Isracast Weekend Report: Now to Israel's Election Campaign!
Analyst David Essing assesses the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel After President Barak Obama's Victory - at least Netanyahu did not spoil Obama's election chances by ordering an attack on Iran before Nov 6
Isracast also draws some conclusions about clandestine operations against Iran's nuclear weapons project as now revealed by Israel's top leaders
Benyamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Will Barack Obama now retaliate against Israel for Bibi Netanyahu's betting on Mitt Romney? Netanyahu's rivals are attacking the Prime Minister for acting irresponsibly by showing his preference for the defeated Republican candidate. Although Netanyahu bet and he bet wrong, the issue is unlikely to be a game-changer in Israel's election campaign that has yet to move into top gear for January 22. First Likud and labor must hold their primaries for the party list of candidates and Shimon Peres, Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni must decide once and for all whether to throw their hats into the ring. Meanwhile Netanyahu is trying vigorously to repair some of his damaged bridges with Obama with statements like: "I will continue to work with President Obama to protect the security interests of Israeli citizens". And the PM stressed:"The strategic alliance between Israel and the U.S. is stronger than ever'. (In all fairness it should be said that the much maligned Defense Minister Ehud Barak deserves most of the credit for the 'unprecedented' military collaboration between the two countries. Netanyahu often dispatched Barak on special missions to Washington to smooth over the not infrequent tiffs with the White House and keep relations on the rails with the Pentagon. But the overbearing Barak is often his own worst enemy when it comes to Israeli politics and his Independence party might not win even one seat in the election).
Israel must use UN as an offensive tool
Is Obama worse than Chamberlain?
Let Hezbollah and Islamic State destoy one another
IRAN & ISRAEL GO TO THE BRINK
Chicago Mayor Ram Emanuel, a close friend and a former aide to Obama, rejects the idea the U.S. President will now pay back Netanyahu. Emanuel told Israel's Channel 1 TV that he expected Obama to continue the close cooperation with Israel. However the differences between Netanyahu and Obama emanated not only from the Iranian nuclear threat but also the Palestinian peace process. In particular, in his Cairo address to the Arab world the President declared: "Settlements must stop!" Under Obama's pressure, Netanyahu froze building at settlements for ten months while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused to even come to the table and has sought an imposed settlement by the U.N. To top it off the 'moderate' Abbas had now reunited with genocidal Hamas.
Could Netanyahu and Obama first face-off over recently announced Israeli plans to build new housing units over the 1967 line which has already triggered American criticism? Will this be the first Israeli casualty during Obama's second term? Then there is the $3 billion in military aid that Israel receives annually from the U.S. – might it fall prey to future belt-tightening by the administration. In another theatre, a new round of nuclear negotiations is in the cards between the U.S. and Iran. Netanyahu is convinced Tehran will again try to string along Washington - the Israeli leader, if reelected, has set a deadline of spring or early summer for stopping Iran from producing their first A-Bomb. All these ingredients will provide plenty of ammunition for Israel's election campaign.
On paper there are additional candidates galore who might challenge Netanyahu, but will they throw their hats into the ring again? Starting at the very top, there's Shimon Peres. At age 89, Peres is not in his dotage but is as sharp as ever and one of the most popular personalities on both the international and domestic scene. Actually Peres has never hidden his admiration for Obama. Nor has his bipartisan position of state president ever stopped him from speaking out on burning issues of the day. For example, Peres has stated loud and clear that Israel should not go it alone against Iran and in his view the recent statements by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were 'very important'. Former Kadima leader Tzipi leader has been urging Peres to resign as state president and head up a new Centrist bloc to challenge Netanyahu. Livni also wants a piece of the political action.
Shimon Peres (Photo: Amit Shabi)
While on a trip to Moscow for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, a reporter queried Peres about a possible career change. Peres cracked: "I'm not planning the theatre or ballet." For many, that did not sound as a definite no. Now Peres did not have to replicate Lyndon Johnson's ' I will not seek and I will not accept….' But he could have been more decisive if he had wanted to but apparently he didn't. After more speculation in the media, the President issued a firm commitment to finish his term that expires in another eight months and would not return to politics. This does sound pretty final but who knows? When it comes to Shimon Peres, never underestimate the drive of Israel's 'energizer bunny'.
But if Peres is now out, Ehud Olmert is a potential candidate who does want desperately to take another run at the premiership. Olmert, as has Livni, baited his time awaiting the outcome of the U.S. election hoping that Obama would win. He has never let his perpetual sea of legal troubles even get in the way of his political ambitions. However the State Prosecutor's appeal of a lower court verdict to the Supreme Court could put the kibosh on Olmert's entering the campaign.
At present, Labor's Shelly Yachimovich is Netanyahu's closest rival. Known in Israel as Shelly, she has picked up where the massive social protest movement from the summer of 2011 left off. Her campaign has zoomed in on the widening gap between the 'haves' and the spiraling number of 'have-nots' in Israel and the polls indicate that feisty Shelly is on the ascendancy. But while Shelly's hard-hitting articulation has gained her popularity she is in total lack of defense or foreign affairs experience. Nor at present has she succeeded in recruiting any former IDF generals or Mossad chiefs to beef up her team. (She did have retired Gen. Uri Sagie on board before two women informed Shelly that Sagie had made improper sexual advances to them when they served under his command in the IDF. Although denying the allegations, Sagie immediately quit politics. So Shelly is out shopping again for another military type. The irony is that former Labor party leader Ehud Barak would be just the man she needs for the job. But no way - Shelly lead the rebellion in Labor against Barak because he would not quit the Netanyahu coalition but preferred to remain as defense minister.
IRAN & ISRAELI ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Never in the history of Israeli conflict have so many heard so much by so few - Winston Churchill's memorable statement from World War II comes to mind in the Israeli context. It has to do with the recent revelations of Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak and Binyamin Netanyahu about Israel's covert war against Iran's nuclear weapons project. Cloaked under tight censorship for years, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the current incumbent Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak threw caution to the wind while being interviewed by investigative reporter Ilana Dayan for Channel 2 TV in Israel. What triggered this sudden outburst by three top leaders on the most sensitive of Israeli security issues? It's election time not only in the U.S. but also in Israel. At a time he is fighting legal prosecution for sticking his fingers into the public cookie jar, Olmert is mulling over the possibility of leading a centrist bloc against Netanyahu in the January election.
The Mossad reports directly to the prime minister and it looks as if Olmert was obviously interested in playing up his role in operations that apparently delayed the Iranians from getting their hands on the A-bomb. So he went public in a revealing interview in which he also lambasted his successor Netanyahu and Barak for their handling of the Iran file. Olmert served as prime from 2006 to 2009, when Labor party leader Barak exploited the Winograd Commission Report to force him to resign for his inept handling of the Second Lebanon War. With her explosive Olmert in the bag, Dayan was then able to cajole Netanyahu and Barak into answering Olmert's allegations. The result was a battle royal on Channel 2 giving Israeli viewers, and the rest of the world, a rare inside look into Israel's covert campaign against Iran.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Photo: Amit Shabi)
Olmert referred to Israeli covert operations, some of which he ordered aborted because of the risk of harming innocent bystanders. He even revealed that at a one-on-one meeting, he had once handed U.S. President George Bush 'a piece of 'physical evidence from inside a top-secret Iranian facility' that proved that work was proceeding on nuclear weapons. (Former U.S. national security official Steven Hadley said although the U.S. probably has the greatest technological intelligence network in the Middle East, Israel is probably better in 'humint'). During his term, Olmert disclosed that he and Bush had ordered their intelligence services to hold nothing back from one another when it came to Iran's nuclear weapons project. And although Bush went out of his way to collaborate with Israel he stopped short of providing strategic weapons 'if Israel was planning to use them for striking Iran'.
In 2007 when Israel uncovered the secret Syrian reactor being built with North Korea's aid, at one point Olmert called Bush to say it posed an unacceptable threat and Israel would take action. Bush replied that he favored a diplomatic solution and the U.S. would not give 'a green light' for the surgical strike. Olmert replied that he had already made up his mind. After the call, the U.S. President turned to one of his aides and said: "That guy has guts!"
Overall, Olmert stressed that his close cooperation with the U.S. had been the right policy and had paid big dividends. The former PM took Netanyahu to task for clashing swords with President Barack Obama. In his view, it was a major mistake to go against America's wishes and threaten to go it alone against Iran: "Against our best friend that supplies us the aircraft and the weapons to do so and who we will turn to for help, if things go awry". On this score, Netanyahu later said that Israel could not put its self-defense in the hands of anyone else, even the U.S. He noted that Menahem Begin had not asked for America's permission when he ordered the bombing of Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor. Nor had David Ben Gurion, when he decided to declare the independent state of Israel in 1938, nor had Levi Eshkol when he launched the Six Day War in 1967 to break the Arab stranglehold on the Jewish state. When asked if he could guarantee the eliminating of the Iranian nuclear threat by the end of his next term if he is reelected, Netanyahu answered emphatically: 'Yes!'.
While Olmert took some pot shots at Netanyahu, he saved his heaviest salvoes for Ehud Barak. While admitting that Barak was one of Israel's top generals, Olmert claimed that Barak, the defense minister, needed supervision. Barak retorted that Olmert's bungling of the Second Lebanon War was documented by the Winnograd Commission.
Israeli Air Force F15 (photo: iaf.org.il)
One of the most startling revelations of the TV program was that Netanyahu and Barak had sought the seven member inner security cabinet to approve the upgrading of IDF preparedness to the very high level of 'P-plus' for an attack on Iran. This was said to be the code-word for a state of readiness that would launch an attack 'within hours or weeks', if so ordered. Mossad Director Meir Dagan objected on the spot contending that such a step could be illegal because only the full cabinet could decide on going to war. IDF Chief of Staff Gaby Ashkenazi was also opposed contending that his forces were not ready yet for such an extensive operation but the insinuation was that he also felt that time had not run out. This developed into a verbal confrontation.
On one side, Netanyahu and Barak argued that it was Israel's political leadership that bore responsibility for state security and the military and intelligence branches were to follow orders. In effect this explained the differences inside the Israeli political and defense establishments on when an attack on Iran would be absolutely necessary. Barak also explained that Israel often goes to the high security readiness for many possible operations that are never carried out. In other words, the proposal to go to 'P-plus' for a strike on Iran did not mean that it was to be launched.
The conclusion: one prime minister, Ehud Olmert opposed an Israeli air strike against Iran without a green light from Washington. His successor Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak would be ready to give the order as a last resort.


UK lists Nigeria as a country to be avoided except for essential travel due to Covid-19 risk
August 5th, 2020 African News, Health, News, News UK, Nigerian, World comments
BRITAIN has published new travel guidelines for its citizens in which it has listed Nigeria as one of the countries to be avoided except for essential travel at the moment due to the high risk of exposure to the Covid-19 virus.
Like most other nations, the UK and Nigeria prohibited all international travel during the height of the coronavirus pandemic but over recent weeks have eased many of these restrictions. In the UK, international airports like Heathrow and Gatwick have been reopened but the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is warning against travel to certain countries.
Despite the fact that Nigeria has been spared the worst of the pandemic with only 44,433 cases so far, with just 910 fatalities, the country is still on the warning list. In the UK, the total number of infected people is 306,293, while the number of deaths that have occurred from the virus totals 46,299, giving the country the second highest ratio of fatalities in the world of 682 individuals per 1m people.
In travel advice given on its website, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said individuals entering or returning to the UK from Nigeria will be required to follow additional UK border measures, which includes self-isolation for 14 days. It added that if travel is essential, travellers should discuss their plans with a health professional, especially those at higher risk of severe Covid-19.
Also, the Foreign office admonished intending travellers to consider the risk at all destinations, including any transit countries and the risk during travel itself. Furthermore, the government also urged them to check with the airline/tour operators about physical distancing measures or other measures in place to reduce risk during travel.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Follow the latest social distancing guidance, including any local requirements and maintain good hand, respiratory and personal hygiene at all times. This may be particularly important if staying with friends and family."
cirinavirus
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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Home > Paul Palmer
Paul Palmer
Co-Authored Publications:
Crowell, S., et al. (2019), The 2015–2016 carbon cycle as seen from OCO-2 and the global in situ network, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9797-9831, doi:10.5194/acp-19-9797-2019.
Parker, R., et al. (2011), Methane observations from the Greenhouse Gases Observing SATellite: Comparison to ground‐based TCCON data and model calculations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L15807, doi:10.1029/2011GL047871.
Barkley, M. P., et al. (2008), Net ecosystem fluxes of isoprene over tropical South America inferred from Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) observations of HCHO columns, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D20304, doi:10.1029/2008JD009863.
Liu, X., et al. (2005), Mapping tropospheric ozone profiles from an airborne ultraviolet–visible spectrometer, Appl. Opt., 44, 3312-3319.
Note: Only publications that have been uploaded to the ESD Publications database are listed here.
Page Last Updated: May 20, 2015


Battery storage is the fastest-growing industry sector on the planet (which could save the planet)
in: Batteries,Battery,Energy,Green Friendly,Science & Technology News,Solar Power
Billions of dollars are being invested worldwide in the developing battery boom, involving research into storage techniques to use the growing surpluses of cheap renewable energy now becoming available. Recent developments in batteries are set to sweep aside the old arguments about renewables being intermittent, dismissing any need to continue building nuclear power plants and burning fossil fuels to act as a back-up when the wind does not blow, or the sun does not shine.
Batteries as large as the average family house and controlled by digital technology are being positioned across electricity networks. They are being charged when electricity is in surplus and therefore cheap, and the power they store is resold to the grid at a higher price during peak periods.
According to Bloomberg, around US$600 billion will be invested in large-scale batteries over the next 20 years to provide back-up to the grid and power for the expected boom in electric cars.
The cost of batteries is also expected to fall by 50% in the next decade, following the same pattern as the drop-in cost of solar panels.
"The generally-held belief that there was no way to store electricity has been disproved. The battery boom means it is now just a question of finding the easiest and most economic way of doing it"
It is already financially viable for individual businesses to install batteries to buy electricity when it is cheap, so as to use it during peak periods. Two recent examples are the English premier league club Arsenal FC and a hotel in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital.
For Arsenal it makes sense to have a giant battery under its London stadium to store cheap power for use when its floodlights are needed during matches which are usually played when electricity prices are at their peak.
In Edinburgh, where there is often a surplus of wind power at night, the batteries provide cheap power for the 200-bedroom Premier Inn hotel in the morning and evening rush. In both cases the capital cost of the batteries is soon repaid in lower power costs.
Currently most large batteries are made of lithium, a relatively scarce and expensive mineral. Large investments are being made to find a way of making lithium batteries cheaper and more efficient, and the search is on for less expensive materials that can also be used to store electricity in battery form.
In Belgium, ironically on the site of a former coalmine, five large experimental batteries have been installed near Brussels to test the best technologies.
One of the latest advances is to use another rare metal, vanadium. Vanadium flow batteries are large static batteries that last for decades and can be charged and discharged completely thousands of times. They are not portable, but last for years without deterioration and are increasingly being deployed by national grids to boost supply during peak demand. A Canadian company, CellCube, has just sold a large battery plant to France.
This has been hailed as one of the most promising technologies in energy storage, but there are many other possibilities under development including high-energy magnesium batteries and lithium-air batteries, which are an advance on the current lithium-ion versions used in electric cars and for grid storage.
There are also new types of chemical batteries under trial as large-scale static installations which allow the grid to pump out more power at peak times.
The key battle for all these technologies is beating rivals on price. This means not just other battery types, but other options under development for storing energy. Surplus energy from renewables is also being used to produce hydrogen, while the surplus from solar power is often stored as heat.
In the first few years of this century the generally-held belief that there was no way to store electricity has been disproved. The battery boom means it is now just a question of finding the easiest and most economic way of doing it, and in doing so making a giant step towards a carbon-free future.
Via Vanadiumcorp.com


Browns OC on Manziel TD: Coaching is overrated
Published: Sep 21, 2015 at 02:01 AM
When Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel escaped a rush, rolled to open space and bombed an improvised touchdown across his body for a game-clinching pass in Sunday's 28-14 win, Browns head coach Mike Pettine heard a silent surrender on his coaching headset.
"Certainly wasn't the way the play was designed," Pettine said, via Cleveland.com. "I think Flip (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) had the best line of the day on the headset after he rolled out of it, ended up throwing backwards across the field, scored the touchdown. He just says real calmly while everybody was cheering, he said, 'Coaching is overrated.'
"They did a nice job, brought pressure. We didn't pick it up. Johnny did a nice job getting out of it and finding Travis and making a play."
Pettine might have been happier about Manziel's first touchdown, another bomb to Travis Benjamin that was thrown on a near-pinpoint five-step drop from under center, but at this point, he has to be thrilled that he finished 1-1 over these first two games. Manziel was exactly what they needed against the Titans, though he might not be what they need moving forward.
Pettine wouldn't play the hypothetical game of naming a starter for next week's game against the Raiders in Cleveland, but assuming Josh McCown clears concussion protocol in time, he knows there are two very clear choices ahead of him.
Manziel can instantly make something out of nothing, and it seems that as the weeks wear on, he's learning to adapt his playing style to the NFL. McCown will run the offense as designed, but with a lack of defined playmakers outside of Benjamin, is that the correct route for Cleveland to go?
Like DeFilippo said: 'Coaching is overrated.'


Tracking Trucking
New electronic toll tags will speed freight truck inspections. But the industry cries "Big Brother."
David Talbotarchive page
Those toll-paying radio tags glued to millions of American windshields-four million in the New York metropolitan area alone-are getting more and more roles. In many areas they double as traffic counters, and in a few pilot projects they allow drive-thru debiting of McDonalds purchases and airport parking fees. Now, they're getting their toughest-and most controversial-job yet: helping law enforcement officers decide which tractor-trailers to pull over for inspection.
Normally, freight-hauling trucks face the random chance of a mandatory stop at a highway weigh station. There, police check the truck's weight, its safety equipment and the driver's logbook. But in a Maryland pilot study, truckers will have the option, when buying a regular toll tag, of instead getting a new "fusion" tag. The new tag pays tolls just like the old ones. But there's a key difference: the tag carries a second set of protocols to communicate with a roadside scanner as the vehicle approaches a weigh station.
The scanner relays the truck's ID number to the station ahead where a police officer checks safety databases for information about the truck and its corporate owner (though not the driver, due to privacy concerns). At the same time, a "weigh in motion" sensor embedded in the pavement records weight on the fly. Within seconds, the officer makes a decision and beams a signal back to the tag. For trucks with clean histories and proper weights, the tag flashes a green light: keep on truckin'. Riskier rigs get the red: pull over for inspection. Good truckers are spared needless stops; police operate more efficiently.
Such pre-screening systems are already being used in some parts of the country. But these existing systems use transponders built only for weigh-station screening, not tolls. Adoption has been slow; only 200,000 of the nation's three million trucks carry these screening-only transponders. Transportation officials believe that adding the screening function to popular toll tags-starting with the E-ZPass system in seven northeastern states including Maryland-will bring them into far wider use.
And so the Maryland experiment is being closely watched as the first 3,000 fusion tags are readied for distribution this month; for starters, they'll only be checked at a single weigh station along I-95 in Perryville, MD.
This modest beginning is the first step toward a unified nationwide transponder infrastructure. In such a system, a single tag pays tolls everywhere, spares good truckers needless inspection stops and enables police to focus on higher-risk trucks, says Madeleine Marshall, program manager of the Intelligent Transportation Systems program at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD, which is developing the Maryland system.
"It's been a long time coming," she says. "The grand vision is that trucks traveling throughout the continental U.S. will have one transponder on the windshield for tolls and for electronic screening." This could take five years, and initially will focus on the congested Northeast zone covered by E-ZPass, she says.
Lukewarm Welcome
But not everyone is enthusiastic. Truckers are wary that toll tags, which until now have had the sole purpose of helping them avoid tollbooth traffic jams, will become a tool to help police slap truckers with violations. "They are attempting to use electronically collected information as an enforcement tool, and we have some serious concerns with that," says Mike Russell of the American Trucking Association, a Washington-based trucking trade group. "It smacks of Big Brother, and Big Brother hasn't been authorized to do this."
For now, anyway, Big Brother is being held at bay, says Rich Taylor, director of information systems for the Intelligent Transportation Society, a Washington-based consortium of government agencies and private companies that develops transportation technologies. That's because participation will be voluntary, he says, with truckers having the option of getting the original E-ZPass tag without the screening function.
Taylor sees a boon to truckers. "It could be very significant, because it provides the trucking companies, at least in the Northeast, the ability to have common accounts and reduced transponder costs. And it takes up less room on their windshields."
Of course, the initiative raises the question of whether cars, too, will one day be subject to toll tag-based spot-checks of registration and inspection information. After all, in many regions the infrastructure already exists; tag-readers are installed not only at tollbooths, but also along highways, where authorities use them to count cars and detect traffic jams (see "The Road Ahead").
Not to worry, says Taylor. Transportation planners know that linking car toll tags to policing would prompt drivers to tear them off windshields and resume pitching quarters into baskets. That's why states have resisted the temptation to use tag readers as speed traps, he says.
In any case, car drivers simply don't face the sort of random checks for weight limits and safety as truckers. So it seems likely that with ordinary car toll tags, you probably won't ever get screened. But you might get fries with that.
by David Talbot


Wild After Dark
By Wendi Zwaduk, Elizabeth Coldwell, Nan Comargue, Aurelia T. Evans, Helena Maeve & Lucy Felthouse
'Beyond the Poison Chalice' by Helena Maeve
Coveting the enemy is simply to die for.
Claudia Salizar has given blood, sweat and tears to the tenuous armistice between the factions that inhabit St. Louis. She rules the north side with an iron fist, striving to keep the peace between vampires, werewolves and humans no matter the cost. Stumbling across two mysterious intruders who may jeopardize everything she's worked for is no small inconvenience.
The pair need safe passage out of the vampire quarter and they're willing to negotiate. Claudia is immediately drawn to Silver, a human with an unusually delectable scent whose tantalizing touch brings her to the height of ecstasy. His taciturn companion is harder to crack, but Claudia has met her fair share of werewolves and giving herself to Lucan awakens desires she has too long suppressed.
Justice is soon the furthest thing from Claudia's mind, but colluding with outsiders can have unforeseen ramifications. It's not long before running Silver and Lucan out of town seems like the only sensible option. Time for Claudia to decide what she values more—her hard-won reputation or the two men in her bed?
'Steal Your Soul Away' by Elizabeth Coldwell
In Brighton, the undead come alive when the sun goes down. Can a vampire and a werewolf put their differences aside and join a human in the ultimate threesome?
Angelique is not like other burlesque dancers. For one thing, she's been a vampire for over two hundred years. Her rule has always been 'look but don't touch', until she meets hot young sculptor Tom. But she's also attracted to his friend, Lucas, even though she knows him to be a lycan—the last creature she'd ever want to get involved with. Desire and distrust mix in an explosive combination as Angelique is drawn closer to both Tom and Lucas.
Tom Lawless is a star on the rise about to exhibit his sculptures at the Cities After Dark show at Brighton Pavilion. When he sees beautiful dancer Angelique, it's lust at first sight and his need for her doesn't fade, even when he learns she's one of the undead. If only he could make her realise that his best friend Lucas is a cool guy and not a threat, their twosome could become a very happy threesome.
Lucas Canning has secrets he doesn't feel comfortable sharing. Just how do you tell your closest friend that you sometimes need to shift into wolf form? And now that friend is dating a gorgeous woman vamp. Lucas is crazy about Angelique but can't get involved with her without hurting Tom. Perhaps the night of the exhibition will give him a chance to show her he's not the bad guy in all this and finally give his animal passion free rein. Because everything gets a little wild when the sun goes down…
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of voyerism.
'Taken In' by Wendi Zwaduk
Find what you need at the Store Front. Blood, sex…we have it all just for you.
The supernaturals have taken over the earth, leaving the humans to serve them. The Store Front is one place for the supernaturals to find partners for feeding and sexual needs. Vic, a wolf shifter, and Gale, a vampire, have a special human female they love to visit. They know the bond between them goes far beyond the bedroom, but convincing Kitty the triad should happen might not be so easy.
Kitty longs to leave the Store Front and the total darkness of the earth. The one bright spot in her day is a visit from Gale and Vic. She loves the two supernatural men, even if she can't voice the words. Do they return her affections on a deeper level or is she just a pawn to them? She's not sure, but she's willing to risk her heart and get wild after dark in order to find out.
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of anal sex.
'Intervention' by Aurelia T. Evans
It starts as an intervention for a friend, but it ends in bloodshed, lust, betrayal and death…as love often does after dark.
When Emily's husband, Land, calls her to come down to the warehouse district at sunset, she thinks it's just another job for their para-extermination company.
However, he says that he's finally caught Matt, the third member of their team, who was bitten by a werewolf a few weeks ago and has been missing ever since.
Emily races to the warehouse, where instead of the friendly intervention she and Land had planned, she finds Matt wild in his cage, a creepy vampire duct-taped to a pipe, Land covered in blood from a bite mark on his neck—and not a single easy answer in sight.
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of horror, gore and death.
'Darker Nights' by Nan Comargue
Lawyer Delia Darker's world becomes very dark when two new clients turn out to be immortal vampires—and her long-time fantasy.
Delia Darker works at her family's law firm, serving vampires and other immortals, but she has long ago gotten over her own lust for vampire males after being hurt and abandoned by one. When her colleague forces her to take over a meeting with two of his clients, she's suddenly thrown into the night-time world of music, partying and incredible sex. How can she resist spending the night with Mark Lyons and Caleb Jennings?
Caleb has been searching for his and Mark's one true mate, the ideal match prophesized for immortals. However, Mark is skeptical. Immortality just doesn't seem to go with a committed long-term relationship. It doesn't matter how attractive Delia is, he just doesn't think it's going to work—but he's willing to give it a try for his best friend's sake.
When that first wild night turns into a series of sexy encounters, Delia starts worrying that she might be falling for Mark and Caleb—and that certainly wasn't the plan. She isn't sure she wants to become an immortal. Sleeping with both a vampire and a werewolf might be a crazy experiment that's all right for a little while, but the two males couldn't want more than that, could they?
'Sated' by Lucy Felthouse
A human, a vampire and a werewolf walked into a bar. Sexy is what happens next.
Since getting together with her vampire boyfriend, Ace, Aneesa is enjoying a sex life she could never have with a human. Ace has skill, strength, stamina…and is massively adventurous. Aneesa is checking things off her sexual bucket list at a rate of knots. However, she hasn't even come close to experiencing the ultimate item on her list. So when Ace beats her to it, proposing a threesome with his werewolf friend, Barton, Aneesa's definitely up for it.
Barton is attractive, smart and sexy—almost too good to be true, in fact. Aneesa decides not to jump straight into things, but makes sure it's what she truly wants. However, it turns out Barton's not so easily dissuaded.
Will Aneesa get the ultimate erotic experience she's desired for so long? Will she be truly sated, or is the plan doomed to failure?
General Release Date: 22nd May 2015
Excerpt from Byeond the Poison Chalice
Along the river, the fires had finally burned down to timid, smoky wisps rising little by little into the night sky. If I strained my eyes, I could pick out the bodies arranged like soldiers at the foot of the arch. Only char and silver buckles remained. I'd been thorough this time. No runaways to call for reinforcements, no lapses of judgment to come back and bite me in the ass. Mercy was costly.
As I smoothed a pleat in my camel-hair coat, my fingers caught on a rough, murky patch. I wrinkled my nose. Blood washed out, but still. I stood violently, my boots pelting the concrete a hundred feet below with a rain of loose pebbles. It served me right for wearing my favorite coat on the job.
I made a mental note to keep an eye for some of that witch-hazel soap at the market come Sunday night. Maybe washing powder, assuming I found any. I kicked up from the ledge, landing in a barrel roll from which I rose smoothly, if a little dusty.
The Mom and Pop stores had gone bust decades ago, yet still I picked my way over their rooftops like a ghost. A whole five hundred people slept below, some underground, most not. I kept the streets clear, didn't make a fuss when my fee was late, and we all went on pretending the quarter was naturally more peaceful than all surrounding boroughs—all except the south side.
Most of us tried not to dwell on what went on in the south side if we could help it.
I crept down at the end of the block, grabbing hold of a gutter to slow my descent before I hit the ground. My landing was smooth and silent, like a gust of wind rippling across the concrete. I blew a strand of blonde hair out of my eyes as I stalked across the potholed tarmac.
A faint breeze was blowing in from the north, ferrying in the blessed chill of winter. I was looking forward to the long-delayed snows. Humans generally lost their appetite for conquest in glacial weather. Long nights kept them cloistered in well-defended strongholds, provisions aplenty to shield them from itinerants of my kind. Bad weather heralded peace, for the most part.
My smile soured at the notion. I had no grounds to complain, but we should have found better ways to grow our numbers by now.
The next fork in the road presented a range of options. A left would take me to the roadhouse by the Mississippi and open the door to Antwan's bottomless supply of moonshine. I'd curl up in the back of the bar and let him tell me about his day until the first blades of sunshine crept through the window. Or I could take a right and make for the nearest manhole. A splash of pink-and-green graffiti on the grille of an ancient bakery invited me to renounce the Devil, which was no choice at all, seeing as I was purportedly cut from the same cloth.
The humans I'd recently dispatched certainly believed so. They hurled slurs like silver bullets, all equally ineffective.
I slowed my steps. Echoes drifted from across the street, bearing the feeble sounds of a struggle. None of my business. The last time I'd interrupted what I assumed was a werewolf getting a little handsy with a new pack initiate, I'd nearly lost a limb.
I made to continue my journey to Antwan's, already fantasizing about the sharp burn of homemade liquor as it slid down my throat.
A growl cleaved the silence of the night. I stopped in my tracks.
Once, I would've had to watch out for cars zooming along the streets like motorized arrowheads, red-eyed humans clutching their steering wheels and seeing nothing. No more. I'd cleared the streets of troublemakers a long time ago. Antwan's people should've known better.
I tracked the racket into the shadows. My eyes adjusted quickly, but still I registered the scene in a series of flashes, like snapshots from a movie.
Two bloodsuckers ganging up on a lone wolf. Click. Blood smeared on his collar and staining the front of his checkered shirt. Click. The fetid scent of human fear wafting in the air like a white flag. Click. The human himself, backed into a corner, his blown-open eyes darting nervously in the low light.
Here was trouble.
Excerpt from Steal Your Soul Away
This city came to life once the sun went down.
Standing in the walled rooftop garden that had persuaded her to take the apartment, Angelique looked out over the Brighton skyline. The September night retained some heat, though it did not warm her skin, and she wrapped her silk shawl a little tighter around herself. Her preternaturally sharp hearing picked up the sound of music playing and laughter in a bar a couple of streets away. In the distance, the sea was a flat, calm expanse of black.
Tempted as she was to drink in the atmosphere a little longer, work called. Mick might be among the best of the many bosses she'd had in her working life, but the one thing he didn't tolerate was tardiness. With some reluctance, she left the garden, picked up her bag from the living room, then set off for the club.
Club Peekaboo was housed in what had once been a public house in the Lanes, a good fifteen minutes' walk from Angelique's apartment. Some of the other girls who danced there raised eyebrows at her willingness to travel everywhere by foot, even in the small hours of the morning or on the coldest winter nights, but she never felt afraid. Any would-be mugger who tangled with what they took to be just another slender, fragile-looking brunette would quickly discover their error.
By the time she entered the club, the evening's show was already well under way. Walking along the corridor towards the dressing rooms, Angelique bumped into Sally, a girl no more than five feet tall, with dyed scarlet hair and an almost cartoonishly voluptuous figure, all tits and hips. Sally performed under the stage name of Dusty Kaboom. She trotted along carrying her stage outfit of a saucy little nurse's uniform, her round bottom almost totally on display thanks to the tiny thong she wore. When she stripped out of that uniform to the strains of Robert Palmer's version of Bad Case of Loving You, accompanied by saucy stroking motions along the shaft of an oversized thermometer, she damn near brought the house down.
"Hey, Angelique." Sally's impish face broke into a grin. "How's it going?"
"Not bad. Mick's not asking where I am, is he?"
Sally shook her head. "He knows you never let him down. Though I'm sure he'd allow a bit of leeway for the star of the show." As she pushed open the dressing room door, she added, "I'm off for a drink in that new cocktail bar down by the pier later on. Meeting up with Chrissie and her new man. D'you fancy joining us after you finish here?"
"That would be nice." She hadn't seen Chrissie in months, not since the girl had landed a job in a vintage clothing shop in North Laine and returned to the daytime world. And Angelique had made no plans for tonight. She often liked to walk the streets till just before sunrise, luxuriating in the quiet darkness of the sleeping city.
The two women went to their usual dressing tables, Sally to change back into what she referred to as her 'civilian clothing', and Angelique to begin the process of turning herself into a figure of pure fantasy.
She peeled out of her wine-red dress and hung it up, before taking off her underwear. Like Sally, Angelique was not in the least self-conscious about walking round naked—she'd had a long time to grow used to the way her body looked, after all—and she stretched out the kinks in her limbs before stepping into a nude-coloured silk thong. Next, she fitted diamanté pasties over her nipples. After that came the corset, with cups designed to just about cover her breasts and offer tantalising glimpses of her pale flesh as she moved. She completed the outfit with elbow-length gloves in ivory satin, nude stay-up stockings and a feather fascinator that she clipped into her neat updo.
As she applied another coat of ruby gloss to already slick lips, Mick popped his head round the dressing room door. He let in the sounds of dance music with a slow, grinding beat and voices raised in excited conversation.
Excerpt from Taken In
"The Earth will never be safe again." Kitty Davis peered out of the picture window of the Store Front. "Not until the balance is restored."
The street lamps glowed above the sidewalks and a few cloaked figures made their way up and down the main drag of Clarke. She didn't recognize anyone on the street, but then she wouldn't know many of them. Humans no longer owned the world. The Vampires and Shifters now ran things. The humans had become little more than slaves to the supernatural beings and were locked in perpetual darkness.
"I don't want to live in the darkness and bear children," she muttered. "I want the chance to be free and find a person who loves me—not this."
Couples paired off around her and disappeared into the various rooms of the building. The law had come down from the Governor stating the humans existed for the sole means of creating children with the shifters and as a blood source for the vampires. She pulled her robe over her shoulders to stave off the chill. The darkness depressed her. She had no future beyond the Store Front.
"You're safe inside," her friend Maddox said. She hiked up her bra top again. "We could be out there trying to fend for ourselves. I'm not saying this is great, but it's better than starving."
Kitty respected Maddox's tendency to see the bright side of the situation, but she couldn't see the bright side of being a blood slave.
"What if there's more to our lives than being what we are? I want a life, not a virtual death sentence." Yes, being at the Store Front meant protection. The women were there as courtesans for the supernaturals, and were kept safe in order for them to provide those services. The rules didn't forbid her from leaving if she chose to go, but why bother? If she did leave, she'd be subjected to the law of the supernaturals. Too many bad things could happen—being killed, being attacked or dying of starvation. She refused to risk her chances of staying alive.
Maybe her men would come in today. She hadn't seen Vic or Gale in what seemed like forever. They always treated her with respect and care. Her blood warmed just thinking about them.
"Girl," a male voice shouted. "Kitty."
Kitty shuddered. The command from the owner, William, meant one thing. She was being requested as a blood slave. She shrugged out of her robe and handed the garment to Maddox. "Wish me luck," she murmured, then strode over to the vampire at the counter. The guy didn't look familiar. Maybe he wouldn't come back.
"Feed him," William snarled. He wrapped an arm around her and his tone changed. "Not much longer and you won't have to service them. You'll get your heart's desire." He offered her a smile before he shoved her forward. "Now do your job, honey. You're not here to look pretty unless they want you for a good time."
Any good feelings she had toward William evaporated the moment she stumbled into the patron's arms. The man smelled of garbage and sweat. Kitty crinkled her nose and grasped his hand. If she had to provide him sustenance, then she wanted to do it away from the prying eyes of the rest of the club. She led the vampire down the plush carpeted hallway to her private room.
"Before we enter, show me your bracelet." She turned his arm over. The bracelet determined what services he'd paid for and what she was to provide. He wore a purple band—feeding only. Thank God. Screw the job. She refused to have sex with anyone other than her boys.
The vampire reached out and palmed her breast. "Soft," he mumbled. "Pretty."
"Yes, it's soft and pretty." She swatted his hand away, then opened the door. "Go in and sit." She nudged the vampire ahead of her then closed the door behind them. One day she'd be free of the Store Front. She'd have someone who cherished her, not someone who wanted her for her blood or reproductive capabilities. One day…
Excerpt from Intervention
"Land, what time is it?"
"It's seven."
"What do you mean it's seven? Why didn't my alarm go off?"
"You needed the sleep, Em," Land replied.
"So you decided to go off on your own at night just so I could get a little shut-eye? Land, we've watched enough horror movies to know that splitting up is not a good idea."
"I know. But we've also watched enough reality TV to know that not getting enough sleep also isn't a good idea."
"Touché. Did we get a call?"
"No, Em. I found him."
Emily sat straight up in bed. "You found Matt?"
"The lures worked. He's in the trap."
Emily rocked out of bed and yanked on a pair of leggings. Then she did some fancy moves to get a sports bra on without taking off her long tank sleep shirt. "That's great. That's really great. Is he okay?"
"More or less," Land replied.
Emily stopped rushing through their dark bedroom. "Is something wrong? You sound weird."
"The important thing is that we found him. You should come down. We need to do the intervention together. He won't listen to me. He'll listen to you."
"Um, okay. I'll get my coffee and drive right over."
"Love you, Em."
"I love you, too, Land. Are you sure—"
The call abruptly ended.
Land had never hung up on her like this, not unless they were in a knock-down, drag-out kind of fight, and they'd only had that twice in their relationship. And both times, Emily had known they were in one.
Her stomach tightened, but she forced herself not to overanalyze.
That didn't mean she couldn't hurry. By the time she made it to the warehouse, it would be full-on dark.
She grabbed a large bottle of iced coffee from the second shelf of the fridge. Then she hopped into her subcompact. Land had the company car, but hers had an extermination kit or two for emergencies, so she wasn't going out to the warehouse district half-cocked.
As she drove away from the glittery, bustling part of the city, the blue velvet of the sky went black.
"Ladies and gentlemen, lock your doors," she whispered.
Three years ago, if someone had told Emily that she was going to be in pest control, she would have laughed in that person's face while spraying a line of Raid around her apartment.
These days, she could pick up a cockroach without flinching. They were nothing in comparison to the kinds of infestations she, Land and Matt had to deal with in addition to the usual suspects. It just so happened that the usual suspects tended to hang around the unusual ones so often that they'd get paid on the books for the usual, then off the books—cash, goods or services—for the unusual. Because how were they supposed to put 'rat-sized cockroach demon spawn' on the invoice without raising some red flags during an audit?
Their unconventional night job had started as an accident, evolved into a hobby then turned into a full-on occupation.
The accident had happened during a bit of urban exploring that had followed Land's side job at the time as an exterminator's apprentice. When rats started having red eyes and a person didn't have holy water on hand, they'd better hope they had a cross necklace or a rosary. Emily had. Land hadn't.
Back then, it had been a good thing the vampire family hadn't really been interested in bothering or being bothered, otherwise Land might have died then and there.
After that encounter, though, they'd felt like they had a responsibility. 'Once seen, never unseen' and all that. Balancing the work with school had meant creative hours, cat naps, copious amounts of caffeine and a few prayers, but it was totally worth it.
Excerpt from Darker Nights
'This business is all about repeat clients,' Delia's father had once told her, and she'd realized this was true the first time she'd handled a vampire divorce case.
The vampires were wealthy—all of them. At least, all of the ones who got divorced. It was a function of interest rates and the upward trend of the stock markets. Her father again. Except Delia couldn't quite believe that the restless, beautiful creatures who came to see her at the office checked their margin accounts or even knew what a margin account was. Even less could she picture them once poring over newspapers or ticker tape.
They were too modern. Relentlessly so. A vampire never wore last year's fashions, much less stuff from the eighties or nineties. It was almost as if they tried to hide their immortality in the styles of the day.
Her new client, Rosa Linden, was dressed in haute couture. More incredibly, she managed to pull it off, as so many wealthy women were unable to. It helped that her body would have made a supermodel weep in envy.
That was the only way a normal woman could get such a body, Delia reflected with a healthy dose of self-mockery—to never eat. To never have to eat. Delia didn't think she could give up the pistachio macaroons from La Table, even for the black-and-white graphic sheath Rosa Linden was wearing, which must have cost what Delia made in a month. She would rather her boring gray suit—and the macaroons.
Rosa made Delia nervous and she seemed to know it, if the half-smile etched on her exquisite face was any indication.
"Where's your father?" Rosa asked. Again.
Delia smiled with her teeth alone. "Retired."
Actually her father was in respite care for his advanced stomach cancer but she didn't see the need to tell her client. Vampires exhibited two reactions to the subject of death—relish or pity. Delia wasn't in the mood to deal with either.
"He was such a good lawyer," Rosa said, as if she knew exactly where he was and figured it was the equivalent of actual death. "He handled my last two divorces and my takeover of my ex-husband's company. Do you practice corporate law as well?"
Delia looked up from the figures on her computer screen, figures that were making no sense. "What? No, I don't do corporate."
Rosa nodded with that same irritating suggestion of having known the answer beforehand. "No, I can't imagine it would suit you, not like it suits your colleague."
Delia had more than a dozen colleagues, but she immediately knew which one Rosa meant. To the female patrons, there was only one who mattered.
Henry Merrill.
God's gift to women. Young and old. Mortal and immortal.
"Henry is competent in a lot of areas," Delia agreed, meaning to point out that her own specialty was the exact type of law Rosa seemed to require most often.
"Indeed, he is," Rosa murmured with another half-smile. "I'm just wondering how you would possibly know."
Her bright stare moved over Delia just slowly enough to be insulting.
Delia felt her face color but she did not give way to her first instinct, which was to meet rudeness with rudeness. She was too much a professional. The blood running through her veins was shot through with lawyerly caution, several generations of it, and that caution told her never to insult a customer—no matter how aggravating they could be.
"Are you afraid of all your clients? Or just the vampires?"
Afraid? What a thought. Delia wasn't afraid of vampires. She was turned on by them.
But she couldn't exactly share that fact with the other woman, now could she?
Delia ignored the taunting questions and somehow made it through the rest of the meeting, but inwardly she was tumbling back years into the past to her first real interaction with a vampire.
Excerpt from Sated
A human, a vampire and a werewolf walked into a bar. Sounds like the start of a bad joke. I can assure you it isn't. And telling you that, actually, the human and the vampire walked into the bar together, and found the werewolf already there, probably doesn't make it sound any better. Well tough, because that's the way it went down.
Ace and I met at a Halloween fancy dress party. I know, I know—cliché of clichés. And yes, he was dressed as a vampire, albeit a horrendously exaggerated one—all slicked-back hair, über pale skin and visible fangs. In real life, he actually looks no different to you or I. Okay, he is a bit pale. But at the time, I'd laughed at him and asked if he thought vampires weren't a bit overdone—it was when Twilight was at the height of its popularity—all angsty teens and stalkerish behavior.
He'd laughed right back, a joyous, melodious sound that had heat pooling in my groin—then as suddenly as it had arrived, his mirth disappeared. Then he'd said, "Overdone or not, we're here to stay. And I don't fucking sparkle."
My heart had been pounding, and my mouth had gone dry. Somehow, I'd known he wasn't joking. And, although my conscious brain had shut down, my subconscious had had my back, because I'd heard myself say, "Well, thank fuck for that, because I've never been a fan of glitter."
He'd laughed again, the sound tugging at my very core. And—apologies for yet another cliché—we've been together ever since.
Several years later and we're still as madly in love as ever, and still fucking like rabbits. Sex with a vampire is everything you'd expect it to be—energetic, powerful, finessed, mind-blowing and packed with stamina. Providing you can keep up, that is.
In addition to our unquenchable lust for each other, Ace and I have engaged in bondage, sex toys, spanking, anal, pegging—almost an A to Z of things to do in bed. Some we've tried and discarded, others have been a regular part of our sexual repertoire.
And yet, our latest adventure was the most exciting yet. You see, after mine and Ace's initial meeting, I was given an almighty education in everything it meant to be a vampire. Myths were dispelled, other beliefs were confirmed—he definitely didn't sparkle—and yet more things I'd never even thought of were seared into my brain.
So when Ace announced he had a friend who was a werewolf, I didn't even bat an eyelid. It was the follow up information that surprised me.
"He wants to what?" The tone of my voice by the end of the sentence was so high that probably only dogs could hear me. And yet it was genuine surprise, rather than disapproval, that fuelled my reaction.
Raising his eyebrows, Ace gave me that sexy smirk that always gets my blood pounding through my veins and my pussy aching to be filled. "You heard me, Aneesa. My friend Barton would like to screw you. With me present, of course, and actively taking part."
"A th-threesome?" I stumbled over the word—not because I was horrified. Quite the opposite, in fact. Being fucked by two hot guys at once had long been on my sexual bucket list—a list that, since meeting Ace, had had items checked off it at a rate of knots. I was going to have to start thinking of some more shit to put on it. I was way too young to have completed my bucket list—sexual or not—for Christ's sake!
"That's right, baby. And, from your reaction, I'm guessing you're up for it."
"My rea—" The penny dropped. Thoughts of two pairs of hands on me, two firm bodies pressed against mine, two hard cocks… I hadn't said a word that affirmed how much the idea turned me on, but I didn't need to. With his super senses, Ace would've picked up on my elevated heart rate, possibly an increase in sweating, the scent of the slickness growing between my legs…and that didn't include the stuff a human would have noticed—widened pupils, pink cheeks and perky nipples.
Ace's talents didn't extend to mind-reading, but it didn't matter. He'd pegged me right away.
Genres: MÉNAGE AND MULTIPLE PARTNERS
Wendi Zwaduk, Elizabeth Coldwell, Nan Comargue, Aurelia T. Evans, Helena Maeve & Lucy Felthouse
Wendi Zwaduk
Wendi Zwaduk is a multi-published, award-winning author of more than one-hundred short stories and novels. She's been writing since 2008 and published since 2009. Her stories range from the contemporary and paranormal to BDSM and LGBTQ themes. No matter what the length, her works are always hot, but with a lot of heart. She enjoys giving her characters a second chance at love, no matter what the form. She's been the runner up in the Kink Category at Love Romances Café as well as nominated at the LRC for best contemporary, best ménage and best anthology. Her books have made it to the bestseller lists on Amazon.com and the former AllRomance Ebooks. She also writes under the name of Megan Slayer.
When she's not writing, she spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice.
You can find out more about Wendi on her website or on her blog. You can also find her on Instagram, Bookbub and Amazon.
Elizabeth Coldwell
Elizabeth Coldwell is a multi-published author and editor whose stories have appeared in a number of best-selling anthologies. She has written novels in a variety of different genres, from paranormal to BDSM and contemporary romance. She is the former editor of the UK edition of Forum magazine and the proud winner of an International Leather Award. When she is not busy writing, she is an avid supporter of Rotherham United Football Club and can be regularly found on the terraces at weekends, cheering her boys to victory (hopefully!).
Find her online at The (Really) Naughty Corner, http://elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com
Nan Comargue
Nan Comargue is a romance and erotic romance writer who has been reading romance novels all her life. She prefers sexy confident heroes who win over slightly introverted heroines (read: nerdish types) but she writes about everything from angel-warriors to cowboy ménage.
Nan blogs about her writing journey and other interesting topics (zombies!) here but lately she tweets more than she blogs (and sometimes more than she writes).
Nan is Canadian, eh?
Aurelia T. Evans
Aurelia T. Evans is an up-and-coming erotica author with a penchant for horror and the supernatural.
She's the twisted mind behind the werewolf/shifter Sanctuary trilogy, demonic circus series Arcanium, and vampire serial Bloodbound. She's also had short stories featured in various erotic anthologies.
Aurelia presently lives in Dallas, Texas (although she doesn't ride horses or wear hats). She loves cats and enjoys baking as much as she dislikes cooking. She's a walker, not a runner, and she writes outside as often as possible.
Helena Maeve
Helena Maeve has always been a globe trotter with a fondness for adventure, but only recently has she started putting to paper the many stories she's collected in her excursions. When she isn't writing erotic romance novels, she can usually be found in an airport or on a plane, furiously penning in her trusty little notebook.
Lucy Felthouse is the award-winning author of erotic romance novels Stately Pleasures (named in the top 5 of Cliterati.co.uk's 100 Modern Erotic Classics That You've Never Heard Of, and an Amazon bestseller), Eyes Wide Open (winner of the Love Romances Café's Best Ménage Book 2015 award, and an Amazon bestseller), The Persecution of the Wolves, Hiding in Plain Sight and The Heiress's Harem series. Including novels, short stories and novellas, she has over 170 publications to her name. Find out more about her writing at http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk, or on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/cw1985) or Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/lucyfelthousewriter). Join her Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/lucyfelthousereadergroup/) for exclusive cover reveals, sneak peeks and more! Subscribe to her newsletter here: http://www.subscribepage.com/lfnewsletter
Reviewed by Night Owl Reviews
This collection is definitely filled with wild adventures to be had. The novellas are well paced, spicy and exciting to read. Read the stories and take a trip on the wild side be Wild After Dark. These...
Reviewed by Redz World
Over all Wild After Dark is a well written diverse anthology. I highly recommend to all paranormal lovers. This has a little bit of something for everyone. I like how the stories tie into th...
Share what you thought about Wild After Dark and earn reward points.
Wild After Dark exclusive feature
Totally Bound speaks exclusively to Helena Maeve, Elizabeth Coldwell, Wendi Zwaduk, Aurelia T. Evans, Nan Comargue and Lucy Felthouse about Wild After Dark, our new MFM anthology featuring vampires, werewolves and the paranormal.


Reality Stars Bio
Fitness Personality
Reality Contestant
Vine Star
Reality Famous
Liane Valenzuela (born August 22, 1986) is a singer/songwriter, model, dancer, and an internet personality. Liane V is a multi-talented star who found success through Youtube and Vine for cover songs and short comedy skits. Liane was born of Filipino descent, she was raised in Modesto, California where her parents ran a DJ company on the side and owned a nurse registry.
Liane V resides in Los Angeles, California, she's under management with Brand X Networks. Liane V has been in a relationship with Don Benjamin since 2015, she previously dated comedian 'King Bach". Liane's popularity keeps growing by the day, her Instagram account currently has 3.1 million follows.
Trivia on Liane V:
Liane V was born in San Jose and raised in Modesto, California. After graduating high school, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams of being an entertaining.
Liane V runs a clothing line called "Donut Headz" that offers snapbacks, t-shirts and tank tops.
Liane V has toured The Far East Movement and appeared in a music video for Tyga.
Liane V Facts
August 22, 1986 (36 years old)
Dancer, Songwriter, Vine Star, Singer, Internet Personality, Model, Instagram Star, Youtube Star, Actress, Television Personality
How do I contact Liane V?
[Featured Image by Liane V/Facebook]
Cassey Vinh Ho
Song of Style, This Month's Top Fashion Vlogger To Watch On YouTube
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RealityFamous is an online magazine focused on past and rising up-and-coming reality stars from Television and Social Media.
If you have a awesome news tip or would like to write a guest post be sure to drop us a line!
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Cindy Zamora, 60, has lived at the Hoback RV Park for the last 17 of her 31 years in Teton County. "I have no options whatsoever," she said.
RYAN DORGAN/Jackson Hole Daily
Milton Powell helps his neighbor Mary Talisman after she woke up with no running water at the Hoback RV Park. Talisman, who is 76 years old and has multiple sclerosis, hoped to find a place in Idaho Falls if she were to be displaced from her Hoback Junction home.
RYAN DORGAN / NEWS&GUIDE
The Hoback RV Park has been used as a campground and RV park dating back to the 1950s. The property's current owners are remedying a failing septic system with a smaller replacement, which they say will not accommodate the current number of residents.
Mary Talisman
Jeffrey Meehan
Milton Powell
Four-year resident Inanna Reistad organized a petition to garner community support and call for the owners to let residents leave at a more reasonable time of year.
Hoback RV Park residents launch petition, owners negotiate with offer
After mounting pressure, owners offer temporary reprieve at Virginian site, but trailers still must move by Dec. 31.
By Emily Mieure
Emily Mieure
11 min to read
Residents of the Hoback RV Park were told via text message and email the evening of Thursday, Nov. 19, that they would need to move their homes from the property by the end of December. Those who have lived there for years are pleading with the park's new owners for more time.
Sitting on a blanket on the floor of her trailer Sunday evening Mary Talisman is in better spirits than she was two days ago.
"I cried a lot. A lot," Talisman said. "It devastated me. Devastation is the only word I can think of. I was totally and completely devastated."
Talisman and her neighbors at the Hoback RV Park are scrambling to figure out what's next after receiving notice Thursday evening that they need to leave the property before New Year's Day.
Property owners say the land must be cleared to make way for a new septic system that will replace a failing septic system that violates several state and county regulations.
On Monday residents started a petition, which has 500 signatures and counting, pleading with the property owners to give them until the end of May to move out.
On Tuesday property owners responded to the outcry by sending a press release stating they have secured another location in Teton County where tenants can move their RVs from December through April.
Many were still digesting the proposed solution on Tuesday. Though some, including Talisman, said it won't be worth uprooting, moving to a temporary space and moving again in April if they can find a permanent home elsewhere. Because two moves in the next five months would be costly.
"It's because we are banding together that I have room to breathe," Talisman said.
Talisman lives alone, save for her 19-year-old cat, Ellie, in a trailer at the park.
It's not an easy lifestyle for a 76-year-old with multiple sclerosis. Talisman recently got stuck in her trailer for four days when she couldn't clear snow.
And she's been washing her clothes in the sink since March, when property managers closed the on-site laundry facility. She keeps 15 jugs of water in her RV at all times because the water on-site, she said, hasn't been drinkable for nearly a year.
Because of her age and her MS, Talisman is at a higher risk of dying should she contract COVID-19. She doesn't want to tempt fate by going to a public laundromat.
But her little RV in Hoback provides warmth in the winter, and the price is right: $650 a month.
"I'm living on Social Security, so I don't have a lot of money," she said. "It's why I chose this option."
In her 25 years in Jackson Hole, Talisman has moved seven times. Each move was due to rent hikes or to make room for condominiums.
But it's this notice — in the middle of the winter, a pandemic and the holidays — that will force Talisman to permanently leave the valley she's called home for decades.
"I feel as though I've slipped through the cracks," Talisman said.
Most of the other regional RV parks are full or closed for the winter, forcing her to move to Idaho Falls — if she can find a space for her RV there.
"Part of the depth of my sadness is … I thought I was done with all this," she said.
Talisman will have to hire someone to haul her 28-foot trailer to Idaho.
"God knows what this trailer will do on the highway," she said.
Many residents elderly and high risk
Walk down the line of RVs at the park and you'll hear similar stories.
Talisman's neighbor Milton Powell has lived there 22 years. He's discouraged at how impossible it's become for the working class to live in Jackson Hole.
"It's time to leave this f---ing valley, as far as I'm concerned," he said.
Powell works in construction, and his wife works at Jackson Hole Airport. The longtime resident, who turns 64 this weekend, relies on his wife's health insurance. But having to move with little notice might mean quitting their jobs and moving out of state.
"I have a few health issues going on, and I can't lose my insurance," he said. "But she'll have to quit her job. And we'll have to move. Everything about this, the timing of all of this in my life, is just terrible."
Aside from having to uproot mid-pandemic without health insurance, Powell has lived the RV lifestyle long enough to know you don't try to move in winter.
"It can be done, but you leave a mess," he said. "They expect the sites to be clean when we leave, but there's no way. That stuff is going to be frozen to the ground."
A few doors down Jeffrey Meehan, who's lived at the RV park for 12 years, is livid.
"There is no place to go, especially with my dog," he said Sunday. "Every place is full in town. I cannot find a place."
Meehan feels slighted, saying the new property owners said last year that tenants would be able to renew leases at the end of the year through May 2021.
"There was a verbal statement that we would have the option to stay until May no matter what," he said.
Reached by phone on Tuesday, Meehan said the temporary spaces the property owner is offering through April might work for him. But he would like more information than what's being provided.
"I would literally have to have a trailer come down and haul my vehicle," Meehan said. "But I need more specifics. Will it be pet-friendly? Because I would leave Jackson before I'd leave my dog."
Having survived lung cancer last year, Meehan is also considered high risk for COVID-19.
He can't understand why they're being asked to vacate when health experts and government officials are urging people to stay home.
"The governor, the federal government, the local governments: 'Stay at home,'" he said. "Our landlord?: 'Get the f--- out.'"
Septic violations, new ownership
The Hoback RV Park, which sits on a 2.1-acre lot, changed hands in 2019, when Norris and Layne Brown deeded to Crowley Capital the property that has been used as a campground and RV park dating to the 1950s. According to property records, on Oct. 8 of this year MV Farms I LLC assumed 81.5% interest in the property. Crowley Capital still owns a smaller percentage of the property, records indicate.
On the same day in October, MV Farms I was also deeded majority interest in two commercial properties on Berger Lane in Jackson — the former home of JB Appliance and JB Mechanical — by Crowley Capital manager Lane LaMure. LaMure was acting as authorized signatory for 1545 — 1565 Berger Lane LLC, which documents show is managed by Robert Huggins. The properties were purchased last year, and the businesses that once operated there are now a subsidiary of Orion Companies, for which LaMure serves as chief investment officer and Huggins as president and CEO.
Orion is the umbrella company of Huggins' New West Building Company and has greatly expanded its residential and commercial development footprint in Teton County over the past few years, purchasing property and subcontractors including Delcon, JB Appliance and JB Plumbing, Lawngevity, South Park Metal Works, Patagonia Painting and several other businesses.
The signatures of either Huggins or LaMure — who is also a partner and former chief investment officer at former major league baseball player Alex Rodriguez's real estate investment firm A-Rod Corp — can be found on documents related to several recent high-profile property transfers including Hoback RV Park, The Virginian Lodge, Basecamp and Rations in Wilson and The Mangy Moose Restaurant and Saloon in Teton Village.
Calls, texts and emails to employees at Orion, New West and Crowley were met with two press releases sent an hour apart Tuesday afternoon, one from Crowley Capital and one from Orion Companies. Orion's press release stated that "while certain employees of Orion are invested in the Hoback RV Park, Orion is not an investor and is not affiliated with Crowley Capital." Property records show addresses for Crowley Capital and MV Farms I match physical and mailing addresses listed for Orion Companies.
In a separate press release Crowley Capital described itself as minority owners of the Hoback RV Park and said it had secured a temporary housing solution, with the option for tenants to move to the RV park across from Teton County Library. In addition, Crowley Capital said it is making tenants aware of potentially longer-term alternatives in Victor and Driggs, Idaho.
Martin offered an apology in his Tuesday press release for lack of coordination with residents.
"Providing safe and affordable housing to our community is something we take very seriously. We apologize that we did not coordinate better with our tenants beforehand, but our own information and options were quite limited," Crowley Capital Manager Justin Martin said in the news release.
An unsigned email sent to tenants from hobackrvpark@gmail.com at 5:12 p.m. Nov. 19, said that owners plan to install a new septic system in early December and that its capacity will be "well below that of the old one."
Permits submitted to Teton County in October by Martin show the RV park owners were approved for two new separate septic systems. Teton County Engineer Ted Van Holland said it appears as if the owners are moving forward with only one smaller system and will likely withdraw their permit for a second, larger system that would accommodate all the current tenants.
"This notice indicates that they aren't going to install the central facilities and wastewater handling facilities," Van Holland said Monday.
Crowley Capital was put on notice by Teton County in the spring for a noncompliant septic system. After a March 10 inspection, the county said Crowley Capital was in violation of several environmental and water quality standards.
A separate notice by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, dated July 1, faults Crowley Capital for violations of the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act: for discharging more sewage than is permitted (1,950 gallons per day), for operating the septic system with liquid waste on the ground surface, for adding wastewater treatment equipment without permits and for discharging "water treatment brine" without a permit.
On Monday the Wyoming Outdoor Council, which has advocated for water quality improvements in the Hoback area, emailed Van Holland and the DEQ.
"The [Jackson Hole Daily] article reports that a number of residents are being told to vacate the property by the [end] of the year," Dan Heilig wrote. "As part of the pending settlement, I would like to request that you consider a provision requiring the owners of this property to mitigate the impacts to these soon-to-be displaced residents, for example, by helping them find — and defray costs of — alternative housing."
Heilig said in the emails that the residents should be given a six-month extension to stay, due to single-digit temperatures and harsh winter conditions.
"This business benefited financially by avoiding environmental compliance costs for years," he said. "Helping these residents with alternative housing is the least they can do."
Portions of Hoback Junction have long suffered from poor drinking water quality, and the area is experiencing a long-term rise in nitrates in groundwater, which poses a health hazard to residents who depend on well water. Teton County orchestrated a stakeholder process that culminated in a recommendation that Hoback residents form some type of water district, which could lead to funding and a long-term safe drinking water source.
"It is unfortunate we haven't seen that effort moving forward better," Van Holland said Monday. "A public water system in this area would relieve the problems with the wastewater disposal."
The suspected cause of Hoback's degraded drinking water is a high density of septic systems overlying an aquifer that doesn't recharge quickly enough, though state environmental regulators have launched an investigation to pinpoint the cause.
"I understand the residents in the Hoback RV Park are rightly upset, and I sympathize with that," Van Holland said. "But they have to recognize it's being done in terms of the protection of the public ultimately."
Residents at the RV Park are well aware of the septic drama and wonder why "mass evictions" are the only option, since the septic and water issues have been at play for years.
"I understand the septic system if it's under capacity like that," Inanna Reistad said. "I don't understand why they aren't coming up with some creative solutions just to extend us another four months. ... They're like, 'Merry Christmas, a--holes.'"
Proposed solutions aren't viable
Cindy Zamora, 60, has lived in her trailer for 17 years, right next door to Jeffrey Meehan.
She's on the waiting list at Wapiti RV Park in Alpine in case a spot opens up there. But if it doesn't?
"I have no options whatsoever," she said on Sunday. "I had a heart attack last year. And they expect me to un-skirt my trailer, buy new tires and find someone to move it."
Zamora has lived in Teton County for 31 years. The thought of leaving her job, her daughter and her grandchildren because she's faced with homelessness brought her to tears on Sunday.
Thursday's email suggests residents contact area RV parks, saying there are sites available nearby.
The News&Guide called Wapiti RV Park, Greys River Cove RV Park, Wolf Den Log Cabin Motel and RV Park and Aspen Grove RV Park on Monday and confirmed those parks are either full or closed for the winter.
Fireside Resort Buffalo Valley in Moran has sites available for a nightly rate that would more than triple what residents were paying in Hoback. Teton Valley Resort in Victor, Idaho, has available sites for $800 a month plus electric until the start of its summer season on May 1. But starting then it is completely booked with short-term summer stays. Daniel Junction RV Park, nearly an hour's drive south from Hoback, has monthly sites available for $500.
"We recognize that this is an unfortunate and unexpected outcome," the original, unsigned email to tenants stated. "We strived to provide affordable housing in the area. On that front, we kept our average monthly rates below those charged by other RV properties in Jackson, Victor/Driggs and Alpine. We are disheartened that we are unable to continue providing as much affordable housing as we have in the past, but we also recognize the realities of the situation, which are beyond our control. We are making these changes in the interest of being good stewards to our tenants, neighbors and the broader community."
That was all residents had heard from Crowley Capital's Justin Martin until he sent another email to tenants and a press release to the News&Guide on Tuesday saying they've secured "a temporary housing solution" for tenants. Orion's news release said the Virginian ownership group would open its RV park, normally closed in winter, as a temporary solution for displaced tenants.
Martin also said in his news release: "As part of its ongoing commitment to helping tenants, Crowley has also offered to pay for tenants' December rents at the Hoback RV Park or in the other identified Teton County location."
Reistad, the Hoback RV Park resident who launched the Change.org petition, said the owners should at least be offering realistic solutions. She said a move in December to a temporary park could complicate things for many of the residents.
"Instead of notifying tenants during the summer of 2020, the owners chose to continue to lease the property with the intent of evicting elderly, disabled, and lower income families in the middle of winter," she said on the petition.
Martin said in his release: "Nonetheless, we remain committed to working with our tenants, the community and related stakeholders to assist in this transition."
The press release from Orion said: "Robert Huggins, President of Orion, a local developer and investor in the Virginan, became aware of the situation on Monday and sought ways to help."
The Orion release said that with the town of Jackson's approval they'll allow tenants to move to the Virginian RV Park starting Dec. 8 with onetime leases that will run through April 30, with no option of renewal.
"We are glad to be able to work with Hoback RV Park, tenants and the Town of Jackson to provide short-term housing on our site while they look for a long-term arrangement," Huggins stated in the release. "With the holiday season, winter and COVID, finding secure housing is essential, and we are fortunate to be in a position to help."
The release said that leases will "reflect the current affordable rate that tenants pay" in Hoback and that the Virginian RV Park will not be open to other tenants or visitors this winter.
Before Tuesday's temporary solution was announced, community members expressed outrage, with hundreds signing Reistad's petition within hours of her posting it on Monday.
Reistad penned the petition to Mayor Pete Muldoon, the Jackson Town Council, Chair of the Board of County Commissioners Natalia Macker, Teton County Affordable Housing Director April Norton, County Attorney Erin Weisman, Orion Companies Chief Investment Officer Lane LaMure, Crowley Capital and MV Farms I LLC.
A GoFundMe page also went live Tuesday, to help support residents with the infrastructure needed to make a winter move possible, like new tires for RVs that have been sitting there for decades and are no longer mobile and trash bins and heavy equipment.
"This eviction could lead to more than a loss of affordable housing," Reistad warned. "It could mean a loss of life."
—Mike Koshmrl and Ryan Dorgan contributed research and reporting.
Contact Emily Mieure at 732-7066 or courts@jhnewsandguide.com.
Hoback Rv Park
Crowley Capital
Orion Companies
New West Building Company
Hoback Water Crisis
Hoback Water
Inanna Reistad
Robert Huggins
Emily Mieure covers criminal justice and emergency news. She also leads the News&Guide's investigative efforts. She has reported for WDRB TV in Louisville, Ky., WFIE TV in Evansville, Ind., and WEIU TV in Charleston, Ill.


Pushing Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates up to the levels of income tax could spark a mass exodus of landlords from the market, property experts warn.
This follows a report from the Government's tax advisers suggesting that Chancellor Rishi Sunak could bring CGT – currently 28% on residential property and 20% on other assets – into line with income tax so that higher rate taxpayers face a flat rate of 40 or 45%.
It also suggests reducing the annual CGT allowance threshold from £12,300 to £5,000 or less.
David Alexander, joint CEO of apropos, says this potential increase in tax payments is extremely risky and would have an enormously detrimental impact on the housing market, stifle growth and discourage investment.
"Any large-scale exit would flood the market with homes, depressing prices at a time when the property sector is in desperate need of support," he says.
Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action, says: An increase in CGT is likely to prompt a flood of landlords selling up before the deadline, further reducing the supply of rental properties available to tenants."
Income vs gain
Currently, doing up properties to sell them on is considered an income while holding onto property and then selling it for a profit is counted as CGT.
The Office of Tax Simplification's (OTS) defends its recommendations, as it says not understanding the difference between these investing and trading activities can lead to non-compliance, where someone can incorrectly declare a capital gain rather than a trading profit.
"A greater alignment of rates would create a more neutral tax system, in which people were left free to make the right decisions for their business or family without the complexity of having to worry about unwittingly stumbling across the wrong side of a boundary," it says.
It also acknowledges that landlords find it difficult not knowing their final CGT liability until they know their annual income tax liability, particularly when completing a 30-day tax return for residential property.
About £8.3bn of CGT was paid in 2017-18, compared with £180bn of income tax by 31.2 million individual taxpayers.
Guide: Complete CGT tax guide for 2020/21.


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Global warming - don't blame the plants
International scientific team reacts to misinterpretation of their research results and provides the correct perspective
In a recent study (Nature, 12 January 2006), scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Utrecht University, Netherlands, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland, UK, revealed that plants produce the greenhouse gas methane. First estimates indicated that this could account for a significant proportion of methane in the atmosphere. There has been extended media coverage of this work with unfortunately, in many instances, a misinterpretation of the findings. Furthermore, the discovery led to intense speculations on the potential relevance of the findings for reforestation programs in the framework of the Kyoto protocol. These issues need to be put in the right perspective.
The most frequent misinterpretation we find in the media is that emissions of methane from plants are responsible for global warming. As those emissions from plants are a natural source, they have existed long before man's influence started to impact upon the composition of the atmosphere. It is the anthropogenic emissions which are responsible for the well-documented increasing atmospheric concentrations of methane since pre-industrial times. Emissions from plants thus contribute to the natural greenhouse effect and not to the recent temperature increase known as 'global warming'. Even if land use practices have altered plant methane emissions, which we did not demonstrate, this would also count as an anthropogenic source, and the plants themselves cannot be deemed responsible.
Furthermore, our discovery led to intense speculation that methane emissions by plants could diminish or even outweigh the carbon storage effect of reforestation programs with important implications for the Kyoto protocol, where such programs are to be used in national carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction strategies. We first stress that our findings are preliminary with regard to the methane emission strength. Emissions most certainly depend on plant type and environmental conditions and more experiments are certainly necessary to quantify the process under natural conditions. As a first rough estimate of the order of magnitude we have taken the global average methane emissions as representative to provide a rough estimate of its potential effect on climate. These estimates (for details, see below) show that methane emissions by plants may slightly diminish the effect of reforestation programs. However, the climatic benefits gained through carbon sequestration by reforestation far exceed the relatively small negative effect, which may reduce the carbon uptake effect by up to 4 per cent. Thus, the potential for reduction of global warming by planting trees is most definitely positive. The fundamental problem still remaining is the global large-scale anthropogenic burning of fossil fuels.
Details of calculations used:
In our study, we have linked global methane emission estimates to plant growth, which is generally quantified as net primary productivity (NPP). On a global basis NPP amounts to ~62 x 1015 g of carbon/yr, which corresponds to an uptake of 227 x 1015 g of CO2/yr. On the emission side, our study suggests annual global methane emissions by plants of 62-236 x 1012 g/yr CH4. Thus, for each kg of CO2 assimilated by a plant roughly 0.25 to 1 to 4 g of CH4 is released. During growth of a new forest, up to 50% of plant tissue is lost again in the short term through decomposition of plant litter of leaves and roots [1]. This then doubles the estimate to 0.5 to 2 g methane emitted per kg of CO2 assimilated and stored in plants for longer periods. Over a 100-year horizon, the global warming potential of methane is ~20 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. Thus, for climate, the benefits gained by reforestation programs would be lessened by between 1 and 4 per cent due to methane emissions from the plants themselves.
Thomas Röckmann1,2, Jack Hamilton3, Frank Keppler2 and Marc Brass1,2
1 Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2 Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
3 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science Division, Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5PX, UK
Science Magazine
Images of Science
Dr. Frank Keppler
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg +49 6221 516-575 frank.keppler@mpi-hd.mpg.de
Prof. Thomas Röckmann
+31 30 253-3858 t.roeckmann@phys.uu.nl
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, The Netherlands
Schulze, Beck, Müller-Hohenstein; Plant Ecology (Springer Verlag, 2005)
Publication references
Frank Keppler, John T. G. Hamilton, Marc Brass and Thomas Röckmann
Methane emissions from terrestrial plants under aerobic conditions
Nature, January 12, 2006
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Cyprus Ports Investing for Future Growth
With four ports, Cyprus offers a diversified portfolio of potential cruise ship stops, starting with Limassol, the main commercial port for the country. There is also Larnaka, Cyprus' second largest port, as well as two smaller tender ports Paphos and Latchi.
"Larnaka and Limassol have excellent facilities and can accommodate all type of ships," said Eftychia Christodoulou, administrative officer, Cyprus Ports Authority.
According to Cruise Industry News, Limassol is seeing the second stage of a multi-million euro project with the construction of a 500-meter extension to the port's existing quay on its Western basis.
The first phase of the project saw the port dredged down to 17 meters for not only the Western basis, but the turning circle and entrance channel.
There is also a new passenger terminal being built on the Eastern quay, which has 11 meters of water depth and a 480-meter-long pier.
The investments aim to increase the capacity of the port as new and bigger ships continue to be built, said Christodoulou.
"This year we're nearing 170 calls and 174,000 passengers," said Christodoulou, who said traffic is up as ships have dropped other destinations due to security issues.
Source: Gold News


Ancient Rome exhibit opens Feb. 3 at Cranbrook Institute of Science
Travel through time to the height of the Roman Empire that shaped the world when Ancient Rome: Age of the Caesars opens Saturday, Feb. 3, to the public at Cranbrook Institute of Science. Julius Caesar, mighty centurions and fearsome gladiators come to life in this interactive, hands-on exhibit of larger-than-life machines, art, real artifacts and life-altering technology that examines this epic era in world history. Ancient Rome: Age of the Caesars, presented by Flagstar Bank, is a family-friendly exhibit that runs through July 3.
"This exhibit provides families with a rare and unique look into ancient Rome and how its inventions impacted the world we live in today," said Michael D. Stafford, Ph.D., director of Cranbrook Institute of Science. "Adults can experience the feeling of being a Roman legionnaire, interact with and use functional antique Roman technology and children will be enamored with the games, hands-on activities and the indomitable gladiators. There truly is something here for everyone."
Children can play and learn the way Romans did with these stations, offered throughout the run of the exhibit, including:
Catapult Challenge: Assemble armies and go head-to-head in mock Roman battles.
Colosseum Construction: Using 3D-printed pieces, re-assemble the Roman Colosseum.
Assemble an Aqueduct: Learn how to create a scale model aqueduct that brings water from the mountains to the city.
Abacus Arithmetic: Learn how the ancient Romans used complex math with an abacus.
Arches & Architecture: Using scaled blocks, construct the famous Roman arch.
Let the Games Begin: Learn how to play and master Romans' ancient games.
Mosaic Madness: Create a mosaic using templates.
Mechanical Muscle: Using scale models, leverage physics to move heavy objects into one place.
The exhibit is open during regular business hours and is an additional cost ($6 to $8) to general museum admission. For information on hours and pricing, go to https://science.cranbrook.edu/visit/admission. Anyone who purchases a membership before the opening will have the opportunity to participate in member preview activities.
Additionally, guest lecturer Dr. Max Nelson, associate professor of language and culture at the University of Windsor, will be at the Institute 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, to explore the history of making (and drinking) alcohol in the ancient world. Guests 21 years of age and older are invited to attend. Pre-registered tickets are $10 until 5 p.m. Feb. 11, available at https://science.cranbrook.edu/explore/programs/amor/registration, and $15 at the door.