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I've been sheltering in place in my Oakland home for about 7 weeks and a good part of that time has been spent weeding, pruning and photographing my garden. Today, I ventured as far as my neighbor's front yard where I captured this sensuous view of a Calla Lily in full bloom in late afternoon light.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen.
McCain.
Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.
And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
This is your victory.
And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.
There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
- Barack Obama - President Elect
Sen. Barack Obama spoke at a rally in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, after winning the race for the White House Tuesday night. The following is an exact transcript of his speech. (Source CNN)
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Reichsbrücke
Coordinates: 48 ° 13 '42 " N, 16 ° 24' 36" E | |
(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Empire Bridge, seen from the north bank of
Use motor vehicles in the basement underground,
Cyclists, pedestrians
Road train Lassallestraße - Wagramerstraße (B8 )
Location Vienna, between Leopoldstadt (2nd District)
and Danube City (22 nd District)
Prestressed concrete bridge construction, double deck bridge
Total length 865 meters
Width 26.10 meters
Release 8 November 1980
Altitude 157 m above sea level. A.
Card reichsbrücke.png
Location of the Empire Bridge in Vienna
The Empire Bridge is one of Vienna's most famous bridges. It crosses the Danube, the Danube Island and the New Danube and connects the second District of Vienna, Leopoldstadt, with the 22nd District, Danube city. The building extends from Mexico place at Handelskai (2nd district) in a northeasterly direction to the Danube City and the Vienna International Centre (District 22).
The current kingdom bridge (Reichsbrücke) was opened in 1980, it is the third crossing of the Danube in the same axis, which bears the name kingdom bridge. The first Empire Bridge (also: Crown Prince Rudolf bridge when Project: National Highway Bridge), an iron bridge on current five pillars existed from 1876 until 1937. The second Empire Bridge, a chain bridge with two 30-meter high pylons on two river piers, was opened in 1937, it was next to St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Giant Ferris one of the landmarks of the city of Vienna. After the Second World War it was the only intact Danube river crossing downstream of Linz in Austria and became the busiest stretch of road in Austria. On Sunday, the first August 1976 the bridge collapsed in the early morning hours on full width of the Danube into the water. In the accident, which was not foreseeable by the then state of the art, one person was killed. The meaning and emotional charge, which had received the bridge by its colorful past in the Viennese population, increased further by the collapse.
Prehistory
The Danube before regulation (centric is the location of the Reichsbrücke marked)
Some years after the devastating flood of 1830 was considering Emperor Ferdinand I to regulate the Danube and at the same time to build several bridges over the resulting stream bed. The plan was, among other things, a chain bridge approximately at the site of today's Empire bridge, whose construction costs were estimated at two to three million florins. However, these plans came as well as future intentions, build stable bridges over the unregulated Danube, before the Vienna Danube regulation not for execution, the projects went not beyond the planning stage. All bridges over the Danube, whether for road or since 1838 for the Northern Railway, then had rather provisional character. Jochbrücken Those were trestle bridges made of wood, which were regularly swept away by floods or Eisstößen (bumps of ice chunks) and then re-built.
On 12 September 1868 eventually ordered Emperor Franz Joseph I, the nephew and successor of Ferdinand, the regulation of the Danube. At the same time, eventually, should be built "stable bridges". One of them should represent a direct extension of the hunter line (Jägerzeile) (today: Prater Road and the Schwimmschulstraße (now Lassallestraße). With the choice of this location a central urban axis should be continued, which ranged from the Gloriette in Schonbrunn over St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Prater Stern to the Danube. On the other side of the Danube, the bridge should join to the Vienna, Kagraner and Leopold Auer Reichsstrasse (since 1910 Wagramerstraße), which became a major transit route in the northeastern areas of the monarchy. The name of the bridge was accordingly to "Empire Road bridge" set.
First Reichsbrücke - 1876-1937
Crown Prince Rudolf bridge
Since 6 November 1919 : Reichsbrücke
Crown Prince Rudolf bridge since 6 November 1919: Reichsbrücke
Official name of Crown Prince Rudolf Bridge (1876-1919), since then Reichsbrücke
Use vehicles, trams (from 26 June 1898 on the current bridge single track) and pedestrian
crossing of Handelskai, Danube and floodplain
Construction iron lattice structures (river bridge), 341.20 meters
Total length 1019.75 meter (incl. bridge over Handelskai and floodplain)
Width 11.40 meters
Release 21 August 1876
Closure 11 October 1937
Toll 32 cruisers and 64 Heller per vehicle (up to 1904)
The by Franz Joseph commissioned bridge, which the main part of the 2nd district after the regulation of the Danube with the on the left bank lying part of the city Kaisermuehlen, the now Old Danube and the to 1890/1892 independent community of Kagran connected, was navigable from August 1876 to October, 1937. It has been renamed several times: During the construction period it had the preliminary name of Empire Road bridge, after its opening, it was Crown Prince Rudolf bridge. The term "Empire Bridge" but soon won through in general usage, as was said, for example, the stop of the Donauuferbahn (Railway) at the bridge officially Kommunalbad-Reichsbrücke. After the fall of the monarchy on 6 November 1919 it was officially renamed Empire bridge.
With a total length of nearly 1,020 feet, it was at that time the longest bridge connection over the Danube. It was 11.40 meters wide, the road took 7.60 meters and 3.80 meters, the two sidewalks. The original plan had provided a total width of eight fathoms (15.20 meters), the Parliament decided shortly before the start of the construction to reduce the width because of cost reasons.
The bridge consisted of three parts. The so-called Hubertusdamm, protected the March field against flood, and the flood area created in the Danube regulation (inundation) on the north, the left bank of the river was spanned by a stone, 432 meters long inundation bridge, which consisted of 16 sheets of 23 and 39 m width. Handelskai on the southern right bank of the river spanned the so-called Kaibrücke of stone with a length of 90.4 meters and four arches, each 18.96 m width. The actual current bridge was 341.20 meters long and consisted of four individual iron grating structures that rested on five 3.80 meter thick pillars, three of which were in the water. The distance of each pillar was 79.90 meters.
Construction
The current bridge seen from the north, from the left bank (St Stephen's Cathedral in the background); recording before the summer of 1898, there's no tram track
Construction began in August, 1872. Although at that time the stream bed of the Danube had already been largely completed, but not yet flooded. The Empire bridge was then, as the northern railway bridge Stadlauer Bridge and the Emperor Franz Joseph Bridge (later Floridsdorfer bridge), built in dry construction.
The building was designed by the Road and Hydraulic Engineering Department of Imperial Ministry of Interior, whose boss, Undersecretary Mathias Waniek Ritter von Domyslow, was entrusted with the construction management. Total construction cost of 3.7 million guilders. The metal construction had a total weight of 2,193 tons and was manufactured by Schneider & Co in Burgundy of Belgian welding iron.
The two piers on the banks were about five feet below the river bed, which is about eleven meters founded under the riverbed on so-called "blue Viennese Tegel" (a stiff to semi-solid floor similar to the clay which as sedimentary rock is typical for the Vienna basin). The pillars of the two foreland bridges (Kaibrücke and inundation bridge ) were established in shallow coarse gravel.
Of the four Danube bridges built at that time only the kingdom bridge (Reichsbrücke) was not opened to traffic when the new bed of the Danube on 14 April 1875 was flooded. Until 16 months later, on 21 August 1876, the birthday of the Crown Prince Rudolf, opened the Imperial Governor of Lower Austria , Baron Conrad of Sigmund Eybesfeld, representing the emperor, the bridge and gave her in honor of Crown Prince - contrary to the original plan - the name "Crown Prince Rudolf bridge". The opening ceremony was attended by a delegation from Japan, Minister of War Feldzeugmeister Graf Maximilian von Artur Bylandt-Rheidt and mayor of Vienna Cajetan Felder. The governor read a royal resolution, in which Franz Joseph announced the full imperial satisfaction with Oberbauleiter Waniek and several Engineers and Building Officers were awarded the Imperial Knights Cross. As highlight of the celebration the keystone of the last pillar of the ramp was set - under it were built into a cassette several documents, photos of the bridge, coins and medals.
Bridge operation
The Kaibrücke over the Handelskai on the south, the right bank of the Danube, recording c.1907
The bridge ramp and the four brick arches over the Handels on the south, the right bank of the Danube, it ( right) the bridge over the stream, recording from 1876
After the suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889, the bridge was popularly called "suicide bridge ". It was in the first years of its operation still not a very popular crossing of the Danube. Industry and trade settled slowly to the other side of the Danube. There were also no significant trade routes from north to March Field. Via the Old Danube, which it would have to be crossed, leading to around 1900 only a rickety wooden bridge.
In the first 28 years of its operation, the crossing of the Empire Bridge was charged. 32 cruisers and 64 Heller had to be paid per vehicle, which has been regularly criticized by newspapers in Vienna. Only after the villages north of the Old Danube in the year 1904/1905 than 21st district were incorporated, the crossing was provided free of charge and increased the popularity of the bridge. From 26 June 1898, the bridge was frequented by the tram. The occasion was the 50-year Jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph. The route went (over the current bridge (Strombrücke) just single track ) for the moment to shooting range (Schießstätte) at Arbeiterstrandbadstraße and was on 22 December 1898 extended until Kagraner place. Operator was the Vienna-Kagraner train (WKB), which initially used for six railcars acquired from Hamburg. In 1904, the traffic operation of Vienna-Street Railways WKB.
The end of the bridge
1910 were counted in Vienna over two million inhabitants. On the left, northern bank of the Danube, more and more settlements and commercial enterprises emerged. This increased both the importance and the traffic on the Empire Bridge. Neither the load nor the total roadway width of less than eight meters were sufficient for this additional burden. 1930 damage was discovered at the bridge, which would have necessitated the refurbishment in the near future. In recent years, their stock weight restrictions has been to protect the bridge. Vienna's city government first planned a conversion of the old kingdom bridge. In 1933, under the federal government of Dollfuss a new building was disposed.
During the three years of construction work had the old bridge remain usable - ie the existing 340 meters long by 4,900-ton Strombrücke was there moved by 26 meters downstream in September 1934, and connected with the banks. The move operation lasted only six hours, the traffic interruption to the reusability lasted three days. The suspended bridge was then three years in operation. Immediately after the opening of its successor bridge it was dismantled.
Second Empire Bridge - 1937-1976
Second Reichsbrücke
The second Empire Bridge, circa 1975
Official name Reichsbrücke, from 11 April 1946 to 18 July 1956 the Red Army Bridge
Use private transport (2 lanes next to the tracks, 2 on the tracks), tram (2 tracks in the middle position), pedestrians (sidewalks 2)
Construction through the air: "Spurious" self-anchored chain bridge with reversed horizontal thrust); broadening of the inundation bridge used since 1876
Total length 1225 meters
Width 26.90 meters (including sidewalks)
Longest span 241.2 meters in the central opening, 60.05 and 61.05 meters in the side openings
Construction September 1934
Release 10 October 1937
Closure 1 August 1976 (collapse)
The second realm bridge had a total length of 1255 meters. The current bridge had a length of 373 meters and a maximum span length of 241.2 meters, the construction of the third largest chain bridge in Europe. It had two pylons made of steel with a height of 30 meters above road top, standing on two piers and with the bridge superstructure burd two steel chains carrying.
The bridge was staged as a symbol of the wealth and size of Vienna. So it was yet in the late 1930s next to St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Giant Ferris emblem for the third city of Vienna declared and served as an internationally used symbol on all promotional literature and invitations to the Vienna Exhibition in 1938.
Competition
First, the Commerce Department announced a precompetitive, although that could win the architects Emil Hoppe and Otto Schonthal, the result of which, however, did not correspond with the Ministry and the City of Vienna. The final competition for the construction of the Empire Bridge was finally announced in Spring 1933 and awarded in November. As architectural advisor to the eight-member jury acted the architect Clemens Holzmeister. The jurors selected from 64 submitted, one of which even provided for a tunnel under the river Danube. The winning project was a chain bridge by architects Siegfried Theiss and Hans Jaksch. This design provided only two pillars standing in the water. Three quarters of the full width of the river should be free spans. The bridge would connect directly to the still-to-use, only to be widened inundation bridge of the first Empire bridge over floodplain and Hubertusdamm.
Construction
Construction began on 26 February 1934, two weeks after the civil war-like battles in February. The cost of 24 million shillings were imposed to one third of the city of Vienna, two-thirds came from the federal budget. There were only Austrian companies involved in the construction. The two pillars were erected in caisson construction.
Soon the first difficulties appeared. The ground, especially in the Danube River, on which the bridge piers and anchor blocks for the chains should be founded, proved to be less viable than the planners had anticipated. It was originally planned to have to shoulder a large part of the weight of the Strombrücke, primarily of the area lying between the pillars middle part of the bridge, of two chains that run on both sides of the two pylons and should be anchored right in the river on heavy, solid anchor blocks of concrete. However, it was feared that this abutment on the Danube soft soil by the large tensile forces of 78.5 million N (8,000 t) per chain would start sliding and could not be adequately anchored in the Danube ground.
Professor Paul Fillunger of the Technical University of Vienna became the largest public critic of the building. He was of the opinion that not only the foundation of the anchor blocks, but also the pillars of the Danube in the soft ground was irresponsible because the bridge would not have the necessary stability. Contrasting opinion was his colleague of professors, soil mechanics Karl von Terzaghi. In his view, the nature of the Danube soil was suitable for the pier foundation. The disagreement was part of a personal feud, which was publicly held. Together with his wife Fillunger took in 1937 due to a disciplinary procedure that ran against him at the Technical University of Vienna his life. The construction of the bridge was rescheduled after the proposals Terzaghis: the chains were not fastened to anchor blocks on the Danube ground, but directly to the two main girders of the steel supporting structure, ie on the bridge itself anchored.
In June 1936, the building was overshadowed by a shipwreck: the people steamer "Vienna" DDSG was driven to a pillar. The ship broke up and sank immediately. Six people were killed.
The final link in the chain was composed of 98 members on 16 November 1936 inserted. Thereafter the lowering of the support stand began to displace the chain in tension. The production of the concrete deck slab of the bridge deck and the installation of sidewalks followed in the spring of 1937, in the summer, the bridge was painted dark green.
From 1 to 3 October 1937 the stress test of the building took place in the stretched chains and the pylons were slightly rotated. Were then driven as a load test 84 trucks and 28 loaded with stones streetcars on the bridge and left to stand there for a few hours. All measurements were running satisfactorily, so that on 4 October the first tram of line number 16 was able to drive over the kingdom bridge. A day later, the bridge was unofficially released for streetcar traffic. To traffic it remained locked up to its opening.
Austro-Fascist propaganda
A labor-and cost-intensive project such as the construction of the bridge was fully in line with the spirit of the Austro-fascist regime: the end of 1933, unemployment stood at 38.5 percent. The construction of the second Empire bridge can therefore be seen as a job creation project, similar to the construction of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road or the Vienna High Road.
On 10 October 1937, the Empire Bridge was officially opened. The corporate state government held a solemn state ceremony with President Wilhelm Miklas, Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg, Cardinal Theodor Innitzer, the Vienna Vice Mayor Fritz Lahr and Trade Minister Taucher who called the new Reich bridge as a "symbol of creating life force of the new Austria". Present were alongside architects, project managers and designers also a delegation of the opus "New Life" of the Fatherland Front, all workers involved in the construction of the construction companies and 10,000 school children. Soldiers of the armed forces lined the shore.
The Viennese city researcher Peter Payer writes about the pompous production:
"Conspicuously, propagated the carefully staged celebration the new model of society of the Austro-fascist government: the ending of the class struggle and overcoming social barriers through meaningful work and cooperation of all professional groups. [ ...] The completion of the bridge was portrayed as unprecedented cultural achievement, as a joint work of all involved". - Peter Payer.
The event was broadcast live on the radio, the newspapers reported widely about it. At the event, postcards, envelopes, and a commemorative stamp was issued and even a "Reichsbrücke song "composed, in which was said:
"A thousand hammers, wheels, files,
thousand hands had to rush
the great work that was!
Salvation of the work that connects,
Hail to the work, healing our land!"
- Empire Bridge Song
The Empire Bridge in the Second World War
During the Second World War the German army used two support pillars of reinforced concrete under the Empire Bridge into the Danube, so that the building would not completely fall into the water when it was hit, but could be repaired. In addition, at each of the two pylons were erected platforms for anti-aircraft guns.
In early April, 1945, in the last days of the war, Soviet armies were moving from the south and west heading to the city center. The fleeing units of the SS blew up in their retreat to the north gradually almost all Vienna Danube bridges.
For the Nordwestbahnbrücke, the Floridsdorfer bridge and the Nordbahnbrücke the "defenders" of Vienna had by Hitler's headquarters on the 8th April 1945 sought the permission for demolition, the Stadlauer Ostbahnbrücke was also blown up without explicit permission. With the Reichsbrücke, however, Hitler had personally for days the blasting ruled out, still yet at 11 April 1945, just on 13 April afternoon allowed, at a time when the southern bridgehead was already occupied by the Red Army, was the northern bridgehead without coverage in their field of fire and the German troops who had retreated to the left bank of the Danube, north west withdrew, for not beeing closed in by the Red Army. There was therefore no chance to blow. The Red Army occupied the evening of the 13th April also the northern bridgehead.
On 11 April, at the height of the battle of Vienna, the Russian troops with armored boats already had been advanced on the Danube to the Reichsbrücke (officially called by the Russians "Object 56") and had obscured the area. They went on the right bank of the Danube, about 500 meters northwest of the bridge, on land and moved slowly to the building.
Decades later, it was unclear why exactly the Empire bridge was not blown up. The Red Army, the Austrian resistance movement O5 as well as members of the armed forces later claimed they just would have prevented the explosion. One version said that, at the Battle of 11 April some soldiers of the Red Army should have gotten to the beachhead, where they destroyed the explosive lines. Another version was that Red Army soldiers were led by a knowledgeable local Vienna sewer worker sneaked through the sewer system of Vienna to the bridge to prevent the demolition. Clarity created in 2012 the analysis of historical sources with the résumé. Ultimately, it was Hitler himself which had prevented demolition of the bridge until the last moment. The Reichsbrücke was now the only intact bridge crossing over the Danube between Linz and the state border. She was thus given a status symbol, it was a sign of the resilience of Austria.
The city council renamed the Empire Bridge on the anniversary of the liberation of Vienna on 11 April 1946 in honor of the liberators "Bridge of the Red Army Bridge". Was also on this occasion by the city government to the left of the bridge driveway in the 2nd district an obelisk (reddish colored lightweight concrete on wood construction) erected with the Soviet Star on the top of which was in German and Russian to read:
"THE HERO WILL
LANDING GUARD SQUAD
AND SAILORS
IN GRATITUDE
THE EXEMPT
VIENNA "
- Obelisk, then plaque on the bridge
The obelisk was removed after 1955. The inscription was then attached on a bronze plaque that was mounted directly to the bridge. The bridge was at 18 July 1956 re-named Reichsbrücke.
Reichsbrücke in the postwar period
To the rebuilding of Floridsdorfer bridge 1946 the Reichsbrücke was the only way to reach Vienna coming from the northeast on the road. Although it was not blown up, it still suffered numerous losses, primarily by shellfire. In 1946, took place the first rehabilitation of war damage of the bridge, from May 1947 work on a larger scale was made. Thereby five hanging rods have been mended and repaired the vault of the inundation bridge. The smoke control ceiling above the Donauuferbahn has been replaced. At seven chain links had to be renewed a total of 26 blades. For this temporary piers were used on barges, which again ate on the river bed. The work was finished in 1952. On the Reichsbrücke originally was wooden heel patch installed, this was 1958-1960 replaced by granite stone pavement, which resulted in an additional load of 4688 kN for each pylon bearing. The enormous, newly ascended individual traffic led more often hinder the tram traffic on the bridge, therefore the tracks in the sixties by blocking lines have been declared not approved for individual traffic of the roadway. Now, congestion of vehicular traffic was the result.
Empire bridge collapse in 1976
The southern, right after the collapse of the banks, recording August 1976
Bridge debris on the north, left bank, recording August 1976
On Sunday, the first August 1976 Reichsbrücke 4:53 to 4:55 clock crashed to almost full length of the main bridge into the water. The first radio announcement was made at 5:00 clock. An eyewitness described the collapse as". The whole bridge has suddenly lifted a foot and then dropped loud crashing on the entire length".
On the Kaibrücke as well as on the Überschwemmungsbrücke (inundation bridge) the carrier collapsed in several places, but both bridges were standing. The Strombrücke itself broke into three parts, the middle part falling into the water as a whole and and the two outer parts obliquely hanging into the water. The south-facing pylon fell downstream and damaged heavily the stern of a passenger ship, the north side pylon collapsed in the other direction on the flood plain.
At the time of the collapse, five people were in four vehicles on the bridge: a bus driver in an urban articulated, two employees of the ÖAMTC in a roadside assistance vehicle, the driver of a Volkswagen Beetle, which had requested the breakdown service because of a defective tire following an accident as well as the driver of a minibus, who was employed as a driver at the ORF. The bus driver crashed his vehicle into the Danube and was rescued unharmed within hours. The ÖAMTC employees and the VW drivers were on that part of the Kaibrücke, which indeed broke and fell, but not completely destroyed, so that they could save themselves by foot. The ORF driver was trapped in his pickup truck and found his dead the day after the collapse.
Within an hour was a quarter of all vehicles of the in Vienna available Fire Brigade on the site of the collapse, it was the alarm given stage IV. Also, police, ambulance and army were represented by large contingents. The on the bridge located water pipes that supplied drinking water to the north of Vienna, put the Handelskai under water. Explosions were also feared because the gas lines running across the bridge were broken. There was on the scene for days strict non-smoking. First, many people were north of the Danube without gas, electricity, water and telephone. Already on the second August was, however, restored the supply.
Dressing up (to me) is not just putting on the clothes and makeup, it is a.. magical transformation.
In between the realm of male and female is an empty spaceless void where time don't exist. Here one can prepare one self for the journey on the other side, in preparation planting little seeds of expectations, that in this timeless space grows and blossoms upon completion. In this very place wherein I summon my female spirits , wherein the journey begin, I linger long, almost enjoying it as much as the adventure it self.
Often I see something (ok someone) in the streets, a beautyful women, a sexy girl, something that inspires my as to what to wear. Lately I have been hanging out at Christiania and Nørrebro a lot and this is where the more chaotic types of society hang out. These ”chaos girls” you find here, would faced with the choice between 3 years unpaid work in a Indian workcamp for orphans and wearing stilettos for one night, pick the trip to India and consider them self to be lucky on top. Yet, some of them, have a look of such casual coolness, it melts hearts. So, though I had been thinking about going to the kinky club, I found my self looking much more ”Ninja Tranny” than ”foxy Lisa” and decided in stead, to just "go out" .
As I was sitting peacefully in the bus listening to michael jacksom on my Mp3, 5 young ethnic coloured guys, entered the pretty empty bus. I was sitting in the behind almost at the back and as they passed me their look upon me made me remove one of my earplugs so as to hear what they said. They smelled like trouble.
Passing me they noticed I was not a girl, one of them said almost shouting ”Fuck brother, what are you doing!?” - But I let it go, as to be excused by the chock of revelation ;o) But... The comments kept coming from the back seat of the bus. ”Fucking gay bus!!” he shouted and half a minut later he was talking on the phone (VERY loudly) saying "..there is a fucking gay on the bus” Laughing out loud. The third time he said something of the sort. I LEAPED from my seat, spun around, took the 2 steps faster than one might imagine, placed a finger 3 inches from his face and in a growling commanding voice said ”If you have a problem. Get of this bus NOW! Lets settle this ONES and for all.”
At this time I should propably enlighten those unknown to the nature of me. Standing in such a situation threatening the very safety of a fellow being, I very little present an image of a female creature. My voice or posture is far from female, my eyes send out sparks of lightning that make even friends who have known me for years, look at me with evident different eyes long time after. I believe I in fact present very much what I am, one to think twice to provoke any further.
They where stunned! All 5 looked at me for a second with the evidence of epic surprise. ”But.. I was just sitting here talking..!” He said. - ”I got a right to...” he studdered, as his friends sat as still as if they didn't even breath. ”Shot you mouth!” I ordered ”Or get of the bus NOW.” I waited for 3 seconds not moving my finger an INCH from his face and while he rather uttered sounds, rather than what would have been called ”words of eloquence”, I decided my message was understood and returned to my seat.
At this point, the busdriver felt it in his benevolent heart, to be the right time to step in and in his almighty authority tell the youngsters to treat the other passengers respectfully. What WOULD I have done without him!
As I sat down a sudden surge of adrenalin surprised me. ”But...” I thought to myself, ”I had control, they where only 5 and sitting down!?” - But the surge was a short one, just a hint, a borderline adrenalin rush. ”PERFECT” I mused to my self as Michael Jackson whispered in my one ear
”Don't try to understand me, just simply do the things I say.” (Give in to me - Dangerous)
The short surge is a sign my body is in harmony with my mind...in a kung fu, body, kind a way. Where as in the ethical way, some would refer to me as a most disharmonious ”walking vigilante tranny timebomb” - Well... nobody's perfect! And this ESPECIALLY T-girls, should be very well aware off.
The exhilaration of it all, the ”feeling good about my self”, my mood, made me smile involuntarily. I seriously had to fight that smile, though it is against my very nature to do so. You see, it was more of a smirke than a smile and though the previous noice from the rear of the bus now had grown remarkable silent and even civil the rest of the bustrip, one should not press ones luck. Such a smirke can ignite the very fire in a flash, my eyes of lightning quenched in a second. I succeeded, it was a tough fight with my self, but hero's prevail and finally I was just smiling lightly and had transformed the smirke into, an invisible halo of pride and righteousness ;o)
I crossed Rådhuspladsen ”The heart of Denmark” and headed for café ”Oscar” that is a famous Gay Café. Normally Oscars´s is not a place to expect to see a tranny, but we are wellcome everywhere in the gay community and since the guys at Oscar´s are the hottest, well you do the math. But I was late (the dressing part you know) and it was mostly deserted. Can Can is located close by (that WAS my real target) and is one of the most cozy gay places in DK. I ALLWAYS meet other tranny´s here, it´s almost puzzling, but again right in the door and there she is ;o) Though ”she” said she was a ”he” to day, you judge yourself ;o) I had her take a picture of me too ;o)
Flashing a picture in your face when out, is a good way to ”test” your make up. Flash light is very revealing and make up should (in my opinion) actually be judged - coming home, rather than, leaving home. I shot a picture going to the toilet as the light was pretty good.
Walking home I passed the place my brother and I went swimming when we where tiny young black boys biking around with afrohair as crash helmets. There was a ledge and I shoot a picture ”walking home”. I was not even in the VICINITY of the prostitute areas and yet a guy tried to pick me up.... IN SNEAKERS!! Either guys are pretty desperate or I look AMAZINGLY good... or perhaps and most likely, the truth is to find in between the too.
Almost home the light was so bright, I thought...perhaps... it is enough...it JUST was, as you see :o)
I heard about it happening
I never thought it could be
The way he looked into my eyes
What he doin' to me
He caught me by surprise
He opened up my life
He wasn't like them other dudes
I wanna be his wife
He said he got played
I told him don't be scared
My mission make you mine
Forget the rest
They ain't prepared
He said he liked my style
I said I liked his lips
He took my hand
And then he told me this:
Well all my love I give it to you girl, my life I'll live it with you girl
Worth more to me than a diamond and a pearl
Have you ever met a dude
You can't get out your mind
You go to sleep
He in your dreams
He with you all the time
This was the way it was
Thought it was meant to be
Till I picked up the phone one night
and it was Tiffany
She said he was her dude
I said is that a fact
She said I let him go and play
But he always come back
I said that can't be true
She said it always is
I hung up, heart stuck
I cant believe this $h*t
Can't believe the year is over and I managed to complete my first 365 project. It's been a great experience and I couldn't have done it without this group. Happy 2014 to you all!
Can of Diet Mountain Dew featuring the exterior design which came directly before the most recent one.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfOdWSiyWoc
www.flickr.com/groups/7dayswithflickr/ : Jueves: Blanco y negro / Thursdays: Black and White (Sepia or monochrome)
Đưa em theo nhé thiên đường của hai đứa mình!
Đưa em qua những cánh đồng,nơi thảo nguyên ươm nắng..
Chỉ hai đứa mình, chỉ hai ước nguyện trở về với nhau.
Đưa em theo nhé em cần bờ vai anh..rất rộng!
Đưa em theo nhé dù là trong giấc mơ !~
Ngày lên rất vội..ngày lên rất vô tình thôi...Hỡi đêm đừng trôi mãi! Giữ lại em ♥
I went to Burger King for lunch. While ordering there was this guy who was staring at me. I don't know why, I don't know if he was staring at me or past me but it was just freaking me out. There aren't that many fast food joints next to my office. There is a Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC and a Mc Donalds, although Mc Donalds is like a 20 minute walk away. There are tons of Indian and Chinese restaurants though and one day when I get the balls I will try one of them.
Two older girls here are my daughters, holding princess Andriana (10 mo), she is a good walker though... They had a blast this past weekend, and I was able to capture some of that.
A younger elephant hoping to get one of the peanuts that the older and much taller elephant can get from above.
A discarded can floats among the lily pads on the lake.
This can will take between 200-500 years to be absorbed back into the ecosystem. As the metal decomposes, the metal nitrites will be leached into the water or earth.
Recycling is considerably less expensive than producing new aluminium cans and has a smaller carbon footprint. Recycling this single aluminium can would cost the same amount of electricity as watching your TV for one hour. I'm not advocating drinking a beer for every hour of TV you watch and then recycling the can, but the costs are measurable.
Recycle your rubbish people!
Photo: ©2020 Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne, France
“I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”
― Virginia Woolf
“There was a long hard time when I kept far from me the remembrance of what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its worth.”
― Charles Dickens
~~~
Here's a story about my mother (and I hope she forgives me for telling it). She heard once on TV that the safest place for something in a house fire is inside the oven, because an oven is insulated to keep the heat in and so it's pretty good at keeping the fire out. If you wanted to salvage something in a house fire -- like say, important financial documents or a family heirloom -- sticking it inside the oven might just work. (I should note: I have no idea if this is true. Do not try this at home.) So one year, before leaving on vacation, my mother put her wedding photo album inside the oven... just in case the house burned down while she was away.
As these things happen, she and my dad returned home from vacation happy but exhausted from the trip, and decided to order pizza for dinner so they wouldn't have to cook. They turned the oven to preheat so they could keep the pizza warm once it arrived. Soon, the whole kitchen smelled of scorched paper. My dad threw open the oven door to discover the wedding album sitting there on the rack, just starting to crinkle and brown around the edges. Luckily, he pulled it out in time (accompanied by much confused shouting and cursing, I imagine), and none of the photos were lost.
Not only does this story capture something exquisitely true about my mother -- her attachment to photographs and mementos of special occasions, her quirky way of problem-solving, her anxiety about fire -- but it seems to me to be deeply human. It's a story about the irony of memory itself. We want to remember things from long ago, but sometimes in trying to salvage those memories we can become distracted and forgetful in the present moment. We might take all the precautions in the world to preserve the past, but nothing can slow the passage of time and the forgetfulness that comes with age.
Pagans like to say, "What is remembered, lives." Memory is re-membering, the act of giving life to the past through rituals of witness. A photograph by itself is not a memory, only a record. Collecting dust in a drawer, it does nothing for anyone. Only when it is brought into the light of the present moment can it become something -- a reawakening of mindfulness, a memory stirred to life -- or perhaps only ever a reimagining, each time slightly different, each time new. But that's life, too, isn't it?
I'm like my mother in my desire to remember the past, I just go about it differently. Instead of sticking my wedding album in the oven, I tell stories. (And share them on the internet, where everything is forever and yet nothing lasts.) But we both face the same irony -- that the act of remembering is the very act by which we might accidentally ruin or replace the past we seek to honor.
I don't even know if this story about my mom is true, at least in all its detail. I only heard it second-hand. But it feels true, it feels like her. It reminds me of her and the things about her that I love and learn from. It almost doesn't matter if the story is "factually" true or not. Like life itself, it's more complicated than that.
~~~
#UULent #truth #memory #altar #meditation #mindfulness
Arcadia, CA
8/9/17
MUST READ:
Let me start by saying WOW, I never thought this day would come. I did not think I would see my childhood driver Joe, in a Curotto Can again. Joe would collect all 3 streams (separately) from my house until 2003 when WM left my city. I still see Joe a couple times every year and the last time I saw him in a Curotto Can was in 2008. In early 2009 Joe was given a brand new ASL and has never driven a Curotto Can since then (Joe told me it has been almost 10 years since he drove a Curotto Can). The night before this video was filmed, WMmaster626 and I talked about how cool it would be to see Joe in a Curotto Can. The next day, WMmaster626 who had never seen Joe in a Curotto Can, asked his Trash driver for the heck of it if Joe was in a Curotto Can. Then (expecting his trash driver to say "no"), his trash driver said "Joe's ASL is down and Joe is in a Curotto Can today". WMmaster626 was shocked and immediately informed me Joe was in a Curotto Can and I immediately headed to Arcadia.
I found Joe on route in a Mack Wittke green Curotto Can 1.5 and I was shocked and excited. Considering the Volvos and Original Curotto Cans are gone this is the next closest thing to what Joe would drive everyday in my city, the truck even had the same type of Wittke body. I was amazed how after almost a decade of not driving a Curotto Can, he operated it as if it was still his everyday truck. He was still incredibly fast and had many 4-5 second "wheel stop to wheel go" dump cycles and revved the Curotto Can pretty fast into the hopper. I was even lucky enough to see Joe pickup bulky boxes (towards the end of the video). Which was fun to see because he used to pickup bulk with the Curotto Can while he was on residential trash in my city. The Mack and Wittke sounded amazing too, both were loud and had great roars. It was a all around fun trip, WMmaster626 saw Joe in a Curotto Can for the first time. On top of that, Joe was excited that WMmaster626 and I got to see him in a Curotto Can, and it reminded him of when he worked in my city.
Thank you for watching, make sure you watch the entire video to see Joe pickup bulky boxes with the Curotto Can.
Big thank you to Joe, I had a blast seeing him in a Curotto Can again, I did not think that day would come. And thank you so much WMmaster626 for informing me Joe was in a Curotto Can, this video would not have happened without you and it was fun filming Joe with you.
Joe Driving a Curotto Can: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CP3-nmZAs4
Here is Joe in his normal ASL: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HPUYfYcS7Y&t=34s