Prince Rainier III (1923-2005)
Rainier’s mother, Princess Charlotte, was actually illegitimate. Her father Louis II, getting older and with no legitimate children, legitimized her and made her his heir. She never took the throne, and in fact renounced her rights to her son, Rainier, the day before his 21st birthday.
Rainier became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco upon the death of his grandfather in 1949.
During WW2, Rainier served in the Free French Army. During the 40s and 50s he was in a long term relationship with the French film actress Gisele Pascal. Rainier’s sister, Princess Antoinette, wanted her own son to ascend to the throne, and spread rumors that Pascal was infertile. The rumors along with her treatment by the press and public ended their relationship.
After the war Monaco, a country who made its money primarily as a gambling origin, was in crisis as wealthy Europeans found their funds diminished after the war. To restore Monaco’s treasury Rainier decided to promote Monaco as a tax haven, and he personally took control of SBM (the company who owns the Monte Carlo Casino, Opera, and Hostel de Paris) in 1964. Prince Albert still retains a large share of the company and profits from it today.
Marriage:
Everyone knows this one. Rainier married American film star Grace Kelly in 1956.
Their marriage is rumored to have been turbulent. It is said that Grace struggled with adjusting to royal life, regretted ending her film career, and that Rainier had extramarital affairs. Her children have stated that though she was a loving mother, they spent more time with nannies than with their parents.
Grace's dress is iconic, but here you go if you want to revisit some photos from that day.
Rainier smoked up to 60 cigarettes per day, and in the last years of his life his health steadily declined. On March 8th, 2005 he entered the hospital for a lung infection and by the end of the month he was on a ventilator suffering from renal and heart failure. On March 31st he officially announced his son Albert, as regent, and on April 6th he died.
The Constitution
Monaco’s constitution stated that Monaco is a constitutional monarchy ruled by the hereditary princes of the Grimaldi. If the reigning prince were to die without leaving a male heir, Monaco, according to the treaty, would be incorporated into France. In 2002, realizing he had a 43 year old bachelor son, Rainier amended the constitution to allow the crown to pass to his daughters should Albert not marry.
Grace, Princess of Monaco (1929-1982)
Grace was born in Philadelphia to an affluent and influential family. Her father was an Olympian and a Democratic nominee for Mayor of Philadelphia and was appointed by President Roosevelt as National Director of Physical Fitness. Her mother taught physical education at the University of Pennsylvania and coached women’s athletics at Penn.
Her Uncle, George Kelly, was a Pulitzer prize winning dramatist, screenwriter, and director and used his influence to gain Grace admission to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Grace became one of the biggest movie stars of her generation.
In 1955 she was sent to the Cannes Film Festival and invited to appear in photos with Prince Rainier. After a year-long courtship, they were married in 1956.
Grace was not allowed to continue her acting career after her marriage. She instead devoted herself to her role as Princess, become heavily involved with the Red Cross of Monaco and the Rainbow Children Coalition.
On September 13, 1982, Kelly was driving back to Monaco after spending time at her country home. During the drive she had a stroke, lost control of her vehicle, and drove off the mountainside. She died a day later.
An article on their relationship
Prince Albert II (b. 1958)
Prince Albert is one of the wealthiest royals in the world with a net worth at more than $1B. He attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, studying political science, economics, music, and English literature, and completed his education with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He toured Europe in 1979 as part of the Amherst College Glee Club.
Albert competed in the bobsleigh for five consecutive Winter Olympics on behalf of Monaco, and was their flag bearer at the 1988, 1994, and 1998 Olympics. He is also a judo black belt.
He became Prince of Monaco when his father died in 2005.
Marriage:
Prior to his marriage his status as a bachelor was a hot topic of discussion. He was known to date well-known fashion models and actresses, however at age 53 had never married. It was rumored that Albert was gay, something he expressed great frustration with in the press. In 2006 he attended the opening ceremony of the Torino Olympics with South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock. They were engaged in 2010, and married in 2011.
There are rumors that Charlene tried to flee the country the day before their wedding. It is reported that the future bride, after discovering Albert may have fathered yet another child during their relationship, attempted to flee as many as three times before their wedding, however was always intercepted at the airport. It is also said she attempted to seek refuge at the South African embassy, and that officials in Monaco ended up hiding her passport so she could not leave the country.
Moreover, during their wedding, Charlene openly cried at parts, and Prince Albert was caught on camera begging her to kiss him. Honestly, she looked pretty miserable the whole time. The palace has denied all of these claims.
During their honeymoon, they stayed in separate hotels
Here's everything you ever needed to know about their wedding
Watch it
Prince Albert is passionate about the environment and an avid sportsman. Prince Albert speaks French, English, German, and Italian. He speaks English with basically no accent thanks to his American mother.
Illegitimate Children
In 2005, the day before Prince Rainier died, Albert publicly acknowledged he had fathered a son out of wedlock. In 2006, he confirmed he had also fathered a daughter. These children were barred from the line of inheritance because of a 2002 constitutional amendment requiring an heir’s parents to be married.
Alexandre (b. 2003)
Alexandre’s mother (Nicole Coste) was a flight attendant for Air France and met Prince Albert when he was a passenger on a flight. He asked for her number, the beginning of a years-long affair. The relationship ended at the insistence of Prince Rainier. Albert visited Alexandre and Nicole often, however when he refused to acknowledge Alexandre publicly, Nicole sold an interview and pictures to the media. Albert was in mourning for his father and made no public comment, but later did acknowledge paternity. Alexandre and Nicole live in France at an estate given to them by Albert.
Jazmin (b. 1992)
Jazmin’s mother, Tamara, met Albert while working as a waitress. Albert knew of Jazmin and visited her, however did not acknowledge her publicly until she was in high school to protect her identity. In 2006 the French magazine Voici published photographs of Jazmin and her mother on a visit to Monaco, outing her as Albert’s daughter. She has attended events with Albert and Charlene, and is listed as a sponsor for her father’s royal foundation.
An interview with Jazmin
Princess Charlene (b. 1978)
Born in Zimbabwe, Charlene’s family relocated to South Africa in 1989. She represented South Africa at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, finished fifth in the 4x100 meter relay.
Albert and Charlene met at the Mare Nostrum swimming competition in Monaco in 2000, however were not seen together until 2006.
Charlene converted to Roman Catholicism for her wedding, and has learned French and Monegasque after her move to Monaco. She is an ambassador for the Special Olympics, patron of the South African Red Cross, and is passionate about sport.
In recent news, she completed “the crossing” water bike challenge, a 180 kilometer water bike race for charity.
An interview with Charlene and Albert on the 1st birthday of their twins
Albert and Charlene have 2 children:
Hereditary Prince Jacques *twin* (b. 2014)
Princess Gabriella *twin* (b. 2014)
Gabriella was born 2 minutes before her brother, however because of the constitution her brother will inherit the throne. They are super sweet together and you see them at events often.
Princess Caroline of Hanover (b. 1957)
Caroline is the eldest child of Rainier and Grace Kelly, however because of the constitution her brother, Albert, sits on the throne of Monaco. She served as de facto first lady of Monaco until the marriage of Albert and Charlene.
Until the birth of her niece and nephew she was heir presumptive to the throne, although she had only held that title since 2005 after the change of the constitution to include female heirs.
Caroline received her French baccalaureat in 1974, and received a degree in Philosophy from Sorbonne University. She is fluent in French, English, Spanish, German, and Italian. Her hobbies include horseback riding, swimming, and skiing.
Marriages:

Marriage 1: Philippe Junot

Married Phillippe, a Parisian banker, in 1978. The couple divorced in 1980 with no children.

Marriage 2: Stefano Casiraghi

Married Stefano in 1983, the sportsman heir to an Italian industrial fortune. The two had to marry in a civil ceremony rather than a religious ceremony because Caroline, a Catholic, was divorced. Caroline was 3 months pregnant at the time of their wedding.
They have three children:

Andrea Casiraghi (1984)

Married to Tatiana Santo Domingo and has 3 children

Charlotte Casiraghi (1986)

Married to French producer Dimitri Rassam and has two children

Pierre Casiraghi (b. 1987)

Married to Beatrice Borromeo and has 2 children

Note: The Casiraghi’s are all very beautiful and very fashionable but I don’t want to go much into them here because they are so far down the line of succession. They’re fun to follow for their fashion if you have the time to check them out.

Marriage 3: Prince Ernst August of Hanover

Married Ernst August, a Prince, in 1999. They have one daughter, Princess Alexandra.
Caroline is thus a Princess twice-over, through her family and through her husband. She and Ernst August have been separated since 2009 however are still legally married, thus she retains the title of Princess Caroline of Hanover.
Read about all of her weddings here
See her speaking in English around 12:00 here
Princess Stephanie (b. 1965)
Stephanie was in the vehicle with her mother when Grace died. She suffered a fracture of the neck.
She has studied classical dance and piano, and competed in gymnastics and horse riding. She interned at Christian Dior and debuted as a model in 1984. She has a swimwear and perfume line, and owns cafes and stores in both Monaco and Barcelona. She also has sold more than 2 million copies of her song, Ouragan, and sold 1.5M copies of her album Besoin. She recorded “In the Closet” with Michael Jackson, however is listed as “mystery girl” in the credits.
Marriages/Relationships:

Marriage 1: Daniel Ducruet

Stephanie married her former body guard, Daniel Ducruet, in 1995. When Rainier learned of their relationship Daniel was not only still his employee, but had a pregnant girlfriend too. Stephanie gave birth to their two children “out of wedlock” because Rainier refused to grant permission for them to marry, however eventually relented. The two divorced a year later after Ducruet was photographed naked with a stripper.
Read more
They have two children:

Louis (b. 1992)

Married Marie Chevallier in 2019

Pauline (b. 1994)

Relationship 2: Jean Raymond Gottlieb

Stephanie and Jean never married, however have a child together. He was Rainier’s Head of Security. She did not identify him on the birth certificate and it was not confirmed that he was Camille’s father until she confirmed it herself on her Instagram.
More about Jean

Marriage 3: Franco Knie

Stephanie met elephant trainer (yeah, you read that right) when she presented him with the award for “best animal tamer” at the Monaco Circus Festival in 1997. Franco, a decade older than Stephanie, was married with two children at the time. Franco left his family for Stephanie, moving her and her three children into his circus caravan in Zurich. Marrying in 2001, their relationship lasted 18 months until their divorce.
An interview with Stephanie in English in 1990
Why is he a Prince and not a King?
From vogue:
It goes back deep into the history of Monaco. Monaco has always been a tiny nation, and, for protection, allied itself with (or, at some points, was flat-out annexed by) big powerful countries, with big powerful rulers—aka kingdoms, or, a nation ruled by a king or queen. So Monaco’s rulers styled themselves as prince and princess. That, by definition, made the nation a principality, or one ruled by prince or princess.
Regardless, Albert actually plays a bigger role in the day to day operations of the country than most of his European peers. Legislative power is divided between the Prince who initiates the laws, and the National Council who votes on them. Executive power is retained by the Prince, and he has full judiciary powers.
Jewels
See their tiara collection
I think the Ocean Tiara, gifted to Charlene for her wedding, is particularly interesting. You either love it or you hate it.
The Grimaldi Curse
What do you think?

PAYDAY 2: Cartel Business Update

Welcome back to Sunny Mexico!

We bring an awesome update packed to the brim with loot and goodies. We got heisting, guns and suits and much much more for you to explore. There’s action and tension waiting for you on Crime.net. We stay south of the border for a good ‘ol American bank robbery with a heavy Mexican flair.
The San Martín Bank Heist
Our favorite heisters are enjoying their stay south of the border but this time an old friend has a task for them. Vlad wants you to steal some precious treasures hidden in a bank vault. He prefers the thrill of going in loud through the front door, gun drawn and masks on. But if you want to take the sneakier route there are other options available. Just be careful over there - don’t expect the Mexican police force to go easy on you, ‘cause they won’t.
New Full Auto Pistols
There has never before been so much bang for the buck in a weapon pack as with the Federales Weapon Pack, there’s a combined fire rate of 2851 rounds per minute across three pistols. With single and akimbo variants you will be able to black out the sun with flying helmets. The full auto pistol arsenal of PAYDAY 2 just got a 300% increase in the number of weapons on offer. If you enjoy the sound of thousands of rounds echoing over the AO this is the DLC for you.
New Outfits
Music and clothing are two of the most powerful statements of personal style and belief one can make. From the Hippies in the 1960s, fighting against warmongering politicians, to the Punk Rockers in the 70s and 80s, smashing guitars over the head of capitalism, or rappers busting rhymes against oppression. And some people simply prefer an orchestra mixed with gunfire and explosions, wandering the Earth with a gun in one hand and a trumpet in the other, looking for wrongs to make right. They have been effective avenues for informing society at large if you play by the rules or not - a sure way to either show your conformity or to say "FUCK YOU!" to the establishment.
Custom Weapon Colors
Do you feel you need more variety in your arsenal? Do you feel the need to pimp out your guns? Perhaps make them match that snazzy outfit you are wearing or the mask covering your face. No one says you can’t look good while mowing down the cops. With 20 different colors to customize your weapons, you will not be without options. There are even some free colors to let you try out the system and see what you can do. Each of the colors can be applied to any weapon in the game and with 6 different application sets and 5 wear states to choose between. With this DLC you will have well over 600 variants for each of your weapons.
Safes, Drills and the Marketplace
As some of you have seen in my announcement last week we are changing how our weapon skin safes and drills work. You will no longer be able to sell or trade a drill or an unopened safe on the marketplace as of this update, and you will no longer be able to buy drills for the older safes. However, all old safes that used to require a drill will now be openable without the need for any drills. If you have old safes in your inventory you will now be able to just open them like our more recent safes. Furthermore, all the safes that have once been in the rotation but were removed will now be added to the pool of safes you can receive in a loot drop.
Why are we doing this?
These changes are made because of certain legal aspects connected to sales of digital items with a random outcome. Since drills are part of the mechanic of opening a safe, we will remove these items as well.
What will happen with your old Drills?
If you have old drills in your inventory they will be converted to a safe of the corresponding type. A “Dallas drill” will become a “Dallas safe”. The new safe will be openable right away and you can claim the skin inside.
Will something change with the skins?
No, the skins will function just as they do now. You can use, sell, buy and trade them just like normal.
What Safes and Drills are affected by this change?
All safes will be made nonmarketable and nontradeable. This change will affect every safe even if they did not require a drill. You will no longer be able to purchase drills directly. Drills in players’ inventories will be made nonmarketable and nontradeable. The following safes will be made openable without a drill and will return to the drop table for available safes:
Sputnik Safe Bodhi Safe Dallas Safe Wolf Safe Jimmy Safe Sydney Safe Crimefest 2 Safe
Any drills currently in a player’s inventory safes will be converted into its corresponding safe on the next launch of the game.
What will happen with the items in the Steam marketplace?
Any item currently on the market place will remain on the marketplace until these items are taken off the marketplace, either but a successful purchase or the original owner taking the item back. Once these items are in a players’ inventory these items will be updated according to the changes outlined above.
Why are we adding more safes to the drop table?
Without the need for drills, the older safes work just like any other safe. And we wanted to bring a greater variety of skins to our players. Some of these old safes had very short runs in the rotation and therefore there are a lot of players that never had a chance to get these skins. We wanted to make all the skins available to everyone. That being said, since these safes are rare we want them to keep that sense of rarity. All our safes have different drop chances based on the safe type, and these safes will be a rare drop similar but not identical to “event safes”.
What about the safe and drill gained from the Completely Overkill Pack DLC?
Since that safe and drill were not tradable or marketable from the beginning and these safes have never been in rotation, this safe and drill will be completely unaffected by these changes. The Completely Overkill Pack safe will NOT be added to the drop table of available safes.
It’s better to heist and loot than to never have heisted at all. OVERKILL_Tobias OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio.

Update 199 Mark II Changelog

Update size: 1.9 GB

General * Added a new specific interface icon to indicate that an inventory item is unlocked by achievement * Ghost Riders achievement now correctly recognizes the One Down difficulty mask * Moved some settings from Advanced Video options to User Interface options * Players can now switch AI heisters' masks and weapons quickly in the crew management screen by hovering and scrolling the mouse wheel
Gameplay * Fixed a crash that could occur when a player dropped into a game where someone was using converted cops * Fixed an issue where cops could sometimes get stuck in a "hands up" position if players used concussion grenades * Fixed an issue with night vision masks not showing the players last life as grey * Fixed so that all cameras you can observe will start at their max zoom out position * Fixed so that clients can no longer enter crew management when in a lobby
Level * Border Crossing - Fixed an issue where a blown door would clip with the stairs in the big warehouse * Border Crossing - Fixed an issue where a gas can could spawn inside a pile of boxes, making it inaccessible * Border Crossing - Fixed so that players are no longer able to throw bags in unreachable places on the hangar doors * Golden Grin Casino - Fixed an issue where the laser trail effect did not match with the actual position of the BFD drill * Hoxton Breakout - Fixed so that players can no longer put equipment on the moving armored car * White House - Fixed an issue where players could grab thermite through a wall
Customization * Fixed a bug that made the Arbiter Grenade launcher display all skins at the same time when previewing * Fixed a clipping issue with using the Joceline shotgun and the Raincoat outfit * Fixed a crash that could occur when customizing an armor skin * Fixed an issue with Bonnie's head being slightly misaligned when wearing the Scrubs outfit
Text and Language * Added missing inventory text for the Stainless Steel Syringe to inform players that it deals additional poison damage * Fixed a faulty subtitle saying nine instead of eight when counting bags * Updated achievement requirement to correctly indicate "Bullet Hell" instead of "10/10" * Updated references to Hotline Miami 2 Digital Special Edition to use the correct name * Updated the unlock info for the achievement "BAAaa...BANG...aaAAH" to use the correct name of the mask * Updated the unlock info for the achievement "Heisters of the Round Table" to use the correct name of the material * Updated the unlock info for the achievement "Pass the Ammo" to use the correct name of the mask
Any mods you have installed may interfere with the update, so please disable them to avoid crashes until the modders have had time to update their mods. If you are experiencing crashes please read this thread for more information.

Store links

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239 Experts With 1 Big Claim: The Coronavirus Is Airborne - The W.H.O. has resisted mounting evidence that viral particles floating indoors are infectious, some scientists say. The agency maintains the research is still inconclusive.

this article is being posted in full via Source link please consider visiting the site for more information and to support the journalist, it's being posted in full because of the soft paywall on the site. I believe all articles with the NYtimes related to coronavirus are still available with a free subscription. However just to make sure I'm posting here
.
written by Apoorva Mandavilli
.
. The coronavirus is finding new victims worldwide, in bars and restaurants, offices, markets and casinos, giving rise to frightening clusters of infection that increasingly confirm what many scientists have been saying for months: The virus lingers in the air indoors, infecting those nearby.
If airborne transmission is a significant factor in the pandemic, especially in crowded spaces with poor ventilation, the consequences for containment will be significant. Masks may be needed indoors, even in socially distant settings. Health care workers may need N95 masks that filter out even the smallest respiratory droplets as they care for coronavirus patients.
Ventilation systems in schools, nursing homes, residences and businesses may need to minimize recirculating air and add powerful new filters. Ultraviolet lights may be needed to kill viral particles floating in tiny droplets indoors.
The World Health Organization has long held that the coronavirus is spread primarily by large respiratory droplets that, once expelled by infected people in coughs and sneezes, fall quickly to the floor.
But in an open letter to the W.H.O., 239 scientists in 32 countries have outlined the evidence showing that smaller particles can infect people, and are calling for the agency to revise its recommendations. The researchers plan to publish their letter in a scientific journal next week.
Even in its latest update on the coronavirus, released June 29, the W.H.O. said airborne transmission of the virus is possible only after medical procedures that produce aerosols, or droplets smaller than 5 microns. (A micron is equal to one millionth of a meter.)
Proper ventilation and N95 masks are of concern only in those circumstances, according to the W.H.O. Instead, its infection control guidance, before and during this pandemic, has heavilypromoted the importance of handwashing as a primary prevention strategy, even though there is limited evidence for transmission of the virus from surfaces. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says surfaces are likely to play only a minor role.)
Dr. Benedetta Allegranzi, the W.H.O.’s technical lead on infection control, said the evidence for the virus spreading by air was unconvincing.
“Especially in the last couple of months, we have been stating several times that we consider airborne transmission as possible but certainly not supported by solid or even clear evidence,” she said. “There is a strong debate on this.”
But interviews with nearly 20 scientists — including a dozen W.H.O. consultants and several members of the committee that crafted the guidance — and internal emails paint a picture of an organization that, despite good intentions, is out of step with science.
Whether carried aloft by large droplets that zoom through the air after a sneeze, or by much smaller exhaled droplets that may glide the length of a room, these experts said, the coronavirus is borne through air and can infect people when inhaled.
Most of these experts sympathized with the W.H.O.’s growing portfolio and shrinking budget, and noted the tricky political relationships it has to manage, especially with the United States and China. They praised W.H.O. staff for holding daily briefings and tirelessly answering questions about the pandemic.
But the infection prevention and control committee in particular, experts said, is bound by a rigid and overly medicalized view of scientific evidence, is slow and risk-averse in updating its guidance and allows a few conservative voices to shout down dissent. “They’ll die defending their view,” said one longstanding W.H.O. consultant, who did not wish to be identified because of her continuing work for the organization. Even its staunchest supporters said the committee should diversify its expertise and relax its criteria for proof, especially in a fast-moving outbreak.
“I do get frustrated about the issues of airflow and sizing of particles, absolutely,” said Mary-Louise McLaws, a committee member and epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
“If we started revisiting airflow, we would have to be prepared to change a lot of what we do,” she said. “I think it’s a good idea, a very good idea, but it will cause an enormous shudder through the infection control society.”
In early April, a group of 36 experts on air quality and aerosols urged the W.H.O. to consider the growing evidence on airborne transmission of the coronavirus. The agency responded promptly, calling Lidia Morawska, the group’s leader and a longtime W.H.O. consultant, to arrange a meeting.
But the discussion was dominated by a few experts who are staunch supporters of handwashing and felt it must be emphasized over aerosols, according to some participants, and the committee’s advice remained unchanged.
Dr. Morawska and others pointed to several incidents that indicate airborne transmission of the virus, particularly in poorly ventilated and crowded indoor spaces. They said the W.H.O. was making an artificial distinction between tiny aerosols and larger droplets, even though infected people produce both.
“We’ve known since 1946 that coughing and talking generate aerosols,” said Linsey Marr, an expert in airborne transmission of viruses at Virginia Tech.
Scientists have not been able to grow the coronavirus from aerosols in the lab. But that doesn’t mean aerosols are not infective, Dr. Marr said: Most of the samples in those experiments have come from hospital rooms with good air flow that would dilute viral levels. In most buildings, she said, “the air-exchange rate is usually much lower, allowing virus to accumulate in the air and pose a greater risk.”
The W.H.O. also is relying on a dated definition of airborne transmission, Dr. Marr said. The agency believes an airborne pathogen, like the measles virus, has to be highly infectious and to travel long distances.
People generally “think and talk about airborne transmission profoundly stupidly,” said Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“We have this notion that airborne transmission means droplets hanging in the air capable of infecting you many hours later, drifting down streets, through letter boxes and finding their way into homes everywhere,” Dr. Hanage said.

Precautionary principle

The W.H.O. has found itself at odds with groups of scientists more than once during this pandemic.
The agency lagged behind most of its member nations in endorsing face coverings for the public. While other organizations, including the C.D.C., have long since acknowledged the importance of transmission by people without symptoms, the W.H.O. still maintains that asymptomatic transmission is rare.
“At the country level, a lot of W.H.O. technical staff are scratching their heads,” said a consultant at a regional office in Southeast Asia, who did not wish to be identified because he was worried about losing his contract. “This is not giving us credibility.”
The consultant recalled that the W.H.O. staff members in his country were the only ones to go without masks after the government there endorsed them.
Many experts said the W.H.O. should embrace what some called a “precautionary principle” and others called “needs and values” — the idea that even without definitive evidence, the agency should assume the worst of the virus, apply common sense and recommend the best protection possible.
“There is no incontrovertible proof that SARS-CoV-2 travels or is transmitted significantly by aerosols, but there is absolutely no evidence that it’s not,” said Dr. Trish Greenhalgh, a primary care doctor at the University of Oxford in Britain.
“So at the moment we have to make a decision in the face of uncertainty, and my goodness, it’s going to be a disastrous decision if we get it wrong,” she said. “So why not just mask up for a few weeks, just in case?”
After all, the W.H.O. seems willing to accept without much evidence the idea that the virus may be transmitted from surfaces, she and other researchers noted, even as other health agencies have stepped back emphasizing this route.
“I agree that fomite transmission is not directly demonstrated for this virus,” Dr. Allegranzi, the W.H.O.’s technical lead on infection control, said, referring to objects that may be infectious. “But it is well known that other coronaviruses and respiratory viruses are transmitted, and demonstrated to be transmitted, by contact with fomite.”
The agency also must consider the needs of all its member nations, including those with limited resources, and make sure its recommendations are tempered by “availability, feasibility, compliance, resource implications,” she said.
Aerosols may play some limited role in spreading the virus, said Dr. Paul Hunter, a member of the infection prevention committee and professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia in Britain.
But if the W.H.O. were to push for rigorous control measures in the absence of proof, hospitals in low- and middle-income countries may be forced to divert scarce resources from other crucial programs.
“That’s the balance that an organization like the W.H.O. has to achieve,” he said. “It’s the easiest thing in the world to say, ‘We’ve got to follow the precautionary principle,’ and ignore the opportunity costs of that.”
In interviews, other scientists criticized this view as paternalistic. “‘We’re not going to say what we really think, because we think you can’t deal with it?’ I don’t think that’s right,” said Don Milton, an aerosol expert at the University of Maryland.
Even cloth masks, if worn by everyone, can significantly reduce transmission, and the W.H.O. should say so clearly, he added. Several experts criticized the W.H.O.’s messaging throughout the pandemic, saying the staff seems to prize scientific perspective over clarity.
“What you say is designed to help people understand the nature of a public health problem,” said Dr. William Aldis, a longtime W.H.O. collaborator based in Thailand. “That’s different than just scientifically describing a disease or a virus.”
The W.H.O. tends to describe “an absence of evidence as evidence of absence,” Dr. Aldis added. In April, for example, the W.H.O. said, “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.”
The statement was intended to indicate uncertainty, but the phrasing stoked unease among the public and earned rebukes from several experts and journalists. The W.H.O. later walked back its comments.
In a less public instance, the W.H.O. said there was “no evidence to suggest” that people with H.I.V. were at increased risk from the coronavirus. After Joseph Amon, the director of global health at Drexel University in Philadelphia who has sat on many agency committees, pointed out that the phrasing was misleading, the W.H.O. changed it to say the level of risk was “unknown.” But W.H.O. staff and some members said the critics did not give its committees enough credit.
“Those that may have been frustrated may not be cognizant of how W.H.O. expert committees work, and they work slowly and deliberately,” Dr. McLaws said.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the W.H.O.’s chief scientist, said agency staff members were trying to evaluate new scientific evidence as fast as possible, but without sacrificing the quality of their review. She added that the agency will try to broaden the committees’ expertise and communications to make sure everyone is heard.
“We take it seriously when journalists or scientists or anyone challenges us and say we can do better than this,” she said. “We definitely want to do better.”

Boston 10 Day Trip Report: A Total Immersion Travel Experience in New England's Flagship City

I went to Boston for the first time in a few years and got the chance to visit family and friends. I spent 10 days in the area and got the chance to immerse myself in the city.
Weekend 1 Pics: https://www.flickr.com/gp/158149703@N04/5n5HDu
Monday Pics: https://www.flickr.com/gp/158149703@N04/yzKR35
Tuesday Pics: https://www.flickr.com/gp/158149703@N04/44E7x2
Wednesday Pics: https://www.flickr.com/gp/158149703@N04/2rwX3x
Thursday Pics: https://www.flickr.com/gp/158149703@N04/Lq59F0
Friday Pics: https://www.flickr.com/gp/158149703@N04/5BR296
Weekend 2 Pics: https://www.flickr.com/gp/158149703@N04/99Zx6i

Boston is a coastal flagship city which is one of the oldest cities in the country. The history carries on to this day and as the 10th largest metropolitan area in the country it leads the nation (and world) in education, healthcare, public transportation, and athletics. There is a distinct culture around the city, a substantial depth of fine arts and a defining resilience that makes Boston unique. While the area is very populated it does feel extremely close knit, there is no wonder why it is called ‘The Town.’
When I visit places I like to do what I call a ‘total immersion,’ where I become a local as best as possible and see and do things from all walks of life. I experienced delays on the T, crazy drivers on the Mass Pike, experienced the opening of the Ballet and felt the energy of an evening game at Fenway. I climbed up many hills from Savin Hill, Bunker Hill, Telegraph Hill, Prospect Hill, Corey Hill and many others. I went to farmers markets, grocery stores and local neighborhood eats. I visited libraries, parks and countless universities. I took a variety of transit trips on foot, bike, bus, ferry and rail. I took in the skyline from all angles near and far, from the seaport to South Boston and beyond to the Noanet Woodlands. I did my best to get a clear picture of all facets of life in Beantown.
In the 3 days I had a BlueBike I rode 92 miles utilizing 36 stations. I rode on all 5 major T lines: Blue, Green (B,C,D,E) Orange, Red (Ashmont, Braintree), Silver (SL4) and utilized 30 stations.
I visited 41 different parks, from small urban gardens to large forests with lush views.
Boston is a city that feels extremely vibrant and academic but at the same time it can be quite blue collar, it just depends on where you go. From the youthful energy of Cambridge to the more mature and laid back Brookline, from the ritzy Back Bay to the gritty winding streets of Roxbury... Boston carries on with confidence, for this is Titletown a city core to the formation of our country. This is where our founding fathers made history, this is where English civilization came to fruition in North America.
I had an incredible time in Boston, it is a truly wonderful city and up there with the finest in the world. It is a large, open and welcoming community with a small town at heart. Thank you Boston for the great experiences I will always have the city on my mind.

Raves
-Tons of vibrancy in the core city, lots of pedestrians and cyclists
-Universites
-Hospitals and medical institutions
-Parks with great views and variety of landscapes
-Arts institutions, public libraries
-BlueBike system, tons of stations with bikes in good condition and $10 day pass
-Fenway park, an absolute treasure and finest ballpark in baseball with the best ushers and staff
-Cheap and convenient public transit system, week unlimited pass is a deal
-Tons of history throughout the city and surrounding areas
Rants
-Vibrancy goes down significantly after hours, not much open at night past 9pm
-Massholes
-Old and slow trolley and subway system
-Road network makes no sense whatsoever

Blue Bike Stations Used:
30 Dane St
Alewife MBTA at Steel Place
Ball Sq
Beacon Street & David G Mugar Way
Beacon Street & Massachusetts Avenue
Broadway T Stop
Cambridge Main Library at Broadway / Trowbridge St
Central Square Post Office Bluebikes Stations
Centre Street & Seaverns Avenue
Chinatown T Stop
Columbia Rd at Tierney Community Center
Dartmouth Street & Boylston Street
Franklin Park - Seaver St. at Humbolt Ave
Green Street T Bluebikes Station
Harrison Avenue & Bennet Street
Harvard Square at Mass Ave/ Dunster
Hayes Square - Vine St at Moulton St
Hyde Square - Barbara St at Centre St
ID Building East
ID Building West
Ink Block - Harrison Ave at Herald St
Jackson Square Bluebikes Station
JFK/UMass T Stop
Kennedy-Longfellow School 158 Spring St
Main St at Thompson Sq
MIT at Mass Ave / Amherst St
One Broadway
Roslindale Village - Washington St
S Huntington Ave at Heath St
Savin Hill T Stop - S Sydney St at Bay St
Stony Brook T Stop
Stuart St at Charles St
Union Square - Somerville
University of Massachusetts Boston - Campus Center
Upham's Corner T Stop - Magnolia St at Dudley St
Wentworth Institute of Technology - Huntington Ave at Vancouver St

MBTA Stations Utilized:
Airport
Alewife
Aquarium
Back Bay Station
Boston Univ. East
Broadway
Chestnut HIll
Chinatown
Cleveland Circle
Copley
Downtown Crossing
Dudley Square Government Center
Green Street
Harvard
Harvard Avenue
Haymarket Station
Jackson Square
JFK / UMass
Kenmore
Longwood
Massachusetts Ave
Museum of Fine Arts
North Station
Quincy Center
Ruggles
Stony Brook
Summit Avenue
Symphony Station
Wellington

Eateries:
Bazaar on Cambridge
City Feed and Supply
Courthouse Seafood
Dunkin (original location)
Exodus Bagels
Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Finagle A Bagel
Gene’s Chinese Flatbread Cafe
J.P. Licks (original location)
Joe’s Famous Steak Subs
JP Whole Foods Market
Kupel’s Bakery
Market Basket
South End Whole Foods Market
Sweet Rice JP Thai Sushi
Tasty Burger (original location)
Trader Joe’s Back Bay
Trillium Brewing Company

Parks:
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge
Back Bay Fens
Berkeley Community Garden
Blackstone Square
Boston Common
Boston National HIstorical Park
Boston Public Garden
Bunker HIll Monument
Castle Island
Channel Park
Chester Park
Copley Square
Corey HIll Overlook Park
Dorchester Heights
Dorchester Shores Reservation
East Boston Greenway
Fan Pier Park
Forest Hills Cemetery
Franklin Park
Franklin Square
Harriet Tubman Memorial
Jamaica Pond
Larz Anderson Park
LoPresti Park
Louisburg Square
M Street Beach
Malibu Beach
Millennium Park
Noanet Woodlands
North Point Park
Olmsted Park
Paul Revere Park
Peters Park
Prospect Hill Park
Reservoir Walking Trail (Weston Reservoir)
Riverbend Park
Savin HIll Park
Seven Hills Park
Thomas J Butler Memorial Park
Titus Sparrow Park

Attractions:
Boston City Hall
Boston College
Boston Opera House
Boston Public Library
Boston Symphony Hall
Boston University Bridge
Cambridge Public Library
Chinatown Gate
Coolidge Corner Farmers Market
Copley Place
Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
Drydock Center
Dugout Cafe
Encore Boston Harbor
Fenway Park
Gillette World Shaving Headquarters
Hancock Cemetery
Harvard Bridge
Harvard Business School
Harvard Stadium
Harvard Yard
Honan-Allston Branch of the Boston Public Library
John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site
John W. Weeks Footbridge
Long Wharf (South)
Longwood Medical and Academic Area
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts State House
Medford Square
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Northeastern University
Paul Revere Statue
Samuel Adams Boston Brewery
Seaport World Trade Center
Shirley-Eustis House
Skywalk Obervatory
Sowa OPen Market
The James Blake House 1661
The Old House at Peace Field- Adams National Historical Park
Thomas Crane Public Library
Tuft University

Detail Notes:

Thursday
-Fly from Cincinnati CVG to Boston Logan while making a connecting flight stop in DCA
-Arrive at Logan in terminal B, I love the new terminal with large glass windows with the view of downtown
-My family picks me up and we immediately head to East Boston
-We walk around East Boston and check out the skyline views from LoPresti Park
-There is a lot of new development in the neighborhood, it feels like Boston’s version of Long Island City
-Walk back to the car and go by the East Boston Greenway
-We drive under the tunnel into downtown and then drive to the Seaport and park on A St.
-Grab beers at Trillium Brewing Company from the outdoor patio
-Then we go for a walk first around Fan Pier Park and then cross the Fort Point Channel into downtown
-Walk to Faneuil Hall Marketplace and get dinner, I get a platter from the Indian vendor, I love that there is a Magnolia Bakery vendor which I remember getting the banana pudding at the Upper West Side location in NYC
-Drive out to Natick to stay in Hotel

Friday
-Go out with family to Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge
-Walk around the beautiful Puffer Pond
-Walk on the trails and see some of the ammunition storage bunkers
Saturday
-Go to Bat-Mitzvah with family

Sunday
-Spend more time with family, go to relatives house in Jamaica Plain where I would stay for the week
-Go for a run around the Weston Reservoir
-Go out to the JP Licks on Centre St.
-Walk to the Jamaica Pond at night

Monday
-Wake up and go to the Centre St/Seaverns Ave Blue Bike station and pick up a bike
-Ride bike to Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and bike up to the top of Peters Hill and catch the great view
-Bike down through Roslindale Village then to the Forest Hill station, I love all of the bike/walk trails and bike parking
-I then enter the SW Corridor Park and bike up to the Jackson Square station
-There are tons of other bike commuters making for an enjoyable ride with other fellow people on the trails
-I go to the Stop & Shop to get some chewy bars
-I continue biking down past the JP Whole Foods and make my way to Jamaica Pond where I bike around the Pond counter-clockwise
-A person lets me know I cannot bike on the path in the SW portion of the park so I head for the road on Francis Parkman Dr. and feel very uncomfortable with all of the cars, but once I get to Perkins St. I go back to the trail
-I then make my way up the Emerald Necklace, passing through Olmstead Park
-I go by Longwood Medical area, the MFA and the Back Bay Fens
-I make it to the Massachusetts Ave and take in the views of Cambridge and the Boston skyline
-I bike down through the Back Bay and to the Boston Public Library
-Inside former governor Bill Weld is doing an interview with WGBH and I sit in for a few minutes
-I then walk around and check out the Norman Leventhal map room which I love
-I then check out the various rooms in the old section of the library including the main reading room, which is beautiful and not too crowded or swarmed with tourists (unlike the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in NYC public library)
-Bike over to the Boston Public Garden and check out the landscaping
-Then walk through Beacon Hill, I love the historic streets and architecture
-Check out Louisburg Square, which feels like a small version of Gramercy Park
-Walk to the Massachusetts Statehouse and go inside
-Check out the House of Representative Chamber and Senate Chamber
-I talk with one of the guards (who has a very strong Boston accent) who tells me I should visit the Governor's Foyer and tells me to look for Bill Weld’s portrait which is different from all the others, so I go and visit and it is very different!
-I leave the statehouse and go to the Granary Burying Ground, it is amazing to see such and old Cemetery and I check out the graves of John Hancock and Paul Revere
-Walk to Downtown Crossing (DTX) and I am very impressed by the pedestrian only streets and vibrancy
-I get noodles with a lamb skewer at Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe which is very good
-I then walk through Chinatown by the Chinatown Gate and love seeing all of the elderly people playing card games at Mary Soo Hoo Park
-I bike over through the seaport to the Seaport World Trade Center and catch the amazing views
-Continue to bike over to the Reebok World Headquarters and checkout the store/crossfit studio
-I bike around the drydocks, I really like the AT-AT looking cranes
-I then bike over Summer St. and then to 1st street to Thomas J Butler Memorial Park and then make my way to Castle Island
-I dismount my bike (not suppose to bike along the paths on Castle Island) and walk around the Fort Independence and check out the views of planes landing at Logan, I do see quite a few large jets landing from overseas
-I walk around Pleasure Bay to Head Island and then get back on my bike after going to the Harbourwalk
-I bike along M Street Beach and then make my way up to Dorchester Heights up on Telegraph Hill. This area has great views of downtown and feels somewhat like San Francisco
-I bike back over Traveler St. through Channel Park and then go to the Chinatown Orange Line and Ride to Stony Brook
-I then bike over to Franklin Park where I check out White Stadium as there is a high school soccer game going on
-Then bike around the park stopping by the gates of the Zoo and then the Franklin Park Overlook Ruins
-Then I go back where I am staying in JP and go for a run...making a loop from the Pond to the SW Corridor Park then down to Forrest Hills then back up to the Pond

Tuesday
-Walk to Green street and take Orange Line to DTX...then transfer to Red Line, it is very crowded on the platford at the crossing
-Ride North on Red Line crossing the Charles River and to Alewife
-Station feels very Eurpean as there are lots of buses and bike parking
-Bike along Somerville Community Path to Davis station
-Bike north to Medford and check out Tufts University Campus, I love the buildings and greenery
-Bike north across the Mystic River and then to Medford Square
-Continue biking south to Magoun Square, checking out the very residential streets of Somerville
-Go to Market Basket to get some more chewy bars and get a sports drink
-Bike down to Harvard
-Check out the Harvard campus, I first start on the east side of campus and then make my way to the Harvard Yard and Harvard Square
-Bike over to the Cambridge Public Library for a quick phone charge
-Bike over through Inman Square and Union Square
-Bike up to Prospect Hill Park and check out the views of downtown Boston
-Bike through the Central Redline stop and bike over to the west side of the MIT campus to BU bridge
-Bike across BU bridge and check out all of the students crossing the street during class changes on Commonwealth Ave
-Bike back across the bridge taking in the view and then bike along the river on the Dr. Dudley White Bike Path
-When I get to Massachusetts Ave I walk around campus (I get a tour guide map) and check out some of the cool buildings such as Kresge Auditorium and the great dome. The MIT campus is much more visitor friendly than Harvard, you can really go in a lot more buildings
-Then I bike over to check out the Kendall Square area and check out MIT Sloan
-I make my way up to East Cambridge and have a salmon platter at Courthouse Seafood
-I then bike down through North Point Park and Paul Revere Park to Charlestown
-I check out the Boston National Historical Park on the water and then make my way into Charlestown
-I like Charlestown is does have a similar feeling to South Boston and is surprisingly nicer than I thought it would be and lots of very nice looking housing
-I make my way to the Bunker Hill Monument
-Then I run down to catch the ferry (which is included with 7-day MBTA pass) at the Charlestown Navy Yard Ferry Terminal
-Take 7 minute Ferry ride to the Aquarium Terminal and get great views of the harbour and downtown
-I take the Blue Line from the Aquarium to Government Center
-Then I take the D train Green Line to Kenmore
-Get off at Kenmore and walk to Fenway Park, I walk around the park before the gates open and get in line
-Go inside the park (get Bathan Eovaldi bobblehead giveaway) then check out the team store
-Inside awesome teamstore, I go to the back room where there is memorabilia and get an autograph from Julian Tavarez
-I walk into the stadium and I walk right down to home plate, then over to left field and onto the Green Monster, then on the upper deck around to right field, then down to the bleachers then back behind home plate. I love how you are allowed to go nearly everywhere in the park before the game starts (as opposed to Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium). The ushers are so friendly and really go out of their way to make a great experience.
-Go to 5th row in Grandstand section 19 to watch the game which is a great view
-See a lot of Red Sox Legends in the Park (Pedro Martinez and Carlton Fisk)
-See Mike Yastrzemski hit a home run and the crowd gives a standing ovation
-Leave game and head to Tasty Burger
-Walk across the Fens and see a movie being filmed at the MFA coming to Netflix called ‘The Sleepover’
-Catch 39 Bus back to accommodation
Wednesday
-Wake up and bike over to Exodus Bagels, I get a plain with cream cheese
-Bike through Roxbury, go by Boston Latin Academy and up through Dudley Square
-Check out the Shirley-Eustis House
-Bike to Upham’s Corner and check out the Dorchester North Burying Ground. I love all of the street art murals in Roxbury and Dorchester, while these are some of the poorer neighborhoods in the city, they still are not that down looking and have a good community feel
-Check out the James Blake House (built in 1661!)
-Bike to the JFK/UMass Red Line stop and head south to Quincy Center
-Check out downtown Quincy and visit Hancock Cemetery which is very cool (set apart in 1640!)
-Walk up to check out the Adams National Park Visitor Center and then the The Old House at Peace Field, then I walk to the Quincy Homestead
-Walk through Faxon Field and then go to the Original Dunkin Donuts on Southern Artery and get a 10 pcs munchkins (and immediately eat all of them)
-Walk back downtown and check out inside Thomas Crane Public Library
-Take Red Line back to JFK/UMass and bike along Dorchester Shores Reservation
-Bike around JFK Presidential Library and then check out the UMass Boston Campus, I take a break in the beautiful cafeteria overlooking the water and charge my phone and rest for a few minutes
-I then bike down around Savin Hill Cove past the Vietnam War Memorial and over to Malibu Beach
-Then I bike up to the top of Savin Hill but the view is disappointing as there really isn’t a view
-I then take the Red Line from Savin Hill to Broadway and check out the Gillette HQ complex and take in the views from the city
-I bike to the South End Whole Foods and get a turkey sandwich
-I then go to Emerson and check out the buildings there and eat my turkey sandwich and then walk through the North End
-I check out the Paul Revere Statue, Old North Church and Copp’s Hill Burial Ground
-Go to North Station and catch the Green E line to the MFA
-Check out the MFA which is very very impressive, my favorite section is the American landscape paintings. I also see some work done by Frank Duveneck who is from where I live in Covington, KY (right across the bridge from Cincinnati)
-Bike over to meet a friend at Harvard, to get there I bike through Longwood and catch the stunning sunset John W. Weeks Footbridge
-Take Red Line from Harvard Square to DTX then take Orange line to Jackson Square
-Bike to the JP Whole foods and get 2 cans of beans to eat
-Bike back to accommodation, eat beans and go to sleep

Thursday
-Wake up and take Orange Line to Wellington, there is a Dunkin in the stop and there are many locals waiting to get their fix
-Take the Encore shuttle to the Encore Casino (originally I got on the employee shuttle)
-Walk through the Casino and grounds, the physical plant is amazing and there are some nice views of the Mystic but overall I am not that impressed as the shopping is not that high end and the minimums are high for the table games
-I take the shuttle back to Wellington and then take Orange Line to Back Bay Station then I take the Green B line from Copley Square to Harvard Ave
-I then walk to Bazaar on Cambridge and get ½ pound of lox and a loaf of dark brown sourdough rye 'Borodinsky bread.'
-I eat outside at a local park right next to the Honan-Allston Branch of the Boston Public Library and then check out the library inside
-I then walk over to Harvard Stadium and check it out and the Harvard Business School and check out the campus and meet with a friend there briefly
-I catch the 66 bus back down to Harvard Ave into Brookline where I grab a bagel at Kupel's Bakery walk around and check out the JFK National Historic Site
-Then make my way down to Coolidge Corner and then check out the Brookline Farmers Market
-Then walk on Beacon Street and up Summit Ave to Corey Hill Overlook Park which the views are ok but then walk back down and catch the Green Line C train
-Get off at the end of the C train at Cleveland Circle and walk around Chestnut Hill Reservoir from the north side
-I then walk through Boston College Football stadium and the campus, which is very beautiful
-I then walk down Hammond St. to the Chestnut HIll D train and take it to Longwood station
-I walk through Longwood at all of the world class medical schools and institutions and walk by Boston Latin School
-I then walk through Northeastern campus and go to Ruggles station and catch a brand new Orange Line train which I take to Chinatown
-I then walk though the Boston Common and grab a Mcdonalds burgefries/McChicken and eat on a bench in the common and do some people watching
-Then I go to the Boston Opera House to see the premiere the 2019-2020 Boston Ballet which is a performance of Giselle which I love
-After the show then check out the new downtown Taco Bell but it is a complete mess so I just take an Uber back

Friday
-Wake up and go to Green St. Orange Line, there is a brand new train but it is going outbound to Forrest Hills so I take an old train to Massachusetts Ave station and walk through the SW Corridor Park. I love the juxtaposition of the historic walk ups to the towering skyscrapers
-I make my way to Harriet Tubman Square, Chester Park, Franklin Square and Jackson Square
-I walk through the Berklee Community Garden
-I then walk up to check out the Boston Marathon Bombing Memorial Finish Line and get a bagel w/cream cheese at Finagleabagel
-Then I meet some friends and walk through the Copley Place shops and then go up to the Skydeck on the top of the Prudential Building
-The views are great but I do not think worth the $20+ price of admission. Its is cool though to see all of the places I have been from a birds eye view, especially the water and all of the rowhouse neighborhoods
-Then take Prudential Green Line to Haymarket and check out the farmers market
-I then head to City Hall Plaza and take in the Boston Climate Strike
-Next I take Green Line E train from Government Center to Symphony Hall and go inside
-I see performance of the Boston Symphony I get a seat on the first balcony to have a view of the two piano concerto. There is also a world premiere piece commissioned by the BSO and Beethoven's Fantasia featuring The Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
-After the Symphony I take the Orange Line to Stoney Brook and get some bagels from City Feed
-In evening head to Millenium Park and go for a run, take trail down to the Charles River and then take in the sunset from atop the skyline loop
-Go out to dinner at Sweet Rice in JP

Saturday
-I go for a morning run, I first cross the Emerald Necklace into Brookline to check out Larz Anderson Park. Then I go through the Arboretum and the Bussey Brook Meadow to the Forest Hills Cemetery. I visit the burial places of Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren, Poet E.E. Cummings, Abolitionist William Llyod Garrison and Nobel Laureate Playwright Eugene O'Neil.
-Then I go to the Sam Adams Brewery and go for a toutasting where I try the Boston Lager, Oktoberfest, and Pumpkin Ale
-Then take 39 bus to the Back Bay and walk down Newbury St and check out all of the shops
-Get a burrito at the Back Bay Trader Joes and then walk to the Boston Common where the ‘Freedom Fest’ is taking place, there is a lot of smoke which I cannot handle so I walk around
-I check out the ‘Friends’ couch set and then take the Silver Line from Tuft Medical Center to Dudley Square
-I get a shredded beef sandwich at Joe’s which is really big just what I needed
-Then I take the 28 bus to the orange line back to JP
-At night I take 39 bus to Copley and take Green Line B train to Boston University East and I go see the Mendoza Line Comedy show at the Dugout Cafe

Sunday
-I wake up and take bus to the South end and check out the SoWa open market, I check out the food stalls, outdoor crafts market, indoor vintage market and artist studios
-I then grab some food at the South End Whole Foods and then take Orange Line/Orange line shuttle back to JP
-Then go for an afternoon run through the Noanet Woodland and catch the nice view of downtown Boston and forest from the top of the lookout

Monday
-Wake up before dawn, and take Orange Line to the Blue Line at Government Center and take the Blue Line to the Airport
-Check out the skyline from the terminal one last time and then fly back to CVG

Aboriginal teen sues after alleged NSW police assault caught on video

Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Jun. 19, 2000

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUS YEARS ARCHIVE:
1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999


1-3-2000	1-10-2000	1-17-2000	1-24-2000
1-31-2000	2-7-2000	2-14-2000	2-21-2000
2-28-2000	3-6-2000	3-13-2000	3-20-2000
3-27-2000	4-3-2000	4-10-2000	4-17-2000
4-24-2000	5-1-2000	5-8-2000	5-15-2000
5-22-2000	5-29-2000	6-5-2000	6-12-2000

What's up everybody. Hope everyone's doing well. Just a heads up, there will be no Rewind posts for the rest of this week. I won't be around on Wednesday or Friday this week so the next post after today will be next Monday. Hope everybody has a good Thanksgiving. Also, ham is better than turkey and I will die for that belief, fuck you, fight me if you disagree.

The long-rumored split of AJPW has finally come to pass, as company president Mitsuharu Misawa resigned his position on on 5/28. All sides attempted to keep it quiet to ensure a smooth transition but when word leaked to the media a week or so later, an emergency board of directors meeting was called and 5 more members of the board (wrestlers Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, Mitsuo Momota, along with front office exec Yoshihiro Momota and AJPW managing director Kenichi Oyagi) all formally resigned as well. It confirmed that virtually the entire company has decided to leave Motoko Baba. It's strongly believed that will Misawa will be starting his own promotion, probably in September (ends up being August actually). Misawa had hoped to avoid a public promotional war with the wife of Giant Baba and had attempted to negotiate with her to use the AJPW name for his promotion to preserve the legacy and history of what Giant Baba built without it turning nasty. But Motoko Baba refused the proposal and refused to give up any financial control of the company (she owns 85% while Nippon TV owns the other 15%). Both Misawa and Motoko Baba are expected to hold separate press conferences this week to detail their future plans. According to sources, every single wrestler in the company with the exception of Toshiaki Kawada and Masa Fuchi have pledged loyalty to Misawa and pretty much the entire front office is going with him as well. Kawada will likely be named the new AJPW president this week. Kawada and Misawa have known each other since high school but haven't ever really fully gotten along, with Kawada feeling like Misawa was holding him down from being the top star in AJPW. With him in charge, it's expected he will become the top star and will attempt to form a working relationship with NJPW while also bringing in indie talent to fill out the now-empty roster to keep the company afloat.
Misawa and Motoko Baba have never gotten along since Misawa took over as company president following Giant Baba's death. A lot of the problems stem from Baba wanting to maintain the status quo in a company that has been floundering, while Misawa wanted to make major changes, push younger wrestlers, and things like that, only to find himself often overruled. Dave notes a specific show last year when Misawa booked Budokan Hall and put Jun Akiyama vs. Takao Omori in the main event, which Baba was adamantly against, feeling a Budokan show shouldn't be headlined by wrestlers who weren't yet established main eventers. Misawa also wanted to modernize the contracts, with wrestlers having medical coverage if they're hurt, full pay while out injured, and things like that. Usually every year at the end of March, the wrestlers get raises but that didn't happen this year and as a result, nobody re-signed, so currently the entire AJPW roster of wrestlers are free-agents right now, which is why they're all able to up and leave with Misawa. As much as everyone loved Giant Baba, his wife has always been notoriously unpopular in Japanese wrestling circles and was nicknamed "Dragon Lady." Shortly after Giant Baba's death, she forced Jumbo Tsuruta out of the company after he had worked there for 27 years.
Needless to say, there's some potential legal hurdles here. It's believed Misawa may have a non-compete clause in his previous contract that hasn't run out yet. There's also the possibility that Baba will file a lawsuit claiming that Misawa had started working to set up his new company while still employed as AJPW president. During the meeting where Misawa resigned, Baba didn't attend, instead sending her lawyer with a note saying that she wasn't going to be there. The key to this whole thing is Nippon TV, which has been broadcasting wrestling weekly since the Rikidozan days. Dave says this whole thing is really similar to the 1972 situation when Giant Baba left the old JWA promotion (Rikidozan's company) and started AJPW, and Nippon TV went with him. 7 months later, JWA was dead. Publicly, Nippon TV isn't saying anything but it's believed that they are likely going to side with Misawa also, so AJPW's days on television may be numbered. If for some reason that doesn't happen, the Fuji Network in Japan is interested, so Misawa's promotion will surely end up on TV one way or another. All in all, this is pretty devastating for AJPW.
The situation with AJPW's foreign wrestlers is uncertain. They all ride on the same bus and were told to clean out all their stuff. They also checked to see if their hotels were booked for the upcoming July tour only to find out they haven't been booked yet (they usually are by now) so the foreign stars are said to be pretty concerned that they suddenly might not have jobs. Many of the foreign wrestlers are closer to Mrs. Baba since, well, she writes the checks and the money's never late. But they've all been told not to worry, although they haven't been given any details of what their futures hold. Steve Williams and Johnny Ace are the closest to her on a personal level. Stan Hansen, the highest paid foreign star in AJPW, is staying out of the situation. He's just about ready to retire anyway and has saved his money well, so he's just chillin' and waiting to see how this whole thing shakes out.
Things are only slightly less chaotic in the United States. The WWF vs. USA Network trial began this week and the futures of both WWF's Raw and ECW as a whole probably depend on what happens. USA Senior VP David Brenner testified during the first 2 days and revealed that USA pays WWF $42,000 per episode for Raw. Last year during negotiations, USA had offered to increase the payment to $80,000 per episode in 2001, $85,000 in 2002 and $90,000 in 2003 as well as offering increases in payments for the other three weekly shows on USA but Vince McMahon turned them down. USA then increased the offer but McMahon again turned it down and began negotiating with Fox.
More talk about the future of WCW also. The SFX talks to purchase WCW have seemingly gone nowhere so far but are still ongoing. Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan have been meeting with Fox about a deal. The idea being that Bischoff and Hogan would go to Fox to start a "new promotion," which would then do a big inter-promotional angle against WCW. Meanwhile, WCW is also still reaching out to ECW about possibly working together, but Heyman has once again refused because he wants no part of anything to do with WCW.
Oh yeah, speaking of....ECW is pretty jolly well fucked up right now too. Heyman has also had discussions with Fox but they haven't gone anywhere. Even though WCW is suffering financial losses the likes of which have never been seen before in professional wrestling, ECW is actually the company in the most danger right now. They're in a major financial crunch and wrestlers are weeks behind on getting paid. Several sources are said to be willing to loan ECW money or to buy a stake in the company, including WWF, which has offered several times to bail Heyman out. But the loan would come with certain conditions that Heyman isn't willing to accept because they would basically give WWF too much control over his company. Furthermore, the situation with the WWF/USA lawsuit is precarious because it's entirely possible and likely that TNN will boot ECW off the network if/when they get WWF Raw, which would leave ECW sitting on a mountain of debt without a national TV deal. Heyman is hopeful that they can survive on syndicated TV, just as they did before they had TNN, but things have changed a lot since then. If TNN ends up getting Raw, ECW's best hope is that they will be picked up by USA but that's by no means a guarantee. Given the state of the company, Dave says they're going to need a major network deal and a much larger production budget from that network if they hope to survive or be competitive.
WCW's Great American Bash is in the books and after a heavily-hyped build-up that something game-changing would happen, the big surprise ended up being the heel-turn of Goldberg. Dave says the show was a huge let-down. Endless run-ins, 3 big "stunt" spots which meant none of them stood out, predictable swerves, and the 3rd straight PPV with the same finish. Goldberg's heel turn got a lot of heat but Dave says it's way too soon in Goldberg's career, plus he just came back after being injured for 6 months and the fans have been dying to see him back. But Russo was determined to turn him heel immediately because "omg swerves are awesome!" so....here we are. Needless to say, Dave thinks this is just about the dumbest thing WCW could have done. It also re-solidifies Hogan and Nash as the top 2 babyfaces in the company, because this company just refuses to fucking learn. Coming out of the PPV, it seemed like the obvious direction for the next PPV would be Hogan vs. Jarrett for the title and Goldberg vs. Nash, but in their infinite wisdom, they went ahead and gave away both matches for free on Nitro the very next night, which, to be fair, it's not like anyone buys WCW PPVs anymore anyway so it probably doesn't really matter. To show just how far WCW has alienated its fans, both Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan were in matches on this PPV where their career was at stake if they lost. Two of the biggest names in history in potential retirement matches should be an instant sellout and monster buyrate but needless to say, they only drew 4,600 paid (in Baltimore, a city where both Flair and Hogan have been huge draws during their careers) and the buyrate is expected to be among the lowest ever. Dave says try to imagine a scenario in Mexico with El Santo and Perro Aguayo in retirement matches only selling 4,600 tickets to Arena Mexico, or Inoki and Riki Choshu putting up their careers and drawing 4,600 to the Tokyo Dome. It would be unthinkable, but welcome to WCW in 2000.
Other notes from the show: the opening cruiserweight match ending got screwed up because the guy who plays Rection's dad came out 5 minutes early and since his run-in was part of the finish, they had to rush to it early. How does that even happen? Kanyon turned on DDP, making it 3 PPVs in a row that DDP lost because someone betrayed him. In the words of Raylan Givens, "If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole." I'm just saying, maybe we should start asking why all of DDP's friends keep turning on him. Hogan vs. Kidman was about what you expect: Hogan overcoming all the odds and beating Kidman like a jobber. Ric Flair's entire family got involved in his match with David Flair, including his daughter Ashley (Charlotte) attacking Russo. Vampiro beat Sting in an inferno match, with "Sting" (a stunt double) being set on fire and knocked off the top of the video screen and Dave hated this. And of course, finally, the Goldberg heel turn.
WWF is planning to slowly enact a new rule banning all moves in which a wrestler might land on his head (aside from tombstones and DDTs). The details are still scarce but it would essentially ban all forms of piledrivers, brainbusters, and other back and overhead suplexes. It won't be an immediate change, and wrestlers who use those moves will be asked to move away from them and gradually change their moveset. The idea, of course, is to try to lower the injury risk of guys dealing with neck issues who are working 4 shows a week. Dave talks about major injuries that have happened, particularly the Masa Chono and Steve Austin neck injuries which both came from botched piledrivers and nearly ended the careers of both. No word on why exactly this was decided, but Dave talks about a crazy looking DDT from the top rope that Dean Malenko did to Scotty 2 Hotty at Backlash that scared a lot of people backstage. And of course, there's also the issue with Droz being paralyzed (although that was a freak accident) and things like that. Tazz had already been told to limit his suplexes and wasn't allowed to use some of his more dangerous ones. And Perry Saturn was told to change his brainbuster finisher so he's using an elbow from the top now as his finish.
The New Jersey state assembly passed a bill to regulate "extreme wrestling." It's a bill clearly designed to shut down Jersey All Pro Wrestling and Combat Zone Wrestling, while not applying to other promotions that operate in the state, like WWF, WCW, or ECW. The bill still has to pass the state senate and the governor (who has come out in support of it) before it becomes law. There's a lot of direct quotes from the bill in here that tries to distinguish between WWF/WCW/ECW and promotions like JAPW and CZW and it's pretty bullshit. Most of the things that are listed as being banned in CZW and JAPW happen regularly in the main promotions too. Dave talks about Jeff Hardy doing dives off ladders in WWF, or New Jack jumping off balconies in ECW. Those would still be fine on those shows, but Jeff Hardy or New Jack went to an JAPW or CZW show and did the exact same thing, it would be banned. Any "extreme wrestling" promoter or wrestler that allows someone under 18 into a show would be subject to a $5,000 fine. Other wrestling promotions can run shows without a license but "extreme" promotions (only CZW and JAPW) have to not only get a license to operate, must notify the public safety director 20 days beforehand to get permission in writing, and a bunch of other shit. It's also subject to a bunch of taxes that the other companies aren't. And the biggest thing is that "extreme" shows must carry medical insurance on all the wrestlers and have 2 doctors and an ambulance on site at all times. For these small companies that only draw a couple hundred fans, that's an expense they can't afford. In short, the entire purpose of this bill is to run JAPW and CZW out of business, or at least out of the state, and it looks like it's likely going to become law.
A&E aired a Biography special on Hulk Hogan and I can already tell this is going to be good. Dave's itching to point out the lies and inaccuracies. In an interesting note, after the show finished filming, they got a negative response from an early screening because they never acknowledged Hogan's role in the current downfall of WCW. So they tacked on a thing at the end mentioning that WCW had declined in popularity due to promoting wrestlers who were too old. Anyway, the rest of the documentary was basically Hogan and his friends and family telling a wonderful tale of fiction. Some of it is nitpicky stuff but others, like Vince McMahon's role in Hogan's success and the 80s boom of wrestling, was completely downplayed. He told a bunch of lies about his past steroid use, basically just that he dabbled in them when it was legal. Of course, none of that's true and Hogan's own testimony in Vince's 94 steroid trial contradicts it, but whatever. Overall, it doesn't sound too bad compared to the tall tales Hogan usually tells, but Dave always delights in nitpicking Hogan's conveniently selective memory.
This week's ratings fun: on Raw, the Crash Holly vs. Gerald Brisco match did double the rating of Nitro's Nash/Goldberg main event, which was Goldberg's first match since turning heel the night before. As soon as Nitro ended, 40% of fans switched over to Raw, which is much higher than the usual number.
NJPW experimented with selling tickets online for a show this week. It was a 17,000 seat arena but since this was an experiment, they only put 2,000 of the tickets online for sale and they sold out within an hour, so needless to say it was a success and they'll probably start doing that more often. Watching the business slowly begin implementing technology and taking advantage of the internet is one of the more interesting parts of doing these Rewinds to me.
There was a big news story in Japan due to a recent incident where RINGS president and former wrestler Akira Maeda attacked Pancrase president Masami Ozaki at a hotel. Ozaki ended up pressing charges against Maeda for the attack. From reports, apparently Maeda lost his temper for some reason and punched Ozaki and threw him into a table. Around the same time, a newspaper article ran with Maeda talking about having a friend in the Yakuza, which seems like a pretty thinly-veiled threat.
A newspaper in Sydney Australia reported that promoter Andrew McManus would be running some shows, including a major show headlined by Dennis Rodman vs. Brutus Beefcake at a 19,000 seat arena. The largest crowd for wrestling in Australian history is around 12,000 for an Andre the Giant match several years back. Word is Rodman will work several shows and will be making 7-figures. Dave is skeptical of this to say the least (turns out it was sort of true. Rodman did end up wrestling one show, headlining against Curt Hennig but I'm sure we'll hear more about it when the time comes).
The FX Network is airing a toughman contest featuring wrestlers against football players. Most of the wrestlers are no named indie guys. The biggest names are XPW's Damien Steele and Mustafa from the Gangstas. The Fox Family channel is currently casting roles for a show called Los Luchadores about a group of Mexican wrestlers (this was a kid's show, only lasted 1 season).
Memphis Championship Wrestling has been taping shows at the nearby Sam's Town casino but because no kids are allowed in the casino, the shows have been basically empty so they're moving them back to an all-ages venue in Memphis. Several of Shawn Michaels' students are expected to start working there soon.
Sable is on the cover of the new Muscle & Fitness. In the article, it described her as "the most popular female athlete in wrestling history" and Dave supposes you could make a case for it. The story also said she can bench 225 and squat 405, to which Dave says he hasn't laughed that hard in weeks.
Dave notes 2 promotions that are apparently starting. One is called Urban Wrestling Federation and is gonna be based on hip-hop and target Spanish audiences and they're bringing in Koko B Ware to build it around. On the other end of the spectrum is the Christian Wrestling Federation, which is wrestling without the vulgarity and sexual stuff and at the end of the show, all the wrestlers return to the ring for a big group prayer. I'm absolutely baffled that neither of these clearly brilliant ideas are still around today.
ECW's Heat Wave PPV will take place in Los Angeles which is the first time the company will attempt a west coast show. Dave thinks it might be interesting since that's XPW territory (boy, I'll say....)
Regarding the incident mentioned last week with Sandman being drunk at a show in Florida and making a scene in the ring, word is it got heated backstage afterward. First, Tommy Dreamer and Sandman got into it physically but were quickly broken up. Then shortly after, Jack Victory and Sandman got into a fight that left Sandman bleeding from a cut above the eye.
Notes from WCW Nitro: we're starting out at peak stupid this week. Commentator Scott Hudson did the entire show shirtless because on Nitro last week, Vince Russo got his shirt torn off and all 3 announcers made jokes about his physique. So Russo thought it would be great to order all 3 announcers do the entire broadcast without shirts to get him over as a heel. Mark Madden and Schiavone apparently refused but Hudson went along with it. They showed Vampiro talking to a mystery man in a robe in a smoke-filled room, who is expected to be revealed as Christopher Daniels. They wanted to name him God or Lord but the Turner standards and practices people shot that down and he still has no name (this ends up going nowhere but yes, it was indeed going to be Daniels before it got forgotten). They also had an idea for Vampiro to set the dressing room on fire and Asya would get burned, to set up a feud with Vampiro vs. KISS Demon (who is Asya's real life fiance). Also, the Millionaire's Club group has been rendered pretty much dead because most of the guys are out. DDP and Flair are on the shelf with injuries. Sting is out ("another vacation, what a great job he has," Dave says) and Luger is, of course, gone after walking out last week over creative differences. They had a bit where Kevin Nash's fake 8-year-old nephew Hunter (3 guesses why they picked that name) gets left with Scott Steiner to babysit and Steiner just leaves him with one of his half-naked women. They did an angle with Vince Russo shaving Ric Flair's head and Dave admits it was a really great angle and really well done (including another run-in by daughter Ashley, aka future Charlotte). But much like everything else in WCW, they left money on the table. This is Ric Flair's trademark hair that he's had for 30 years. They could have turned it into a huge deal on PPV or built up to it or something. Instead, just shaved his head with no notice on free TV. It was a great angle, but it puts all the heat on Russo and the end game is still Flair vs. Russo, which isn't exactly going to sell out arenas. Dave suspects Flair went along with it because he's trying to help David Flair get over but the kid just isn't any good and he's being pushed way beyond his capabilities.
Goldberg was quoted in an AP news story criticizing the direction of WCW. "We are farther away form the kids and closer to pornography. It bothers me. Absolutely. We have a show that has a girl in a bikini in every single segment. I'm not in favor of that. I voice my opinion on everything I have a problem with. We can't shut our eyes on the kids who watch. There is a time and a place for segments where kids can watch with their parents, and we don't have it."
WCW head Brad Siegel called both Bischoff and Russo in for a meeting regarding the 6/7 Nitro rating because everyone was hyping that show up and it was expected to do a bigger rating than it did, but it pretty much flopped and Siegel wanted answers. This Russo/Bischoff team isn't exactly doing great things for WCW, you see.
Christopher Daniels made his WCW in-ring debut at a World Wide taping, losing to Chris Candido in a decent match.

WATCH: Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Candido - WCW WorldWide (2000)

Regarding the incident a couple of weeks ago when a horse almost kicked Terry Funk during a hardcore match, turns out the horse had been traquilized beforehand (Dave believes it had been given PCP) and had also been harnessed. But it still lashed out and kicked Funk when he got too close. Dave points out how we could have seen a tragedy on live TV if the horse had kicked Funk in the head (let's be honest though: getting kicked to death by a horse in a hardcore match would be the most Terry Funk way to die. If you told me that happened, my first response would be, "Yeah that sounds about right.")
Random WCW notes: WCW is once again considering bringing Dennis Rodman back in for some matches, in hopes of getting some publicity out of it. Elix Skipper was in a serious car accident and will be out for a few weeks. Lance Storm's debut has been delayed due to visa issues.
WWF has hired a guy named Stuart Snyder to be the President and COO of WWF. That position used to belong to Linda McMahon but she has been given the new title of CEO while Vince remains Chairman of the Board. Snyder used to work for USA Network and will be helping lighten the workload on Linda. He'll handle more of the day-to-day stuff while Linda will focus on Wall Street and stockholder business. He will report directly to Vince and Linda (not sure how long he was with WWF, but he later became the head of Cartoon Network I believe).
Judgement Day is looking to be around a 1.05 buyrate which will be the lowest WWF buyrate this year (but still, like, 10x the numbers WCW is doing on PPV).
Triple H fought Chris Jericho in probably the best Raw match of the year and Dave actually says that Triple H put on a master class in how to get yourself over, get your opponent over, protect the integrity of the title, and entertain fans all at once. Dave says with a match this good, it's an easy thumbs up for the entire show, even if everything else sucks. Luckily it didn't because Benoit vs. Matt Hardy was really good too. But Dave really heaps the praise on Triple H for this one (yeah, 2000-era Triple H was absolutely on fire before injuries slowed him down and paranoia led to him burying everyone).
Jim Ross sent all the wrestlers a memo saying they can't do anymore media appearances or interviews without office approval. Vince McMahon apparently feels that doing interviews with other media outlets is basically competition for their own website and they want to be in control of when WWF wrestlers talk to the media and what is said publicly.
Random WWF notes: Chyna is doing a fitness video that will be released soon. Billy Gunn is expected back from injury in September. Shawn Michaels may still be used sporadically, but there are no real plans to bring him back for any weekly role.
NCAA heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar signed a WWF developmental deal this week and will start in OVW this summer. Lesnar will be the 3rd NCAA wrestling champion under contract, with the other 2 being Kurt Angle and Sylvester Terkey. Dave talks about the history of NCAA champs in pro wrestling and starts listing names like Verne Gagne, Dick Hutton, etc. He doesn't know about Lesnar or Terkey, but he predicts Angle is going to end up being a top star in this business sooner rather than later (2 out of 3 did okay for themselves. The other guy probably would have done better if his name was Sylvester Ham though).
Giants Stadium in New York and Soldier Field in Chicago have officially been named as 2 of the home fields for upcoming XFL teams.
Curt Hennig's WCW contract expires soon and it's thought that WWF isn't interested. At 42 years old, and after years of being a big star, there's doubt that he would even want to come in and accept a lower card role. They have no plans of pushing him as a focal point of the company and think he might not be easy to work with if they want to use him to put over others. There's also the question of whether WWF would accept Lex Luger back if his current WCW issues lead to him being fired. Henning is still a good worker and while he left WWF on bad terms, they weren't unfixable. Luger, of course, left on the worst terms possible, literally walking out of a WWF house show on Sunday and showing up on WCW Nitro 24 hours later. So it's more likely that Hennig will end up in WWF than Luger, but Dave doesn't seem to think either guy has much of a shot (Hennig returns at the 2002 Rumble. Luger, to this day, hasn't stepped foot back in WWF or even gotten a HOF induction, although he has done a couple of DVD interviews and things like that).

NEXT MONDAY: more on AJPW/NOAH split, WWF/USA trial continues, Vince Russo "quits" WCW again, and more...

List of Las Vegas Casinos that Never Opened

List of Las Vegas casinos that never opened
Over the years there have been several casinos and resorts planned for the Las Vegas Valley that never opened. The stages of planning may have been just an announcement or groundbreaking.[1][2][3]
Asia Resort and Casino
Where the Palazzo Casino and Resort currently stands (adjacent to the Venetian Hotel and Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center), an Asian themed casino was proposed but was rejected for the present Palazzo project.[4]
Alon Las Vegas
A proposed luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip on the former site of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino, announced in 2015.[5] The project was put in doubt after Crown Resorts announced in late 2016 it was suspending its involvement in the development.[6] Crown announced in December 2016 that it was halting the project and seeking to sell its investment. The remaining partner Andrew Pascal announced he was seeking other partners to proceed with the project. However in May 2017, the land went up for sale.[7] The land was later purchased by Steve Wynn.
Beau Rivage
Steve Wynn, who had purchased and demolished the Dunes hotel-casino, had originally planned to build a modern hotel in the middle of a man-made lake. He later built the Bellagio with a man-made lake in the front of the hotel.[citation needed] The name was later used by Wynn for a resort built in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Caribbean Casino
In 1988, a sign for a proposed casino was erected on a fenced vacant lot on Flamingo Road. Standing near the sign was a scale model galleon. For several years, that was all that stood on the property. The empty lot was the source of many jokes by the locals until the ship, which was later damaged by a fire started by a homeless person, was torn down in the 1990s and the lot became the site of the Tuscany Suites and Casino co-owned by Charles Heers, who has owned the property since the 1960s.[8]
Carnival
In 1990, the Radisson group proposed a 3,376-room hotel next to the Dunes, with a casino shaped like a Hershey's Kiss.[9]
Cascada
A proposed resort that was to have been built on the site of El Rancho Vegas. The parcel is now partially taken by the Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Las Vegas Festival Grounds.[4]
City by the Bay Resort and Casino
A San Francisco-themed resort was proposed for the site of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. The project was rejected in favor of the Swiss-themed Montreux, which was also eventually cancelled.[4]
Countryland USA
A country music-themed resort was planned for construction of the site of the former El Rancho Hotel and Casino. For some years, the El Rancho sign stood with the words "Coming Soon - Future Home of Countryland USA."[10][11]
Craig Ranch Station
Main article: Craig Ranch Station A Mediterranean-themed hotel-casino for North Las Vegas, proposed by Station Casinos in March 2000.[12] The project faced opposition from nearby residents,[13][14][15] which led to the proposed location being changed to a vacant property on the nearby Craig Ranch Golf Course.[16] Residential opposition to the new location led to the project being rejected by the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee in March 2001. Station Casinos still had the option to develop the project on the initial site,[17][18] but the project was cancelled entirely in July 2001, following a weak financial quarter for the company.[19]
Crown Las Vegas
Main article: Crown Las Vegas Formerly known as Las Vegas Tower, the Crown Las Vegas was to have been a supertall skyscraper built on the former site of a Wet 'n Wild water park. In March 2008, the project was canceled and the property was put up for sale.[20]
Desert Kingdom
In 1993, ITT Sheraton purchased the Desert Inn casino, and had announced plans to develop the large parking lot into a Balinese themed resort to complement the Desert Inn. The project was never developed and the site is now the location of Wynn Las Vegas.[4]
DeVille Casino
After building the Landmark Hotel and Casino on Convention Center Drive and selling it to Howard Hughes, developer Frank Carroll built the DeVille Casino across the street from the Landmark at 900 Convention Center Drive in 1969. Chips were made for the casino (and are sought-after collectibles), but the casino never opened.[21] The building was renovated in 1992 as a race book parlor named Sport of Kings which closed after nine months.[22] It became the location of The Beach nightclub, which was demolished in 2007 to make room for a planned 600-unit tower[23] that was never built.[24] The land sits currently empty.
Echelon Place
Main article: Echelon Place An announced project by Boyd Gaming planned to have a hotel built on the property of the former Stardust Resort & Casino. Construction was suspended on August 1, 2008 due to the Great Recession. In March 2013, Boyd Gaming sold the proposed site for $350 million to the Genting Group, which is redeveloping the project as the Asian-themed Resorts World Las Vegas.
Fontainebleau Las Vegas
Main article: The Drew Las Vegas Located on the Las Vegas Strip and originally known as Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Construction began in 2007, and the resort was to include a casino, 2,871 hotel rooms, and 1,018 condominium units.[25] Construction on the $2.9 billion project ceased in 2009, the year of its planned opening. Investment firms Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC purchased the unfinished resort in 2017.[26] In 2018, Witkoff and Marriott International announced a partnership to open the renamed project as The Drew Las Vegas in 2020. The resort will include a casino and three hotels totaling nearly 4,000 rooms, with the condominium aspect removed from the project.[27]
Harley-Davidson Hotel and Casino
A resort themed after the motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson was proposed, complete with hotel towers shaped like gigantic exhaust pipes, but was never built.[4]
Jockey Club Casino
The Jockey Club is a condominium and timeshare resort at 3700 Las Vegas Boulevard South. It was planned to have a casino, and chips were made for its use, but the casino was never opened.[28]
Kactus Kate's
By April 1994, Gold Coast Hotel and Casino owner Michael Gaughan was interested in building a hotel-casino in North Las Vegas,[29] at the northeast corner of North Rancho Drive and Carey Avenue. In January 1995, the city planning commission approved the rezoning of the land for use as a hotel-casino. The resort, to be named Kactus Kate's, would be built by Gold Coast Hotel/Casino Limited. The hotel would include 450 rooms, and the casino would be 105,000 sq ft (9,800 m2),[30] later decreased to 102,000 sq ft (9,500 m2).[31] The resort would be located directly north of the nearby Fiesta and Texas Station resorts.[31]
In December 1998, Coast Resorts, Inc. received approval from the planning commission for a use-permit relating to the undeveloped property. In November 2000, the planning commission unanimously approved a two-year extension on the permit, giving the company more time to decide whether it would build Kactus Kate's. Because of a 1999 Senate bill that placed restrictions on casinos in neighborhoods, Coast Resorts had a deadline of 2002 to build the casino. The hotel would measure over 100 feet (30 m) high, and Coast Resorts was required to notify the Federal Aviation Administration of its final plans, due to the site being located less than 1,000 feet (300 m) from a runway at the North Las Vegas Airport.[32] In January 2001, Station Casinos purchased the 29-acre (12 ha) site for $9 million. Coast Resorts president Harlan Braaten said, "As we saw the competitive nature of that area intensify, in terms of the size of competing facilities, we just felt we would have to build something much bigger than we had intended to compete with Texas Station and Santa Fe Station. It was just going to be a very expensive project, and we didn't feel the returns would be that good." Station Casinos planned to sell the property as a non-gaming site.[31]
Las Vegas Plaza
Main article: Las Vegas Plaza Not to be confused with the Plaza Hotel & Casino.
This was to have been modeled after the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The project was announced shortly before the demolition of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino, where the new hotel would be built. Las Vegas Plaza was cancelled in 2011 due to the Great Recession.
London Resort and Casino
This announced project was to have been themed around the city of London, and featuring replicas of the city's landmarks. The project was to be built on land across from the Luxor Hotel and Casino. A second London-themed resort was to be built on the former land of the El Rancho Hotel and Casino. Neither project ever began construction.[4]
London, Las Vegas
This was a proposed three-phase project using London as its design inspiration. When completed, the 38.5-acre (15.5 ha) property would have featured 1,300 hotel rooms, a casino, a 500-foot-tall (152.4 m) observation wheel named Skyvue (partially constructed), and 550,000 square feet (51,097 square meters) of restaurants and shops — all of which would be architectural replicas of various British landmarks and neighborhoods.[33] The project was to be constructed on land across from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, where — as of November 2019 — the partially-constructed Skyvue still stands. The wheel was to be "Phase I of London, Las Vegas".
Montreux Resort
This Swiss-themed resort was to have been built on the property of the former New Frontier Hotel and Casino, but was ultimately cancelled.[34]
Moon Resort and Casino
Proposed by Canadian developer Michael Henderson, this is a planned 10,000-room, 250-acre (1.0 km2) lunar-themed casino resort.[35] Gaming experts doubt it will ever be built in Las Vegas, simply because the space planned for it is too large for the Las Vegas Strip.[4]
NevStar 2000
Further information: Craig Ranch Station § NevStar 2000 Proposed by NevStar Gaming in 1998, the NevStar 2000 entertainment complex in North Las Vegas would have included a hotel and casino,[36] but the project faced opposition from nearby residents who did not want a casino in the area.[37][38] The project was cancelled when NevStar Gaming filed for bankruptcy in December 1999.[12]
North Coast/Boyd Gaming project
In May 2003, Coast Casinos had plans for the North Coast hotel-casino, to be built at the southwest corner of Centennial Parkway and Lamb Boulevard in North Las Vegas. The project would be built on approximately 40 acres (16 ha) of vacant land, surrounded by other land that was also undeveloped. At the time, the North Las Vegas Planning Commission was scheduled to review requests for zoning changes and approvals for the project. The project was not scheduled to be built for at least another four years, after completion of a highway interchange at Lamb Boulevard and the nearby Interstate 15, as well as the completion of an overpass over nearby railroad tracks. Bill Curran, an attorney for the land owner, said, "We're going through the zoning changes now so everybody knows what's going to be out there." The North Coast would include a casino, a 10-story hotel with 398 rooms, a bowling alley, movie theaters, and a parking garage.[39] In June 2003, the Planning Commission voted 6 to 1 to approve preliminary applications necessary to begin work on the North Coast.[40][41]
Boyd Gaming, the owner of Coast Casinos, announced in February 2006 that it would purchase the 40-acre site for $35 million.[42] Jackie Gaughan and Kenny Epstein were the owners at the time.[43] Boyd Gaming had not decided on whether the new project would be a Coast property or if it would be similar to the company's Sam's Town hotel-casino. At the time, no timetable was set for building the project.[42] In March 2007, the project was put on hold. At the time, Boyd Gaming had been securing construction permits for the project but decided to first review growth in the area. Construction had been scheduled to begin in mid-2007.[44] In August 2013, Boyd Gaming sold the undeveloped property for $5.15 million.[43]
Palace of the Sea Resort and Casino
This was to have been built on the former Wet 'n Wild waterpark site. Conceptual drawings included yacht-shaped towers that housed suites, a casino resembling the Sydney Opera House and a 600-foot (180 m) tall Ferris wheel-type attraction dubbed a "Sky Wheel". It never left the planning stages.[4]
Paramount Las Vegas
A casino and hotel and condo resort with more than 1,800 units that was planned by Royal Palms Las Vegas, a subsidiary of Royal Palms Communities.[45][46] The project was to replace the Klondike Hotel and Casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip,[47][45] beside the Las Vegas welcome sign.[48] The resort was approved in October 2006,[45] but an investor pulled out of the project in August 2007, and the land was put up for sale in May 2008.[46]
Pharoah's Kingdom
Pharoah's Kingdom was planned as a $1.2 billion gaming, hotel and theme park complex to be built on 710 acres (290 ha) at Pebble Road and Las Vegas Boulevard, five miles south of the Las Vegas Strip.[49][1] Construction was approved in October 1988,[49] with Silano Development Group as the developer.[50]
The project would have an Egyptian theme, including two 12-story pyramids made of crystal, with each containing 300 suites. The hotel would have a total of 5,000 rooms,[50] making it the largest in the world.[51] The 230,000 sq ft (21,000 m2) casino would include 100 table games and 3,000 slot machines, while an RV park, mini-golf, a bowling alley, and a video game arcade would be located beside the casino area.[52] Three of the project's various pyramid structures would house the 50-acre (20 ha) family theme park. Other features would include sphinxes, man-made beaches, waterways resembling the Nile river, an underwater restaurant, a 24-hour child-care facility, a 100-tenant shopping promenade, and a repertory-style theater that would be overseen by actor Jack Klugman.[52] Additionally, the resort would feature an 18-hole PGA Championship golf course,[52] and a monorail located within the theme park.[50] The project would have one mile of frontage along Las Vegas Boulevard.[52]
Frank Gambella, president of the project, stated that financing was in place, with groundbreaking planned for March or April 1989. Gambella said the project would be financed by several entities, with the money coming from a Nevada corporation, suggesting the entities would be grouped together as an umbrella corporation. Gambella stated that the project could be opened by Labor Day 1990. The resort was expected to employ 8,000 people. Following the completion of the resort, Gambella said a complex of 750 condominiums would be built on the land along with 900 retirement-care apartments.[52]
The project was cancelled shortly after it was announced, as authorities became suspicious of developer Anthony Silano's fundraising efforts for the project. It was discovered that Silano and his associates hacked into the Switzerland bank accounts of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos following his death in 1989. Silano pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges. Another Egyptian-themed resort, Luxor Las Vegas, would open on the south Las Vegas Strip in 1993.[1]
Planet Hollywood Resort (original plans)
Not to be confused with the current Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
Originally planned to open in the late 1990s on the site of the Desert Inn, it was to be one of the largest hotels in Las Vegas. Because of the bankruptcy of Planet Hollywood Restaurants, the hotel was never built. However, in the 2000s, a group of investors bought the new Aladdin Hotel and Casino and remodeled it with a modern Hollywood theme.[4]
Playboy Hotel and Casino
A proposed casino resort themed after Playboy magazine was rejected in favor of a nightclub and suites built at the top two floors of the new Palms tower.[4] The planned location for the Playboy Hotel and Casino, on the Las Vegas Strip, was later used for the Cosmopolitan resort.[53]
Santa Fe Valley
Main article: Santa Fe Valley Santa Fe Gaming, which owned the Santa Fe hotel-casino in northwest Las Vegas, had plans for a second Santa Fe property in 1996.[54] The Santa Fe Valley would be built on a 40-acre (16 ha) lot[55] in Henderson, Nevada, adjacent to the Galleria at Sunset mall. The start of construction was delayed several times because of poor financial quarters for Santa Fe Gaming,[54] and because of the company not yet receiving financing for the project.[56] Site preparation started in July 1998, with an opening date scheduled for December 1999,[57] but construction never began. In 1999, the property was sold to Station Casinos,[58][59] which sold the land a year later for use as a shopping center.[60]
Shenandoah Hotel and Casino
A project by Wayne Newton. Although the hotel operated for a short time at 120 E. Flamingo Road, the management was unable to get a gaming license. After years of floundering it was sold to a Canadian company and became Bourbon Street Hotel and Casino.
Silver City proposals
By January 2000, Luke Brugnara was planning to build a San Francisco-themed resort on the site of the closed Silver City Casino.[61] Brugnara intended to give Silver City a multimillion-dollar renovation, with plans to have a fully operational hotel-casino by 2002.[62] In March 2001, Brugnara's request for a gaming license was rejected.[63] In May 2002, it was announced that Brugnara had sold the casino while retaining six acres located behind the building.[64] In 2003, Brugnara was planning to build a 24-story, 304-room hotel and casino resort on a portion of the Silver City property. The resort, to be named "Tycoon", was to be designed by Lee Linton, with an expected cost of approximately $100 million.[65]
Starship Orion
International Thoroughbred Breeders (ITB) announced plans to demolish the El Rancho and construct Starship Orion, a $1 billion hotel, casino, entertainment and retail complex with an outer space theme, covering 5.4 million square feet (501,676 square meters). The resort was to include seven separately owned casinos, each approximately 30,000 square feet (2,787 square meters).[66][67] Each potential casino owner was to contribute up to $100 million to own and operate a casino within the complex.[68] The complex would have included 300,000 square feet (27,871 square meters) of retail space, as well as 2,400 hotel rooms and a 65-story hotel tower. ITB hoped to begin construction later in 1996, with a planned opening date of April 1998.[67]
Sunrise
This was to have been located at 4575 Boulder Highway. Property developer Michael Mona Jr. built the hotel-casino and stated that he was going to break tradition by starting a "casino without a theme". He failed to get an unrestricted gaming license when suspicions arose concerning his associations with alleged organized crime figures. Chips were made for the casino, but were never used.[69] The building was opened as Arizona Charlie's Boulder.
Titanic
In 1999, Bob Stupak was planning a 400-foot-high (122 m) resort themed after the RMS Titanic, to be built on a 10-acre (4 hectares) property he owned near downtown Las Vegas. The resort would have included 1,200 rooms, 800 of which were to be used for timeshares to help finance the project. That year, planning commissioners rejected Stupak's request to change the zoning to allow for a hotel.[70] The project was later planned for the former site of the El Rancho Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip, but was rejected by the Las Vegas City Council.[4]
W Las Vegas
Main article: W Las Vegas W Las Vegas was proposed in August 2005, as a $1.7 billion joint project between Starwood and Edge Resorts, with a scheduled opening in 2008. The project would include a 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2) casino and approximately 3,000 hotel, condo hotel, and residential units.[71][72] The project was cancelled in May 2007, after Starwood pulled out of the deal.[73]
Wally's Wagon Wheel
Wally's Wagon Wheel was to be developed by Walter Weiss through his company, Magna Leisure Partnership.[74][75] The project was proposed for 2200 South Boulder Highway in Henderson,[76][77] between Wagon Wheel Drive and Roberts Road,[78] near Henderson's Old Vegas western theme park. Manga Leisure Partnership purchased the 15.5-acre property in late February 1988. Weiss, at that time, had tentative plans for a western-themed, 112-room property known then as the Wagon Wheel Hotel and Casino. The Wagon Wheel was expected to cost $15 million, and financing had yet to be obtained for the project, which Weiss expected to open in early 1990.[74] The project, which would include a 55,000 sq ft (5,100 m2) casino, was to be built in two phases.[79]
By October 1991, Wally's Wagon Wheel remained unbuilt due to difficulty obtaining financing.[80][76] That month, the Henderson Planning Commission voted to give Weiss more time to make progress on the project. At that time, the project was to include 204 hotel rooms and would be built on 13.30 acres (5.38 ha). Weiss noted that the nearby successful Sam's Town hotel-casino opened with 204 rooms, and he believed his project would be successful if he opened with the same amount of rooms for good luck.[76] By the end of 1992, Weiss had still not acquired financing for Wally's Wagon Wheel. At the time, the project was the largest of five casinos being planned for Henderson. The three-story project was to include 200 rooms, two restaurants, a theater lounge for country and western entertainment, and a large bingo room. Weiss stated that groundbreaking was scheduled for May 1993, with an expected opening in June 1994. The hotel-casino would employ approximately 600 people upon opening.[81]
Weiss met with nearby residents to discuss the project, and he had the original design changed to include a larger buffer zone between homes and the hotel-casino. In November 1994, the Henderson Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of Weiss' requested zone change as part of the redesign. The project, at that time, was to include a one-story casino and a four-story hotel with 400 rooms.[82][83] In December 1994, the Henderson City Council rejected Weiss' plans for a 200-foot (61 m) buffer.[84]
In July 1997, the unbuilt project received its sixth extension from the Henderson Planning Commission for a use permit and architectural review.[85] In August 1997, the Henderson City Council approved the sixth extension, but denied Weiss' appeal for a one-year extension, instead giving him six months to make progress on the project.[77] Up to that time, $1.7 million had been invested in the project by Magna Leisure Partnership.[86] As of 1998, the project was expected to cost $80 million and employ at least 1,200 people, and the proposed site had increased to 19 acres (7 ha). At that time, Weiss stated that he was close to obtaining financing for the project from a casino operator.[87] The project was never built.
Wild Wild West
Not to be confused with Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel. As of 1993, Station Casinos owned a 27-acre (11 ha) site on Boulder Highway with the potential to be developed as a casino. The site was located across the street from Sam's Town hotel-casino.[88] In January 1998, Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. announced plans to purchase Station Casinos, which had intended to sell the land prior to the announcement.[89] By March 1998, Station Casinos was planning to develop a hotel-casino complex on the land, which was occupied by a vacant strip mall. The complex would be known as Wild Wild West, with local residents as the target clientele.[90][89]
Crescent's purchase of Station Casinos failed in August 1998, and Station Casinos subsequently slowed its plans to build the project.[91] By the end of the year, the project had received approval from the Clark County Planning Commission for a 273,000 sq ft (25,400 m2) casino and a 504-room hotel.[92] No timetable for construction was announced,[92][93] and Station Casinos had already decided by that point not to start any new projects prior to 2000.[92] Station Casinos sold the undeveloped land for $11.2 million to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in April 2004.[94]
World Port
In 2000, Howard Bulloch, David Gaffin, and their partner Tom Gonzales transferred ownership of the Glass Pool Inn property to their group, known as New World, with plans for a megaresort.[95] New World purchased several other nearby motels to accumulate a 77-acre (31 ha) parcel located on the Las Vegas Strip and east of the Mandalay Bay.[96] In January 2001, plans were announced for World Port Resorts, a megaresort consisting of hotel-casinos, a convention center and a fine arts facility. The project was to be built on the 77-acre (31 ha property, a portion of which was occupied by the Glass Pool Inn.[96]
World Trade Center
To have been located at 925 East Desert Inn Road. Leonard Shoen, co-founder of U-Haul truck rental, purchased the property of what had been the Chaparral Hotel & Casino in 1996, renovating it into the World Trade Center Hotel. A gaming license was applied for, but when it was discovered that two of Shoen's closest partners were convicted felons, the application was denied in 1998. He withdrew his application, and died in a car crash in 1999 that was ruled a suicide. Cards and gaming chips were produced for the World Trade Center Casino, but were never used.[97] The property has since been demolished and is now a parking lot, part of the Las Vegas Convention Center Annex.
World Wrestling Federation
A casino resort themed after the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was proposed for a property near the Interstate 15 freeway across from Mandalay Bay. The project never went past the proposal stage.[4] The land where it would have stood is now Allegiant Stadium.
WWF also proposed to open the project on the property once used by the Clarion Hotel and Casino, which was demolished in 2015 to become a parking lot.
Xanadu
In February 1976, the Clark County Commission approved the 23-story Xanadu resort, to be built on the Las Vegas Strip at the corner of South Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. The resort would include approximately 1,700 hotel rooms and a casino, as well as convention facilities, a showroom, dining, and indoor tennis courts. The resort was to be developed by Tandy McGinnis – of Bowling Green, Kentucky – and his Xanadu Corporation, and would be built on 48.6 acres (19.7 ha) owned by Howard Downes, a resident of Coral Gables, Florida.[98][99][100] The Xanadu would feature a pyramid design, and was expected to cost $150 million.[100] It would have been the first themed mega-resort. Much information and many artifacts of the project are housed at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas library. The Excalibur Hotel and Casino ultimately opened on the property in 1990.[101]
See also
Category:Defunct casinos in the Las Vegas Valley List of Atlantic City casinos that never opened

Paying Australian volunteer firefighters

I am a member of the New South Wales RFS, and this post is not representative of the position of the organisation, nor my brigade. Our code of conduct and standards prohibit public comments in any official manner, and so this is a private statement that I am making because this has been a long season (scarcely over) and the tradewinds of the 24 hour news cycle and the court of public opinion means that this subject is the flavour of the month. What I am asking for is a sense of sanity and some measure of practical understanding regarding the question of paying volunteers.
I have been in the service for eight years, and it is true that this is the worst fire season many of us have seen. We have people who have served in fires including 1994, 1997, and 2001, with '94 being considered the 'big one' against which we are measuring the current conditions.
The thing is... public memory is short. My family home in Sydney was evacuated in 1994 - long before I joined the service - but most of the residents who currently live in the area were not living there in 2001, let alone 1994. They do not understand what they are facing because they have never seen it before, and it's natural to fear the unknown.
This is the 'once in a generation fire' that we trained for. This is something the current group of firefighters will recall in years to come as being their first major experience on a running fireground that claimed both lives and homes. This is the literal baptism of fire that future Captains will use as a training experience for the next generation.
This post - this plea - is not about the causes or the politics. That is another matter, and one that you will not find unity on even within the RFS itself. We are a 'broad church' with dedicated members from all parts of the political spectrum, and while I find myself in stark disagreement with many of them on many topics concerning the environment and the future of the world we live in - there is one thing that binds us together as friends, colleagues, and indeed family. And that is our sense of community.
We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of public concern for our welfare and the support you all give us. It is humbling, and that endless, warm, and wonderful feeling of gratitude for our service is the primary reason we continue to do this. Very few of my days in the RFS are filled with firefighting - most days in uniform are spent training, and others are spent at community events like school fetes where we help little kids in and out of our fire trucks. Their smiles, their laughter, are the best thing in the world and make so much of what we do worth it. To have their parents hold us up as positive role models while thanking us for what we do is a great and fulfilling feeling that often offsets work lives that can be otherwise shallow and ho-hum. We work to pay the bills. We fight fires to feed the soul.
What am I saying?
I am saying I do not want to be paid.
And as a member of this specific firefighting agency, I never want to be paid, nor do I believe we should be. If I did wish to be paid... I would pursue a career in Fire and Rescue NSW, who are our salaried metropolitan service.
I believe the moment you place a price on the service of volunteers, you risk damaging our community. Like any other workplace, I love the RFS and stay with it because of the people I work with. We have - for whatever our individual motivations may be - the same core values of service and community. If the policymakers make a precedent that says we will be paid for that time... then you open the culture of the service to those opportunists who do it for the cash as their primary motivator.
This would be horrific, and none of us want it.
What we do want is some measure of understanding from those we serve. There is a great deal of misinformation out there about what we do and do not receive, and the hard truth of the matter is that in an organisation as large as this one... the system is not perfect.
RFS brigades are funded primarily by their local councils - and not the state government. Our station, and many of our issued pieces of equipment come from our local district (which in Sydney carries with it some good amount of capital) and this is always going to vary from region to region. New South Wales is four times the size of the UK, and many of our country brethren in regional towns with limited money do not receive the same quality of equipment that we do here in the greater Sydney metropolitan region.
I cannot speak for those regional brigades, but I can speak of them. I have been out there to places like Casino in the Northern Rivers early in this season, and out to places like Tenterfield and Buxton. I've seen the threadbare equipment they get by on, and I've seen their hospitality when the city slicker Strike Teams ride in from Sydney to assist their aging, tired equipment with half a dozen brand new heavy tankers. They are amazing people who - though separated by almost a thousand kilometers - wore the same uniform, fed us, looked after us for weeks on end.
As brigades - as firefighting units - they deserve better.
As members of the RFS, we are considered state government employees - but we do not receive credit for work for the dole programs, despite however many hundreds of hours we dedicate to this every year,
As firefighters, we often seek to better our own equipment by purchasing better safety gear (better helmets, masks, gloves, or tools), but we are not permitted to claim the tax back at the end of the financial year,
And as employees of other organisations who pay our bills and ensure we have food on our family's tables, we are grateful for the opportunity to do what it is that we do.
But the service is unequivocal - Our paid work and our families come first. The RFS is a hobby, no matter how the media may present us. And this understanding, even in times like this, must cut both ways.
I see so many members of the public calling for the 'naming and shaming' of employers who do not provide paid leave for emergency services duties. A cursory look at the public comments on stories about these fires run by the mainstream media will give you plenty of examples of this. Here's the other side: My wife is a small business owner. If I worked for her, it would be fiscally impossible on the margins of that business to pay me to disappear from work for weeks at stretch to do a volunteer service that gives nothing to the business. She has an obligation to her family as much as I do... so why would I want anyone to begrudge her for that reality?
I am fortunate that I work for a large company that does allow this and I am grateful to them.
Misdirected anger doesn't help us. I appreciate your empathy, and I love your support - but find reason in the arguments.
There are many ways of giving volunteers the support we need. The government could let us claim back the tax we pay on gear, and give our brigades and our districts better funding. They could give financial support to employers who demonstrate that they support us.
But please... do not make this about our own remuneration. Whatever our service may be, we are all capable of making our own decisions - and the choice to remain in the field for so long is ultimately our personal responsibility, and one we are well educated about.
I've said enough, and truth be told I don't know how much more I can say without repeating myself or just going into trivialities.
If you've made it this far... Thank you for reading.

when did sydney casino open video

Crown’s Sydney casino opening has been delayed and its fate hangs in emerged and gave a surprisingly frank press conference at which he said they didn’t think the casino should open, The NSW gaming regulator has formally requested Crown Resorts to delay plans to conduct a "limited opening" of its new $2.2 billion Sydney casino in December. Crown Resorts Ltd. has delayed next month’s planned start of gaming operations at its new $1.5 billion Sydney casino while a money-laundering inquiry continues. Sydney eventually got its first casino when the Star City Casino opened its doors a decade later. The White House referred The Australian’s requests for comment to the Trump organization , which 29 january 2021: casino open to all guests Effective from 29th January 2021, access to The Star Sydney’s main casino floor is open to all guests. The Star Sydney will enforce mask-wearing at all guest entry points to The Star Sydney casino. Casino giant Crown Resorts is not fit to run its $2.2 billion Sydney casino because it facilitated money laundering and has other 'deep' problems, a highly anticipated report has found. The casino is allowed to open as normal The building was due to be home to a casino, 14 bars and restaurants and a luxury 350-room hotel which were all due to open on December 14. Crown not suitable to hold licence for Sydney casino, inquiry finds By Patrick Hatch , Michaela Whitbourn and Alexandra Smith Updated February 9, 2021 — 7.13pm first published at 4.24pm NSW's gaming regulator bans Crown Resorts from opening its $2.2 billion Barangaroo casino next month, after the company admitted money laundering had likely occurred through some of its VIP accounts. She said Crown chief James Packer was “deeply flawed” as a casino associate because he either forgot or did not turn his mind to an undertaking Crown made to NSW authorities to exclude the late Hong Kong gambling magnate, Stanley Ho, from the company’s new casino at Barangaroo in Sydney.

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