At its fullest extent the Pan-American Highway is a network of roads stretching from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina, a distance of around 48,000 kilometres (30,000 miles).
Adventure: Off-Road Tour In The Wilds Of Guatemala
Monthly Archives: August 2023
Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London
Monocle on Saturday, August 5, 2023: A look at the week’s news and culture with Georgina Godwin.
We’re joined by freelance journalist and communications consultant Simon Brooke to flick through the morning’s papers and we take a look at The Fandangoe Discoteca where you can dance away your grief at a purpose-built mini disco.
Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – August 7, 2023
BARRON’S MAGAZINE – AUGUST 7, 2023 ISSUE –
Flying Taxis Have Had Their Ups and Downs. They’re Nearly Here.
Companies like Joby and Archer are about to begin production of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. For investors, the upside could be in the billions.
Restaurants Want More Teen Labor. Critics Say They’re Putting Kids at Risk.
With restaurants hurting for staff, teenagers are making up a greater share of their workforce. But some say the industry isn’t doing enough to protect its youngest employees.
For ‘Psychology of Money’ Author, Good Investing Comes From Knowing Yourself
Finance writer Morgan Housel talks about the mistakes investors make, how he assesses risk, and where he puts his money.
Inherited IRAs Have New Rules. What to Know.
Under new guidance, the IRS is allowing people who inherited an individual retirement account after 2019 to skip an RMD this year.
The New York Times — Saturday, August 5, 2023
A Republican 2024 Climate Strategy: More Drilling, Less Clean Energy
Project 2025, a conservative “battle plan” for the next Republican president, would stop attempts to cut the pollution that is heating the planet and encourage more emissions.
Trump’s Legal Team Is Enmeshed in a Tangle of Possible Conflicts
Former President Donald J. Trump’s growing cast of lawyers is marked by a web of overlapping interests encompassing witnesses, co-defendants and potential targets.
Mike Pence Has Reached His Fork in the Road
The former vice president and Jan. 6 witness is campaigning to persuade voters. But is he also trying to warn them?
For the First Time, There’s a Pill for Postpartum Depression
Because the pill works faster than other antidepressants and is taken for only two weeks, it may encourage more treatment of the debilitating condition.
The New York Times Book Review – August 6, 2023
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – August 6, 2023: The issue features Daniel Kraus’s new thriller, “Whalefall,” the story of a teenage diver inadvertently swallowed by an 80-foot whale; the reissue of Claude Anet’s provocative 1920 novel, “Ariane: A Russian Girl”; a biography of the Gilded Age heiress and international spy Marguerite Harrison; a handful of audiobook recommendations; even the biography of a venerable scam.
Swallowed by a Sperm Whale, and Mourning His Father
In Daniel Kraus’s novel “Whalefall,” a teenage diver is gulped down by a 60-ton whale and must try to escape.
By Sarah Lyall
In marine biology, a whale fall is the body of a dead whale that has slowly descended to the bottom of the ocean. Scavengers strip its flesh, crustaceans and other creatures colonize its skeleton and its decaying bones help sustain countless organisms for years to come, part of the delicate balance of the undersea ecosystem.
Talking About Love in the Afternoon, Morning, Evening and Night
Reading Claude Anet’s provocative 1920 novel “Ariane: A Russian Girl,” the reader may yearn for a little less conversation.
By Gemma Sieff
It would be nice if we had put to bed, so to speak, witless and reductive double standards about female promiscuity. Have you heard the one that goes, “A key that opens many locks is a master key, yet a lock that is opened by many keys” is … unprintably bad? Me neither — until I saw it on TikTok.
Home Restorations: Tour Of Iririki House In Sydney
Video timeline: 00:00 – History Of The Original Home 00:29 – Introduction To The Project 01:12 – The Restoration Process 01:50 – A Walk Through Of The House 02:44 – Drawing On Red Bricks 03:05 – Features Of The Kitchen and Dining Room 04:00 – Distinctions Between Flooring 04:23 – Final Reflections On The House
With close proximity to the eastern beaches and Sydney city, Iririki House is a restoration of a house that begins from the newly restored front fence and garden to the additions at the rear. Moved to the side of the home, the front door placement allows the family and guests to walk through the restored garden and pass the existing heritage house before entering into the new additions.
Focused on establishing a delineation between old and new, Madeline Blanchfield Architects integrates subtle architecture and design techniques as well as modern furniture. Through the process of restoration, Madeline Blanchfield Architects made sure that all design choices stay respectful to the home’s original character but also reflect a contemporary occupation.
Furthermore, with terrazzo used for flooring on the main level, the house offers an ease of movement from inside to out, and the timber employed throughout differs to that of the original flooring to highlight the difference between spaces.
Seaside Italian Villa Tour: ‘Art Nouveau’ In Liguria
Located just thirty km from Genoa, this house was built on the beach front, at the foot of an enchanting village on the western Ligurian Riviera. Immersed in a centuries-old park measuring 4.5 hectares, among the intoxicating scents of lush lavender hedges, this villa stands out for anyone looking from the sea towards the thick Mediterranean scrub that covers the hinterland.
In the center, in a magnificent panoramic position directly overlooking the sea, this 2,000-sqm villa stands fascinating and majestic, developed on three floors. Its beauty, protected by the Cultural and Landscape Heritage, is given by the large reception hall that occupies the ground floor, with original terrazzo floors and ceilings with stuccoes and embossed decorations, around which there are four rooms, two on each side, as well as a study and four bathrooms.
On one side of the floor, there is a 180-sqm terrace featuring precious marble floorings – the ideal setting for a sumptuous reception – covered by a fixed structure that can be closed on the sides.
Nature Reviews: Top New Science Books – AUG 2023
Life and Afterlife in Ancient China
By Jessica Rawson
When constructing monumental tombs thousands of years ago, “the Egyptians built up” — with their pyramids — whereas “the Chinese built down”, writes sinologist Jessica Rawson. The geology of China’s dry Loess Plateau permitted the excavation of shafts more than 10 metres deep. These tombs were filled with objects for the afterlife. Rawson’s majestic history explores 11 such monuments and one large sacrificial deposit, dating from 5,000 years ago to the third century bc, with the First Emperor’s protective Terracotta Army.
The World of Sugar
Ulbe Bosma
Sugar’s societal dominance is a recent development. Granulated sugar was eaten from the sixth century bc in India, but refined sugar became widely available in Europe only in the nineteenth century. Its history is both a story of progress and a bitter-sweet tale of “exploitation, racism, obesity, and environmental destruction”, writes historian Ulbe Bosma in his authoritative, highly readable study — the first to be truly global. Of 12.5 million Africans kidnapped in the Atlantic slave trade, between half and two-thirds were enslaved on sugar plantations.
The Seven Measures of the World
Piero Martin (transl. Gregory Conti)
The great civilizations of the ancient world could use precise measurements — witness the Egyptian pyramids. But their units differed. Not until 1960 was the international system of measurement (SI) introduced, defining the metre, second, kilogram, ampere, kelvin and candela — then the mole in 1971. Each gets a chapter in this concise, anecdotal history by experimental physicist Piero Martin. He stresses the subjective aspect of measurement, such as the idea that the quality of scientific publications matters more than their quantity.
Unearthing the Underworld
By Ken McNamara
Earth scientist Ken McNamara focuses on palaeontology and evolution. His appealing book about rocks and their lessons — illustrated with fine photographs of fossils — leaves aside igneous and metamorphic rocks, and the wonders of mineralogy. It concentrates instead on sedimentary rocks: mudstones, siltstones, sandstones and limestones, scattered over three-quarters of Earth’s surface in “endless piles”. As he jokily advises: “Ignore rocks at your peril.” But then surely continental drift deserved proper discussion?
In Light-Years There’s No Hurry
Marjolijn van Heemstra (transl. Jonathan Reeder)
Dutch space reporter Marjolijn van Heemstra is also a poet, novelist and playwright. This translation of her highly personal meditation on the Universe reflects lyrically on the fact that the atmosphere “signifies a boundary”, whereas space “appeals to our notion of boundlessness”. She notes a growing difference of opinion between those who see space exploration as irresponsible because our planet is in deep trouble — environmental and otherwise — and those who regard space as a potential refuge from Earth.
Classic Cars: The 1957 Jaguar XKSS Sports Racer
Already made in a limited quantity, this XKSS is one of only sixteen sports-racers to survive a fire at the Jaguar plant in February of 1957. After that, this XKSS led what could be considered a charmed life, first in California, then returning to two noteworthy collectors in the UK, Anthony Bamford and Campbell McLaren.
Travel: Walking Tour Of Verona In Northern Italy
A 14th-century residence with a tiny balcony overlooking a courtyard is said be “Juliet’s House.” The Verona Arena is a huge 1st-century Roman amphitheater, which currently hosts concerts and large-scale opera performances.
Boomers Daily 