Guestbook

Allanemaig

15 Apr 2025 - 01:47 am

A tiny rainforest country is growing into a petrostate. A US oil company could reap the biggest rewards
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Guyana’s destiny changed in 2015. US fossil fuel giant Exxon discovered nearly 11 billion barrels of oil in the deep water off the coast of this tiny, rainforested country.

It was one of the most spectacular oil discoveries of recent decades. By 2019, Exxon and its partners, US oil company Hess and China-headquartered CNOOC, had started producing the fossil fuel.? They now pump around 650,000 barrels of oil a day, with plans to more than double this to 1.3 million by 2027.

Guyana now has the world’s highest expected oil production growth through 2035.

This country — sandwiched between Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname — has been hailed as a climate champion for the lush, well-preserved forests that carpet nearly 90% of its land. It is on the path to becoming a petrostate at the same time as the impacts of the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis escalate.

While the government says environmental protection and an oil industry can go hand-in-hand, and low-income countries must be allowed to exploit their own resources, critics say it’s a dangerous path in a warming world, and the benefits may ultimately skew toward Exxon — not Guyana.
Since Exxon’s transformative discovery, Guyana’s government has tightly embraced oil as a route to prosperity. In December 2019, then-President David Granger said in a speech, “petroleum resources will be utilized to provide the good life for all … Every Guyanese will benefit.”

It’s a narrative that has continued under current President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who says new oil wealth will allow Guyana to develop better infrastructure, healthcare and climate adaptation.

Michaelevort

15 Apr 2025 - 12:42 am

Americans nearing retirement and recent retirees said they were anxious and frustrated following a second day of market turmoil that hit their 401(k)s after President Donald Trump’s escalation of tariffs.

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As the impending tariffs shook the global economy Friday, people who were planning on their retirement accounts to carry them through their golden years said the economic chaos was hitting too close to home.

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Some said they are pausing big-ticket purchases and reconsidering home renovations, while others said they fear their quality of life will be adversely affected by all the turmoil.

“I’m just kind of stunned, and with so much money in the market, we just sort of have to hope we have enough time to recover,” said Paula, 68, a former occupational health professional in New Jersey who retired three years ago.

Paula, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared retaliation for speaking out against Trump administration policies, said she was worried about what lies ahead.
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“What we’ve been doing is trying to enjoy the time that we have, but you want to be able to make it last,” Paula said Friday. “I have no confidence here.”

Trump fulfilled his campaign promise this week to unleash sweeping tariffs, including on the United States’ largest trading partners, in a move that has sparked fears of a global trade war. The decision sent the stock market spinning. On Friday afternoon, the broad-based S&P 500 closed down 6%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 5.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 2,200 points, or about 5.5%.

Jeffreyfigma

15 Apr 2025 - 12:30 am

Americans nearing retirement and recent retirees said they were anxious and frustrated following a second day of market turmoil that hit their 401(k)s after President Donald Trump’s escalation of tariffs.

kra17
As the impending tariffs shook the global economy Friday, people who were planning on their retirement accounts to carry them through their golden years said the economic chaos was hitting too close to home.

kra34.at
Some said they are pausing big-ticket purchases and reconsidering home renovations, while others said they fear their quality of life will be adversely affected by all the turmoil.

“I’m just kind of stunned, and with so much money in the market, we just sort of have to hope we have enough time to recover,” said Paula, 68, a former occupational health professional in New Jersey who retired three years ago.

Paula, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared retaliation for speaking out against Trump administration policies, said she was worried about what lies ahead.
https://kr13-at.com
“What we’ve been doing is trying to enjoy the time that we have, but you want to be able to make it last,” Paula said Friday. “I have no confidence here.”

Trump fulfilled his campaign promise this week to unleash sweeping tariffs, including on the United States’ largest trading partners, in a move that has sparked fears of a global trade war. The decision sent the stock market spinning. On Friday afternoon, the broad-based S&P 500 closed down 6%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 5.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 2,200 points, or about 5.5%.

Kennethkib

14 Apr 2025 - 11:10 pm

Of course, he said yes to coming back to the series, which eventually required him to live in Italy for a few months for filming.
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During production, White revealed to Gries that Greg is “very sinister.” That became rather irrefutable by the season’s climax, which saw Tanya’s demise orchestrated by her now-husband.

Come Season 3, Gries had to rewrite Greg’s backstory again, this time drawing from some unlikely sources for inspiration, like HBO docuseries “The Jinx,” about late convicted killer Robert Durst, and the case involving the man who came to be known as the Tinder Swindler.

Gries said he was struck by Durst’s “kind of seemingly even keel personality,” which served as a model for where Greg was headed, someone “who doesn’t really show a great deal of emotion, doesn’t seem to get too angry, just gets a little bit irritated and is dangerous.”

“There’s a bridled rage underneath. And those kind of people I find – at least with respect to Gary, Greg, Gary – fascinating,” he said.

And yet, while searching for an empathetic way back to portraying his character, Gries kept wondering if there was anything still redeeming about Greg.
An important “wake up moment” came during a decisive conversation he had with White just before filming in Thailand, in which the show’s creator said of Greg, in no uncertain terms: “He’s a psychopath.”

“And that was it. It was like, ‘back to the drawing board.’ And it really did help me,” Gries said.

The penultimate episode of the series will air on Sunday, an evening that thanks to “Lotus” and other shows has again become a night of appointment viewing amid a general move away from binge watching. Gries said he appreciates the shift.

“We’re a society that in a weird way doesn’t understand the beauty of waiting. The beauty of the space between the notes,” he shared. “If I binged (‘White Lotus’) I’d feel like I just ate too many chocolates. It just wouldn’t be the same. You need to process this.”

“The White Lotus” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO, with the episode available to stream on Max. HBO and Max, like CNN, are owned by the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.

Allanamuck

14 Apr 2025 - 10:14 pm

Why axolotls seem to be everywhere — except in the one lake they call home
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Scientist Dr. Randal Voss gets the occasional reminder that he’s working with a kind of superstar. When he does outreach events with his laboratory, he encounters people who are keen to meet his research subjects: aquatic salamanders called axolotls.

The amphibians’ fans tell Voss that they know the animals from the internet, or from caricatures or stuffed animals, exclaiming, “‘They’re so adorable, we love them,’” said Voss, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. “People are drawn to them.”

Take one look at an axolotl, and it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. With their wide eyes, upturned mouths and pastel pink coloring, axolotls look cheerful and vaguely Muppet-like.

They’ve skyrocketed in pop culture fame, in part thanks to the addition of axolotls to the video game Minecraft in 2021. These unusual salamanders are now found everywhere from Girl Scout patches to hot water bottles. But there’s more to axolotls than meets the eye: Their story is one of scientific discovery, exploitation of the natural world, and the work to rebuild humans’ connection with nature.

A scientific mystery
Axolotl is a word from Nahuatl, the Indigenous Mexican language spoken by the Aztecs and an estimated 1.5 million people today. The animals are named for the Aztec god Xolotl, who was said to transform into a salamander. The original Nahuatl pronunciation is “AH-show-LOAT”; in English, “ACK-suh-LAHT-uhl” is commonly used.
Axolotls are members of a class of animals called amphibians, which also includes frogs. Amphibians lay their jelly-like eggs in water, and the eggs hatch into water-dwelling larval states. (In frogs, these larvae are called tadpoles.)

Most amphibians, once they reach adulthood, are able to move to land. Since they breathe, in part, by absorbing oxygen through their moist skin, they tend to stay near water.

Axolotls, however, never complete the metamorphosis to a land-dwelling adult form and spend their whole lives in the water.

“They maintain their juvenile look throughout the course of their life,” Voss said. “They’re teenagers, at least in appearance, until they die.”

Herbertreins

14 Apr 2025 - 08:05 pm

A tiny rainforest country is growing into a petrostate. A US oil company could reap the biggest rewards
swell
Guyana’s destiny changed in 2015. US fossil fuel giant Exxon discovered nearly 11 billion barrels of oil in the deep water off the coast of this tiny, rainforested country.

It was one of the most spectacular oil discoveries of recent decades. By 2019, Exxon and its partners, US oil company Hess and China-headquartered CNOOC, had started producing the fossil fuel.? They now pump around 650,000 barrels of oil a day, with plans to more than double this to 1.3 million by 2027.

Guyana now has the world’s highest expected oil production growth through 2035.

This country — sandwiched between Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname — has been hailed as a climate champion for the lush, well-preserved forests that carpet nearly 90% of its land. It is on the path to becoming a petrostate at the same time as the impacts of the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis escalate.

While the government says environmental protection and an oil industry can go hand-in-hand, and low-income countries must be allowed to exploit their own resources, critics say it’s a dangerous path in a warming world, and the benefits may ultimately skew toward Exxon — not Guyana.

Robertimish

14 Apr 2025 - 06:27 pm

Family affair
rhino fi
Americans Brittany and Blake Bowen had never even been to Ecuador when in 2021 they decided to move to the South American country with their four children.

Tired of “long commutes and never enough money” in the US, the Bowens say they love their new Ecuadorian life. “We hope that maybe we’ll have grandkids here one day.”

Erik and Erin Eagleman moved to Switzerland from Wisconsin with their three children in 2023.

“It feels safe here,” they tell CNN of their new outdoorsy lifestyle in Basel, close to the borders with France and Germany. Their youngest daughter even walks to elementary school by herself.

For adventures with your own family, be it weekend breaks or something longer-term, our partners at CNN Underscored, a product review and recommendations guide owned by CNN, have this roundup of the best kids’ luggage sets and bags.

Starry, starry nights
For close to 100 years, Michelin stars have been a sign of culinary excellence, awarded only to the great and good.

Georges Blanc, the world’s longest-standing Michelin-starred restaurant, has boasted a three-star rating since 1981, but this month the Michelin guide announced that the restaurant in eastern France was losing a star.

More culinary reputations were enhanced this week, when Asia’s 50 best restaurants for 2025 were revealed. The winner was a Bangkok restaurant which is no stranger to garlands, while second and third place went to two Hong Kong eateries.

You don’t need to go to a heaving metropolis for excellent food, however. A 200-year-old cottage on a remote stretch of Ireland’s Atlantic coast has been given a Michelin star. At the time of awarding, Michelin called it “surely the most rural” of its newest winners.

Danielciday

14 Apr 2025 - 05:32 pm

‘White Lotus’ villain Jon Gries reveals the true crimes that inspired his twisty take on Greg/Gary
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When Season 3 of “The White Lotus” premiered last month, the shock was palpable when returning character Belinda recognized a familiar face at the resort in Thailand: Greg Hunt, the wily suitor of the late Tanya McQuoid.

As the season has unfolded, Greg (played by Jon Gries) has emerged as an antagonist, particularly after Belinda dove into the investigation surrounding Tanya’s death and learned that Greg, who now goes by Gary, evaded questioning by authorities.

On a show famous for reinventing itself, the same has been asked of the actor, who says that playing the ever-shifting character has been a welcome challenge and, like “White Lotus” itself, full of twists.

“In the beginning, I totally played him for a guy who was, you know, on his last legs,” Gries said in a recent interview with CNN, referencing Greg’s very apparent ill health in the first season of “White Lotus,” which premiered to rave reviews in summer 2021. He added: “When you play a character, you want to find his empathetic side, and you want to understand where they came from, and what got them to where they are.”

But when he was contacted by creator Mike White about appearing in Season 2, Gries realized he would have to adjust his framing of Greg, despite having previously imagined a “comprehensive history” for him on his own.

“(White) said, ‘I’m writing it right now, and I’m writing you, and I just need to know here and now: If you’re in, I’ll continue writing. If not, I’ll stop,’” Gries recalled.

Billyneusy

14 Apr 2025 - 04:04 pm

Mist and microlightning
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To recreate a scenario that may have produced Earth’s first organic molecules, researchers built upon experiments from 1953 when American chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey concocted a gas mixture mimicking the atmosphere of ancient Earth. Miller and Urey combined ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), hydrogen (H2) and water, enclosed their “atmosphere” inside a glass sphere and jolted it with electricity, producing simple amino acids containing carbon and nitrogen. The Miller-Urey experiment, as it is now known, supported the scientific theory of abiogenesis: that life could emerge from nonliving molecules.
For the new study, scientists revisited the 1953 experiments but directed their attention toward electrical activity on a smaller scale, said senior study author Dr. Richard Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor of Natural Science and professor of chemistry at Stanford University in California. Zare and his colleagues looked at electricity exchange between charged water droplets measuring between 1 micron and 20 microns in diameter. (The width of a human hair is 100 microns.)

“The big droplets are positively charged. The little droplets are negatively charged,” Zare told CNN. “When droplets that have opposite charges are close together, electrons can jump from the negatively charged droplet to the positively charged droplet.”
The researchers mixed ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen in a glass bulb, then sprayed the gases with water mist, using a high-speed camera to capture faint flashes of microlightning in the vapor. When they examined the bulb’s contents, they found organic molecules with carbon-nitrogen bonds. These included the amino acid glycine and uracil, a nucleotide base in RNA.

“We discovered no new chemistry; we have actually reproduced all the chemistry that Miller and Urey did in 1953,” Zare said. Nor did the team discover new physics, he added — the experiments were based on known principles of electrostatics.

“What we have done, for the first time, is we have seen that little droplets, when they’re formed from water, actually emit light and get this spark,” Zare said. “That’s new. And that spark causes all types of chemical transformations.”

Jessekah

14 Apr 2025 - 04:04 pm

Josh Giddey hits halfcourt buzzer-beater over LeBron James to cap wild finale as the Bulls stun the Lakers
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Josh Giddey hit a game-winning, halfcourt buzzer-beater over LeBron James as the Chicago Bulls stunned the Los Angeles Lakers in one of the wildest endings to an NBA game you are ever likely to see.

Trailing 115-110 with 12.6 seconds remaining, Giddey’s inbound pass found Nikola Vucevic, who pushed the ball to a wide-open Patrick Williams for a corner three-pointer.

James then fluffed the Lakers inbound pass from the baseline, allowing Giddey to steal the ball and find Coby White for a second Bulls triple in quick succession to put Chicago up 116-115 with 6.1 seconds remaining.
Austin Reaves then made a driving layup to put the Lakers ahead 117-116 with 3.3 seconds left, but the game wasn’t done yet.

With no timeouts remaining, Giddey inbounded the ball to Williams from the baseline, got the pass back, took one dribble and launched a shot from beyond halfcourt.

Supporters in the stands seemed frozen in anticipation as the ball sailed through the air, and the United Center then erupted as it fell through the net. After the dramatic win, Giddey found himself being swarmed by his teammates.

“Special moment to do it with these guys, this team,” Giddey said, per ESPN. “We’ve shown over the last month to six weeks that we can beat anybody. The way we play the game, I think it wears people down.

“We get up and down. We run. We put heat on them to get back. A lot of veteran teams don’t particularly want to get back and play in transition.”

Giddey later told the Bulls broadcast that he’d “never made a game-winner before.”

The ending capped an incredible couple of games for the Lakers, who had themselves won their last game against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday with a buzzer-beating tip-in from James.