Irbil gets its own replica of the White House
LEADIN:
It's a symbol of US presidential power - in the heart of Irbil.
A Kurdish businessman is building a replica of the famous White House, with all of the exterior features based on the original in Washington DC.
It is not a building you would expect to stumble across in Iraq's northern Kurdish region.
This is the White House, in Irbil.
It's a labour of love of Kurdish businessman Shihap N. Shihap.
The 300 square metre mansion is still under construction, but Shihap expects it will be completed within four months.
It has taken him two-and-a-half years to realise his dream, and he wanted everything to look authentic.
Shihap will live here with his wife and five children and their wives and husbands when it is finished.
Shihap says he loves the architecture of the real White House and sees it as a symbol of love and peace.
It stands for supporting nations and promoting democracy. That's why I decided to replicate the White House of Washington, he explains.
Those entering the house are confronted with a giant gold-plated staircase, made and flown in from Dubai.
It doesn't look like the White House from the inside. The exterior is 100 per cent replica of the White House, says Shihap, who wanted his home to have a more personal Kurdish feel.
The basement of the house has several luxuries including a swimming pool, Turkish bath, an eight-person jacuzzi, as well as a 30 square metre cinema which he will fit with a projector to show 3D films.
All the tiles inside and outside the swimming pool were imported from Turkey.
Most of the decorations have been imported from Spain, Italy, France, Dubai, Turkey, Greece and Morocco.
Shihap lost count on the price of the construction, with prices within the Kurdish region fluctuating.
I can't tell how much it costs, but I believe in the end it will cost more than 20 to 25 million US dollars.
The house, which is decorated in some rooms with Versace tiles, is situated in Dream City, an affluent area inside Irbil.
The plot prices here are said to have increased ten-fold in just a few years - but security always remains the prime concern.
For example in this neighbourhood the price of one square metre was 300 dollars. And now it's price is more than 3,000 dollars per square metre. The price increase was unbelievable. As you know we spoke about the safety aspect, safety is the key for development in the country, says Shihap.
Mario Al-Jebouri is owner of IKG Property, a real estate advising company located in Irbil.
He says a 400 square metre villa in this area has rocketed from 230,000 to 900,000 US dollars in just five years.
Increased demand is said to be behind the rise.
And that was mainly due to the fact that there was very little supply on the market. Very little new built. And there was an influx of cash both from the local environment as well as from the southern parts of Iraq. So there was a tremendous amount of demand with very little supply which meant that the prices kept on growing year on year, says Al-Jebouri.
Shihap can't wait to move into his new home, but he does concede his copy is not as beautiful as the original.
No, of course the real White House in Washington is more beautiful than this one. It's bigger than this one and where the President of the world's largest country lives, he says.
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56 U.S. State, D.C. & Territory Quarters
Correction at 11:01 - The Gateway Arch was built between 1963-1965. It was the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial that hosts the arch that was established in 1935. Thanks to Michael Elledge for pointing out this error.
All 56 American state, D.C. and territory quarters with their images explained.
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Michigan
Diplomat at the U.S. Embassy Vienna Mark Bland talks about his home state of Michigan. #50states #MI
Transcript:
Known as the Great Lakes State, Michigan looks like a hand, and is easily identifiable on any map of the United States and also from outer space. It's located in the northern Midwest of the USA and borders the Canadian province of Ontario. Michigan is called the Wolverine State and is divided into two peninsulas with a land area of 150,000 square kilometers. The word Michigan (pronounced Mishigan, not Mitchigan), comes from the Native American word Mishigamaa, which means large lake. Michigan has the longest freshwater coast in the world: more than 5200km of shoreline. With its population of almost 10 million, Michigan is the 8th most populous state in the United States. Almost 40% of the state's population lives near Detroit, the largest city, while only 3% live in the entire Upper Peninsula.
The French discovered Michigan in the 1600s and founded the city of Detroit in 1701. During the 1700s control of Michigan alternated between the French, the British, and the local Native Americans. In 1796 the British finally abandoned Detroit and their forts on the Great Lakes. Michigan became a territory in 1805 and the 26th state in January
1837.
Michigan is known primarily for two things: automobiles and its beautiful nature.
At the beginning of the 1900s Henry Ford revolutionized auto production by developing the moving assembly line. He and his fellow auto manufacturers (Olds, Buick, Dodge, and others) helped transform private life in the United States and created an economic boom in Michigan that attracted immigrants from all over the world. Today, General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford still produce almost 25% of all cars made in the United States. In addition to manufacturing automobiles, Michigan also builds 50% of all office furniture made in the USA, and is home to Dow Chemical, Whirlpool, and Kellogg's, all of which manufacture products people worldwide use on a daily basis.
As a native Michigander, I am proud of my state's beautiful scenery. Tourism is one of Michigan's largest industries. Tourists in Michigan spend around $17 billion per year visiting the state's amazing nature and its cultural heritage. Among our most spectacular sites are the Sleeping Bear sand dunes along Lake Michigan, Mackinac Island (a uniquely historical island free of automobiles), the Mackinaw Straits bridge (at 8km in length it is the world's third largest suspension bridge), and the Upper Peninsula with the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the Porcupine Mountains, Tahquamenon Falls, and Isle Royale National Park. Michigan has over 11,000 lakes and is a paradise for fishing, hunting, canoeing, skiing, ice skating, and snowmobiling. We also have several thousand kilometers of pristine beaches with white sand and crystal clear aquamarine water. The climate is ideal for the production of cherries, apples, and Christmas trees—all of which are products that Michigan exports in large quantity across the United States.
Culturally and educationally Michigan also distinguishes itself. Our 15 public universities, 56 private colleges, and 28 public community colleges attract large numbers of foreign students due to their diverse curricula, high academic standards, and pleasant learning environment. Our largest city, Detroit, is home to the Henry Ford Museum, historical Dearborn Village, and the Detroit Institute of the Arts. The Detroit Symphony and Detroit
Opera House enjoy an international reputation. Finally, Michigan has contributed its fair share to the music world, beginning with Motown Records in the 1960s and continuing up through Eminem and Madonna, both of whom are native Michiganders.
So come visit Michigan and enjoy our beautiful nature, friendly people, and many cultural offerings. We'd be happy to host you!
Put the romance on ice: New York suffers coldest Valentine's Day in 100 YEARS.
Put the romance on ice: New York suffers coldest Valentine's Day in 100 YEARS as East Coast is hit with record lows and eye-watering wind chills of MINUS 36.
Record-breaking freezing temperatures and biting winds had much of the northeastern United States bundling up this weekend and the brutal weather was blamed for a deadly interstate pileup.
The coldest temperatures of the season blew into the region on Saturday with gusts that created dangerous wind chills, well below zero.
Cities throughout the northeast saw record low temperatures on Sunday including New York; Boston; Providence, Rhode Island; and Hartford, Connecticut.
New York City is facing its coldest Valentine's Day since 1916, with a record-breaking minus-1 degrees in Central Park. A record was also broken at John F Kennedy International Airport 1 degrees. In Newark, New Jersey, and at LaGuardia International Airport, temperatures tied records at zero and 1 degrees, respectively.
'These temperatures can be life threatening - especially for seniors, infants and people with medical conditions,' New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Stay indoors and take care of each other, he counseled.
'It's so important to take this seriously, to stay indoors to the maximum extent possible, go out for as little time as possible. Do not have skin exposed. These are tough conditions,' de Blasio told reporters. 'Be really careful.'
He ordered construction crews to put cranes into secure positions following the collapse of a huge crane in high winds earlier this month, which killed one person and injured three.
In Watertown, New York, which is on Lake Ontario near the Canadian border, temperatures reached as low as minus-37 degrees on Sunday, with wind chills reaching minus-45, the National Weather Service reported. It appears that was the coldest city in the state on Sunday morning.
Through noon on Sunday, the National Weather Service said, high winds made it feel as cold as minus-25 to minus-36 in New York City and parts of Connecticut and New Jersey and as cold as minus-35 degrees around Boston.
Boston reached minus-9, breaking the record set in 1934 by 6 degrees. It reached minus-16 in Worcester, Massachusetts, breaking the 1979 record of 11 below zero. Providence hit minus-9 and Hartford minus-12, also breaking records from 1979.
Areas across Massachusetts are facing freezing wind chills, with the coldest in Worcester, where there is a wind chill of minus-44. Close behind is Orange, with a wind chill of minus-38, according to NWS.
In Montpelier, Vermont, the overnight temperature hit minus-19, tying a record set in 2003.
Deliverymen cycled through the windy streets, their hands covered with plastic bags, and garage employees changed tires.
Some people embraced the extremes, with more than 2,000 taking part in the Sea Isle, New Jersey, annual 'Polar Bear Plunge', dipping into the icy Atlantic to raise funds for the city's revitalization.
But elsewhere in New Jersey, the cold kept people inside. In a bagel shop that's usually brimming with customers on Sunday mornings, Joe Weir was among a small handful of people who sat drinking coffee.
'I just came from a church service, and it definitely wasn't as packed as it usually is,' the 60-year-old Toms River man said. 'We have a lot of elderly parishioners, and when the weather gets bad or real cold like this, a lot them choose to stay in and watch a Mass on TV instead of going to church. Can't say I blame them.'
In Washington, DC, where temperatures hit a milder 14 degrees on Sunday, people gathered for the city's annual Cupid's Undie Run to raise money for charity on Saturday, when temperatures hit 20 degrees.
Valentine's Day plans also didn't seem to be stalled, either.
Nic Faitos, owner of Starbright Floral Design, in New York, was anticipating about 2,000 deliveries this weekend. He said his business double-wraps all the flowers to protect them.
'If they fall below about 25 degrees they will start to freeze. The petals will become completely wilted,' he said.
Temperatures were expected to climb before a winter storm already bringing snow to the Midwest moves into the region for the start of the work week.
That storm was expected to bring at least a couple inches of snow in some areas, plus possible icy conditions to the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast on Monday.
The storm was expected to bring five inches of snow to parts of Kentucky and up to six inches to parts of Tennessee before turning to rain.
Weather service meteorologist Jay Engel said New York City will emerge from the record-breaking cold by Sunday afternoon.
But whoever ventured out between Saturday evening and Sunday morning was hit by wind gusts that in some spots reached 40 mph, bringing the wind chill to at least minus-20.
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Nightly News Broadcast (Full) - January 29, 2019 | NBC Nightly News
Cold front sweeping across U.S. will bring bitter temperatures not felt in decades, Chicago police investigating brutal attack of ‘Empire’ star Jussie Smollett, and PG&E officially declares bankruptcy.
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Nightly News Broadcast (Full) - January 29, 2019 | NBC Nightly News
Nor'Easter Buries Albany, NY with Heavy Snow - 12/1/2019
Extremely heavy buries snow Albany, NY and surrounding area as a powerful Nor'easter ramps-up intensity causing widespread accidents and stranded vehicles in the deep snow on streets and highways. Snowfall rates as heavy as 3-6 inches per hour were occurring over the area!!!
All footage shot during evening darkness on December 1, 2019 in/near Albany, NY by Meteorologist Simon Brewer
Shot Description
1. traffic in EXTREMELY heavy snow on snow-covered highway (I-787) in Albany, NY
2 & 3. Driver gets stuck in deep snow when trying to exit highway (I-787) in Albany, NY
4-12. various shots of cars and semi trucks in accidents, stranded in ditches, stuck on ice or stuck in deep snow in/near Albany, NY during powerful Nor'easter
13-20. various shots of vehicles and neighborhoods buried under deep snow in Albany, NY as heavy snow continues to fall
21-23. various shots of snow plows attempting to clear highways around Albany NY as heavy snow slams the area
24-26. various shots of heavy snow falling in Albany, NY
27-29. various POV driving shots of highways in Albany, NY with very heavy snow falling and near whiteout conditions
SID: Simon Brewer
La Plata, Missouri USA - Virtual Railfan LIVE
This is a live stream of La Plata, Missouri, USA, for people who enjoy watching trains.
Actual start date: May 19, 2017
The 360º camera is sponsored by Duane & Curt Lundgren in memory of their hometown Great Northern Railroad
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La Plata, MO, in Northern Missouri, is located on BNSF Railway's Marceline Subdivision at milepost 312.7, part of their Southern Transcon, the former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) mainline between Chicago and Los Angeles.
Amtrak’s Southwest Chief passenger train stops here twice a day; the eastbound train #4 in the morning and the westbound train #3 in the evening.
The typical BNSF freight train volume is between 50 and 70 trains per 24 hours. There are 2 cameras available.
There is an ATCS layout available, as well as a radio feed for the western part of the BNSF Marceline Sub, listening to AAR road channel 30, 160.560 (also includes Norfolk Southern's Kansas City District, on road channel 22, 160.440):
You will see lots of Amish and Mennonite folks at the station. Please be respectful of these communities in chat.
When’s the next train? Yeah, we get this a lot. You can figure out the next Amtrak passenger train with this handy link:
There’s no schedule for freight trains, but some of our more knowledgeable members will provide real-time information when it’s available. Please refrain from asking.
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Virtual Railfan currently has 77 cams at 47 locations in 22 states and 4 countries. Visit our website for memberships, more free cams, and our own live chat. Thanks for stopping by, we’re glad you’re here!
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513 Sq. Ft. Osprey by Eco-Cottages | Amazing Small House Design Ideas
This is the 513 sq. ft. Osprey by Eco-Cottages and Nationwide Homes.
Outside you’ll find a wonderful covered front deck to use as outdoor space.
When you go inside, you’ll find a living area, dining, a wonderful kitchen, spacious bathroom, and a bedroom (all on one level).
The dimensions for this cottage are 13’6″ wide by 52′ in length. Please enjoy, learn more, and re-share below. Thank you!
Images © Nationwide Homes
Read more at
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#GoTinyHouseHunting is a channel sharing #homes under 500 sq ft and #tinyhouse. In the past few years, tiny homes have surged in popularity. They're economical, environmentally friendly, and encourage people to live minimally.
Look around and have a look at some of the beautiful homes and spaces people have created. Enjoy!
Southwest Florida Eagle Cam
Southwest Florida Eagle Cam
Get Ready for Minnesota Presidential Primary!
On January 21, LWV St. Paul and LWV Minneapolis co-hosted an event to educate voters about the presidential nominating primary, featuring Minnesota's Secretary of State Steve Simon. The event was livestreamed by SPNN.
88th Winter Meeting: Plenary Breakfast Honoring Leadership in the Arts & An Introduction to Esports
$20,000 scratch off ticket voided due to this error
A woman in Virginia thought she won $20,000 on her lotto scratch off ticket but she wasn't rewarded the money. CNN's Anderson Cooper explains why not.
The American Wild West RV Trip - Traveling Robert
Our fabulous trip around the Four Corners, the area where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico intersect, also epitomized by Hollywood as the Wild West
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Polar Vortex spreads freezing weather across large swathes of the country
Commuters in the United States battled extreme elements as a cold blast of polar air gripped New York and Georgia, among other cities.
The bitter cold on Tuesday, made it hazardous to venture out forcing many schools and businesses to close.
First time I've seen it this cold since the late 70's or early 80's, said Sean Addams, an Atlanta commuter.
Temperatures plunged to 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 Celsius) in Atlanta and parts of southern Georgia, often immune to winter weather, were expecting bone-chilling temperatures.
Atlanta and Washington were colder than many cities in Alaska.
Those who had to bear the cold to get to work were just anxious to get back home.
As soon as I get out of work, I'm going to make sure I bundle up inside and stay there. If I didn't have to take the train into work, I wouldn't have, said Kim Hanson, a Washington DC Commuter.
However, there were others who took the frigid temperatures in stride.
It's ok to me. You know, I love the cold, said Washington construction worker David Acker.
In western New York, a blizzard compounded the cold, dumping up to a foot and a half (18 inches) of snow on the region and wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour).
As much as 3 feet of snow (36 inches) could fall there by the time the storm eases on Wednesday.
Forecasters said some 187 million people in all could feel the effects of the polar vortex by the time it spreads across the country.
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Beautiful 576 Sq. Ft. Tiny Cottage in Olympia | Absolutely Small House Design Ideas
This is a 576 sq. ft. tiny cottage in Olympia, Washington for sale.
It’s listed on Redfin for $195,000. Originally built in 1920!
Please enjoy, learn more, and re-share below. Thanks!
Photos via Redfin
===========================
#GoTinyHouseHunting is a channel sharing #homes under 500 sq ft and #tinyhouse. In the past few years, tiny homes have surged in popularity. They're economical, environmentally friendly, and encourage people to live minimally.
Look around and have a look at some of the beautiful homes and spaces people have created. Enjoy!
FNN: Hay spills on Phoenix freeway; White House briefing; Pres. Trump in SC
Brought to you by Desert Diamond:
Sharing a mix of breaking news, Arizona stories, engaging discussions, and popular culture.
Did Man Film a UFO Hovering Over North Carolina Lake?
A North Carolina man is convinced he caught a UFO on camera after he recorded a stationary object hovering in the sky on his cellphone. The shaky video has gone viral since being posted over the weekend, and many are convinced the object is extraterrestrial, including the man who shot it, Jason Swing. “It was like nothing that I’d ever seen before that's why I thought it was not of this world,” he told Inside Edition. However, it's since been revealed the object was a Goodyear blimp.
Trump Impeachment Trial: Q&A begins (Day 8)
With opening arguments wrapped up in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, the next phase begins. For the next two days, senators get to ask questions of both legal teams. During that time, people will be looking for signs of whether enough Republicans will cross the aisle and agree to bring in witnesses -- particularly former national security adviser John Bolton.
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Joint House Environ. and Nat. Res. Fin. Div. & the Senate Environ. and Nat. Res. Fin. Cmte. 10/29/19
Update on Chronic Wasting Disease efforts.
1:51:31 - Overview on Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease.
1:57:53 - Continued discussion of Chronic Wasting Disease.
Runs 3 hours, 1 minute.
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How to ID / Identify a Meteorite - Stone
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In 3 simple steps, you can identify if a stone is a meteorite or meteorwrong. All done in the field while hunting, only requires a magnet, a file, and the knowledge in this video.
Far too many people think they have meteorites but don't know for sure. Here is the video to find out. And don't be afraid of bad news, only 1 in a 500 have a meteorite.