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GM spent a lot of money to
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TIRE DUST
The automobile did not come to dominate American transportation by chance or by public choice. It happened as part of a plan by auto makers to buy up and destroy mass transit companies. General Motors led the way. As recently as the 1920s, many American cities and towns were connected by a network of electric railroads and interurban trolleys. Within cities, electric street railways, trolleys, and elevated trains, moved large numbers of people easily and cheaply, with minimal congestion and pollution. But steel-wheeled electric/rail mass transit systems did not serve the needs of the automobile manufacturers and their allies in the steel, rubber, glass, concrete, and oil industries.
Beginning in the 1920s, General Motors began investing in mass transit systems. According to historian Marty Jezer (and Congressional hearings held in 1974), between 1920 and 1955, General Motors bought up more than 100 electric mass transit systems in 45 cities, allowed them to deteriorate, and then replaced them with rubber-tired, diesel-powered buses. [1] Buses are more expensive, less efficient, and much dirtier than electric/rail systems. (And of course automobiles are even less efficient than buses, by far.) In 1949, General Motors, Firestone Rubber, and Standard Oil of California were convicted by a federal jury of criminally conspiring to replace electric mass transit with GM-manufactured diesel buses; in a noteworthy illustration of justice for corporations, the court fined GM $ 5000 and forced H.C. Crossman, the GM executive responsible for carrying out GM’s policy, to pay $ 1.00.
Cities where GM managed to eliminate electric/rail systems, and replace them with buses and private cars, included New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, Oakland, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles.
Many people think of Los Angeles as the original automobile city. However, before GM converted the city to buses and private automobiles, Los Angeles was served by the largest electric/rail mass transit system in the nation. The Pacific Electric Railway ran more than 1000 trains per day over 760 miles of rail lines to such outlying stations as Redlands, Corona, Santa Monica, Redondo Beach and Balboa, carrying light freight as well as passengers. Its last line, to Long Beach, was abandoned in 1961 –the same year the ingredients of smog were first identified in L.A.’s toxic air.
During this same period, GM worked to convert electric-powered commuter railroads to diesel-powered locomotives, which were far more expensive, more complex, and less reliable than electric locomotives, thus requiring more maintenance, and contributing significantly to the demise of the nation’s railroad system. For example, the New York, New Haven, and Hartford line showed a profit during 50 years of operation until 1956, the year it began converting to diesel locomotives; by 1961 it was declared bankrupt and a report by the Interstate Commerce Commission censured GM for contributing to its demise.
We all know some of the consequences of converting the American transportation system from electric/rail to rubber-tired vehicles. The threat of global warming from combustion of fossil-fuels (oil and gasoline) is one part of the problem. Lung cancer from diesel exhaust is another. [2] But recently, another aspect of our transportation system has appeared in scientific and medical literature: serious pollution from rubber tire fragments (tire dust) released by tire wear.
When a rubber tire, bearing the weight of a vehicle, rolls across an asphalt or cement surface, tiny fragments of rubber break off from the tire and become airborne. In the 1970s and early 1980s, scientists working for the rubber tire industry and for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that these tire fragments were too large to enter the human lung and so presented no threat to human health.
However, new research published this year by allergy specialists has reached a different conclusion: these new studies show that about 60% of tire fragments (tire dust) are so small that they can enter the deep portions of the human lung where the latex rubber in the tire dust may cause allergic reactions ranging in severity from rhinitis (runny nose), conjunctivitis (tearful eyes), to hives (urticaria), bronchial asthma, and occasionally even a life-threatening condition called anaphylactic shock. [3] Asthma, and asthma deaths, have increased dramatically during the past 20 years, especially among children, and specialists have been searching in vain for causes. (See RHWN #374.)
Allergy to latex rubber has become more common in recent years, especially among health-care workers who are exposed more or less continuously to latex gloves, tubes, sheets, and other latex-containing products. [4] An estimated 17 million Americans have an allergic reaction to latex. Examination of latex allergy has shown it to be a true allergy; in technical jargon, it is mediated by IgE antibody to proteins that are present in the natural rubber produced from the tropical rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis).
Allergic reactions to tire dust may be increasing for several reasons. The number of tires has increased steadily during the last 20 years; the proportion of latex in tires has been increasing; and tire construction has changed from bias ply to radial. Tire dust from radials is finer and thus more respirable, meaning it enters the deepest part of the human lung more easily.
The human nose and throat filter out airborne particles larger than 10 micrometers in diameter, but about 60% of tire dust is smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter and can thus enter the lungs where it can cause allergic reactions in some people.
In 1974, tire industry scientists estimated that 600,000 metric tonnes (1.3 billion pounds) of tire dust were released by tire wear in the U.S., or about 6.5 pounds (3 kilograms) of dust released from each tire each year. In 1995, there were an estimated 280 million tires in use in the U.S.; [5]if each tire releases 6.5 pounds of dust per year, tire dust released in 1995 would total 1.8 billion pounds. A billion is a thousand million. In Los Angeles alone, at least 5 tons (10,000 pounds) of tire dust are released into the air each day.
Radial tires create a finer, more respirable dust than do bias ply-constructed tires, and the percentage of tires that are radial grew from 2% in 1970 to 95% in 1990, so tire dust released in the 1990s probably enters the lungs more readily than tire dust did in previous decades. Conceivably, this might explain part of the recent increases in asthma in the U.S.
In 1994, careful measurement of air near roadways with moderate traffic revealed the presence of 3800 to 6900 individual tire fragments in each cubic meter of air, more than 58.5% of them in the fully-respirable size range. When these fragments were examined chemically, and by mass spectroscopy, they were shown to contain latex. Furthermore, they were shown to produce allergic reactions, comparable in every way to the allergic reactions caused by dust from a pulverized latex glove. [3]
How might these problems be resolved? Allergic reaction to latex was first described in 1979; after AIDS became a major medical problem, more and more medical workers started wearing latex gloves and latex allergies came to light. Some 7% to 10% of all health care workers now exhibit an allergic reaction to latex.
Recently, latex from a new source, the guayule plant (Parthenium argentatum), which grows well in the southwestern U.S., has been shown to not cause latex allergy in exposed people. [6] Latex from the guayule plant could become a growth industry for American farmers; presently, about seven million tons of latex are produced each year from the tropical rubber tree, Hevea, worldwide.
In the case of rubber tires, the problem is more complex than mere latex allergy, although this may well turn out to be a serious public health problem by itself. The high dollar cost of truck freight, private automobile commuting, and maintenance of our highway infrastructure must be counted as major sacrifices to our rubber-tired transportation system. Furthermore, fine particle air pollution now kills an estimated 60,000 Americans in cities each year. [7] And global warming is a serious threat to many nations from many viewpoints. (See REHW #429, #430.)
However, from the viewpoint of our most important national treasure –our self-governing democracy –the systematic sabotage of the nation’s electric/rail mass transit systems by automobile corporations points up a most serious problem: the ability of “private” corporations to effect sweeping changes in our public life and culture, without public accountability or even debate. If we ever hope to achieve a sustainable environment, and re-establish a fair economy and a working democracy, this is a key problem we will have to acknowledge and address.
–Peter Montague
===============
[1] Marty Jezer, THE DARK AGES; LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1945-1960 (Boston: South End Press, 1982), pgs. 138-146.
[2] See U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, HEALTH ASSESSMENT DOCUMENT FOR DIESEL EMISSIONS [External Review Draft; 2 volumes: EPA/600/8-90/057Ba and EPA/600/8-90/057Bb] (Research Triangle, N.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, December, 1994). And see RHWN #120.
[3] P. Brock Williams and others, “Latex allergen in respirable particulate air pollution,” JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY Vol. 95, No. 1, Part 1 (January 1995), pgs. 88-96. And see: M. Michael Glovsky and others, “Can Latex Allergy be Triggered by Air Pollution?” Abstract presented at Experimental Biology ’95 in Atlanta, Georgia during April, 1995. Dr. Glovsky’s address: Asthma Center, Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena, CA 91105. Phone: (818) 397-3383; fax: (818) 795-0982. Glovsky’s work is discussed briefly in J. Raloff, “Latex allergies from right out of thin air?” SCIENCE NEWS Vol. 147, No. 16 (April 22, 1995), pg. 244. See also: L.M. Hildemann and others, “Chemical Composition of Emissions from Urban Sources of Fine Organic Aerosol,” ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Vol. 25, No. 4 (1991), pgs. 744-759.
[4] Doris Jaeger and others, “Latex-Specific proteins causing immediate-type cutaneous, nasal, bronchial, and systemic reactions,” JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY Vol. 88, No. 3 (March 1992), pgs. 759-768. And: Gordon L. Sussman and Donald H. Beezhold, “Allergy to Latex Rubber,” ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE Vol. 122, No. 1 (January 1, 1995), pgs. 43-46. And: Denise-Anne Moneret-Vautrin and others, “Prospective study of risk factors in natural rubber latex hypersensitivity,” JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY Vol. 82, No. 5 (November 1993), pgs. 668-677.
[5] Tire use in 1995 is a projection based on trends from 1970-1990 shown in: Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF THE UNITED STATES 1990 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990), Table 1027; and Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States 1992 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1992), Table 1000.
[6] Richard Lipkin, “No-itch latex,” SCIENCE NEWS Vol. 147, No. 16 (April 22, 1995), pg. 254.
[7] C. Arden Pope III and others, “Particulate Air Pollution as a Predictor of Mortality in a Prospective Study of U.S. Adults,” AMERICAN JOURNAL OF RESPIRATORY AND CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE Vol. 151, No. 3 (March 1995), pgs. 669-674. See also RHWN #373.
Descriptor terms: automobiles; transportation systems; general motors; mass transit; railroads; trolleys; electric street railways; firestone rubber; gm; standard oil of california; new york; philadelphia; baltimore; st. louis; oakland; salt lake city; los angeles; pacific electric railway; diesel; buses; global warming; lung cancer; asthma; allergies; latex allergy; rubber; guayule; air pollution; radial tires; fine particles; bias ply tires;
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Promotional still: Henry Fonda as the President in Fail Safe (1964)
The unthinkable – nuclear war – has been a favored dark subject for a number of Hollywood movies. Here are ten dramatic nuclear war/atomic holocaust films that no serious fan of the cinema should ever miss. Got your bomb shelter handy?
Fail Safe (Columbia, 1964)
Based on the 1962 best-selling novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, Fail Safe came to selected movie theaters on October 7, 1964. Henry Fonda plays the President, who must make a fateful decision when a group of six American Vindicator bombers are mistakenly sent past their fail-safe point by a malfunctioning computer. The errant Group Six, led by Lt. Colonel Jack Grady (Edward Binns), are now headed to Moscow where they will unload their nuclear payload on the Russian capital unless they can be recalled. Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman, Frank Overton, Fritz Weaver and Dan O’Herlihy also appear. Keep in mind the biblical story of the Sacrifice of Abraham and the flashing fail-safe code CAP-811 when viewing this nail biter.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Review: “It packs a melodramatic wallop that will rattle a lot of chattering teeth…” – Bosley Crowther, The New York Times (9/16/64).
On DVD: Fail Safe Special Edition (Columbia/TriStar, 2000)
On the Beach (United Artists, 1959)
Nevil Shute’s moving 1957 novel of the same name was brought to the screen two years later. The film takes place in 1964 during the aftermath of a nuclear war waged in the Northern Hemisphere. The only known survivors are in Australia, but their time will soon come to an end when the radioactivity reaches Down Under. Gregory Peck plays Commander Dwight Towers, the skipper of an American submarine, with Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins and Donna Anderson also on hand. There is no happy ending here, with the Australian folk song “Waltzing Matilda” used to haunting effect.
Director: Stanley Kramer
Review: “Deserves to be seen. It is an honest and provoking picture…” – Variety (12/2/59)
On DVD: On the Beach (MGM, 2000)
Lobby cards: On the Beach (1959)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Columbia, 1964)
Peter Sellers has a field day in this dark comedy, playing three different characters: Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffey and Dr. Strangelove. When Brigadier General Jack Ripper (Sterling Hayden) seizes an American airbase and threatens to start World War III, the War Room goes into action trying to prevent a nuclear holocaust. George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn and Slim Pickens as gonzo cowboy pilot Major “King” Kong also “brighten” up the atomic festivities. “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room,” Peter Sellers as the President admonishes his advisors.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Review: “The ultimate touch of ghoulish humor is when we see the bomb actually going off, dropped on some point in Russia, and a jazzy sound track comes in with a cheerful melodic rendition of ‘We’ll Meet Again Some Sunny Day.’ Somehow, to me, it isn’t funny. It is malefic and sick.” – Bosley Crowther, The New York Times (1/30/64)
On DVD: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Columbia/TriStar, 2001)
Promotional still: Peter Sellers, in dark glasses, in the War Room in Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Testament (Paramount, 1983)
“It happened in an instant. The televisions went blank, the radios – silent. The cities were gone, the future abandoned. And the only thing they have left to hold onto, is the people they love.” So reads the promotional tagline for Testament, a harrowing story of the aftermath of a nuclear attack on the United States as seen through the eyes of a family residing just outside San Francisco. Jane Alexander, William Devane, Ross Harris, Roxana Zal and Lukas Haas head the cast. Testament was originally filmed as a made-for-television movie, but impressed with its quality Paramount made the decision to release it theatrically.
Director: Lynne Littman
Review: “Testament may be the first movie in a long time that will make you cry. It made me cry. And seeing it again for the second time, knowing everything that would happen, anticipating each scene before it came, I was affected just as deeply.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (11/4/83)
On DVD: Testament (Paramount, 2004)
Crimson Tide (Buena Vista, 1995)
Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Richard P. Henrick, Crimson Tide stars Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington as two naval officers who clash aboard the USS Alabama over an emergency action message (EAM) authorizing them to launch a nuclear strike. Hackman is the veteran submarine commander and Washington the up-and-coming executive officer. Also on board are Matt Craven, George Dzundza, Viggo Mortensen and James Gandolfini. “Con, Weapons. Missiles will be ready to launch in four minutes,” a nervous, sweating Viggo Mortensen reports. Will the Alabama’s “birds” fly?
Director: Tony Scott
Review: “The torpedoes, missiles and testosterone levels all are on red alert in Crimson Tide, the latest exercise in high-tech macho from director Tony Scott and producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer…This is a boy’s movie all the way, with enough expensive military hardware and tough-guy power plays to appeal to teenagers of all ages.” – Variety (5/8/95).
On DVD: Crimson Tide Extended Edition (Buena Vista, 2006)
WarGames (MGM/UA, 1983)
Matthew Broderick plays David Lightman, a computer whiz kid who hacks his way into the Defense Department’s new automated system known as WOPR – War Operation Plan Response. It seems young David has activated the supercomputer’s operating system via a secret password, with WOPR now believing that the United States is under nuclear attack and readying an all-out response. Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Barry Corbin also appear. “Shall we play?” the computer asks David, with Global Thermonuclear War as one of the games on the menu. Check out David’s computer, a clunky (by today’s standards) IMSAI 8080.
Director: John Badham
Review: “There’s not a scene where Badham doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing, weaving a complex web of computerese, personalities and puzzles…And the ending, a moment of blinding and yet utterly elementary insight, is wonderful.” – Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (6/3/83)
On DVD: WarGames 25th Anniversary Edition (MGM, 2008)
Insert movie poster: WarGames (1983)
The Day After (ABC-TV, 1983)
This harrowing made-for-TV movie was originally telecast on November 20, 1983. It graphically depicts the start of a nuclear war and its searing aftermath. Jason Robards Jr., JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, John Cullum and John Lithgow head the cast. Set in the college town of Lawrence, Kansas, The Day After was nominated for 12 Emmy Awards. “ I wonder who was spared? I wonder if New York, Paris, Moscow… are just like Kansas City now?” Jason Robards’ Dr. Russell Oakes contemplates.
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Review: “The Day After exists more as a controversy than it does as a film. Originally made as a TV movie, it promised to deliver a no-holds barred treatment of nuclear war. But when news of its themes leaked, rumors about it containing a shocking, no-holds-barred depiction of the real thing began to circulate. Advertisers began to withdraw and network executives panicked and started to think about withdrawing it. To their credit ABC decided to air it nevertheless – the last half-hour of the film merely ran without ads.” – Richard Scheib, The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review (9/3/08)
On DVD: The Day After (MGM, 2004)
Threads (BBC-TV, 1984)
This highly-acclaimed made-for-TV movie was first telecast in the United Kingdom on September 23, 1984. Set in Sheffield, England, Threads presents in documentary fashion the grim aftermath of a nuclear war launched by the Soviet Union. Karen Meagher and Reece Dinsdale play a pair of Sheffieldites who struggle to survive following the atomic holocaust. “Jesus Christ! They’ve done it… They’ve done it!” Ashley Barker as Bob cries out after witnessing the mushroom cloud in the distance.
Director: Mick Jackson
Review: “It’s 1984 and downtown Sheffield is about to become a target of the nuclear war between the USA and dependable baddies, the Soviet Union. While it was considered ground-breaking at the time, this BBC feature has dated rather horribly and the DVD release is unable to help.” – Almar Haflidason, BBC Films Review (8/07)
On DVD: Threads (BBC, 2005)
Panic in Year Zero! (American International, 1962)
Ray Milland, Jean Hagen, Frankie Avalon and Mary Mitchel appear as the Baldwin family, who depart Los Angeles for a camping trip just before a nuclear explosion hits the city. With Milland as patriarch Harry Baldwin leading the way, the family struggles to survive in the ensuing chaos and violence. “We’ve had it, haven’t we, dad?” Frankie Avalon as Rick Baldwin asks after seeing the mushroom cloud rise over the City of Angels. Well, not quite…
Director: Ray Milland
Review: “This forgotten, saber-toothed 1962 AIP cheapie might be the most expressive on-the-ground nightmare of the Cold War era, providing a template not only for countless social-breakdown genre flicks (most particularly, Michael Haneke’s Time of the Wolf) but also for authentic crisis—shades of New Orleans haunt its DVD margins.” – Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice (9/20/05)
On DVD: Panic in Year Zero/Last Man on Earth (AIP, 2005)
French grande movie poster: Panic in Year Zero! (1962)
Miracle Mile (Hemdale Film, 1988)
Anthony Edwards, Mare Winningham and John Agar head the cast in this cult nuclear apocalypse movie that was first shown at the Toronto Film Festival on September 11, 1988. Los Angeles is once again the doomed city, about to be hit by Russian missiles and their nuclear payload, with two young lovebirds trying to escape the carnage. Miracle Mile was originally conceived as one of the segments on the ill-fated Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).
Director: Steve De Jarnatt
Review: “In the nuclear romance ‘Miracle Mile,’ the world ends, as the poet said, not with a bang but a whimper. Humankind’s final curtain is a kitchen sheer, suddenly luffed in the finale of this powder-puff thriller.” – Rita Kempley, The Washington Post (6/14/89)
On DVD: Miracle Mile (MGM, 2003)
Ten More Nuclear War/Atomic Holocaust Movie Favorites
This Is Not a Test (1962)Countdown to Looking Glass (1984)By Dawn’s Early Light (1990) Atomic Train (1999)When the Wind Blows (1986)Special Bulletin (1983)Fail Safe (TV, 2000)Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977)Depth Charge (2008)On the Beach (TV, 2000)
One sheet movie poster: Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977)
Further Reading
Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau in Fail Safe (1964)Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner in On the Beach (1959)Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy in WarGames (1983)Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman in Crimson Tide (1995)
Images Credit
All images courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas, Texas
Beach books for investors interested in the classics
By Francois Rochon, For Postmedia News July 24, 2011
As we are savouring the nice days of summer, perhaps it’s a good time to review great books written on investing in the stock market. You are maybe wondering what to bring to the beach to read. Why not read about the principles of sound investing? It will perhaps help you to someday own a beach!
There are many great books out there. In the last few years, there have been legions of new books written about investing (not all equally good). But I’ll start with the classics.
The first book to read is The Intelligent Investor. It was written in 1949 by Benjamin Graham, known as the “father of fundamental analysis.” That book deeply influenced Warren Buffett (he likes to say that it changed his life). It is a book about investment principles, and you know what they say about principles: If they change they are not principles in the first place. More than 60 years have passed since Graham wrote this book and his principles are as valid today as they were then. For example, there is a complete chapter on the investor and how he should deal with market fluctuations (the famous Chapter 8). And in the conclusion, there is perhaps the most important phrase written about stock market investing: “Investing is more intelligent when it is most business-like.” It means that owning stocks is about owning fractional parts of a business. And the more intelligent an investor is, the more like a business owner he
There is also an older book written by Philip Carrett in 1930: The Art of Speculation. Although the word speculation is used, Philip Carrett was a long- term investor. His list of 12 commandments is still relevant today. My personal favourite is: “Be quick to take losses and reluctant to take profits.” As we get more experienced with markets, we realize how important this phrase becomes.
A totally different approach was developed by Philip Fisher, who lived on the West Coast. He wrote four books. The first one – and most famous – is Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits. It is probably the first book written on investing in “growth” stocks. In the 1960s, he published Path to Wealth Through Common Stocks and in the 1970s, Conservative Investors Sleep Well. They are all very good. Fisher had a deep focus on the quality of management. Again, it’s all about principles. Many companies that Fisher refers to do not exist anymore (at least in their original form) but the numerous examples are quite instructive.
In the 1980s, John Train wrote two great books on Money Masters. The first one talks about Warren Buffett (at a time when he was unknown by most investors), John Templeton and Ben Graham.
There are dozens of books written about Buffett and a lot of redundancy is out there, but there are three that I would recommend: Warren Buffett: the Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein, The Warren Buffett CEO by Robert P. Miles and Of Permanent Value by Andy Kilpatrick. This last one is quite a detailed book on everything regarding Buffett (it has more than 1,000 pages). In the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess there is a little chapter on my career and the influence of Buffett on my life in this book.
Recently, I have enjoyed books written by James Montier. My favourite is Value Investing: Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Investment. It was published in 2009, so it is quite timely in many of its studies.
Another recent book that I enjoyed is This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. This book provides a lot of historical perspective on the 2008-2009 crisis. We realize how much financial crises are part of our capitalist system and – although not pleasant – how they should be accepted and dealt with.
Finally, I would recommend reading Peter Lynch’s books. They are instructive and also written in a more convivial style than the others. The most famous one – and still the best – is One Up on Wall Street. When I read that book, almost 19 years ago, it changed my life. It gave birth to a passion for stock investing that has not left me since.
Francois Rochon is the head of wealth-management firm Giverny Capital, which he founded in 1998.
Montreal Gazette
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
360 Commentary: A great summary in the Vancouver Sun today! I’ve read all these books and highly recommend both the Intelligent Investor and of course Common stocks and Uncommon Profits! Great books for beginner investors who want to get into the investing game… all these books are available on amazon.com
Happy Investing,
The 360 Investing Guys
Daytona Beach Foreclosed Houses
Author:
In Florida, a city known as Daytona Beach hosts prominent NASCAR sponsored events such as the Daytona 500. This city has become one of the more famous sites in the field of motorsports. In fact, a massive amount of people flock to the place annually, specifically NASCAR fans, just to attend these festivities.
Daytona Beach is also where the NASCAR and Grand American Road Racing Association headquarters are located. Other events include the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race in January, Biketoberfest in October, Bike Week in March and the NASCAR Coke Zero 400 Race in July. All these marvelous happenings the city conducts make it a place worth living in. The citys population of over 64,000 people serves as witnesses to the extravagant lifestyle the city offers.
Who doesnt want a home thats right in the middle of so much excitement? Unfortunately, residences nowadays can be quite costly due to the increase of real estate market value. However, there are still ways to get a nice but affordable house despite these difficult times. Even in a place like Daytona Beach where the demand is so high, its possible to find your dream home.
Houses that have undergone a Daytona Beach foreclosure for instance, can still be both stylish and affordable. Foreclosed homes are properties that are auctioned or sold by a lending company as soon as the mortgagee fails or is incapable of reimbursing the debt he or she is supposed to pay.
The system of real estate purchasing usually involves loaning or borrowing of money. Home buyers in Daytona turn to lending companies in order to get a hold of the money they require for the transaction. Just like any other debts though, the borrower must pay back the agreed amount of cash he or she has loaned from the company. If at any time the mortgagor neglects to honor his or her obligations, a Daytona Beach foreclosure will occur.
The repossessed property a lending company acquires after a Daytona Beach foreclosure is then auctioned off in an attempt to recoup their lost investment. These real estate assets would be marketed to other clients at a lesser price. Since these are pre-owned homes, buyers have to ensure that the house is free of any negative records before purchase. Making sure that the foreclosed property has no flaws is an important responsibility in the world of real estate.
Beaches In Colombia
Author:
Colombia offers definitely excellent conditions for tourism. The appealing hotels in Colombia deliver really fantastic accommodation plus the attractions worth visiting are so much
Apart from the various amenities in Colombia hotels you’ll find also wonderful options for practicing water sports or just lie on the beach.
Beaches in Colombia are the ideal retreats for spending quality time with family members and friends. These beaches are apart from the hustle and bustle of the crowded cities and towns. Colombia is known for its beautiful and extended coastlines and also the golden beaches spread above it. A lot of of the beaches in Colombia are counted amongst the preferred tourist destinations in the Latin American nation.
The maintenance of the beaches round Colombia is the main cause of concern for the government authorities as they attract 1000′s of tourists each year. The beaches of Colombia have undergone development as most of them comprises of the traditional facilities for example restaurants, hotels, cafes, etc.
The Colombian beaches are a delight for travelers that are die-hard fans of water sports activities as most of the beaches at Colombia have the arrangements for water sports. A few of them are run by the government while some belong to private agencies. These companies offer guides and trainers for the assistance of the fresher.
The beaches of Colombia are scattered all across the country. Some of the places that travelers must head over to to refresh themselves amidst the picturesque elegance of the beaches are Cartagena, Santa Marta, El Rodadero, Palomino, Playa Blanca, Pozos Colorados, Taganga, EL Laguito, Bocagranade, beaches at San Andres which include freshwater Bay, Sprat Bight, Manzanillo beach and Boquilla beach and various more.
The biggest attraction of the beaches in Colombia is their crystal clear water along with the variant shades of sand of the beaches. With the government arranging more and more amenities all-around it, the numbers of the visitors will automatically go up.
So book your room in a hotel in Colombia and have a lot of fun on the beach!
Sarasota
Why Go?
Florida’s sparkling Sarasota coast has long white beaches, plus lots to see and do. It’s a two-hour drive from Disney World and is only an hour from the delights of Tampa.
Go Exploring
Beautiful Lido Key offers plenty of watersports, from windsurfing to kayaking. The pretty village of St Armand’s Circle is only five minutes away and has interesting shops and restaurants.
Longboat Key has ten miles of deserted beach, tennis courts and golf courses. For stunning views, drive the key side road to Anna Maria Island. This laid-back enclave has pretty beach-side picnic areas, shops and galleries.
Cross the bridge from the keys for the ’50s-style charm of mainland Sarasota. Main Street offers cafes and restaurants, Pineapple Street is lined with antique shops, and check out Palm Street, known for its art galleries.
See the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, an oasis of rare orchids and over 20,000 tropical plants.
Siesta Key Beach has a village atmosphere with good restaurants and sand that was voted the whitest in the world.
Visit the Ringling Museum of Art, a stunning pink mansion that houses priceless paintings from all over the world. The Ringlings were famous throughout America for their successful circus and the mansion has spectacular collection of circus memorabilia.
Enjoy Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, pioneers in creating naturalistic African habitats where you can watch herds of animals from an open-air Land Rover. Adult entry is about £35, and it’s £29 for children under ten.
For food and drink, portions are huge, and rich sauces and dressings hard to avoid. Prices range from £2 for a burger and chips to £20 for a three-course meal in a good fresh seafood restaurant.
The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort in Longboat Key is a five-star beachside hotel with 21 tennis courts. Prices start at £859 per person for 7 nights, including flights and car hire.
The Radisson Lido Beach Resort apartments in Sarasota offers self-catering beachside apartments.
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Myrtle Beach Bikers week is an event that thousands of people, not only bikers look forward to each Merorial Day. During this time, bikers from all over the world travel to see the sights, check out the lates bikes, share the fun, excitement, and cut loose from problems, and just enjoy all the availavble activities. This is an adult filled weekend, with lots of toys for the bikers, all kinds of assessories,customized bikes, fast bikes, and memories that will hold you to the next season.
Myrtle Beach Bike Week is also called “Harley Bike Week”. It is a week-long motorcycle rally. A motorcycle rally is a gathering of motorcycle enthrusiasts. Motorcycle rallies started in 1940 and attracted as many as 200,000 visitors to the city every May. Black Bike Week which wis held every year on Memorial Day Weekend is held at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This weekend is a weekend with lof fun, it is a ” One Of A Kind Event”. Black Bike Week is full of “Street Vibrators”, (powerful roaring engines, from modified bikes) it’s all about riding, styling, and profiling. 10-15 percent of today’s Bikers are are black women. which has drastically changed over the years. Usually the attendance is between 350,000-375,000, and head counts have been as many as 400,000. Black Bike Week started in 1980, it is the largest African American event in the U.S. This event was created in response to a history of discrimination against African American visitors and riders to the Myrtle Beach area. A lawsuit was filed, as shop owner and merchants were not as receptive to African Americans as they were to other races.
Bikers from everywhere attend this affair, and look forward to it every Memorial Day. Untill 2000, this rally was strickly a Harley-Davidson Bike week which was a predominately white Bikers Rally.
The North American B-25 Mitchell
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Driving down New Highway, which skirts the perimeter of Farmingdale, Long Island’s, Republic Airport, on the still-warm, crystal-blue Labor Day morning in 2006, and glimpsing the tails of the World War II B-24 Liberator, B-17 Flying Fortress, and B-25 Mitchell bombers, I had once again realized that the Collings Foundation’s annual Wings of Freedom fleet rotation, more than any other year, had transformed the general aviation field into an early-1940s pocket of time, a hub of medium and heavy bomber operations.
The aircraft intended for my mission, the North American B-25 Mitchell registered 130669 “Tondelayo” and wearing its drab olive-green livery, had been the third parked on the ramp of the American Airpower Museum, both an historical and symbolic position relative to the two heavier, longer-range aircraft which had been preceded it.
Resulting from a 1938 Air Corps requirement for a twin-engined, medium-range bomber which could fulfill niche roles its larger, quad-engined counterparts had been unable to, and tracing its lineage to the B-10, the B-12, the B-18, and the B-23, the B-25 itself, named after the US Army Air Corps Officer General Billy Mitchell, had been infused life as a self-funded project by North American Aviation in the form of the NA-40-1. The 19,500-pound prototype, featuring a narrow fuselage with a green house cockpit; a straight mid-wing; two, 1,100-horsepower R-1830 piston engines; an angular, twin vertical tail; and a tricycle undercarriage of single wheels, had first flown in January of 1939, but a power deficiency had necessitated the retrofit of 1,350-horsepower R-2600s. Although the modified version, designated NA-40-2, had offered superior performance, it crashed after a two-week test program.
Its NA-62 successor, which had been extensively modified, featured a wider fuselage which in turn increased the now lower-mounted, constant root-to-tip dihedral mid-wing span, 1,700-horsepower R-2600-9 engines, square-geometry vertical tails, and a 27,000-pound gross weight. Approved in September of 1939, this version, designated the XB-25, first flew in prototype form on August 19 of the following year.
Initially delivered to the Army Air Corps, the aircraft demonstrated directional stability deficiencies, resulting in the outer wing mounting redesign with the tenth aircraft off the production line, which reduced the engine-to-wing tip dihedral and gave it its characteristic gull-wing profile.
The B-25 Mitchell, in production form, appeared with an aluminum alloy, semi-monocoque fuselage, constructed of four longerons, which produced a 53.6-foot overall length. The cantilever, all-metal, mid-mounted wings, comprised of a two-spar, fuselage-integral center section housing integral fuel tanks and two outer, single-spar sections with detachable wing tips, featured sealed ailerons with both fixed and controllable trimming tabs and dual-section, hydraulically-operated, trailing edge slotted flaps divided by the engine nacelles. Spanning 67.7 feet, they sported a 609.8-square-foot area. Powered by two 1,700-horsepower, Wright-Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder, air-cooled R-2600 piston engines housed in aerodynamic nacelles which traversed the wing chord and turned three-bladed, constant-speed, 12.7-foot, full-feathering, anti-icing Hamilton Standard propellers, the aircraft could climb to 15,000 feet in 11.3 minutes and attain a maximum speed of 303 mph at 13,000 feet. The cantilever twin vertical fins and rudders, fitted with fixed and controllable trimming tabs, had been modified with rounded tops and yielded a 16.5-foot aircraft height. The tricycle, single-wheeled, hydraulically-actuated, aft-retracting undercarriage, the first such configuration employed by a US bomber, featured aerodynamic door covers over all three wheel wells in both the extended and retracted positions, while the main wheels were equipped with hydraulic brakes. The aircraft, with a 21,100-pound empty weight, had a maximum gross weight of 33,500 pounds.
Several versions had been produced. The first of these, the B-25A, incorporated pilot armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, while its successor, the B-25B, introduced two electrically-operated Bendix turrets, each of which replaced the midship and tail guns and featured two .50 caliber machine guns. Entering service in 1941 with the 17th Bomb Group at McChord Field near Tacoma, Washington, the aircraft, whose production run totaled 120, also featured a separate photographic station between the upper turret and the tail and a shortened, 54.1-foot length.
Powered by two 1,700-horsepower Wright R-2600-13 engines, the B-25C, the third version, introduced an autopilot system and external racks which could carry eight 250-pound bombs, and a later fuel capacity increase to 1,100 gallons. Of the 3,909 build, 1,619 had been produced in Inglewood, California, while 2,290 had been assembled in Kansas City, Kansas, under the B-25D designation.
The singular B-25E and –F variants were intended as test vehicles of wing and tail anti-icing systems, while the B-25G replaced the glazed nose with an armored one, the latter containing two .50 caliber machine guns and one 9.6-foot-long, 900-pound, cradle-mounted, M-4 cannon capable of firing 23-inch, 15-pound shells. Although its armament had otherwise adhered to the B-25C standard, its bomb bay could accommodate an aircraft torpedo. The variant, operated by a crew of four and featuring a 50.10-foot overall length, enjoyed a 405-unit production run.
The B-25H, with significantly increased armament, featured four .50 caliber machine guns in the metallic, armored nose, and a further four on the side, arranged in pairs; a repositioned top turret, now located in the roof of the navigator’s compartment; the removal of the ventral turret; enlarged, aft-wing, .50 caliber machine gun waist positions; and a tail gun station with two further .50 caliber machine guns. As World War II’s most extensively armed design, it could attain 293-mph speeds at 13,000 feet and had a 23,800-foot service ceiling.
The B-25J, the definitive and numerically most popular version, had been intended for precision bombing. The aircraft, introducing a bombardier who increased the crew complement to six, reincorporated the glazed nose which had now been provisioned with one fixed and one flexible .50 caliber machine gun. The largest single Mitchell order, for 4,318 B-25s, had been placed on April 14, 1943, and the aircraft, attaining 292-mph speeds at 14,500 feet, could cruise at service ceilings of 25,500 feet.
Between 1941 and 1945, the Army Air Corps took delivery of 9,816 B-25s, 3,218 of which had been produced in Inglewood, California, until 1943, and the remaining 6,608 of which had been produced in Kansas City.
The B-25 Mitchell had several post-war applications. Demilitarized, and designated TB-25, the type, based upon the B-25J, had been converted into a trainer with the installation of an observer’s seat in the nose, ahead and below the cockpit; two student seats behind the standard two pilot-instructor positions; and up to five seats in the aft cabin. Of the 400 converted aircraft operated by the US Air Force during the 1950s, the last active-duty staff transport had not been retired until May 21, 1960, although it had continued to be operated by the air forces of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Holland, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
A photographic reconnaissance variant, the F-10, had featured a nose-installed tri-metrogon camera along with other aerial photography equipment, while other non-military roles had included those of executive transport, freighter, and fire bomber.
The aircraft operating my Labor Day flight, a B-25J registered 44-28932, had been produced in August of 1944 by North American Aviation in Kansas City, Kansas. Accepted by the United States Army Air Corps on August 3 of that year, it had served in the US in the AAF Flying Training Command Program, serving 12 different air bases until January of 1959, at which time it had been declared surplus and had been deleted from the US Air Force inventory. Converted into a fire bomber, it had combated forest fires for another 25 years.
Acquired by the Collings Foundation in 1984, and restored by Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft over a two-year period, the B-25J, the first World War II bomber in the collection, had been flown n air shows in the Boston area for a decade, whereafter it had been ferried to Chino, California, in late 2001, for a secondary restoration by Carl Scholl of Aero Trader, Inc. Subsequently repositioned to Midland, Texas, it was painted by AVSource West in its current Tondelayo livery after the B-25 which had been operated by the Air Apache 345th BG of the 5th Air Force in the Pacific Theater against targets in New Guinea, the 500th BS of the 5th Air Force itself having been the fourth squadron of the 345th BG to have attacked shipping in Vunapope near Rabaul on October 18, 1943. The Tondelayo name had been inspired by Hedy Lamarr’s character in the 1943 movie White Cargo and given by the crew of Lieutenant Ralph Wallace. The three-aircraft formation, comprised of the B-25 “Snafu” and flown by Captain Lyle Anacker, the “Tondelayo” flown by Lieutenant Wallace himself, and the “Sorry Satchul” flown by Lieutenant Paterson, had claimed three ships, but avenging fighters had attacked “Sorry Satchul,” hitting its port engine and forcing it to ditch, and “Tondelayo,” damaging its right engine. Shut down and feathered, it had almost wrenched itself from its mountings because of severe vibration.
Flying over Cape Gazelle toward base, the B-25 duo, maintaining tight formation, had been targeted by some 50 Japanese fighters, “Sorry Satchul” so badly damaged that it had been forced to head for shore and ditch and “Tondelayo,” despite its own critical wounds, hovering only 30 feet above the water where it had managed to shoot down five additional enemy aircraft. Limping into base at Kiriwina, the aircraft had subsequently been repaired and patched, receiving a new right wing, engine, propeller blades, and radio equipment. Its crew had been awarded the Silver Star.
Squatting under the forward fuselage and climbing the short ladder into the cockpit section on that Labor Day in 2006, I took the right of the two observer’s seats located a foot below, and behind, the cockpit, while the four other passengers entered the aft section, located behind the bomb bay, through the ventral hatch, which had been configured with an aft-facing, three-person bench seat and three individual seats. With the ladder now raised and the dual panel folded across it to form a portion of the integral floor, the B-25J had been secured for engine start.
The two-person cockpit, sporting bow tie control yokes, featured a throttle quadrant with the two engine throttles angled toward the pilot, two propeller-pitch throttles, and two fuel-mixture throttles angled toward the copilot.
Engine start, commencing with the right, number 2 powerplant, entailed turning the master ignition switch and right booster pump on, at which point the Wright R-2600 powerplant rotated and the interior became saturated with deep, vibrating, Hamilton Standard propeller-created noise. Priming and stabilizing them with the throttle to create between 800 and 1,000 revolutions per minute, the captain applied a full-rich mixture, causing them to settle into a throaty, 1,200-rpm idle. The process was repeated with the left, number 1 engine.
Contacting Republic Ground on 121.6 for taxi clearance, and armed with the latest automatic terminal information service data, the twin-finned bomber released its brakes at 0845, the thrust created by its engines, even at idle settings, sufficient to move it forward over the American Airpower ramp and away from the World War II bomber trio. Taxiing parallel to the active runway, 32, the B-25J periodically jolted in response to brake applications, turning on to the run-up area by means of differential power, its slipstream-bombarded twin rudders aerodynamically inducing ground turns. Extending its slotted, trailing edge flaps and advancing its throttles, the medium-capacity bomber, assuredly a giant in comparison to the currently landing Piper Warrior, moved on to the runway’s threshold, just as the B-17 had commenced its own taxi roll from the ramp.
Moving into take off position and aligning its nose wheel with the centerline, aircraft 130669 received take off clearance from Republic Tower on 125.2, slowly advancing its two throttles in order to establish initial directional control. Firmly maintaining a straight acceleration roll, the 1,500-horsepower twin-row radials powering the Collings Foundation aircraft exploded with cabin-saturating noise as smooth, steady throttle advancements pinnacled them into their METO settings of 2,600 revolutions-per-minute and 40 inches of manifold pressure. Counteracting wind-induced directional variations with subtle rudder deflections, the captain began applying control column back pressure at 75 knots indicated air speed, the now ground-separated nose wheel producing a lift-generating angle-of-attack. The air speed-created pressure differential, bathing the huge, outstretched, upper wing surfaces in a steady stream of accelerated air, removed all ground restraints and allowed them to peel the gravity-defying aircraft to which they had been attached off the ground at 115 knots. Retracting its tricycle undercarriage at the aircraft’s VMC-determined 145-knot speed, and trimming itself into its initial climb, the twin-engined bomber, encased in engine slipstream, rolled into a right bank over Route 110, headed toward Long Island’s south shore.
Maintaining a 150-degree heading, the now-graceful flying bird reduced its engine rpm to 2300 and its manifold pressure to 30, moving abreast of the metallic, erector set-appearing Captree Bridge at 1,000 feet, which stretched across the deep blue surface of the Great South Bay from the island to Jones Beach and its signature lighthouse. The azure of the water, seamlessly merging with that of the sky, melded into a surreal dimension, as viewed from the 270-degree-encompassing Plexiglas nose.
The power-to-weight ratio, coupled to its aerodynamic design, had been the key to the highly-maneuverable, medium mission bomber. Unlike its long-range, high-altitude, heavy B-17 and B-24 counterparts, the B-25, at half their acquisition costs, had been intended for interdiction purposes, delivering tactical blows to enemy targets closer to the front. Because of its maneuverability, it had been able to fly low-level, tree-top strafing sorties, where it had remained virtually hidden, and had then dropped parachute-retarding bombs, which had enabled it to escape before detonation. Although it had operated extensively in the Pacific, targeting Japanese air fields from treetop altitudes and skip-bombing enemy ships, it had been used in all theaters of operation, and had been flown by the Australians, the British, the Chinese, and the Dutch. It had been the first bomber to have been lend-leased to Russia.
The most famous B-25 mission, led by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle and occurring on April 18, 1942, had entailed the launch of 16 aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. Of the four candidate aircraft, inclusive of the B-18, the B-23, the B-26, and the B-25 itself, the latter had been chosen because of its performance. The aircraft, B-25Bs modified at the Northwest Airlines maintenance facility in Minnesota to increase their fuel tankage from 694 to 1,141 US gallons, had featured dorsal and ventral power turrets, but had been devoid of tail armament. Loaded on the USS Hornet for the sea journey to Japan, 16 aircraft, each at 31,000-pound gross weights, would take off from the 467-foot deck at a 450-mile distance, close enough to permit them to bomb targets in Tokyo, Yokahama, Kobe, and Nagoya, yet retain sufficient fuel supplies to continue the 1,200 miles to China.
Encountering a Japanese picket boat during the morning of April 18, and fearing imminent attack, Doolittle made the decision to launch the B-25 fleet at an 800-mile distance, or 350 miles further, from land, the first take off occurring at 8:18 a.m., which had been less than an hour after the boat had been sighted. Using strong headwinds and the deck’s sea swell-created inclination, the bombers had just been able to accomplish the precarious feat, with the last taking off at 9:21 a.m.
After some four hours of flying, the lead aircraft, flown by Doolittle himself, dropped the first bomb over Tokyo, shortly after which it had been joined by the remaining 15. Although all safely departed Japanese air space, insufficient fuel, caused by the earlier launching, and deteriorating weather, resulted in the crash-landing or abandonment of 15 B-25s in China, while the 16th landed in Vladivostock, where its crew had been captured.
Nevertheless, the mission had been both a technological and operational success, and had elevated troop morale and garnered tremendous notoriety for the aircraft.
Banking left to a 240-degree heading, aircraft 1306669 Tondelayo was carried back over Captree Bridge by its gull, variable-dihedral wings and its three-bladed propellers, crossing over Long Island’s south shore. The B-17 Flying Fortress, appearing particularly graceful over the blue surface of the Great South Bay, flexed off of the port cockpit windows. World War II skies had somehow been resurrected that morning.
Fuel burn depended on engine setting: at 180 mph, with the engines turning at 1,700 revolutions per minute and feeding off of 27 inches of manifold pressure, the aircraft burned 120 gallons per hour, while a ten-mph cruise speed increase, attained with a 1,800-rpm/28-inch setting, resulted in a 130-gallon per hour consumption.
Recontacting Republic Tower, aircraft 130699 advised its intention of “inbound for landing” and reduced power, now gravity-induced into its descent profile. Maintaining a 180-mph speed and a 320-degree heading, it extended its trailing edge flaps, which provided air speed control, by means of progressive drag production. Flap settings equally depended on flight phase: ¼ for take off, ½ for descent, ¾ for descent, and full for landing.
The aircraft’s clean stalling speed had been 95 mph, which decreased to 83 mph at maximum gross weight with full flaps and undercarriage at 26,000 feet.
Extending its drag-producing landing gear into the slipstream, the aircraft inched toward Runway 32’s threshold, as its altimeter unwound: 600 feet…500…300…100…
Passing over the fence at 115 mph, the olive-green, twin-engined, twin-finned medium bomber sank toward the blurred concrete in a full back-pressure control yoke-induced flare, screeching on the ground with its left main wheel at 80 mph, at which time the friction sufficiently reduced its air speed to permit the remaining two bogies to settle earthward.
Completing its deceleration roll and taxiing on to the American Airpower Museum ramp, the B-25J Mitchell, as the medium mission bomber, had appropriately been the first to return to base, the B-17 and the B-24 still plying the skies. If World War II had still been raging, the sequence would have been exactly the same.
Club Ten Beach Resort Boracay
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The Club Ten Beach Resort is exclusively special with its well architecturally planned units whose conceptions were obtained from Latin American and Filipino. The resort was on progress on October 10, 1997 and has established its potential as an illustrious resort after that.
Owned and supervised by Silver Sand Beach Resort Development Corporation, The Club Ten is situated in Barangay Balabag amid Boat Stations 1 and 2, in the hub of Boracays well-known White Beach, a three-kilometer fine white sand stretch. A relaxing 2-minute leisurely walk will transport you to the beachfront.
Club Ten takes pride of its 20-unit condotel-type of modern structural design. It has an imposing native inside design in its deluxe rooms for the convenience and comfort of all local and international guests.
Its Superior Room is positioned on the ground floor with double or twin bed. It has a balcony at the front and perfect for couples and honeymooners.
Its Deluxe Room has one matrimonial bed in the loft and two medium sized beds and. It has two balconies making your settlement homey, relaxing and at ease.
Its Premiere Room is a blend of Deluxe and Superior Rooms. No other boracay beach resort can equal this overwhelming accommodation. You will experience a very relaxed stay and this is ideal for big groups and families since they will get twice the amenities.
Club Ten Boracay Beach resort is outfitted to make available a display of facilities, amenities and conveniences such as Club Ten Bistro, Room Service, Wi-Fi Access, IDD/NDD Telephone and Fax, Airline Booking and Reconfirmation, Souvenir Corner, Safety Deposit Box, Massage, Water Sports Activities and 24 Hour Security.
Accredited by the Department of Tourism, the Club Ten Boracay Beach Resort guarantees the security, comfort, and expediency of their guests.
Beachs in Ballito
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Due south of Clarke Bay you will find Ballito’s Tidal Pool built on Ballito Point in between the rocks. Here you should have a very refreshing dip as fresh sea water flows into the pool on the high tides. You will also notice a variety small fish while swimming in the pool.
Ballito Point at times has a good left break for the surfers into Salmon Bay. Salmon Bay is home to one of the North Coast oldest Ski Boat launch sites. Frequented by Ski Boat, Jet Ski and Paddle Ski fishermen who catch a large variety of fish. This ledgendary bay is one of the most productive areas for rock and surf angler.
Fishing from the north or south rocky points or from the beach something is bound to happen.
Thompson’s Bay
Thompsons Bay is situated between Ballito and Chakas Rock along Ocean Drive. To the south of Thompson Bay you will find a hole in the rocks which leads to two small bays.
To the north you will see Chakas High Rock which is a very popular fishing spot for the experenced angler.
This beach is in a cove, giving it more protection from the wind. There are shark nets and life guards in attendance at this beach too.
Clarke Bay
Clarke Bay is another beach in Ballito that is manned by lifeguards and protected by shark nets to ensure a high level of safety in the sun. Just south of Clarke Bay is the Ballito tidal pool, where many visitors, prefer to swim. The tidal pool is well maintained and some interesting sea life can be found in the pool.
Zimbali Beach
Zimbali Beach is located within the Zimbali Beach Estate. The 3km of unspoilt beach offer beach goers the contrasting beauty of the rich green forest of the estate and the warm blue Indian Ocean.
Shaka’s Rock
Shaka’s Rock offers bathing, surfing, rock pools, snorkelling and boat launch sites and are a good choice if you are looking to avoid the crowds. Sheffield Beach is a hot spot for spear fishing and scuba diving.
At Salt Rock, access to the beach is through private farms only.
Further up the N2, north of Ballito, is Zinkwazi Beach. This is a breathtakingly beautiful beach with wide expanses of golden sand, lush tropical vegetation, large dunes and exhilarating waves. Zinkwazi is also an excellent fishing and diving spot and is well worth the short trip north.
Ballito offers a wide range of beaches that are great for the whole family