The UK’s best and worst hotel chains [ BeritaTerkini ]

Premier Inn came third in the survey after Radisson Blu

With thousands of bedrooms in as many locations, it’s easy to imagine that chain hotels all offer the same bland, basic experience. However a new survey by Which? reveals they may not be as homogenous as you think, with a huge difference in quality between the best and worst brands.

The survey of 36 UK hotel chains asked Which? members to rate the chains on cleanliness, customer service, bed comfort and value for money. The results are based on 8,267 hotel stays in the past year.

Topping the table is Q Hotels, with 21 four-star hotels, which received a full five-star rating for cleanliness and room fixtures and an overall customer score of 78%. One member described their stay as “excellent in every department”.

For Britannia Hotels, however, the results tell a different story. The chain, described by members as “shabby” and “run down”, scored a dismal 36% overall, to come bottom of the list. Some guests were shocked to find bedrooms without windows. One disappointed customer said: “It was £10 a night extra for a window in the room!”

Travelodge, the most visited chain in the survey, with 500 hotels, fared only slightly better, with an overall score of 50%. While it received a three-star rating when it came to value for money, its breakfasts were awarded just a single rather unappetising star.

The chain that should be most satisfied with the results is Premier Inn. The budget chain came third, in the company of luxury brands such as Radisson Blu Edwardian (second), Sofitel (fourth ) and Double Tree by Hilton (fifth).

With 650 hotels in the UK, Premier Inn is also the biggest chain on the list. In a recent ad campaign for the hotel comedian Lenny Henry promises “a great night’s sleep guaranteed”. According to Which?, one in 10 members requested a refund under this promise. Members said refunds were offered “with no quibble”, and sometimes even “without requesting it”, presumably as soon as a complaint is made. The chain won a five-star rating for customer service.

Which? editor Richard Headland, said: “Our survey has revealed a king-sized bed gap between the best and worst hotel chains in the UK and shows you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a decent overnight stay.”

The top six hotels customer satisfaction score:

Q hotels 78%
Radisson Blu Edwardian 77%
Premier Inn 76%
Sofitel 74%
DoubleTree by Hilton 71%
Park Plaza 71%

And the bottom six:

Britannia Hotels 36%
Travelodge 50%
Ramada 51%
PH Hotels 51%
De Vere Village 51%
Shearings Hotels 52%

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Bushfire aftermath: Blue Mountains open for business again [ BeritaTerkini ]

Ready and waiting: the Three Sisters lookout in Katoomba, New South Wales. Photograph: Jim Shrimpton/AAP

National parks staff in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales are reopening tracks, trails and lookouts in areas ravaged by bushfire.

Lookouts at Katoomba, Leura and Wentworth Falls are open, as well as unscathed tracks in the Blue Mountains and Kanangra-Boyd national parks.

The national parks and wildlife service’s regional manager, Geoff Luscombe, is urging people to return to the region and help reboot local tourism.

“If you would like to do something for the local community then please come for a visit to the Blue Mountains national parks,” he said on Wednesday.

But those planning a camping trip should hold out until the fire threat has completely eased.

NPWS firefighters are still fighting large fires in remote parts of Wollemi and Yengo parks.

Areas within Bargo river reserve will also remain under patrol throughout the weekend.

The partial reopening of the parks comes after the death on Thursday of water-bomber pilot David Black, 43, whose Dromader aircraft crashed in the Budawang national park, about 40 kilometres west of Ulladulla.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said seven aircraft had since been grounded for safety checks.

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Blinded by the white of Southern Ocean’s majestic icebergs [ BeritaTerkini ]

Morning glory: kestrels swoop over an iceberg at Davis Station. Photograph: Australian Antarctic Division/Kristin Raw

I get on the bike and my mind is riding the roads of Union Hall, crossing the narrow wooden bridge, opposite the colourful fishing fleet, turning right towards the harbour where the two islands of Adam and Eve guard the entrance. But I am well outside the safety of Glandore Harbour in Ireland, instead on the Southern Ocean at 60 degrees latitude, sailing on a westerly heading.

On the exercise bike there is a strange sensation: it feels easier to ride uphill and conversely harder to go down as the ship pitches and rolls. The clock swings on the wall, still keeping exact time but going back by an hour every couple of days, and the wails and internal screams of the ballast tanks pierce the gym’s walls, sounding like a distressed whale.

The Whiteness of the Whale, a chapter in Moby Dick, is dedicated to the history of that colourless ”colour”. Herman Melville explores its mythology, its science and its meaning. By coincidence I am reading this chapter lying on my bunk – a regular occupation given the equivalent of aeroplane turbulence that marks every minute of the day – when the first officer announces that our first iceberg has been sighted off our starboard bow.

I am not prepared for just how beautiful an iceberg is, emerging from the mist and the indigo – set against a sky that, without the berg, might be regarded as milky-white. Its crystalline structure glows like sunlight breaking through the clouds of a Rembrandt etching, that pure white of light.

That whiteness of the berg, that iridescent purity, that opaque and semi-opaque glass-cathedral-like structure that soars out of its close but common relative to create something purely wondrous. What is pure white? Is it ”that” white light that some say we reach for as we die? How many words might describe white?

Melville has his own definition: “In essence whiteness is not so much a colour as the visible absence of colour; and at the same time the concrete of all colours; is it for these reasons that there is such a dumb blankness, full of meaning, in a wide landscape of snows – a colourless, all colour of atheism from which we shrink?”

Icebergs seen from the bridge of Aurora Australis. Photograph: Nisha Harris/Australian Antarctic Division

On the bridge of the Aurora ice also has a plethora of technical names: icebergs, of course, but also growler ice (for the noise it makes), brash ice, floebergs, floebits, shuga, grey-white, frazil and many more. My favourite is bergy bits – so technical!

I have prepared my canvas in a studio on board. It is a lab really, usually reserved for scientists and their experiments while sailing south. I often lay an under-colour, usually something warm such as a red or orange, much as Goya did. It is a traditional technique to rid oneself of the whiteness of the canvas.

The paint I am using is a tube that reads Australian Red Gold, which is unimportant except the iceberg was spotted on a longitude of 129 degrees and 39 minutes, which puts our ship directly between Antarctica and the Nullabor Plain. Between the red-gold desert and the white continent at 60 degrees south, where circumpolar currents navigate their way around the great white continent. Between the desert and the greatest reservoir of fresh water on Earth, between my red-gold oil and the white landscape.

The bergs are sparse, rogue, isolated and temporary; they calve as we look at them. The ship is travelling too fast to paint them, ploughing head-on through the waves, creating explosions of white spray that crash over the forward cargo deck and throw my body forward and then back. A quick sketch as the berg retreats off the stern and I descend to the bowels of the ship, to F deck. Down to where the bike is – closer to where the ship’s intestines seem to whistle and belch as it pitches and rolls.

In my bunk my thoughts turn to home, to Union Hall, where some months ago a trawler was lost at the mouth of our usually safe haven; five men lost. A wild and stormy night to be sure, but Irish fishermen see plenty of those. But to be lost so close to home, to run aground on an island named Adam, when the comfort of Eve was so close, makes one acutely aware of the dangers of being on a ship as icebergs the size of these islands pass by.

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Six Australians accused of murder will not have to return to Peru [ BeritaTerkini ]

The six Australians accused of murdering a Peruvian man in Lima have won the right to give statements on the case from Australia and avoided becoming the subjects of an Interpol red notice after a Peru court ruled in favour of their appeal against extradition.

A statement from the group, dubbed the “Peru Six”, revealed they would be permitted to give statements via video link rather than having to return to Peru, where they have said they fear they will not get a fair trial.

The statement said they could not reveal the decision of the judges to allow them to remain in Australia until it had been formalised. “This is a really important win for us and we are so happy and relieved,” it read.

Sam Smith, Harrison Geier, Andrew Pilat, Hugh and Tom Hanlon and Jessica Vo have been accused by Peruvian authorities of involvement in the death of a doorman who fell from a balcony at the Lima hotel where they were staying in 2012.

Initially the death of Lino Rodriguez Vilchez was ruled suicide, but after the six Australians returned home they became suspects in a homicide case. The family of 45-year-old Vilchez maintain the Australians attacked and threw him from the balcony after an argument about noise. Local television labelled them killers.

The six maintain their innocence and the case has attracted international attention.

Peruvian courts seeking extradition of the six served subpoenas in July. The judge repeated threats to issue an Interpol red notice after they launched an appeal. There have been high level talks about the case between the Australian and Peruvian governments.

“We are working with our Peruvian and Australian legal teams, Dfat, the attorney general’s office, the Australian embassy in Peru and the Peruvian courts to facilitate the procedure. It is a complicated undertaking but we will get there,” the group’s statement said.

The mother of Hugh and Tom Hanlon, Teresa Hanlon, told Fairfax Media they were overwhelmingly relieved.

“It’s a real positive because this is, in effect, what we have been battling this whole time … to simply give our statements from Australia,” she said.

Hearing dates are set for 5, 6 and 7 November.

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U.S. Obamacare data hub ‘experiencing an outage’, Connecticut says [ BeritaTerkini ]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government’s Obamacare data hub was “experiencing an outage” on Tuesday evening, the Connecticut state healthcare exchange, “Access Health CT”, announced. It was the second such outage in three days.

The data hub operator, Verizon, said it was doing maintenance on the system.

“Access Health CT was informed by CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) that the Federal Data Services Hub is currently experiencing an outage,” a statement from the Connecticut state exchange said.

A similar outage on Sunday halted online enrollment on the federal Healthcare.gov website as well as similar state sites.

An official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) acknowledged the Obamacare website had been impacted by the problem.

“Tonight, Verizon Terremark again experienced network issues in their data center that caused a system outage impacting the federal data services hub and the Healthcare.gov marketplace application,” the official, who asked not to be named, said in an email to Reuters.

“Verizon Terremark is conducting maintenance overnight to resolve their issue with our technical team and when that is complete we will bring our systems back online,” the official said.

Verizon’s Terremark operates the data services hub that links online health insurance marketplaces with numerous federal agencies and can verify people’s identity, citizenship, and other facts.

“We are now undertaking infrastructure maintenance, which should be complete overnight. We anticipate the strengthened infrastructure will help eliminate application downtimes,” said a statement by Jeff Nelson, vice president of global corporate communications at Verizon Enterprise Solutions.

“Verizon is committed to supporting our HHS client and stabilizing their www.healthcare.gov website. Since HHS asked us to provide additional compute and storage capacity, our engineers have worked 24/7 to trouble-shoot issues with the site,” the statement said.

(Reporting By Susan Cornwell; Editing by Sandra Maler)

• Technology & Electronics
• Verizon

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Connecticut says Obamacare data hub ‘experiencing an outage’ [ BeritaTerkini ]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Connecticut’s healthcare exchange “Access Health CT” said the U.S. government’s Obamacare data hub was ‘experiencing an outage’ on Tuesday evening, the second time in three days.

“Access Health CT was informed by CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) that the Federal Data Services Hub is currently experiencing an outage,” a statement from the state exchange said. A similar outage on Sunday also halted online enrollment on the federal Healthcare.gov website.

(Reporting By Susan Cornwell; Editing by Sandra Maler)

• Health Care Policy

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San Francisco joins sugary drinks fray with tax proposal [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Laila Kearney

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – San Francisco may become the latest U.S. city to try to curb the consumption of sugary drinks with a proposed ballot measure to impose a first-of-its-kind tax on beverages seen as a culprit in rising rates of childhood obesity and diabetes.

Supervisor Scott Wiener planned on Tuesday to formally propose asking voters in November 2014 to impose a 2-cents-per-ounce tax on soda and other drinks with added sugar sold in the famously liberal northern California city.

No other U.S. city is known to have succeeded in enacting such a tax, though a similar proposal is in the works in the small southwestern Colorado town of Telluride, according to the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

“There is mounting scientific evidence that sugary beverages are significantly contributing to an epidemic of diabetes, obesity and other health concerns that we’re seeing in our country,” Wiener told Reuters.

The meeting was due to begin at 2 p.m. Pacific time.

Opposed by the beverage industry, the proposal follows failed attempts last year by two other California cities, Richmond and El Monte, to become the first in the nation to impose penny-per-ounce taxes on businesses that sell sugary drinks.

Across the nation in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to ban large, sugary drinks only to have the move declared illegal by a state judge. New York’s highest court has agreed to hear an appeal.

In San Francisco, Wiener said his proposed ballot measure would reduce the consumption of sugary beverages while specifically setting aside proceeds of the tax for physical education and health programs.

By contrast, revenues from the taxes proposed in Richmond and El Monte would have gone to those cities’ general funds.

“Voters really want to know where their tax money is going to go,” Wiener said.

The tax would amount to an extra 24 cents per average 12-ounce (35 cl) can of soda, and Wiener said it would bring in an estimated $ 30 million in tax proceeds annually. It would apply to drinks with added sugar and at least 25 calories per ounce.

A third of the expected tax windfall would go to San Francisco schools for physical education and healthy lunch programs, and the remainder would go to city parks and recreation programs and community health organizations.

Roughly two out of three California voters surveyed in a telephone Field Poll last fall and released in February said they would support taxing sugary beverages if proceeds were tied to improving school nutrition and physical activity programs. The poll of 1,184 voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Wiener planned to introduce the proposal to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday afternoon. It would go to a city Budget and Finance subcommittee for a hearing in the spring.

The board would vote between May and July on whether to add the tax measure to the city’s elections ballot, Wiener said. It would need two-thirds support from voters in order pass.

A spokesman for the American Beverage Society, which opposes the measure, said raising taxes and restricting drink consumption would not necessarily lead to a healthier population.

“Californians have rejected beverage taxes like the one San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener proposes because such measures are unnecessary, wasteful distractions from serious policymaking,” spokesman Chuck Finnie said in a statement.

The society, which represents industry leaders including PepsiCo Inc and Snapple Group Inc, has spent millions of dollars fighting proposed soda taxes around the country.

“Providing people with education, opportunities for physical activity and diverse beverage choices to fit their lifestyles are proven strategies for maintaining health,” Finnie said.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Daniel Trotta and Gunna Dickson)

• Politics & Government
• San Francisco

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Exclusive: Merck works toward bringing Zilmax back to the U.S., Canada market [ BeritaTerkini ]

By P.J. Huffstutter

CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co told Reuters on Tuesday that it plans to bring its Zilmax animal feed additive back for sale in the United States and Canada, after it completes an audit of how the muscle-building cattle feed product is used in the agriculture sector.

A spokeswoman for the company’s Merck Animal Health unit said that while “it is too early to speculate on when we will resume sales for Zilmax in the U.S. and Canada,” Merck was pushing forward with its quality control program to ensure the weight-adding drug is being properly used.

Merck halted sales of Zilmax in August after Tyson Foods Inc. said it would stop accepting Zilmax-fed beef given some cattle were observed arriving for slaughter with signs they were having difficulty walking or moving. Merck has said it stands behind the safety of its product.

The email from company spokeswoman Pamela Eisele said Merck was “committed to completing this as quickly as possible, while also ensuring it is conducted appropriately and with rigorous scientific measures.”

In a separate statement, Merck said it has formed an advisory board that includes representatives from meat processors, cattle feeder operations, producers, veterinarians, academics and industry consultants. The company declined to say who had been appointed to the board, which convened for the first time in October.

In August, Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. meat processor, said its decision to stop using Zilmax was not made over food-safety concerns. It said it did not know exactly what was causing the animals’ behavior, but Tyson officials said animal health experts suggested that the use of Zilmax may be one possible cause.

Cattle carcass weights have dipped in recent weeks as feedlots rush animals to market to cash in on record-high prices but are no longer feeding them the growth promotant, analysts and economists said. Feed lot operators have been peppering Merck with questions over if or when Zilmax sales will resume, according to nutritionists and feed lot owners who have spoken to Merck.

Lighter cattle weights have meant less beef at a time when there are fewer cattle going to slaughter. The combination of less beef and fewer cattle should mean record cattle and beef prices at least through the coming year, analysts have said.

(Additional reporting by Theopolis Waters; Editing by David Gregorio)

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Florida death row inmates challenge execution drug [ BeritaTerkini ]

MIAMI (Reuters) – Seven Florida death row inmates on Tuesday sued the state, saying a new three-step lethal injection procedure could inflict “cruel and unusual punishment” and called on a court to halt executions until the procedure is reviewed.

Florida is the latest of several states facing a shortage of pentobarbital, a barbiturate that has long been the first of three drugs administered in executions. Supplies of pentobarbital have fallen because its manufacturer has clamped down on sales of the drug for executions, prison officials said.

Florida recently adopted a new lethal injection protocol that uses the sedative midazolam in a drug cocktail designed to induce unconsciousness, paralysis and death by cardiac arrest.

The lawsuit claims that midazolam, commercially known as Versed, is a drug primarily used in the treatment of anxiety, and is not an anesthetic. Its use in lethal injections is experimental.

Under the cocktail of drugs, lawyers for the inmates allege, prisoners remain aware of their surroundings but are unable to speak or move, and they endure extreme pain.

While several states have shifted toward a safer one-drug procedure, the Florida Department of Corrections “has clung to an out-of-date, error-prone, three-drug protocol,” according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville.

“Furthermore, Florida has compounded the risk of inflicting unnecessary pain and suffering — and violating the constitution — by adding a new, experimental execution drug to the mix,” the lawsuit said.

Earlier this month, Florida prison officials carried out the first execution in the United States using midazolam as one of three drugs in a lethal injection.

The drug was used in the October 15 execution of convicted murderer William Happ. Citing eyewitness accounts of the execution, the inmates’ lawyers said Happ appeared to remain conscious for a longer time and made more body movements than prisoners executed under a previous formula.

Misty Cash, a Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said after the execution that Happ did not appear to show any signs of suffering or any unusual reaction.

The lawsuit seeks to stop any executions until the courts thoroughly review the three-drug formula and determine whether it abides by state and federal constitutions.

On Monday, state officials in Ohio said they would administer a combination of two drugs, midazolam and hydromorphone, during an execution scheduled to be carried out next month.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s database of drugs, midazolam injections are marketed by a number of companies including Fresenius Kabi USA, a unit of German drugmaker Fresenius Kabi AG, and hydromorphone and midazolam are both marketed by Hospira Inc and Akorn.

Fresenius Kabi suspended shipments of another drug, propofol, to a U.S. distributor earlier this year after the German company learned that some of it had been sold to the state of Missouri for executions. Missouri eventually returned the drug.

Four of the seven Florida inmates have a hearing scheduled in Jacksonville federal court on November 6, contending the use of midazolam might violate the U.S. Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment” by allowing inmates to suffer in their final minutes.

(Reporting by David Adams and Kevin Gray; Editing by Leslie Adler)

• Health
• Crime & Justice
• lethal injection
• cruel and unusual punishment
• Florida

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Naomi Campbell Looks Completely Unrecognizable on Vogue Thailand—See the Pic! [ BeritaTerkini ]

von






Jennifer Chan






| Übersetzt von Jennifer Chan

29. Oktober 2013 – 13:25

Whoa, Naomi Campbell, is that you?!

We know the supermodel is a pro at posing and channeling a range of different characters on the job, but on her latest cover of Vogue Thailand, we can barely recognize her!

The gorgeous star poses demurely for the fashion magazine, and we have to say, the finished photo looks remarkably different than how we’re used to seeing her.

Campbell’s rich creamy skin tone looks several shades lighter, while her pretty brown eyes are suddenly a curious shade of grayish blue on the cover. 

NEWS: Naomi Campbell reveals that models can feel insecure

Her nose also looks strikingly slimmer, and her long locks are styled in a cropped bob paired with soft bangs, which is a dramatic departure from her signature sleek runway-ready look.

Upon closer inspection, she looks just like…Snow White!

Interesting choice, Vogue Thailand.

While Halloween is just days away, we’re pretty sure the glossy wasn’t alluding to a costume in mind when they produced this eye-catching editorial. 

NEWS: Naomi Campbell’s flashback fashion—model rocks the same dress she wore 21 years ago

A quick side-by-side comparison of the digitally-altered cover next to a real-life snapshot of the stunning supermodel, and it’s a no brainer who looks more beautiful.

We’ll take Naomi in her natural state any day!

PHOTOS: Celebrity sightings at Paris Fashion Week

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Google+ rolls out movie-making features, claims 300 million users [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Alexei Oreskovic | Reuters – 

By Alexei Oreskovic

(Reuters) – Google Inc on Tuesday unveiled new technology that creates polished movies, complete with music soundtracks, from collections of home videos and photos that users post on its fledgling Google+ social network.

The new features mark Google’s latest move to try and differentiate its 2-year-old social network from Facebook, the world’s No. 1 online social network with 1.15 billion users.

Google said on Tuesday that 300 million users visit the web page of its social network every month, up from 190 million “in stream” users in May. The company noted that its users upload 1.5 billion photos to Google+ every week.

“We want to be more than just a lightweight sharing service. We want to be the archive of your life,” Google+ Vice President of Product Management Bradley Horowitz said on the sidelines of an event in San Francisco to announce the new features.

The world’s No. 1 Internet search company has rolled out a number of photo-centric features for Google+ this year, which take advantage of the company’s computing horsepower. On Tuesday, it showed a slew of new features that touch up snapshots with better lighting and focus, and even erase unwanted bystanders from pictures.

The feature automatically analyzes home videos that users take on their smartphones and have uploaded to Google+, automatically producing short movies. The technology combines the best clips of similar videos, adds music, and mixes in related photographs.

Other new features include incorporating SMS text messages into Google’s messaging service and new location-sharing capabilities.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Chang)

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Mystery swirls around Obamacare covergirl – and her vanishing [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Barbara Goldberg

(Reuters) – Hers was the face that launched 20 million snipes.

The smiling wholesome beauty was a symbol of Healthcare.gov but she has vanished amid a sea of frustrated users, her image taken down from the trouble-plagued Obamacare website by early Monday morning.

Nicknamed “Glitch Girl,” the unnamed model stirred curiosity among media who scrambled to try to identify her after the site, which went live on October 1, was immediately slowed by technical problems and visitors found themselves endlessly staring at her on their frozen computer screens.

So far, 20 million unique users have clicked on the federal site, but only 700,000 applications have been submitted through a combination of the site and state-run Obamacare exchanges, according to testimony prepared for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to deliver to a Congressional panel on Wednesday.

Frustrated users unleashed their ire on the mystery woman, venting on Twitter and other social media.

“The #obamacare girl got the worst photo shoot gig since Joey did the STD poster on Friends,” tweeted @RONCOULTER, referring to the sitcom character’s shock when he discovered that his modeling picture had been used in a campaign about venereal disease.

After the Obamacare girl disappeared from the site, social media users rallied to support the mystery woman, whose image file on the site is named “Adriana.”

“It’s not the obamacare cover girl they need to fire,” tweeted @joepatton.

Others said they planned to dress up as her character on Halloween.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs the website, was not immediately available for comment.

The government has replaced “Adriana” with four chunky icons that represent ways to sign up for the new mandatory health insurance. Creative critics have suggested other stand-ins, including the ghoulish Freddy Krueger character from the film series “A Nightmare on Elm Street” or Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”

The mystery surrounding the Obamacare girl may only deepen as new theories about her disappearance are tested online.

“Wasn’t Manti T’eo dating #ObamacareGirl?” tweeted @MonteBlachford, referring to the Notre Dame football star who admitted he lied to keep up a hoax involving a nonexistent dying girlfriend.

(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Dilts; editing by Gunna Dickson)

• Arts & Entertainment
• Media
• Kathleen Sebelius

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YOU SHALL NOT PASS! …Unless You Give Me Treats And Rub My Belly – FUNNY! [ BeritaTerkini ]

About Wendy Diamond

Wendy Diamond, Entrepreneur, Leading Pet Lifestyle expert, Best Selling Author, TV Personality and Endangered Animal and Rescue Advocate.

Read More About Wendy

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Fabulous events, special offers, and news you and your pet do not want to miss!

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Jonas Brothers Break Up [ BeritaTerkini ]

Band calls it quits three weeks after canceling tour

The Jonas Brothers have officially called it quits, Us Weekly reports. Three weeks ago, the trio called off a tour just two days before it was set to kick off, with their spokesperson citing a “deep rift in the band,” adding, “There was a big disagreement over their music direction.” The Jonas Brothers’ official Twitter account was deleted soon after. The band’s decision was reportedly unanimous

Go Inside the Jonas Brothers’ 2009 ‘Rolling Stone’ Cover Shoot

The Jonas Brothers rocketed to teen pop stardom in the late-2000s after inking a deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records. In 2008, their record A Little Bit Logner went to Number One on the Billboard 200 and their 2009 follow-up also Lines, Vines and Trying Times also topped the charts. Both years, the Jonas Brothers graced the cover of Rolling Stone, their first appearance partly the result of a grassroots campaign by a few Missouri super fans who not only penned letters of petition, but also starred in a YouTube dance-off titled “Official Let’s Get JB On Cover of Rolling Stone.”

But Lines, Vines and Trying Times would be the bands last official studio effort (though they did release two soundtracks for Jonas L.A. and Camp Rock 2), and they announced a hiatus after wrapping up a world tour in 2010 so that each brother could pursue his own musical projects. The band reunited in 2012 for a one-off show at Radio City Music Hall, and the band released two singles (“Pom Poms” and “First Time”) for a potential fifth studio LP. There’s no word yet on when, or whether, that album might see release.

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In Wendy’s Doghouse- Entertainment Tonight’s Nancy O’Dell [ BeritaTerkini ]

In Wendy's Doghouse – Entertainment Tonight's Nancy O'Dell

Nancy O'Dell has a real gift for keeping life interesting – and she's not
going to forget a minute of it. The Entertainment Tonight co-host keeps
plenty busy with the show, but at the end of the day, she's passionate about
telling the stories of her family in her scrapbook albums. She's even
written two books along with her friends at Creative Memories about the
importance of not just taking photos but celebrating those photos and the
stories behind them. In fact, her latest book, "Secret Ingredients:
Step-by-Step 'Recipes' for Creating Meaningful Gifts" is packed with ideas
for gifts that let the people you love know just how you feel. One thing we
didn't know about Nancy is that she's a huge animal fan! Recently, Nancy sat
down with Wendy and Lucky to talk about just that.

Wendy Diamond: Have you always been a pet lover?

Nancy O'Dell: Oh my gosh, yes! When I was in the first grade, I had this
kitty I absolutely adored. Of course, as it turned out, my sister, Karen,
developed an allergy to cats. When my parents told me my precious kitty had
to go, I went into negotiator mode and suggested we give Karen away instead.
To my cat-loving, first-grade brain, that made perfect sense.

WD: How did your sister manage to escape your plot?

NOD: My mom broke out the scrapbooks. She sat me down and showed me pictures
of me with pet cats going all the way back to when I was a toddler. She
validated that and told me how proud she was that I had always been so
loving to them and she reinforced how important it is to be kind to animals.
But then she pointed out all kinds of pictures of my sister and me. She made
me see how Karen had been there by my side since my very first day and how
she would always be there for me. So my kitty went off to a good home and I
got to keep my sister.

WD: Happy ending!

NOD: Pretty much – though I do still feel the need to remind my sister that
I would never trade her for a cat.

WD: What about today? What pets are a part of your life today?

NOD: My biggest puppy pal today is my in-laws' rescue Yorkie, Butkus.

WD: Butkus, as in Dick Butkus, the great Chicago Bears linebacker?

NOD: That's our Butkus! My in-laws lived in Chicago.

WD: So, as a person who knows all about celebrities, I'll ask you: If Butkus
was a celebrity, who would he be?

NOD: Hmm. Well, I suppose there's a little Dick Butkus in there – he's got
some attitude and determination. But our Butkus is way more protective than
he is aggressive. He just follows Papa Z (my father-in-law) around
everywhere, making sure everything's all right. No one messes with Papa Z
while Butkus is around. So in that way, he's kind of like Taylor Lautner's
character, Jacob, in the Twilight series. Butkus is our own tiny little
werewolf!

In Wendy's Doghouse – Entertainment Tonight's Nancy O'Dell

WD: Clearly, from your work with Creative Memories, photos are important to
you. Does Butkus get into the act?

NOD: Absolutely! My scrapbook albums are about capturing and saving the
everyday joys of my whole family. In fact, in lots of ways, it's every bit
as important to get the pets we love into an album or something that's going
to keep them with us forever. There's not a pet owner out there who hasn't
felt the loss of a treasured friend. An album lets us hold onto the good
times. I've seen some incredible, touching, adorable books put together for
pets – because clearly they deserve it. These are unconditional, lifelong
friends.

WD: My perception has always been that scrapbooking takes more time than I
have to give.

NOD: Really it can take as long as you want it to. Some people truly love
the process and they enjoy creating amazing, decorative tributes. But how
long would it take you to gather up some of Lucky's press clippings and tape
them into a scrapbook? Or, if you have a stack of snapshots, my line with
Creative Memories includes simple slip-in albums – you can just slide in
some photos, add a few note cards that tell the stories behind those photos,
and you're done. You can seriously be done in minutes with something you'll
keep for a lifetime.

WD: Tell us about your co-host, Mark Steines. Is Mark a dog or a cat person?

NOD: Oh I think Mark's definitely a dog person.

WD: Now, if Mark was a dog, what breed would he be?

NOD: Ooh, good question. Mark would be a Golden Retriever. Handsome,
charming, adorable. That's Mark. He's very much a gentleman and a good
friend. That's a Golden Retriever, right?

WD: Nancy, with all the Hollywood romance you cover, I have to wonder, do
you believe in puppy love for people?

NOD: Oh yes! It's out there. You have that moment where you look at a puppy
and it's just so cute and you want to squeeze it and love it. It's out there
and it's powerful.

WD: What kind of advice do you have for people in search of puppy love?

NOD: Well I guess from my perspective, puppy love is more of an emotional
crush or a platonic affection. So my best advice would probably be to be the
big dog. If you want something real and lasting, slow down and look more for
grown-up love.

WD: In your line, you get to meet a lot of celebrities. Who's your favorite
dog you've ever had on the show?

NOD: That's a tough one. I think my favorite dogs we've ever had on the show
were the Beverly Hills Chihuahuas. So adorable. My favorite dog that we've
NEVER had on the show I think would be Benji. Loved that movie when I was a
kid and would have given anything to meet that dog. Didn't you love him?

WD: Oh I haven't seen that movie in years! Loved that dog. That's a true
classic.

The delightful Nancy O'Dell is a great friend
of Animal Fair. You can catch her nightly on Entertainment Tonight. Check
out all the Creative Memories products in the Nancy O'Dell Collection
[ Facebook, Twitter, and right here at AnimalFair.com!

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Tags: animal rescue, animalfair.com, celebrity pets, creative memories, doghouse, entertainment, entertainment tonight, in the doghouse, Mark Steines, nancy, Nancy O'Dell Collection, o'dell, secret ingredients, Taylor Lautner, tonight, Twlight, wendy diamond

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Top U.S. health official apologizes for Healthcare.gov problems [ BeritaTerkini ]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. federal agency responsible for the troubled Obamacare website, Healthcare.gov, apologized to the public on Tuesday for problems that have made it difficult for people to enroll online for subsidized health insurance.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

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House Duo Booka Shade Start Fresh on ‘Eve’ – Album Premiere [ BeritaTerkini ]

German veterans overcome differences to record in Manchester

German house duo Booka Shade return with their fifth studio album, Eve, on November 1st. Named for the Manchester studio where members Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier crafted the songs that nearly marked their demise, the album marks a new beginning for the pair, who have remixed tracks by artists ranging from Depeche Mode to Kings of Leon. Despite their rocky road, they hung together and sparked a new lease on life in the process.

The 25 DJs That Rule the Earth

“We wanted to tell a new story, a story which represented a new start,” Kammermeier told Rolling Stone. “In order to create something exciting we needed to be somewhere exciting, so in search of inspiration we headed to the U.K. home of electronic music – Manchester – to record at a residential vintage recording studio. We recorded an electronic album in a traditional way, and it made us feel like a band again. It was like going back to the beginning.”

With Eve, Booka Shade has rendered 12 imaginatively structured electronic numbers. Led by its latest single, “Love Inc,” which pays tribute to one-time Chicago house giant Lil Louis with a sample of his 1992 hit “Club Lonely,” the disc balances the atmospheric, jazzy pulse of “Many Rivers” with the artful “Kalimera.” On the latter, a lilting piano meets the sound of a rumbling subway train. Still, it’s the brilliantly built “Crossing Borders,” which features the vocal assistance of deep house fixture Fritz Kalkbrenner and the trombone work of Groove Armada’s Andy Cato, that begs to be heard, either on the dance floor or in a car commercial.    

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In Honor Of The One Year Anniversary of Hurricane Sandy [ BeritaTerkini ]

Let's make this dream happen!

Horatio the cutest lil Shih Tzu in the Northeast up for adoption!

Horatio is a dark grey Shih Tzu with soft brown eyes. Don't let his color fool you, this is no old man. He is about 4 and was found abandoned on a New York City road, hair all tangled and filthy. From day one, he was very sweet and we are helping him find a forever home that will love him unconditionally, like he will surely love them.

We are slowly learning things about him like the fact that he is possessive about his food & toys. Therefore we believe that he would do well as the only pet in the household and with someone that has prior experience with dogs.

We really appreciate your wanting to give a shelter animal a home and encourage you to search for just the right pet.

Download an application [PDF file - click here] and either email it back to sandra.hsny@verizon.net, fax it to (212) 752-2803 or bring it in to the Humane Society of New York, 306 East 59 Street (between 1st + 2nd Avenues) New York, NY 10022.

The Humane Society is a no-kill shelter. Our on-site clinic and staff of skilled Veterinarians looks after the health and well-being of every animal here. We offer FREE Vet care for the first 3 weeks after adoption. We also have a great adoption matchmaker who will gladly take your profile and match you or your pet with just the right cat or dog companion. Please feel free to submit your application!

Won't you please sponsor this dog? Click the button above. You can give as much or as little as you like. Your donation is tax deductible. Thank you and our furry ones thank you.

Each and every animal here is very special to us. We are dedicated to finding each one just the right home. So for some cats and dogs, that means a much longer stay – as sometimes they are not as outgoing, pretty or have as perfect manners as they could. And because we don't "dispose" of them for this, our cost for keeping them healthy and becoming better companions is high.

Our location is:
306 East 59th Street between 1st & 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. Our adoption hours are 7 days a week, 10:30 – 4:00

www.humanesocietyny.org

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Hurricane Sandy One Year Anniversary – Honoring The Search And Rescue Dog Teams… [ BeritaTerkini ]

Search And Rescue Dogs To The Hurricane Sandy Rescue!

A year later -the East Coast still strives for normalcy after the monster storm Hurricane Sandy hit, we have to thank the search and rescue teams and their dogs that came from all corners of the country to aid in the recovery efforts. Search and rescue teams arrived in Staten Island, New York and throughout New Jersey to help rescue those stranded by Sandy and search for those who went missing.

One such task force from Virginia, an 80-member team consisting of firefighters, paramedics, doctors and of course canine handlers and their four-legged partners were deployed to the staging area of Fort Dix, New Jersey and dispatched to surrounding areas. New Jersey Task Force One, a volunteer search and rescue team, rescued more than 400 residents, who were suddenly stranded by Sandy, in 12 hours. Three teams from the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation's New York Task Force Two were also deployed to aid in the rescue effort.

Jason Geary and Marsi, Greg Gould and Kura and John Stewart and Lani joined with teams from Suffolk County Urban Search and Rescue to bring 70 people and 13 animals to safety. Ten other search dog teams, nine from Los Angeles County California Task Force Two and one from the City of Miami Florida Task Force Two, also lent a helping hand (paw) in response to the disaster. Search and rescue dogs continue to play a vital role when disaster and emergency situations happen across the country – and we bark praise to that!

For the Best that Pet Lifestyle and Animal Welfare has to offer follow Wendy Diamond on Facebook, Twitter, and right here at AnimalFair.com!

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Polio outbreak confirmed in northeast Syria, WHO says [ BeritaTerkini ]

GENEVA (Reuters) – A polio outbreak has been confirmed among young children in northeast Syria, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

“Out of those 22 being investigated, 10 are now confirmed to be polio type one,” WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer told a news briefing in Geneva. Laboratory results were still being awaited on the remaining 12 suspected cases in Deir al-Zor, he said.

“Of course this is a communicable disease, with population movements it can travel to other areas. So the risk is high for (its) spread across the region,” Rosenbauer said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Mike Collett-White)

• Health
• Disease & Medical Conditions

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North Korea is treated like a joke – but its realities are deadly serious | Ian Birrell [ BeritaTerkini ]

‘North Korea is often seen as something of a joke: a strange, secretive place in the grip of cartoon communism and under the thumb of crazed dictators.’ Photograph: Kcna/Reuters

Kim Song-ju sought to escape the living hell of North Korea, but after crossing a freezing river into China was returned, like so many other defectors. He was sent to a prison camp, where he shared – with 40 other unfortunates – a cramped cell that had to be entered on all fours through a tiny door less than two feet high. They were starved – their watery soup often containing stones – and routinely beaten by guards, who told them they were no longer human.

Kim’s mother died in the prison, handcuffed to her bed. Her body was never returned to her family, who fear it was used for medical experiments. Eventually Kim escaped again, and now lives in Surrey’s serene suburbia. Last week, he was in Westminster Central Hall, in London, one of several witnesses telling their horror stories to a United Nations commission of inquiry investigating the hermit state’s atrocities. “In North Korea the words ‘human rights’ do not exist,” he said.

Other defectors told of hunger and torture, of forced marriage and abortions. One woman had to leave her Chinese-born son when sent back to North Korea, fearing he might be killed, given the regime’s obsession with racial purity. She was chained to three other women and made to haul heavy loads after being returned. The panel has also heard of mothers forced to drown children in buckets, of men seeing brothers executed, and of families eating lizards and grass in order to survive.

North Korea is often seen as something of a joke: a strange, secretive place in the grip of cartoon communism and under the thumb of crazed dictators. Rare glimpses behind the bamboo curtain fuel the fascination, with images of mass games, military parades, rocket launches and a ski resort built by its Swiss-educated young ruler. Or there are the buffoonish antics of US basketball star Dennis Rodman, drinking tequila with Kim Jong-un and saying the “dear leader” only wants the world’s most repressed people to be happy.

The UN inquiry, due to release initial findings this week before giving its full verdict early next year, will hopefully challenge such complacency. If it finds there are crimes against humanity – and it is hard to envisage any other conclusion – then there could be the establishment of a special prosecution by the international criminal court (ICC). 

Such a move might be only symbolic, since North Korea is not a signatory to the treaty that created the court, and its vainglorious leaders will not risk their liberty by travelling anywhere that might hand them over to justice. But it would demonstrate belated determination to confront what is without doubt a hideously despotic regime, and put some pressure on China to stop protecting its client state and neighbour.

It would also shore up a crucial court, established to prosecute the world’s worst crimes but facing unprecedented pressure over its relentless focus on African offenders. There is rightful outrage all those indicted are from Africa. But now this is being used to press for the deferral of charges against Kenya’s new president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and his deputy over their alleged roles in 2007 election violence. These calls are shamefully being supported by some western nations, which fear a diplomatic rift could damage their war on terror in east Africa.

There should be no illusions over North Korea: it is a quasi-fascist state, ruled along racist lines by a highly corrupt elite. It has run giant gulags holding an estimated 120,000 people in the most inhumane conditions imaginable for half a century – yet how often do we hear them condemned by either politicians or celebrities? One camp is 31 miles long – and, as Amnesty International will reveal next month, satellite images show they are expanding.

The only exit usually is death – and it is thought that four in 10 inmates at one prison died from malnutrition. Uniquely, this is a country in which not only is life totally controlled, with circumstances dependent upon the actions of your forebears in the Korean war, but with collective punishment. If someone commits a crime, such as watching a banned soap opera or possessing a Bible, their family, friends and even children can be deemed to share guilt. So there are thousands born into slave labour who know of no existence beyond the barbed wire and brutality.

I visited North Korea last month in the guise of a tourist. The propaganda is relentless, from endless portraits of the regime’s two dead leaders to a vast mausoleum holding their bodies, built of finest marble and the size of a small airport in a nation where millions are impoverished, hungry and without healthcare. Workers march to their jobs behind red flags and posters exhort people to work harder, yet this bankrupt nation is propped up by aid, black markets and China.

Throughout my trip I was escorted by two “guides” who even stayed in my hotel; they were members of the elite trusted to mix with foreigners. Their explanations for the lack of cars on the roads or goods in shops were farcical, but they were friendly and funny; one night we got drunk together in a karaoke bar. Yet despite their elevated status they had not heard of the Beatles, hip-hop or even South Korean superstar Psy – and my attempted explanation of his YouTube hit foundered on their lack of knowledge of the internet.

It was a surreal experience, like visiting a Stalinist theme park – and so baffling that I left with more questions than when I arrived. But visitors do not see the death camps, dreadful famine or grinding poverty, which has stunted growth of North Koreans by three inches and shortened life expectancy by a decade. This is an entire country imprisoned by ghastly rulers, a state of affairs both intolerable and unsustainable. The world has stood by and done nothing for too long.

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Medicare chief to get ‘Obamacare’ grilling [ BeritaTerkini ]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trying to earn a second chance, the senior administration official closest to the implementation of the health care law’s malfunctioning enrollment website will answer questions from Congress at the start of a pivotal week.

Medicare Chief Marilyn Tavenner will be questioned Tuesday by the House Ways and Means Committee not only on what went wrong with HealthCare.gov, but also whether lawmakers can trust Obama administration promises to have things running efficiently by the end of November.

At stake is what the Republicans’ partial government shutdown could not achieve: a delay of President Barack Obama’s law expanding coverage for uninsured Americans. As a result of widespread sign-up problems, even some Democrats have joined Republicans in calling for a one-year postponement of the law’s tax penalties for the remaining uninsured. The insurance industry warns that would saddle the new system with too many high-cost patients.

Less well known than Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Tavenner was closer to the day-to-day work of setting up the enrollment website, which was handled by experts within her agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, along with outside contractors. Like other administration officials, she previously had assured Congress that everything was on track for a reasonably smooth launch in all 50 states.

“If people can’t navigate such a dysfunctional and overly complex system, is it fair for the IRS to impose tax penalties?” said Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich. In a concession, the White House has said it will waive penalties for anyone who signs up by March 31, in effect granting a limited grace period.

Tavenner began her career as a nurse and built a successful record as a hospital executive before entering public service. Seen as a businesslike manager, she has enjoyed support from lawmakers across the political spectrum. Indeed, Republicans are calling for Sebelius to resign, not Tavenner. But the Medicare chief’s professional reputation is also at stake.

On Monday, a spokeswoman acknowledged Tavenner’s central role. The Medicare agency “has said we are responsible for the issues the website is currently facing,” communications director Julie Bataille said. As administrator, Tavenner “has been in charge of the overall … implementation effort.”

What Tavenner knew about the potential for problems and whom she told will be key questions from lawmakers. Additionally, some are concerned about the security of the HealthCare.gov site. Others worry about unintended consequences from the feverish, hasty work to repair the site.

Sebelius is likely to face some of the same questions Wednesday when she appears before another powerful House panel, the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Momentum to fix the problems has grown since Obama personally acknowledged the problems last week. He sent in management consultant Jeff Zients to assess the situation. By the end of the week, Zients reported that he had two big lists with dozens of needed fixes, and said he was optimistic they could be completed by Nov. 30.

HHS also announced that an outside company would assume the role of general contractor shepherding the fixes, in effect taking over the coordination job that Tavenner’s agency had been doing.

Although the administration has released a blizzard of statistics on the numbers of people visiting the website, opening accounts and having their income verified by the Internal Revenue Service, it has yet to say how many have successfully enrolled for health insurance.

The website was supposed to be the online portal to coverage for people who don’t have a health plan on the job. Its target audience is not only uninsured Americans but those who already purchase coverage individually. A companion site for small businesses has also run into problems.

Under the law, middle-class people can qualify for tax credits to make private health insurance more affordable, while low-income people will be steered to Medicaid in states agreeing to expand that safety net program.

• Politics & Government
• Health
• Barack Obama
• Kathleen Sebelius

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Ireland’s new craic: craft beer pubs [ BeritaTerkini ]

Craft brewing is increasingly popular in Ireland as the country seeks to move away from the drink it has become synonymous with. Pictured, Oslo Bar, Galway

Oscar Wilde called work “the curse of the drinking classes”. But in his native Ireland these days, it seems their main chore is finding a drinking establishment that’s still open: since 2006 more than 1,000 pubs have closed. However, a new generation of craft brewers and brewpubs are filling the gap, catering for drinkers who want something more than the ubiquitous pint of Guinness.

Reuben Grey of Beoir, a consumer group that supports microbreweries, says small brewers are innovating in the face of formidable competition from Guinness and the rest. “Back in the 1990s the craft ale scene in Ireland didn’t really exist,” says Reuben. “But a change in beer duties meant independent brewers got 50% tax rebates, which changed everything. Even though people have less money, they can see the appeal of supporting boutique local breweries.”

Now there’s a wide variety of pubs pouring good bespoke beers in Ireland. Here’s a selection of the best.

Matt Molloy’s, Westport, Mayo

Matt Molloy is the flautist in The Chieftains, one of Ireland’s most successful groups, so, unsurprisingly, his pub is known for its trad music nights as well as its pints. He stocks Clifford’s Connacht Champion Golden Ale, recently created at nearby Hill Point Farm by West Mayo Brewery , one of the country’s newest microbreweries. Grab a nook in the bar area (the place is standing room only at weekends) and pray that Matt stops pulling pints to play a tune.
• Bridge Street, mattmolloy.com, Clifford’s Connacht Champion ¤4 a pint

Porterhouse, Dublin

A former criminal barrister with a passion for ale, Oliver Hughes founded the first Porterhouse bar in Bray, County Wicklow, in 1989. It now has branches in London and New York, but this vast Dublin brewpub (with possibly the longest bar in the city) is the nerve centre for craft ales in the hedonistic Temple Bar neighbourhood. It brews more than a dozen beers, including Oyster Stout and a fiery 7% brew appropriately called An Brain Blásta, but it’s also a good spot to try more unusual creations such as Down and Outz, chosen and partially created by Def Leppard singer Joe Elliot.
• 16 Parliament St, porterhousebrewco.com, Oyster Stout €4.50

Oskars, Waterford

The outside of this bar may not dazzle you but it’s a friendly place to drink – with modish striped banquettes, a curved (and rare) outdoor seating area and a den with games and beanbags for the kids. It’s also the best place in town to sample the wares of Metalman Brewing . Based in Waterford, Gráinne Walsh is one of Ireland’s few female brewers – she left a career in IT to start the brewery in 2011, making Windjammer, with hops from New Zealand, and Metalman Pale Ale, which tastes of grapefruit and mandarin.
• Ballinakill Centre, Dunmore Road, oskars.ie, Metalman Pale Ale €4.40

Castle Cafe, Cork

Photograph: Miki Barlok

The glass-walled, minimalist Castle Cafe may look incongruous in the courtyard of 19th-century Blackrock Castle but it is one of few spots that offer ales created by Elbow Lane. This tiny new brewery was founded by the team who run the cafe (and nearby restaurant Market Lane) last year, with the aim of creating stout, lager and ale that works well with food. Dinner might be duck on pea and scallion risotto, then baked cod with adzuki and mung beans.
• Castle Road, Blackrock, castlecafe.ie, Elbow Lager €4.60

Franciscan Well Brewery, Cork

This microbrewery, reached through an archway on a residential street, was built on the site of a monastery that dates from 1219. Founder Shane Long, who set up shop here in 1998, boasts that the range of beers brewed on site, including a clove and banana-imbued German wheat beer called Friar Weisse, are entirely free of preservatives. There are daily tours of the brewery, and it has a large heated and covered beer garden – ideal when the Cork drizzle gets too much.
• North Mall, franciscanwellbrewery.com, Friar Weisse €4.80 a pint

Oslo Bar, Galway

Locals Jason O’Connell and Niall Walsh already owned three Galway boozers before opening the town’s only microbrewery in 2009. Their craft beers include a toothsome Bay Ale and the wonderfully named Buried at Sea. Oslo is ideally situated just off the promenade facing Galway Bay, and the kitchen behind the long brick bar serves gargantuan plates of pancakes and eggs Benedict at weekends.
• 225 Upper Salthill, galwaybaybrewery.com, Buried at Sea €4.90

Larkins, Portroe, Tipperary

Flagstone floors, open fires, sleeping dogs, trad acoustic music sessions … Larkins harks back to an older Ireland, more redolent of Brendan Behan than Bono. With acclaimed dishes of seafood chowder and honey-roast Silverhill duckling coming out of the kitchen, it’s a good spot to try the crisp, slightly lemony Emerald Pale Ale. It’s brewed in the town by Cuilán Loughnane, who was inspired to start his White Gypsy Brewery in 2009 after tasting his first pint of real ale in, of all places, Heathrow airport.
• Garrykennedy, Portroe, larkins.ie, Ruby Red Irish Ale €4.20

John Benny’s, Dingle, Kerry

John and Éilis Moriarty, owners of this seafront gem, are traditional musicians who can be relied on to begin the nightly live sessions – John on accordion and Éilis on flute. There’s a vintage woodburing stove, no TV, a seafood menu rich in local produce, including Glenbeigh oysters, and a top-notch brew on draught in Tom Crean’s lager, the sole beer made by Dingle Brewing Company (dinglebrewingcompany.com). There are two self-catering apartments upstairs.
• Strand Street, johnbennyspub.com, Tom Crean’s €4.30

The Roadside Tavern, Lisdoonvarna, Clare

Run by the Curtin family since 1893, this boozer is in the heart of the village of Lisdoonvarna, near the Aran islands and the Cliffs of Moher. Its piano may be 113 years old but this isn’t a pub stuck in the past. There’s a New York graffiti-style mural by artist Jim Ricks and in 2011 an on-site microbrewery started turning out pints of Burren Gold, Burren Red and Burren Black.
• Kincora Road, roadsidetavern.ie, Burren Black €3.90

Hilden Brewery, Lisburn, Antrim, Northern Ireland

There are plenty of pubs where you can sample beers made by Owen Scullion, whose parents founded the Hilden Brewery in 1981, but there’s no better place to work through his 11 ales, stouts and porters than the brewery. It’s in the courtyard of Hilden House, a manor formerly owned by a family of linen barons in Victorian times and, where William Wordsworth and Edward VIII stayed. The Tap Room restaurant next door serves robust Irish dishes such as rolled pork belly with Clonakilty black pudding fritters, champ, kale and Armagh cider jus.
• hildenbrewery.co.uk, Hilden Ale €4 

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