Emirates is leading the way for neurodiversity needs, becoming the first airline in the world to achieve Autism Certification with a landmark recognition by the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). By early 2025, the company plans to have over 30,000 cabin crew and ground staff trained to understand and support travelers across the spectrum, a pivotal shift for the aviation industry.
To earn the certification, Emirates says it worked closely with IBCCES, conducting surveys with over 14,000 people with disabilities and gathering input from 1,200 industry experts. This extensive research informed the airline’s training programs, equipping staff to recognize sensory triggers and respond effectively to individual needs.
The certification also covers in-flight and ground services, ensuring that passengers with autism have a smooth experience from check-in to arrival.
For a first-class experience, Emirates is introducing sensory guides. These digital tools provide detailed information about environments passengers may encounter during their journey, such as noise levels, lighting, and potential sensory triggers. The resource empowers travelers to plan ahead, minimizing stress and uncertainty.
Additionally, Emirates will offer in-flight sensory aids, including fidget toys and calming tools, to help passengers stay comfortable and focused during their trip.
With this approach, Emirates is aligning itself with Dubai’s goals of becoming the most accessible destination in the world. In December 2023, Dubai International Airport itself achieved its own milestone by becoming the first international airport designated as a Certified Autism Center.
Once upon a time…
korean: “back when tigers used to smoke” (호랑이 담배 피우던 시절에)
czech: “beyond seven mountain ranges, beyond seven rivers” (za sedmero horami a sedmero řekami)
georgian: “there was, and there was not, there was…” (იყო და არა იყო რა, იყო…)
hausa: “a story, a story. let it go, let it come.”
romanian: “there once was, (as never before)… because if there wasn’t, it wouldn’t have been to told” (A fost odată, ca niciodată că dacă n-ar fi fost, nu s-ar mai povesti…)
lithuanian: “beyond nine seas, beyond nine lagoons: (už devynių jūrų, už devynių marių)
catalan: “see it here that in that time in which beasts spoke and people were silent…” (vet aquí que en aquell temps que les bèsties parlaven i les persones callaven…)
turkish: “Once there was, and once there wasn’t. In the long-distant days of yore, when haystacks winnowed sieves, when genies played jereed in the old bathhouse, [when] fleas were barbers, [when] camels were town criers, [and when] I softly rocked my baby grandmother to sleep in her creaking cradle, there was/lived, in an exotic land, far, far away, a/an…* (Bir varmış, bir yokmuş. Evvel zaman içinde, kalbur saman içinde, cinler cirit oynar iken eski hamam içinde, pireler berber [iken], develer tellal [iken], ben ninemin beşiğini tıngır mıngır sallar iken, uzak diyarların birinde…)
First Snow by Mary Oliver
The snow
began here
this morning and all day
continued, its white
rhetoric everywhere
calling us back to why, how,
whence such beauty and what
the meaning…
The silence
is immense,
and the heavens still hold
a million candles, nowhere
the familiar things:
stars, the moon,
the darkness we expect
and nightly turn from. Trees
glitter like castles
of ribbons, the broad fields
smolder with light, a passing
creekbed lies
heaped with shining hills;
and though the questions
that have assailed us all day
remain — not a single
answer has been found –
walking out now
into the silence and the light
under the trees,
and through the fields,
feels like one.
The 1937 phrasebook Collins’ Pocket Interpreters: France paints an alarming picture of a typical visit to France:
I cannot open my case.
I have lost my keys.
I did not know that I had to pay.
I cannot find my porter.
Excuse me, sir, that seat is mine.
I cannot find my ticket!
I have left my gloves (my purse) in the dining car.
I feel sick.
The noise is terrible.
Did you not get my letter?
I cannot sleep at night, there is so much noise.
There are no towels here.
The sheets on this bed are damp.
I have seen a mouse in the room.
These shoes are not mine.
The radiator doesn’t work.
This is not clean, bring me another.
I can’t eat this. Take it away!
The water is too hot, you are scalding me!
It doesn’t work.
This doesn’t smell very nice.
There is a mistake in the bill.
I am lost.
Someone robbed me.
I shall call a policeman.
That man is following me everywhere.
There has been an accident!
She has been run over.
He is losing blood.
He has lost consciousness.
James Thurber, who came upon the book in a London bookshop, described it as a “melancholy narrative poem” and “a dramatic tragedy of an overwhelming and original kind.” “I have come across a number of these helps-for-travelers,” he wrote, “but none has the heavy impact, the dark, cumulative power of Collins’. … The volume contains three times as many expressions to use when one is in trouble as when everything is going all right.”
I’m no Luddite, but I have serious reservations about self-driving automobile technology. This recent news story seems to prove me right. Last week, Mike Johns was on his way to the Phoenix, Arizona airport in a Waymo autonomous taxi to catch a flight back to Los Angeles. However, the self-driving taxi had other, very autonomous plans and, after Johns had fastened his seatbelt in the back seat, began driving in circles in a parking lot . As a passenger, there is apparently nothing more you can do than call Waymo support, who also seemed rather helpless at first. But somehow things went forward and Mike got his flight after all.
You all know by now that I am serious about coffee. I take it so seriously that I got my own roasting machine and learned to be a competent amateur roaster. So when I read about coffee in a tube, my first reactions was a hard pass. But then I thought about the hassles that I faced carrying brewing equipment on backpacking trips and reconsidered.
Outdoor enthusiasts can now get their caffeine fix with the world’s first coffee in a tube, brought to life by Swiss startup No Normal Coffee.
The idea of an ultra-portable kafi us de tube came to founders Alexander Härberlin and Philippe Greinacher during a hiking trip in the Swiss Alps, where the desire for a good cup of joe met the challenges of portability and simplicity. What they’ve thus concocted is a coffee paste that guarantees quality, consistency, and convenience, catering to adventurers who don’t want to compromise on flavor while on the go.
Made from 100% Fair Trade Arabica beans sourced from Colombia and sweetened with organic Swiss beet sugar, the coffee paste delivers a rich, dark roast experience. Each 100ml aluminum tube contains enough paste to make up to 20 cups of coffee, with flavors that hint at chocolate, nuts, and caramel.
To prepare a cup, mix a teaspoon of the paste with hot or cold water, stir, and enjoy. The tube’s resealable design ensures that there’s no mess, making it a practical solution for camping trips, hikes, or any activity away from home.
Besides use in drinkable form, the paste can be enjoyed straight from the tube, used as a spread on bananas or bread, or incorporated into protein drinks.
I have always contended that secondhand and antiquarian booksellers were the epitome of recyclers, but now we’re getting awards for our efforts.
One of the most popular antiquarian and secondhand bookshop in the North East of England has won the North Tyneside Business Forum Action on Climate Change business award.
Keel Row Books, which moved recently from North Shields to Whitley Bay, was established in 1981 and has been run since 2006 by Anthony Smithson and Alice Laverty, founders of the prestigious York Antiquarian Books Seminar, the annual not-for-profit educational course for would-be booksellers.
“Over the last decade, we have been chip, chip, chipping away at our business carbon footprint,” they said. “It’s been a positive and interesting journey. With consistent effort, our carbon emissions have reduced from modest to dainty.
“Our business model is based on reuse and is inherently low carbon. In the last year we’ve sold over 25000 books, all bought secondhand from book collectors, readers and auctions in the North East and beyond, then streamed back to market through our business. In 2023 we relocated to a low carbon premises on Park View in Whitley Bay. During the renovation of the derelict property, we invested in carbon saving features including an air to water heat pump, insulation, salvaged and reused fixtures and furniture, and new double glazed windows and shopfront. Other business carbon reduction policies include a renewable energy contract, biodegradable and reused packaging, and no flying for business purposes.”
Once again, Creamsicle Caligula has made headlines with his wacky claims about taking over Greenland and making it a U.S. territory. And again, the mainstream media has taken the bait and focused on his cockamamie pronouncements while ignoring his outrageous plans and political appointments. However, it’s a good opportunity to talk about some of the peculiar aspects of Greenland’s place on the globe.
As 2025 dawns, here in the United States we face the prospect of a four year (or more) reign of Christo-Fascist zealots. But the world has seen it all before.
The League of American Writers was formed by artists, authors and poets and others who established by the First American Writers Congress in 1935.
The letter above was written by Donald Ogden Stewart, the President of the League and longtime friend and neighbor of Rockwell Kent, this large-scale, anti-fascist broadside voiced the organization’s cry against the brutality of the Spanish Civil War. In addition to Kent and Stewart, other notable signers include Elmer Adler, Marc Blitzstein, Lawrence Gelb, Prince Hubertus and Princess Helga Maria Loewenstein, Henry Seidel Canby, and author and screenwriter Lester Cohen. Although their signatures do not appear on the document, other prominent members of the League included Lillian Hellman, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and Nathanael West. Hemingway, in particular, spoke out about his time covering the Spanish Civil War and the atrocities that he witnessed.
The calligraphed broadside with a statement signed by members of The League of American Writers, which features a headpiece illustration by Rockwell Kent, who was also a member of the contentious organization.
Travel Between The Pages 