Myanmar, Marseille, New Zealand and Gettysburg are all on the travel radar for 2013

Lucky I've been to Myanmar two months ago. So, nexttrip : Ireland, NZ and France NEW YORK (AP) — Myanmar, Marseille, New Zealand and Gettysburg are all on the travel radar for 2013 thanks to new tours, events and anniversaries. But the best pitch for travel in the new year might just be coming from Ireland, which is running ads "calling all Flynns, O'Malleys and Schweizenbergs" to the Emerald Isle for a unique grassroots homecoming called "The Gathering." Here are details on these and other places, events and travel trends for 2013. IRELAND'S THE GATHERING "It's a citizen-led initiative to attract people who are Irish-born, Irish-bred or Irish in spirit to join us in 2013," said Bernard McMullan of Tourism Ireland. "It's almost become a competition where one county, town or village tries to have as quirky a gathering as the next." More than 2,000 events are already planned, including events for redheads and left-handers as well as reunions based on family names and clans. The U.S. Census Bureau says 34.7 million Americans claim Irish ancestry, and Arabella Bowen, executive editorial director of Fodor's Travel, is one of them. Even President Barack Obama has an Irish ancestor in the family tree. "There are Irish people all over the world," said Bowen. "It will be great fun being able to connect with others going back for this event. It's like an entire year of St. Patrick's Day parties." MYANMAR President Obama's historic recent visit to Myanmar — the first ever by a sitting U.S. president — is adding to already heated-up interest in the country, which has only fully opened to tourism in the last few years. Fodor's Bowen says it's especially attractive to people who are already well traveled and are seeking that next unknown destination. Many tour companies are adding Myanmar trips due to demand and the U.S. Tour Operators Association's active members named Myanmar No. 1 on a list of "off-the-beaten path" countries they foresee becoming popular in 2013. NEW ZEALAND New Zealand received a huge boost in tourism from fans of "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy, and the release of the new movie "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is focusing attention on the destination once again. All four of the movies were filmed in New Zealand. MARSEILLE The French port city Marseille is one of two European capitals of culture in 2013, along with the Slovakian city of Kosice. Fodor's Bowen says Marseille "has been overlooked in the past" by a lot of travelers heading to the lavender fields and wineries of Provence, but she believes it's ripe for a "renaissance" with new hotels, art galleries and culinary hotspots. XL Airways France is launching direct flights from New York in late May. ANNIVERSARIES Several important anniversaries take place in 2013, with exhibits and events to mark them. —Gettysburg, Pa., is marking 150 years since the famous Civil War battle, which took place July 1-13, 1863. The town will also mark the sesquicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln's brief but brilliant 272-word speech, the Gettysburg Address, which he delivered Nov. 19, 1863 at the battlefield cemetery. Marquee events for the battle commemoration, including reenactments and tours, will take place June 28 to July 7, but there will be activities and programs throughout the year. On July 1, the new Seminary Ridge Museum opens in a building that was used as a soldiers' hospital. Union Gen. John Buford also used the structure's cupola to scout the countryside on the battle's first day. —Dallas plans a ceremony to mark 50 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, at the exact time and place where shots rang out: Dealey Plaza, Nov. 22, 12:25 p.m. The ceremony will begin with church bells tolling and a moment of silence, followed by a reading of Kennedy's speeches, songs, prayers and a military flyover. Special programming is also planned by many other sites, from the Newseum in Washington, D.C., to the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, located in a building where a sniper's nest and rifle were found following the shooting. —Saratoga, N.Y., is planning a May to September celebration with festivals and concerts marking the 150th anniversary of the race course, where watching the horses remains a fun and popular pastime. The town is also known for upscale eateries and lodging along with Saratoga Spa State Park, with its beautiful pools and natural springs. —New York City's Grand Central Terminal kicks off its centennial Feb. 1 with a rededication of the landmarked Beaux Arts station. Performances, lectures, exhibits and tours are planned throughout the year. —Florida is marking the state's 500th anniversary of European discovery and exploration, with events in all 67 counties. THEME PARKS Next summer will see the popular 3-D ride based on the "Transformers" movies opening at Universal's theme park in Orlando. "Transformers: The Ride — 3D" previously opened this past May at Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles. At Disneyland in California, spring will see the opening of Fantasy Faire, located at Fantasyland and dedicated to Disney heroes and heroines. At Disney World near Orlando, Fla., a new attraction called Princess Fairytale Hall, where guests can meet Disney princesses, is also scheduled to open in 2013. Princess Fairytale Hall will be located at the Magic Kingdom's New Fantasyland, which opened in early December, doubling the size of the original Fantasyland. Both parks are offering weekly surprises for guests as part of a yearlong 2013 program called Limited Time Magic. THE BEACH, POST-SANDY Superstorm Sandy destroyed beaches, boardwalks and waterfront attractions all along the mid-Atlantic coast. Many communities on the Jersey shore, the beloved pier in Ocean City, Md., and elsewhere are hoping to have infrastructure rebuilt by summer. On Coney Island, in Brooklyn, N.Y., the landmark Cyclone and Wonder Wheel rides are in good condition along with other amusement park attractions and are expected to reopen in spring as usual, along with the famous hot dog eatery Nathan's and the home stadium for the Cyclones minor league baseball team. The New York Aquarium at Coney has been closed due to damage from flooding but hopes to reopen some if not all exhibits by summer. HOTEL BOOKING TRENDS According to Anne Banas, executive editor of Smarter Travel, ever-increasing airfares and airline fees have forced travelers to focus on the other big-ticket item in vacation spending: Hotels. "It's all about hotels now and hotel deals," she said, adding that interest is skyrocketing in hotel booking sites, apps and membership-only sites. The vacation rental market is changing too, with more owners allowing people to book for a weekend of a few nights instead of the Sunday-to-Sunday week. Banas said sites like SniqueAway, Jetsetter and the Vacationist are becoming more popular "because you can get a more luxurious property for lower prices — you can stay at a four- or five-star hotel for the price of a three-star. But you have to be more flexible. You have to take what's being offered, which might be offseason or slow season." Another site, Tingo, "automatically rebooks you at a lower price if the price drops, and issues you a refund," Banas said. "Tingo does all the work. It's a nice passive way to save some money." Several new sites and apps offer highly discounted hotel rooms that can only be booked that night, including HotelTonight and Priceline's Tonight -Only Deals. "This is for two types of people — people who are really last-minute, flexible travelers, or people whose flight is canceled and they need a hotel tonight," Banas said. Jan Freitag of STR, which tracks hotel data, said mobile apps are becoming a "preferred travel booking tool" to the point where some travel startups are forgoing websites for app-only hotel booking models. LIFESTYLE TRENDS Ann Mack, director of Trendspotting at JWT, the advertising agency, is noting several trends for 2013 with implications for travelers. For the trend toward "intelligent things" — tech-enabled smart devices — one example offered by JWT is The Hop, a prototype suitcase that literally follows you around using a system based on sensors that track Bluetooth signals from a smartphone. JWT says another trend, the "Super Stress Era," will lead to ramped-up efforts to fight stress. Examples include the San Francisco International Airport's yoga room and the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport's 1.4-mile walking loop. ELSEWHERE —The George W. Bush Presidential Center opens in the spring on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. —In Nashville, the Johnny Cash Museum is expected to open in the spring. —American Express reports an emerging interest in safaris "beyond Africa," from "Borneo's orangutans to Cambodia's elephants, India's tigers to Indonesia's komodo dragons."

China's Reach

GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN, France (AP) — Life in this French village revolves around wine. The backyards of its tidy houses nurture the grapes that have made Burgundy famous the world over. At an auto repair shop, everyone seems to have an opinion about the recent sale of a local vineyard to a Macau casino magnate. "It's a piece of French heritage that's heading abroad," says mechanic Bertrand Babouhot. Across the road, rows of gnarled vines lead to the rundown chateau that was sold. "It's like selling the Eiffel Tower to the Americans." On the other side of the globe, farmer Margaret Peacock expresses similar outrage over the sale of 13 dairy farms in New Zealand's rural heartland to a wealthy property developer from Shanghai. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — This story is part of "China's Reach," a project tracking China's influence on its trading partners over three decades and exploring how that is changing business, politics and daily life. Keep up with AP's reporting on China's Reach, and join the conversation about it, using the hashtag (hash)APChinaReach on Twitter. ___ Such sentiments have long been directed at Americans and Japanese. Now it's China's turn, a sign that the new economic giant is beginning to usurp America's role as a leading trader and global investor. Crushing grapes in France and milking cows in New Zealand represent much more than ways to make a living. Both are traditions that cut to the core of cultural identity, forming part of a national heritage the French call "patrimoine." So when outsiders pay substantially above market rates to buy such assets, it often awakens deep feelings of unease. Many recognize that the foreigners are providing much-needed cash to often struggling industries, but they also fear losing a part of their country's soul and the intellectual capital that adds value to their economy. China's overseas investment totaled $67.6 billion last year, one sixth of America's $400 billion, and could reach $2 trillion by 2020, forecasts Rhodium Group, a New York research firm. While much money has poured into mining and other relatively anonymous businesses, Chinese investors have also set their sights on such iconic assets as automaker Volvo in Sweden, corner bars in Madrid and farmland in Argentina. Sometimes, as in Sweden, the investment is accepted in the face of few other serious offers for a struggling company. Under Chinese ownership, Volvo has added about 2,000 workers in Europe. Other times, as in New Zealand, the reaction is a lawsuit — even if the would-be buyer is rescuing a bankrupt farm. "If they want to buy land, they should come and live here and farm it themselves," Peacock says over a cup of tea. "Like the rest of us." It can be hard to distinguish where genuine concerns end and xenophobia begins. After all, China is just the latest in a long line of foreign buyers, but with a culture that many in the West find more alien than those that came before. Gevrey-Chambertin is the kind of French village where the waiter chastises diners who don't order a glass of locally made wine, even at a midweek lunch. So when Louis Ng Chi Sing purchased the thousand-year-old Chateau de Gevrey-Chambertin and some surrounding vineyards in May for 8 million euros ($10.5 million) it set off a firestorm. The 24-hour news channels descended on the village, and the national newspapers wrote up full-page stories chronicling the loss of a piece of France to "le Chinois," French for a Chinese person. Ng is actually from Hong Kong and works in Macau. While both are Chinese territories, their economies are measured separately from China's, so his vineyard purchase wouldn't be included in China's overseas investment. The backlash against him, though, is closely linked to China — as is his casino fortune. Mainland tourists, notably high-rollers who frequent flashy private rooms, have helped Macau overtake Las Vegas as the world's biggest gambling market. Grape growers in Gevrey-Chambertin say the price Ng paid is exorbitant and threatens their ability to keep their vineyards in family hands. Jean-Michel Guillon, who led a local bid to buy the chateau, says a state agency valued the estate at 3.5 million euros. His group first offered 4 million euros, then 5 million, but the Masson family, which has owned the estate for more than 150 years, refused. "They said, 'We want more, we want a million each,'" Guillon says in his cellar, surrounded by barrels of fermenting grape juice. "There are seven of them, so 7 million, minimum." In some ways, China has become a savior for some French vineyards, although few in France are willing to say that out loud. China is now a major buyer of wine, picking up the slack as sales to other countries slip. Indeed, China has become Bordeaux's largest export market. But Burgundy is not Bordeaux. It is inland, with smaller family farms and a stronger sense of tradition. People here have cherished their simple way of life for centuries. In an email, Ng, a serious wine collector and connoisseur, says it was the quiet, enduring traditions that first drew him to the Burgundy region and he promised not to ruin that. He describes his purchase of the chateau not as a business opportunity, but in the way most people explain why they bought their summer house. "While I can appreciate their concern to some extent, I honestly don't see my purchase would constitute the beginning of a radical change of an age-old tradition," he writes. Still, Guillon says that, because of China's reputation for counterfeit products, he worried that Ng would slap the Gevrey-Chambertin label on any old wine — though France has extensive protections against such fraud and there's no suggestion Ng has such plans. Others see the sale as an opportunity. The vineyard has never produced great wines and the respected local vintner whom Ng has hired is likely to raise their quality. Most important, Ng's interest in the village will shine a spotlight on its wines, another local winemaker, Gerard Quivy, says. "This can only help increase the value of Burgundy's wines." A similar battle is playing out in New Zealand's rural Waikato region, where winding roads thread across one-lane bridges, past giant ferns and sprawling farms. Life in the town of Reporoa is much like it has always been. It's a place where a mother pushes a stroller down the middle of the road, her pet cat prancing along behind. Where twice a day, children help round up cows many times larger than themselves for milking. Yet things did change in the boom before the global financial crisis. Banks let Allan and Frank Crafar leverage their farm to buy more and more land until they owned 20,000 cows and had become the biggest family dairy farmers in the country. When the market for dairy products plunged, the brothers were caught out with massive debts, and their operation was forced into bankruptcy in 2009. Last year, Chinese developer Jiang Zhaobai stepped in. His company, Shanghai Pengxin, won a bid to buy and fix up the Crafar's 13 dairy and three cattle and sheep farms with an offer of more than 200 million New Zealand dollars ($165 million). Like in France, the outcry was quick and loud. "New Zealanders have every reason to feel outraged and betrayed," opposition lawmaker Winston Peters said. "Our country is being run for the benefit of foreign companies and the international money industry." Farmers in New Zealand, like the vintners in France, fear for the integrity of their brand. They worry that Chinese milk will be sold under a New Zealand label. Adding to their worries is a 2008 case, in which six babies in China died and another 300,000 were sickened by infant formula that was tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical added to watered-down milk to fool tests for protein levels. A local consortium of businessmen, farmers and indigenous Maori appealed the sale in court, arguing it didn't meet requirements that sales of farms to foreigners benefit the country and that the investor has relevant business experience and acumen. The group put in a counter offer: 171 million New Zealand dollars, which they claimed was a fair market price. Lower courts rejected their appeal and, in October, the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case, allowing the sale to proceed. For Shanghai Pengxin, the purchase was an opportunity to expand its fledgling farming interests. Among those who can afford it, baby formula made with New Zealand milk is highly valued in China because it is seen as pure, particularly in light of the melamine scandal. Shanghai Pengxin spokesman Cedric Allan says he and the company were taken by surprise at the nationwide outcry. "There was no significant Chinese investment in New Zealand farms before, so that was a first. And the size of China makes people more apprehensive than they are about other countries," he said. "There was also an emotional campaign run against the purchase, the likes of which I haven't seen before. I guess in times of financial uncertainty, people say 'Heavens. Should we really be selling farms overseas?'" Edward Moana-Emery spent five weeks this year camped on one of the farms in protest before he was arrested by police. Standing outside his tribe's "wharenui," or meeting house, he summons the spirits of his Maori ancestors. He says his tribe — the Ngati Rereahu — wants to buy back two of the farms, because they hold special historical significance and were improperly taken away by British settlers. China should understand the significance of losing land, because Hong Kong was taken by the British, he says. "They gave Hong Kong back to you Chinese. You fellows had all the celebrations. How do you think we feel? Because we have lost the land for 126 years." Allan says the company is willing to meet with the tribe about the two farms, but "whether they get a deal depends on whether it works for us and them. As an overseas investor, it's very hard to buy farms, and we don't sell them lightly." In Argentina, a town in Rio Negro province prevented a Chinese company from signing a 30-year lease for nearly 800,000 acres of farmland on the grounds that agriculture on that scale would interfere with traditional cattle-raising in an area steeped in the gaucho, or cowboy, myth. The order blocking the lease said the deal would have forced the local people to watch their history and tradition "flow as if draining the blood from our soil for the destined ports of others." Still, many farmers in New Zealand are acutely aware of the importance of China, which has become by far the largest buyer of the country's dairy products. Over the past decade, New Zealand's trade with China has more than doubled as a percentage of GDP, and China has overtaken the U.S. as New Zealand's second-largest export market after Australia. "The whole question of foreign investment is always an emotional one," says Brian Hanna, the mayor of Te Kuiti, another Waikato town, and a farmer himself. "I think land is important. But we can't have our cake and eat it. We need overseas investment and we are not big enough to sustain our own economy at the moment." Around the globe, there remains a more existential fear: that China is buying up farmland to ensure food supply for its 1.3 billion people. But Xu Jianguo, China's ambassador to New Zealand, says Chinese investors simply see a market opportunity. In fact, he says China's strategy is quite the opposite. No other country would have the ability to feed China in a food crisis, he says, and any dependence on other countries could be used as a weapon against China. "With the improvement of Chinese people's living standards and welfare, we do have high-end consuming needs," Xu says. "Yes, we do import a lot of red wines from France and dairy products from New Zealand. But that volume compared to the total needs of the Chinese market is ... " He laughs, trying to find the English language analogy to describe something so tiny. ___ Perry reported from the Waikato region in New Zealand. Associated Press writers Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong, Jack Chang in Mexico City, Joe McDonald in Beijing, Karl Ritter in Stockholm and Alan Clendenning in Madrid contributed. ___ Follow Sarah DiLorenzo at http://twitter.com/sdilorenzo EDITOR'S NOTE _ This story is part of "China's Reach," a project tracking China's influence on its trading partners over three decades and exploring how that is changing business, politics and daily life. Keep up with AP's reporting on China's Reach, and join the conversation about it, using the hashtag #APChinaReach on Twitter.

Pernahkah Sampeyan mendengar saran, "Tapi selain mendatangi pihak luar seperti tokoh agama dan psikolog, kamu juga harus mendatangi dirimu sendiri." (SujiwoTejo.com)

Cory Booker the humble guy

via http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/cory-booker-week-food-stamps-political-ambition-amid-101008142--election.html Cory Booker has been known to run into burning buildings to save his constituents. But last Thursday, the Newark, N.J., mayor's biggest challenge was whether or not he could get through a single meeting without taking a nibble of one Christmas cookie. Booker, 43, and a rising star Democrat, has been living on just $33 of food over the last week as part of an effort to understand the plight of Americans who struggle to live on food stamps. The experiment ends Tuesday. Booker has said he's trying to raise public awareness about the struggles of average Americans amid threats of federal funding cuts to food stamp programs around the nation. But the mayor's very public campaign comes as Booker mulls a challenge to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in next year's gubernatorial race. "I am absolutely considering running for governor, as well as giving other options some consideration." Booker told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, adding that he'll make a decision in the next two weeks. He may also run for the U.S. Senate seat expected to be vacated by Democrat Frank Lautenberg in 2014. In an interview with CNN on Monday, Booker said Christie isn't cruising to re-election despite polls showing a big spike in the Republican governor's popularity for his handling of Superstorm Sandy. Booker has worked closely with Christie in the storm's aftermath. "Christie is vulnerable, as it should be, because there's a lot of issues in the state he's not falling in line with," Booker told CNN. "From women's issues, environmental issues, from really going in a balanced way." Groups lobbying to protect and expand the food stamp program have praised Booker's attempt to raise awareness about the millions of Americans who struggle to survive under SNAP. But some have accused the mayor of using the experiment to simply gain more publicity for his own political ambitions. "Food stamps are meant to be supplemental income, not ones ENTIRE income. So this challenge is bunk," a Twitter user named Samuel said in a message to Booker last week, per the Star Ledger. The paper ran an online poll last week asking readers to weigh in on whether Booker's food stamp experience was a publicity stunt. Booker thrives on media attention. In his six years at the helm in Newark, Booker has earned the nickname "Super Mayor" for feats that have landed him in the national spotlight. Last April, the two-term Democrat made headlines around the country when he rushed into a burning home and saved his neighbor from a fire. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, he became something of a one-man disaster relief crew, allowing residents displaced by the storm to sleep at his home. In 2010, Booker helped rescue constituents who appealed to him via Twitter in the aftermath of a deadly blizzard. And just last week, the mayor rushed to the aid of victims of a car crash and directed traffic around the accident until police arrived on the scene. The mayor has received even more attention for his attempt to complete the SNAP challenge. According to a spokesman, Booker's office was overwhelmed by media requests, including from Yahoo News, to talk to the mayor. As of last Thursday, more than 140 reporters from around the world, including Russia, had filed requests to talk to Booker—with most denied. Instead, Booker, more confessional on social media than other public officials, has used Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram to chronicle his effort, which began after he got into a Nov. 18 Twitter debate with a Twitter follower who questioned the government's role in nutrition assistance. Booker challenged the user, @MWadeNC, to join him in living on food stamps for a week. Booker's experiment, launched Dec. 4, got off to a rocky start when he spent most of his $33 budget on several cans of beans, a large bottle of olive oil, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and bags of salad. Posting a picture of his food for the week on Instagram, he admitted he could have spent his money better. "I am regretting not thinking through some of my food choices for the week. In hindsight, investing more of my SNAP budget in eggs, and perhaps some coffee might have helped me later in the week. I am growing concerned about running out of food before this is over--especially as I try to resist the urge now to have another sweet potato before I go to bed tonight," Booker wrote on LinkedIn. Throughout the week, Booker has written about his empty stomach. On his third day, he opted to eat his dinner of peas, black beans, cauliflower and broccoli in small bites late in the day to "allay some of his hunger pains." Over the weekend, as his food supply dwindled, Booker lamented accidentally burning one of his last sweet potatoes—making an already meal even smaller. But the bakery visit, Booker wrote, was the "greatest test of my resolve yet." Taking to Twitter ahead of  an unspecified meeting at the establishment,  Booker communicated his dread to his more than 1.3 million followers. "My bakery prayer: 'Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil," Booker said in a message on Twitter. Booker survived the bakery—barely. "After the meeting I hustled back to my car and downed more beans, cauliflower and broccoli and tried to imagine that it was Christmas cookies and cake," Booker wrote in his food diary afterwards. Booker also made it through a fundraising gala at Cipriani in New York City, where, as the night's keynote speaker, he skipped a cocktail hour and had waiters remove his dinner, which included a goat cheese salad, steak and potatoes. The self-described caffeine addict has also turned away cups of coffee, and has been skipping his usual fix of Diet Pepsi. Booker wrote in a LinkedIn diary that his week without coffee was the "first time" he could remember going without caffeine and apologized for being cranky. "No coffee makes me grumpy," the mayor tweeted. Booker isn't the first public official to attempt to live on food stamps for a week—Mayors Michael Nutter of Philadelphia and Carolyn Goodman of Las Vegas are among scores of politicos who have taken the SNAP challenge. The program is facing potential cuts as Congress debates how to rein in the nation's growing federal deficit. But unlike Booker, those officials weren't on the brink of a potentially major political campaign sure to generate national attention. Booker has insisted he is simply focused on bringing attention to the importance of food stamp programs and their impact on the country amid threats of dangerous cuts. On Sunday, Booker told CBS that the deprivation had been a "terrible state of human existence" but that it had been just a fleeting moment for him and a "daily reality" for others. "I'll be honest with you. I take so much for granted, even going to Starbucks and buying a cup of coffee is more than my daily food allowance right now. And so we really need to expose the problems on a national level by denigrating programs that actually empower our economy in the long run," Booker said.

Noah's Ark err.....Johan's Ark

Just as the first storms of winter roll in, Dutchman Johan Huibers has finished his 20-year quest to build a full-scale, functioning model of Noah's Ark — an undertaking of, well, biblical proportions. Huibers, a Christian, used books 6-9 of Genesis as his inspiration, following the instructions God gives Noah down to the last cubit. Translating to modern measurements, Huibers came up with a vessel that works out to a whopping 427 feet (130 meters) long, 95 feet (29 meters) across and 75 feet (23 meters) high. Perhaps not big enough to fit every species on Earth, two by two, as described in the Bible, but plenty of space, for instance, for a pair elephants to dance a tango. Johan's Ark towers across the flat Dutch landscape and is easily visible from a nearby highway where it lies moored in the city of Dordrecht, just south of Rotterdam. Gazing across the ark's main hold, a huge space of stalls supported by a forest of pine trees, visitors gaze upon an array of stuffed and plastic animals, such as buffalo, zebra, gorillas, lions, tigers, bears, you name it. Elsewhere on the ark is a petting zoo with actual live animals that are less dangerous or easier to care for — such as ponies, dogs, sheep, and rabbits — and an impressive aviary of exotic birds. "This boat — it's amazing," said Alfred Jongile, visiting from South Africa with his Dutch wife. For Huibers, a builder by trade, it all began with a nightmare he had in 1992, when the low-lying Netherlands was flooded, as it has been many times throughout its history. Huibers thinks that new floods are possible, not least due to global warming. He cites a New Testament passage prophesying that "the cities of the coast shall tremble" near the end of times. But he's not worried the whole Earth will ever be flooded again. In the Bible, the rainbow is God's promise it won't be. "I had a call from American television," he says, laughing. "This has nothing to do with the end of the Mayan calendar," he said. He said his motivation is ultimately religious, though. He wants to make people think what their purpose is on Earth. "I want to make people question that so that they go looking for answers," and ultimately find salvation through God and eternal life, he said. Johan's Ark also contains a restaurant on the topmost level and a movie theater capable of seating 50 people. Around the edges of each level of the craft are displays on ancient Middle Eastern history and dress, scenes from the life of Noah, and games for kids, including water pumps and a system of levers to lift bales of hay. Down below there is a honeycomb system of hatches, each opening into an area where food could be sealed in for long-term storage. There is an outdoor space near the stern with a dizzying series of stairwells. Walking around, Johan points out features such as the curvature of the upper deck, which he said would have been used to collect rainwater for drinking, as well as for letting animals such as horses out to exercise where they could run around. Another visitor, Martin Konijn, said he was impressed with the level of detail. "You might know the story of Noah, okay, but if you see this you begin to get an idea of how it would actually have worked in practice." Huibers says he's considering where to take the floating attraction next, including European ports or even across the Atlantic — though the latter would require transport aboard an even bigger ship. But Huibers is also working on a new dream, perhaps even more unlikely than the first one: he wants to get Israelis and Arabs to cooperate and build a water pipeline from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea. "If you have faith, anything is possible," he says.

Atheists around world suffer persecution, discrimination: report

By Robert Evans | Reuters  GENEVA (Reuters) - Atheists and other religious skeptics suffer persecution or discrimination in many parts of the world and in at least seven nations can be executed if their beliefs become known, according to a report issued on Monday. The study, from the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), showed that "unbelievers" in Islamic countries face the most severe - sometimes brutal - treatment at the hands of the state and adherents of the official religion. But it also points to policies in some European countries and the United States which favor the religious and their organizations and treat atheists and humanists as outsiders. The report, "Freedom of Thought 2012", said "there are laws that deny atheists' right to exist, curtail their freedom of belief and expression, revoke their right to citizenship, restrict their right to marry." Other laws "obstruct their access to public education, prohibit them from holding public office, prevent them from working for the state, criminalize their criticism of religion, and execute them for leaving the religion of their parents." The report was welcomed by Heiner Bielefeldt, United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, who said in a brief introduction there was little awareness that atheists were covered by global human rights agreements. The IHEU - which links over 120 humanist, atheist and secular organizations in more than 40 countries - said it was issuing the report to mark the U.N.'s Human Rights Day on Monday. According to its survey of some 60 countries, the seven where expression of atheist views or defection from the official religion can bring capital punishment are Afghanistan, Iran, Maldives, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The 70-page report lists no recent cases of actual execution for "atheism" -- but researchers say the offence is often subsumed into other charges. In a range of other countries - such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait and Jordan - publication of atheist or humanist views on religion are totally banned or strictly limited under laws prohibiting "blasphemy". In many of these countries, and others like Malaysia, citizens have to register as adherents of a small number officially-recognized religions -- which normally include no more than Christianity and Judaism as well as Islam. Atheists and humanists are thereby forced to lie to obtain their official documents without which it is impossible to go to university, receive medical treatment, travel abroad or drive. In Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin and North America, countries which identify themselves secular give privileges to or favor Christian churches in providing education and other public services, the IHEU said. In Greece and Russia, the Orthodox Church is fiercely protected from criticism and is given pride of place on state occasions, while in Britain bishops of the Church of England have automatic seats in the upper house of parliament. While freedom of religion and speech is protected in the United States, the report said, a social and political climate prevails "in which atheists and the non-religious are made to feel like lesser Americans, or non-Americans." In at least seven U.S. states, constitutional provisions are in place that bar atheists from public office and one state, Arkansas, has a law that bars an atheist from testifying as a witness at a trial, the report said. (Reported by Robert Evans)

Atheists around world suffer persecution, discrimination: report

By Robert Evans | Reuters  GENEVA (Reuters) - Atheists and other religious skeptics suffer persecution or discrimination in many parts of the world and in at least seven nations can be executed if their beliefs become known, according to a report issued on Monday. The study, from the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), showed that "unbelievers" in Islamic countries face the most severe - sometimes brutal - treatment at the hands of the state and adherents of the official religion. But it also points to policies in some European countries and the United States which favor the religious and their organizations and treat atheists and humanists as outsiders. The report, "Freedom of Thought 2012", said "there are laws that deny atheists' right to exist, curtail their freedom of belief and expression, revoke their right to citizenship, restrict their right to marry." Other laws "obstruct their access to public education, prohibit them from holding public office, prevent them from working for the state, criminalize their criticism of religion, and execute them for leaving the religion of their parents." The report was welcomed by Heiner Bielefeldt, United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, who said in a brief introduction there was little awareness that atheists were covered by global human rights agreements. The IHEU - which links over 120 humanist, atheist and secular organizations in more than 40 countries - said it was issuing the report to mark the U.N.'s Human Rights Day on Monday. According to its survey of some 60 countries, the seven where expression of atheist views or defection from the official religion can bring capital punishment are Afghanistan, Iran, Maldives, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The 70-page report lists no recent cases of actual execution for "atheism" -- but researchers say the offence is often subsumed into other charges. In a range of other countries - such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait and Jordan - publication of atheist or humanist views on religion are totally banned or strictly limited under laws prohibiting "blasphemy". In many of these countries, and others like Malaysia, citizens have to register as adherents of a small number officially-recognized religions -- which normally include no more than Christianity and Judaism as well as Islam. Atheists and humanists are thereby forced to lie to obtain their official documents without which it is impossible to go to university, receive medical treatment, travel abroad or drive. In Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin and North America, countries which identify themselves secular give privileges to or favor Christian churches in providing education and other public services, the IHEU said. In Greece and Russia, the Orthodox Church is fiercely protected from criticism and is given pride of place on state occasions, while in Britain bishops of the Church of England have automatic seats in the upper house of parliament. While freedom of religion and speech is protected in the United States, the report said, a social and political climate prevails "in which atheists and the non-religious are made to feel like lesser Americans, or non-Americans." In at least seven U.S. states, constitutional provisions are in place that bar atheists from public office and one state, Arkansas, has a law that bars an atheist from testifying as a witness at a trial, the report said. (Reported by Robert Evans)

the most expensive coffee in the world $500 per pound (excreted by elephants)

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Thailand - In the lush hills of northern Thailand, a herd of 20 elephants is excreting some of the world's most expensive coffee. Trumpeted as earthy in flavour and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from their dung. A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its founder calls the coffee's unique taste. Stomach turning or oddly alluring, this is not just one of the world's most unusual specialty coffees. At $1,100 per kilogram ($500 per pound), it's also among the world's priciest. For now, only the wealthy or well-travelled have access to the cuppa, which is called Black Ivory Coffee. It was launched last month at a few luxury hotels in remote corners of the world — first in northern Thailand, then the Maldives and now Abu Dhabi — with the price tag of about $50 a serving. The Associated Press travelled to the coffee's production site in the Golden Triangle, an area historically known for producing drugs more potent than coffee, to see the jumbo baristas at work. And to sip the finished product from a dainty demitasse. In the misty mountains where Thailand meets Laos and Myanmar, the coffee's creator cites biology and scientific research to answer the basic question: Why elephants? "When an elephant eats coffee, its stomach acid breaks down the protein found in coffee, which is a key factor in bitterness," said Blake Dinkin, who has spent $300,000 developing the coffee. "You end up with a cup that's very smooth without the bitterness of regular coffee." The result is similar in civet coffee, or kopi luwak, another exorbitantly expensive variety extracted from the excrement of the weasel-like civet. But the elephants' massive stomach provides a bonus. Think of the elephant as the animal kingdom's equivalent of a slow cooker. It takes between 15-30 hours to digest the beans, which stew together with bananas, sugar cane and other ingredients in the elephant's vegetarian diet to infuse unique earthy and fruity flavours, said the 42-year-old Canadian, who has a background in civet coffee. "My theory is that a natural fermentation process takes place in the elephant's gut," said Dinkin. "That fermentation imparts flavours you wouldn't get from other coffees." At the jungle retreat that is home to the herd, conservationists were initially skeptical about the idea. "My initial thought was about caffeine — won't the elephants get wired on it or addicted to coffee?" said John Roberts, director of elephants at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, a refuge for rescued elephants. It now earns 8 per cent of the coffee's total sales, which go toward the herd's health care. "As far as we can tell there is definitely no harm to the elephants." Before presenting his proposal to the foundation, Dinkin said he worked with a Canadian-based veterinarian that ran blood tests on zoo elephants showing they don't absorb any caffeine from eating raw coffee cherries. "I thought it was well worth a try because we're looking for anything that can help elephants to make a living," said Roberts, who estimates the cost of keeping each elephant is about $1,000 a month. As for the coffee's inflated price, Dinkin half-joked that elephants are highly inefficient workers. It takes 33 kilograms (72 pounds) of raw coffee cherries to produce 1 kilogram of (2 pounds) Black Ivory coffee. The majority of beans get chewed up, broken or lost in tall grass after being excreted. And, his artisanal process is labour-intensive. He uses pure Arabica beans hand-picked by hill-tribe women from a small mountain estate. Once the elephants do their business, the wives of elephant mahouts collect the dung, break it open and pick out the coffee. After a thorough washing, the coffee cherries are processed to extract the beans, which are then brought to a gourmet roaster in Bangkok. Inevitably, the elephant coffee has become the butt of jokes. Dinkin shared his favourites: Crap-accino. Good to the last dropping. Elephant poop coffee. As far away as Hollywood, even Jay Leno has taken cracks. "Here's my question," Leno quipped recently. "Who is the first person that saw a bunch of coffee beans and a pile of elephant dung and said, 'You know, if I ground those up and drank it, I'll bet that would be delicious.'" Jokes aside, people are drinking it. Black Ivory's maiden batch of 70 kilograms (150 pounds) has sold out. Dinkin hopes to crank out six times that amount in 2013, catering to customers he sees as relatively affluent, open-minded and adventurous with a desire to tell a good story. For now, the only places to get it are a few Anantara luxury resorts, including one at the Golden Triangle beside the elephant foundation. At sunset one recent evening in the hotel's hilltop bar, an American couple sampled the brew. They said it surpassed their expectations. "I thought it would be repulsive," said Ryan Nelson, 31, of Tampa, Florida. "But I loved it. It was something different. There's definitely something wild about it that I can't put a name on." His wife Asleigh, a biologist and coffee lover, called it a "fantastic product for an eco-conscious consumer," since the coffee helps fund elephant conservation. But how does it taste? "Very interesting," she said, choosing her words carefully. "Very novel." "I don't think I could afford it every day on my zookeeper's salary," she said. "But I'm certainly enjoying it sitting here overlooking the elephants, on vacation."

On the road

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.Egypt's mounting crisis

http://mobile.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20648387
Nov 22 President Morsi issues decree assuming sweeping new powers, dismisses prosecutor generalNov 23 Protests against president's new powers begin, including a sit-in at Tahrir SquareNov 30 Islamist-dominated constituent assembly adopts controversial draft constitutionDec 1 Islamists rally in support of president's new powers after tens of thousands of Morsi opponents converge on Tahrir SquareDec 2 Supreme Constitutional Court suspends work after being prevented by Morsi supporters from ruling on the legitimacy of the constituent assemblyDec 2 Judges Club, representing judges across the country, announces it will not supervise referendum on draft constitutionDec 5 Violent clashes outside presidential palace in CairoDec 7 Protesters breach presidential palace cordonIn pictures: Cairo demonstrationsNobel prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, the movement's chief co-ordinator, posted a message on his Twitter account calling on political groups to shun all dialogue with Mr Morsi."We [want] a dialogue not based on an arm-twisting policy and imposing fait accompli," his message read.Two other opposition groups, the liberal Wafd party and the National Association for Change, said they were also boycotting the talks.The president angered his opponents on Thursday when he refused in a televised statement to withdraw his new powers - announced in a decree issued last month - and delay the referendum. Mr Morsi said that if the constitution were voted down, another constituent assembly would be formed to write a new draft.Critics say the draft, drawn up by a body dominated by Morsi-supporting Islamists, was rushed through parliament without proper consultation and does not do enough to protect political and religious freedoms and the rights of women.The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says the growing tensions reveal deep divisions within the Muslim Brotherhood. Whenever there is talk of compromise, the movement's hardliners seem to win the battle, our correspondent reports. Earlier this week the presidential palace was the scene of bloody clashes, in which five people died and hundreds were injured.Late on Thursday, opposition supporters ransacked the Muslim Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters and set it on fire.On Friday rival protesters between supporters and opponents of the president were reported in a number of Egyptian cities, including Alexandria in the north and Asyut in the south.
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BBC News - Gangnam singer Psy apologises for anti-US protests

http://mobile.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20649864
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Former Florida Governor Crist tweets that he is now a Democrat

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE8B704620121208?irpc=932
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Euro Falls First Time in 4 Weeks as ECB Lowers Economic Outlook

Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The euro fell against the dollar and yen for the first time in four weeks after the European Central Bank lowered its economic forecast for the region and policy makers discussed trimming benchmark interest rates.

The 17-nation currency had the biggest one-day decline in a month on Dec. 6 as the central bank joined Germany's Bundesbank in scaling back growth projections. The dollar weakened against higher-yielding currencies after the nation's employment rate unexpectedly fell to an almost four-year low. The Federal Reserve meets next week when the central bank if forecast to increase its asset purchases.

"Lowering interest rates is just plain negative for a currency,' Eric Viloria, senior currency strategist for Gain Capital Group LLC in New York said Dec. 7. "With the ECB's downward revisions to inflation, it's going to be below the 2 percent target and in that case it's pretty likely that they would lower rates."

The shared currency fell 0.5 percent to $1.2927 in New York for the first weekly loss since Nov. 9. It touched $1.2877 on Dec. 7, the weakest since Nov. 23. The euro declined 0.4 percent to 106.67, reaching 106.12 yen yesterday, the lowest in more than a week. The yen was little changed versus the dollar at 82.49.

Annual Accounting

The euro has lost 2.5 percent this year, the second-worst performer among the 10 developed-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The yen slid 9.5 percent and the dollar fell 2.2 percent.

Futures traders cut bets that the euro will decline against the dollar to the least since September 2011, figures from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission show. Net shorts were 32,795 on Dec. 4, compared with net shorts of 66,693 a week earlier.

Net long positions in the Australian dollar totaled a record 92,229, while net-short yen positions against the dollar reached 90,326, the most since July 2007, the data show.

New Zealand's dollar rose to a two-month high against the greenback of Dec. 6 after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said economic growth was likely to quicken.

Domestic Outlook

"The overall outlook is for stronger domestic demand and the elimination of current excess capacity by the end of next year," central bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said in Wellington on Dec. 6. "This is expected to cause inflation to rise gradually toward the 2 percent target midpoint."

It rose 1.5 percent to 83.24 U.S. cents in its biggest weekly advance since Sept. 14.

The Swiss franc fell against all its major counterparts as Credit Suisse Group AG said in a notice distributed to bank clients Dec. 3 that it will communicate the currencies involved in its plan to charge negative interest rates on cash balances, plus the thresholds and rates on an individual basis to those customers during the next five business days.

The franc declined 0.2 percent to 1.2075 per euro after depreciating to the weakest since Sept. 18.

The Swiss central bank's foreign-currency reserves fell for a second month in November after pressure to defend the 1.20 on the franc per euro eased.

European Policy

The ECB held its benchmark at a record low of 0.75 percent and kept the deposit rate at zero. A majority of ECB policy makers were open to cutting the benchmark rate yesterday and there is a possibility of a reduction early next year, three officials with knowledge of the Governing Council's deliberations said.

The central bank lowered its inflation forecast for next year to 1.6 percent from 1.9 percent. The euro fell as much as 0.9 percent on Dec. 6, its largest daily decline since Nov. 7.

"The market hears what it perceives to be as hints as to the way policy may be moving in the future, so it's understandable that the market is going to respond in the way it has been in weakening the euro," Robert Lynch, head of currency strategy for HSBC Holdings Plc in New York, said in a Bloomberg Television interview with Sara Eisen on Dec. 6.

The Frankfurt-based Bundesbank also cut its growth projection for 2013 to 0.4 percent from the 1.6 percent predicted in June and said the economy.

Dollar Measure

The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against currencies of six U.S. trading partners, rose 0.3 percent to 80.412, for its first gain in three weeks. It touched 80.658 on Dec. 7, the strongest since Nov. 23.

The dollar weakened versus higher-yielding currencies such as the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso as U.S. employment climbed by 146,000 Labor Department figures showed. The median estimate of 91 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a gain of 85,000.

The Canadian dollar added 0.6 percent to 98.84 cents per U.S. dollar. Mexico's peso advanced 0.9 percent to 12.8505.

The Fed is working to boost the economy and reduce unemployment by continuing purchases of housing debt that have helped drive borrowing costs to an all-time low. The policy- setting Federal Open Market Committee's last meeting of this year is scheduled for Dec. 11-12 in Washington.

Japan's currency touched a seven-month low against the euro on Dec. 5 after BOJ Deputy Governor Kiyohiko Nishimura said the central bank was ready for action when needed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Allison Bennett in New York at abennett23@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

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Goldman Fined for Failing to Block Trader’s $8.3 Billion Bet

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will pay $1.5 million to settle U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission claims the firm failed to supervise a trader who hid an $8.3 billion position. One CFTC commissioner dissented, saying the penalty is far too small.

Goldman Sachs inadequately policed trades made by Matthew Marshall Taylor on seven days in late 2007, ultimately suffering more than $118 million in losses as his bets were unwound, according to the CFTC. Later, Goldman Sachs didn't send the regulator "important information" on the incident that was provided to another industry watchdog, the CFTC said.

"Given the egregious nature of the failure to supervise adequately, combined with the high number of violative transactions, I believe that the monetary penalty should be significantly higher," Bart Chilton, one of three Democrats at the CFTC, wrote in a dissent posted on the regulator's website. Fines should represent more than a "slap on the wrist," he said.

Taylor concealed the position by bypassing the New York- based firm's internal system for routing trades to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and manually entering fabricated futures trades in a different internal system, the CFTC wrote in a complaint filed against him at federal court last month. His attorney disputed those allegations at the time.

In settling with the CFTC, Goldman promised to bolster internal systems and cooperate with claims against Taylor.

'False Explanations'

"Taylor's activity was flagged by our controls" in December of 2007, Goldman Sachs said in a statement. "After initially providing false explanations during the trading day, Taylor admitted his conduct following market close and was subsequently terminated. Since these events, we have enhanced our controls."

Taylor's attorney said last month the trader never intentionally used bogus transactions to hide positions and that the bank didn't claim otherwise when he was terminated.

"Matt, himself, brought the trading losses to the attention of senior managers at Goldman on the day they occurred," said the lawyer, Ross Intelisano of Rich, Intelisano & Katz LLP.

The case is U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Taylor, 12-cv-8170, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Silla Brush in Washington at sbrush@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net ; Maura Reynolds at mreynolds34@bloomberg.net

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