Farrukh Dustov and Sanjar Fayziev. Bopanna is ranked 23rd in the world 34 spots above Paes.

This is the first time in 27 years that Leander Paes has been dropped out of the Davis Cup tournament. He debuted his Davis Cup against Japan in 1990. He is currently locked at 42 with Italian legend Nico Pietrangeli and is one win away from the record for most doubles wins in Davis Cup history. (With inputs from Agencies)

More:

Davis Cup: Mahesh Bhupathi drops Leander Paes from Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan - Bangalore Mirror

Seychelles part 2: How to spend 3 days in the country – Independent Online

Posted on by

As I dip my feet in the warm waters of the Grand Anse beach in Seychelles, I am reminded for the millionth time how versatile the country has become for avid travellers like myself. Gone are the days when one only visits Seychelles for honeymoon. In fact, I was surprised at how many families are now choosing the destination for their holidays. I have learned that Seychelles can be explored in just three days, five if you add in flights.It's paradise, something that a person should experience at least once I their lifetime.Its history is pretty informative and insightful, and it's more than sun, sea and sand.Here is how I spent my three days in Seychelles:

Getting there:

Thanks to the new Air Seychelles route to Durban, Seychelles is now only a 5-hour flight away. The airline is currently running a special to celebrate their launch. For an economy ticket, one will pay around R5000 while business class will set you back for around R16 000. The special ends on May 12 for travel up to December 5.

Day 1:Getting familiar with the largest Island in Seychelles: Mahe

I am awoken by the sound of soft crashing of waves at Beau Vallon, one of the many beaches situated in Mahe. I open my hotel room and am met with the gorgeous clear blue pool. Not so far lies the beach, the sea sounding happy. It's a clear day in Seychelles, approximately 29 degrees Celsius and humid.

After a filling breakfast, we check out of our hotel. Our driver, Christopher, takes us around Mahe for the day. Gretel from Seychelles Tourism Board tells us as we pass the clean and lush green streets filled with small shops and vendors that the northern part of Seychelles, including Mahe, has become a tourist attraction.

Many hotels and self catering venues have now emerged, leaving hope for anyone who wants to visit this idyllic county on a budget. The southern part of Seychelles attracts those who want a quiet relaxing holiday. Mountain slopes similar to Signal Hill in Cape Town pave the way.

Quaint houses with banana trees are along the route.

Seychelles and Mauritius are different, says Gretel, as Christopher pumps up Creole music.

Some of us in the car can't help but stomp our feet and tap to the beat.

Our first stop was Mission Lodge, situated below the summit of San Soucis. It is known as the most famous vantage point in Seychelles. The site was once a place for a farm and boarding school for liberated slave children. Opened in 1876, it was previously known as Venn's Town. The ruins where the buildings stood are still visible.While watching the mountain and sea views, I notice Marie Valmont, a small shop owner who travels an hour by bus every day to sell snacks to arriving tourists. Her smile is warm and she has been running the shop for four years.

Also on our itinerary was the colourful Victoria Market.A visit to the market gives a glimpse of Seychelles living and its inhabitants.You have to see the liberation movement monument of a man breaking the chains. It is along the route to the market. The market was built in 1840 and renovated in 1999.

The streets are busy, school children in their brown shorts and crisp white shirts parade along the streets. Some are seen wearing flops. Immediately I am met with a smile from one of the local vendors. Rosemarie Uzice is an upcoming businesswomen who visits Thailand and South Africa regularly to stock up on clothes for her stall. She sells scarves, dresses and t-shirts.

A few meters away lies the fish and vegetable market.There is a demand for fish in Seychelles. Mackerel sells for 25 rupees for a dozen. Flies surround the packed fish tables and there is a strong floating about. Coconuts and other green fruit are on display.

Stall owners are excited to see us.They do not force us to buy their products, but a little support puts a smile on their faces.

Opposite the car park of the market is the only Hindu Temple in Seychelles. Named the Arul Mihu Navasakthi Vinayagar Temple, it was built in1992. It's beautiful bright colours makes it stands out, attracting visitors from all walks of life.On our trip to Eden Island, a manmade island in Mahe, we are told that it is cheaper to hire a car than take a taxi. Locals usually travel by bus that costs five Seychelles rupees per a trip.

Tonight, we spend our time at the Eden Bleu Hotel. We were treated to a three course dinner of octopus salad, red snapper and a dreamy coconut dessert. All meals were prepared by Chef Ricky Madeleine.When I asked about where he drew his inspiration for the dish, he said he learned the techniques from a French pastry chef back in 2002.

Earlier, for lunch, we tried out some Creole cuisine to get familiar with its food and tastes.Curries are big in Seychelles, but not as spicy as what you would find in India or Durban.

The red snapper and prawn curry was beautifully prepared with enough spice to help me finish it all. There are also specialty curries in Seychelles like octopus or bat. Speaking of food, there is a legend that if one tries the breadfruit, one will visit again.

Day 2:Early flight to Praslin

Cycling is the Khanna family from Punjab is Deepa, Manish and Dhruv.

The sunset on Long Beach.

The next day we get up early and head to the airport for Praslin. It is home to Anse Lazio, one of the top five beaches in the world.For around 200 Seychelle rupees, one can take a 15 minute flight from the island of Mahe.

At the airport, a group of school children are all excitement as they prepare for an overnight excursion. Other foreigners filled the seats.Being so early, we get to see the sunrise.The plane itself feels like a private jet, just with more people.

Once at Praslin, pronounced Pralin, we went straight into the exploring. One thing Seychelles is proud of is the coco de mer.The coco de mer has a female and male tree, which can live up to 200 to 400 years. They can only be found at Vallee DE Mai Nature Reserve.

According to our guide at the reserve, it can take up to 25 years to develop.Getting a coco de mer can be hard as a permit is required.Valle de Mai Nature Reserve is a nature park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.Birding is quite popular for tourists.At the reserve is species of six endemic birds, including the Seychelles Bulbul, blue pigeon and black parrot.

We meet many locals, including Phillip Dorby, a labourer who has grown his hair for the past 30 years and wears them in dreadlocks. He is often seen walking the beach after doing some hard manual labour.Elsewhere on Grand Anse in La Digue is Louis Gillert, who has a food and beverage stall on the beach front. His specialty is coconut drinks.

La Digue is a very laid back part of the country where thousands of day visitors flock to every month. It is the fourth biggest island in Seychelles and can be accessed by boat or ferry. Among the popular activities are watersport, cycling and some just come to enjoy lazing on its beaches. The very tropical town exudes elegance with a string of hotels and self catering joints at every corner. There are only 2900 people living on the island

Dania Morel, information officer for La Digue, said it is the only island to use ox carts and bicycles as their mode of transportation.

"We get day trips and returning guests. Some love it so much, they rent a house for three monthsWe are a small community, everyone knows each other, and we encourage tourists to walk, hike and go out, " she said.

Most of our day was spent at La Digue having to chart back by boat.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the sunset and taking pictures to capture the moment.By night, after dinner, we decided to watch the stars while on a beach walk on Grand Anse. Crabs were on their way, snipping past us as we were looking towards the sky.

Day 3:Out at sea

It was another early morning, departing from Praslin to Mahe. Today we spend a full day at the Marine Park, consisting of six islands.On board the Odezir catamaran, we blended in with French and Dubai tourists. We were the only South Africans on board, and it showed as the French kept looking at us strangely when some of the group members spoke in IsiZulu.

Before we explored the islands, we anchored at a famous fishing spot to feed fish.Our tour guide Jacqueline gave us some bread and in seconds the fish battled with each other to get their breakfast. Their agility intrigued me.

Moyenne Islands was one of the stops of the tour. The excursion gave new meaning to the word "out at sea" as we took a speedboat to watch the ocean life through a submarine. Afterwards, we enjoyed a hike in Moyenne where we fed turtles. A Russian couple with their three children caught my eye. Their friendliness made talking to them easy. They were on holiday for 10 days.

Some of us dipped our feet in the warm ocean, washing off the white sand off our feet.The tour itself is fascinating as one peers through islands and hear of their rich history. Those who wanted to snorkel had the opportunity to do so, while others chose to tan on board. Prepared on the boat is a fine buffet of Creole food, so rich in taste you want seconds. Despite the long haul on the catamaran, its luxury and comfort helped make it much more easier.

-Clinton Moodley was hosted by Air Seychelles and Seychelles Tourism Board.

Go here to read the rest:

Seychelles part 2: How to spend 3 days in the country - Independent Online

Week in Pictures: Searcys’ showcase and Seychelles: A Taste of Bliss – CIT Magazine

Posted on by

Seychelles evening

On Wednesday (5 April) Searcys, a collection of restaurants, bars and venues throughout the UK, showcased one of its newest acquisitions, the St Pauls Cathedral, to 200 corporate buyers at an exclusive event. The evening demonstrated the services and creative catering skills that are available at the historical venue, as well as its links to the rest of the Searcys Collection.

Searcys, which operates St Pauls with catering and event management, served up a range of canaps and champagne and the evening was made even more special with a unique, private organ recital. The evening was also supported by Lavender Green, who dressed the venue with stunning flowers, and Wise Productions, who provided the lighting and AV for the evening.

The Seychelles- A Taste of Bliss evening was hosted on Thursday (6 April) in partnership with The Seychelles Tourism Board, Etihad Airways, Savoy Resort & Spa and Avenue Sales & Marketing in an exclusive roof top of the Penthouse at the Cheval Residences, overlooking Tower Bridge and The Shard. Agencies in attendance included Black Tomato, Banks Sadler, CWT Meetings & Events, Adding Value,Green Pleasant Events, Inception Global, Red Eye Events, AOK, CMM andHigh Commissioner of the Republic of Seychelles Mr Derrick Ally.

The exclusive preview evening included an interactive presentation and a Discover Seychelles island quiz, during which guests learnt about the wide variety of group incentive activities available in The Seychelles. Authentic Seychelles Creole food and beverages were served up by Seychelles Pop-Up Kitchen Vinn Goute.

Read the original post:

Week in Pictures: Searcys' showcase and Seychelles: A Taste of Bliss - CIT Magazine

Let’s take lessons from Seychelles and divesify economy | The Star … – The Star, Kenya

Posted on by

Kenya and the Seychelles on Monday entered into an agreement to expand their ties in trade and security. In addition, President Danny Faure and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta agreed that Kenya will continue to export human resource to the island country. Labour that it increasingly need.

This was during the Seychelles Presidents three-day state visit to Kenya. Their meeting also resulted in a broad-based agreement that will see more Kenyan agricultural products exports to the Seychelles.They are consuming more.

President Faure said it made more economic sense for his country to import beef and poultry from Kenya instead of countries such as Brazil. As reported by local media, the Seychelles will, on their part, support Kenya in developing its maritime sector especially the fishing industry, which Kenya has paid little attention to since independence. President Faure announced that his country would support Kenya to make the port of Mombasa develop the capacity to act as a fish transshipment port.

Other areas of partnership are in tourism development and cooperation in processing information and intelligence sharing in fisheries and marine security. This is the inter-African trade arrangement that we have always been pushing for. In 2012, trade between Kenya and Seychelles was worth Sh550 million - low but increasing every year. Kenya exported goods worth Sh183.3 million the Seychelles and imported goods worth Sh367 million. Kenyas main exports to the Seychelles include agricultural and medical products. Their exports to Kenya include fish products. In March 24, the two countries signed a double taxation avoidance agreement.

With the tax treaty, reinforced with the current visa exemption, trade experts estimated trade flows between the two countries would increase up to tenfold. This would also give Kenya and opportunity to do business with the wider Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa countries.

After Independence in 1976, the Seychelles developed from a largely agricultural society to a market-based diversified economy. This is the direction that we should take as a country.

We need to undertake fiscal consolidation and initiate economic reforms to adequately respond to the magnitude and persistence of the climate change and population growth that have adversely affected our agricultural sector. We have less land to cultivate and the environment is no longer favourable for farming, leading to persistent drought every now and then. We need alternatives.

For instance, French plantations were the main industry of the Seychelles until 1971, when the international airport opened. Overnight, tourism became a serious industry, basically dividing the economy into plantations and tourism. The tourism sector paid better, and the plantation economy could only expand so far. It is no surprise that President Faure had to leave his hotel as early as 5am on Wednesday to visit the Nairobi National Park.

The plantation sector of the economy declined in prominence, and tourism and fishing became the primary industries of the Seychelles. In the 1960s, about 33 per cent of the working population worked on plantations, but by 2006 it was less than three per cent.

Lets learn from their systems. We must not be short-sighted by the deals we signed with the Seychelles, lets look at the bigger picture. We could have learnt something from the Asian Tigers, we didnt.

Kibii comments on international and current affairs

Here is the original post:

Let's take lessons from Seychelles and divesify economy | The Star ... - The Star, Kenya

Boost for KQ as open sky deal with Seychelles secured – The Star, Kenya

Posted on by

National carrier Kenya Airways has secured unlimited flights to Seychelles, boosting its turnaround strategy.

KQ has signed an MoU with the Seychelles Tourism Board which will allow the airline to increase its weekly flights to five from the current four.

But Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, Seychelles tourism, civil aviation, ports and marines minister, said Kenya Airways is free to increase its flights to any number depending on capacity.

"Kenya Airways is not restricted. It can go to seven or more. This is an open agreement," Lalanne said during the signing at the Transport ministry.

Read: Seychelles to import beef, poultry from Kenya, says it will bolster fishing industry

The agreement is expected to promote tourism and boost intra Africa trade.

It is also anchored on aspiration to strengthen the airline presence in Seychelles.

Increased frequency will increase KQs revenues, a boost to its ongoing recovery strategy as it strives to return to profitability.

"This partnership will also underscore the important role that Kenya Airways plays in the African economy development, specifically creating vital linkages between the continent and the international market, on which tourism and other key sectors depend on and thrive, " Kenya Airways CEO Mbuvi Ngunze said.

Lalanne also challenged KQ to ensure it has cargo capacity to handle exports and imports between the two countries, in the renewed bilateral trade agreements.

Sychelleses targets to export hundreds of tonnes of fish to Kenya, while import flowers, vegetables and meat products which they import from New Zealand Australia and Brazil.

Transport CS James Macharia affirmed the government's commitment to supporting Kenya Airways Operations. He said the government was also keen on securing more bilateral agreements

The deal comes a day after Seychelles President Danny Faure arrived in the country on a three-day state visit.

He signed bilateral agreements with the Kenyan government to increase trade, share skills and experience, by coming up with new marketing strategies.

Read: Seychelles President Danny Faure gets full honours on first visit to Kenya

More:

Boost for KQ as open sky deal with Seychelles secured - The Star, Kenya