Ever dreamed of going to a deserted island? You can do so in Faro. It’s literally called Ilha Deserta (“Desert Island”), but is also known as Ilha da Barreta. It’s an uninhabited island, with a 7km-long (4 miles) stretch of sand that’s been made an official nude beach. You don’t have to take it all off (naturists tend to stay on the western end), but you’ll want to spend some time in the sun with nothing but pristine nature around you.
This is a beautiful and unspoiled natural paradise, and the only human constructions are sheds by the pier, a small lighthouse, and a wooden restaurant that you see when you arrive on a boat from central Faro. Open throughout the year, the restaurant runs on solar power and specializes in fresh fish and seafood. It’s the only place where you can find a bathroom on the island.
Word of mouth and frequent boats have made this a more popular destination, but it’s never crowded. In the summer, however, it does have wicker parasols and loungers for rent, as well as lifeguards on duty. That’s good news for those who like the typical beach experience, but it takes away some of the wild atmosphere that characterized it for so long. Those looking for peace and quiet can still find it away from the concessioned area. As there are no cliffs or trees, there’s no shade, so if you want to avoid the sun, you have to rent a parasol or bring your own.
The white sand and the water are clean, giving the beach a Blue Flag certification. The water temperature tends to be a little higher than at other beaches on this coast, reaching 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer.
The northern side of the island, facing the city of Faro, has calmer waters, while the southern side tends to have waves. However, these waves are not big enough for surfing, and this is not a beach for water sports. The main activity, besides sunbathing and swimming, is collecting shells, which you see on the shore and in the crystal-clear water. However, tourists are discouraged from taking shells home, to preserve the island’s ecosystem. As you’ll see signs advising, take only photos and leave just your footprints.
Ilha Deserta is just one of a series of barrier islands on the Ria Formosa Natural Park, considered one of the natural wonders of Portugal. It extends east from Faro to close to the Spanish border. This is the only deserted island. It also stands out for being Portugal’s southernmost point, called Cabo de Santa Maria (“Santa Maria Cape”) and marked by a wooden structure pointing in the direction of different world cities.
A 2km-long boardwalk over the dunes takes you around the island. You shouldn’t leave without going on a peaceful walk, breathing in the unpolluted air and admiring the views, the flora and the fauna. Even in the high season, there are places where you’re completely alone, making this one of the most relaxing destinations in Algarve.
Beach for: Couples, Naturists
Bathrooms: Yes (at the restaurant)
Bar or Restaurant: Yes
Parking: No (ferry access only)
How to Get to Ilha Deserta
Ilha Deserta can only be reached by boat from Faro. There’s a regular ferry service and a speedboat shuttle, both departing from a pier by the Porta Nova gateway of the Old Town walls (it’s a short walk from the marina). Tickets are bought from the stands by the pier, which list the schedules -- make sure you note the time of the last boat if you plan to stay on the island for the entire day. The ferry takes about 45 minutes but is a pleasant journey, allowing you to see flamingos and other aquatic birds. It operates throughout the year, has bathrooms and capacity for 96 passengers. A 1-way ticket is 5 euros. Naturally, the speedboat is much faster, reaching the island in about 15 minutes. It costs twice as much as the ferry (10 euros, one way) but saves you 30 minutes (one hour of your day, when you add the return). The regular speedboat takes as many as 18 people. If you miss the last ferry or regular speedboat, a private boat at a higher price is your only way to get off the island until the following morning.
Beaches by Ilha Deserta
If you enjoyed your time at this beach, head to the neighboring island of Farol. There are boats departing from the pier in Faro and from the city of Olhão.
Hotels by Ilha Deserta
Eva Senses Hotel
This is the hotel closest to the pier for the boats to the island. It faces the marina and has spacious rooms with balconies, some with a sea view. On the rooftop is a pool, and there’s also a panoramic restaurant and a spa.
SEE PRICES, AVAILABILITY AND MORE DETAILS HERE: Eva Senses Hotel
Hotel Faro & Beach Club
Conveniently located by the marina and just steps from the pier, this hotel also offers a boat service to Ilha Deserta in the summer. It has bright rooms with balconies, a rooftop terrace with a restaurant and a swimming pool open throughout the year, and a spa.
SEE PRICES, AVAILABILITY AND MORE DETAILS HERE: Hotel Faro & Beach Club


The first Pensford 10k took place in May 1988, organised by a local enthusiast, Pete McGuiness, with support from Somer AC. A Fun Run organised by Pensford Primary School followed the 10k and has done so ever since.
Over the 30 years on the roads the 10k gained a loyal following and a reputation as a tough race, mainly due to the legendary Peppershells hill at the halfway point. It was never a course for PBs! (If you’d like to see the old road course you can see it here.)
In 2018 we decided to take the race off-road and explore the countryside along the River Chew, resulting in one of the best new trail runs in the South West. Just to make things even harder, in 2019 we introduced the river section!
Now organised by a group of local volunteers, helped on the day by a small army of race marshals and other helpers, the 10k has become a fixture, with the Fun Run always proving popular. And with the help of our sponsors and advertisers, we’ve been able to support a lot of local causes over the years, including the Pensford memorial hall and the installation of defibrillators in the village.
After a very successful 2019 race, we’re delighted to make a £1000 donation to the Pensford Primary School Riverbank Project, as reported in the Chew Valley Gazette. Huge thanks again to all of the runners, marshals and our sponsors and advertisers for making this happen!
The 2020 edition of the race was sadly postponed due to the Covid 19 pandemic, but on Sunday 11th July 2021 we finally managed to hold the race, with wave starts. Looking forward to getting back to normal conditions in 2022!


Endiama issued the following announcement on Oct. 24.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are discussing in Sochi Thursday the deepening of "economic cooperation" between the two countries.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, one of the main topics of discussions between the two heads of state, is the trade and economic cooperation of Russia and Angola, with greater emphasis on diamond extraction.
Klemlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov said the turnover between Russia and Angola has increased 42% in the last seven months to $ 34.8 million.
Meanwhile, Ushakov recalled that Russian company Alrosa is co-founder of Angola's premier diamond mining company “Catoca” - and revealed that the two countries are developing a “geology and mining cooperation program by 2025”.
As part of the Russia-Africa summit, according to a note from the Angolan President's Civil House, “the presidential mission in Russia includes the signing of protocols in various fields, the training of cadres and the implementation of a fertilizer industry in Angola”.
Original source can be found here.


Radio Spätkauf (Podcast)
The view from the morning window confirms it: Winter is here. While the snow blankets the city and vast parts of Europe in white magic, and the Christmas lights cast our cities in a special glow, winter is the harshest season for the most vulnerable in our society. How do the homeless fare in these times? What support measures exist in our city? And how can art change our perspective on homeless people in our city, on our continent, and bring us closer to the issue?
We would like to discuss these and other questions with our guests and you. We cordially invite you to be part of this important conversation. The event will be conducted in English and recorded.
We are pleased to invite you to a special event hosted by the European Academy Berlin. The theme of the evening will be "Homelessness in Berlin and Beyond," a topic that deserves special attention, especially in the cold season.
Location: Salon am Moritzplatz, Oranienstraße 58, 10969 Berlin
Admission: From 7:00 PM
We have assembled an impressive panel for this discussion:
- Karen Holzinger, Head of Homelessness Assistance at the Berlin City Mission
- Kathrin Schultz, Queerhomes
- Debora Ruppert, Artist
- Dan Stern, Moderator from the Radio Spaetkauf Podcast
The event will begin at 7:30 PM with the recording of a podcast episode in which the guests will share their perspectives and experiences. The discussion and recording will conclude around 9:00 PM. Subsequently, we invite you to a get-together with drinks and finger food, lasting until 9:45 PM.
This event marks the pilot episode of a new collaboration between the European Academy Berlin and the Radio Spaetkauf Podcast. Radio Spaetkauf (https://www.radiospaetkauf.com/) is an English-language news podcast from Berlin. The broadcast of the "RSxEAB" show will take place a few days after the recording. We will inform you in our next newsletter [https://www.eab-berlin.eu/de/newsletter].
Kindly confirm your attendance by 05/12/2023, 12:00 PM.
We look forward to an informative and enriching evening. The event is made possible by project funding from the Federal Foreign Office and co-financing from the European Union.


I am looking to restart this blog on a casual basis, with the goal of sharing items on and around the Dutch Golden Age, with a focus on science. art and culture. It will no longer be Leeuwenhoek-centric, (although he remains one of my personal heroes of science), but rather it will generally share how that era continues to reverberate in society today. It will probably retain the bias I have for Delft, but that is to be expected.
I’m presently looking for a new blog name, so suggestions will be accepted! (…and yes, The Dutch Golden Age has already occurred to me, and may still be used.)


TELLURIDE, Colorado (August 5, 2025) – While the airline industry continues to recover, Telluride’s winter air schedule features two major additions, along with two route hiatuses, for the coming this season. Served by two airports, Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ) just 75 minutes away and Telluride Regional Airport (TEX), one of ski country’s most convenient just ten minutes from town and the slopes, Telluride offers skiers and riders some of the best air service in the Rockies.
Two long-term objectives will fly into Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ) this winter, including the addition of nonstop service from Austin and the return of daily service from Atlanta. Southwest will fly from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) on Saturdays from January-March, and Delta will return to daily flying from Atlanta-Hartsfield Jackson International Airport from December-early April.
“Austin has long-been considered a sister city to Telluride, and we are thrilled to offer their avid skiers and riders a nonstop option on Southwest this winter. Upgrading its longstanding service from ATL to MTJ, Delta returns to daily flying from one of Telluride’s key markets and the largest airport in the country,” said Colorado Flights CEO Matt Skinner.
Along with the welcome additions, MTJ will also see a stoppage of service on two of its winter routes with American Airlines, daily Chicago (ORD) and Saturday Los Angeles (LAX). As the travel industry recovers, the intention is to reestablish these routes in the future. Both of these airports will continue to be served by United Airlines.
Telluride Regional Airport will offer daily jet service from Denver and Phoenix again this winter. Denver Air now has interline relationships with United and American, allowing travelers to book connecting flights straight into TEX through both global networks.
Other MTJ carriers and routes will operate as normal, with Telluride offering 14 nonstop flights from 12 major U.S. hubs into the two airports this winter:
- United: daily Denver, Chicago, Houston, New York/Newark, and multi-day San Francisco & Los Angeles
- American: daily Dallas (DFW) and Phoenix, Saturday New York/La Guardia
- Southwest: daily Denver, Saturday Dallas (DAL) and Austin
- Delta: daily Atlanta
- Denver Air/United/American: daily Denver and Phoenix to TEX


Thompson Taraz has joined the Association of Real Estate Funds (“AREF”) as an affiliate member. Affiliate membership is open to leading property industry advisers and firms who offer support to real estate funds and their managers.
John Cartwright, Chief Executive of AREF gave Thompson Taraz “a warm welcome to the Association”.
Founder and Director of Thompson Taraz, Afshin Taraz, said: “Membership of the association is a natural fit for us due to our long history of working as a fund operator in the real estate industry. We are very much looking forward to being an active part of AREF, helping to promote the association’s values and activities.”
One of the first AREF events to be attended by TT is the regulatory discussion: ‘AIFMD – The Journey So Far’, to take place on 17th November. Thompson Taraz was one of the first firms in the UK to receive its Small UK AIFM Status from the FCA in March this year. (See News & Views, 2014 April 01.) Then, in June, the FCA approved its application to act as an AIFMD depositary to closed ended unauthorised private equity and real estate funds. (See News & Views, 2014 June 10.)
For more information on this AREF event, please see http://www.aref.org.uk/events/aifmd-journey-so-far


Welcome to my world! I am Redah, singer - songwriter, record producer, audio engineer and audio editor based in Los Angeles, CA.
I have been writing, recording, producing and mixing music as well as sound for film and TV for over a decade.
As a singer/songwriter my music has been used in commercials for major companies such as Big Lots and McDonald's, as well as in various film & TV programs all over the world through Universal Production Music.
As a music producer, my skills especially on vocals have been widely recognized on major TV shows such as NBC The Voice, American Idol, and on records such as Elliphant’s “To The End" featured in Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse, which won “Best Animated Film” at the 76th annual Golden Globes, the 91st Academy Awards, and which was nominated for “Best Soundtrack Compilation” at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. In 2021, singer-songwriter and American Idol winner Chayce Beckham's single "23" that I vocal produced and mixed alongside Ross Copperman has reached Number One on the Worldwide Itunes Charts and Billboard Country digital sales.
As an audio editor, my credits include work for major companies such as Google, Netflix, Chase Bank, Venmo, Ross, Verizon, ELF Cosmetics, and AAMCO.


What is India going through?
Did the double mutant help set a world record?
India ranked highest in the world with its daily cases reaching as high as 3,14,835 last Thursday(22/04/2021). As the second wave mercilessly crashes through the country breaking the healthcare system and eating up the crematoriums, the people let out their loudest cry for help. Several questions are unclear as the data are not disclosed publicly, although several doctors and scientists report that they observe a different trend in the cases during the second wave. Several youngsters seem to be infected, doctors in Delhi report that unlike the first wave most people getting hospitalised are in their 30s, and more deaths were seen in people without any comorbidities.
India had 10 lakh active cases during the last peak but now the reports show 14 lakh active cases. Although many hospitals and doctors say that children are showing serious infections there are no connections yet showing that the rate of infection (no. of children being infected) is higher now than before. Many doctors say that there is a possibility that the number of children who tested positive in the first wave were overlooked because most of them were asymptomatic.
“Children are definitely more symptomatic now than what we saw in the first wave,” Tanu Singhal, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, told the Hindustan Times. “The severity of their illness has gone up.”
Some children had to be hospitalised in Mumbai for gastrointestinal infections, breathlessness, and fever — all linked to the virus. “Those with gastrointestinal infections had to be put on intravenous fluids,” paediatrician Bakul Parekh told Hindustan Times. “The patients who were breathless required steroids and oxygen support.”
What is the reason for the surge?
There is no one particular reason for the surge, there are many. The number one reason being the complete negligence in following social distancing guidelines and protective measures once there was a decrease in the cases. Another reason is that India, despite manufacturing huge proportions of the world’s vaccine supply, failed to vaccinate its population when there was a decrease in cases and the hospitals and nurses had time to spare to safely administer the vaccine.
The double mutant strain of the virus definitely has an important impact on the cases, but taking in to consideration the aforementioned reasons, and the general lack of statistics related to the strain, there is no surety that the mutant virus is the number one cause of the surge.
To add to this trying situation, India now has another mutant strain derived from the Β.1.617 strain called the triple mutant or B.1.618. This strain is found in samples from Bengal, Maharashtra and New Delhi, even little data is available on this virus, all we have so far are speculations.
What do we know about the mutant strain?
The strain of virus that is of concern in India is called B.1.617, this strain, however, is not a new mutant, it was first entered into the global genome database as early as Oct 2020. India reported having sequenced the highest number of this viral genome, followed by the UK and then by the US. There might be a small bias in the data based simply on the fact that the country that has performed higher sequencing would have detected a higher number of the B.1.617 strain.
How worrying are the constant mutations in the virus?
The nature of any virus is to mutate. The reason behind this is evolution through natural selection, just as any living being evolves by natural selection, viruses do too.
The aim of the human immune system is to defend the body from pathogens, similarly the aim of the pathogen is to come up with new ways to evade the immune system, reproduce and infect more hosts. In order to meet this aim, every time the virus replicates the characteristics that help evade the immune system are restored, and the characteristics that negatively affect their spread and evasion are left behind. It is also interesting to note that the aim of the virus is never to kill the host (as they require a host to reproduce and spread), if the host is dead then the virus has no means of transmission, hence ideally as the virus evolves it would aim to increase its infectiousness and decrease its fatality rates.
During replication, all cells that have DNA as the genetic material have a special proofreading tool that prevents mistakes from happening while the genetic code is copied from the parent genome to the daughter. Whereas cells with RNA as the genetic material lack the proofreading tool, which leads to many mistakes during copying of the parent genome. These changes result in the formation of different proteins, thereby altering the characteristics of the virus, making it more or less infectious.
Mutations to be noted in the two variants.
The B.1.617 strain has 13 mutations as compared to the original strain (hence calling it double mutant isn’t very accurate), the most notable mutation in this is the E494Q and L452R.
The E494Q mutation also called the escape mutation occurs in the 484th position of the genome, the UK, South African and the Brazil variant also have a similar mutation in the 484th position their mutation is E484K instead.This mutation is known to help the virus slip past the human immune response
Despite having the escape functionality, not much statisitc information is available on the E494Q mutation except for few studies that show a reduction of neutralization (inactivation of the virus by antibodies) by some but not all convalescent plasma taken from people who were tested positive naturally for SARS-CoV-2.
The other major mutation found in the B.1.617 strain — L452R, is also found in few other variants like B.1.429 (California strain). It is predicted to increase the viral infectivity and its host immune evasion potency. Experts report weaker neutralization of the virus by convalescent plasma and also by monoclonal antibodies in lab experiments.
The P681R or P681H which is found in various strains like B.1.617, B.1.318 B.1.1.7 is found next to the furin cleavage sites on the spike protein (which is said to be responsible for the virus’s relatively high infectivity). This mutation could lead to a change in the spike protein processing or other activities of the virus, although more information is essential to understand for sure the changes brought by this combination of mutations.
The major mutations in the B.1.618 or the triple mutant are:
- A deletion and two changes in spike protein
- Deletion of H146 and Y145
- Mutation in E484K and D614G in spike protein
Is B.1.617 a variant of concern?
The criteria for a mutant strain to be considered a variant of concern(VoC) is if it has:
1)increased transmissibility or virulence
2) a decrease in the effectiveness of vaccines, treatments, diagnostic assays, or other public health measures.
3) escaped from immunity derived from natural infection.
This variant is currently classified as a variant under investigation by the Public health England, this means the virus has highly certain predictable data that it has undergone mutations that cause adverse effects, but still doesn’t meet the definition of a variant of concern.
Despite having several qualities of a VoC, there hasn't been much time to investigate the viral capabilities in a lab. It also takes some more time to study evidence from real-world vaccination reports. which is why we can’t be certainly sure if this strain is the cause of the surge or if it is merely co-incidental that the surge and the spread of the strain happened at the same time. It is essential to confirm if there was indeed a cause and effect relationship before declaring the strain as a VoC, which is difficult to do currently as there has been only 1000 sequences submitted by India, out of 4 million cases. Also this strain was detected back in 2020, therefore if it is just catching momentum now, then chances are that it isn’t as transmissible as the other variants of concern.


Tweed Valley Banana Festival Parade Returns To The Northern Rivers With KC Equipment On Show
- On Saturday the 25th of August the Tweed Valley Banana Festival returned to glory, with a triumphant street parade once again winding its way through the streets of the Murwillumbah CBD. The local KC Equipment team headed the parade in a shiny red Massey Ferguson tractor, continuing a tradition set by former local AGCO dealer Noel Graham.
Led by two mounted police, the Massey Ferguson 5610 fronted the parade, carrying with it several royal treasures - the outgoing '2017 Banana Queen' Billie Goodsell, along with this year's 'King and Queen Bananas,' and two award-winning banana bunches. The festival's '2018 Banana Queen' winners were right behind the Massey tractor, travelling in style in the official banana-shaped banana festival float, fronted by festival mascot Banana Jim.
Overall the event was a huge success, and the team at KC Equipment are looking forward to next year's parade!
For more information on the Tweed Valley Banana Festival, visit their Facebook page here.
KC Equipment services the Agricultural, Golf, Sports, Commercial and Residential grounds care industries with a huge range of equipment from the world’s leading manufacturers, including Massey Ferguson, Iseki, Kubota, and Jacobson. With over thirty years of experience, branches in Yatala, Lismore and Murwillumbah, and a huge parts and supplier network, KC Equipment can assist you with all aspects of your operation.
KC Equipment – for everything in your shed.
For any media enquiries, contact Jean-Paul Mollinger, Marketing Coordinator, on email@example.com


THE NUTCRACKER THROUGH 30 DECEMBERS
Legacy Museum on Main is pleased to join the LaGrange community in celebrating The Nutcracker through 30 Decembers. Costumes, programs, newspaper stories, photographs, posters, and more will be featured in the exhibit which will be on display at Legacy Museum from Thursday, December 5 until Saturday, January 11, 2013. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, December 12 from 3:30 to 5:30. The public is invited.
Many of the costumes that will be on display date from the 1980s and the earliest productions of The Nutcracker in LaGrange. A few of the displays feature “then and now” costumes with examples of current costumes next to original costumes. A special photograph of The Nutcracker cast dates from December 1955 when Mary Cleaveland directed the classic Christmas show with students at Harwell Avenue School.


Dr. Cook sits with American TV Host, Writer and Producer Dave Aizer and welcomes pointers around public speaking, in the quest to becoming the next Howard Stern of Podcasts.
“When you can let go of everything you feel you have to do perfect and you just exist, that’s when creativity starts flowing,” says Aizer. Dr. Cook shares that he\’s applying the same concept in his practice when coaching members of his team who experience anxiety and stress.
Listen in as Aizer also shares more about the symptom known as “Imposter Syndrome”, where no matter how credentialed and successful you are, a fear washes over you as soon as you get up on that stage. Aizer provides tips on ways to overcome this fear and more. “A big moment when you go from being okay to being a really good public speaker, is when you can get rid of the idea that you’re chasing perfection. Set your foot on that stage and be okay without giving a perfect performance.”
This and more with Aizer and Dr. Cook on this unique episode of the BioReset Podcast.


Lots of parents choose to put their baby into a baby walker. These activity centre-style walkers tend to be advertised as being for babies as young as 4 months old and are often marketed to parents as a way of encouraging a child’s mobility. So why don’t paediatric physiotherapists recommend them? In this article, our team outlines the hidden dangers of a baby walker, why you should avoid using walkers for your baby and the effects they can have if you don’t.
So, are baby walkers safe? Paediatric physiotherapists and other health experts strongly discourage the use of baby walkers because of the accidents they can cause and the potential developmental problems they contribute towards. Baby walkers give babies unnatural height and speed which increases the risk of injury, whilst also forcing walking before the baby may be developmentally ready.
Read on to learn more about the dangers associated with baby walkers and why physiotherapists advise against using them.
Are Baby Walkers Safe?
In short, no, sit-in baby walkers are not safe for your baby despite them being heavily advertised by brands around the world for babies as young as four months. Although they are advertised as a way of encouraging a child’s mobility they can be very harmful both immediately and long term for your child. There are two main reasons why we would not recommend a baby walker; firstly due to safety and secondly in relation to a baby’s development. We’ve highlighted these factors in more detail below.
Any parent’s first priority is to keep their child safe, and although you won’t mean to, every time you place your child in a baby walker, you do increase their risk of injury. Every year there are many reports of babies being injured whilst in a baby walker. These accidents include;
- Trapping of limbs
- Head injuries
- Burns and scalds
- Tripping and Falling
When you place your child into a baby walker you’re aiding them to have unnatural height and speed which increases their risk of accessing hazardous things which may cause them injury. This could include knocking objects from a height that is usually out of reach, falling down the stairs, and trapping limbs in between the walker and objects around them. Some studies have shown that just under half of the babies that are put into a baby walker will experience some form of injury whilst using it.
A baby will walk when a baby is developmentally ready. In order to get to the point of walking, a baby has to learn so many other things. The timescales for a baby to walk will also depend on their body shape, motivation, personality and many other factors. Various studies carried out have shown that not only do baby walkers not encourage a child’s development but they can actually cause a delay in a baby’s motor development milestones.
Spending lots of time in a walker limits the amount of time spent in other positions like lying on the floor and walkers also alter a baby’s ability to see their legs and feet. At such a young age babies are learning where their body parts are, relative to themselves and to their environment, another skill that is essential for a developing baby. There is also evidence that suggests that the use of baby walkers can cause a child to walk on their toes. This may be because their muscles and joints are not ready to take their own body weight at such a young age. The toe walking may also continue once your child is walking independently.
How Long Should a Baby Be in a Walker?
Although we strongly recommend that you avoid using baby walkers, we understand that some parents may still choose to use them. If you do decide to use one with your baby, the APCP (Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists) have published a parent leaflet that advises that your child is always under close supervision and that they use a walker for no longer than 20 minutes at a time. Also ensure your child’s feet are flat on the floor, not up on their toes to prevent persistent toe walking beyond a normal development point.
If you’re worried that your baby is continuing to tip toe walk, physiotherapy is a great way to help rectify and resolve the abnormality, we discussed the topic in-depth in our recent blog.
What Are Some Alternatives To Baby Walkers?
Ideal alternatives to baby walkers include letting your baby do natural activities without the need for aids such as crawling or tummy time. If you’d like to read more about tummy time and its benefits, read one of our recent blog posts – Tummy Time What to Expect.
Here your baby will learn skills that are crucial to their motor development like rolling, sitting and using their arms and hands to lean on. It also supports crossing information in the brain which helps the baby’s development, as the left half of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa with the right side. This is a development that is missed when using a baby walker.
If you use a baby walker to help contain your child, why not try using a stationary activity centre? This allows them to experience sensory stimulation and development without having to move around.
Paediatric Physiotherapy From Therapy Stars
At Therapy stars, we have an expert team who are professionally trained physiotherapists and hydrotherapists working with babies, children and young adults who are diagnosed with genetic and mobility-limiting conditions or who are experiencing developmental delays. We have a range of excellent facilities and packages that can be tailored to your child’s needs, whilst providing treatment that is engaging and fun.
To contact us simply book a complimentary call with one of our team to discuss which child physiotherapy services we can provide.


As Lisa Tells It – Life Is Pretty Awesome!
What could be better than waking up each morning knowing that you are meant to be here for the purpose of fulfilling all your heart’s desires? In the end you certainly do not want to leave with any regrets, that’s for sure!
Currently, you can find Lisa hosting her Pet radio show formerly“Your Pets My Dogs”, but known now as SIMPLY PETS RADIO (www.simplypetsradio.com). Her new book on pet etiquette, “Petetiquette”, in which she is the Ms. Manners for pets, is due out in October 2016. And the month prior, September 2016, Lisa’s new pet magazine “Simply Pets Magazine” (www.simplypetsmagazine.com) launches nationwide. This isn’t all; Lisa will also be involved, front and center, in several of her other loves, a show dedicated to our PetKids... Simply Pets Shopping Network and Lisa Smith Putman’s Talk Show”, a place for all people to come together and, well...talk!
If you enjoyed the variety talk shows of yester year you know how perfect Lisa is to host the variety talk show of today! She makes you smile, makes you laugh and helps you escape into a world of fun, forgetting all the troubles of the day! Lisa’s love of music (after all she IS the “female black Dick Clark”) is what connects her to all the things she loves in life! Having had a very successful test run with “Back Home With Lisa Smith-Putnam” with overwhelmingly positive reviews, Lisa is thrilled to announce that a new season of her variety talk show will return to television in the spring of 2017.
Lisa’s incredible love of people, animals and music is the motivating factor for all that she’s accomplished, but it is her love of family that makes her who she is in this life, someone overflowing with love and a need for togetherness.
When you first meet Lisa, as much as she has going on, it will be YOU who will be made to feel special. In those moments you will KNOW that Lisa would rather be nowhere else, but there getting to know you. That’s the beauty of Lisa. Her life is one amazing story after another and there is no better storyteller! She can entertain for hours on end if asked.
Some of her favorite projects haven’t even been mentioned yet because they’re so special we don’t want them to get lost in the fray. But to give you a hint “Walk A Mile In Your Shoes” is in development. This is a show that will pull at the heartstrings of people from all walks of life. “Round Robin” is another favorite, a game show she has in the works that is just hilarious! This show is being created for participants of all ages; even little children can play, and surely they will!


“The Americans had an apt phrase to describe a situation like ours, where your strength grows but your options become ever more limited: Manifest Destiny. “Destiny drives you forward but ties your hands.” -Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War
China’s rise has left it with great potential but few options. Many of its needs and policies run counter to the current international order. A rising power must expand and amass power and influence to survive, or else it risks being left to the annals of history. China cannot maintain its more than three decade long economic boom for much longer without massive changes to the regional and global order in its favor. Failure to seize opportunities created by American indifference and decline, would delay China’s ascendancy to hegemony and perhaps threaten the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) legitimacy and power. Historically, many of the battles fought between hegemons and their challengers have been decided by whomever controls the seas and the lucrative trade routes that travel through them. In Southeast Asia, the fight for those key maritime trade routes in the South China Sea (SCS) will fall between the nations of ASEAN, the US, and China. China has already taken steps to secure the South China Sea by constructing and militarizing artificial islands that it says justify its claim to the entire SCS, threatening those who challenge its internationally-recognized-as-illegitimate claims. In order to understand just how important control of this region is to Chinese ascendance, we must first look at how previous states have come to power, and what drove them to war.
Hegemonic conflict is far from a new concept in international relations. Empires rise and fall with the changing of the tides, and those tides are often red with the blood of competing powers. Sino-US competition in the Pacific will likely be no different. The end of Pax Americana does not simply mean an end to the world order created in the 25 years since the fall of the USSR, it means the beginning of the end for many of the US-backed international institutions that have existed since the end of WWII. China cannot complete its rise to hegemony without reorganizing the international order in its favor, nor could it do so without having influence over much of the world’s economy and trade. Given the recent slowing of the Chinese economy, Beijing cannot wait decades for these institutions to erode on their own and for the US to fall back on its own, it must force the issue, most likely within the next decade, if it wishes to supersede US dominance of the world stage.
The beginning of the modern hegemonic cycle began in the 15th Century, at the dawn of the Age of Exploration as Portugal sent its ships to the farthest reaches of the world, and gained an edge in the colonization of the New World. The Portuguese dominance of navigation and their superior knowledge of the Earth’s oceans enabled Portugal to seize valuable ports and resources, establishing lucrative trade routes and relationships with far-flung regions. The US has a similar advantage in that it is the world-guarantor of freedom of navigation. In fact, America’s first post-Independence conflict was fought over freedom over navigation rights in the Mediterranean and those same rights have become a major talking point for the US in the South China Sea.
In the latter half of the 16th century, the Dutch came to power through their control of credit markets and investment. As Portugal began to decline, the Dutch could invest heavily in private expeditions and their navy to challenge the Portuguese status quo. The Dutch attacked the overseas holdings of Portugal across the globe, securing much of the spice trade and enriching the Netherlands at the cost of Portuguese power and influence throughout the world. Increased Dutch wealth and overseas investment enabled the Dutch to expand as Portugal was occupied with other conflicts and interests (notably the 80 Years’ War). As the US spreads its forces thin across the globe and hollows them out through sequestration, China can pick and choose which territorial disputes it wants to focus on and can concentrate its forces with less effort than the US. Chinese overseas investment and corporate influence is enough to force some states to make concessions to China in exchange for such investment, weakening the US’ ability to hold onto and protect allies that cannot survive without Chinese investment. The Dutch used their economic strength to further enrich themselves through the funding of military expeditions in places that would enable Dutch control of vital trade routes and commodities. Chinese ambition in the Southeast Asia and Africa should be viewed no differently.
Ironically, it was Dutch expansion and ambition that led to a power shift in the late 17th century from the Netherlands to England. Dutch-English cooperation in military and economic affairs enabled the English to take advantage of peace and enlarge their navy and control over world trade routes, soon overtaking the Dutch and some of their colonies. Those who encourage Sino-US cooperation should be wary of similar partnership. American economic weakness and military decline would ensure that the US is the weaker partner in such a relationship.
The Napoleonic Wars not withstanding, the British ruled the world’s seas and remained hegemon for more than two centuries without a significant challenger. British naval power, reinforced by its industrial innovations, enabled Britain to rule a quarter of the world at its height. While the British Army had never been anything to marvel at, and was often much smaller than those of the Continental powers, Britain’s successful policy of offshore balancing against any rivals in Europe kept aggressors at bay by relying on its control of the seas. The end of Pax Britannica began in 1914 with the outbreak of the first World War. Despite Britain’s eventual victory, the war destroyed an entire generation and weakened the economic and military power of the British Empire.
The German Imperial policy prior to the lead-up to World War I was summarized as security and strength without hegemony. The famous German leader Otto von Bismarck encouraged this policy as Chancellor, and until his death was adamantly against German attempts at hegemony in Europe. Unfortunately, his legacy was not enough to hold off the forces that encouraged German expansion. The fact was that Germany could not sustain itself without an empire and expansion, it simply did not have the resources to match the other powers in Europe. China has followed similar advice in its development since the end of the Cold War. Deng Xiaoping’s 24-character strategy encouraged an inward focus and development without attempts at expansion or aggression. However, that focus was largely an effort to keep China from making attempts at expansion before it was ready, as so many failed hegemons had done before it. Deng did not say that China should never make an attempt at hegemony, and that is what is worrying. Chinese scholars often point to Deng’s strategy as reason for no concern towards Chinese military and economic development, because of the “never claim leadership”portion but they downplay the part that says “hide our capacities and bide our time.” Any attempt to minimize the threat a rising China’s ambitions pose to the Western order should be looked at with great suspicion not simply because of historical precedent but because of the very strategy that CCP leadership so closely follows.
The arguments against seeing China as a serious, aggressive threat to US-led world order are similar to the arguments made against those who foresaw conflict between Europe’s great powers in the run up to August 1914. The argument that globalization and the economic intertwining of states makes war between states too costly was the one of the more popular cases against European conflict. In the decades prior to WW1, the world became globalized through the invention of the first telecommunications systems, industrialization and relative peace enforced by Pax Britannica. This period of peace eventually encouraged those with imperial and hegemonic ambitions to take advantage of dying old empires, increased wealth, and the fear of burgeoning new empires to encourage their nations to arm, expand, and plant their flag around the globe. The globalization argument is still rather popular today, particularly by those who do not understand what China values and what it thinks it could gain from a successful conflict with the US. Other scholars and policymakers are still confident in superior American power, either because of ignorance towards China’s growing capabilities or because they still believe America is invincible. In my opinion, that degree of hubris is more dangerous than any weapon that China could build.
Despite growth in arms development, nationalist rhetoric, and even commentary by some leaders about their ambitions, fears of an end to the ‘Belle Epoch’ were dismissed as part of the old world, one that was not economically intertwined like modern Europe. War would simply cost states too much money, and that argument resonated with many because it made people feel secure and because it made sense to the average person that attacking someone who gives you money would be counter-intuitive to prosperity and success. Many simply did not see how the benefits of a victory in war could outweigh the benefits of peace, but for a revisionist power like Germany, both the people and their leaders saw opportunity in war. For Germany’s leaders, victory meant ending its encirclement by British-allied states and the ending the threat of the ‘Russian hordes’. For the people of Germany, it meant taking their rightful place atop Europe and righting the wrongs done unto them by the other empires of Europe. For other states, it meant reasserting themselves after years of decline or seizing new territory for economic gain. If any of this sounds familiar it is because much of the same rhetoric is used by the CCP as justification for its military buildup and territorial ambitions.
Despite all of the talk about economic peace, hyper-nationalistic rhetoric was rampant in Europe in the run-up to 1914. The elections of populists like Rodrigo Duterte and Donald Trump, in conjunction with increased nationalistic propaganda and stricter enforced adherence to CCP ideology within China suggest that a wave of nationalism like that found in Germany, France, and the Balkans prior to 1914 has arrived in the Asia-Pacific. Thus, while the idea of war in the Asia-Pacific may have been too terrible a thought less than a decade ago, nationalistic sentiments tend to encourage the romanticizing of conflict over the sober reality of war, dissuading the voices of caution and raising the influence of war hawks in capitals around the world.


Holiday Closures 2023
Please check the list below for our 2023 holiday closures.
Martin Luther King Day- Monday, January 16
Presidents Day-Monday, February 20
Memorial Day-Monday, May 29
Junteenth (Observed)-Monday, June 19
Independence Day- Tuesday, July 4
Labor Day-Monday, September 4
Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day Monday, October 9
Veterans Day- Friday, November 10
Thanksgiving Day- Thursday, November 23
Thanksgiving (Black Friday)- Friday, November 24
Christmas (Observed)-Monday, December 25
New Years-Monday, January 1
Closures due to weather/uncontrollable circumstances will be updated if possible, please check out our Facebook page and local news stations for updates.


The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire (OPCC) has received a prestigious national award for openness and transparency.
The ‘Open and Transparent Quality Mark’ has been awarded by CoPaCC, an independent organisation which monitors police governance by comparing Police and Crime Commissioners and the work of their offices.
The award recognises the efforts made by the PCC and his office to provide the public with key information in accessible format on their website, including information about projects and activities, how finances are managed, what the key priorities are for the PCC and the progress made against them, as well as information around policies and procedures.
To date, the Transparency Quality Mark has been granted to only 28 of the 41 PCC’s offices across the country, with this year being the fifth in succession that Warwickshire has been awarded the prestigious accolade.
This year, CoPaCC added a further criteria for assessment – ‘ease of use’, i.e. how easy is it for a member of the public to find information which is required by statute to be published. This means that it is no longer sufficient to just make the information available; it should be easy to identify where the information can be found and simple to navigate with the minimum number of steps. A higher pass threshold was also introduced.
OPCCs were assessed during November and December 2019 with CoPaCCs researcher acting as a ‘mystery shopper’ looking for the required information on the website of each OPCC.
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said: “Like any public office, it’s really important to be open and transparent in everything that we do on the public’s behalf, providing the public the information they need to hold me to account and also be fully involved in my work.
“The criteria for the Quality Mark has been tightened this year, so I am pleased that we have again retained our national recognition. It’s really down to the hard work of all of the team in my office, who deserve the full credit for this achievement.”
CoPaCC chief executive Bernard Rix added: “The successful these OPCCs have all demonstrated that they are transparent in what they do, meeting relevant legal requirements. They present key information in an accessible format on their websites. I congratulate them all on their award-winning work, and I look forward to what I trust will be continued excellent work by each and every one of them in this area.”
Grant Thornton, the leading police assurance provider, sponsor CoPaCC’s Transparency Quality Mark analysis and the associated awards. Paul Grady, Head of Police for Grant Thornton, commented that: “Transparency is an essential part of the democratic process. For the public to be able gauge how successful their PCC is in delivering their electoral mandate, they need access to information that is accessible, easy to understand and fit for purpose. Grant Thornton is proud to once again be supporting these Transparency Awards and we congratulate all those who have been successful in meeting the standards required.”
A formal presentation to OPCCs of the CoPaCC ‘Open and Transparent Quality Mark’ will take place at a forthcoming Police Governance Summit in the Autumn.


Fearless Film Festival Screenings Announced
More than 200 short films were submitted for this year’s Fearless Film Festival, and organizers have selected 16 from across the globe for screening in the four-year-old short film fest that brought moving pictures to MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival (MAIN ST.).
Fearless Film Festival screenings are scheduled at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 10 and 1:15 p.m. Sunday, April 11, at the David L. Tandy Lecture Hall at the Fort Worth Central Library.
Filmmakers’ panels return this year, and the festival program also includes a special presentation of One Square Mile, the documentary series that is putting Fort Worth filmmakers on the map.
The film festival complements visual and performing arts showcased in MAIN ST., one of the nation’s top fine arts fairs, and celebrates the short film format, organizers said.
“There’s a growing recognition of the role short films play in feature filmmaking careers,” Fearless Film Festival coordinator and filmmaker Melissa Kirkendall said. “The spotlight that this year’s Academy Awards program put on short films is just one example. Every major film festival has a short film component, but it’s our pleasure to devote our entire schedule to short films and the people making them.”
Fearless Film Festival is open to short films of up to 20 minutes and honors the best in categories ranging from documentary and narrative to experimental, animation, dance, music video and trailer as well as best of show. Winners are awarded cash and non-cash prizes.
Fearless Film Festival has an international appeal, and foreign films have won Best of Show in three of the four years of competition.
Winners in the fourth annual Fearless Film Festival are:
The Tea Master (10min)Winner: Best in Show
Dir: Aaron Au (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
The Ah of Life (2min 50 sec) Winner: Best Trailer
Dir: Banks Helfrich (Florida)
Superstitious? (4min.) Winner: Experimental
Dir: David Magnier United Kingdom)
Frames (3min 19sec) Winner: Best Student Film & Rose Marine Theater Award
Dir: Jaime Chapin (Argyle, Tx.)
They Can’t Deport Us All (3min) Winner: Best Music Video
Dir: Rocky Curby (Northridge, Ca)
Skylight (4min 37sec) Winner: Best Animation
Dir. David Baas (Toronto, ON)
So As Through Fire (11min) Winner: Best Narrative
Dir: Tony Pauletto (North Hollywood, CA)
Eric/Derailed (19min) Winner: Foreign Film
Dir. Nicolas Simonin Simonin (Paris, France)
Winning films and eight more selected by jurors from the local film community will be screened in the festival. Fearless Film Festival is presented as part of the "Off MAIN!" series of performances in venues both on and off Main Street during the fine arts festival.
Filmmakers’ panels for 2010 take on the personal documentary and distribution alternatives as well as resources available to Texas filmmakers in sessions Saturday and Sunday, April 10 and 11 in two downtown locations. Panels and special presentations are:
Saturday, April 10
Chappell Meeting Room, Fort Worth Central Library
10:30 to 11:30 a.m. One Square Mile Special Presentation
1 to 2 p.m. Webisodic series & short film on the net
2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Self Distribution
4 to 6 p.m. Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund workshop
4 Day Weekend Theater
- Noon to 1:30 p.m. The Personal Documentary with Kelley Baker, a.k.a. the Angry Film Maker
- 2 to 3 p.m. One Square Mile Special Presentation
Sunday, April 11
Chappell Meeting Room, Fort Worth Central Library
- 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. One Square Mile and Angry Film Maker special documentary presentation series
MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival celebrates its 25th year April 8-11 with a celebration of fine arts and crafts, music, film and food a mile long, stretching from the Tarrant County Courthouse to the Fort Worth Convention Center.
More than 200 juried artists and fine crafts exhibitors will line brick-paved Main Street, joined by musicians and dancers on three stages. Performance artists and food and drink vendors complete the scene.
MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival is presented by Coors Light and produced by Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc. Festival hours will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, April 8; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 9-10; and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, April 11, 2010. Admission is free to the public. For more information, visit www.mainstreetartsfest.org.
MAIN ST. is made possible by a host of corporate citizens who support the festival year in and year out, bringing the finest entertainment to North Texas. Official Sponsors are Chase, Green Mountain Energy Company, Sundance Square, Texas Lincoln Mercury Dealers, and XTO Energy. Media Sponsors include CBS 11/TXA 21,D Magazine and the Star-Telegram as well as radio stations Mix 102.9, 102.1 The Edge, 106.1 KISS FM, 95.9 FM The Ranch, Country Legends 92.1, and Lone Star 92.5. Supporting Sponsors include Chesapeake Energy Company, Coca-Cola Bottling Company of North Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth Professional Musicians Association, Fort Worth Transportation Authority, Pizza Hut, Target and the University of Texas at Arlington.
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Latest News from the British Fencing website: Great Britain’s Men’s Foil Team Richard Kruse, James Davies, Laurance Halsted and Marcus Mepsted today secured qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by finishing ninth at the Bonn World Cup. The team won their trip to Rio as the highest European World ranked team outside the World top four. Three of the team members were once young fencers of Finchley Foil fencing club and Laurence Halsted is Clare's son. We are so very proud of them all and wish them every success on their journey to Rio 2016. This will be Richard's 4th Olympics and James and Laurence's 2nd Olympic games.
You can see more news on the British Fencing website.


Saturday 10th January 2015
Here’s a really interesting story that is likely to keep on running: nautical-themed Lego pieces keep washing up on beaches in Cornwall and farther afield, nearly 18 years after the sinking of the Tokio Express container ship about 20 miles off Land’s End. The losses included 62 containers, one of which was filled with nearly 5 million Lego pieces bound for New York. The BBC News Magazine first covered the story back in July 2014: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28367198
An update has been published within the past few weeks, including a map of where the Lego pieces are being found (see image): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28582621
A Facebook page has even been set up to keep track of the finds (see image), some of which are likely related to the Tokio Express’s cargo, and others which may not be. As yet, I have still to find any of the Lego pieces on Aberystwyth’s beaches but I’ll keep on looking …
This unplanned ‘experiment’ is akin to a controlled tracer exercise in geomorphology, whereby a collection of coloured pebbles are placed on a beach or in a river bed, and attempts are made to recover the pebbles at various intervals thereafter to see how far they have moved during tidal, wave or flood events. From this information, geomorphologists can learn much about the processes, patterns and rates of sediment movement in flowing water. Given that we can send manned missions to the Moon, control rovers on Mars, and even land instruments on comets more than 6 billion kilometres away (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30069244), you would think that we would know most of what we need to about these fundamental processes. Not so. The mechanics of sediment movement in flowing water is exceptionally complex – just think of those countless billions of sediment particles of all shapes and sizes jostling and being jostled within highly turbulent waters – and still defeats the attempts by some of the best brains to model or predict the phenomenon with any great degree of accuracy. So even basic field experiments – planned or unplanned – still provide useful information. As the BBC articles outline, in the case of the Lego, oceanographers and coastal geomorphologists will be able to learn much about the vagaries of oceans currents and tides, adding to our knowledge about the poorly-known watery 70% of our planet.
Although a uniquely quirky case study, the Lego story is also illustrative of the larger debate about plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. Large areas of the oceans have become known as ‘garbage patches’, the most infamous being the huge Pacific Garbage Patch, located half way between Hawaii and California (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29631332). Were Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ancient mariner and crew to be becalmed in this part of this ocean today, rather than complaining about a lack of drinking water, they may well have had reason to comment on all the shredded plastic bags, torn crisp packets, broken tupperware, bits of polysterene and numerous other plastic items swirling in the water column.
Regardless of whether ‘plastic soup’ is a better term than ‘garbage patch’, the problem is the same: large quantities of industrial (‘man-made’) materials are entering natural systems. Plastics, ceramics, glass, metals, bricks … the list of manufactured items goes on and on. Ocean plastic pollution thus is illustrative of a wider debate still: namely the extent of the legacy that our industrial age will leave behind for future generations. Some of these industrial materials will degrade over time, simply returning the compounds and elements to the Earth. Others will be buried more or less intact in sediments on the ocean floor or along beaches. Others will transform, perhaps fusing with natural materials to form new types of rock (e.g. so-called ‘plastiglomerate’ on Hawaiian beaches – http://news.sciencemag.org/earth/2014/06/rocks-made-plastic-found-hawaiian-beach). Others still will break down to smaller and smaller pieces but perhaps always remain in some form or other. Physical breakdown of large plastic items to smaller and smaller pieces (collectively termed ‘microplastics’) is a particularly insidious problem, given the largely unknown implications for pollution of food chains. Marine animals accidentally ingest some of the microplastics, which can fill the stomach and lead to death by starvation, and there is also the potential to affect higher trophic levels. 18 years after they were washed overboard and released to the ocean, some of the Lego pieces are washing up on beaches in Cornwall and farther afield in good condition. But given 180 years, 1800 years, 18000 years or longer, into how many bits will these nearly 5 million Lego pieces fragment?


At Algonquin, a Decade of Change Reflected in One Book
Along with Girlhood, Algonquin’s small list of eight to 10 titles per year includes books on subjects of great importance to teens. Michael Long’s Kids on the March (Mar. 2021) is geared toward younger teenagers; it recounts 15 stories of young people’s involvement in significant protests throughout history. A forthcoming title by Tracey Baptiste, African Icons: Ten People Who Built a Continent, shares the stories of 10 individuals from Africa who have had an outsize impact on history.


“A company with no history may be one with no future.”
In this age of recession, where an estimated 660,900 businesses closed their doors in 2009 alone, we at Contract Furniture Company are humbled by and proud of our continued success.
This year as we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we decided to take a look back at one of our most notable clients – The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. In December of 1992 the landmark hotel closed for a complete renovation. The project lasted two and a half years, with the hotel reopening in June of 1995. We were a part of these site improvements, providing arm chairs, chaise lounge cushions, umbrellas, and umbrella bases.
The following is excerpted from a Los Angeles Times Magazine article entitled The Cabana King, by Martin Booe. We hope you enjoy the blast from the past.
“The hotel above is pink as a flamingo, with a gentle breeze tickling the surrounding palm trees and the pool water as deep blue as the cloudless Southern California sky. Two tiers of cabanas give the area the look of an inverted wedding cake, and the air is fragrant from nearby lemon trees. What could be closer to paradise than a cabana at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Svend Petersen for nearly 45 years strove to put you in touch with your inner celebrity.
“The colors seem almost preternaturally enhanced. The eyes must be protected. Read what you will into the fact that when Petersen dons sunglasses, the lenses are rose-colored.
“Though Petersen retired nearly three years ago from active duty as the hotel’s pool manager, he still can be found poolside several days a week. At 73, he’s a living, breathing vessel of Hollywood history–barrel-chested, muscular and vigorous, his white shock of once-blond hair full as ever, his skin astonishingly undamaged by years of solar assault. More important, he retains the sort of sunny disposition necessary to survive and thrive in the orbit of those who assume themselves to be the sun itself. And, thus, his semiofficial title now is ‘Hotel Ambassador.’
“He grew up in the frigidity of Denmark, mentally escaping the Nazi occupation by watching American movies featuring such stars as Buster Crabbe, Esther Williams and Johnny Weissmuller. From his youth, Petersen was attracted to water and sunshine. At 17 he joined the Danish swimming team. He put in two years at the American Embassy in Copenhagen as a waiter in the ambassador’s private residence, found an emigration sponsor, and in 1959 lit out for California, where he was hired as a lifeguard at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool. Three years later he was promoted to pool manager and made headmaster of a squad of white-clad cabana boys.
“During the ’60s, the hotel and the pool were the domain of the movie folk–actors and actresses and “starlets,” a word whose passing from common usage Petersen rather laments. He made cameos in the movies “The Prize” and “Torn Curtain” and also nabbed roles in a few soap operas and commercials; he was not opposed to a career in Hollywood, though he eventually let go of that aspiration.
“Over the years, the pool waters frothed with the grand celebrities, icons all: Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor. Petersen recalls a sweaty Katharine Hepburn, fresh from the tennis courts, doing a back flip into the pool, tennis clothes and all. The Beatles were sneaked in for a private dip. In the ’70s, the pool’s denizens were more likely to be from the music industry than the movie business, Michael Jackson and Dionne Warwick among them.
“He encountered his share of eccentrics, such as the absent-minded movie mogul who walked into the pool area stark naked, so absorbed was he reading the trade papers. (‘Mr. Schlafer, excuse me, but you’re not wearing any clothes.’) The ’60s and ’70s presented their own challenges, as Petersen was required to announce as diplomatically as possible that the smoking of marijuana around the pool could not be tolerated.
“You spend that much time around the pool and you notice things, bodies not being the least of them. Petersen would rank Raquel Welch, who was discovered by the pool, as the finest specimen of feminine physique he ever beheld. ‘She had the most incredible body! She was just, like, incredible. Anita Ekberg! And Jane Russell! And in those days they were real!’
“Silicone notwithstanding, a few other things have changed. Petersen, for one, reckons the cellphone has taken a lot of the fun out of things. Back then, it was more about being seen, that unending square dance of drawing the attention of cigar-chomping moguls and people more important than you. In those days, there was a lot of paging done. “Paging Elizabeth Taylor! Paging Cary Grant! Whether they were there or not. It made things more exciting.” Now, the glitterati work their contacts over the cell while sipping their Fiji water in seclusion.
“‘Back then, you could talk to them like family, though you always respected their privacy,’ Petersen reflects. ‘Then in the past few years it changed. It’s different now. You go to say hello and you’ve got three bodyguards saying, ‘Hey, what do you want?’ It used to be friendlier and more glamorous.’
“Ultimately, it always comes down to pleasing people, and this involves more than providing fluffy terrycloth towels, sun shields and the crackly frozen towels he began using to cool off guests a few years ago. Petersen recalls the day he learned this lesson, when he greeted a man with the standard, ‘How are you today?’ only to be told that it was none of his business.
“‘So I said to myself, ‘Svend, you’ve got to count to 10 before you blow your top! Every half hour, I asked him if I could get him anything. And after the day was over, he came over and said, ‘I have to thank you because you were so nice and I was [a jerk] to you! And that made me happy! That I could make him happy! From that day on, I said, ‘Svend, you’ve got to do nice to people because it benefits you in the long run.’
“‘How did this happen? It’s like a fairly tale,’ he says. ‘In Denmark I thought, ‘Svend, one day you have to meet all these people.’ And I did.’
“And there’s one question begging to be asked: Does Petersen have a pool of his own? At this, he breaks out laughing. ‘Of course not! This is my pool!’


Sunday, June 14, 2015
The Our City Festival was a huge success! What started in 2008 as a small film festival in the back of Busboys and Poets restaurant has turned into a huge three-day event taking over downtown Washington, D.C. This year's festival, which happened last weekend (June 5-7), included live musical performances, dance parties, art installations, poetry, food trucks, and, of course, films. KRPR teamed up with the D.C. Public Library to co-present this festival and plans to bring it back next year. Interested in learning more, please visit www.theourcityfestival.com, and check out these great photos and videos below.
Posted by Kendra Rubinfeld at 2:19 PM


The world of gambling and the underworld of organized crime have shared a long and complex history, intertwining in a dance that spans decades. From the glamorous casinos of Las Vegas to the smoky backrooms of underground gambling dens, the connection between the gambling world and the mob world has been a recurring theme in both reality and fiction. In this article, we’ll delve into the intricate relationship between these two worlds, exploring the historical ties, notable figures, and the enduring impact on the landscape of gaming.
1. Prohibition Era and the Birth of Casinos:
The early 20th century, marked by Prohibition in the United States (1920-1933), created fertile ground for the intersection of gambling and organized crime. With the ban on alcohol, illicit enterprises sought alternative revenue streams, and many turned to gambling operations as a lucrative venture. The mob saw an opportunity to fill the void left by legal restrictions, establishing speakeasies that often included hidden gambling rooms.
2. Bugsy Siegel and the Birth of Las Vegas:
The connection between the mob and the gambling world reached new heights with the rise of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel. In the 1940s, Siegel envisioned transforming the desert oasis of Las Vegas into a thriving resort city. Backed by mob financing, he played a pivotal role in the development of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, which became the prototype for the modern Las Vegas Strip. Siegel’s vision marked a turning point, solidifying the mob’s influence on the burgeoning casino industry.
3. The Rat Pack and Casino Culture:
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Rat Pack, led by figures like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., became synonymous with the glamour and excitement of Las Vegas. While the Rat Pack members were not directly involved in organized crime, their association with casino culture further blurred the lines between entertainment and the mob. The Rat Pack’s performances in iconic venues like the Sands Hotel contributed to the romanticized image of Las Vegas as a playground for both celebrities and the underworld.
4. Skimming and Control of Casinos:
One of the key ways the mob exerted influence over casinos was through a practice known as skimming. Skimming involved diverting a portion of a casino’s profits before they were officially recorded. The mob would install individuals with ties to organized crime as casino employees, allowing them to siphon off money without detection. This control over the financial aspects of casinos provided a significant source of revenue for organized crime families.
5. The Stardust Scandal:
The Stardust Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas became embroiled in a high-profile skimming scandal in the 1970s. Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, a notorious figure associated with the Chicago Outfit, managed the Stardust. The skimming operation, orchestrated by Rosenthal and others, was eventually exposed, leading to legal repercussions. This event, dramatized in the film “Casino” (1995), highlighted the extent of mob involvement in the casino industry.
6. Decline of Mob Influence:
Over the years, increased law enforcement scrutiny and regulatory measures led to a decline in direct mob control over the casino industry. The Nevada Gaming Control Board, established in 1955, played a pivotal role in regulating and monitoring the activities of casinos, minimizing the influence of organized crime. While remnants of the mob’s historical involvement still linger, the modern casino industry operates under stricter regulations and oversight.
7. Fictional Portrayals:
The connection between the gambling world and the mob has been a recurring theme in popular culture. Films like “The Godfather” trilogy (1972-1990), “Goodfellas” (1990), and “Casino” (1995) have immortalized the symbiotic relationship between organized crime and the casino industry. These cinematic portrayals, while often dramatized for entertainment, capture the essence of the historical connection between the two worlds.
8. Contemporary Challenges:
While the overt influence of the mob on the casino industry has diminished, contemporary challenges persist. Money laundering, loan sharking, and other illicit activities continue to pose threats to the integrity of the gambling world. Casinos, cognizant of the historical pitfalls, invest heavily in security measures and cooperate with law enforcement to maintain a legitimate and regulated environment.
The historical connection between the gambling world and the mob world is a complex tapestry woven with threads of ambition, glamour, and crime. From the early days of Prohibition-era speakeasies to the rise of iconic Las Vegas resorts, the relationship between organized crime and the casino industry has shaped both the narrative of American history and the cultural mythology surrounding gambling. While the days of blatant mob control have largely passed, the echoes of this intricate dance still resonate in the contemporary challenges faced by the gambling world. As casinos continue to evolve and adapt, the legacy of their tumultuous past remains an indelible part of their narrative.


The funeral of Ash Grant will be held at 1:30pm this Friday the 23rd of March at Pluim Park, Lisarow. Seating will be in the main grandstand, with standing room on the hills adjacent. Ash's family has asked everyone attending to wear their local club shirts or polo's to celebrate Ash's life and the impact he has made across football on the Central Coast.
Ash's impact on the football community has been huge over more than 40 years and his passing leaves a massive hole. We would like to pass on our condolences to his family and friends. He will be missed enormously but never forgotten. Rest in Peace Ash.
(Photos and text courtesy of Central Coast Football)


Project News Updates
We aim to produce a monthly update to keep all our current and potential future members informed of our progress. You can click on the menu and download the monthly bulletins in pdf format.
The project is featured on the official Manchester United web site and can be viewed here.
Below are the highlights of an interview with Ken Livermore, the Engine 61662 Project Leader conducted by Manchester United TV outside their home ground, Old Trafford during the summer of 2012. Ken dropped in during his cycle marathon from Lands End to John O'Groats to discuss the project with representatives from the club.
Mark Wylie, the Manchester United museum curator was presented with a print of the locomotive for his office.


1979 Avco Embassy
Phantasm has been one of my favorite horror movies since I first saw it in 1979. One of the things I love the most about it is its originality and the strange atmosphere that permeates every scene. I don’t know how writer and director Don Coscarelli managed to do it but he made one of the creepiest horror movies of all time on a shoestring budget with some seriously wacked out story elements.
Just look at the story – After one of their friends dies three guys discover someone is stealing bodies at the Morningside Funereal Home, not only stealing them but resurrecting them and shrinking them down into little demented dwarves. These dwarves are then stuffed into barrels and shipped off to another world through a portal that resembles a giant tuning fork. Guarding the hallways of Morningside are flying chrome spheres that drill into their victims heads and drain their blood. Meanwhile the mysterious Tall Man rules over all this insanity.
Sounds totally absurd huh? Damn right it does but like I said for some reason it works. Maybe it’s the cast, not great actors, but likable in a real world guys you have a beer with kind of way? Maybe it’s the cheaply built but extremely effective Morningside sets? Maybe it’s the Italian horror vibe or the awesome music score? I believe it’s all of the above but most of all it’s the mystery. None of this weirdness is ever explained. Not in this movie or in any of the three sequels. There are hints of possible explanations but nothing definite, no concrete answers to what the hell is going on and that to me is a big part of what makes this movie work. It’s like having a strange nightmare that you know is a nightmare but is still disturbing long after you wake up.
The cast. It’s hard to believe but these guys played these characters from 1978 to 1998 with only a ridiculous recast in the second sequel spoiling the continuity.
This movie “feels” like an Italian horror movie to me. I know the director was influenced by them and he really captures the otherworldly atmosphere that oozes from Italian horror perfectly. The sets and lighting, music score, weird plot elements, and over the top gore add to that feeling immensely.
The not so good:
Jody’s “Never shoot a man unless you mean to kill him.” speech to Mike cracks me up every time I watch this. Jody makes it sound like he gets into gunfights on a regular basis.
It would have been nice to have just a little more explanation of what is going on.
Random thoughts and observations:
So the Tall Man is disguised as the Lady in Lavender having “relations” with Tommy? So does that mean that the Tall Man actually had sex with Tommy before killing him? Kinky.
What is up with the ending? The ending and various story elements have been debated endlessly by Phans of this movie. It all adds to the weirdness and can be interpreted in many ways. According to interviews I have read Don Coscarelli never intended to make a sequel so really had no explanation in mind when making this movie.


Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Remembering Patriots Day
I turned on the radio yesterday afternoon to hear there had been two explosions at the Boston Marathon. The first report I heard said they were thought to be electrical related, but as I changed the station, words can't even begin to describe the shock I felt as I then heard it had been two bombs. I've known many who have participated in this race as runners, and so many more that make it a day trip to go into the city.
Of course the Boston Marathon has been an event to watch around here for as long as I can remember, tuning in during the afternoon to see who will win. Also, having grown up so close to Concord, Lexington and Boston it's always invoked a feeling of pride to be so closely connected to the birth of our country. I love walking around those old paths, standing on the Old North Bridge, looking at the Lexington Green, and visiting the homes of the families who were so brave in those early days of our nation.
I am grateful that friends and family who were nearby when these explosions took place are safe and sound, but truly I'm at a loss to say much more about the events of yesterday, except the victims of this attack will be first and foremost in my mind today, and many more days to come.


A series of events has led to the Commonwealth of Australia attempting to recover damages from the bio pharma company, Sanofi-Aventis, to the tune of $60 million. Depending on the final outcome this could be of significance to both drug originator companies seeking to enforce or defend their pharmaceutical patents and to generic companies seeking to challenge a patent or otherwise to gain entry of their generic product to the market prior to expiry of a relevant patent.
Sanofi was the registered owner of Australian Patent no. 597784 (the clopidogrel patent) which included claims having within their scope the anti-clotting agent, clopidogrel (sold to the market as PLAVIX). PLAVIX was a true blockbuster drug product for Sanofi. A competitor, Apotex Pty Ltd (previously known as GenRx Pty Ltd), wanted to introduce a generic equivalent of clopidogrel into the Australian market and, as part of this process, commenced proceedings seeking revocation of the clopidogrel patent. Sanofi, in response, cross claimed that Apotex’s proposed actions would constitute an infringement. Sanofi, in trying to protect their market position, additionally sought an interlocutory injunction preventing Apotex from entering the market and obtained this along with certain undertakings provided by Apotex. In return Sanofi provided typical undertakings that it would submit to any cost order the court may direct to compensate any parties ultimately shown to have been adversely affected by the injunction.
The real significance of this ‘dance’ between the drug originator (Sanofi) and the generic manufacturer (Apotex) relates to an aspect of the Australian healthcare system. The Australian government subsidises access to approved medications via a system known as the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) whereby a portion of the drug’s cost is borne by the government, and the patient pays the remainder to improve patient access. To ensure a level of price competitiveness within the system, the PBS has a policy whereby when a cheaper equivalent, such as a generic version of a brand name drug, is available then the government immediately reduces the subsidy it will pay by 16%. Importantly, this price drop is irreversible even if the generic entry is subsequently removed from the market due to, for example, patent infringement. Thus this issue forms the core of many interlocutory injunction and patent dispute cases in the pharmaceutical sector.
Relating this to the facts of the current case, Sanofi’s prevention of Apotex’s entry to the market with their generic PLAVIX meant that the Australian government continued to pay a premium price for the drug. Had the courts not granted the interlocutory injunction, the Apotex generic equivalent would have been introduced to the market and would have reduced the government’s costs by 16%.
In the revocation court case Sanofi won at trial, but an appeal subsequently ruled in favour of Apotex, and an application for special leave to the appeal to the High Court was refused. Ultimately, the clopidogrel patent was therefore revoked on inventive step grounds. Apotex then sought compensation from Sanofi for their loss of profits for the duration of the interlocutory injunction. This matter was settled outside of court with the settlement sum not being publicly disclosed.
However, the Australian government then took the highly unusual step of seeking compensation from Sanofi for the loss of savings it was entitled to during the interlocutory injunction period. Effectively the government asked to be reimbursed the savings it calculated it would have made had Apotex not been blocked from entering the market and thereby triggering the 16% price reduction. The government has stated that it “alleges it has suffered financial loss in excess of $60 million as a result of Apotex being prevented by the various interlocutory orders and undertakings from achieving a listing for its clopidogrel products under the PBS. Most of the Commonwealth’s loss is said to flow from statutory price reductions and price disclosure reductions that would have occurred had Apotex not been the subject of the relevant interlocutory restraints.”
Sanofi is fighting the government’s damages claim and in a recent decision raised an interesting ground in its defence. Sanofi will argue that even if Apotex had been allowed to list its generic clopidogrel on the PBS, Apotex would not have been able complete this task without infringing on the copyright of the PLAVIX product information and consumer medicine information documents. Sanofi’s argument is that it is unreasonable for the government to claim damages resulting from an action which would have been an infringement of Sanofi’s intellectual property.
While it will be interesting to see how Sanofi’s copyright infringement defence plays out in court, the Australian government’s unusual damages claim has potentially wider reaching effects in the pharmaceutical space. The possibility of a damages claim by the government should make the patentee of a patent covering a PBS reimbursed drug think twice about seeking an interlocutory injunction if early evidence on any wider revocation action indicates a real likelihood of revocation. If the patent is ultimately shown to be invalid, and it could be argued the patentee should have reasonably known this at the outset, then the patentee may be asked to pay compensation to the government. Clearly this becomes more likely for highly prescribed or high cost medicines where the quantum of damages is enough to interest the government.
Finally, for generic drug companies seeking to enter the market in light of an existing patent, then this scenario may provide them with a further means to apply pressure during settlement negotiations with the patentee, especially if the relevant patent is approaching its expiry and reasonable questions can be raised regarding its likely validity.
For more information about pharmaceutical patents and other intellectual property protection contact us at email@example.com or +61 (0)7 3011 2200. You can also follow all of our news updates at www.linkedin.com/company/fisher-adams-kelly


Welcome to another edition of the report on the Atlanta Braves farm system by the team at Last Word on Baseball! This week was a busy one with three players receiving a call to join the big league club! Pitcher Lucas Sims and 2B Ozzie Albies both made their Atlanta debuts this week while Max Fried was called up to work out of Atlanta’s bullpen. Lefty Andrew Albers is the Player of the Week after recording 15 shutout innings over two starts. (Prospect rankings listed in parenthesis. All rankings taken from MLB.com’s 2017 Atlanta Braves Top-30 Prospects list. Also be sure to check out LWOB’s mid-season top-20 list of Braves Prospects.)
Weekly Atlanta Braves Farm Report: Ozzie Albies Debuts in Atlanta
Sims (19th) made his MLB debut Tuesday against the Dodgers. It was a tall task for the young righty, but Sims performed well. He did take the loss, but he finished six innings with six hits, three earned runs, and three strikeouts without issuing a walk. Albies (second) also made his debut alongside Sims against the Dodgers. He has appeared in five games so far with mixed results. Albies is batting .143/.333/.357 with three runs scored and three RBI. His first hit was a three-run home run in a losing effort, but Albies looks well on his way in MLB. Fried (10th) was promoted on Saturday but did not make an appearance out of the bullpen.
Gwinnett Braves (Triple-A)
The Gwinnett Braves posted a record of 2-4 this week. Gwinnett’s offense scored two or fewer runs four time this week. The southpaw Albers (unranked) was nearly untouchable. Albers picked up a win this week with 15 innings pitched, 11 hits, no earned runs allowed, 13 strikeouts, and one walk. Luiz Gohara’s (eighth) second start in Gwinnett went much better. The big lefty completed six innings with five hits, one earned run, one walk, and eight strikeouts. He is putting together quite a season across three different levels.
The legend of outfielder Ronald Acuna (first) continues to grow. The young outfielder went 9-for-21 with two RBI and three runs scored this week. Acuna has thrown common sense to the wind as he has improved his numbers at virtually every stop this season. He is now slashing .341/.426/.580 with a 1.005 OPS, four home runs, and 16 runs scored at Gwinnett. Acuna has even seen some time as Gwinnett’s leadoff man since the departure of Albies to Atlanta.
Mississippi Braves (Double-A)
The Mississippi Braves suffered a tough week going winless in eight tries. Mississippi is now 11 games back and looks like a long shot to return to the playoffs this year. Touki Toussaint (15th) posted a strong start in his first Double-A appearance with six innings pitched, four hits, two unearned runs, and four strikeouts. Tyler Pike (unranked) ended the week with a quality outing. Pike went six innings with two unearned runs on five hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts.
Catcher Alex Jackson (17th) is off to a slow start in Double-A. Jackson has just two hits over his first seven games with a double, an RBI, two runs scored, and 11 strikeouts in 23 at-bats. He posted strong numbers at Advanced-A, and it is likely just a transition phase for the power-hitting catcher. One cause for concern is the number of strikeouts early on for Jackson. Third baseman Austin Riley (11th) is starting to find his footing in Mississippi. He had eight hits this week which brought his average up to .256 with a .304 OBP, three home runs, and nine runs scored.
Florida Fire Frogs (Advanced-A)
The Florida Fire Frogs went 2-3 this week. Consistent results have still eluded the Fire Frogs as they sit with a season record of 38-64. 2017 draft pick Kyle Wright (fourth) made his Advanced-A debut this week. The righty threw two shutout innings without allowing a hit and recording one strikeout. The short outing is to be expected for Wright this season after a heavy workload at Vanderbilt. Still, it is good to see solid results from the young pitcher.
Speedster Anfernee Seymour (25th) recorded his first Fire Frogs home run and logged a hit in all four games he played this week. Catcher Brett Cumberland (27th) raised his batting average in Florida to .301 with five hits, two doubles, and three RBI. His now hitting .301/.397/.407 over his first 34 games in Florida.
Rome Braves (Single-A)
The Rome Braves posted an undefeated week with a record of 7-0. The team finished the week on a 10-game win streak to pull them within four games of the Charleston RiverDogs for a postseason appearance. The staple of Rome’s play is yet again a strong pitching staff. Lefty Joey Wentz (ninth) was the star this week with two strong starts. Wentz picked up two wins with a combined line of 14 innings pitched, five hits, three earned runs, two walks, and 17 strikeouts. He now holds a 2.43 ERA with 124 strikeouts to just 33 walks in 107.1 innings pitched. Bryse Wilson (22nd) also picked up a win this week with six strikeouts in six shutout innings.
Catcher/first baseman Drew Lugbauer (unranked) responded well to a promotion from Danville. Lugbauer jumped out of the gate in Rome with eight hits, three doubles, a triple, two RBI, and six runs scored in his first five games. Lugbauer was an 11th round draft pick for the Braves out of the University of Michigan. He is slugging .576 in 34 games over two levels for the Braves. A natural catcher, Lugbauer has been playing at first for Rome with Lucas Herbert (unranked) serving as Rome’s everyday catcher.
Danville Braves (Rookie Level)
The Danville Braves had a strong week with a record of 5-1. They are now above .500 for the season with a record of 23-20. Lefty Kyle Muller (13th) went four innings and allowed three hits, two earned runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. Fellow southpaw Jaret Hellinger (unranked) threw five innings of two-hit, one-run ball to pick up his second win of 2017.
Outfielder Drew Waters (20th) posted seven hits with three RBI and two runs scored this week. He is now slashing .258/.355/.333 in Danville. SS Kevin Maitan (sixth) has continued to slump a bit with just two hits on the week and a .205 average and 13 strikeouts over his past 10 games. Waters and Maitan are competing at 18- and 17-years old respectively. The fact they have made it to Danville at this point is impressive enough. The results will come in time.
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Weekly Update - Game Over? Not yet...
In late April, the Bank of Canada (BoC) was the first to move when it announced the tapering of its asset purchases from C$4bn per week to C$3bn. It justified this move by pointing to a dramatic upgrade in its forecasts – in January it had expected first quarter (Q1) GDP to fall by -0.6% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) whereas growth is now forecast at 1.6%, thanks to vigorous fiscal support in the face of the latest wave of infections. This takes 2021 growth estimates to 6.5% from only 4% in January and the BoC now expects that by H2 2022, all economic slack will have been absorbed and inflation will be sustainably around its 2% target.
At its meeting in early May, the Bank of England (BoE) made no changes to policy settings, keeping its policy rate at 0.1% and holding the total size of its asset purchase programme steady at £895bn. Like the BoC, the BoE revised its 2021 growth forecasts higher, to +7.25% versus its previous +5% estimate. This means that GDP will be back to pre-crisis levels by Q4 this year, a quarter earlier than previously thought, thanks to faster consumption of pent-up demand. And, like the BoC, the BoE announced it would reduce the weekly pace of its asset purchases, from £4.44bn to £3.44bn. In his statement to the markets, BoE governor Bailey went out of his way to emphasise that this was a mechanical change rather than a signal that policy is being tightened. The BoE had fixed a £190bn envelope for asset purchases this year, implying as £3.7bn weekly rate – by reducing the weekly pace, Bailey is simply spreading the remaining purchases out evenly over the rest of the year. This explanation is borne out by the bank’s longer-term forecasts for GDP growth – 2022 has been cut from 7.25% to 5.75% and 2023 left unchanged at a modest 1.25%.
The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Federal Reserve (Fed) show no sign of following suit however. The ECB announced that it would accelerate the pace of asset purchases in Q2 given the perceived tightening in monetary conditions and, indeed, the weekly pace of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme buying has accelerated by 33% since Easter reaching €25.3bn. The US Fed has stuck to its monthly target of $120bn in purchases despite the recent string of stronger confidence data – for example, the March Institute of Supply Management survey of manufacturers hit a 37-year high, before easing back in April. Recent statements from Fed decision-makers have been consistent. Although the economic outlook has brightened, there is still a long way to go before the Fed tightens – one fifth of the workforce in the lower income categories is still unemployed and the Fed remains convinced that this year’s spike in inflation will prove transitory. These views were given some weight by the April payroll data – observers were disappointed to see only 266,000 new jobs added and the unemployment rate edging up to 6.1%.
Bottom line. We continue to expect a solid cyclical recovery in activity in the second half, in particular in Europe. However, we do not expect a lasting pick-up in inflation – output gaps remain very wide, the global labour market still has enormous slack and structural disinflationary forces (such as aging demographics and innovative technologies) have not disappeared. In this context, central banks are likely to keep policy very accommodative, which should continue to support risk appetite