Source: www.nytimes.com --- Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Point guard John Wall, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 N.B.A. draft, agreed to a contract extension with the Wizards. ? ? ? ? ...
Raquel Pomplun stephen curry Angie Miller nina dobrev nina dobrev HLN Charles Ramsey
Many Europeans are finding ways to 'get away' despite the eurocrisis ? but their tactics span the spectrum.
A women sunbathes in the Luxembourg gardens in Paris earlier this month. Europeans have had to change their vacation habits due to the Continent's debt crisis, but vacations remain 'sacred' to many, especially the French.
Jacques Brinon/AP
EnlargeAcross Europe, the summer vacation is sacred. Less than two weeks? Rarely (most, in fact, take off the entire month of July or August). Work on the road? Never.
Skip to next paragraph' +
google_ads[0].line2 + '
' +
google_ads[0].line3 + '
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
But with record unemployment, slashed benefits, and no end in sight to the eurocrisis, many European citizens have had to forgo their cherished annual ritual.
This year, according to polling group Ipsos for the insurance group Europ Assistance, only 54 percent of those surveyed across France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Austria reported plans to go on summer vacation ? a 12-point drop from 2011.
On one hand, the survey provides a map of who is hurting economically and who is not. But a deeper look also reveals the different cultural battles under way in Europe, the "ways of life" that are being discussed, dissed, and embraced as the eurozone crisis rages and divides.
Germany, for example, is doing the best in Europe economically. Unemployment is around 5 percent, compared with the European Union average of more than 12 percent. Germans like to say they're doing so well because they "did their homework." But Germans are also prudent and pragmatic ? perhaps the reason that they sit below the European average for vacations this year, with only 52 percent saying they will be going away.
At the same time, Germans might look frustratingly at the figures for France, where 62 percent say they are going away this year. That does represent an eight-point drop from last year, but summer trips are still on the agendas of more French people than any of the other nationalities surveyed, despite a stubbornly high unemployment rate of more than 10 percent and few major economic reforms on the horizon. The Germans might, as they do in other aspects, bemoan an unwillingness of the French to "give up the good life."
By the "good life," they mostly refer to the generous pensions, early retirements, and short weeks that define French working culture. But Victor Roquin, a French consultant in sustainable development, counts vacations on the list of rights the French hold dear.
Across Europe, citizens average 25 to 30 days of vacation per year, according to an Expedia 2012 survey. But nowhere is a month off more ingrained than in France. There's even a verb to describe the act of returning home from summer holidays and back to school: rentrer. "Vacations are a part of our culture. We fought a lot to obtain paid vacation," says Mr. Roquin, who grew up going away each July or August to his family's summer home on the French coast.
It's a custom he has carried on in his adult life, and continues today, because he hasn't been touched by crisis, nor have the friends around him. At the start of August he will pack up his car and head south to a friend's family's summer home; then head to the coast of France; and then on to northern Spain before returning to Paris. "I only have two weeks off this year," he says, and then he laughs at the word "only" ? he knows he's talking to an American.
But he doubts that even a looming economic crisis would keep travelers from the roads.
"Holidays, especially summer holidays, are sacred. You can't touch them," he says. "No matter what the economic situation is, people will keep on going on vacation."
Who spends the most on travel?
1 China ($102 billion)
2 Germany (83.8)
3 United States (83.7)
4 Britain (52.3)
5 Russia (42.8)
6 France (37.2)
7 Canada (35.2)
8 Japan (27.9)
9 Australia (27.6)
10 Italy (26.2)Source: UN World Tourism Organization
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/vvrU6NbD1VU/In-Europe-there-s-always-time-for-vacation
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
project x the lorax lorax fisker karma super tuesday states shepard fairey is snooki pregnant
One of the most incredible things about Brooklyn?and New York City in general?is the consistent commingling of the young and the old, the modern and the antiquated. And never have we seen anything that captures this quality quite like Thomas Rhiel's visualization of Brooklyn, which maps every building based on the year it was constructed.
     |
VA Lottery knicks gillian anderson jessie j jessie j florida lotto Wade Robson
Flo denied Diplo's claims that the "Can't Believe It" clip rips off Diplo during MTV's "RapFix Live."
By James Montgomery
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1711652/flo-rida-diplo-twitter-fight.jhtml
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.facebook.com/cbssportsnetwork/posts/10151457823907574
stand your ground law trayvon martin Sharknado randy travis nick young free Slurpee day steam
Jane Meinhardt
Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg
Community Health Systems Inc. would become a major player in Florida and in the Tampa Bay health care market with the pending acquisition of Health Management Associates Inc.
Community Health (NYSE: CYH), a Franklin, Tenn.-based hospital operator that currently has just two hospitals in Florida, will have 25 Florida hospitals after its deal with HMA closes.
That includes Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg and six other hospitals: Bartow Regional Medical Center, Brooksville Regional Hospital, Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center in Davenport, Pasco Regional Medical Center in Dade City, Spring Hill Regional Hospital and Venice Regional Medical Center.
Florida would become the No. 1 state for Community Health, which would have 206 facilities in 29 states as a result of the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.
Community Health announced its planned $7.6 billion purchase of Naples-based HMA (NYSE: HMA) early Tuesday. Community Health will pay $3.9 billion for HMA?s stock and assume about $3.7 billion in HMA debt.
The deal was announced as HMA said it received additional subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, regarding physician relationships and some emergency room operations, a report from the Associated Press said.
Margie Manning is Quality and Content Editor of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. She also covers banking, finance and professional services.
Emmett Till Janet Napolitano John Deere Classic Boston Strangler black Ed Sheeran Lady Gaga
