View allAll Photos Tagged Committed
RCAF 188735 - McDonnell Douglas CF-188A Hornet - Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
at Hamilton International Airport (YHM)
2021 RCAF CF-18 Demonstration jet “Strong at Home”, represents the commitment to domestic operations that the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are involved with throughout Canada. The RCAF is committed to 24/7 operations in the defence of Canada and North America. Each day, aviators work hard to protect the lives of Canadians through NORAD operations, aeronautical Search and Rescue across Canada, rapid response to natural disasters, and operations to combat COVID-19 and the ongoing pandemic. This season the CF-18 Demonstration Team will also recognize the strength of Canadians who have sacrificed so much and shown tremendous resiliency throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 paint scheme design was developed by RCAF Reservist Captain Jeff Chester and brought to life by a talented team of Aircraft Structures Technicians from the Aerospace Telecommunications and Engineering Support Squadron at 8 Wing Trenton, ON. The paint scheme for 2021 utilizes a classic hornet-grey palette representing the importance of operational excellence in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The Eagle featured on the tail of the CF-18 Demo Jet represents vigilance, agility, readiness, and speed. This speaks to NORAD operations in particular, but also the immediate response in protecting and defending Canadians through SAR or Operation LENTUS as 24/7 operations. The feathers of the eagle are represented with Maple leaves, an iconic symbol of Canada that is proudly displayed in the Canadian flag and on the Royal Canadian Air Force roundel.
In tribute to 50 years of inspiration, including their mission to uplift us all this past year, there are eight maple leaves representing eight of the nine iconic CF Snowbirds Tutor aircraft that perform during an air show. Like in the missing man formation, the ninth is missing, in solemn remembrance of all the Canadians who were lost this year, including members of CAF, the Snowbirds own Captain Jenn Casey, and our airshow family.
On the underside of the Demo jet, the single missing Snowbird can be found – represented by the signature Snowbird SPEEDBIRD in the exact dimensions that are found on the CT-114 Tutor.
The CF-18 false canopy paint remains alongside the SPEEDBIRD highlighting the operational nature of the jet and the Snowbirds pilots, technicians and support staff who spent their careers contributing to operational missions on the CF-18 and other RCAF aircraft.
The large maple leaf on the inner tail pays homage to our home and native land that the Royal Canadian Air Force has proudly served for 97 years.
Listed on the upper and lower portions of the inner tail are the 12 domestic operations that the Canadian Armed Forces currently participates in including, Search and Rescue and NORAD, then in alphabetical order, Operation BOXTOP, Operation GLOBE, Operation INSPIRATION, Operation LASER, Operation LENTUS, Operation LIMPID, Operation NANOOK, Operation NEVUS, Operation PALACI, and Operation VECTOR.
The leading edge extension (LEX) fences feature the 2021 theme hashtags in both languages: #StrongAtHome and #ProtectionduCanada.
The pilot for the 2021 CF‑18 Demonstration Team is Captain Dan Deluce.
c/n 254 - built in 1985 -
curr. operated by 3 Wing, CFB Bagottville
Teacher, journalist, committed Christian, and first Secretary General of the African National Congress, Sol Plaatje (1876-1932) cycled around South Africa with a typewriter to document the devastating impact of the 1913 Land Act, which saw Black landowners dispossessed overnight in most of South Africa.
He is memorialised here at the Long March to Freedom exhibition at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in Maropeng, 55 km north west of Johannesburg. The Long March to Freedom consists of almost 100 life-sized bronze statues of people who resisted colonialism and apartheid from the 17th Century to the late 20th Century. It is said to be the largest exhibition of representational bronze sculptures anywhere in the world.
Name: Reginald Stains alias Brown
Arrested for: not given
Arrested at: North Shields
Arrested on: 4 December 1915
Tyne and Wear Archives ref: DX1388-1-262-Reginald Stains AKA Brown
The Shields Daily News for 15 December 1915 reports:
“NORTH SHIELDS FALSE PRETENCES CASE. ACCUSED COMMITTED FOR TRIAL.
Reginald Ashley Staines (30), chief steward, of 23 Milton Terrace, was brought up on remand at North Shields today, charged with having obtained by false pretences on the 22nd Nov. from Joseph Randell, the sum of £15 and on the 23rd ult. a further sum of £7 from Joseph Randell and Ed. Perris and on the same date in a like manner, the sum of £5 from William Manson Bews, with intent to cheat and defraud. Mr Frankham of Newcastle defended.
Joseph Randell of 40 Drummond Terrace stated that in the early part of November last defendant came to his shop and made reference to some previous groceries and wanted to open an account. On the 22nd October he ordered goods to be sent on board his ship. On the 22nd Nov. he wanted to cash a cheque for £15. He said he had got married and wanted to go to Liverpool and witness gave him the £15. Next day he again came to the shop and asked witness to cash another cheque for £7 and he said he would send his account from Liverpool in settlement for some goods. Witness cashed the cheque. He presented the cheques on the 22nd and 23rd Nov. and they were returned on the 24th and 25th.
Mr Frankham: Defendant has had other dealings with you for groceries and provision? – Yes.
Mr Frankham: Have you cashed other cheques for him? One, for £10, which was honoured.
Mr Frankham: If he had asked for the loan of a certain sum, would you have give him it? – No.
Mr Frankham: He never attempted to conceal where he was going to? – No.
Mr Frankham: You made no effort to get in touch with him? – Yes. Mr Perris went to his mother’s and could not get his address.
William Manson Bews, a tailor residing in Linskill Terrace, said that on the 23rd October the defendant came to his shop and ordered a frock suit, a jack suit, a double-breasted suit and a cap. He was dressed in a naval uniform and said the things had to be delivered to the Northumberland Arms. On the 22nd November he again came to the shop and asked for his account. He told witness he was a little short of cash. Witness gave him £5 and the defendant made out a cheque for £22 12s, in payment of the clothes and the money. The cheque was presented at Farrow’s Bank, Newcastle on the 24th and returned on the 26th. Witness still had all the clothes with the exception of the uniform.
George Graham Campbell of Farrow’s Bank said that no the 24th November the cheque produced, for £15, was presented and returned, marked ‘N.S.’. On that date the defendant only had £3 19s 6d in the bank. On the 25th November cheques for £7 and £22 12s were presented but the defendant only had a balance of £1 19s 6d then.
Detective-Sergeant Radcliffe stated that from certain information received he went to Brighton, on the 3rd inst. and took the defendant into custody from the Brighton police. He was brought to North Shields and when questioned replied “The only thing I can say is, the cheque must not have been met”. When charged later he made no reply. The defendant pleaded not guilty.
Mr Frankham said the defendant had not the slightest intent to rob anybody of money. He had a banking account and being newly married and unwell, had gone away and given these cheques. He had about £16 on board the ship and the officers were owing him about £30. The defendant gave a cheque for £1 on the 13th November as a donation to the YMCA. He had not tried to cover up any tracks and the officers on board HMS Satellite knew where he was.
The defendant, in giving evidence on his own behalf, said he was chief steward on HM Yacht Medusa II. The ship came into port on the 19th November and he had leave granted because he had been ill and he was going to be married. After the marriage he went to Liverpool and was there two days and he then went to London and Brighton. He sent his medical certificate to HMS Satellite. When he got the money from Mr Randell and Mr Bews he understood he had sufficient money in the bank to meet the cheques. Money was owing to him on board the ship but he could not say how much. He had no intention of defrauding the people.
The defendant was committed for trial at the Quarter Sessions”.
On 6 January 1916 at Northumberland Quarter Sessions Reginald Staines was acquitted on a charge of obtaining money by false pretences from tradesmen at North Shields.
These images are taken from an album of photographs of prisoners brought before the North Shields Police Court between 1902 and 1916 (TWAM ref. DX1388/1). This set is our selection of the best mugshots taken during the First World War. They have been chosen because of the sharpness and general quality of the images. The album doesn’t record the details of each prisoner’s crimes, just their names and dates of arrest.
In order to discover the stories behind the mugshots, staff from Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums visited North Shields Local Studies Library where they carefully searched through microfilm copies of the ‘Shields Daily News’ looking for newspaper reports of the court cases. The newspaper reports have been transcribed and added below each mugshot.
Combining these two separate records gives us a fascinating insight into life on the Home Front during the First World War. These images document the lives of people of different ages and backgrounds, both civilians and soldiers. Our purpose here is not to judge them but simply to reflect the realities of their time.
(Copyright) We're happy for you to share this digital image within the spirit of The Commons. Please cite 'Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' when reusing. Certain restrictions on high quality reproductions and commercial use of the original physical version apply though; if you're unsure please email archives@twmuseums.org.uk.
;-) Texto en castellano mas abajo ;-)
Excuse me the many mistakes that sure I have committed in the translation, I hope that it is understood regardless!
Conclusion of the trilogy blog – pride – persons.
Third and last part of this trilogy that I dedicate to explain, and to explain myself, because I use the captions (feet) of my photos as if they were my personal blog.
Always I have been a crossdresser girl, an innate tendency that thankfully did not produce many concern to me, it was there, but separated from my habitual life. It was dominating my fantasies and dreams, but was not leaving trace in the "real" life. It was appearing in the moment in which one was giving an opportunity and was vanishing without leaving trace, as if it had never happened at all. I was never planning anything, never thinking about it except in my dreams, only… was arising occasionally, sometimes with many frequency, sometimes with long periods of inactivity. Until that came one day in which I wanted more, I started having concern, started having desires and this part of me that was living in my dreams until that moment, started emerging in my reality. It was then when I started investigating the subject, in the easiest and more safe way … Internet. I was lucky, found at the first attempt the suitable sites, far from the topics and the habitual image of the "transvestite" with which I was not identifying. I found heterosexuals crossdressers who understood the subject of similar form to how I was feeling. It was good for me, I could see from out, in other persons a sort of reflection of what I was, or I wanted to be. In this reflection I saw persons and saw pride, not because they wanted to transmit it deliberately, surely they were not thinking it, but it was what I saw, and I liked it. Different and complete persons to who the crossdress factor, was not limiting them and was not determining for entire. Crossdress was alone one more characteristic and they were not left to trap for a hackneyed role that really was not reflecting their true personality, except when wanted to do it. A characteristic that they were taking of natural form, with precaution against the dangers, but with the implicit pride of the one that does not make nothing bad. Yes, I was lucky, if instead of find initially the correct persons I had found the typical image of the transvestism, surely I had stopped searching soon, convinced to be totally atypical. And surely not had changed anything, probably my path would be the same, but I had felt isolated and alone in this. Because of it I would like to contribute to put my two cents in to give the image that I received in that moment. Flickr is the temple of the image, is not the appropriate site to write, but it is, probably, one of the first sites that visits a beginner crossdress girl, or someone interested in it… almost certainly, end up passing through Youtube or Flickr, and if fortuitously find my gallery, I hope that they see a gallery that, though it belongs to a silly and ugly girl with a low level of crossdress, it transmit the values that I liked to find so much. This one is not the reason for which I upload photos and videoes, but it is the principal reason for which I try to transmit my personality in what I do, because of it, even though it is not the suitable place and be so ephemeral as to construct sandcastles, I write whatever I think in every moment, things related to the crossdress and things that not, silly things and deep issues, my tastes and interests, my culture … because it is the gallery of a person … that among other many things, is a crossdresser girl and is proud of it.
Conclusión de la trilogía blog-orgullo-personas.
Tercera y última parte de esta trilogía que dedico a explicar, y a explicarme a mi misma de paso, el porque utilizo los pies de fotos como si fueran mi blog personal.
Siempre he sido una chica crossdresser, una tendencia innata que por suerte no me produjo muchas inquietudes, estaba ahí, pero separada de mi vida habitual. Dominaba mis fantasías y sueños, pero no dejaba huella en la vida “real”. Se manifestaba en el momento en que se daba una oportunidad y se desvanecía sin dejar huella, como si nunca hubiera pasado nada. Nunca planeaba nada, nunca pensaba en ello excepto en mis sueños, solo… surgía de vez en cuando, a veces con mucha frecuencia, a veces con largos periodos de inactividad. Hasta que llegó un día en que quise más, empecé a tener inquietudes, empecé a tener deseos y esa parte de mí que vivía en mis sueños hasta ese momento, empezó a emerger en mi realidad. Fue entonces cuando empecé a investigar sobre el tema, de la manera más fácil y segura… Internet. Tuve mucha suerte, encontré a la primera los sitios adecuados, lejos de los tópicos y la imagen habitual del “travesti” con la que no me identificaba. Encontré a crossdressers heterosexuales que entendían el tema de forma parecida a la que yo sentía. Eso fue bueno para mi, pude ver desde fuera, en otras personas una especie de reflejo de lo que yo era, o quería ser. En ese reflejo veía personas y veía orgullo, no porque ellas lo quisieran transmitir expresamente así, seguramente ni lo pensaban, pero era lo que yo veía, y me gustaba. Personas distintas y completas a la que el factor crossdress, ni limitaba ni condicionaba por entero. El crossdress era solo una característica más y no se dejaban aprisionar por un rol tópico que realmente no reflejaba su verdadera personalidad, excepto en los momentos que sí que querían hacerlo. Una característica que llevaban de forma natural, con precaución ante los peligros, pero con el orgullo implícito del que no hace nada malo. Sí, tuve suerte, si en vez de dar al principio con las personas correctas, hubiera encontrado la imagen típica del travestismo, seguramente hubiera dejado pronto de buscar, convencida de ser una bicho raro totalmente atípica. Y no es que hubiera cambiado nada, probablemente mi trayectoria sería la misma, pero me hubiera sentido aislada y sola en esto. Por eso me gustaría aportar mi granito de arena en dar la imagen que yo recibí en su momento. Flickr es el templo de la imagen, no es el sitio adecuado para escribir, pero sí es, probablemente, unos de los primeros sitio que visite una chica crossdress principiante, o alguien interesado por el tema… terminas pasando por Youtube o por Flickr casi seguro, y si por casualidad dan con mi galería, espero que vean una galería que, aunque sea de una chica tonta y fea con un nivel bastante bajo de crossdress, transmita los valores que a mi tanto me gustó encontrar. Esta no es la razón por la que subo fotos y videos, pero sí es la razón principal por la que intento transmitir mi personalidad en lo que hago, por eso escribo, aunque no sea el lugar adecuado y sea tan efímero como construir castillos de arena, lo que se me ocurre en cada momento, cosas relacionadas con el crossdress y cosas que no, disparates y temas profundos, mis gustos y aficiones, mi cultura… porque es la galería de una persona… que entre otras muchas cosas, es una chica crossdresser y está orgullosa de ello.
PS. Si quieres ver videos con este look (If you want see a videos with this look) :
In Youtube (recomendado, se ve mejor / recommended, it looks better):
(black version) www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7ZCsLKcOQs
(blue version) www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lzDtTeAte4
In Flickr:
(black version) www.flickr.com/photos/61410455@N08/6884139200/in/photostream
(blue version) www.flickr.com/photos/61410455@N08/7177731536/in/photostream
PPS. También disponéis de una versión alternativa de esta foto con un estilo cómics en la siguiente dirección: / Also is available an alternate version of this photo, in a comics style, at the following link:
www.flickr.com/photos/61410455@N08/7308970340/in/photostream
Estoy muy orgullosa de esa versión, así como de la original que estáis viendo aquí. / I am very proud of that version and also the original photo you're seeing here ^_^
Happy Rezz Day to Me!
________________________________________________
- Happy Rezz Day to Me! The longest committed relationship I’ve ever been in is the one I have with my @secondlife avatar. 15 years ago I saw people fighting over land on an episode of Judge Judy and I had to try it out. Over the years we’ve been on again and off again. I’ve been through countless heartbreaks, scandals and name changes 😂 I went from embarrassed to tell people I played to a successful content creator. Along the way I’ve forged so many life changing relationships and friendships and I’m so grateful for those people. Without Second Life, my real life would be so boring LOL so here’s to 15 and 15 more! As long as SL’s around, I will be too!
________________________________________________
georgia hair by punklist - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/PUNKLIST/161/132/2506
hermosa hairbase and bangs by studio exposure - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Stone%20Diamond/123/128/20
ziva earrings by yorke - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Valhalla%20Estates%20Manag...
tahir latex dress by rowne - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rowne/89/107/2006
party balloons (round balloons, tinted by me) by bijou - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/BIJOU%20BLUE/91/113/24
gigi balloons (number balloons, tinted by me) by legna - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dream%20Lake/91/113/24
Today I committed to doing a film image. With the rain starting just as I started to shoot I figured the universe was encouraging me to shoot a portrait. The light in Luc’s room is the best in the house. It faces south, has floor to ceiling windows with the bottom half diffused with translucent coroplast. Aubrey was deep into Roblox but Luc was nice enough to give me a bit of time. So up came a piece of black foam core and away we went.
I actually missed focus on this frame but I don't mind as this is by far the strongest image of the set. I fudged the error with some liberal sharpening on the eyes in Capture One.
Shot with my Mamiya C220 and chrome 80mm f/2.8 lens wide open at 1/60 of a second, developed by hand in the upstairs bathroom and digitized with my Fujifilm X-T3 and old manual focus Nikkor 55 micro... all in the same day.
Expired Delta 100 Pro (2014) developed in Ilford DD-X in a Patterson tank for 11:30 minutes. Conversion from negative, spotting and some dodging done in Capture One Pro.
I just love the look of medium format film.
178/365
I'm not sure a bird can be anymore stretched out and committed to catching that fish than this massive eagle is. With the talons extended out front and the wings fully in the back position ready to apply as much force as possible to striking and clamping down on that fish, this eagle means business.
These birds are focused downward and have committed to the drop down to the pond in a steep descent... more a free fall drop (i.e., parachute) than a glide-in. This shot against a cloudy western sunset sky results in a silhouette view of the crane against the sky... but if you're familiar with these birds such shots offer no difficulty regarding their ID. The sky colors deepen so rapidly, and the bird groups continually arrive... you need to be constantly shooting to capture the ever changing spectacle! All of the subsequent shots this evening will be of silhouettes of the Cranes against the sky background.
IMG_8110; Committed To Land
Model: Desli (@desliness)
Committed to Kodak Portra 400 using a Hasselblad 503CX and 100 mm Zeiss lens. Developed using a C41 kit from Ars-Imago and digitised with a digital camera. Positive conversion and contrast done with Negsets, dust removal and sharpening in Photoshop.
New (ab)normal. I'm committed to documenting the way our life looks during this outbreak. It's a way to process, and also none of us have every lived through anything like this. So here we are.
I blogged my first week's photographs if you're interested. Link: www.erinblinn.com/blog/2020/3/24/covid-19-week-1ish
On Saturday 14 May 2022, a protest was held opposite 10 Downing Street by the Masalit (also Massalit/Massaleit) community against genocidal atrocities committed against them in Darfur, Sudan, including the murder between the 22 and 24 April of at least 168 people and the burning of hundreds of houses and shops. Some protesters also expressed their anger at the lack of action by the UK and other Western governments.
www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/25/sudan-at-least-168-...
www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/04/sudan-bachelet-ap...
Human rights NGOs claim that those murdered were victims of attacks by the Janjaweed militia which have been integrated into Sudan's paramilitary 'Rapid Support Forces' (RSF) commanded by Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
Since 2003, the Masalit, a non-Arab ethnic group of some 350,000 living in Darfur, have been the victims of repeated crimes against humanity, including killings, lootings, burnings, torture and rapes at the hands of the Janjaweed, who have been backed by Sudan's central government and the RSF. The RSF have also earned an ugly reputation for their brutal assaults on demonstrators calling for civilian rule in Khartoum and across the country.
The Sudanese government, currently headed by acting prime minister Osman Hussein, remains in the pockets of the military council (now renamed 'Sovereignty Council') and Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo , heavily backed by Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, and is committed to implementing severe cutbacks to obtain new loans from the IMF. These continue, despite a recent surge in prices, which has seen the cost of a loaf of bread nearly double from 30 to 50 Sudanese pounds.
socialistworker.co.uk/international/how-can-the-revolutio...
socialistworker.co.uk/international/hunger-and-resistance...
We here at Bullseye® are committed to bringing you top quality products to feed your sadistic inner addiction for mindlessly slaughtering people you dislike,
The ''Linebacker'' Anti personal rifle is our latest weapon using our patented dual bolt cycling technology, This little beauty fires .308 Sabot rounds at face melting velocity, enough to leave anything with 2 hilariously large holes, The Linebacker is also equipped with our new auto-lock on target tracking scope, so you never miss your target!
We here at Bullseye® do not condone the murder of innocent animals or people, we do however find it fucking hilarious!
Oh, and did we mention? The Linebacker can be fulfilling your need for mindless violence in 3 easy payments of 7000 credits! And as always, purchasing a Bullseye® gives you the Bullseye® Guarantee!*
*If your Bullseye® weapon blows off your arms and leaves you disabled, please send us an email telling us about the faulty weapon and we will repair your weapon for no extra costs*
**Bullseye® Home Repair kits now available for only 33 easy payments of 500 Credits!***
***Shipping not Included!
''Bullseye® Pleasing the sadistic inner child of you since 2012!''
Credit to Cami for the shading technique.
Committed to Ilford HP5+ pushed to 800 using a Leica M6 and 35 mm Summicron v3 lens. Developed using Ars-Imago FD as per the Massive Dev chart and scanned with an Epson V850 using Silverfast. Positive conversion and contrast done with Negative Lab Pro.
Three orthodox Jews protesting against Israeli atrocities committed against Palestinians. They had joined other demonstrators, who were angry at the failure of British authorities to arrest Ehud Barack, the butcher of Gaza, who was scheduled to give a talk at the Jewish Community Centre on Finchley Road to promote his memoirs.
[ Just in case anyone is interested I have attached a link to my research on British crimes against both Arabs and Jews in Palestine during the mandate period - 1919-1948. Use the following url and scroll down the list of countries alphabetically for Palestine - roguenation.org/choose-by-country/ ]
The police, instead of arresting Ehud Barak, had been instructed to protect him !
Barak was Israel's Minister of Defence during Operation Cast Lead (also known as the Gaza massacre) in 2008-9, during which, according to United Nations figures, 1417 Palestinian were killed, the vast majority of them (926) civilians including 344 children, 250 police officers, civil defence works and ambulance drivers.
A passing out parade of police officers was deliberately targeted in the opening surprise aerial assault on 27 December. Civilian infrastructure was also targeted. Over half of Gaza's hospitals were seriously damaged or destroyed as well as tens of thousands of homes, half a million people were deprived of running water and a million people without any electric supply.
It is interesting to note that recently Ehud Barak has himself accused the current Israeli government of having been hijacked by extremists. Last year he wrote a piece for the New York Times observing that "our country now finds its very future, identity and security severely threatened by the whims and illusions of the ultranationalist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
The demonstrators were however unwilling to trust a suspected war criminal now portraying himself as a moderate and they were also angry that two weeks earlier,
on Monday 14th May 2018, 61 unarmed Palestinians, including several children and a baby, were killed by the Israeli army, most of them shot dead by precision snipers during a demonstration close to Gaza's border fence, although some may also have been killed by the excessive us of CS gas.
Apart from the shocking number of fatalities, over 2,000 Palestinians were injured (including at least eight journalists) on the same day; over one thousand of them by live ammunition. On the same day, the United States had moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move which is a clear violation of international law. US president Donald Trump called it a "great day for Israel."
On the following day several hundred protesters had gathered in central London opposite Downing Street to protest against both the ongoing Israeli crimes against the population of Gaza and the West Bank and also British diplomatic and military support for Israel. Since 2014, the UK government has exported 445 million dollars worth of arms to the country, including components for fighter aircraft, helicopters and sniper rifles.
People in the demonstration on 15 May had expressed anger at the Israseli army's use of lethal force against unarmed protesters over the previous few weeks, which had resulted in the death of 111 demonstrators and thousands of civilian casualties. Needless to say not a single Israeli soldier had been injured and one of the Palestinians killed, Yasser Murtada, was a well respected journalist who had previously worked for the BBC, and was clearly wearing a PRESS jacket at the moment he was shot in the chest by a carefully aimed sniper's bullet.
He, like others, was also killed some distance from the illegally erected border/prison fence which isolates the population of Gaza from both their family relatives and any chance of gainful economic employment in wealthier areas. That's why the popular anology which compares Israel to South African apartheid is highly misleading because in South Africa, at least the white population needed the blacks as workers, even if they committed appalling atrocities, but in Israel the Palestinian population are neither needed nor wanted by Israeli employees.
Palestinians are treated worse than dogs, to whom humans tend to show some sympathy, but rather as unworthy of any consideration, so much so that past Israeli military operations against Gaza in which the planners know thousands of civilians are likely to die are given the military term "mowing the grass", because the Palestinian civilian population is considered of no more value in importance, than the ants one might tread underfoot when one ventures into the garden.
Committed to Ilford HP5+ using a Leica M6 and 35 mm Summicron v3 lens. Developed using Ars-Imago FD as per the Massive Dev chart and scanned with an Epson V850 using Silverfast. Positive conversion and contrast done with Negative Lab Pro.
Three orthodox Jews protesting against Israel's continued construction of illegal settlements and its atrocities committed against Palestinians. They had joined other demonstrators, who were angry at the failure of British authorities to arrest Ehud Barak, the butcher of Gaza, who was scheduled to give a talk at the Jewish Community Centre on Finchley Road to promote his memoirs.
[ Just in case anyone is interested I have attached a link to my research on British crimes against both Arabs and Jews in Palestine during the mandate period - 1919-1948. Use the following url and scroll down the list of countries alphabetically for Palestine - roguenation.org/choose-by-country/ ]
The police, instead of arresting Ehud Barak, had been instructed to protect him !
Barrack was Israel's Minister of Defence during Operation Cast Lead (also known as the Gaza massacre) in 2008-9, during which, according to United Nations figures, 1417 Palestinian were killed, the vast majority of them (926) civilians including 344 children, 250 police officers, civil defence works and ambulance drivers.
A passing out parade of police officers was deliberately targeted in the opening surprise aerial assault on 27 December. Civilian infrastructure was also targeted. Over half of Gaza's hospitals were seriously damaged or destroyed as well as tens of thousands of homes, half a million people were deprived of running water and a million people without any electric supply.
It is interesting to note that recently Ehud Barak has himself accused the current Israeli government of having been hijacked by extremists. Last year he wrote a piece for the New York Times observing that "our country now finds its very future, identity and security severely threatened by the whims and illusions of the ultranationalist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
The demonstrators were however unwilling to trust a suspected war criminal now portraying himself as a moderate and they were also angry that two weeks earlier, on Monday 14th May 2018, 61 unarmed Palestinians, including several children and a baby, were killed by the Israeli army, most of them shot dead by precision snipers during a demonstration close to Gaza's border fence, although some may also have been killed by the excessive us of CS gas.
Apart from the shocking number of fatalities, over 2,000 Palestinians were injured (including at least eight journalists), over one thousand of them by live ammunition. On the same day, the United States had moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move which is a clear violation of international law. US president Donald Trump called it a "great day for Israel."
On the following day several hundred protesters had gathered in central London opposite Downing Street to protest against both the ongoing Israeli crimes against the population of Gaza and the West Bank and also British diplomatic and military support for Israel. Since 2014, the UK government has exported 445 million dollars worth of arms to the country, including components for fighter aircraft, helicopters and sniper rifles.
People in the demonstration on 15 May had expressed anger at the Israseli army's use of lethal force against unarmed protesters over the previous few weeks, which had resulted in the death of 111 demonstrators and thousands of civilian casualties. Needless to say not a single Israeli soldier had been injured and one of the Palestinians killed, Yasser Murtada, was a well respected journalist who had previously worked for the BBC, and was clearly wearing a PRESS jacket at the moment he was shot in the chest by a carefully aimed sniper's bullet.
He, like others, was also killed some distance from the illegally erected border/prison fence which isolates the population of Gaza from both their family relatives and any chance of gainful economic employment in wealthier areas. That's why the popular anology which compares Israel to South African apartheid is highly misleading because in South Africa, at least the white population needed the blacks as workers, even if they committed appalling atrocities, but in Israel the Palestinian population are neither needed nor wanted by Israeli employees.
Palestinians are treated worse than dogs, to whom humans tend to show some sympathy, but rather as unworthy of any consideration, so much so that past Israeli military operations against Gaza in which the planners know thousands of civilians are likely to die are given the military term "mowing the grass", because the Palestinian civilian population is considered of no more value in importance, than the ants one might tread underfoot when one ventures into the garden.
Nature paths suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs will wind you around a stunning, safe wetland habitat littered with pockets of woodland and wildflower meadows, and the friendly Kingfisher Tearooms is a great place to you recharge with friends and family. Hides allow you to get up close and personal with birds such as woodpeckers and kingfishers and during your wander you may also encounter mammals such as roe deer and hedgehogs. The ponds provide a home for newts, frogs and whirligig beetles with staff on hand to show you the best spots for pond dipping. The meadows during summer are full of butterflies including small tortoiseshell, in comparison to a snow laden winter where you may be lucky enough to spot our overwintering bitterns – this globally threatened species is a real highlight for any wildlife watcher.
Come summer vivid purple loosestrife and Southern marsh orchids provide plenty of colour.
The Potteric Carr Nature Reserve trail guide* is available to download below, which includes a map with all the hides and paths marked on so that you don't miss out any of the wonderful habitats and species during your visit. Also don't miss out on the Minibeast Totem Pole trail, which has a podcast put together by Pheasant Bank Academy.
For an idea of the geat array of wildlife that can be discovered on the nature reserve take a look at our latest sightings blog.
Please note we unfortunately do not allow dogs or bikes onto the reserve as they may disturb or harm our wonderful wildlife.
Volunteering at Potteric Carr
To find out more about how to get involved at Potteric Carr, including our regular practical conservation task days, please see our volunteering pages.
Education at Potteric Carr
Potteric Carr also offers a fantastic education programme, working with children, young people and adults to encourage a love and understanding of Yorkshire's amazing wildlife!
For more information about visiting Potteric Carr or getting involved in volunteering, send an email to potteric.carr@ywt.org.uk or call 01302 570077.
www.ywt.org.uk/potteric-learning
Potteric Carr Nature Reserve offers a rich variety of wildlife education programmes for community groups and all key stage level classes from Early Years through to University level.
The activities held at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve aims to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to take an active interest in local wildlife and its conservation. We provide children, young people and adults with fun, relevant, high quality environmental education. Out of classroom learning on site offers fantastic opportunities for positive, progressive and participative learning.
For more information on the sessions available and costs associated please see our learning pages.
Email the Education Team for more information or call 01302 570077.
www.ywt.org.uk/discover-learn/potteric-carr-flagship-rese...
As well as formal education programme, we also offer informal sessions for community groups including out of school groups such as Scouts and Guides, youth groups and school holiday clubs, and also for adult groups.
We're a learning destination for the Children's University!
Doncaster Children's University is a Study Support scheme offered by Doncaster College. Children taking part in the scheme can collect credits in a 'Passport to Learning' and work towards a 'National Award' by attending after school clubs or Learning Destinations.
Children's University Learning Destinations provide learning opportunities for children outside of school hours and out of the classroom! For more information about Doncaster Children's University and to find out where you can get a 'Passport to Learning', click here.
Come along to one of our events to get your passport stamped. Find out what events are coming up at Potteric Carr on our What's On pages.
www.ywt.org.uk/discover-learn/potteric-carr-flagship-rese...
We offer a range of exciting activities for brownies, cubs, scouts, guides and other groups at Potteric Carr which can be linked to badge work or just for fun!
All activities can be tailored to meet your groups needs. Here are just a few of the sessions you can expect to enjoy at Potteric Carr.
Beneath the water
Pond dipping to capture, identify and study mini-beasts that live under water, before returning them to their natural environment.
Mini-beast madness
Searching, sorting and studying mini-beasts found in leaf litter, log piles or grassland areas.
Where am I?
Discover how to find your way around the Reserve using geography including a map game, and learn to draw simple maps with keys yourself.
A special place
A series of activities aimed at helping children appreciate the wonders of nature including sticky palettes, journey sticks, un-natural trails.
Bush Craft
Try your hand at traditional crafts and help make some wonderful items as well as learning about bushcraft and survival in the wild!
www.ywt.org.uk/discover-learn/potteric-carr-flagship-rese...
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust received funding from the BIG Lottery to develop a community pond dipping station - an exciting new resource for local community groups to use.
This project provides community groups with an outdoor classroom stocked with all the necessary equipment; ID guides, interpretation and information to ensure a memorable visit to the nature reserve. We also hope discovering the benefits of having a pond will inspire action in the community. Ponds may be small but they are an important part of our landscape and create hotspots for a huge range of wildlife. Making a pond is one of the best ways to quickly and easily attract a variety of wildlife into your own backyard, whilst also providing a fascinating resource for all
www.ywt.org.uk/connect/flutter-by
Flutter By at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve started in March 2013 and aims to inspire all about our fascinating winged wildlife. Read on for more...
Generously funded through WREN, we have been able to create a new sensory garden and natural play area to be enjoyed by both the wildlife at Potteric Carr and most importantly you … our visitors!
WREN is a not for profit business that awards grants to community, environmental and heritage projects across the UK from funds donated by Waste Recycling Group (WRG) to the Landfill Communities Fund.
Peter Cox, managing director of WREN explains that "WREN is committed to funding projects that make a real difference to local communities, children and families. The Flutter By project will provide a fantastic space for local people to get outdoors and have some fun. We’re delighted to support Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to make this happen and look forward to the completion of the project in March 2013."
Invertebrates .... The basis of all ecosystems
7-spot ladybird - Credit Rachel ScopesWildflower meadows offer a diverse habitat rich in wildlife but this colourful landscape has been restricted in the UK due to change in land use and management since around the second world war. The decline in these habitats has been shown to have a negative effect on many invertebrate species, which in turn has caused noted declines in various other animals such as farmland birds and other small mammals. Invertebrate populations, ‘minibeasts’, play an important role in all ecosystems, by providing a service to both the environment and the species within it. Minibeasts not only provide an essential source of food for various animals, they also act as waste recyclers, pollinators and pest controllers and can be used to assess the ecological quality of a habitat. For these reasons the conservation of wildflower meadows are of increasing importance.
Flutter By
Flutter By, a component of The Connect Project, has been created to aid public engagement with the Humberhead Levels Nature Improvement Area (NIA), by building an area which can be use for exploration and learning. The old sensory garden at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve, which at present can be found along the Dragonfly Trail has undergone a transformation as our team of staff, contractors and volunteers all got their hands dirty rebuilding a natural play space and butterfly garden.
The garden has been filled with wildflowers which will attract numerous invertebrate species, in turn encouraging other species of birds and mammals to take advantage of the increasingly diversified habitat on the nature reserve. Along with the creation of new habitats, a variety of natural play equipment was commissioned which has been built and designed with the minibeast theme in mind! To help you learn more about the importance of invertebrates within the ecosystem and make your visit to the garden even more enjoyable a minibeast audio trail has also been put together. This trail consists of a number of minibeast inspired totem poles, each with a downloadable podcast for you to listen to as you search the garden (see below).
In addition to the environmental benefits Flutter By will create, it gives you a chance to get involved in a project which will benefit conservation and your local community.
There are various ways to get involved in Flutter By, from helping with the construction of the Garden and activity station to attending training sessions to learn how to teach groups in your community.
Children's Events
We have many children's events running throughout the year, many of which take place in or around the Flutter By Garden. Find out what events are coming up at Potteric Carr on our What's On pages.
Corporate Workdays
Flutter By is an ongoing project which needs continuous maintenance; one of the ways in which you can help is by booking a corporate workday. Corporate workdays are a brilliant opportunity to develop better working relationships, spend a day out of your normal working environment and make a difference to your local wildlife! Find out more about corporate workdays by contacting Lizzie Dealey.
Community Leader Training
Community Leader Training events offer a great opportunity to community group leaders to learn about minibeasting activities. Click here to find out more.
Explore the mosaic of habitats and wonderfully diverse wildlife at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve by picking one of four trails, many of which are suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
The four routes are marked by coloured posts which include:
Dragonfly Trail - orange markers; 3 km lasting approx. 50 minutes
Expresso Trail - brown markers; 0.5 km lasting approx. 10 minutes
Railway Walk - red markers; 3 km lasting approx. 50 minutes
Wetland Walk - blue markers; 5 km lasting approx. 1 hour 10 minutes
All four routes cover approximately 8 km if you decide to make a day of it and take in the majority of the nature reserve. Please download the Potteric Carr Nature Reserve leaflet at the bottom of the page which shows all of the footpaths. On all routes you will come across several bird hides, the majority with ramp access. There is also a special iSpy leaflet to download for children, showing the Dragonfly Trail.
For a better view of the wildlife, stop in one of fourteen hides, which offer excellent vantage points.
After your walk be sure to stop in at the Kingfisher Tearooms for a cream tea or cake.
If you've brought along your children or grandchildren then don't miss out on the Discovery Room, open during weekends and in the school holidays and packed full with wildlife-themed books, games and crafts. Activity rucksacks are also available for our younger guests - ask at reception for more details.
We do ask that you keep to the footpaths so as not to disturb our wonderful wildlife, as conservation work is carried out in these areas. Please be aware that if crossing the railway you will need to be in possession of either your membership card or ticket.
We hope you enjoy the walks and don't forget to let us know of your wildlife sightings by adding them to our 'Potteric Carr Sightings' Blog in the left hand menu!
www.ywt.org.uk/discover-learn/potteric-carr-flagship-rese...
Come take a browse in the shop at Potteric Carr, with merchandise to tempt all ages
There is something for everyone at the Potteric Carr shop - with binoculars, books, bird seed and much more it really is worth the stop! If you're after something in a hurry and haven't got time to pop down to the shop then why not take a look online.
Stockists of:
Zeiss
Opticron
Vine House Farm
CJ Wildlife
The Nuttery
Jacobi Jayne (Squirrel Busters)
Gardman
Email Richard Sykes or call on 01302 570077.
www.ywt.org.uk/discover-learn/potteric-carr-flagship-rese...
Looking to visit Potteric Carr? Here is some useful information...
Opening Times:
Nature reserve: 9am - 5pm
Kingfisher Tearooms: 10am - 4pm (October - May) 10:30 am- 4:30pm (April - September)
Car parking: Locked at 5pm - if you would like to stay later, then arrive before 5pm and ask at the front desk
Open seven days a week (check website for Christmas closure times)
Prices:
Members of The Wildlife Trusts : Free
Adults: £4.00
Children: £2.00
Concessions: £2.50
Family: £7.50 (two adults & up to four under 16's)
No dogs or bikes please, they can disturb and harm our wonderful wildlife.
Address
Potteric Carr Nature Reserve
Sedum House
Mallard Way
Doncaster
DN4 8DB
Directions:
Coming from Doncaster take the White Rose Way (A6182), at the roundabout follow the directions for the M18. Potteric Carr Nature Reserve is signposted.
From the A1 (southbound) come off at Junction 35 for the M18, then take Junction 3 towards Doncaster and follow signs for the A6182 (White Rose Way). At the first set of lights you reach, turn right into Mallard Way. Park at Sedum House.
Nearest train station: Doncaster
For further information get in touch with us by calling 01302 570077 or by emailing potteric.carr@ywt.org.uk.
www.ywt.org.uk/potteric-kingfisher-tearooms
Visit the Kingfisher Tearooms
No trip to Potteric Carr Nature Reserve is complete without a rest stop at the Kingfisher Tearooms, where quality home-made food produced from local ingredients is our top priority.
Join us at the Kingfisher Tearooms for a spot of cream tea or a mouth-wateringly delicious sandwich packed full of local ingredients.
A child-friendly menu is available and for those wanting to venture from the tearooms for their lunch a family picnic basket provides the perfect solution.
All of our food is lovingly prepared from scratch, using the freshest of ingredients, with gluten free options available.
Opening Times:
April 1st - October 1st: 10:30am - 4:30pm
October 2nd - March 31st: 10am - 4pm
For more information:
Email Bev Walker or call 01302 364152.
We would love to help you with any bespoke cake orders, just get in touch!
Thank you to Network Rail, Unipart Rail and Phoenix Mechanical Services Ltd who have sponsored the Kingfisher Tearooms
www.ywt.org.uk/discover-learn/potteric-carr-flagship-rese...
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust with the help of volunteers work to ensure the variety of habitats at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve are maintained.
Reed management at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve - Credit Jim HorsfallSome of this work involves reed cutting, this is carried out on a 10-year rotation with different blocks cut on each year of the cycle.
The grasslands are managed through a conservation grazing programme using Highland cattle and Hebridean sheep to allow the less competitive species to establish. Hay cutting also occurs in some areas to remove nutrients and improve the grassland for wildflowers.
In the woodland some areas are coppiced and other trees are thinned out to let more light through to the woodland floor and encourage woodland flowers to grow.
Footpaths and benches are also maintained to ensure guests enjoy a pleasant visit!
Regular volunteer days are held on site to help with the management of the wonderful habitats and species found here.
For more information call Potteric Carr on 01302 570077.
The old Orphanage, now the public library.
Gouda is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes, and 15th-century city hall.
In the Middle Ages, a settlement was founded at the location of the current city by the Van der Goude family, who built a fortified castle alongside the banks of the Gouwe River, from which the family and the city took its name. The area, originally marshland, developed over the course of two centuries. By 1225, a canal was linked to the Gouwe and its estuary was transformed into a harbour. Gouda's array of historic churches and other buildings makes it a very popular day trip destination.
Around the year 1100, the area where Gouda now is located was swampy and covered with a peat forest, crossed by small creeks such as the Gouwe. Along the shores of this stream near the current market and city hall, peat harvesting began in the 11th and 12th centuries. In 1139, the name Gouda is first mentioned in a statement from the Bishop of Utrecht.
In the 13th century, the Gouwe was connected to the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) by means of a canal and its mouth at the Hollandse IJssel was developed into a harbour. Castle Gouda was built to protect this harbour. This shipping route was used for trade between Flanders and France with Holland and the Baltic Sea. In 1272, Floris V, Count of Holland, granted city rights to Gouda, which by then had become an important location. City-canals or grachten were dug and served as transport ways through the town.
Great fires in 1361 and 1438 destroyed the city. In 1572, the city was occupied by Les Gueux (Dutch rebels against the Spanish King) who also committed arson and destruction. In 1577 the demolition of Castle Gouda began.
In 1574, 1625, 1636, and 1673, Gouda suffered from deadly plague epidemics, of which the last one was the most severe: 2995 persons died, constituting 20% of its population.
In the last quarter of the 16th century, Gouda had serious economic problems. It recovered in the first half of the 17th century and even prospered between 1665 and 1672. But its economy collapsed again when war broke out in 1672 and the plague decimated the city in 1673, even affecting the pipe industry. After 1700, Gouda enjoyed a period of progress and prosperity until 1730. Then another recession followed, resulting in a long period of decline that lasted well into the 19th century. Gouda was one of the poorest cities in the country during that period: the terms "Goudaner" and "beggar" were considered synonymous.
Starting in 1830, demolition of the city walls began. The last city gate was torn down in 1854. Only from the second half of the 19th century onward did Gouda start to profit from an improved economic condition. New companies, such as Stearine Kaarsenfabriek (Stearine Candle Factory) and Machinale Garenspinnerij (Mechanized Yarn Spinnery), acted as the impetus to its economy. In 1855, the railway Gouda-Utrecht began to operate. In the beginning of the 20th century, large-scale development began, extending the city beyond its moats. First the new neighbourhoods Korte Akkeren, Kort Haarlem and Kadebuurt were built, followed by Oosterwei, Bloemendaal, and Goverwelle after World War II.
From 1940 on, back-filling of the city moats and city-canals, the grachten, began: the Nieuwe Haven, Raam, Naaierstraat, and Achter de Vismarkt. But because of protests from city dwellers and revised policies of city planners, Gouda did not continue back-filling moats and city-canals, now considered historically valuable. In 1944, the railway station was damaged during an Allied bombardment, killing 8 and wounding 10 persons. This bombardment was intended to destroy the railroad connecting The Hague and Rotterdam to Utrecht.
After the war, the city started to expand and nearly tripled in size. New neighbourhoods, such as Gouda-Oost, Bloemendaal and Goverwelle were built. Over the last years there has been a shift from expanding the city towards urban renewal and gentrification.
I wanted a long and committed relationship with my Canon EF 200mm f1.8L lens, but alas, the lens didn't want that. I had it only a few years before the USM focus motor fried, with the distance setting fixed at 4.5 meters. Everything else still works. I can change the aperture, take a picture and it still came out tack sharp and beautiful as it has always been. But it won't AF or even manual focus, as the lens was designed as focus-by-wire that requires the ultrasonic motor to function in order for the lens to focus manually.
No parts to fix it. Even with parts, it would cost more than $1000 to fix.
It's a sad and costly love affair that didn't last. I still love the lens, and hope that I can find someway to get it to focus manually, like putting the lens on a focus helicoid as Ian suggested.
In a nation criminalising dissent, these two protesters committed their "crime" in broad daylight: they held a sign. Their simple placards directly challenge a government that prosecutes peaceful protesters under terror laws while remaining complicit in an assault that has systematically killed over 63,000 Palestinians. They acted in defiance of a state that ignores the deliberate weaponisation of starvation which created a confirmed famine in Gaza.
Their stance isn't radical; it reflects a powerful academic and human rights consensus. The International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, and even Israeli human rights groups have all concluded that Israel is committing genocide. The deep, weary but determined resolve on their faces is a silent testament to a profound moral clarity, a refusal to be silenced in the face of the gravest of all war crimes - genocide.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Protest and the Price of Dissent: Palestine Action and the Criminalisation of Conscience
Parliament Square on Saturday, 6 September 2025 was a scene of quiet, almost solemn defiance. The air, usually thick with the noise of London traffic and crowds of tourists, was instead filled with a palpable tension, a shared gravity that emanated from the quiet determination of hundreds of protesters, many of them over 60 years old, some sitting on steps or stools and others lying on the grass.
They held not professionally printed banners, but handwritten cardboard signs, their messages stark against the historic grandeur of their surroundings. This was not a march of chants and slogans, but a silent vigil of civil disobedience, a deliberate and calculated act of defiance against the state.
On that day, my task was to photograph the protest against the proscription of the direct-action group Palestine Action. While not always agreeing entirely with the group’s methods, I could not help but be struck by the profound dedication etched on the faces of the individual protesters.
As they sat in silence, contemplating both the horrific gravity of the situation in Gaza and the enormity of the personal risk they were taking — courting arrest under terror laws for holding a simple placard — their expressions took on a quality not dissimilar to what war photographers once called the “thousand-yard stare.” It was a look of weary but deep and determined resolve, a silent testament to their readiness to face life-changing prosecution in the name of a principle.
This scene poses a profound and unsettling question for modern Britain. How did the United Kingdom, a nation that prides itself on its democratic traditions and the right to protest, arrive at a point where hundreds of its citizens — clergy, doctors, veterans, and the elderly — could be arrested under counter-terrorism legislation for an act of silent, peaceful protest?
The events of that September afternoon were the culmination of a complex and contentious series of developments, but their significance extends far beyond a single organisation or demonstration. The proscription of Palestine Action has become a critical juncture in the nation’s relationship with dissent, a test of the elasticity of free expression, and a stark examination of its obligations under international law in the face of Israel deliberately engineering a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
To understand what is at stake, one must unravel the threads that led to that moment: the identity of the movement, the state’s legal machinery of proscription, the confrontation in Parliament Square, and the political context that compelled so many to risk their liberty.
Direct Action and the State’s Response
Palestine Action, established in 2020, has never hidden its approach. Unlike traditional lobbying groups, it rejected appeals to political elites in favour of disrupting the physical infrastructure of complicity: factories producing parts for Israeli weapons systems, offices of arms manufacturers, and — eventually — military installations themselves.
Its tactics, while non-violent, were disruptive and confrontational. Red paint sprayed across buildings to symbolise blood, occupations that halted production, chains and locks on factory gates. For supporters, these were acts of conscience against a system enabling atrocities in Gaza. For the state, they were criminal disruptions of commerce.
That clash escalated steadily. In Oldham, a persistent campaign against Elbit Systems, a key manufacturer in the Israeli arms supply chain, culminated in the company abandoning its Ferranti site. Later actions targeted suppliers for F-35 fighter jets and other arms manufacturers.
These were no random acts of mindless vandalism but part of a deliberate strategy: to impose costs high enough that complicity in Israel’s war effort would become unsustainable.
The decisive rupture came in June 2025, when activists infiltrated RAF Brize Norton, Britain’s largest airbase, and sprayed red paint into the engines of refuelling aircraft linked to operations over Gaza.
For the activists, it was a desperate attempt to interrupt a supply chain of surveillance and logistical support to a state commiting genocide. For the government, it crossed a line: military assets had been attacked. Within days, the Home Secretary announced Palestine Action would be proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
Proscription and the Expansion of “Terrorism”
Here lies the heart of the controversy. The Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism with unusual breadth, encompassing not only threats to life but also “serious damage to property” carried out for political or ideological aims. In this capacious definition, breaking a factory window or disabling a machine can be legally assimilated to mass murder.
By invoking this law, the government placed Palestine Action on the same legal footing as al-Qaeda or ISIS. Supporting it — even symbolically — became a serious offence.
Since July 2025, merely expressing support for the organization can carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
This is based on Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The specific offense is "recklessly expressing support for a proscribed organisation". However, according to Section 13 of the Act, a lower-level offence for actions like displaying hand held placards in support of a proscribed group carries a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment or a fine of five thousand pounds or both.
Civil liberties groups and human rights bodies have denounced the proscription move as disproportionate. Their concern was not primarily whether Palestine Action’s tactics might violate existing criminal law. One might reasonably argue that they did unless they might sometimes be justified in the name of preventing a greater crime.
But reframing those actions as “terrorism” represented a dangerous category error. As many pointed out, terrorism has historically referred to violence against civilians. Expanding it to cover property damage risks draining the term of meaning. Worse, it arms the state with a stigma so powerful that it can delegitimise entire political positions without debate.
The implications go further. Proscription does not simply criminalise acts. It criminalises expressions of allegiance, conscience and even speech. To say “I support Palestine Action” is no longer an opinion but technically a serious crime. The state has moved from punishing deeds to punishing expressions of solidarity — a move with chilling consequences for democratic life.
Parliament Square: Civil Disobedience on Trial
It was this transformation that brought nearly 1,500 people into Parliament Square on 6 September. They knew what awaited them. Organisers announced in advance that protesters would hold signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” In doing so, they openly declared their intent to break the law.
The crowd was strikingly diverse. Retired doctors, clergy, war veterans, even an 83-year-old Anglican priest. Disabled activists came in wheelchairs; descendants of Holocaust survivors stood beside young students. This was not a hardened cadre of militants but a cross-section of society, many of whom had never before faced arrest.
At precisely 1 pm, the protesters all sat or lay down silently, cardboard signs raised. There was no chanting, no aggression — only a quiet insistence that they would not accept the criminalisation of conscience.
The police response was equally predictable. Hundreds of officers moved systematically through the crowd, arresting anyone displaying a sign. By the end of the day, nearly 900 people were detained under counter-terrorism law. It was one of the largest mass arrests in modern British history.
Official statements later alleged police were met with violence — officers punched, spat on, objects thrown. Yet independent observers, including Amnesty International, contradicted this. They reported a peaceful assembly disrupted by aggressive policing: batons drawn, protesters shoved, some bloodied.
www.amnesty.org/zh-hans/documents/eur45/0273/2025/en/
Video footage supported at least some of Amnesty's report.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZQGFrqCf5U&t=1283s
The two narratives were irreconcilable, but only one carried the weight and authority of the state.
The entire event unfolded as political theatre. The government proscribed a group, thereby creating a new crime. Protesters, convinced the law was unjust, announced their intent to commit that crime peacefully. The police, forewarned, staged a vast operation. Each side acted out its script. The spectacle allowed the state to present itself as defending order against extremism — while in reality silencing dissent.
The Humanitarian Context: Why Protesters Risked All
To see the Parliament Square protest as a parochial dispute over free speech is to miss its driving force. The demonstrators were not there merely to defend abstract principles. They were responding to what they, and a growing body of international experts, describe as a genocide in Gaza.
By September 2025, Gaza had descended into almost total collapse. Over 63,000 Palestinians had been killed, the majority of them women and children. More than 150,000 had been injured, many maimed for life. Entire neighbourhoods had been flattened. Famine was confirmed in August, with Israel continuing to impose and even tighten deliberate restrictions on food, water, and fuel, a strategy condemned by human rights groups as a major war crime. Hospitals lay in ruins. Ninety percent of the population had been displaced.
It is in this context that the term genocide has been applied. Legal scholars point not only to mass killings but also to the deliberate infliction of life-destroying conditions, accompanied by rhetoric from Israeli officials dehumanising Palestinians as “human animals.” In September 2025, the International Association of Genocide Scholars declared that Israel’s actions met the legal definition of genocide.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cde3eyzdr63o
Major NGOs, UN experts, and even Israeli human rights groups such as B’Tselem echoed that conclusion.
For the protesters, then, the question was not abstract but immediate: faced with what they saw as a genocide, could they in good conscience remain silent while their own government criminalised resistance to it? Their answer was to risk arrest, their placards making the moral connection explicit: opposing genocide meant supporting those who sought to stop it.
The Price of Dissent
The mass arrests in Parliament Square were not an isolated incident of law enforcement. They were the product of a broader trajectory: escalating tactics by a direct-action movement, a humanitarian catastrophe abroad, and a government determined to suppress dissent at home through the bluntest of instruments.
The official line insists that Palestine Action’s campaign constituted terrorism and thus warranted proscription. On this view, the arrests were simple enforcement of the law. Yet this account obscures the deeper reality: a precedent in which the state redefined non-lethal protest as terrorism, shifting from punishing actions to criminalising expressions of solidarity.
The cost is profound. Once speech and conscience themselves become suspect, dissent is no longer tolerated but pathologised. The chilling effect is already evident: individuals weigh not just whether to join a protest, but whether uttering support might expose them to years in prison. Terror laws, originally justified as a shield against mass violence, are recast as tools of political management.
The protesters understood this. That “thousand-yard stare” captured in their faces was not only the weight of potential arrest, but the knowledge of Gaza’s devastation, the famine and rubble, the deaths mounting daily. It was also the recognition that their own government had chosen to silence them rather than address its complicity.
In a functioning democracy, the question is not why citizens risk arrest for holding a handwritten cardboard sign. It is why a state finds it necessary to treat that act as a terror offence. The answer reveals a narrowing of democratic space, where conscience itself is deemed subversive. And that narrowing, history teaches, carries consequences not just for those arrested, but for the society that allows it.
I committed to post 8 images of each model... I have 5 more after this one.. I hope you all enjoy them..
This image is a product of one of two studio sessions I participated in recently. One night we shot High Key and the next night we shot Low Key. I will post them with alternating styles and models.
One of my good friends here on Flickr didn't know what High Key and Low Key lighting was. I wrote him a quick description that he found very helpful, so I thought I would share it here for those who might be interested.
This is a quick overview... Both High Key images and Low Key images make an intensive use of contrast, but in a very different way. When approaching a shoot of a dramatic portrait, the decision of making it a High Key, Low Key or "just" a regular image has great impact about the mood that this picture will convey. While High Key images are considered happy and will show your subject as a tooth-paste poster; Low Key portraits are dramatic and convey a lot of atmosphere and tension.
Click here to visit Steve Page Photography on FaceBook
Click on image or hit your "L" key to View On Black
Front façade and court yard of the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, Azay-le-Rideau, Loire Valley, France
Some background information:
Azay-le-Rideau is a commune in the French department of Indre-et-Loire in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It has more than 3,400 residents and is located about 30 km (19 miles) to the southwest of the city of Tours. There are two historic châteaux in the municipal area of Azay-le-Rideau: the Château de l'Islette and the more famous Château d'Azay-le-Rideau. Both belong to the UNESCO Word Heritage Site "The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes" with its many breathtaking châteaux. Altogether there are more than 400 of them in the Loire region.
Built between 1518 and 1527, the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau is considered one of the foremost examples of early French renaissance architecture. Set on an island in the middle of the Indre river, this picturesque castle has even become one of the most popular of all the châteaux of the Loire valley. The current occupies the site of a former feudal castle. During the 12th century, the local seigneur Rideau d'Azay, a knight in the service of the then French King Philip II Augustus, built a fortress here to protect the Tours to Chinon road where it crossed the river Indre.
However, this original medieval castle fell victim to the rivalry between Burgundian and Armagnac factions during the Hundred Years' War. In 1418, the future King Charles VII passed through Azay-le-Rideau as he fled from Burgundian occupied Paris to the loyal Armagnac stronghold of Bourges. Angered by the insults of the Burgundian troops occupying the town, the dauphin ordered his own army to storm the castle. The 350 soldiers inside were all executed and the castle itself burnt to the ground. For centuries, this fate was commemorated in the town's name of Azay-le-Brûlé (in English: "Azay the Burnt"), which remained in use until the 18th century.
In 1518, the land, together with the ruined castle, was acquired by Gilles Berthelot, the mayor of Tours and treasurer-general of the King's finances under King Charles VII and King Louis XII. Desiring a residence to reflect his wealth and status, Berthelot set about reconstructing the building in a way that would incorporate its medieval past alongside the latest architectural styles of the Italian Renaissance. Although the château's purpose was to be largely residential, defensive fortifications remained important symbols of prestige, and so Berthelot was keen to have them integrated in the architecture of his new castle.
Berthelot's duties meant that he was frequently absent from the château, so the responsibility for supervising the building works fell to his wife, Philippa Lesbahy. These took time, since it was difficult to lay solid foundations in the damp ground of this island in the Indre, and the château had to be raised on stilts driven into the mud. In 1527, the château was still incomplete, when the execution of Jacques de Beaune, (the chief minister in charge of royal finances and cousin to Berthelot) forced Gilles to flee the country. The then French King Francis I confiscated the unfinished building and, in 1535, gave it to Antoine Raffin, one of his knights-at-arms.
In 1583, Raffin's granddaughter Antoinette, a former lady-in-waiting to Margaret of Valois (the then Queen of Navarre and later Queen of France), took up residence in the château. With the help of her husband Guy de Saint-Gelais, she began modernising the décor. The Raffins, and their relations by marriage, the Vassés, retained ownership of the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau until 1787, when it was sold for 300,000 livres to the Marquis Charles de Biencourt, field marshal of King Louis XVI.
After having affiliated to the Third Estate and having committed himself to the ideals of the French Revolution, he was allowed to retain possession of his estate, which was in poor condition at that time. At the beginning of the 1820s, Biencourt undertook some alteration work. But after his death in 1824, it was his son Armand-François-Marie de Biencourt, who accomplished an extensive restoration of the château. This included restoring the old medallions and royal insignia on the staircase (which had been covered up during the French Revolution), extending the courtyard façade and adding a new tower at the east corner.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871, the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau was once again threatened with destruction. It served as the headquarters for the Prussian troops in the area, but when one night a chandelier fell from the ceiling onto the table where their leader, Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, was dining, he suspected an assassination attempt and ordered his soldiers to set fire to the building. Only his officers' assurances that the chandelier had dropped by accident persuaded him to stay his hand and thus saved the château from a second burning.
Following the Prussian troops' retreat, Azay-le-Rideau returned to the Biencourt family. In 1899, financial difficulties forced the young widower Charles-Marie-Christian de Biencourt to sell the château, along with its furniture and 540 hectares of land, to the businessman Achille Arteau. He sold the château‘s contents for profit and as a result, the building was emptied and its artwork and furniture dispersed. In 1905, the estate was purchased by the French state for 250,000 francs and finally became a listed historical monument.
Today, the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau is one of many national monuments under the protection of the Centre des monuments nationaux. It is open to the public and its rooms are re-equipped with interior decoration and furniture, which reflect the influence of the Italian Renaissance. Many of the rooms display 16th- and 17th-century Flemish tapestries and the château also houses a significant collection of artwork. The current gardens were designed in the 19th century by the Biencourts, who laid out a large landscaped park in the English style. To the south and west, the river serves as a water mirror for the château, reflecting the façades and creating an attractive tableau.
This photo is of Alex, a veteran and dedicated activist committed to progressive causes - here protesting against Assange's continued imprisonment and extradition.
Thousands of people gathered around the British parliament on Saturday 8 October 1922 to form the first ever human chain to surround the building to protest against Julian Assange's continued imprisonment and extradition. Many of the activists had travelled hundreds of miles - I met people who had travelled from Belgium, France and Germany.
The long line of people snaked around parliament's perimeter railings and across both Lambeth and Westminster bridges as well as traversing the south side of the river between St. Thomas' Hospital and Lambeth Palace, each person holding the hand of the person next to them. As a few people attached yellow ribbons to the railings by parliament they were immediately instructed by the police to remove them.
For the last eight months Julian Assange, who is being held in the maximum security Belmarsh Prison, has been kept completely isolated and without visitors, except for his lawyers. He been detained in appalling conditions and the former UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Neils Melzer, commented in 2019 that Assange showed 'all the symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture,' adding that 'what we have seen from the UK Government is outright contempt for Mr Assange's rights and integrity.'
www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2019/11/un-expert-torture...
The United States wants to extradite Julian Assange to the United States on a supposed charge of espionage. However, Assange's real crime is that he revealed US and Western war crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. As the founder and chief editor of Wikileaks he has provoked Washington's fury by the publication of US Army intelligence files leaked by Chelsea Manning in 2010 as well as subsequent revelations which have embarrassed the American establishment, including Democratic Party emails which showed how senior officials in the party's national committee favoured Hilary Clinton over the more progressive and radical Bernie Sanders.
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel signed off on the extradition request earlier in the year, but that order is currently being appealed by Assange's lawyers, who are awaiting a decision by the High Court on whether they will agree to hear it.
As far as I understand it, the remit of the appeal has been restricted to examining the United States' claimed legal promises on how Assange will be treated, rather than to the wider issues of freedom of speech, the CIA plot to assassinate him, the extent to which the evidence against him has obviously been fabricated or as to whether his treatment in Belmarsh Prison has amounted to torture.
The former Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, attended Saturday's protest, as did the former leader of Unite, Len McLuskey, the independent (former Labour Party MP) Claudia Webbe, the comedian and actor Russel Brand and Mr Assange's wife, Stella. According to the Morning Star and the Evening Standard, Corbyn said
"I would say to MPs of any party, you're there to represent democracy and rights. That's what you sign up for. If Julian Assange is extradited, it will set forth fear among other journalists of doing anything to expose the truth. It becomes self-censorship of journalists all around the world. They'll say, 'hang, on, I'm not touching that, look what happened to Julian Assange.'"
morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/thousands-gather-human-...
www.standard.co.uk/news/london/russell-brand-julian-assan...
If Assange is convicted in the United States on the charges of espionage for exposing US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as other wrongdoing by the United States and other governments, he faces up to 175 years in prison. Two days after the protest, it was reported that Assange had contracted covid.
Like many of the world’s greatest cities, Aberdeen has a port at its heart. This port has been a catalyst for the city’s prosperity for nearly nine centuries.
The secret behind our success is our ability to adapt and modernise. By embracing new technologies and industries, and transforming our infrastructure, we will become Scotland’s premier net zero port, offering world class facilities and services, at the heart of the nation’s energy transition efforts.
We are committed to improving every element of our activity and what we provide for our port users, to create prosperity for generations. This is why we have undertaken the largest marine infrastructure project in the UK for decades, and have committed to operating a net zero port by 2040.
Above all, we are open. Open to new energy; to building closer relationships with our neighbours and communities; to working with partners on strengthening the economy, and to new ways of developing our skilled and talented team, to equip us for the future.
Klimt's last portrait left unfinished. Painted in 1917-18, 'Portrait of Ria Munk III' is the third and final painting in a series of three portraits commissioned by the Munk family of their daughter Maria "Ria" Munk (1884-1911). The last and most modern of Klimt’s full-length female portraits, the painting offers a glimpse into the working methods of Gustav Klimt.
Ria committed suicide, at 27 years of age, with a shot to the chest in December 1911 having fallen out with her lover, the German writer and poet Hans Heinz Ewers (1871-1943). Klimt began this posthumous portrait In 1917. It depicts Ria who stands sideways and turns to face the viewer with a serene smile. As with his other most celebrated works, including the iconic Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, the artist envelops the subject in a richly decorative background, drawing from his passion for Eastern art and iconography of which he was an avid collector. The face and surrounding detail are complete, while the dress and the floor are traced in charcoal in a fascinating ‘non finito’. While he would prepare thoroughly for each composition with a series of drawings, this canvas also offers a glimpse into Klimt’s working methods, revealing that at this stage of his career he was impulsive and spontaneous, drawing directly onto the canvas.
Soon after Klimt’s death in 1918, the painting passed into the possession of Ria's mother, Aranka. The painting was then housed in her lakeside villa in Bad Aussee until 1941 when the villa and its contents were seized by the National Socialists and the portrait passed into the hands of the collector and dealer Hidebrand Gurlitt (1895-1956) who dealt in Nazi-looted art as one of Hitler's and Goering's four authorized dealers for "degenerate art". In 1953 the portrait was among a number of important paintings that Gurlitt donated to the Neue Galerie der Stadt in Linz which came to be known as the Lentos Museum. The painting subsequently remained in the Lentos Museum, Linz until June 2009 when it was voluntarily restituted to the heirs of Aranka Munk whose heirs have entrusted Christie’s to sell the painting on their behalf. The painting was sold for nearly 25 Million US Dollars.
Committed to Lomography Babylon using a Leica M3 and 50 mm Summicron dual-range lens. Developed using Ars-Imago R9 (rodinal) 1:99 in a semi-stand process for 80 minutes and scanned with an Epson V850 using Silverfast. Positive conversion and contrast done with Negative Lab Pro.
Committed to Ilford HP5+ using a Leica M6 and 50 mm Summicron v3 lens. Developed using Ars-Imago FD as per the Massive Dev chart and scanned with an Epson V850 using Silverfast. Positive conversion and contrast done with Negative Lab Pro. Dust removal and further contrast adjustment in Photoshop.
Marines post security on patrol Dec. 9 during Forest Light 15-1 at the Oyanohara Training Area in Yamato, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. Forest Light is a routine, semi-annual exercise designed to enhance the U.S. and Japan military partnership, solidify regional security agreements and improve individual and unit-level skills. The Marines are with 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, under the unit deployment program.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Warren Peace/Released)
National Trust Properties
Montacute House, Montacute, Somerset
Montacute House was built circa 1598 by Sir Edward Pheilips on land purchased from the Cluniac Montacute Priory some years before.
The architect is unknown but thought possible that it was William Arnold, a mason who had worked on Dunster Castle not that far away. There is a date engraved over a doorcase of 1601 and this is thought to be the date of completion.
Built in the ‘English Renaissance’ style, the East Front is decorated with stone monkeys and other animals. The windows of the Long Gallery are separated by niches which contain the ’Nine Worthies’ dressed as Roman Soldiers. It is very pleasing to the eye.
The house has many high moments and dramatic falls. For example, Sir Edward Pheilips was knighted in 1603, appointed Master of the Rolls by King James I and was opening prosecutor in the ‘Gunpowder Plot’ trial. But family fortunes do not always stay. William Pheilips, who inherited Montacute in the 19th century, was an addicted gambler who gambled away not only the family fortune but also large areas of the Land. He was committed to an asylum but the damage was done and the fortune never recovered. The last inheritor William let the house in 1911. The house had a few more owners until 1928 when it lay dormant for over two years then in 1931 it was sold to Ernest Cook, a philanthropist who in turn passed it over to ‘The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings’ who in turn passed it to the National Trust. This was one of the Trust’s first properties.
In the garden the sunken parterre with Jacobean-style fountain was designed by Robert Shekelton Balfour whilst in the East court the mixed borders were replanted by Phyllis Reiss. There are about 10 acres of other formal gardens to visit. An excellent experience to be enjoyed.
The other Europe with Tsipras -L' altra europa con Tsipras- η άλλη Ευρώπη με τον Τσίπρα
............................................................................................................................
done for Working Towards a Better World ❤️ WTBW ❤️
Angela Merkel said:
The willingness to learn new skills is very high
Politicians have to be committed to people in equal measures
When it comes to human dignity, we cannot make compromises
......................................................................................................................
Notional sun of justice
and you glorifying myrtle
don’t please don’t
forget my homeland! (poetry by Odysseas Elytis)
Της δικαιοσύνης ήλιε νοητέ
και μυρσίνη εσύ δοξαστική
μη παρακαλώ σας μη
λησμονάτε τη χώρα μου (ποίηση : Οδυσσέας Ελύτης)
......................................................................................................................
Spanish postcard in the Hollywood (California) series. Photo: Universal International.
American actress and singer Barbara Bates (1925-1969) was best known for her role as Phoebe, the slyly manipulative fan of stage actress Anne Baxter in the closing scene of All About Eve (1950). She also played Clifron Webb and Myrna Loy's daighter Ernestine in the popular Fox-family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), and its sequel, Belles on Their Toes (1952). Bates committed suicide at the age of 43.
Barbara Jane Bates was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1925. She was the eldest of three daughters of Eva I. and Arthur W. Bates, a postal clerk. While growing up in Denver, she studied ballet and worked as a teen fashion model. The shy teen was persuaded to enter a local beauty contest and won, receiving two round-trip train tickets to Hollywood, California. Two days before returning to Denver, Bates met Cecil Coan, a United Artists publicist. This altered the course of her life forever. In September 1944, 19 year old Bates signed a contract with Universal Pictures after Coan introduced her to producer Walter Wanger. Soon after, she was cast as one of the 'Seven Salome Girls' in the drama, Salome Where She Danced (Charles Lamont, 1945) starring Yvonne De Carlo. When in 1944, a Yank outfit in Luxembourg reportedly declared that soldiers were fed up on pinup pictures of starlets, she and colleague Kathleen O’Malley demanded proof. Costumed for their parts in Salome, Where She Danced, they put the question by holding up a sign that read: “Are G.I.s Tired of Us?” Around this time, she fell in love with the much older Coan, who was married with two sons and two daughters. In March 1945, Coan divorced his wife Helen Coan and secretly married Bates days later. She was 19, he 45. Bates spent the next few years as a stock actress, landing bit parts in films and doing cheesecake layouts for magazines like Yank, the Army Weekly and Life. It was one of those photo sessions that caught the eye of talent executive Solly Baiano at Warner Bros. who signed her in 1947. Warner Bros. highlighted her 'girl-next-door' image and her acting career took off. She appeared with some of the biggest stars of the day including Bette Davis in the comedy June Bride (Bretaigne Windust, 1948) and Danny Kaye in The Inspector General (Henry Koster, 1949)). In 1949, Bates's contract with Warner Bros. was terminated when she refused to go to New York City to promote The Inspector General. Despite being fired by Warner Brothers, she quickly signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox later that year.
In late 1949, Barbara Bates auditioned for the small role of Phoebe in Fox's upcoming All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950). In competition for the part was Zsa Zsa Gabor and others, but Bates impressed the producers and was given the part. She made a short but important appearance as the devious schemer, Phoebe, at the end of the film. Bates's image is enshrined in the film's last scene, posing in front of a three-way mirror, while holding the award won by her idol Eve Harrington, played by Anne Baxter. This memorable final scene left critics and audiences intrigued by the young actress, who they thought would star in a sequel to All About Eve. The Hollywood Reporter said of her performance, "Barbara Bates comes on the screen in the last few moments to more or less sum up the whole action and point of the story. It's odd that a bit should count for so much, and in the hands of Miss Bates all the required points are fulfilled." After her appearance in All About Eve, Bates co-starred in Cheaper by the Dozen (Walter Lang, 1950) with Clifton Webb, and its sequel Belles on Their Toes (Henry Levin, 1950), with Jeanne Crain and Myrna Loy. In 1951, she tests for the ballet dancer role in Charles Chaplin’s Limelight. Chaplin conducts the test himself, is very pleased with her performance, and offers her the part. But because of Chaplin's political beliefs, Fox vetoes the offer, and the part goes to Claire Bloom. Bates landed a role opposite MacDonald Carey and Claudette Colbert in the comedy Let's Make It Legal (Richard Sale, 1951). She co-starred with Donna Reed as the love interests of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the hit comedy The Caddy (Norman Taurog, 1953).
Despite a seemingly successful career, Barbara Bates's life, both on and off screen, started unravelling. She became a victim of extreme mood swings, insecurity, ill health, and chronic depression. In 1954, she won the role of Cathy on the NBC sitcom It's a Great Life, co-starring Frances Bavier as her mother, Amy Morgan, and James Dunn as her uncle, Earl Morgan. After 26 episodes, she was written out of the show due to her erratic behavior, depression and instability. Bates and her Svengali-like husband Coen, who made all of Barbara's decisions for her, tried to salvage her career. They travelled to England to find work, where Coen became publicity director at United Artist's London office. Barbara was signed on as a contract player with the Rank Organisation, only to be replaced in two leading roles before filming began. Bates continued to be too emotionally unstable to work and in 1957, her contract with the Rank Organisation was cancelled. Upon returning to the United States in 1957, Bates and her husband got an apartment in Beverly Hills. Later that year, Bates made her last film, Apache Territory (Ray Nazzaro, 1958) starring Rory Calhoun. She then appeared in two television commercials, one for floor wax and another endorsing a now unknown product with Buster Keaton. In 1960, Bates's husband Cecil Coan was diagnosed with cancer. Bates put her career on hold to care for her ailing husband. The strain eventually became too much for her. She attempted suicide by slashing her wrists and was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital where she soon recovered. She made her final onscreen appearance in an episode of The Saint (1962). In 1967, Bates's husband Cecil Coan died of cancer. Devastated by his death, Bates's depression worsened and she again became suicidal. Later that year, she returned to Denver and fell out of public view. For a time, Bates worked as a secretary, as a dental assistant, and as a hospital aide. In 1968 she married for the second time: to a childhood friend, sportscaster William Reed. Despite her new marriage and location, Bates remained increasingly despondent and depressed. On 18 March 1969, just months after her marriage to Reed, Barbara Bates committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning on the front seat of her Volkswagen in the sealed garage of her mother's suburban Denver home. Reportedly she was pregnant. Bates was 43 years old. She is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Jefferson County, Colorado.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen, Wikipedia and IMDb.
First one of 9 Combat Jumpers exiting the DC3 D-Day Doll airplane during the 2014 Wings over Camarillo Airshow. This guy even has a smile on his face!
Handheld pan shot from the ground.
Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 498. Photo: Vaselli.
Dorian Gray (1928-2011) was a very elegant Italian actress in films by Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini. She was also a sexy seductress in comedies with Totò. In 1965, Gray completely vanished from the public eye.
Dorian Gray was born as Maria Luisa Mangini in Bolzano, Italy in 1928. Gray made her stage debut in 1950 and quickly became a known and acclaimed actress. However, after only five years she left the world of the theatre and devoted herself to the cinema. In 1951, she had made her film debut in the crime drama Amo un assassin/Appointment for Murder (Baccio Bandini, 1951) with Delia Scala. The role she played most often in films was that of a seductive sex kitten in comedies like Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge/Totò, Peppino, and the outlaws (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). For this film, Peppino De Filippo was awarded a Silver Ribbon for the best supporting actor. She played another titular ‘bad girl’ in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina/Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1956). It was the top-grossing film of the year in Italy and is now considered as one of the classics of Italian comedy. The following year, she had the chance to demonstrate her dramatic talents in Michelangelo Antonioni's Il grido/The Cry (1957). She co-starred with Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair to great critical acclaim. At the peak of her popularity, she also took part in Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957) featuring Giulietta Masina. The film was loaded with awards, including an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
After 1957, Dorian Gray made several more films, but none ever had the shine of her works of 1956 and 1957. She starred with Vittorio Gassman in the comedy Il mattatore/Love and Larceny (Dino Risi, 1960). She also played in one of the Peplums of that era. La regina delle Amazzoni/Colossus and the Amazons (Vittorio Sala, 1960) In this sword and sandal satirical comedy she starred opposite two actors imported from America, Rod Taylor, and bodybuilder Ed Fury. Gray was among the all-star cast of the whodunit-comedy Crimen/...And Suddenly It's Murder! (Mario Camerini, 1960). She played the love interest of Foreign Legion captain Stewart Granger in the action drama, Marcia o crepa/Commando (Frank Wisbar,1962), set during the Algerian War. Her career ended by choice soon thereafter. In 1965, she made her final film, Fango sulla metropolis/City Criminals (Gino Mangini, 1965) with Tony Kendall. That year, awaiting the birth of her son, she retired completely from acting. She never made another public appearance. In 2011, Dorian Gray committed suicide by gunshot at her home in Torcegno. She was 83 years old. IMDb and other media, however, report her age as 75, since she herself claimed to have been born in 1936.
Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Sanaa and Mona Seif, sister of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, an imprisoned Egyptian-British democracy activist on hunger strike, talk to the press outside Britain's Foreign Office.
Alaa is over 200 days into his 100 calorie a day hunger strike in prison in Egypt. A candle-light vigil is planned for this Sunday 6 November at 4pm opposite 10 Downing Street.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has endured much of the last twelve years in some of the worst prison conditions anywhere in the world, on account of his brave work in promoting democracy in Egypt.
He was last arrested in September 2019 while attending Cairo's Dokki Police Station and in December last year was sentenced to five years imprisonment for "spreading false news undermining state security." More precisely, he had shared social media posts explaining the hell-hole reality of Egyptian prison conditions.
PROTEST OUTSIDE THE FOREIGN OFFICE
Alaa's two sisters, Mona and Sana'a Seif, are currently staging a protest in London's King Charles Street outside the British Foreign Office in the hope that the Egyptian government can be pressured to release him, as media attention begins to focus on the upcoming COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
TORA PRISON - "A DAY HERE, IS LIKE A YEAR IN BELMARSH"
In April, Alaa began his hunger strike in a cell in one of the most secure sections of Cairo's sprawling and notorious Tora Prison - a maze of grim high concrete walls and watch towers, which strike fear into even the thousands of commuters who have to pass daily.
In 2012, one young Londoner confined to one of the least uncomfortable and most survivable wings of Tora prison, contrasted it with his own previous experience at Britain's high security Belmarsh. I can never forget his exact words. "A day here, is like a year at Belmarsh!" A little over 12 months later, he died of TB - the prison authorities had refused to listen to the pleas of his aunt, who fell on her knees during a rare visit, begging that he be admitted to the prison hospital.
ALAA'S HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES AT WADI EL NATRUN PRISON
More than 200 days have passed since Alaa started his hunger strike. He has now been moved to the Wadi El Natrun prison complex in the desert north of Cairo, dubbed by inmates as the "Valley of Hell."
He may not survive much longer. However, as he holds British-Egyptian nationality, one would hope that the British government would be doing everything they could to secure his immediate release and it would be reasonable to suppose that the Foreign Office could get an immediate pledge in this regard, especially given that the British companies, including the likes of British Petroleum and BP, are the biggest investors in Egypt.
NO CONSULAR ACCESS
However, the British government have failed even to get him any consular access - think about that. That's an outrage. Even a convicted mass murderer, if British, would be entitled to consular access while in prison. That meeting would obviously not take place in his cell - but in a designated room in the prison or the highly supervised prison visiting area.
British men and women convicted of drug smuggling and other crimes in Egypt have received consular visits, so why not Alaa? The answer is because Alaa's crime is that he dared to tell the truth about Egypt, and the injustice both inside and outside its many prison walls. Nobody knows exactly how many political prisoners Egypt now has, but the number is estimated to be at least 60,000.
ALAA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the leaders of arguably the most inspirational democratic revolt the world has seen in the last hundred years. Although the first phase of the 2011 uprising in Egypt lasted just 18 days, and although it followed the toppling of the dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia - the streets and bridges around Tahrir Square became a deadly stage watched by the world, where protesters from every walk of life were pitted against Egypt's feared state security forces. Against all the odds, and at the cost of many lives, Egyptians refused to leave the square, sleeping in front of the tanks and fending off attacks from government militia.
The Egyptian people's initial success in toppling the dictator Mubarak led to further revolts not just across the Middle East (most notably in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria) - the highly organised Tahrir-Square sit-in provided the inspiration for strikes and workplace sit-ins against austerity across the United States and Europe and to the Occupy Movement of the same year. The people of Egypt showed that it does not matter how brutal, feared and authoritarian a government is, it can be toppled if people act collectively.
THE MILITARY BACKLASH
It's true that Egypt's flirtation with the path to greater freedom seemed to be only temporary - the Egyptian authorities deployed the usual divide and rule tactics - encouraging the less committed protesters to return home - and then rushed to elections without allowing time for genuinely democratic opposition parties to develop.
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in 2012 - the Brotherhood (contrary to the perception many people have here in the West) had genuinely progressive elements within it, but the chance for any transformative radical programme was prevented partly by the corruption and self-interest of some of the main political actors and partly by opposition to its democratic mandate from the deep state (the military, the Interior Ministry, State Security, the police etc.)
The army, seeing its chance, seized power in 2013, superficially in the name of the people, but in reality, to advance the interests of the generals. The new president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, moved quickly to crush all opposition, and ordering his security forces to attack Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had gathered in eastern Cairo at Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, killing at least 800 people - the bloodiest massacre of civilians in Egypt's modern history.
DON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO USE COP27 TO GREENWASH ITS REGIME - AND PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE ALAA
Now COP27 is scheduled to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh and Sisi has been given a golden opportunity to greenwash his murderous regime, which has also seen ever increasing levels inequality and corruption. While British representatives at COP27 will be given accommodation in the most luxurious five star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves, another British citizen, Alaa Abdel El-Fatah is near death, on a painful hunger strike in the darkest of places - his dimly lit cell. The only thing he might hear at night is the desperate cry from some prisoner in another cell appealing for medical help which most likely never comes.
If we care for freedom, real democracy and justice, we can't allow the British Foreign Office to forget Alaa - especially if it's simply not to upset the highly profitable relationship British multinationals have with one of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes - a relationship which only benefits the wealthiest of Egyptians.
If you live in London, please show your support at the protest at King Charles Street - and wherever you live please sign the petition -
www.change.org/p/help-free-my-brother-before-it-s-too-lat...
Canyonlands National Park is an American national park located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. Legislation creating the park was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 12, 1964.
The park is divided into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the combined rivers—the Green and Colorado—which carved two large canyons into the Colorado Plateau. While these areas share a primitive desert atmosphere, each retains its own character. Author Edward Abbey, a frequent visitor, described the Canyonlands as "the most weird, wonderful, magical place on earth—there is nothing else like it anywhere."
In the early 1950s, Bates Wilson, then superintendent of Arches National Monument, began exploring the area to the south and west of Moab, Utah. After seeing what is now known as the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Wilson began advocating for the establishment of a new national park that would include the Needles. Additional explorations by Wilson and others expanded the areas proposed for inclusion into the new national park to include the confluence of Green and Colorado rivers, the Maze District, and Horseshoe Canyon.
In 1961, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall was scheduled to address a conference at Grand Canyon National Park. On his flight to the conference, he flew over the Confluence (where the Colorado and Green rivers meet). The view apparently sparked Udall's interest in Wilson's proposal for a new national park in that area and Udall began promoting the establishment of Canyonlands National Park.
Utah Senator Frank Moss first introduced legislation into Congress to create Canyonlands National Park. His legislation attempted to satisfy both nature preservationists' and commercial developers' interests. Over the next four years, his proposal was struck down, debated, revised, and reintroduced to Congress many times before being passed and signed into creation.
In September, 1964, after several years of debate, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Pub.L. 88–590, which established Canyonlands National Park as a new national park. Bates Wilson became the first superintendent of the new park and is often referred to as the "Father of Canyonlands."
The Colorado River and Green River combine within the park, dividing it into three districts called the Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze. The Colorado River flows through Cataract Canyon below its confluence with the Green River.
The Island in the Sky district is a broad and level mesa in the northern section of the park, between the Colorado and Green rivers. The district has many viewpoints overlooking the White Rim, a sandstone bench 1,200 feet (370 m) below the Island, and the rivers, which are another 1,000 feet (300 m) below the White Rim.
The Needles district is located south of the Island in the Sky, on the east side of the Colorado River. The district is named for the red and white banded rock pinnacles which are a major feature of the area. Various other naturally sculpted rock formations are also within this district, including grabens, potholes, and arches. Unlike Arches National Park, where many arches are accessible by short to moderate hikes, most of the arches in the Needles district lie in backcountry canyons, requiring long hikes or four-wheel drive trips to reach them.
The Ancestral Puebloans inhabited this area and some of their stone and mud dwellings are well-preserved, although the items and tools they used were mostly removed by looters. The Ancestral Puebloans also created rock art in the form of petroglyphs, most notably on Newspaper Rock along the Needles access road.
The Maze district is located west of the Colorado and Green rivers. The Maze is the least accessible section of the park, and one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States.
A geographically detached section of the park located north of the Maze district, Horseshoe Canyon contains panels of rock art made by hunter-gatherers from the Late Archaic Period (2000-1000 BC) pre-dating the Ancestral Puebloans. Originally called Barrier Canyon, Horseshoe's artifacts, dwellings, pictographs, and murals are some of the oldest in America. The images depicting horses date from after 1540 AD, when the Spanish reintroduced horses to America.
Since the 1950s, scientists have been studying an area of 200 acres (81 ha) completely surrounded by cliffs. The cliffs have prevented cattle from ever grazing on the area's 62 acres (25 ha) of grassland. According to the scientists, the site may contain the largest undisturbed grassland in the Four Corners region. Studies have continued biannually since the mid-1990s. The area has been closed to the public since 1993 to maintain the nearly pristine environment.
Mammals that roam this park include black bears, coyotes, skunks, bats, elk, foxes, bobcats, badgers, ring-tailed cats, pronghorns, desert bighorn sheep, and cougars. Desert cottontails, kangaroo rats and mule deer are commonly seen by visitors.
At least 273 species of birds inhabit the park. A variety of hawks and eagles are found, including the Cooper's hawk, the northern goshawk, the sharp-shinned hawk, the red-tailed hawk, the golden and bald eagles, the rough-legged hawk, the Swainson's hawk, and the northern harrier. Several species of owls are found, including the great horned owl, the northern saw-whet owl, the western screech owl, and the Mexican spotted owl. Grebes, woodpeckers, ravens, herons, flycatchers, crows, bluebirds, wrens, warblers, blackbirds, orioles, goldfinches, swallows, sparrows, ducks, quail, grouse, pheasants, hummingbirds, falcons, gulls, and ospreys are some of the other birds that can be found.
Several reptiles can be found, including eleven species of lizards and eight species of snake (including the midget faded rattlesnake). The common kingsnake and prairie rattlesnake have been reported in the park, but not confirmed by the National Park Service.
The park is home to six confirmed amphibian species, including the red-spotted toad, Woodhouse's toad, American bullfrog, northern leopard frog, Great Basin spadefoot toad, and tiger salamander. The canyon tree frog was reported to be in the park in 2000, but was not confirmed during a study in 2004.
Canyonlands National Park contains a wide variety of plant life, including 11 cactus species,[34] 20 moss species, liverworts, grasses and wildflowers. Varieties of trees include netleaf hackberry, Russian olive, Utah juniper, pinyon pine, tamarisk, and Fremont's cottonwood. Shrubs include Mormon tea, blackbrush, four-wing saltbush, cliffrose, littleleaf mountain mahogany, and snakeweed
Cryptobiotic soil is the foundation of life in Canyonlands, providing nitrogen fixation and moisture for plant seeds. One footprint can destroy decades of growth.
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Canyonlands National Park has a cold semi-arid climate ("BSk"). The plant hardiness zones at the Island in the Sky and Needles District Visitor Centers are 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 4.0 °F (-15.6 °C) and 2.9 °F (-16.2 °C), respectively.
The National Weather Service has maintained two cooperative weather stations in the park since June 1965. Official data documents the desert climate with less than 10 inches (250 millimetres) of annual rainfall, as well as hot, mostly dry summers and cold, occasionally wet winters. Snowfall is generally light during the winter.
The station in The Neck region reports an average January temperature of 29.6 °F and an average July temperature of 79.3 °F. Average July temperatures range from a high of 90.8 °F (32.7 °C) to a low of 67.9 °F (19.9 °C). There are an average of 45.7 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 117.3 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The highest recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C) on July 15, 2005, and the lowest recorded temperature was −13 °F (−25 °C) on February 6, 1989. Average annual precipitation is 9.33 inches (237 mm). There are an average of 59 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1984, with 13.66 in (347 mm), and the driest year was 1989, with 4.63 in (118 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 5.19 in (132 mm) in October 2006. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 1.76 in (45 mm) on April 9, 1978. Average annual snowfall is 22.8 in (58 cm). The most snowfall in one year was 47.4 in (120 cm) in 1975, and the most snowfall in one month was 27.0 in (69 cm) in January 1978.
The station in The Needles region reports an average January temperature of 29.7 °F and an average July temperature of 79.1 °F.[44] Average July temperatures range from a high of 95.4 °F (35.2 °C) to a low of 62.4 °F (16.9 °C). There are an average of 75.4 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 143.6 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The highest recorded temperature was 107 °F (42 °C) on July 13, 1971, and the lowest recorded temperature was −16 °F (−27 °C) on January 16, 1971. Average annual precipitation is 8.49 in (216 mm). There are an average of 56 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1969, with 11.19 in (284 mm), and the driest year was 1989, with 4.25 in (108 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 4.43 in (113 mm) in October 1972. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 1.56 in (40 mm) on September 17, 1999. Average annual snowfall is 14.4 in (37 cm). The most snowfall in one year was 39.3 in (100 cm) in 1975, and the most snowfall in one month was 24.0 in (61 cm) in March 1985.
National parks in the Western US are more affected by climate change than the country as a whole, and the National Park Service has begun research into how exactly this will effect the ecosystem of Canyonlands National Park and the surrounding areas and ways to protect the park for the future. The mean annual temperature of Canyonlands National Park increased by 2.6 °F (1.4 °C) from 1916 to 2018. It is predicted that if current warming trends continue, the average highs in the park during the summer will be over 100 °F (40 °C) by 2100. In addition to warming, the region has begun to see more severe and frequent droughts which causes native grass cover to decrease and a lower flow of the Colorado River. The flows of the Upper Colorado Basin have decreased by 300,000 acre⋅ft (370,000,000 m3) per year, which has led to a decreased amount of sediment carried by the river and rockier rapids which are more frequently impassable to rafters. The area has also begun to see an earlier spring, which will lead to changes in the timing of leaves and flowers blooming and migrational patterns of wildlife that could lead to food shortages for the wildlife, as well as a longer fire season.
The National Park Service is currently closely monitoring the impacts of climate change in Canyonlands National Park in order to create management strategies that will best help conserve the park's landscapes and ecosystems for the long term. Although the National Park Service's original goal was to preserve landscapes as they were before European colonization, they have now switched to a more adaptive management strategy with the ultimate goal of conserving the biodiversity of the park. The NPS is collaborating with other organizations including the US Geological Survey, local indigenous tribes, and nearby universities in order to create a management plan for the national park. Right now, there is a focus on research into which native plants will be most resistant to climate change so that the park can decide on what to prioritize in conservation efforts. The Canyonlands Natural History Association has been giving money to the US Geological Survey to fund this and other climate related research. They gave $30,000 in 2019 and $61,000 in 2020.
A subsiding basin and nearby uplifting mountain range (the Uncompahgre) existed in the area in Pennsylvanian time. Seawater trapped in the subsiding basin created thick evaporite deposits by Mid Pennsylvanian. This, along with eroded material from the nearby mountain range, became the Paradox Formation, itself a part of the Hermosa Group. Paradox salt beds started to flow later in the Pennsylvanian and probably continued to move until the end of the Jurassic. Some scientists believe Upheaval Dome was created from Paradox salt bed movement, creating a salt dome, but more modern studies show that the meteorite theory is more likely to be correct.
A warm shallow sea again flooded the region near the end of the Pennsylvanian. Fossil-rich limestones, sandstones, and shales of the gray-colored Honaker Trail Formation resulted. A period of erosion then ensued, creating a break in the geologic record called an unconformity. Early in the Permian an advancing sea laid down the Halgaito Shale. Coastal lowlands later returned to the area, forming the Elephant Canyon Formation.
Large alluvial fans filled the basin where it met the Uncompahgre Mountains, creating the Cutler red beds of iron-rich arkose sandstone. Underwater sand bars and sand dunes on the coast inter-fingered with the red beds and later became the white-colored cliff-forming Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Brightly colored oxidized muds were then deposited, forming the Organ Rock Shale. Coastal sand dunes and marine sand bars once again became dominant, creating the White Rim Sandstone.
A second unconformity was created after the Permian sea retreated. Flood plains on an expansive lowland covered the eroded surface and mud built up in tidal flats, creating the Moenkopi Formation. Erosion returned, forming a third unconformity. The Chinle Formation was then laid down on top of this eroded surface.
Increasingly dry climates dominated the Triassic. Therefore, sand in the form of sand dunes invaded and became the Wingate Sandstone. For a time climatic conditions became wetter and streams cut channels through the sand dunes, forming the Kayenta Formation. Arid conditions returned to the region with a vengeance; a large desert spread over much of western North America and later became the Navajo Sandstone. A fourth unconformity was created by a period of erosion.
Mud flats returned, forming the Carmel Formation, and the Entrada Sandstone was laid down next. A long period of erosion stripped away most of the San Rafael Group in the area, along with any formations that may have been laid down in the Cretaceous period.
The Laramide orogeny started to uplift the Rocky Mountains 70 million years ago and with it, the Canyonlands region. Erosion intensified and when the Colorado River Canyon reached the salt beds of the Paradox Formation the overlying strata extended toward the river canyon, forming features such as The Grabens. Increased precipitation during the ice ages of the Pleistocene quickened the rate of canyon excavation along with other erosion. Similar types of erosion are ongoing, but occur at a slower rate.
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Colorado to its east, Wyoming to its northeast, Idaho to its north, Arizona to its south, and Nevada to its west. Utah also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast. Of the fifty U.S. states, Utah is the 13th-largest by area; with a population over three million, it is the 30th-most-populous and 11th-least-densely populated. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two areas: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which is home to roughly two-thirds of the population and includes the capital city, Salt Lake City; and Washington County in the southwest, with more than 180,000 residents. Most of the western half of Utah lies in the Great Basin.
Utah has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups such as the ancient Puebloans, Navajo, and Ute. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive in the mid-16th century, though the region's difficult geography and harsh climate made it a peripheral part of New Spain and later Mexico. Even while it was Mexican territory, many of Utah's earliest settlers were American, particularly Mormons fleeing marginalization and persecution from the United States via the Mormon Trail. Following the Mexican–American War in 1848, the region was annexed by the U.S., becoming part of the Utah Territory, which included what is now Colorado and Nevada. Disputes between the dominant Mormon community and the federal government delayed Utah's admission as a state; only after the outlawing of polygamy was it admitted in 1896 as the 45th.
People from Utah are known as Utahns. Slightly over half of all Utahns are Mormons, the vast majority of whom are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which has its world headquarters in Salt Lake City; Utah is the only state where a majority of the population belongs to a single church. A 2023 paper challenged this perception (claiming only 42% of Utahns are Mormons) however most statistics still show a majority of Utah residents belong to the LDS church; estimates from the LDS church suggests 60.68% of Utah's population belongs to the church whilst some sources put the number as high as 68%. The paper replied that membership count done by the LDS Church is too high for several reasons. The LDS Church greatly influences Utahn culture, politics, and daily life, though since the 1990s the state has become more religiously diverse as well as secular.
Utah has a highly diversified economy, with major sectors including transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, multi-level marketing, and tourism. Utah has been one of the fastest growing states since 2000, with the 2020 U.S. census confirming the fastest population growth in the nation since 2010. St. George was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah ranks among the overall best states in metrics such as healthcare, governance, education, and infrastructure. It has the 12th-highest median average income and the least income inequality of any U.S. state. Over time and influenced by climate change, droughts in Utah have been increasing in frequency and severity, putting a further strain on Utah's water security and impacting the state's economy.
The History of Utah is an examination of the human history and social activity within the state of Utah located in the western United States.
Archaeological evidence dates the earliest habitation of humans in Utah to about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Paleolithic people lived near the Great Basin's swamps and marshes, which had an abundance of fish, birds, and small game animals. Big game, including bison, mammoths and ground sloths, also were attracted to these water sources. Over the centuries, the mega-fauna died, this population was replaced by the Desert Archaic people, who sheltered in caves near the Great Salt Lake. Relying more on gathering than the previous Utah residents, their diet was mainly composed of cattails and other salt tolerant plants such as pickleweed, burro weed and sedge. Red meat appears to have been more of a luxury, although these people used nets and the atlatl to hunt water fowl, ducks, small animals and antelope. Artifacts include nets woven with plant fibers and rabbit skin, woven sandals, gaming sticks, and animal figures made from split-twigs. About 3,500 years ago, lake levels rose and the population of Desert Archaic people appears to have dramatically decreased. The Great Basin may have been almost unoccupied for 1,000 years.
The Fremont culture, named from sites near the Fremont River in Utah, lived in what is now north and western Utah and parts of Nevada, Idaho and Colorado from approximately 600 to 1300 AD. These people lived in areas close to water sources that had been previously occupied by the Desert Archaic people, and may have had some relationship with them. However, their use of new technologies define them as a distinct people. Fremont technologies include:
use of the bow and arrow while hunting,
building pithouse shelters,
growing maize and probably beans and squash,
building above ground granaries of adobe or stone,
creating and decorating low-fired pottery ware,
producing art, including jewelry and rock art such as petroglyphs and pictographs.
The ancient Puebloan culture, also known as the Anasazi, occupied territory adjacent to the Fremont. The ancestral Puebloan culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the Southwest United States, including the San Juan River region of Utah. Archaeologists debate when this distinct culture emerged, but cultural development seems to date from about the common era, about 500 years before the Fremont appeared. It is generally accepted that the cultural peak of these people was around the 1200 CE. Ancient Puebloan culture is known for well constructed pithouses and more elaborate adobe and masonry dwellings. They were excellent craftsmen, producing turquoise jewelry and fine pottery. The Puebloan culture was based on agriculture, and the people created and cultivated fields of maize, beans, and squash and domesticated turkeys. They designed and produced elaborate field terracing and irrigation systems. They also built structures, some known as kivas, apparently designed solely for cultural and religious rituals.
These two later cultures were roughly contemporaneous, and appear to have established trading relationships. They also shared enough cultural traits that archaeologists believe the cultures may have common roots in the early American Southwest. However, each remained culturally distinct throughout most of their existence. These two well established cultures appear to have been severely impacted by climatic change and perhaps by the incursion of new people in about 1200 CE. Over the next two centuries, the Fremont and ancient Pueblo people may have moved into the American southwest, finding new homes and farmlands in the river drainages of Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico.
In about 1200, Shoshonean speaking peoples entered Utah territory from the west. They may have originated in southern California and moved into the desert environment due to population pressure along the coast. They were an upland people with a hunting and gathering lifestyle utilizing roots and seeds, including the pinyon nut. They were also skillful fishermen, created pottery and raised some crops. When they first arrived in Utah, they lived as small family groups with little tribal organization. Four main Shoshonean peoples inhabited Utah country. The Shoshone in the north and northeast, the Gosiutes in the northwest, the Utes in the central and eastern parts of the region and the Southern Paiutes in the southwest. Initially, there seems to have been very little conflict between these groups.
In the early 16th century, the San Juan River basin in Utah's southeast also saw a new people, the Díne or Navajo, part of a greater group of plains Athabaskan speakers moved into the Southwest from the Great Plains. In addition to the Navajo, this language group contained people that were later known as Apaches, including the Lipan, Jicarilla, and Mescalero Apaches.
Athabaskans were a hunting people who initially followed the bison, and were identified in 16th-century Spanish accounts as "dog nomads". The Athabaskans expanded their range throughout the 17th century, occupying areas the Pueblo peoples had abandoned during prior centuries. The Spanish first specifically mention the "Apachu de Nabajo" (Navaho) in the 1620s, referring to the people in the Chama valley region east of the San Juan River, and north west of Santa Fe. By the 1640s, the term Navaho was applied to these same people. Although the Navajo newcomers established a generally peaceful trading and cultural exchange with the some modern Pueblo peoples to the south, they experienced intermittent warfare with the Shoshonean peoples, particularly the Utes in eastern Utah and western Colorado.
At the time of European expansion, beginning with Spanish explorers traveling from Mexico, five distinct native peoples occupied territory within the Utah area: the Northern Shoshone, the Goshute, the Ute, the Paiute and the Navajo.
The Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendary Cíbola.
A group led by two Spanish Catholic priests—sometimes called the Domínguez–Escalante expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the California coast. The expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. All of what is now Utah was claimed by the Spanish Empire from the 1500s to 1821 as part of New Spain (later as the province Alta California); and subsequently claimed by Mexico from 1821 to 1848. However, Spain and Mexico had little permanent presence in, or control of, the region.
Fur trappers (also known as mountain men) including Jim Bridger, explored some regions of Utah in the early 19th century. The city of Provo was named for one such man, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah is named for a brigade leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, Peter Skene Ogden who trapped in the Weber Valley. In 1846, a year before the arrival of members from the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, the ill-fated Donner Party crossed through the Salt Lake valley late in the season, deciding not to stay the winter there but to continue forward to California, and beyond.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormon pioneers, first came to the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. At the time, the U.S. had already captured the Mexican territories of Alta California and New Mexico in the Mexican–American War and planned to keep them, but those territories, including the future state of Utah, officially became United States territory upon the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848. The treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on March 10, 1848.
Upon arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormon pioneers found no permanent settlement of Indians. Other areas along the Wasatch Range were occupied at the time of settlement by the Northwestern Shoshone and adjacent areas by other bands of Shoshone such as the Gosiute. The Northwestern Shoshone lived in the valleys on the eastern shore of Great Salt Lake and in adjacent mountain valleys. Some years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley Mormons, who went on to colonize many other areas of what is now Utah, were petitioned by Indians for recompense for land taken. The response of Heber C. Kimball, first counselor to Brigham Young, was that the land belonged to "our Father in Heaven and we expect to plow and plant it." A 1945 Supreme Court decision found that the land had been treated by the United States as public domain; no aboriginal title by the Northwestern Shoshone had been recognized by the United States or extinguished by treaty with the United States.
Upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormons had to make a place to live. They created irrigation systems, laid out farms, built houses, churches, and schools. Access to water was crucially important. Almost immediately, Brigham Young set out to identify and claim additional community sites. While it was difficult to find large areas in the Great Basin where water sources were dependable and growing seasons long enough to raise vitally important subsistence crops, satellite communities began to be formed.
Shortly after the first company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, the community of Bountiful was settled to the north. In 1848, settlers moved into lands purchased from trapper Miles Goodyear in present-day Ogden. In 1849, Tooele and Provo were founded. Also that year, at the invitation of Ute chief Wakara, settlers moved into the Sanpete Valley in central Utah to establish the community of Manti. Fillmore, Utah, intended to be the capital of the new territory, was established in 1851. In 1855, missionary efforts aimed at western native cultures led to outposts in Fort Lemhi, Idaho, Las Vegas, Nevada and Elk Mountain in east-central Utah.
The experiences of returning members of the Mormon Battalion were also important in establishing new communities. On their journey west, the Mormon soldiers had identified dependable rivers and fertile river valleys in Colorado, Arizona and southern California. In addition, as the men traveled to rejoin their families in the Salt Lake Valley, they moved through southern Nevada and the eastern segments of southern Utah. Jefferson Hunt, a senior Mormon officer of the Battalion, actively searched for settlement sites, minerals, and other resources. His report encouraged 1851 settlement efforts in Iron County, near present-day Cedar City. These southern explorations eventually led to Mormon settlements in St. George, Utah, Las Vegas and San Bernardino, California, as well as communities in southern Arizona.
Prior to establishment of the Oregon and California trails and Mormon settlement, Indians native to the Salt Lake Valley and adjacent areas lived by hunting buffalo and other game, but also gathered grass seed from the bountiful grass of the area as well as roots such as those of the Indian Camas. By the time of settlement, indeed before 1840, the buffalo were gone from the valley, but hunting by settlers and grazing of cattle severely impacted the Indians in the area, and as settlement expanded into nearby river valleys and oases, indigenous tribes experienced increasing difficulty in gathering sufficient food. Brigham Young's counsel was to feed the hungry tribes, and that was done, but it was often not enough. These tensions formed the background to the Bear River massacre committed by California Militia stationed in Salt Lake City during the Civil War. The site of the massacre is just inside Preston, Idaho, but was generally thought to be within Utah at the time.
Statehood was petitioned for in 1849-50 using the name Deseret. The proposed State of Deseret would have been quite large, encompassing all of what is now Utah, and portions of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon, New Mexico and California. The name of Deseret was favored by the LDS leader Brigham Young as a symbol of industry and was derived from a reference in the Book of Mormon. The petition was rejected by Congress and Utah did not become a state until 1896, following the Utah Constitutional Convention of 1895.
In 1850, the Utah Territory was created with the Compromise of 1850, and Fillmore (named after President Fillmore) was designated the capital. In 1856, Salt Lake City replaced Fillmore as the territorial capital.
The first group of pioneers brought African slaves with them, making Utah the only place in the western United States to have African slavery. Three slaves, Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, came west with this first group in 1847. The settlers also began to purchase Indian slaves in the well-established Indian slave trade, as well as enslaving Indian prisoners of war. In 1850, 26 slaves were counted in Salt Lake County. Slavery didn't become officially recognized until 1852, when the Act in Relation to Service and the Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners were passed. Slavery was repealed on June 19, 1862, when Congress prohibited slavery in all US territories.
Disputes between the Mormon inhabitants and the federal government intensified after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' practice of polygamy became known. The polygamous practices of the Mormons, which were made public in 1854, would be one of the major reasons Utah was denied statehood until almost 50 years after the Mormons had entered the area.
After news of their polygamous practices spread, the members of the LDS Church were quickly viewed by some as un-American and rebellious. In 1857, after news of a possible rebellion spread, President James Buchanan sent troops on the Utah expedition to quell the growing unrest and to replace Brigham Young as territorial governor with Alfred Cumming. The expedition was also known as the Utah War.
As fear of invasion grew, Mormon settlers had convinced some Paiute Indians to aid in a Mormon-led attack on 120 immigrants from Arkansas under the guise of Indian aggression. The murder of these settlers became known as the Mountain Meadows massacre. The Mormon leadership had adopted a defensive posture that led to a ban on the selling of grain to outsiders in preparation for an impending war. This chafed pioneers traveling through the region, who were unable to purchase badly needed supplies. A disagreement between some of the Arkansas pioneers and the Mormons in Cedar City led to the secret planning of the massacre by a few Mormon leaders in the area. Some scholars debate the involvement of Brigham Young. Only one man, John D. Lee, was ever convicted of the murders, and he was executed at the massacre site.
Express riders had brought the news 1,000 miles from the Missouri River settlements to Salt Lake City within about two weeks of the army's beginning to march west. Fearing the worst as 2,500 troops (roughly 1/3rd of the army then) led by General Albert Sidney Johnston started west, Brigham Young ordered all residents of Salt Lake City and neighboring communities to prepare their homes for burning and evacuate southward to Utah Valley and southern Utah. Young also sent out a few units of the Nauvoo Legion (numbering roughly 8,000–10,000), to delay the army's advance. The majority he sent into the mountains to prepare defenses or south to prepare for a scorched earth retreat. Although some army wagon supply trains were captured and burned and herds of army horses and cattle run off no serious fighting occurred. Starting late and short on supplies, the United States Army camped during the bitter winter of 1857–58 near a burned out Fort Bridger in Wyoming. Through the negotiations between emissary Thomas L. Kane, Young, Cumming and Johnston, control of Utah territory was peacefully transferred to Cumming, who entered an eerily vacant Salt Lake City in the spring of 1858. By agreement with Young, Johnston established the army at Fort Floyd 40 miles away from Salt Lake City, to the southwest.
Salt Lake City was the last link of the First Transcontinental Telegraph, between Carson City, Nevada and Omaha, Nebraska completed in October 1861. Brigham Young, who had helped expedite construction, was among the first to send a message, along with Abraham Lincoln and other officials. Soon after the telegraph line was completed, the Deseret Telegraph Company built the Deseret line connecting the settlements in the territory with Salt Lake City and, by extension, the rest of the United States.
Because of the American Civil War, federal troops were pulled out of Utah Territory (and their fort auctioned off), leaving the territorial government in federal hands without army backing until General Patrick E. Connor arrived with the 3rd Regiment of California Volunteers in 1862. While in Utah, Connor and his troops soon became discontent with this assignment wanting to head to Virginia where the "real" fighting and glory was occurring. Connor established Fort Douglas just three miles (5 km) east of Salt Lake City and encouraged his bored and often idle soldiers to go out and explore for mineral deposits to bring more non-Mormons into the state. Minerals were discovered in Tooele County, and some miners began to come to the territory. Conner also solved the Shoshone Indian problem in Cache Valley Utah by luring the Shoshone into a midwinter confrontation on January 29, 1863. The armed conflict quickly turned into a rout, discipline among the soldiers broke down, and the Battle of Bear River is today usually referred to by historians as the Bear River Massacre. Between 200 and 400 Shoshone men, women and children were killed, as were 27 soldiers, with over 50 more soldiers wounded or suffering from frostbite.
Beginning in 1865, Utah's Black Hawk War developed into the deadliest conflict in the territory's history. Chief Antonga Black Hawk died in 1870, but fights continued to break out until additional federal troops were sent in to suppress the Ghost Dance of 1872. The war is unique among Indian Wars because it was a three-way conflict, with mounted Timpanogos Utes led by Antonga Black Hawk fighting federal and Utah local militia.
On May 10, 1869, the First transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake. The railroad brought increasing numbers of people into the state, and several influential businessmen made fortunes in the territory.
Main article: Latter Day Saint polygamy in the late-19th century
During the 1870s and 1880s, federal laws were passed and federal marshals assigned to enforce the laws against polygamy. In the 1890 Manifesto, the LDS Church leadership dropped its approval of polygamy citing divine revelation. When Utah applied for statehood again in 1895, it was accepted. Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896.
The Mormon issue made the situation for women the topic of nationwide controversy. In 1870 the Utah Territory, controlled by Mormons, gave women the right to vote. However, in 1887, Congress disenfranchised Utah women with the Edmunds–Tucker Act. In 1867–96, eastern activists promoted women's suffrage in Utah as an experiment, and as a way to eliminate polygamy. They were Presbyterians and other Protestants convinced that Mormonism was a non-Christian cult that grossly mistreated women. The Mormons promoted woman suffrage to counter the negative image of downtrodden Mormon women. With the 1890 Manifesto clearing the way for statehood, in 1895 Utah adopted a constitution restoring the right of women's suffrage. Congress admitted Utah as a state with that constitution in 1896.
Though less numerous than other intermountain states at the time, several lynching murders for alleged misdeeds occurred in Utah territory at the hand of vigilantes. Those documented include the following, with their ethnicity or national origin noted in parentheses if it was provided in the source:
William Torrington in Carson City (then a part of Utah territory), 1859
Thomas Coleman (Black man) in Salt Lake City, 1866
3 unidentified men at Wahsatch, winter of 1868
A Black man in Uintah, 1869
Charles A. Benson in Logan, 1873
Ah Sing (Chinese man) in Corinne, 1874
Thomas Forrest in St. George, 1880
William Harvey (Black man) in Salt Lake City, 1883
John Murphy in Park City, 1883
George Segal (Japanese man) in Ogden, 1884
Joseph Fisher in Eureka, 1886
Robert Marshall (Black man) in Castle Gate, 1925
Other lynchings in Utah territory include multiple instances of mass murder of Native American children, women, and men by White settlers including the Battle Creek massacre (1849), Provo River Massacre (1850), Nephi massacre (1853), and Circleville Massacre (1866).
Beginning in the early 20th century, with the establishment of such national parks as Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, Utah began to become known for its natural beauty. Southern Utah became a popular filming spot for arid, rugged scenes, and such natural landmarks as Delicate Arch and "the Mittens" of Monument Valley are instantly recognizable to most national residents. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, with the construction of the Interstate highway system, accessibility to the southern scenic areas was made easier.
Beginning in 1939, with the establishment of Alta Ski Area, Utah has become world-renowned for its skiing. The dry, powdery snow of the Wasatch Range is considered some of the best skiing in the world. Salt Lake City won the bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics in 1995, and this has served as a great boost to the economy. The ski resorts have increased in popularity, and many of the Olympic venues scattered across the Wasatch Front continue to be used for sporting events. This also spurred the development of the light-rail system in the Salt Lake Valley, known as TRAX, and the re-construction of the freeway system around the city.
During the late 20th century, the state grew quickly. In the 1970s, growth was phenomenal in the suburbs. Sandy was one of the fastest-growing cities in the country at that time, and West Valley City is the state's 2nd most populous city. Today, many areas of Utah are seeing phenomenal growth. Northern Davis, southern and western Salt Lake, Summit, eastern Tooele, Utah, Wasatch, and Washington counties are all growing very quickly. Transportation and urbanization are major issues in politics as development consumes agricultural land and wilderness areas.
In 2012, the State of Utah passed the Utah Transfer of Public Lands Act in an attempt to gain control over a substantial portion of federal land in the state from the federal government, based on language in the Utah Enabling Act of 1894. The State does not intend to use force or assert control by limiting access in an attempt to control the disputed lands, but does intend to use a multi-step process of education, negotiation, legislation, and if necessary, litigation as part of its multi-year effort to gain state or private control over the lands after 2014.
Utah families, like most Americans everywhere, did their utmost to assist in the war effort. Tires, meat, butter, sugar, fats, oils, coffee, shoes, boots, gasoline, canned fruits, vegetables, and soups were rationed on a national basis. The school day was shortened and bus routes were reduced to limit the number of resources used stateside and increase what could be sent to soldiers.
Geneva Steel was built to increase the steel production for America during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had proposed opening a steel mill in Utah in 1936, but the idea was shelved after a couple of months. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war and the steel plant was put into progress. In April 1944, Geneva shipped its first order, which consisted of over 600 tons of steel plate. Geneva Steel also brought thousands of job opportunities to Utah. The positions were hard to fill as many of Utah's men were overseas fighting. Women began working, filling 25 percent of the jobs.
As a result of Utah's and Geneva Steels contribution during the war, several Liberty Ships were named in honor of Utah including the USS Joseph Smith, USS Brigham Young, USS Provo, and the USS Peter Skene Ogden.
One of the sectors of the beachhead of Normandy Landings was codenamed Utah Beach, and the amphibious landings at the beach were undertaken by United States Army troops.
It is estimated that 1,450 soldiers from Utah were killed in the war.
If I was David Noton (or any seriously committed photographer) I would stay in a particular place (sometimes for up to 2 weeks at a time) to wait for the right light/conditions, in order to take away the image I came for. Unfortunately I cannot afford this luxury, I don't even have any holiday days left to take. So instead I have to do these day trips and rely on luck and hope the conditions are favourable. It usually turns out though that this is not the case and here is a classic example.
I went with the intention of shooting the Old Pier at Swanage, only to find to my horror an ugly landing stage in front of it spoiling the shot. Furthermore, the 'promised' stormy grey skies that would have made for some decent long exposures evaporated into nothingness.
This then is nothing more than a token shot from my day in Swanage, a beautiful place but for photography it was a waste of time. I came away with nothing but a disappoined camera and a fluffy toy rabbit I won in the amusement arcade.
If only I could live near these places, it might help.
WARNING: the photo is SAFE, but the text may not be suitable for younger or sensitive readers!
* * * * * * * *
When we first receive word that are to be detailed to the Tactical Unit, we naturally figure it has something to do with our stellar performance over the past few months. Actually, what they need are two white guys to replace the two who had committed the offense of High Treason when they conspired to betray our beloved Commander's trust by requesting a transfer to the 6th District. They are promptly busted down to Uniformed Patrol, whee they will have to serve their time in purgatory until said Commander feels that justice has been done...
We are rookies and therefore do not fully understand the inner-workings of the Third District. In short: we lack the good sense to decline the offer.
Our first night when we show up for work at the Tac Office, we don't know what to expect. We learn that the Tactical Unit consists of three separate teams that rotate at regular intervals: Days, Nights, and Relief. When you work the latter, you bounce back and forth to cover manpower shortages on the other two watches. Each team is headed up by a Sergeant, using the radio call-sign 361 (three-sixty-one), 362 (three-sixty-two), or 363 (three-sixty-three), depending on which watch his team is working. The Sergeant will then assign each of his two-man teams a letter suffix - A through D - giving us actual radio call-signs such as 361-Adam, 361-Boy, etc.
It doesn't make a lot of sense to put two rookie Tac-guys on the street as a team, but here we are, the blind leading the blind, walking out the door as 361-David. We're not about to ask anyone to take us by the hand, so we'll just have to wing it.
Just as we are about to hit the street, the early cars from the 3rd Watch are coming in for check-off, ready to hand in their reports, tickets, and whatever else they have to show for their 8 hours on the street.
Two wagon guys come in with some mope they just scooped up somewhere: "Anybody want this guy? We got him with some dope, but we just want to go home..."
Okay, they're offering us a freebie. We look at each other, and at the other guys on our team, wondering if we have to give them first crack at this pinch - based on seniority or some other unwritten rule we're ignorant of - but they turn up their nose: this caper is obviously beneath them...
Well, we figure this is better than nothing, and, since we don't know our ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to this tactical shit, we'd better take whatever we can get.
We knock out the paperwork in no time, and Kelly goes off to run the guy on the computer - a single terminal behind the central District Desk - to see if he has any outstanding warrants, which is standard procedure before we can take him to the lock-up. Lo and behold, the guy pops a murder warrant. Man, you should have seen the faces of the other guys on our team when thy find out what they had passed up. They are pissed!
The greatest revelation about working Tac is that we are part of a "team" in name only. We are actually competing with everybody else, and "points" is the name of the game and all of our arrests are logged in our daily activity report, better known as our "humper."
Right out of the gate, we'll hit 63rd Street, to see if we can scoop up a couple of hoes. They come in several varieties: He/Shes, Skanks or Skeezers, and Skullies. If a particular broad looks pretty good from a distance of 50 feet or more,
it's almost certainly a dude. Some of these guys have gone the whole nine yards, and are now the proud owners of a full set of female plumbing. Throw in some hormone shots and they'll even grow their own set of knockers. Most, however, have not yet gone that far, and they are still largely male under that no-so-subtle layer of make-up.
When you move in a little closer, you can see that Adam's Apple bobbing up and down, and, as the saying goes: if you're not careful, you may find out that the lovely lady has a bigger dick than you do...
Yet, for reasons I still don't comprehend, some guys will pay these gumps to suck their dick, and - since they're on the "receiving end" - they still firmly believe that they are not engaging in a homosexual sex-act.
If you ask these same customers if they're let one of these He/Shes fuck 'em in the ass, they are horrified: "What do you take me for...?" Well, you just said it was okay to be on the "receiving" end, right?
Anyway, with the AIDS epidemic running rampant, we make sure we know who we are dealing with before we slap the cuffs on any of our "ladies" of the night.
There aren't even that many He/Shes here on 63rd Street. Most customers looking for that type of action, take their business to the Wooded Island, just south of the Museum of Science & Industry, where they'll find a much wider selection to choose from, with very little police interference.
The real broads that work 63rd Street are usually revolting to look at from any distance. The Skanks and Skeezers may have a few months left before they hit rock-bottom, while the
Skullies as already there, in the final stages of disease, addiction and despair. Covered with open sores, they will give you a blow-job for a few bucks, with or without a condom. Once Crack arrives on the scene, it is not unusual for them to quote the prices for their services in "rocks" instead of dollars.
Regardless of their particular plumage, all prostitutes on 63rd Street usually hang out on street corners, preferably one with a corner tavern they can duck into when they see us coming down the street.
Most of them will do that slow stroll, with gyrating hips, while flashing their sagging little titties to entice passing motorists.
To make a legitimate arrest for prostitution, you have to use an under-cover office, and the prostitute must quote him a price for a specific sex act.
Well, our Tac Lieutenant doesn't want us to go through all that for no stinkin' misdemeanor arrest. Instead, we are to use an arcane, vaguely worded municipal ordinance, which only requires that we see them "flag down a lone motorist, and engage him in a brief conversation, which - in our experience as a law-enforcement officer - is the modus operandi of a prostitute plying her trade on the public way."
The uniformed officers who work 63rd Street will get to know the girls, and most of the time they'll give 'em a pass. Most of the time, they'll look out for the girls, and make sure they don't get hurt out there. Of course, in the "good old days" some coppers only treated them as human beings in return for a "freebie" to be cashed in on demand.
Tactical officers don't give anyone a break, unless they can "trade up" for something better, like a gun, some serious dope, or solid information on a violent felon. It's all about the number of heads you bring in at the end of the day. In the 3rd District - during that particular regime - quantity is more important than quality. It's true that you get more points for a homicide or rape offender, but we are not given the time necessary to trace down tips and leads in order to solve serious crimes. Instead, we have to some in with something...anything, no matter how insignificant or embarrassing it may be.
TO BE CONTINUED ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE OF THE ALBUM.
* * * * * * * *
The photo shows the same Tac Office where I worked back in 1988 and '89. This is where we processed our prisoners, and the small room in the back was a secure room where we could hold offenders for a short period of time, giving us the freedom to leave the office to track down additional leads and other offenders. This photo shows the same set-up used during the late-80s, but we had manual typewriters instead of computers...
In the book, I used a pseudonym for the many different officers I worked with over the years, but one I identified as Kenny, worked with me for most of my time on the job. Now that he has finally retired, I can give his real name: Kelly.
Well I tried to do some Portraits of this group this year, and I did them in B&W as it fits their motif. This is my first time doing a portrait session like this, so I am grateful for the chance to do this.
Strobist info:
ISO 200
f 4
Shutter 1/10th
Ambient light to the right, a Canon 480 EXII flash to the left with a Firefly Softbox fired using a Hahnel Trigger.