View allAll Photos Tagged BombCyclone
View from 4th floor apartment window of Westminster House Senior Apartments at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
East Coast of USA day after the winter storm Grayson. 5 January 2018 based on MODIS / Terra satellite images.
LOOK AROUND, BE A PART, FEEL FOR THE WINTER BUT DON'T HAVE A COLD HEART (and I love you best, you're not like the rest) - Composition Sunday
© Erik McGregor - erikrivas@hotmail.com - 917-225-8963
LOOK AROUND, BE A PART, FEEL FOR THE WINTER BUT DON'T HAVE A COLD HEART - Composition Sunday
© Erik McGregor - erikrivas@hotmail.com - 917-225-8963
View from Westminster House Senior Apartments 18th Floor Rooftop room at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
Elvert Barnes BMORE 2018 at elvertbarnes.com/Bmore2018
what a moment, being able to see the presidential portrait up close and personal.
National Portrait Gallery, DC
January 30, 2022
The morning after the Blizzard of January 2022:
There was a beautiful sunrise and clear skies to follow, making it a nice day for shooting. Temps were still in the teens and the wind was whipping. The power would remain out until just about 1:00 pm today, coming back just in time because the inside house temperature was barley holding above 40 degrees F.
Brewster, Massachusetts
Cape Cod - USA
Photo by brucetopher
© Bruce Christopher 2022
All Rights Reserved
...always learning - critiques welcome.
Tools: Canon 7D & iPhone 11.
No use without permission.
Please email for usage info.
View from 4th floor apartment window of Westminster House Senior Apartments at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
View from Westminster House Senior Apartments 18th Floor Rooftop room at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
Elvert Barnes BMORE 2018 at elvertbarnes.com/Bmore2018
View from 4th floor apartment window of Westminster House Senior Apartments at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
East Coast of the USA one day after the winter storm Grayson. 5 January 2018 based on MODIS / Terra satellite images.
View from Westminster House Senior Apartments 18th Floor Rooftop room at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
Elvert Barnes BMORE 2018 at elvertbarnes.com/Bmore2018
Bomb Cyclone Arrives - 7 images - Canon Powershot G12 - Photographer Russell McNeil PhD (Physics) lives on Vancouver Island, where he works as a writer.
Ukraine begging for tanks should be clear sign that they are losing. It has to be far from ideal to have to use different tank models from different countries -- the training involved, the different user interfaces, the different functionalities, etc.
On top of that, the first BBC article below says tanks are not that useful in today's modern warfare with drone deployments. Yet Ukraine is still begging for them.
The old, refurbished German tanks won't be available until 2024! The Germans only have 350 tanks on active duty and they can only provide Ukraine 22 Leopard 2 tanks and 88 Leopard 1 tanks that had been mothballed. Ukraine is looking for 300 tanks!
For every town that Ukraine has recaptured, there was no fighting involved. The Russians simply withdrew their forces. But for every town that the Russians have captured, there were fierce fightings and the Russians won.
With the Russian win in Soledar, they have pretty much cut off the Ukrainian supply line for Bakhmut. So it's just a matter of time the Russians will take full control of Bakhmut.
Here's Scott Ritter on Judge Napolitano's channel on tanks and nuclear war:
www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64294653
Plans to send German-made Leopard tanks and UK Challengers to the front lines here in the Donbas have been greeted with visible excitement by Ukrainian forces, who have been taking heavy casualties in recent weeks, around Bakhmut, and, more particularly, during the ferocious struggle for the nearby town of Soledar.
"There were very heavy losses. It's very pitiful. It's hard," said Danylo, an officer in charge of repairing tanks for the 24th Mechanised Brigade. He said the current deadlock would not be broken unless foreign tanks arrived in significant numbers.
"Yes, we'll be stuck here. We need these [Western tanks] to stop Russia's aggression. With infantry, covered by tanks, we'll win for sure," he said.
"Leopards, Challengers, Abrams - any foreign tank is good for us! I think we need at least 300. And we need them now!" said Bogdan.
The Ukrainians all acknowledged that Russia had more modern tanks but were scathing about their tactics.
"The Russian tanks are a bit better than ours. They're fully modernised. But mostly the Russians are strong because they push forwards en masse, advancing over the bodies of their own soldiers. Our commanders care more about the lives of their crews, so we try to destroy [the enemy] while losing as few of our own men as possible," said Bogdan.
A more senior company commander in the 24th Brigade, with the code name Khan, took us to a rear position, past fresh trenches being dug in the fields by specialised machines, where several tanks were hidden under camouflage nets in a wooded area.
"These T-72s have proved effective in winter conditions. But they're old, and not really suited for modern warfare. These days it's all about drones and the latest technology." Khan said he believed it would take very little time for his crews to adapt to more modern European equipment.
"If you're a tank driver you're already someone of above-average intelligence. They'll be able to learn and adapt quickly," he said.
Suddenly, an incoming Russian artillery shell landed several hundred metres away. Seconds later, another landed closer, and then closer still, sending soldiers and journalists diving for cover.
The war in Ukraine has, in many ways, been a distinctly old-fashioned conflict, based on attrition, on devastating artillery strikes, and on dug-in positions reminiscent of the trenches of World War One. But the war has also revealed the limitation of tanks - most clearly in the first weeks of the conflict when nimble Ukrainian infantry destroyed many huge Russian armoured columns with shoulder-launched rockets.
"In the old days, it was all about tanks. Now it's about these new rocket systems," said Volodymr. But the coming months could yet see Western tanks - if deployed quickly, and in large numbers - play a decisive role.
www.reuters.com/world/europe/repaired-german-leopard-tank...
Repaired German Leopard tanks for Ukraine ready in 2024 at earliest, armsmaker says
BERLIN, Jan 15 (Reuters) - German armsmaker Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) could deliver repaired Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine in 2024 at the earliest and would need a confirmed order to begin repairs, its chief executive was quoted as saying by Bild newspaper on Sunday.
Germany announced earlier this month that it would provide Ukraine with 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to help repel Russian forces.
But Kyiv has also requested heavier vehicles such as the Leopards, which would represent a significant step-up in Western support to Ukraine. Still, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said earlier this month delivering the Leopard tanks could not be "ruled out". The German army has only around 350 Leopard 2 tanks today, compared to some 4,000 battle main tanks at the height of the Cold War.
For Rheinmetall, repairing the tanks it has in stock - at least 22 Leopard 2 tanks and 88 Leopard 1 tanks - would cost several hundred million euros, Papperger told Bild.
"The vehicles must be completely dismantled and rebuilt," he added.
The firm also has 100 Marder vehicles, Papperger said, but these would also need repairs taking seven to eight months before they could be used.
Rheinmetall did not respond to an emailed request for comment on Sunday.
www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64329059
Ukraine war: German tanks for Ukraine depend on US approval
Germany will only send battle tanks to Ukraine if the US does the same, multiple reports suggest.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under increasing international and domestic pressure to supply German-built Leopard 2 tanks or at least approve their delivery by third countries.
Poland and Finland have both promised to send their Leopards - but need Germany's permission to do so.
But Berlin is still in talks with the US about its official position.
Many expect an announcement to follow a meeting of Ukraine's Western allies at the American military base of Ramstein in southwestern Germany tomorrow.
Reports suggest that Mr Scholz will only give the green light to the Leopards if the US President Joe Biden agrees to supply American Abrams tanks.
However, the Pentagon's top security adviser, Colin Kahl, said late on Thursday that the US wasn't prepared to meet Kyiv's demands for the tanks.
"The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It's expensive. It's hard to train on. It has a jet engine," Mr Kahl said.
A senior German government source told the BBC that reports of a deadlock between Berlin and Washington over tanks were overstated, but they're causing concern amongst Ukraine's Western allies.
The provision of Western battle tanks - in sufficient numbers - is widely seen as crucial if Ukraine is to defeat Russia or, at the very least, defend itself against Russian President Vladimir Putin's anticipated spring offensive.
Yet, to date, only Britain has promised to supply them. Other countries, including Germany, France and the US, have sent or pledged to send armoured vehicles as well as air defence systems and other heavy equipment. Meanwhile, Kyiv's demands for tanks are growing increasingly urgent.
So why is Mr Scholz dithering over their delivery?
All indications are that he will allow third countries to supply their Leopards - the German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said so a week or so ago.
But Mr Scholz has not yet committed. He's cautious for several reasons.
Germany worries - albeit less so than it did in the past - about escalation and how Russia's Vladimir Putin would react to the supply of offensive weapons. It's a reasoning which many experts perceive to be unjustified.
And the concept of German tanks on Ukrainian soil still resonates uncomfortably in Berlin, where the country's World War Two history still casts a long shadow.
Mr Scholz may have declared a "Zeitenwende" (sea-change) in Germany's stance on defence and military policy following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but he's still mindful that, less than a year ago, the idea of the German government supplying arms to a conflict would have been unthinkable.
The Chancellor has his eye on the domestic opinion polls. As one senior government source put it to me, surveys suggest the public are broadly satisfied with his reaction to Ukraine - unlike his policies and performance in many other areas.
A recent survey for the national broadcaster found that 41% of the public thought Germany was supplying the right amount of weapons, 26% thought its support went too far and 25% that Germany wasn't sending enough.
Mr Scholz has promised that Germany will play a greater military role on the world stage, but years of underinvestment have left its armed forces in a parlous state.
Even if the Chancellor gives the green light to sending Leopards, the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has warned that renovation and preparation requirements would delay their delivery by months.
Mr Scholz doesn't want to risk the perception that he's acting alone, hence the desire to co-ordinate with allies and, in particular, the US. And it's why there's unlikely to be an announcement ahead of the Ramstein meeting tomorrow.
But his position has triggered frustration and condemnation in international political and security circles.
They say Germany - still a political heavyweight - must step up to its military responsibilities.
January 30, 2022
As the sun blazed above the horizon on the morning after the blizzard, the pink rays of sun reflected off all the tiny ice droplets in the treetops. They shined like Christmas lights against the still-purple morning sky.
The power would remain out until just about 1:00 pm today, coming back just in time because the inside house temperature was barley holding above 40 degrees F.
Brewster, Massachusetts
Cape Cod - USA
Photo by brucetopher
© Bruce Christopher 2022
All Rights Reserved
...always learning - critiques welcome.
Tools: Canon 7D & iPhone 11.
No use without permission.
Please email for usage info.
New York City was hit by Winter Storm Gail, the first big snowstorm of the season on December 16, 2020 bringing a hodge-podge wintry conditions. A total of 10 inches of snow and sleet was reported overnight in New York City. The city’s emergency management service advised New Yorkers to be aware of slippery conditions, also issued a travel advisory for Thursday particularly during the evening commute. (Photo by Erik McGregor)
@ Cheers 8th Anniversary Party
Saturday Night, March 16th 2018
Part 2 of 3 Featuring...
Reno Divorce / Straight Six / grind cat grind / & SinFix
Address: 11964 Washington St, Northglenn, CO 80233
Phone: (303) 955-5660
Unfortunately due to flight cancellations and logistic issues related to the #BombCyclone weather event Drone Livingston will not be able to play and will be rescheduled. However, we are excited to announce grind cat grind will play Saturday Night @ Cheers 8th Anniversary Party!
Doors at 7pm / Show starts after 8pm
21+ / $8 cover
Come celebrate the Premier Live Music Club on the Northside of #Denver #Colorado @ Cheers!
Bands interested in playing @ Cheers or Heart For Hayden 2019 message Event Star Production on Facebook and get signed up for consideration!
Event Presented & Sponsored by:
Arvada Auto Tech & Diagnostic Center
Root Of All Photography
Jeff Johnson / JAJ Sound
Graphics by Victor
Fireball
Metal On The Move
Digital Myle
Metal Monkey
Blunt Force Stereo
Metalhead Elements
24 Hour Bail Bonds
Lodo Drum Guy
Evergroove Studio
Music
Hard rock music
Punk rock music
Nightlife
I simply don't see how the shrinking Chinese population would affect China's military readiness. As this AP article says, China has 2 million soldiers. In today's technology warfare, the number of soldiers is secondary. The U.S., with some 800 military bases all over the world, has only 1.3 soldiers on active duty and another 800,000 in the reserve. I would think the China's 2 million soldiers count has more to do with keeping young people employed rather than real defense readiness needs.
www.star-telegram.com/opinion/nicole-russell/article27142...
Millennials are waiting to have kids. That’s bad news for them and the nation, too | Opinion
New research confirms suspicions that, citing a struggling economy, millennials are delaying having kids and “fueling America’s historically low birth rate.”
www.euronews.com/2023/01/17/the-countries-where-populatio...
The countries where population is declining
Many countries -- especially in Europe and Asia -- will see their populations decline in the coming decades, if forecasts for 2100 published by the UN last July prove true. In others, population is already declining.
Populations already in decline
Eight countries with more than 10 million inhabitants have seen their populations decline over the past decade. Most are European.
Alongside Ukraine, whose population has plummeted due to the Russian invasion, the number of people in Italy, Portugal, Poland, Romania and Greece is on the wane.
Outside Europe, Japan is also seeing its ageing population decline.
The same goes for the Middle East. In Syria, the population has been devastated by more than a decade of grinding war, with millions of refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries and beyond.
Russia, Germany, South Korea and Spain are all set to join this downward movement, with their populations beginning to decline by 2030.
The African continent will increase from 1.4 to 3.9 billion inhabitants by 2100. Some 38 per cent of the world's population would then live in Africa, compared to around 18 per cent today.
www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64373950
Japan PM says country on the brink over falling birth rate
Japan's prime minister says his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its falling birth rate.
Fumio Kishida said it was a case of "now or never."
Japan - population 125 million - is estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 births last year. In the 1970s, that figure was more than two million.
But the issue is particularly acute in Japan as life expectancy has risen in recent decades, meaning there are a growing number of older people, and a declining numbers of workers to support them.
Japan now has the world's second-highest proportion of people aged 65 and over - about 28% - after the tiny state of Monaco, according to World Bank data.
In 2020, researchers projected Japan's population to fall from a peak of 128 million in 2017 to less than 53 million by the end of the century.
www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/threats-advantages-seen-in-c...
Threats, advantages seen in China's shrinking population
BEIJING (AP) — For seven decades, China's Communist Party has ruled the world's most populous country. As the nation's population crests and begins to shrink, experts say, it will face challenges ranging from supporting the elderly to filling the ranks of its military.
Population growth has been slowing for years, but the announcement Tuesday that the country's population fell by about 850,000 in 2022 came sooner than earlier projections.
“Those developments ... may well feed domestic challenges at home and strategic challenges abroad. The Party, in short, may be in for a rough go," said Mike Mazza, an analyst of Chinese military modernization at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
Others are less pessimistic.
“China’s increasingly becoming a higher-tech nation, so concentrating on improving the educational system, particularly in impoverished rural areas, and even in cities, is vital. So as well is increasing productivity. Wealthier people will buy more, which also increases GDP,” said June Teufel Dreyer, a Chinese politics specialist at the University of Miami.
With the trend expected to continue, the U.N. estimates China’s population will fall from 1.41 billion to about 1.31 billion by 2050 and keep shrinking from there.
Beijing previously tried to rein in its population growth. Worries that China's population was getting too big prompted it to adopt its “one-child policy” in the late 1970s. Beijing says the policy prevented 400 million additional births, but demographers disagree about how much of the drop in birth rates is explained by the policy.
The one-child policy came on top of existing societal changes, notably the flocking of people to live in cities during the economic boom, demographers say.
“Of course, the one-child policy had an effect,” said Sabine Henning, who heads the demographic change section at the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. “But lifestyles have changed. Living expenses have increased so people are less inclined to have children. All of this has resulted ... in a further decline in fertility since the one-child policy stopped.”
Experience in Europe and Japan shows how difficult it is to change mindsets and reverse the decline with government incentives and campaigns.
Faced with a crashing birthrate, the policy was abandoned seven years ago, but efforts to encourage bigger families have been largely unsuccessful, like similar efforts in other countries. Europe and Japan have also struggled to change mindsets and reverse the decline with government incentives and campaigns.
“It amazes me how everyone seems to agree that the planet already has too many people whose demands for even the basics of existence like food, water and shelter are placing intolerable demands on the ecosystem — yet as soon as the population of a country begins to decline, its government reacts with near panic,” Dreyer said.
Beijing's most immediate demographic challenge is an aging population: Tuesday’s figures showed almost 20% of the population is now age 60 or older, and Chinese estimates say the number will rise to 30%, or more than 400 million people, by 2035.
Similar changes took decades in Europe.
“They had more time to adjust, whereas it’s happening much faster in in Asia,” said Srinivas Tata, director of the social development division at the U.N. commission in Bangkok.
To support this population of retirees, China may increase the retirement age, currently 50-55 for women and 60 for men.
The demographic news comes as China’s economy is still recovering from the three-year struggle against COVID-19, which not only battered the economy but sparked rare antigovernment and anti-party protest.
Even with a shrinking population, China maintains considerable economic advantages over emerging manufacturing rivals such as Vietnam and India, which is set to overtake China as most populous this year. China has superior infrastructure and long-standing private sector relationships that it can rely on for years to come, said Mazza.
China’s political system also plays a role, said Mary Gallagher, a scholar of Chinese politics at the University of Michigan.
“Becoming the workshop of the world... requires a political system that can take advantage of that cheap young labor without much regard for the laborers’ political and civil rights,” Gallagher said. [That's a bunch of bull. Millions of Chinese return to China every year after traveling overseas, if China were as repressive as the West claims, wouldn't these folks seek asylum abroad?]
U.S. economic sanctions and its push to block Beijing’s access to cutting-edge processors and chip-making technology are further complicating efforts at recovery.
The Party also faces a challenge finding qualified recruits for its military, the 2 million-member People's Liberation Army, experts say.
“It is doubtful that the PLA is getting the best and the brightest, given that families who have the means will discourage military service,” said Daniel Blumenthal, director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and an expert on East Asian security issues and US-China relations.
Blumenthal warns, however: “That said, if (Chinese leader Xi Jinping) decides he wants a war over Taiwan he will not be deterred by caring about one-child families.”
Some American observers argue that these challenges could prompt Beijing to make aggressive moves sooner. With the U.S. refocused on the Indo-Pacific, China’s economy slowing and the population shrinking, some in Washington see Beijing as facing a narrowing window for military action against the self-governing island that it claims as its territory.
Still, the effects may not be known for some time.
“Since demographic changes happen slowly, at least at the start of the turn, their effect on China’s standing and influence globally will take time to happen,” said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the London University School of Oriental and African Studies and a longtime observer of Chinese political and social trends.
President Xi is committed to his program of achieving “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” by 2049, Tsang said — even if his country may be 100 million people smaller by then.
View from 4th floor apartment window of Westminster House Senior Apartments at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
Affects of BOMB CYCLONE at Mount Vernon Place on North Charles at East Monument Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
MTA Baltimore CityLink Green / Towson Bound Bus Arriving at Bus Stop
Thursday, 4 January 2018 BOMB CYCLONE SNOW STORM Project
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)
Winter Storm Grayson, Charleston, S.C.
January 3, 2018
#SashaAzevedo #artist #photographer
#author #inspiration #animallover #epilepsyadvocate
#model #actor #TheNotebook #ArmyWives
#athlete #adventureseeker #RayofSunshine #ENFJ
#May20 #Taurus #CarpeDiem #LifeIsAGift
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Life is a gift. Never take it for granted."
—♥ Sasha Azevedo
Bomb cyclone slams New York - New York's MTA officials informed city's subway and bus services won't shut down. (Photo by Erik McGregor)
View from Westminster House Senior Apartments 18th Floor Rooftop room at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
Elvert Barnes BMORE 2018 at elvertbarnes.com/Bmore2018
New York City was hit by Winter Storm Gail, the first big snowstorm of the season on December 16, 2020 bringing a hodge-podge wintry conditions. A total of 10 inches of snow and sleet was reported overnight in New York City. The city’s emergency management service advised New Yorkers to be aware of slippery conditions, also issued a travel advisory for Thursday particularly during the evening commute. (Photo by Erik McGregor)
View from 4th floor apartment window of Westminster House Senior Apartments at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
View from Westminster House Senior Apartments 18th Floor Rooftop room at North Charles and West Centre Street in Baltimore, Maryland on Thursday morning, 4 January 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Thursday, 4 January 2018 SNOW STORM Project
Elvert Barnes BMORE 2018 at elvertbarnes.com/Bmore2018
Bomb Cyclone Arrives - 7 images - Canon Powershot G12 - Photographer Russell McNeil PhD (Physics) lives on Vancouver Island, where he works as a writer.
January 29, 2022
Scenes from the Blizzard of January 2022:
For Cape Cod, it rained almost all night long. Then, just before dawn, it began to snow. For the first part of the day we got heavy wet snow that stuck to everything. By nightfall, as the temperatures dropped and the wind picked up, the snow had become light and fluffy. I watched the pressure drop over 30 mb over a 24 hour period, and with that, the intense wind delivered our predicted power outages. We lost power on Saturday night around 6 pm and got it back on Sunday night around 11pm. In our neighborhood, the storm snow total was about 16 inches.
Brewster, Massachusetts
Cape Cod - USA
Photo by brucetopher
© Bruce Christopher 2022
All Rights Reserved
...always learning - critiques welcome.
Tools: Canon 7D & iPhone 11.
No use without permission.
Please email for usage info.