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Articles by David Downing
Explore the hidden charms of Paris on your next trip to the City of Light
Every first journey to Paris follows something of a ceremonial ritual: You pay your respects to the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the Louvre, the Panthéon and the Arc de Triomphe. You devote an afternoon to window-shopping — or people-watching at a café over an espresso or an absurdly priced cola — then enjoy a baguette and a bottle of wine along the Seine River and pay homage as the city slips into evening.
How C. S. Lewis Used Scripture in His Letters of Advice and Counsel
Lewis wrote nearly forty books in his lifetime, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he didn’t leave behind much personal correspondence. But he considered letter writing to be a part of his ministry as a Christian author, and so he wrote hundreds of letters to complete strangers. These were often people who asked for his help about matters of faith or about their daily walk with Christ. It is especially interesting to note which Bible verses Lewis drew upon in his letters to spiritual seekers.
How a small gesture could make a big change in a teen's mental health | Op-Ed Original
It’s an epidemic, but one on the quiet side. Our community’s young people are literally up against it, facing an alarming mental health crisis that has impacted every community and every economic level. That’s the 30,000-foot view; the view from the ground is far more devastating.
Espionage fiction writers pick their favorite fictional spies
Dying to Know When asked about the connection between writers and spies, John le Carré ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") said: "It's part of a writer's profession, as it's part of a spy's profession, to prey on the community to which he's attached, to take away information - often in secret - and to translate that into intelligence for his masters, whether it's his readership or his spy masters." Three writers of recent espionage fiction turn their keen powers of observation on 1950s Los Angeles,...
UNION STATION | Kirkus Reviews
It's hard to read but hard to look away from. When two women who share a birthday meet, a journalist becomes the subject of her own true-crime mystery. On their 45th birthdays, Josie Fair and Alix Summer meet at a pub and discover they were born not only on the same day, but in the same hospital. Alix is a successful journalist, and Josie convinces Alix that her story is worth telling: Josie met her husband when she was 13 and he was 40.
Worrying times ahead for pubs?
The future of independent pubs is an uncertain one particularly when looking at the new figures emerging which estimate that business rates tax burden could increase by up to £2bn next year. To combat these increases, pubs would need to double or in some cases triple their takings to cover the increased business rates alone. This coupled with high energy costs, rising wages and inflated cost of beer/food is a huge concern for the hospitality industry as a whole, but particularly pubs.
HS2: Disposal of the acquired land to build the project
Earlier this month the Prime Minister announced the cancellation of the HS2 routes north of Birmingham. The press is now dubbing the disposal of land acquired to build HS2 north of Birmingham as a “fire sale” and in so doing are suggesting that it will be sold for less than market value. I suggest that this is not a likely scenario. The loss between cost of acquisition and disposal receipt is the difference between the gross compensation paid to affected parties and market value of the land.
Help! (Save our Pubs)
A couple of years ago we wrote in our NE Leisure supplement about the rise of Micropubs in the area (’). So, it was with some sadness when we heard recently of Mark Hall’s decision to close The Split Chimp (Newcastle’s first Micropub), a lovely, comfy little watering hole, just around the corner from our Central Square South offices, and often the venue for a swift one after work.
Labour proposes to boost housing with compulsory purchase powers
The labour party is set to propose a new policy allowing local authorities to use compulsory purchase powers to acquire land at below market value. According to a report in the Financial Times, if the party wins the next election, the proposals mean landowners could be forced to sell land without factoring in ‘Hope Value’, which is the added value a plot gains when it has a prospect of achieving planning permissions.
A Day in the life of a Building Surveyor at Sanderson Weatherall
People often ask me what does a commercial building surveyor actually do? The answer is never straight forward and most people assume most of what we do is looking for dry rot and subsidence and/or report writing. I have written this blog to help explain a little of what we actually do on a typical day. First things first Commercial building surveyors play a vital role in the construction and maintenance of commercial properties.
A Fine (Dining) Spread of Restaurants
Has there ever been a better time to be a foodie in the North East? I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure the eating out landscape has never been better.
The importance of Energy Performance Assessments
Following a significant increase in instructions Guy Owen and David Fairley explain the importance of Energy Performance Assessments and EPCs for commercial landlords. EPCs and our bespoke SW Energy Performance Assessment Reports are important for commercial landlords in the UK for several reasons: Legal Requirement: It is a legal requirement for commercial landlords to have a valid EPC for their properties.
Duo of Lettings Completed on Behalf of Forestry England
Our specialist caravan and holiday parks team are pleased to report the completion of two lettings on behalf of Forestry England. New tenants were sought for the picturesque parks known as Bracelands Caravan and Camping Site in Gloucester and Postern Hill Caravan & Campsite in Wiltshire. Both being let to an established local operator who will work in partnership with Forestry England to continue to help people experience and connect with forests across the country.
Pokes with a Purpose Brings Digital Collectibles & Web3 to Oklahoma State Fans
Through its digital sports collectibles, Pokes with a Purpose is reimagining value creation for Oklahoma State athletes and communities. TULSA, OKLAHOMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, May 2, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Pokes With A Purpose (PWAP), a non-profit organization, today announced the upcoming release of an innovative line of digital sports collectibles, a blockchain-based Web3 product and easy-to-use digital wallet technology.
Master the French Omelette with This Recipe!
Credit: Sally Vargas / Simply Recipes This omelette gives you soft, creamy curds wrapped in a smooth, pale yellow shell. From pan to plate in about 3 minutes, it fits busy nights and quick lunches. A little practice and gentle timing make the technique very doable for home cooks. A classic French omelette is elegant and chic, a beauty to behold. The smooth, pale yellow exterior envelops soft curds of creamy, delicate eggs.
Who Were the Inklings Besides C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien? Original
Over 70 years since they stopped officially meeting, the Inklings are still an iconic group of Christian writers. Whether you measure their impact by their books (notably C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings), groups following their example (the Kindlings, The Rabbit Room), or groups studying them (the Mythopoeic Society, The Marion E. Wade Center), their influence continues in surprising ways.
North East Leisure Industry 2023
We are delighted to share with you the North East Leisure Supplement 2023, produced alongside Sintons. View the supplement here. The document includes a number of articles and demonstrates how even though the industry is facing new challenges including high utility prices, product prices and inflation rates it is a resilient industry and has found a way forward. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss any of the content or have a property concern within the leisure industry.
Pressure Mounts on Boris Johnson to Resign
British prime minister Boris Johnson chairs a cabinet meeting in London, England, September 30, 2020 (10 Downing Street/Andrew Parsons) Boris Johnson may be remembered as the prime minister of Brexit and COVID parties. British media have revealed a series of parties were held at the prime minister’s residence when the rest of the United Kingdom was in pandemic lockdown. Each week seems to bring fresh allegations and criticism. Three of Johnson’s predecessors have reprimanded him.
Great British Railways: Neither Public Nor Private Enough
Railways in London, England seen from The Shard tower, June 17, 2017 (Unsplash/Simon Mumenthaler) This week, the British government published its long-awaited and somewhat delayed review into the British railway network. The proposals — putting infrastructure, timetables, fares and tickets back into government hands but allowing private companies to run the trains — are a step in the right direction, but they would keep the network in a twilight zone.
Remembering C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) is arguably the most influential Christian writer of the 20th century. To tell the story of his life is to speak of a remarkable journey out of youthful skepticism into the joyful discovery of faith; of an embattled defense of traditional moral sanity; and of a profound artistry in the creation of fictional worlds that has touched the lives of millions around the globe.
Guest Opinion: Kinship Partners -- We are still here!
For over 30 years, Kinship Partners have been serving area youth with quality mentors to help support and nurture our youth. In recent months, life looks different for all of us, and for nonprofits this holds true as well. With social distancing our mentors have had to find new ways to connect with their matches, fundraisers have been canceled as our agency tries to find new ways to help support our program, and with uncertain days ahead it leaves us unsure as to what the next steps should be.
DIARY OF A DEAD MAN ON LEAVE
Narrators Paul Woodson and David de Vries join together to create a suspenseful listening experience set against the backdrop of WWII. Woodson is the voice of Josef Hofmann, a clandestine Russian agent sent to keep the German communist party alive. De Vries is the much younger Walter Gersdorff, a man who remembers a strange house guest from his childhood. His voice is the frame for the story, beginning and ending it in a modern, brisk persona.
Diary of a Dead Man on Leave
David Downing’s previous novels have been set mainly during the World War I and the run-up to the second. This brilliant, largely introspective, standalone espionage story, so quiet and totally different in mood from his usual adventure-fuelled output, packs a far greater emotional punch. His knowledge of events, locations and circumstances is clearly the product of painstaking research.
Police chase a car going wrong way on S.C. Highway 31
Search Eedition Home Obituaries Legals Jobs Classifieds Classified Ads About Us Mobile & Apps Crime Police chased a car going the wrong way on S.C. Highway 31 on Saturday afternoon. The chase appeared to end when the car blew a tired while trying to outrace officers. RELATED STORIES TRENDING Copyright Privacy Policy Terms of Service
The Dark Clouds Shining
by David Downing It’s 1921 and former secret service officer Jack McColl is approached by his former boss to undertake a mission to Russia. MI5, whose remit does not extend to Europe, is involved there and he needs to find out precisely what they are doing. Review This is the fourth and final novel featuring former secret service spy Jack McColl. We encounter him in 1921 just as he is beginning a long prison sentence, imposed by a biased judge, for an assault on a police officer.
Guest Opinion: Who mentored you?
By DAVID DOWNING Today at 7:30 a.m. How often do we take a moment to look at the people who shaped our lives? Think for a moment—who were the important men and women that influenced you? Thursday, Jan. 31, is National Thank Your Mentor Day and Kinship Partners would like to publicly thank the over 300 dedicated men and women who mentor children right here in Crow Wing County, southern Cass County and the Staples-Motley areas. They are ordinary people doing ordinary things with extraordinary results.
How to rebuild citizen trust & unlock the power of AI
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), “service performance, citizen satisfaction and public trust are closely connected. Yet how can governments overcome citizens’ declining levels of trust in the way that their data is collected and used in order to improve service accessibility and quality? It’s not difficult to appreciate this cynicism given the implications of the recent Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal. Yes.
Track sleuths, solve mysteries from different eras
When it comes to concocting one-of-a-kind sleuth figures, Larry Sweazy is right on top of the game. His crime-solver is Marjorie Trumaine whose regular job is as a creator of indexes for a New York publisher. It’s exacting work she does from her home, which happens to be on a huge spread of land just outside Dickinson in remotest North Dakota.
Data can, and should, inform better policy
The social, political and economic challenges facing governments seem eternal. Decision-makers across the world can struggle to understand the needs of their citizens and where government resources would do the most good. It is precisely why British policymakers should be looking to data for the answers. Even in the face of GDPR and the draft Data Protection Bill, the amount of personal and public data government departments can access is immense.
Zoo Station (Paperback)
By 1939, Anglo-American journalist John Russell has spent over a decade in Berlin, where his son lives with his mother. He writes human-interest pieces for British and American papers, avoiding the investigative journalism that could get him deported. But as World War II approaches, he faces having to leave his son as well as his girlfriend of several years, a beautiful German starlet.
How mature is your decision-making strategy? - SAS Voices
In recent healthcare blogs I’ve looked at the need to drive more value from the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and how this relies upon the ability to make decisions based on robust, data-driven insights. But what value will these decisions have if they're not founded on a mature data strategy? The answer is obvious.
SAS Blogs - Connecting you to people, products & ideas from SAS
Wheat rust. You may have never heard of it, but in a matter of days, this fast-moving, silent-killing plant disease can completely annihilate a critical wheat farm in Ethiopia. Wheat rust’s newest nemeses? A legion of volunteer superheroes in the Data for Good movement. When ... Read More
Why evidence, not culture, is the key to driving value-based healthcare
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) Confederation has done lots of great research on how to enhance decision making so that every decision delivers greater value to patients (in terms of clinical outcome) and to health care organisations (in terms of operational effectiveness).
Why clinical insights, not budgets, hold the key to value-based healthcare
Right now, National Health Service (NHS) managers and clinicians in the UK are under phenomenal pressure to find big efficiency savings while improving the value of services to patients. Many in the NHS see integrated care as the answer. But the first step is finding innovative ways to increase the value we deliver in all clinical and commissioning decisions. The question is: How? Well, consider this: Every single thought, action, treatment plan, decision and interaction generates some form of data.
Celebrating National Mentoring Month
Kinship Partners uses this month in particular to focus on the need for mentors right here in the Brainerd lakes area.There is a powerful mentoring effect demonstrated by research and the experiences of young people who are connected to a mentor.
The NHS: Time to care about big data
Considered to be one of the UK’s most precious institutions, it's no surprise that the National Health Service (NHS) has been ranked as one of the most important issues in this year’s general election. Phrases like ‘building an NHS with the time to care,’ will no doubt be ringing in the ears of the electorate and public alike over the next month.
‘The Kill List,’ by Frederick Forsyth, and More
The Shortlist Credit...Illustration by John Gall Sept. 13, 2013 THE KILL LIST By Frederick Forsyth G. P. Putnam’s Sons, $27.95. Law enforcers and government officials across England and America are being assassinated in broad daylight by Muslim radicals. Egging them on is Zulfiqar Ali Shah, a k a The Preacher, a cyber-evangelist who exhorts them to murder a notable Westerner in their vicinity.
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