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Why Denmark Rules

So much to love about Denmark.

Stunningly beautiful, Louisiana Modern Museum of Art, terrific food, but one of the most expensive places on the planet to visit. Norway and Iceland are as expensive, I hear. Breakfast sandwiches for two, plus lattes, cardamom rolls came to a whopping $93. There is a 30% VAT tax on all things hospitality. It gives Manhattan a run for its money. If you visit, plan a short trip, pack everything into a day or two, don’t itemize (meaning don’t freak out about the price of every sandwich you buy) and leave. I have a friend who stays in Malmo, (Sweden) less than one hour from Copenhagen, and commutes for business into Copenhagen and returns to eat and sleep in Sweden.

But Go! Treat Yourself. You will thank yourself and have many laughs bonding with others on how expensive Denmark is.

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Pope Leo Gets Rockstar Reception in Spain

More than two million people turned out for Pope Leo XIV’s two major events in Madrid. The first, a Saturday night youth vigil, followed by a Sunday mass. Throngs of people lined the streets as he motored in the infamous “Pope Mobile” between his three-days of engagements that included meeting with the King, speaking to Spanish Parliament and other official events.

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Semana Santa (Holy Week) Madrid, Spain

The country shuts down Thursday and Friday before Easter. Every neighborhood throughout Spain has processions like the ones below commemorating the death and life of Jesus.

Visiting Americans are usually taken aback by the klan-like robes. The centuries-old tradition behind wearing these robes, (taken from the Inquistion) was for the wearers to be anonymous before God with the conical hood streamlining the soul to the heavens as an act of forgiveness for past sins.

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Day in the Life of a Black Transgender NYC Woman: A 17-Year Video Study

We meet Tiffany, with her then boyfriend, Nate, in the Marsha P. Norman Harlem shelter for queer children in Harlem in 2008. We follow up with her again in 2014 where she lives in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and again in 2024 at the entrance of a midtown subway in Manhattan.

There are 34 short segments in this series. It is an unvarnished look into one transgender woman’s life but the issues that plague our society; race, inequality, gender, mental health, poverty, sexuality, and so much more, ripple through every segment.

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LaToya Ruby Frazier: Secrets for Success in Art and Activism

This past summer I took my visiting nephews to the Museum of Modern Art, (MoMA), in New York City. Walking through a gallery, I noticed a crowd around a young dynamic woman talking about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. I have never been to a major museum where the artist, in this case, LaToya Ruby Frazier, was on hand to speak about her work. It was such a privilege. Within seconds of being in her compelling presence, I grabbed my phone and started recording. Her communication and storytelling skills mesmerize.

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Waymo Takes The Lead In the Robo Taxi Arms Race

On a recent trip to San Francisco my friend Tassos treated us to Waymo’s robotaxi. When I first saw the Jaguar SUV silently slither up and down the San Francisco hills, I thought , “No way will I get in one of those”. But when I saw more driver-less taxis throughout the day, and they weren’t bursting into flames and maiming people on sidewalks, I had another think. I had to try it.

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