30/11/10 Storks in Faro

We go to Faro on the train with Colin so he too can have the wild west experience. As we’re entering the old town we notice more enormous storks nests and storks perched and flying. I have to poach a photo from Colin as my camera doesn’t do telephoto technology….

We are caught in a heavy shower but then the sun comes out in time for the father/son photo-shoot. Thing is, which one is the crack-pot?

Can’t resist another shot of the wonderful stone masonry round here…

Lunch is fried squid for Terry and me and pork and clams for Colin. Fantastic food! Then back to Fuzeta for beer and chestnuts… it feels like we’ve been eating all day….

29/11/10 Exploring with Colin

On Saturday our son Colin arrives out to see us for a few days, coinciding with our rental of a very posh apartment. It’s a good price for five weeks and the weather seems to have broken – cold and very wet, reflecting perhaps the snow that is falling in the UK. A cleaner called Nely shows us around. She is very pleasant but we have no way of communicating, as she has no English or French and our Portuguese words can be counted on the fingers of one hand… The long and the short of it is that we agree to take the apartment: what luxury! What is this warm stuff coming out of the taps? And space…I can stretch my arms up over my head without bashing them on the ceiling…there’s a fridge and a washing machine, and even a machine for putting dishes in and getting them clean…what curiosities!

We tell the man at the campsite gate that we have rented an apartment. It seems he knows already – he’s been talking to the cleaner!

Today we go exploring with Colin in his hire car. We head along the coast to Vila Real de Santo António. It’s a pretty town on the border between Portugal and Spain at the mouth of the River Guadiana. The Guadiana became the dividing line between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of Castile in 1267 after the Treaty of Badajoz. Apparently most of the original town was destroyed by a tidal wave in 1755.

This dude is one Sebastiāo José de Carvalho e Mello,  Marquês de Pombal, who was responsible for the design of the new town.

On a more prosaic note, Terry tries to feed a cow…

And we bump into a rather pale lady…

Then there’s this lout with his camera…

 After coffee, we head north up into the hills and branch off to Alcoutim which is another border town on the Rio Guadiana, and another place full of history. It seems that the Portuguese in this part of the world spent a good deal of time avoiding paying heavy taxes. Thus, Alcoutim thrived as a smuggling port, notably bringing in slaves, tobacco and sugar, amongst other “products”…

There was always somebody trying to lay down the law though…

Across the river lies Sanlúcar… which you can visit on a little boat for a euro…

On this side of the river though, there are the remains of a castle to see…the Moors built the walls…

and there are some rather interesting azulejos on the village walls…

We try out the local Coziedo de Grão – a chickpea stew with bright chunks of sweet potato – which was tasty apart from the large lumps of fatty meat in it. The cook came out of the kitchen to ask us if it was “bom” (good).

“Muito bom,” (Very good) I say, though I have to confess to a slight insincerity – she is so proud of her food, I don’t want to hurt her feelings.

Then it’s back on the road, through deserted villages and hectare upon hectare of hillside… beautiful even below the darkening sky…

25/11/10 Silves. A Walk of Poets…

We drive to Silves to explore this former Moorish kings’ capital of the al-Gharb (Algarve). Nowadays it’s a quaint place, if rather touristy.  Nothing quaint about it in Moorish times, though, when….

…one Sancho I arrived in 1189 with his rabble of Portuguese mercenaries and Crusaders, sending 30,000 Moors scuttling into the citadel for refuge. The Moors held out for a while due to their granaries and marvellous water cistern which had served the town (as they say, water is a precious well…) and opened negotiations with good ol’ Sancho.

However, there was a bit of insubordination from the ranks who had been promised plunder, and when the Moors opened the gates to the town, 6,000 Moors were murdered. Nice lot, eh? ‘ Pity governments still don’t seem to have learned the lesson.

Curiously enough though, two years later the Citadel was handed back to the Moors, until 1249 when once again Christian forces took it over.

These days there’s a pretty garden at the scene of the crime:

The red sandstone castle is fascinating. Lovely views from the top, too.

There’s a museum to visit… 

…though I was slightly more curious about the little chappie perched on the nest at the top on the right hand side. A huge stork!

By the way, I forgot to say the cistern at the castle is said to be haunted by a Moorish maiden who can be seen sailing across  the underground waters during a full moon (you can climb down steps into the cistern)…all in all, a poetic place. No wonder they have the Walk of Poets passing this way…

                                  The hands of Spring built

                                  The castle, upon the stem of the white lilys

                                  They painted each wall silver

                                  Where the brave men of the ruler

                                   With swords of gold, fight with ardour.

                                                                                                           11th century poet

– though I don’t think Wilfred Owen would have been too impressed…

Cybersecurity laws

Cybersecurity laws are  necessary for complying with certain cybersecurity-related obligations of international law. The impact of cybersecurity on both national security and the economy is enormous, and cybersecurity policy is of great significance. However, as shown in many incidents and incidents over the past year, effective government support is lacking. National security and cybersecurity must also be fully integrated, and not separate issues.

Worse yet, the administrative response to breaches is weak, leaving in place weak policies, the misapplication of legal authorities, and regulatory gaps. For instance, the government has not established an effective process to address cybersecurity problems, and when it has, it has failed to address some of the fundamental vulnerabilities that go beyond information technology. The state lacks a comprehensive cybersecurity framework. In particular, there is no national system or regulatory body (such as NIST or the Federal Communications Commission, the National Security Agency, or DOD) with legal authority to regulate cyber-related technologies, networks, and products. Since none of the publicly available cybersecurity legislation has established a framework for addressing these issues, regulation of cyber-related products, services, and activities is less than complete, and many businesses in particular have been unable to identify potential risks, protect themselves, and even produce security disclosures.

Working from home? Stay alert to the risk of cyber-attacks

Despite the challenges to security, several innovative U.S. corporations have been tackling this challenge and developing products and services designed to provide businesses with protections against some of the most common cyber threats.

Most of these companies have a minority ownership in their companies. Smaller companies like RSA, Trailfire, and FireEye are utilizing their companies to develop products for government agencies, law enforcement, and law schools; or to develop security and assurance products for the private sector. While it may not appear to be the most profitable business, growing numbers of U.S. companies are realizing they can become even more valuable in the cybersecurity domain. Small companies with their own expertise are also identifying opportunities to participate in and capture a greater share of cyber-related sales by establishing direct sales relationships with U.S. defense and intelligence organizations, federal and state law enforcement agencies, government agencies (such as the IRS and DOD), and academia.

International cybersecurity

International law requires member states to take measures to protect their infrastructure and to secure their critical national infrastructures. A recent UN Special Rapporteur, Mr. Michael Mller, made the following recommendations regarding cybersecurity policies and policies and development models of cybersecurity legislation and other responses:

Vital, resilient, and resilient infrastructure are among the international property rights of every state, including cybersecurity infrastructure. These do not require any technological adaptation to secure their operation. Indeed, cybersecurity is best viewed as a natural part of the physical world. Consequently, states are mandated to take all necessary measures to ensure that its vital, resilient, and resilient cyber infrastructures are secure from cyber attacks. Visit https://www.fortinet.com/products/secure-web-gateway to get further details about cyber security.

student loan forgiveness

The student loan forgiveness program is a special type of benefit established by the federal government. Because the US government is one of the primary lenders of student loans, each year the government distributes a certain amount of money (about $14 billion in FY2017, or 0.06% of all student loans) to the US Department of Education in the form of grants and loan forgiveness. This program is called the Grad PLUS Program. It was established in 2001 as an extension of the Sallie Mae Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan Program, which in turn was created to incentivize Sallie Mae and other private lenders to provide loan opportunities for low-income students. With these two programs, the government financed part of the cost of many of the loans that the average student takes out to attend college, and students received benefit payments after their four years of college.

Student Loans | TSB Bank

A major feature of the federal program is that it provides up to $16,500 in forgiveness of a student loan after 20 years of on-time payments, as long as that loan remains outstanding. This means that a student may be able to erase his/her loan debt entirely after a minimum of 10 years of not making on-time payments to the loan, check out this site to get all the details about student loans.

The forgiveness amount increases each year, and is currently capped at $57,500, which is worth $26,000. This means that if a student takes out a loan with a balance of $50,000, the government would provide up to $13,000 worth of federal loan forgiveness. In contrast, if a student takes out a loan with a balance of $150,000, the government would provide up to $33,000 worth of loan forgiveness.

Problems with the US government loan forgiveness program

Although there is a $13.5 billion in loans that are eligible for the forgiveness program, it is not a truly forgiving program. Although a $13.5 billion amount of money is disbursed to the US government each year, not everyone gets the full benefit. In fact, about 44% of all students who are eligible for the program do not receive the full benefit, according to a 2014 Report on Student Debt from the New America Foundation.

The New America Foundation reported that graduates are only eligible for about 40% of the forgiveness, due to the fact that they generally take out loans that are not guaranteed by the government (they are typically on the parent or private loan marketplace). In addition, there is a limit on how much can be forgiven if a borrower had two or more Stafford loans. As a result, less than half of all federal student loan borrowers actually receive the full benefit, according to the New America Foundation’s report.

In addition to student loan debt, more than 80% of federal student loans are taken out for graduate or professional studies, and students can not only face hefty loan repayments, but may be forced to delay the start of a career or drop out of school altogether, which significantly decreases their lifetime earning potential.

18/11/10 Western Algarve

We decide to venture towards the Western Algarve despite its reputation of high-rise and hamburger joints. Yes, there’s most definitely a change of feel to this place – prostitutes on the highway towards Lagoa, light industry straggling the countryside, and litter… Carvoeira, though, is a pretty enough place in the winter nestled into a sandy cove with its high cliffs and cheerful pottery shops…

We drive around some more before heading back to Faro, where we think of stopping until two men dive out in front of us in the car park ready to demand money from us for looking after our van. We don’t think so! We’ll come again by train…

16/11/10 Steps again…

We continue our exploration of the area with a visit by train to the pretty town of Tavira. I clamber around on the castle walls, where, as usual there is history of various displacements of peoples by more powerful people of the time, notably Phoenicians, Romans, Moors and Christians. There’s not much left of the castle (or much else that’s ancient due to the 18th century earth quake) but inside the walls a wonderful garden has been created which instils a deep feeling of serenity. This includes some jacaranda trees, and…oh dear…I think I’m becoming obsessed with steps again…

We wander across one of the bridges that crosses the river and explore the back streets some more.

There’s a rather good English bookshop here, so if you’re getting short of reading matter…

We catch the train back to Fuzeta and can’t resist stopping at a cafe in the square and indulging in draught beer and roast chestnuts from the chestnut seller. What a delicious combination!

13/11/10 A Fare-o to Faro

We take the train from “Fuzeta A” to Faro, the region’s capital. As Terry says, we might as well be in the wild west, no slick TGV this but old grey metallic-looking carriages we have to hoick ourselves up metal steps into! However, it delivers us smoothly and cheaply and almost punctually to the required destination. We wander past the harbour…

towards Faro’s old town and the cathedral…

with one or two reminders of one Alfonso III who led the Christian conquest against the Moors in 1249…

and obviously thought he could do a better job in the market place…

though Essex Man (Earl of Essex, that is) came along and ransacked the place in 1596.

We explore the rest of the centre – it’s compact, relaxed and relatively quiet for a city centre on a Saturday.

Not sure what this place would be like in the summer, but right now in the sunshine it’s a delight and we find excellent coffee in a café in the Praca Ferreira de Almeida. We visit the covered market where I buy some fruit and veg – the discount I receive for my bag of shopping is a free pear – then we head back towards the harbour for a cheap and delicious lunch at the local Bella Italia. Two plates of roast pork, chips and salad, a pudding each, two tumblers of white wine and two coffees for 15 euros. I’m not complaining, and the service even came with a smile!

Later on, back in Fuzeta, we shop for tomorrow as it will be Sunday and we expect to find most places closed. At the butcher’s a man gives me his ticket for the queue as I’ve neglected to take one, then we are distracted by the roast chestnut seller and sit and eat hot chestnuts from glossy magazine paper on a bench in the square before going to search out milk and olives. Here shopping really is a pleasant social event, not a chore amongst the aisles of a huge impersonal warehouse!

November ’10 We become twitchy…

We spend the next few days sorting out the van and getting to know the area. Our bicycles really come into their own here, as the immediate locality around Fuzeta is flat, and there are miles of cycle track which take you amongst sand flats and salt pans and the most spectacular bird life – ornithologists’ heaven!

 

We see spoonbills, grey heron, egret, amongst others today…and what’s more it’s so incredibly peaceful only minutes from the town, hardly a sound, save the occasional piping of a bird, and then the tremolo of the level crossing alarm as a single train  rumbles along the coast before tranquillity again… At night there’s an insect trill of something like a cicada…

The town itself has a lovely atmosphere; people are friendly and good-humoured. A waiter drops a dish of nuts he is serving to some customers and roars with laughter, an old guy walking with the aid of a stick tells me to push my bike faster as I’m trying to push it up over a bridge. There’s a local covered market where you can buy fresh fish and vegetables. We buy slices of some unknown fish which we attempt to fry – big mistake! Although the taste is delicious, the texture is slightly rubbery and there’s an awful lot of skin and bone. I wonder what we ate?

We cycle into the next village, where we see more interesting houses…

and…

pomegranates hanging from the trees.

10/11/10 From Porta to Fuzeta

 

We arrive in Fuzeta after two days of travel, spending the night on the road in Salvaterra. We watch the terrain change and change again – tall trees, hectares of forest, then hectares of paddy field, flat plains to hills, now covered in shrubs, now shaven, now agricultural, now wild, to orange groves, olive groves, and finally to the low sand lands of the “natural park” surrounding Fuzeta with rows of boats clinging to the banks…

 

 and white egret fishing in the water…