The most densely populated city on Earth had only one postman. His round was confined to an area barely a hundredth of a square mile in size. Yet within that space was a staggering number of addresses: 350 buildings, almost all between 10 and 14 stories high, occupied by 8,500 premises, 10,700 households, and more than 33,000 residents.The city’s many tall, narrow tower blocks were packed tight against each other—so tight as to make the whole place seem like one massive structure: part architecture, part organism. There was little uniformity of shape, height, or building material. Cast-iron balconies lurched against brick annexes and concrete walls. Wiring and cables covered every surface: running vertically from ground level up to forests of rooftop television aerials, or stretching horizontally like innumerable rolls of dark twine that seemed almost to bind the buildings together. Entering the city meant leaving daylight behind. There were hundreds of alleyways, most just a few feet wide. Some routes cut below buildings, while other tunnels were formed by the accumulation of refuse tossed out of windows and onto wire netting strung between tower blocks. Thousands of metal and plastic water pipes ran along walls and ceilings, most of them leaking and corroded. As protection against the relentless drips that fell in the alleyways, a hat was standard issue for the city’s postman. Many residents chose to use umbrellas.There were only two elevators in the entire city. At the foot of some of the high-rises, communal and individual mailboxes were nailed to the walls. But often the only option for the postman was to climb. Even several stories up, the maze of pathways continued: knotted arteries that burrowed into the heart of the city along interconnecting bridges and stairwells. Sometimes the postman would reach a top floor and climb out onto the roof. Gangways and rusting metal ladders let him move quickly from building to building, before he dropped back down into the darkness. While some alleys were empty and quiet, others overflowed with life. Hundreds of factories produced everything from fish balls to golf balls. Entire corridors were coated with the fine flour dust used for making noodles. Acrid, chemical smells filled the streets that lay alongside metal and plastic manufacturers. Unlicensed doctors and dentists clustered together, electric signs hanging over their premises to advertise their services. Many patients came from outside the city, happy to pay bargain fees in return for asking no questions. Shops and food stalls were strung along “Big Well” Street, “Bright” Street and “Dragon City” Road. For the adventurous, dog and snake meat were specialties of the city. Moving deeper, long corridors offered glimpses into smoke-filled rooms. The incessant click of mahjong tiles echoed along the walls. Gambling parlors lined up alongside strip clubs and pornographic cinemas. Prostitutes—including children—solicited in the darkness, leading clients away to backroom brothels. And everywhere there were bodies lying in the gloom. At Kwong Ming Street—known as “Electric Station”—wooden stalls sold cheap drugs. Addicts crouched down to inhale heroin smoke through tubes held over heated tinfoil. Bare rooms, enticingly referred to as “divans” were filled with prone men and women, all sunk in opium stupors. Many of the city’s rats were addicts too, and could be seen writhing in torment in dark corners, desperate for a hit. There was no law to speak of. This was an anarchist society, self-regulating and self-determining. It was a colony within a colony, a city within a city, a tiny block of territory at once contested and neglected. It was known as Kowloon Walled City. But locals called it something else. Hak Nam—the City of Darkness.
0 Comments
FORMULA 1 AWS GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2022 - Race Results
Exceptionally wet blends, too, can betray digital origins. But there is a bit of hidden treasure among these most extreme sounds: If you max the level and use the most open damping setting, you can almost use the Reverb as a freeze pedal. Additionally, some players may dig these sounds—particularly those that evoke shimmer reverbs without sounding entirely like a shimmer reverb. Even if you rarely explore these corners of the Reverb’s tone collection, the less extreme sounds are plentiful and full of personality, and you can dial in many in-between shades that blend big spaces and cool understated facets.
FORMULA 1 AWS GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2022 - Qualifying Results
¹ Grid penalty ² Crash in Q2 Charles Leclerc received a 10-place grid penalty because Ferrari changed his engine ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. An engine failure knocked Leclerc out of last week's Azerbaijan Grand Prix while leading and Ferrari has since deemed the engine “beyond repair.” The FIA announced after Friday's second practice that Leclerc had taken his third fresh power plant of the year and would be penalized at the start of Sunday's race.
Yuki Tsonoda also received a 10-place grid penalty Friday when AlphaTauri gave the Japanese driver his fourth engine of the season. Speaking ahead of Friday practice, Leclerc admitted his spate of failures this season has left him “not in the best position to be in” as he battles Red Bull teammates Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez for the championship. Verstappen, winner of five races this season and the current points leader, was fastest in both of Friday's practices in Montreal. Leclerc ended the day second-fastest, just 0.081 seconds shy of Verstappen. “The pace in general is the positive," Leclerc said. Leclerc has had a series of setbacks since winning two of the first three races this season to take the lead in the F1 standings. He had early retirements in Spain and Baku and has failed to convert on four consecutive starts from the pole headed into Sunday's race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Leclerc has dropped to third in the standings, behind both Red Bull drivers. "We cannot hide obviously, it’s hard to take, three races in a row with problems or mistakes,” Leclerc said. “But as a team, I think we are working extremely hard to try and get on top of those things as quick as possible. I think it’s clear for everybody the motivation is still extremely high. We are still working extremely hard as a team and we just want to get back to winning as quickly as possible.” Fender’s most important gift to the effects cosmos is spring reverb. That legacy, however, tends to obscure other high points in the company’s effects history, which is dotted with a few classics—if not runaway commercial hits. At appealing prices ranging from $79 to $99, the new Fender Hammertone pedals could easily be huge sellers. But what makes these effects extra attractive is that they don’t have the functional or operational feel of generic entry-level pedals. Most have a strong, even distinctive, personality—at least compared to other inexpensive effects. They each come with extra features and voices that stretch the boundaries of the foundational tones. And if the voices aren’t always the most refined or lush when compared to more expensive analog equivalents or expensive digital units, they are fun and prompt a lot of musical sparks. With one eye on 1960s and ’70s stylings (Hammerite-style paint, chrome- and candy-colored knobs) and another on concessions to modernity like mini toggles, smart one-screw back-panel access, top-mounted jacks, and smooth, sturdy pots, the Hammertone pedals are nice design pieces. They also seem very well made for the price. I’m usually skeptical about an inexpensive pedal’s ability to hold up over the long haul, but the Hammertone series seem put together right. Easy on the wallet, with an abundance of fun tones. General review below. -More to follow-
Elon Musk was sued for $258bn on Thursday by a Dogecoin investor who accused him of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency. In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, plaintiff Keith Johnson accused Musk, electric car company Tesla Inc and space tourism company SpaceX of racketeering for touting Dogecoin and driving up its price, only to then let the price tumble.
“Defendants were aware since 2019 that Dogecoin had no value yet promoted Dogecoin to profit from its trading,” the complaint said. “Musk used his pedestal as World’s Richest man to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme for profit, exposure and amusement.” The complaint also aggregates comments from Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and others questioning the value of cryptocurrency. Tesla, SpaceX, and a lawyer for Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for Johnson did not immediately respond to requests for comment on what specific evidence his client has or expects to have that proves Dogecoin is worthless and the defendants ran a pyramid scheme. Johnson is seeking damages worth triple the $86bn decline in Dogecoin’s market value since May 2021. He also wants to block Musk and his companies from promoting Dogecoin and a judge to declare that trading Dogecoin is gambling under federal and New York law. The complaint said Dogecoin’s selloff began around the time Musk hosted the NBC show “Saturday Night Live and, playing a fictitious financial expert on a Weekend Update segment, called Dogecoin “a hustle”. Tesla in February 2021 said it had bought $1.5bn of Bitcoin and for a short time accepted it as payment for vehicles. Dogecoin traded at about 5.8 cents on Thursday, down from its May 2021 peak of about 74 cents. Alan Li no longer sees any future for his family in China after harsh Covid rules decimated his business, upended his son's education and left his country out of step with the rest of the world. He has given up hope of a return to normal after months of lockdowns in Shanghai, and now plans to close his firm and move to Hungary, where he sees better opportunities and his 13-year-old son can attend an international school.
"Our losses this year mean that it's over for us," he told AFP wearily, asking to withhold his real name. "We have been using our own cash savings to pay 400 workers (during the lockdown). What if it happens again this winter?" Shanghai's long shutdown, which brought food shortages and protests, has driven some to reconsider staying in a country where livelihoods and lifestyles can vanish at the whim of the state. Schools have been closed and exams called off, including assessments for applying to American universities. Li is frustrated that his son's expensive bilingual schooling has been mostly online for two years, and he is anxious about the way Beijing has tightened oversight of the curriculum. "This is a waste of our children's youth," Li said. Being fairly well off, he has been able to take advantage of a European investment scheme that grants him and his family residency in Budapest. "Many people know that if they sold all their assets they could 'lie flat' in a European country," he said, using a slang phrase meaning to take it easy. Beijing-based immigration consultant Guo Shize told AFP his company has seen an explosion of enquiries since March, including a threefold increase in Shanghai clients. Even after the lockdown eased, requests continued flooding in at more than double the usual level. "Once that spark has been lit in people's minds, it doesn't die down quickly," he said. Exit ban Censors have sought to suppress discussion of emigration, prompting nimble internet users to adopt the term "run" instead. Searches for the term on messaging app WeChat peaked during Shanghai's shutdown. But as more people consider ways to leave, Beijing has doubled down on strict exit policies for Chinese citizens. All "unnecessary" travel out of the country has been banned. Passport renewals have been all but halted, with authorities blaming the risk of Covid being carried into the country. In the first half of 2021, immigration authorities issued only two percent of the passports given out in the same period in 2019. One woman who emigrated to Germany told AFP she receives dozens of messages from Chinese people looking for tips on escaping. Emily, who did not want to use her real name, tried to help a relative obtain a new passport to take up a job in Europe, but the application was denied. "It's like being a child who wants to go to their friend's house to play but their parents won't let them leave," she said, adding that she has heard of passports being sold for up to 30,000 yuan ($4,500) on the black market. 'Absolutely insane' A Chinese freelancer told AFP he was turned back by immigration officers while attempting to fly to Turkey for work last October, despite having already checked in. "My itinerary sounded too suspicious to them. They took my passport into an office and 15 minutes later told me I do not meet the requirements" for leaving, he said on condition of anonymity. "It was absolutely insane." He managed to leave weeks later by entering semi-autonomous Macau on a different travel document, before catching an onward flight. Some are disillusioned with Beijing's growing controls, which have been ramped up during the pandemic. "I just want to live in a country where the government won't crudely interfere in my personal life," said Lucy, a 20-year-old student at an elite Beijing university involved in LGBTQI+ and Marxist activism. The virus policies had "allowed the government to control and monitor everything", she said. "Perhaps rather than accepting and adapting to this system, we must go elsewhere and create a new life." The Chinese government demands that the United States disclose full and detailed information about the activity of US military laboratories in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a news briefing while commenting on the Pentagon’s factsheet concerning support for Ukrainian biological facilities.
"Once again we call on the United States to explain fully and in detail the activities that it had carried out in Ukraine, and not the activity that was carried out by the Ukrainian side," he said. "Also, we urge the United States once more to drop objections to creating a verification protocol," Zhao added. The Pentagon on Thursday released a factsheet saying that over the past 20 years the US authorities supported 46 various civilian laboratories and health care centers in Ukraine as part of peaceful programs. Previously, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov stated that during the special military operation in Ukraine Russian forces unearthed evidence pointing to an emergency cleanup by the Kiev regime of traces of a military biological program, carried out in Ukraine and bankrolled by the US Defense Department. According to Konashenkov, staff from these Pentagon-run Ukrainian-based labs revealed the emergency disposal of particularly dangerous pathogens on February 24, namely, the plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases. US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland on March 9, speaking at a hearing at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate, said that there were facilities in Ukraine that did research in the field of biology and that Washington was trying to prevent them from falling under the control of Russian forces. Zhao has also branded the theory of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus leak from a Wuhan laboratory as "fabricated lies" and called for an investigation at two US biological laboratories. "Establishing the origin of coronavirus should be based on a scientific approach and be free of political intervention. The theory of a laboratory leak is a lie fabricated for political purposes. It completely defies logic," he said, commenting on a recent report by experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) in which they urged to study this theory in greater detail. "China has already organized visits of WHO expert groups several times. Their report clearly says that the theory of a coronavirus leak as a result of a laboratory incident is highly improbable," the diplomat added. "If we want to conduct an investigation, why not look at Fort Detrick as well as at the University of South Carolina. Both of these sites in the US are highly suspicious. And also, there is increasingly more evidence that coronavirus appeared in different parts of the world," the spokesman continued. On Thursday (June 9, 2022), the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) organized by the WHO published a report in which it urged to study the theory of a laboratory origin of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in greater detail. The SAGO consists of more than 20 experts, including specialists from Russia, Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, China, the US, France and South Africa. The March 2021 joint report by the WHO and China published following an international mission to Wuhan noted that the most likely scenario of the emergence of COVID-19 is the transmission of the disease from bats to another animal which subsequently infected humans. However, the specialists did not reach a conclusion as to how the virus appeared at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan. There were also assumptions of its laboratory origin. Bitcoin fell sharply on Monday, as the sell-off across cryptocurrencies showed no sign of abating and US firm Celsius Network froze withdrawals. The cryptocurrency lending platform, which has around 1.7m customers, also froze swap and transfers between accounts, blaming “extreme conditions market conditions". In a blogpost, it said: “We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honour, over time, its withdrawal obligations. “We’re taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community in order to stabilise liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets. “There is a lot of work ahead as we consider various options, this process will take time, and there may be delays.”
Shortly afterwards, cryptocurrency exchange Binance halted the withdrawal of bitcoins. The company insisted customer funds were safe, and blamed the move on a backlog in the company’s systems. As at 1430 BST, bitcoin had lost 12% and was trading at its lowest levels since the end of 2020, tumbling below $24,000 to reach $23,375.9. Ethereum, the second largest token after bitcoin, was 16% lower, at $1,205.15. The value of the digital asset market has now fallen below $1trn to touch a low of $940bn. Like traditional assets, cryptocurrencies have become vulnerable to the weakening global economic outlook alongside concerns about the market's stability. The sell-off then ramped up on Friday, following weaker-than-expected inflation numbers in the US, and after ethereum’s developers announced that a long-awaited transition to version 2.0 had been postponed. Marcus Sotiriou, analyst at GlobalBlock, said: “Despite the fear, uncertainty and doubt the Celsius debacle has caused, the sell-off started at the beginning of the weekend after US inflation data was released. “I think this is a bigger contributor to the decline, as its results in a more hawkish Federal Reserve. It is now forced to remove more liquidity from the market, to bring down inflation. When liquidity is removed, risk-on asets are hit the hardest, which includes crypto.” Walid Koudmani, chief market analyst at xtb, said: “Almost all altcoins are wiping out gains made in 2020 as sentiment around cryptocurrencies was worsened on Friday by alarming data from the US economy. “It is not very surprising to see such a strong downturn as we have noticed an increased correlation over the last few years between traditional stocks, which have also tanked recently, and the cryptocurrency market.” Spanish oil company Repsol and Italy’s Eni will begin shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe as early as July, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters. This will resume the oil-for-debt swaps, which were suspended two years ago, when Washington intensified sanctions against Venezuela. The oil from Venezuela is intended to help Europe ease its dependence on Russian crude.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, confirmed in a televised press conference that the United States had authorized Chevron, Eni and Repsol to exploit their gas and oil deposits in Venezuela. “Steps are being taken, the first steps. About a week ago, the United States took small but significant steps by granting licenses to the US company Chevron, the Italian company ENI and Repsol,” he said. But while Chevron has been allowed to resume operation in the country, it has not yet been authorized to export oil to the US. The change in position comes after the US authorized European oil companies to operate in Venezuela in a bid to promote dialogue between Maduro and Venezuelan opposition groups. The green light from Washington to resume flows of oil from Venezuela to Europe could provide a symbolic boost for Maduro. US authorities communicated the news to the companies last month, but the details and the resale restrictions had not been communicated until now. The administration of US President Joe Biden hopes that Venezuelan crude oil will help Europe reduce its dependence on Russia and redirect some of Venezuela’s cargoes from China. The volume of oil expected to be supplied by Eni and Repsol from Venezuela is not large, according to one of the sources, who said that any impact on world oil prices will be modest. Eni and Repsol did not respond to requests for comment. Repsol’s financial exposure to Venezuela at the end of 2021 amounted to €298 million. According to the Spanish company’s 2021 financial statements, this amount includes: “the US dollar financing granted to the joint ventures Cardon IV, S.A. and Petroquiriquire, S.A., amounting to €166 million and €304 million, respectively, and trade receivables from [Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA] Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. amounting to €344 million [...] less provisions for liabilities and charges amounting to €500 million.” A group of institutional investors in the Netherlands, led by Peter Savelberg of Peter Savelberg en Partners, have joined forces to present the Netherlands plus parts of Belgium and Germany as a single city network named Tristate City.
By treating the Netherlands as an urbanised delta with 17 million inhabitants, the project’s supporters say that are creating a very strong player in this ‘battle of the titans.’ ‘Our city marketing is too fragmented and inefficient,’ the project website says. ‘In practice, the Dutch cities compete with each other abroad.’ Amsterdam Metropool, Brainport Eindhoven, Twentestad, Ede Food Valley, Regio Groningen Assen and Dairy Delta are just some of the names Dutch regions use when marketing themselves abroad. The Netherlands must present itself as one of the ‘most powerful and sustainable city networks in the world,’ the project’s backers say.
2022 FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS
Hamilton was seen struggling to climb out of his car as the end of the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after suffering from the extreme bouncing of his W13. According to information we got hold of within the paddock, sources close to Mercedes say that Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss has already contacted Nyck de Vries for a possible stand in job for Lewis Hamilton in Canada next weekend. The sources say, De Vries will be at the Mercedes factory on Monday to start preparations, should the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion be deemed unfit to race in Montreal.
Toto Wolff expressed concern after the race in Monaco, and when he was asked if Hamilton might not be able to race in Canada, he said: “Yeah, definitely. “I haven’t seen him and I haven’t spoken to him afterwards, but you can see this is not muscular anymore – it goes properly deep into the spine and there are some consequences. “At this stage I think he is maybe the worst affected of all drivers. But pretty much everyone, as far as I understood from the drivers, said something needs to happen. “The solution could be to have someone in reserve, which we anyway have at every race, to make sure our cars are running,” he concluded. Nyck de Vries currently drives for Mercedes in Formula E, and has recently tested for Williams during FP1 for the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix.
2022 Formula 1 World Championship Drivers' Standings
|
Thank you for choosing to make a difference through your donation. We appreciate your support.
This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesCategories
All
Archives
April 2024
|