Tag Archives: America

Best places to visit in the US for couples

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There are some couple’s goals that a lot of couples love to carry out some of which include travelling around the world together. There is always a special feeling when you explore different places around the world with your partner. Although finding a perfect place that will suit your different interests is another problem and a lot of couples tend to cancel several trips because they could not come up with a perfect destination. To solve this problem, you need to write a list of places that could be considered. You should know that several places may be suitable for a couple’s trip. Also, your mission will determine your choice of destination. There are other factors that you should consider as they will do a long way in determining how your vacation will go and some of these factors include economy, cash at hand, different attractions present, level of development, and season of the year. The U.S is one of the best places you could consider when it comes to vacation. The country has several cities and towns that bring different people from different part of the world. There are numerous sightseeing locations and landmarks that will make your trip a memorable one. Also, there are standard hotels, good restaurants, and different parks that will make you want to visit the country again. The good part of visiting the U.S is that you will be entertained by different events no matter when and where you are visiting; there are perfect locations for couples and singles. You will be the one to choose where you want as several amazing places will suit your interest. You will also meet different people that have come 2 explore some of the amazing things in the country; therefore, always feel free to explore the US maximally. Below are some of the places you should consider as a couple visiting the U.S;

New York City – this is one of the cities to consider whenever you are planning to explore the U.S with your partner. It is one of the most visited cities in the country because of the various landmarks and sightseeing locations that invite people to do City. You will always enjoy your time because you will be entertained by various events ranging from Sports, music, and other exacting events. There are amazing restaurants that serve different American dishes and other dishes from every part of the world making it very easy for visitors to find their local foods. To enjoy your stay here, you should explore every part of the city if you have the time.

You and your partner must be found worthy before you can get access to enter the U.S at the port of entry. A perfect way to solve this is by researching all the documents needed by individuals traveling to the states. The documents may be different based on one’s mission in the country. Getting useful information before applying for any of the documents is essential as well because, without accurate information, you may get the wrong documents which may prevent you and your partner from going to the US. To travel to the states, you will need the esta only if you are from one of the Visa waiver program countries and if not you, will need an American visa. ESTA travel can play a vital role of a visa only if one is eligible for an ESTA. Therefore, you should confirm your eligibility to know if you are eligible to apply for the document. The advantage of being eligible for an esta is that you will be exempt from the visa interview and the stress of applying for a visa. There are several places you could visit in the US if you are with the right documents. The international passport is another crucial document that you must possess right from your home country. This will contain all your personal information needed to enter the U.S at the port of entry. You should know that the US does not joke with criminals and crimes; thus, any mistake from you could lead to deportation. Always be a good representative of your country and never allow anything to put you in trouble. Carry out the ESTA usa check before applying for an American visa as this could save you a lot of money and stress. Try to find out if you will need other documents like the police report, the driver’s license and other essential documents to be on a safer side

Savannah – this is a city in the state of Georgia, a good destination for couples that fall in love with nature. There are different species of plants that make the city more beautiful. You will find different restaurants that provide top-notch services of which you can enjoy as well. Try to explore every part of the city with your partner to save good memories together.

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We Know All About You: The Story of Surveillance in Britain and America Book Review

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weknowallaboutyoubookreviewWe Know All About You: The Story of Surveillance in Britain and America by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones.

Privacy has become a big issue. Everything we do on the internet is tracked and even the NHS sells our records. We Know All About You is a book which charts the history of surveillance. From the first ID cards- given to slaves for passage- to McCarthyism and blacklists, and then Snowden and the NHS. A lot of it is shocking, if not surprising. The information of corporate blacklists that ruins workers lives is sad and damning. The real surprise comes from private surveillance however. I think most people are aware of times the government has abused its power, but private detectives and private video cameras are more popular than ever. In fact, most of the cameras around George Orwell’s home were put there by private citizens. Surveillance is bigger than ever before and it is mostly used to sell us something. It is all rather depressing and in my opinion there is no such thing as privacy anymore. We Know All About You is a brilliant and well-researched book. Entertaining and engaging, it tells the story of surveillance, a subject that could have been dull, in a compelling way. Highly recommended.

We Know All About You shows how bulk spying came of age in the nineteenth century, and supplies the first overarching narrative and interpretation of what has happened since, covering the agencies, programs, personalities, technology, leaks, criticisms and reform. Concentrating on America and Britain, it delves into the roles of credit agencies, private detectives, and phone-hacking journalists as well as government agencies like the NSA and GCHQ, and highlights malpractices such as the blacklist and illegal electronic interceptions. It demonstrates that several presidents – Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon – conducted political surveillance, and how British agencies have been under a constant cloud of suspicion for similar reasons.

We Know All About You continues with an account of the 1970s leaks that revealed how the FBI and CIA kept tabs on anti-Vietnam War protestors, and assesses the reform impulse that began in America and spread to Britain. The end of the Cold War further undermined confidence in the need for surveillance, but it returned with a vengeance after 9/11. The book shows how reformers challenged that new expansionism, assesses the political effectiveness of the Snowden revelations, and offers an appraisal of legislative initiatives on both sides of the Atlantic.

Micro-stories and character sketches of individuals ranging from Pinkerton detective James McParlan to recent whisteblowers illuminate the book. We Know All About You confirms that governments have a record of abusing surveillance powers once granted, but emphasizes that problems arising from private sector surveillance have been particularly neglected.

We Know All About You: The Story of Surveillance in Britain and America is available here.

Potentially Hazardous Nanoparticles Found in Powdered Baby Formula

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Very important information for our American cousins who have children.

Nanoparticles linked to potential health hazards were found in popular powdered baby formula products, according to a first-of-its-kind report released today. Scientists found unlabeled and under regulated nanotechnologies in six out of six formulas tested, including Gerber, Enfamil, Similac and Well Beginnings products currently on store shelves.

Friends of the Earth’s report, “Nanoparticles in Baby Formula: Tiny new ingredients are a big concern,” details new findings from independent lab research and compiles data from health impact studies on nanoparticles. Nano-sized structures and particles of potential concern were found in all six of the baby formulas tested, including: nano-hydroxyapatite (nano HA) in needle-like and non needle-like form, nano titanium dioxide (TiO2), and nano silicon dioxide (SiO2) (the nano TiO2 and SiO2 results demonstrated possible presence).

“This technology is moving from the lab to the marketplace without sufficient regulation, safety assessment and labeling,” said lead report author, Ian Illuminato, health and environment campaigner with Friends of the Earth. “It’s of real concern that these tiny particles are used in hundreds of consumer products, and now in infant formula, with minimal to no oversight. Companies and regulators must take extra care with a product fed to the most vulnerable among us.”

“Few health impacts studies have been done upon nanoparticles. Yet we have concerns about potential health impacts,” commented Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, with the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. “Some nanoparticles are ‘needle-like’ in structure. This is concerning. We don’t know if they can possibly penetrate cell walls and migrate to other parts of the body, or cause harm when inhaled. The problem is, there hasn’t been enough research to suggest that using the types of nanoparticles found in  this infant formula study  is absolutely safe.”

Mark Mitchell, MD, MPH, chair of the National Medical Association’s Commission on Environmental Health agreed. “We know that our federal and state chemical regulatory systems are broken and have failed to protect our patients from illness resulting from product ingredients introduced into the marketplace before adequate health studies have been conducted. Babies’ bodies are developing and can be especially vulnerable to exposures from hazardous materials. As a physician working with low income communities and communities of color, I am concerned that this new information on powdered baby formula may indicate disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations.”

“The failure of FDA to protect infants and mothers from the presence of potentially harmful nanoparticles in baby formula is mystifying,” said Lynn Kersey, executive director of Maternal and Child Health Access. “I know that not all powdered baby formula was tested, but the presence of these nanoparticles in these specific products is concerning to those of us working with low income families who may be more likely to use powdered formula. This means potentially disproportionate impacts on low income people and families of color.”

Lisa Archer, director of the Food & Technology Program at Friends of the Earth and herself a mother, wants federal agencies to protect the public: “Like many parents and caregivers, I had to feed my child formula. I am outraged that these poorly studied, virtually unregulated and unlabeled nanomaterials are present in infant formula when there are suitable non-nano ingredients that have been used for decades and don’t carry the same risks. The FDA must act immediately to put a moratorium on the use of nanomaterials in formula and other food until they can be proven safe, and are regulated and labeled. In the meantime, formula companies must immediately commit to not use these materials.”

Gerber is owned by Nestle, Enfamil is own by Mead Johnson, Similac is owned by Abbot Laboratories, and Well Beginnings is owned by Walgreens.

Friends of the Earth and eight other groups have sent letters to the FDA urging immediate removal of formulas with nanomaterials and for a moratorium on the use of these materials in formula until safety assessment, oversight and labeling are established. They also sent a letter to OSHA advocating for better protection of workers who may be exposed to nanomaterials. A letter was also sent to formula companies demanding that they stop using nanomaterials in absence of safety assessment, regulation and labeling. Advocates are urging consumers to sign a petition demanding this action from companies.

For more information on nanotechnology, visit www.foe.org/nanotechnology/

 

baby, shared parental leave, feminism, equality, childcare, leave, maternal, work, working mothers, lean in

“Obama Out” President Obama Makes Brilliant Final White House Correspondents’ Dinner Speech

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%22Obama Out%22 President Obama Makes Brilliant Final White House Correspondents' Dinner Speech

Everyone who knows me knows I am a huge President Obama fan. I have read his books and I enjoy his speeches. I think he is the best President of my lifetime so far: progressive, intelligent, compassionate, witty, moral and articulate. Obama will be sorely missed and his speech at his final White House Correspondents’ dinner did not help. From the mic drop to the jokes, it was perfection. Goodbye Obama, I will miss you.

 

Why American People Love Donald Trump By Beate Chelette

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Why American People Love Trump By Beate Chelette

Credit: wikipedia 

At her lowest point, Beate Chelette was $135,000 in debt, a single mother, and forced to leave her home. Only 18 months later, she sold her image licensing business to Bill Gates in a multimillion dollar deal. Chelette is a nationally known ‘gender decoder,’ respected speaker, career coach, consummate entrepreneur, and author of Happy Woman Happy World. Beate is also the founder of The Women’s Code, a unique guide to women leadership and personal and career success that offers a new code of conduct for today’s business, private, and digital worlds.

 

The last few months have left me dazed and confused as to why the American people love Donald Trump. I’ve written about it, I’ve unfriended Facebook friends who asked me to endorse him, and I’ll admit I have even learned a few marketing tricks from his campaign.

 

By anyone’s playbook, Trump is a bully, a narcissist, a misogynist, and a racist. Plus, he’s attracting dangerous followers like members of the Ku Klux Klan. Even his right-hand salute was compared to Hitler’s hand gesture. Despite his politically incorrect behavior and self-bravado, again and again Trump comes out on top.

 

American people are loving Trump in record numbers. Why?

 

What we are seeing now is a passionate rift between those who like Trump for his brashness, and those who fear what could happen to our country with a man like him in power. This is what prompted me to take a deeper look at what exactly Trump says that resonates with Americans. It didn’t click until I read Thomas Frank’s article, which you can find here.

 

At the very bottom of this election sits a deep-rooted dissatisfaction with our systems. Let’s go through the list of what wiped out the American middle class and the hard-working, blue collar employee who used to be able to support his family.

 

  • We were told our children need college degrees. With rising tuition, shorter classes, more requirements, and schedules that keep our kids in school an average of one year longer, the stress of such an education puts families in debt, often for life.

 

  • The promised land of gainful employment that a college degree guarantees may as well be Shangri-La. In my daughter’s circle of friends, the picture is dire. They are disillusioned, unemployed or working less than part time, living at home, and fighting over minimum wage jobs just to stay afloat. One friend shares a single waitressing job with a woman who used to be a manager until her company laid off their middle-aged women.

 

  • Parents put a second mortgage on their homes to support their kids. If they were able to hold on to their houses during the big recession, they still have a long way to being mortgage-free. Many will die in debt. Parents used to be able to lean on their children for financial support in their later years, but now their children don’t have any money to spare. The slide into poverty seems inevitable.

 

  • Healthcare is out of control. How is it possible that an outpatient procedure like an Epidural  that lasts 10 minutes can put you back $15-25,000? Insane deductibles and co-pays add to the issues. Can anyone actually afford to get sick? If you do, you could be paying back those expenses for the rest of your life.

 

  • Corporations are under pressure. Americans can’t afford to buy as much now that production jobs have been outsourced to cheap labor countries like China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Fewer jobs at home means less disposable income for Americans. Suddenly, organizations are in trouble and the middle class is wiped out. Right now you want to be either young with a great, sexy idea that disrupts the market, or already financially set for life. If you are anywhere in the middle, you are screwed.

 

  • When this country was doing well we opened the borders, as Reagan did, to invite farm workers. It made sense because we needed cheap laborers to do the less desirable jobs that we don’t want to do. We are college educated, after all. This works great when things are good. It falls apart when there are no jobs in the middle for Americans; the top and the bottom are already occupied.

 

And this is where Trump comes in.

 

People are tired of losing. They are afraid the little they have left could be lost at any moment. And who isn’t disgusted when a CEO gets fired and is given a multimillion dollar parting gift bonus? Trump nails these pains and fears and dissatisfactions. He promises to be the bully who will shake things up. He has no problem blackmailing, negotiating, or forcing the other side to relent to his wishes. And why wouldn’t they? He’s the Almighty Trump and this is his track record. Truly, he has no plan other than to “change it.”

 

The American people support Trump because they want to send a message to the system. This is his appeal. Trump will tell the establishments what we want to tell them ourselves, and Americans believe the establishments will listen to a bully.

 

The bank bailout did nothing for the people, or so we believe. Of course, we didn’t live through the outcome of not providing the bailout, so we don’t really know how bad it could have been if banks were allowed to fold. What we now witness is the effect on our lives and the people around us. Like my girlfriend who lost her house at 62-years-old after battling with the bank for five years. The refinancing they offered was merely an extension of her debt. Total fail. She can’t get back on her feet financially, is such an emotional mess that she can’t focus on work, and the stress of her fight for survival has literally paralyzed her—she awoke one morning unable to move her left arm. There are millions of stories like my friend’s.

 

That is why Trump is so popular—he promises to be strong enough, independent enough, and crazy enough to take the system on. He will send a message to anyone, anywhere.

 

Who wouldn’t want that? In some ways I do, too. Let’s shake things up.

 

But then…

 

On the flipside, those amongst us who look into the future and carefully examine the past know this type of populism comes with great danger.

 

History shows that great fear leaders who understand pain-point marketing can rise to unprecedented heights. And once they are in power, they keep manipulating the system, like Putin, Hitler, Castro and many other dictators have done before. In the long run they can cause irreparable harm to a country and its people. And that worries me more than anything else.

 

 

 

The Diner, Ganton Street, London Review

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The Diner, Ganton Street, London ReviewThe 4th July menu – coined as the “gorge of July” by my accompanying colleague – is not elegant or pretty or petite, but that’s its huge selling point.

Generous portions with lashings of gooey cheese and chocolate leave you licking your fingers, wiping your mouth and hoping you don’t have to carry on a conversation while you’re trying to chomp your way through a man-size burger.

The Diner is right in the middle of tourist hotspot slash hippy-heaven Carnaby Street but it has a warm and homely feel to it as the walls are covered in mock wood cladding and American-style booth seating areas line the restaurant.

As part of the special Independence Day menu which will only be available on 4 July, we started off with the Frito pie – a bag of frito corn chips topped with beef chilli, sour cream, jalapeños and coriander.

It nestled inside a crisp-packet-like wrapper and we were told this was a popular snack ordered by American football fans during half-time.

The beef was tender and stringy, a bit like pulled pork and each mouthful had a real kick to it.

Next we sampled the Chicken skins – shredded BBQ chicken potato skins with Monterey Jack sour cream and jalapeno. Beautifully greasy, the potato skins were well done and the smokey chicken pieces complemented the cooling sour cream.

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The Diner, Ganton Street, London Reviewburger

For our mains, we had the Taco crunch burger – an 8oz brisket burger cooked pink (though the staff were accommodating when I asked for mine to be cooked a little more well done) with queso cheese sauce, crisp tortillas and caramelised onions.

Meaty and filling, the burger was a real hit with myself and my friend, and this dish seemed to have a Jewish influence as the brisket was topped with a lightly toasted brioche bun.
Apparently the chief operating officer at The Diner loves Jewish food after he was inspired by the cooking-style and recipes during a trip to Miami over the festival of Hanukah.

It was accompanied with a side of corn of the cob which was rolled in lime mayo, grated cheese and chilli powder and it’s spice tingled on my lips.

The Diner, Ganton Street, London Review4

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Just when we thought we couldn’t eat anymore, the dessert, or S’mores as it’s known, was bought out to our table.

The graham crackers were smothered with melted Nutella and marshmallow and again, there’s no lady-like way to eat this. It was sweet and warm and a great finish to our evening.

Indie Band Boy+Kite Wants To Marry You

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To celebrate the release of their two new singles “Either Way” and “Turned Sideways”, indie quartet Boy+Kite will host pop-up wedding events around the U.S., kicking off in late September.

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The on-the-spot weddings are open to all couples that want to tie the knot without all the fuss. The officiant, cake, and champagne are included in your ticket, along with Boy+Kite, who will be there to serenade you and your true love on the big day.

For more information, go to http://www.boypluskite.com

 

Hero Cat That Saved Boy Gives First Interview

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If you didn’t catch the video of hero cat, Tara, saving four-year-old Jeremy from a dog attack then you really are missing out. Watch it here and then watch Tara’s first interview with Jeremy. The event happened in Bakersfield, America.

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How cool and loving is that cat?