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"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."

– Pope Bl. Pius IX, in his decree 'Ineffabilis Deus'.

 

Painting by Pedro Ramírez in the Cathedral in Guatemala City.

mamiya 6MF 50mm f/4 + kodak portra 160. lab: the icon, los angeles, ca. scan: epson V750. exif tags: filmtagger.

The ancient Hebrew king and poet wrote, "The heavens declare the glory of God...". He must of been one to enjoy the beauties of creation. That creation was probably the same as on this day when the Master Artist selected His canvas and began to show his masterful skills of creating beauty for us to enjoy. I stood in awe!

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

Psalm 19:1, NIV

 

View Large On White

USA Declares Trade War on Canada: Day III - 16 images - Canon EOS 40D with Canon EF 28-135mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS USM (EOS mount) & Polarizer - Photographer Russell McNeil PhD (Physics) lives on Vancouver Island, where he works as a writer.

"We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful."

—Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854

 

St. Martin of Tours Parish

Diocesan Shrine of Mahal na Poon ng Krus sa Wawa

December 2011

 

Photo Credits --- Noy Viudez

Tubin' on Fourth of July weekend from Edgar Evins Marina on Center Hill Lake. In this photo, each tube has siblings on board. The one on the left is my kids, Jacob Ryan & Maddie. The tube on the right is McCartney and Sally Jane. In the background is Center Hill Dam which is the reason the lake exists since 1948.

 

I took this photo while also driving the boat by just spinning in my chair quickly to snap a couple of shots and then back to the front to see where we were going...as you all know, do whatever it takes to get the shot!!

 

Technical Information:

Camera - Nikon D7200 (handheld)

Lens – Nikkor 18-300mm Zoom

ISO – 400

Aperture – f/6.3

Exposure – 1/800 second

Focal Length – 60mm

 

The original RAW file was processed with Adobe Camera Raw and final adjustments were made with Photoshop CS6.

 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

Dear friend, here are 5 things you should know:

 

1. Like it or not, we are ALL sinners: As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT)

 

2. The punishment for sin is death: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)

 

3. Jesus is our only hope: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)

 

4. SALVATION is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)

 

5. Accept Jesus and receive eternal life: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)

 

Read the Bible for yourself. Allow the Lord to speak to you through his Word. YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE!

 

Sincerely,

 

Someone who cares about you

The We're Here! gang is visiting the "I Declare" group today, where we describe our qualifications for joining the 2020 presidential run (or any other run to office).

 

As you may remember, Dr. Helga is running (see comments), and here's the stump we're preparing for her speech.

 

Answers to the group's questions:

What's your platform?

A big ol' sequoia tree.

What office(s) are you running for?

POTUS, PM of Canada, Chancellor of Germany, Queen of England, and Czar.

Why are you qualified to run?

Because, like all evil dictators...I mean benevolent leaders...I have wacky hair.

Who's your running mate?

A hedgehog named Norman.

Do you have any skeletons in the closet?

Yes, they are underneath the skulls.

 

Story of this wonderful sequoia and why they had to cut it down here: www.vancouverisawesome.com/2018/09/04/sequoia-tree-kerris...

----------------------------------------------------------

Photographer: BeaR

MD: 黃梨子 (LiMin Huang)梨

Makeup: 徐妍蓁

Stylist: 徐妍蓁

GROUP: W.H.

Retouch: LR+PS

Special Thanks: 張弘達 Yikai Peng

 

#BeaRPhoto

AB FAV for today…

www.facebook.com/groups/1148438991917313/

  

I declare February LOVE, romance and beauty month.

  

They had a kiss.

An intimate moment,

an expression of amorousness,

a caress or touch with the lips.

They got lost in their own new world, forgot we were there, just for a moment...

 

The lights were in place, it was back to the real business.

 

This was one of the 'unofficial' photographs, I showed them, yes, they thought they were fun, but also a bit embarrassing, however, this was not what they 'wanted', people often have a predilection when they come to a photo studio! It is EXTREMELY important to listen VERY carefully to your clients.

They had come for a portrait, celebrating their engagement, that's what they went home with.

I did take those images for myself anyway.

  

THANX for ALL your comments and visits, so appreciated.

Have a wonderful day, filled with love, M, (*_*)

  

For more of my other work or if you want to PURCHASE (ONLY PLACE TO BUY!), visit here: www.indigo2photography.com

IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

  

Spring finally reached western Norway

 

The battle of the Alps was a battle that opposed France and Italy during 15 days at the end of the battle of france (10 to 25 june). At the time Italy was lead by Mussolini who had the ambition to recreate the roman empire, in june 1940 when he saw that Hitler was managing to defeat France he decided to declare war to France too in order to acheive an easy victory against the falling republic and to annex the south-est of France. But even if the italian were 3 times more numerous than the french they encountered difficulties crossing the Alps because of 2 factors: the bad equipment that didn't really protect the soldiers from the cold and the french "chasseur-skieur" who harrassed the italians during the crossing of the Alps. The Italian objective was to invade Nice so most of the offensive took place in the southern alps but some also occured in the northern Alps in order to encircle the French. During 15 days of intense fights the Italian only managed to advance a few kilometers through the border but didn't reach the french main defense line, in fact they were quickly stopped by the small fortifications of french Alpine Maginot line with the help of the artillery from the big forts behind. For exemple in Menton (a french village a few hundred meters from the border) 9 french men in a pillbox with a machine gun and a 25mm canon managed to stop the advance of 5 000 Italian until the Armistice and abandonned the bunker several days after the Armistice taking the guns and locking the door. At the end of the battle the french Alpine army commanded by René Olry managed to stop the italian advance but also the germans that were coming from the North using the advantages of the high terrain and the few colonial renault FT's. The Italian even lost their main fort in the region that was located on the Mont Chaberton after french mathematicians managed to calculate a trajectory for french heavy mortar to hit it and destroy it (the fort was located at an altitude that was over the usual limit). That victory allowed Vichy France to exist until 1942.

 

This is a MOC I made a few monthes ago depicting an engagement in the middle section of the Alps (that's why it'n not snowy) between an italian light motorized section and a french pillbox from the maginot line. It's not representing an official part of the battle in particular, but I tried to reproduct an Alpine terrain according to what I've seen from a trip there some time ago (it was in a valley near Cervières next to "l'ouvrage des Aittes"), it's the reason why I decided to put so many plant pieces because the grass is really high in this part of the Alps ^^. I also built a small pillbox, a destroyed house and a few other stuff all around. If you have any question just ask because it would be too long to describe everything :P

 

This was my surprise (which is not one for some ^^) for the 100 subscribers, so thank you for following me and I hope you like it :)

Also special thanks to Anáhuac Brick Customs who helped me to draw a bit of attention when I just began, to Lego pilot for helping me for my plane builds and to all of you !

Valerie Solanas est l’auteure du SCUM Manifesto, un pamphlet féministe radical qui déclare la toute-puissance des femmes. La première "pute intellectuelle d’Amérique" rentre avec fracas dans l’histoire du féminisme. Elle donne une voix rare à la rage des femmes et imagine un avenir politique par la marge.

L’histoire des femmes se devine souvent dans l’ombre de celles des hommes. C’est à travers la vie d’Andy Warhol qu’apparaît le nom de Valerie Solanas. En 1968, le célèbre artiste pop, inventeur du concept de Superstar, est l’épicentre de la vie artistique newyorkaise. Andy Warhol incarne le pouvoir, la réussite et l’argent. C’est en 1967 qu’une auteure du nom de Valerie Solanas se rend dans son atelier de la Factory pour lui confier le manuscrit de sa pièce de théâtre, Up your ass.

Des chambres du Chelsea Hotel aux trottoirs newyorkais, Valerie Solanas clame son ambition : elle est une grande auteure et sera reconnue comme telle. Elle a fui le New Jersey et une vie de violence, marquée par la prostitution et la précarité. Son histoire a abîmé son corps et son esprit. Chacun voit dans Valérie une femme intranquille et inquiétante."Une femme qui semblait avoir marché à travers une larme", dira la galeriste Margo Feiden.

Le maître de la Factory trouve la pièce choquante et reste silencieux face aux demandes de Solanas. Avec sa drôle de dégaine, Valerie ne rentre pas dans le cadre huppé et glamour des Marilyn warholienne. Elle essaye en vain de récupérer le seul exemplaire de son manuscrit qu’il avouera avoir perdu. Pour la dédommager, il lui propose non sans provocation de l’engager dans son prochain film érotique, I, a man qui narre les tentatives de séduction et d’assaut sexuel d’un homme sur huit femmes. L’une d’elle est interprétée par Valerie Solanas.

A la même époque, elle finit la rédaction de son SCUM Manifesto, un texte littéraire et politique violent qui s’ouvre sur ce programme : "Rien dans cette société ne concerne les femmes. Alors, à toutes celles qui ont un brin de civisme, le sens des responsabilités et celui de la rigolade, il ne reste qu’à renverser le gouvernement et supprimer le sexe masculin". Elle propose à son éditeur Maurice Girodias de le publier, sans succès.

Par une très chaude journée de juin 1968, Valerie Solanas arrive au 33 West Union Square en manteau d’hiver et col roulé. Elle pénètre dans l’atelier et tire trois fois, au troisième coup, elle finit par atteindre Andy Warhol. Déclaré cliniquement mort, Warhol survivra miraculeusement mais restera changé à jamais, comme le suggère son torse lacéré de cicatrices dans la série de portraits réalisée par Richard Avedon en 1969. Valérie Solanas est internée pendant trois ans en hôpital psychiatrique. Si cette tentative d’assassinat la fait sortir brièvement de l’anonymat, elle enferme son œuvre dans une interprétation simpliste qui relie l’acte meurtrier au manifeste.

 

Valerie Solanas is the author of the SCUM Manifesto, a radical feminist pamphlet that declares the omnipotence of women. America's first "intellectual whore" makes a big splash in the history of feminism. She gives a rare voice to the rage of women and imagines a political future from the margins.

The history of women can often be seen in the shadow of those of men. It is through the life of Andy Warhol that the name Valerie Solanas appears. In 1968, the famous pop artist, inventor of the concept of Superstar, was the epicenter of New York artistic life. Andy Warhol embodies power, achievement and money. It was in 1967 that an author by the name of Valerie Solanas went to her studio in the Factory to entrust her with the manuscript of her play, Up your ass.

From the rooms of the Chelsea Hotel to the New York sidewalks, Valerie Solanas proclaims her ambition: she is a great author and will be recognized as such. She fled New Jersey and a life of violence, marked by prostitution and precariousness. Her story damaged her body and her mind. Everyone sees Valérie as a disquieting and disturbing woman. "A woman who seemed to have walked through a tear", said gallery owner Margo Feiden.

The Factory master finds the room shocking and remains silent in the face of Solanas' requests. With her funny look, Valerie does not fit into the posh and glamorous setting of the Marilyn Warholienne. She tries in vain to recover the only copy of his manuscript that he will confess to having lost. To compensate her, he provocatively offers her to hire her in his next erotic film, I, a man, which narrates the attempts to seduce and sexually assault one man out of eight women. One of it is performed by Valerie Solanas.

At the same time, she finished writing her SCUM Manifesto, a violent literary and political text that opens with this program: "Nothing in this society concerns women. So, to all those who have a bit of civility, the sense of responsibility and the sense of fun, all that remains is to overthrow the government and suppress the male sex ". She proposed to her publisher Maurice Girodias to publish it, without success.

On a very hot day in June 1968, Valerie Solanas arrived at 33 West Union Square in a winter coat and turtleneck. She enters the workshop and shoots three times, on the third shot she ends up hitting Andy Warhol. Declared clinically dead, Warhol will miraculously survive but will remain changed forever, as suggested by his scarred chest in the series of portraits produced by Richard Avedon in 1969. Valérie Solanas was interned for three years in a psychiatric hospital. If this assassination attempt briefly breaks her anonymity, it encloses her work in a simplistic interpretation that links the murderous act to the manifesto.

'The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

The Bible Psalm 19 : 1-6

*********************************************************

"Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, und die Feste verkündigt seiner Hände Werk.

Ein Tag sagt's dem andern, und eine Nacht tut's kund der andern, ohne Sprache und ohne Worte; unhörbar ist ihre Stimme. Ihr Schall geht aus in alle Lande und ihr Reden bis an die Enden der Welt. Er hat der Sonne ein Zelt am Himmel gemacht; sie geht heraus wie ein Bräutigam aus seiner Kammer und freut sich wie ein Held, zu laufen ihre Bahn. Sie geht auf an einem Ende des Himmels und läuft um bis wieder an sein Ende, und nichts bleibt vor ihrer Glut verborgen."

Die Bibel Psalm 19, 2-7

 

“Do not forget this! Keep it in mind!

Remember this, you guilty ones.

Remember the things I have done in the past.

For I alone am God!

I am God, and there is none like me.

Only I can tell you the future

before it even happens.

Everything I plan will come to pass,

for I do whatever I wish.

 

[Isaiah 46:8-10 NLT]

 

5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

 

1. Like it or not, we are ALL sinners: As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT)

 

2. The punishment for sin is death: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)

 

3. Jesus is our only hope: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)

 

4. SALVATION is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)

 

5. Accept Jesus and receive eternal life: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)

 

Read the Bible for yourself. Allow the Lord to speak to you through his Word. YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE!

 

[Isaiah 46:8-11 NIV]

 

5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

 

1. Like it or not, we are ALL sinners: As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT)

 

2. The punishment for sin is death: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)

 

3. Jesus is our only hope: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)

 

4. SALVATION is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)

 

5. Accept Jesus and receive eternal life: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)

 

Read the Bible for yourself. Allow the Lord to speak to you through his Word. YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE!

I declare deer stalking season open!...

  

So good flickr folk I decided to take the plunge and set up a dedicated Facebook page - 'Cus that's what folks do right??? Anyway check it out over here... Its pretty sparse right now but no doubt i'll post something cool when i think of it...

This is not a photo that aims for best image quality, this is a photo that goes after emotions... This a photo that not too long ago was very costly to make, but today thanks to modern technology, we have these UAV that go up in the air at a moments notice and we can capture that amazing sunset from a whole different viewpoint... and all I have to say is that:

 

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.

Day after day they pour out speech;

night after night they communicate knowledge.

There is no speech; there are no words;

their voice is not heard.

Their message has gone out to all the earth,

and their words to the ends of the world.

Psalms 19:1-4

Title: Glass.

 

B♭ (B Flat)

A Novel by Mitsushiro Nakagawa

 

日本語のあらすじ等は下の方にあります😃

 

“Synopsis”

 

A Palestinian group from Gaza hacks into North Korea’s cryptocurrency system, stealing hundreds of millions of dollars. Their true goal is not money—but to recreate the lost homeland of Gaza on American soil.

Amid the backdrop of hardline Republican immigration policies and a growing wave of xenophobia, a quiet plan begins to take shape: the gradual collapse of America from within.

During a speech at Madison Square Garden, Republican presidential candidate Justin Bradford is shot. Almost simultaneously in Los Angeles, former president Owen Reed is attacked at a rally for Democratic hopeful Ryan Bennett.

Two assassinations—mirroring one another—ignite a nation’s deepest divide. Yet, against all odds, Justin survives. His blood type is one in 2.5 million: the Bombay Blood Group.

The only person who can donate such blood is Anaya Patel, a community art facilitator working in Brooklyn. Her blood, stored in the Bellevue Hospital Blood Bank, is used for an emergency transfusion that saves the candidate’s life.

Jack Vance, an agent of the U.S. Secret Service, suspects a Gaza-based network behind the attacks. Together with Cameron Bartlett, the FBI Director of the Los Angeles Field Office, and Veronica Reeves, a senior investigator from New York, he begins to uncover a vast conspiracy.

Their investigation leads them to Rafi Gannam, a former architecture student at the Islamic University of Gaza, who has infiltrated redevelopment sites across Los Angeles and New York—embedding C4 explosives deep within beams and structural cores.

His targets: new residential districts where agents of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations) live—symbols of “the order America built.”

Veronica urges the President to pursue dialogue to prevent further destruction, but President Grant M. Ranford refuses to listen.

Meanwhile, the recovering Justin and his Democratic rival Ryan appear on national television, calling for unity beyond political divisions.

Their words of reason, however, are drowned out when Grant takes the stage in Iowa, defiantly declaring: “We will never bow to terror.”

Among the crowd, Rafi’s operatives have already taken their positions.

As chaos erupts and the stage collapses, Amir Nasser—once Rafi’s comrade, haunted by the memory of his sister’s death in Gaza—tries desperately to halt the chain of destruction.

But Rafi’s conviction remains unshaken.

Under the twilight beneath the Williamsburg Bridge, amid the city’s fading noise, the two men part ways.

It is the boundary between prayer and vengeance, between hope and nothingness.

  

“Characters”

 

Anaya Patel – 25, Community Art Facilitator

Arjun Singh – 26, Anaya’s boyfriend, Luminatech Innovations

Mika Sato – 25, Anaya’s friend, Community Art Facilitator

 

Justin Bradford – 27, Republican Presidential Candidate

Eleanor Blake – 26, Justin’s fiancée

 

President Grant M. Langford – 61, Incumbent Republican President

Vice President Charles “Chuck” Baines – 64, Incumbent Republican Vice President

 

Ryan Bennett – 30, Democratic Presidential Candidate

Sophia Bennett – 30, Ryan’s wife

Owen Reed – 65, Former Democratic President

 

Jack Vance – 45, Secret Service, Former FBI Los Angeles Field Office

Ben Holloway – 30, Jack’s colleague

Darryl Ross – 29, Jack’s colleague

Elijah Kane – 28, Jack’s colleague

 

Marcus Dane – 45, FBI Los Angeles Field Office

Cameron Bartlett – 55, FBI Los Angeles Field Office, Field Office Director

Tom Caldwell – 38, FBI Technical Unit, Marcus’s subordinate

 

Veronica Reeves – 41, FBI Special Agent

Alexander Harris – 52, FBI New York Field Office, Field Office Director

Elliot Chen – 36, Technology Unit Chief

Alicia Monroe – 58, FBI Director

 

Zakaria Haddad – 51, Gaza Strip, Palestine; Former Islamic University Engineering Professor, New York Team

Amir Nasser – 23, Gaza Strip, Palestine; Former Islamic University Electronics Engineering, New York Team

Rafi Gannam – 32, Gaza Strip, Palestine; Islamic University, Architecture, New York Team

Rohan Shah – 29, Gaza Strip, Palestine; Islamic University, Architecture, New York Team

 

Majid Hamza – 47, Gaza Strip, Palestine; University of Palestine, Information Technology, Los Angeles Team

Samira Hammad – 28, Gaza Strip, Palestine; University of Palestine, Engineering, Los Angeles Team

Saeed Kabari – 35, Gaza Strip, Palestine; University of Palestine, Business Administration, Los Angeles Team

Reem Nasser – 30, Gaza Strip, Palestine; University of Palestine, Media Studies, Los Angeles Team

 

Noah Levi – 55, Israel, residing in Tel Aviv, Jewish

  

B♭ will be released worldwide on February 29, 2026.

Recently, director Ridley Scott remarked that streaming films and series have become dull.

I agree.

If you have two hours to spare for such stories, I ask for only two minutes of your time.

Two minutes with my novel will outlast those two hours.

I am confident of that.

  

Stay tuned.

Mitsushiro

October 9th, 2025

 

P.S.

Micchan — the man who challenges Netflix. 😃

  

(Nikon Coolpix 8700 shot)

Manhattan, New York, U.S.A. 2017 … 12 / 16

(Today’s photo. It has not been published before, but I’ve recently re-edited it from the original.)

  

Images.

 

ONE OK ROCK - We are [ LIVE ]

youtu.be/uyaKoj7wABY?si=l5TIci49GRdoYQDD

  

English lyrics and Japanese translation

youtu.be/wOS8u80wvEs?si=g2ghwRsJRmqn3C22

  

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

My new novel

B♭ (B Flat)

 

Volume 19😄

The following is still in its draft stage and will be revised further.

Key parts are not disclosed.

The order of the content shown here is mixed.

(Of course, this is not the final version.)

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

My new novel

B♭ (B Flat)

English translation by GPT-5, in collaboration with Mitsushiro Nakagawa

  

Twilight sank over the harbor town, dimming the air as the rusted girders along the pier turned a burnished red.

The park in Red Hook was nearly empty; the chains of the swings stirred in the wind, clinking faintly.

Children’s laughter drifted from afar, only deepening the stillness that hung over the place.

Amir stood outside the wire fence, gazing at the scene, and something half-forgotten stirred within him.

There had been evenings, too, in the rubble of Gaza.

Out from the ruins of broken houses, his mother would appear—

breathless, dust clinging to her clothes, coming to find him, to hold him close.

He could still recall the scent of her hair, the warmth of her arms.

“Let’s go home,” she had said.

Even if “home” was nothing more than a collapsing shell of stone and dust, her voice alone had led him back.

A mattress laid atop debris.

A room with no walls, only wind.

Yet each time his mother’s hand brushed his forehead, that place became, undeniably, home.

Amir’s gaze returned to the New York children swaying on the swings.

The innocent rhythm between mothers and sons was repeating itself again, bathed in the soft light of dusk.

It was a world untouched by weapons or blood.

“Rafi,” he murmured, barely louder than the wind,

“maybe… we don’t have to go on.”

Rafi didn’t look away.

His eyes were clouded with the sediment of Gaza—blood and dust, the memory of ruin.

His father’s body fallen in shadow.

Walls blackened with fire.

Dreams torn apart.

What filled him was not tenderness, but a cold and merciless anger.

“Don’t forget, Amir,” he said, his voice hard as stone.

“In the same place where your mother held you, our fathers were slaughtered.

Those ruins are not just ruins.”

Amir fell silent.

The river’s surface rippled red in the twilight; across the East River, the towers of Manhattan shimmered faintly, blurred at the edges.

Peace and destruction, memory and hatred—

they mingled together in the same wind.

Behind the wire fence, children’s laughter still rang out.

But to the two men, it sounded only like an echo from another world.

 

The setting sun sank quietly, staining the bridge’s iron joints red as the heat beneath it trembled in the air.

Rainwater pooled in the cracks of the concrete, reflecting a thin sheet of gold.

A faint steam rose from the damp air, and the salt from the harbor clung to Amir’s nose.

The boarded door of an abandoned factory hung loose,

the wind pushing in old newspapers and leaves, swirling them into tiny spirals.

From afar came the cry of cicadas, and a city bus exhaled a sigh through its brakes.

Beneath the bridge stood Amir, Rafi, and several others scattered in silence.

Some wiped sweat from their brows, eyes lowered to the ground;

others rested hands upon the girders, gazing out toward the distant light.

At intervals, the shadow of a parent waiting for a child passed by,

a white-roofed van gliding through the heat.

Amir rubbed his back, the sweat clinging to his shirt, and sat down in the shadow of the bridge pier.

Rafi stood a short distance away.

Their shadows stretched long, wavering under the harsh westering sun.

No one among their comrades moved; their stillness was a kind of breathless waiting.

“Can’t we stop here?” Amir’s voice wavered into the humid air.

In his mind, he saw again his mother’s hand reaching through a crack in the stone wall—

that small, dirt-stained hand that once touched his cheek.

The desire to return to that warmth still flickered faintly in his chest, like an ember refusing to die.

Rafi clenched his jaw, and spoke through his teeth, his words as brief and cold as a stone cast into the sea.

“Don’t forget, Amir.

If you forget that night, we’ll betray the dead.”

His voice merged with the creak of metal underfoot, irreconcilable with the laughter of children or the cry of cicadas drifting in the distance.

Amir narrowed his eyes, watching the flow of light beyond the railing.

Across the river, windows shimmered in layers—

places where life went on, where dinners were being served,

where children’s laughter and footsteps would echo softly through the gardens.

A deep shadow cut across Rafi’s face.

His fists were clenched, the veins on his hands taut and bright.

“That wish of yours,” he said quietly,

“do you know it might become someone’s gravestone?”

Amir’s gaze fell to a small white rabbit doll at his feet.

It was caked with dust, one eye missing.

Perhaps it belonged to a child who once played beneath this bridge—

or perhaps it had simply wandered here by chance.

Either way, to Amir, that single missing eye seemed like a fleeting glimpse of a world quietly disappearing.

Silence spread between them.

The wind hummed low through the iron beams.

Around them, the world went on moving.

A van door shut.

A parent touched a child’s shoulder.

A bus turned the corner.

Their comrades drew shallow breaths, eyes fixed on the ground or the far horizon.

Without looking back, Amir began walking toward the city beyond the bridge’s shadow.

Behind him came a single breath from Rafi—

a sound that carried the stillness of a corpse.

The summer dusk slowly swallowed the bridge.

The men beneath it remained as faint silhouettes,

poised between the red of sunset and the cold gleam of steel.

Rafi quietly unzipped his bag and drew out a tablet.

His fingers trembled slightly,

but he took a slow breath to steady himself,

and aimed the camera at the mark of “B♭” at the bottom of mellow-echo.net.

A dark screen flickered to life, revealing a deep-layer QR code.

Without hesitation, his finger slid along the words:

“C4-ID: Vanta+Core / Ready.”

That movement sent a faint tremor through the tension of the men beneath the bridge,

blending with the dry scent of rust and the damp summer air.

From the far side of the East River, under another bridge,

sparks began to rise—one, then another—

tiny flashes glowing red in the dark.

The light quivered across the shadows,

and the sound of metal striking metal echoed low.

Rafi’s eyes followed the fading silhouette of Amir’s back.

The others stepped silently away,

drawing a little farther from the bridge.

Moist air clung to Rafi’s skin,

and the mingled red of dusk and chill of steel filled the space around him.

In the hush beneath the bridge,

each flash and creak formed a strange rhythm in his chest.

A cicada cried once in the distance.

The city’s murmur faded to a far-off haze.

Pressed beneath that wave of tension,

the men held their breath,

confirming each other’s presence only through glances and the rhythm of their breathing.

The summer dusk slowly—yet surely—

swallowed the bridge, the city,

and the shadows that remained.

  

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My new novel:

B♭ (B-flat)

There’s still more to come. 😃

(This is not the final draft.)

Set in New York City.

  

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Soundtrack.

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack/pl.u-47...

 

For japanese

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-for-jap...

 

Note: I gave a brief explanation of this novel in the following video:

youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV

  

iTunes Playlist Link::

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD

 

For japanese

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-for-jap...

 

My new novel:

B♭ (B-flat)

Notes

1. "Bombay Blood Type (hh type)"

•Characteristics: A rare blood type that lacks the usual ABO antigens — cannot be classified as A, B, or O.

•Discovery: First identified in 1952 in Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay).

•Prevalence: Roughly 1 in 10,000 people in India; globally, about 1 in 2.5 million.

•Transfusion Compatibility: Only compatible with blood from other Bombay type donors.

2. 2024 Harvard University Valedictorian Speech – The Power of Not Knowing

youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K

3. Shots Fired at Trump Rally

youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT

  

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Title.

ガラス。

  

僕の新しい小説

 B♭ (ビーフラット) ……. Mitsushiro Nakagawa

  

“あらすじ”

 

北朝鮮の仮想通貨システムをハッキングし、数億ドルを奪取したガザ出身のパレスチナ人グループが、アメリカ合衆国へ密かに潜入する。

彼らの目的は、失われた祖国ガザを、アメリカの地に「復元」することだった。

共和党による強硬な移民政策と、国内にくすぶる排外感情を利用し、アメリカ社会を内側から崩壊させる計画が静かに進行していく。

共和党大統領候補ジャスティン・ブラッドフォードがマディソン・スクエア・ガーデンで演説中に狙撃され、ほぼ同時刻、ロサンゼルスでは前大統領オーウェン・リードもまた、民主党候補ライアン・ベネットの集会で撃たれる。

国家を二分する双方向の暗殺。だが、ジャスティンは奇跡的に生還する。

彼の血液型は、世界でわずか250万人に一人といわれる「ボンベイブラッド」。

その希少な血を提供できたのは、ブルックリンで活動するコミュニティアート・ファシリテーター、アナヤ・パテルだった。

彼女の血液はベルビュー病院の血液バンクに保存されており、緊急輸血によって、候補者の命はかろうじて繋がれた。

シークレットサービスのジャック・バンスは、テロの背後にガザ出身の組織が関与していることを察知し、FBIロサンゼルス支局長官キャメロン・バートレット、ニューヨーク支局の特別捜査官ヴェロニカ・リーブスと共に捜査を進める。

やがて彼らは、イスラム大学で建築学を学んだラフィ・ガンナムが、ロサンゼルスやニューヨークの再開発現場に潜入し、梁や構造体の中枢にC4爆薬を仕込んでいた事実に辿り着く。

標的は、ICE(移民・関税執行局)やERO(執行・送還作戦部門)の職員が暮らす新興住宅街——すなわち、「アメリカが築いた秩序」そのものだった。

ヴェロニカは、これ以上の破壊を防ぐため、大統領への対話を進言するが、現職のグラント・ランフォード大統領は耳を貸さない。

一方、命を取り留めたジャスティンと民主党候補ライアンは、テレビを通じて国民に訴えかけ、分断を乗り越えようとする。

だが、その理性の声を嘲笑うかのように、グラントはアイオワ州での演説を強行し、「テロには屈しない」と宣言する。

その会場には、すでにラフィの仲間が率いる工作チームが潜入していた。

崩壊する会場の惨状を前に、仲間の一人アミール・ナッセルは、かつてガザで妹を失った記憶に引き裂かれ、破壊の連鎖を止めようとする。

だが、ラフィの信念は揺るがない。

ウィリアムズバーグ橋の下、夕暮れの喧騒のなか、二人は決別する。

それは、祈りと報復、希望と虚無の境界線だった——。

 

“登場人物”

 

アナヤ・パテル 25歳 コミュニティアート・ファシリテーター

アルジュン・シン 26歳 アナヤの恋人・ルミナテック・イノベーションズ社

 

佐藤 ミカ 25歳 アナの友人・コミュニティアート・ファシリテーター

 

ジャスティン・ブラッドフォード 27歳 共和党大統領候補

エリノア・ブレイク 26歳 ジャスティンの婚約者

 

グラント・M・ランフォード大統領 61歳 共和党大統領現職

チャールズ・ベインズ副大統領 64歳 共和党副大統領現職

 

ライアン・ベネット 30歳 民主党大統領候補

ソフィア・ベネット 30歳 ライアンの妻

 

オーウェン・リード 65歳 民主党前大統領

 

ジャック・バンス 45歳 シークレットサービス 元FBIロサンゼルス支局

ベン・ホロウェイ 30歳 ジャックの同僚

ダリル・ロス 29歳 ジャックの同僚

イライジャ・ケイン 28歳 ジャックの同僚

 

マーカス・デイン 45歳 FBI ロサンゼルス支局

キャメロン・バートレット 55歳 FBI ロサンゼルス支局 支局長

トム・コールドウェル 38歳 FBI技術班 マーカスの部下

 

ヴェロニカ・リーヴス 41歳 FBI特別捜査官

アレクサンダー・ハリス 52歳 FBI ニューヨーク支局 支局長

エリオット・チェン 36歳 テクノロジー班主任

 

アリシア・モンロー 58歳 FBI長官

 

ザカリア・ハッダード 51歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 元イスラム大学 工学部教授 ニューヨークチーム

アミール・ナッセル 23歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 元イスラム大学 電子工学部 ニューヨークチーム

ラフィ・ガンナム 32歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 イスラム大学 建築学部 ニューヨークチーム

ロハン・シャー 29歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 イスラム大学 建築学部 ニューヨークチーム

 

マジード・ハムザ 47歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 パレスチナ大学 情報技術学部 ロサンゼルスチーム

サミラ・ハンマド 28歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 パレスチナ大学 工学部 ロサンゼルスチーム

サイード・カバリ 35歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 パレスチナ大学 経営学部 ロサンゼルスチーム

リーム・ナセル 30歳 パレスチナ・ガザ地区 パレスチナ大学 メディア学部 ロサンゼルスチーム

 

ノア・レヴィ 55歳 イスラエル テルアビブ在住 ユダヤ人

  

僕のこの小説は、来年、2026年2月末日に公開します。

 

先日、リドリースコット監督がサブスクの映画やドラマ群がつまらないと話していたようだけど、同感です。

僕も非常に退屈です。

それらに2時間を要するなら、僕の小説を2分間だけ読んで欲しい。

その2分間は、2時間を越えるでしょう。

僕は自信があります。

ぜひ、期待してお待ちください。

 

Mitsushiro Nakagawa

09th. Oct . 2025.

  

追伸

ネトフリに挑戦する男、みっちゃん。😃

  

( Nikon coolpix 8700 shot )

  

マンハッタン。ニューヨーク。アメリカ。2017. … 12 / 16

 

(今日の写真。それは未発表済みです。しかし最近、オリジナルから再編集しています。)

  

Images.

 

ONE OK ROCK - We are [ LIVE ]

youtu.be/uyaKoj7wABY?si=l5TIci49GRdoYQDD

  

英詞と和訳

youtu.be/wOS8u80wvEs?si=g2ghwRsJRmqn3C22

  

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

僕の新しい小説。

 B♭ (ビーフラット)

  

第19弾。 😄

以下は、まだ初稿の段階です。まだ推敲します。

重要な部分は公開していません。

公開している内容の順番はバラバラです。

(もちろん最終稿ではありません。)

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

僕の新しい小説。

 

 B♭ (ビーフラット)

 

English translation by GPT-5, in collaboration with Mitsushiro Nakagawa

  

 夕暮れは港町の空気を沈ませながら、埠頭に錆びついた鉄骨を赤銅色に染めていた。

 レッドフックの公園は人影もまばらで、遊具の鎖が風に揺れ、かすかな音を立てていた。子どもたちの笑い声が遠くにひびき、かえって静けさを際立たせているようだった。

 アミールは金網の外からその光景を見つめ、胸の奥に忘れかけていた感覚を呼び戻していた。

かつてガザの瓦礫の町にも夕暮れはあった。

 破壊された家々のあいだから、母の姿が現れた。息を切らし、砂埃をまといながらも、彼を探して抱きしめに来る母の匂いを、アミールは今も覚えていた。

 「家に帰ろう」と母は言った。

 家とは呼べないほど崩れかけた場所であっても、その声だけが彼を導いた。瓦礫の上に置かれた布団、壁もない部屋に流れ込む風、それでも母の手が彼の額を撫でるたび、そこは確かに家だった。

 アミールの視線は、ブランコに揺れるニューヨークの子どもたちへと戻った。母と子の無邪気な時間が、夕暮れの柔らかな光のなかで繰り返されている。

 その光景は、武器や血とは無縁の世界だった。

「ラフィ……俺たちは、もうやめてもいいんじゃないか」

 低く呟いた声は、風に溶けるほど弱かった。

 ラフィは目を逸らさなかった。その瞳には、ガザの砂塵に埋もれた血の記憶がよどんでいた。

 倒れ伏した父の影、焼け焦げた壁、裂けた夢。彼の胸に満ちているのは、優しさではなく、冷たい怒りだった。

「忘れるな、アミール」

 声は硬い石のように響いた。

「母の腕に抱かれた記憶と同じ場所で、父たちは殺されたんだ。あの瓦礫はただの瓦礫じゃない」

 アミールは唇を閉ざした。

 夕暮れの川面が赤く揺らぎ、イーストリバー越しのマンハッタンの高層ビルの影がかすかに滲んでいた。

 平和と破壊、記憶と憎しみが、同じ風の中で混じり合っていた。

 金網の内では、子どもの笑い声がまだ響いていた。

 しかし、ふたりの耳にはそれが遠い世界の残響にしか思えなかった。

  

///////////////////////////////////

  

 夕陽は鉄の骨の継ぎ目を赤く染めながら、橋の下の熱気に揺れつつ静かに沈み込んだ。

 コンクリートの裂け目に溜まった水が、夕陽を映して薄い金色に光っている。湿った空気にわずかな湯気が立ち、港から流れる潮の匂いがアミールの鼻腔に絡んだ。

 廃工場の戸板は半ば外れ、風が古い新聞紙や枯れ葉を押し込み、小さな渦をつくっていた。蝉の声が遠くから響き、路線バスのブレーキ音が一度、吐息のように洩れた。

 橋の下には、アミールとラフィのほかに、数名の仲間たちが散らばって立っている。肩をすくめ、汗を拭いながら地面に視線を落とす者もいれば、鉄梁に手をかけ、遠くの光景をじっと見つめる者もいた。

 時折、子どもを待つ親の影と、白い屋根の送迎車が通り過ぎる。

 アミールは汗で張り付いたシャツの背中をさすり、橋げたの影に腰を下ろした。

 ラフィは少し離れて立った。影は長く伸び、照りつける西日に揺れていた。仲間たちは微動だにせず、息を殺すようにその場にいる。

「ここでやめられないのか」

 アミールの声は、蒸し暑い夕暮れの空気に溶けかけた。脳裏には、母が崩れた石壁の隙間から差し出した小さな手が浮かんでいた。母の手はいつも、汚れた掌で彼の頬を撫でてくれた。そこに帰りたいという欲が、胸の奥でまだ微かに温かく息をしている。

 ラフィは奥歯を噛みしめ、舌先だけで言った。簡潔で、海に投げる石のように冷たい。

「忘れるな、アミール。あの夜のことを忘れたら、俺たちは死んだ者たちを裏切る」

 その声は、波打つ鉄板の軋みと混じり、遠くの子どもたちの笑い声や蝉の声とは相容れなかった。

 アミールは目を細め、橋の欄干越しに流れてゆく光を見た。向こう岸に、きらめく窓が幾重にも並んでいる。そこには暮らしがあり、夕飯の匂いが立ち、子どもたちの笑い声や庭先で遊ぶ足音が、柔らかく響いているはずだ。

 ラフィの頬に深い影が刺さり、拳を握りしめている。手の甲の血管が鋭く浮いた。

「お前のその願いが、誰かの墓標になることを、お前は知っているのか」

 アミールの視線は、足元に落ちた小さな白いうさぎのぬいぐるみに止まった。埃にまみれ、ひとつの目が欠けていた。

 そのぬいぐるみは、橋の下で遊んだ遠い誰かのものかもしれない。あるいは単に迷い込んだだけかもしれない。どちらにせよ、アミールにはその欠けた目が、消えていく日常の一瞥に思えた。

 沈黙がふたりを隔てた。風が、橋げたの鉄梁を低く鳴らした。

 周囲の世界は動き続ける。送迎車の戸が閉まり、親が子の肩を叩く。バスが一台、角を曲がる。仲間たちは微かに息を整え、視線を地面や遠方に巡らせたままだ。

 アミールは振り返らず、橋の影から街のほうへ歩き出した。

 後ろでラフィの吐息が一つだけ聞こえた。それは骸のような静けさを残し、夏の夕闇が緩やかに橋を飲み込んでゆく。橋下の仲間たちは、かすかな影のまま残り、夕陽の赤と鉄の冷たさの間に佇んでいた。

 ラフィは静かにバッグを開き、タブレットを取り出した。指先に、微かに震えはあったが、心を鎮めるように深く息を吸い、mellow-echo.netの最下部にあるB“♭(フラット)”に、ミュートリーダーのカメラをかざした。暗い画面にディープレイヤーQRコードが浮かび上がると、指先はためらうことなく、“C4-ID:Vanta+Core/Ready.”の文字に沿って滑った。その手の動きは、橋下に残った仲間たちの緊張を微かに揺らし、乾いた鉄の匂いと湿った夏の風に溶けた。

 イーストリバーを挟んだ対岸の橋下から、火花が一点、また一点と立ち上り、暗がりに赤く瞬いた。小さな光は、橋下の影を揺らし、鉄梁にぶつかる音が低く響く。ラフィの視線はアミールの背に残る影を追い、仲間たちは無言で後退りし、橋下から少しずつ距離を取った。

 湿気を帯びた空気がラフィの肌をまとい、夕陽の赤と鉄の冷たさが入り混じる。橋下の静寂の中、火花の閃光と小さな軋みが、ラフィの胸の奥に奇妙な律動を生んだ。遠くで蝉が一声鳴き、街のざわめきは遙か彼方に霞んでゆく。

 その緊張の波に押されるように、橋下の仲間たちは息をひそめ、視線と呼吸だけで互いの存在を確かめあった。

 夏の夕闇は、まるで橋を、街を、そして残された影を静かに、しかし確かに飲み込んでいった。

  

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僕の新しい小説。

 B♭ (ビーフラット)

 

舞台はニューヨークです。

  

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Soundtrack.

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack/pl.u-47...

 

For japanese

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-for-jap...

  

iTunes Playlist Link::

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD

 

For japanese

music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack-for-jap...

  

追記 この小説を多少説明しました。

youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV

  

メモ

 

1

「Bombay型(ボンベイ型、hh型)」

•特徴:通常のABO血液型を持たない(A、B、Oに分類されない)特殊な型。

•発見地:1952年、インド・ムンバイ(旧ボンベイ)で初めて確認。

•発生頻度:インドでは1万人に1人程度だが、世界的には約250万人に1人とも。

•輸血制限:同じBombay型しか輸血できない。

 

2

2024年ハーバード大学首席の卒業式スピーチ『知らないことの力』

youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K

 

3

Shots fired at Trump rally

youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT

  

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declaring a state of emergency or perhaps another protest at the Kentucky Fried Chicken one block away

After declaring the Blackpool Swift a finished job yesterday, today it was the turn of this ex Royal Blue Bristol RELH to be deemed ready to head home.

LDV 847F is seen here back under cover with some of its owners other toys in a nice dry shed about 15 miles from RBW.

The ECW bodied coach has a 5 speed semi-auto gearbox and in this case leaf springs, unlike the air bags of the Crosville example which came our way recently.

I declare this thing to be cute :)

Considering that the US Air Force did not declare a basic operational capability for the F-35A until August 2016, and the F-35B and F-35C have yet to be declared operational, it seems odd that the above airframe was on display as a museum exhibit in early 2012!

 

However, this aircraft is the first X-35 ever built. It was originally the X-35A and was modified to include the lift-fan engine for testing of the STOVL concept. Among its many test records, this aircraft was the first in history to achieve a short take-off, level supersonic dash, and vertical landing in a single flight. It is also the first aircraft to fly using a shaft-driven lift-fan propulsion system.

 

The X-35B is the technology demonstrator for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a stealthy, supersonic, multi-role fighter. After meeting the goals for the conventional take-off version, the X-35A was modified into the X-35B for testing the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) features.

 

Three operational F-35 versions are planned. The conventional variant (F-35A), designed for the US Air Force, will be built in the largest quantities. The US Navy's carrier variant (F-35C) features larger wing and control surfaces, additional wingtip ailerons, and a strengthened internal structure to absorb the punishment of catapult launches and arrested landings. The wings also fold for better storage aboard carriers. The short takeoff/vertical landing variant (F-35B) will be used by the US Marine Corps, Britain's Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, and the Italian Air Force and Navy. Budget constraints continue to impact the future of the F-35 and the final production run has not yet been determined.

 

The STOVL version (F-35B) is equipped with a shaft-driven lift-fan propulsion system, which enables the aircraft to take off from a short runway or small aircraft carrier and to land vertically. The F-35, as the production version is designated, was conceived as the replacement for many aging fighters, such as the F-16, A-10, F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier. Given the rapid development of unmanned aircraft, the F-35 may also be the last piloted fighter produced in large numbers.

 

The Pratt & Whitney JSF 119-PW-611 turbofan engine (seen beyond the airframe) deflects thrust downward for short takeoff/vertical landing capability. The Air Force and Navy versions use a thrust-vectoring exhaust nozzle. The Marine Corps and RAF/RN version has a swivel-duct nozzle; an engine-driven fan behind the cockpit and air-reaction control valves in the wings to provide stability at low speeds. This unique propulsion system won the prestigious Collier Trophy in 2001.

I declare.......... I am just a shy southern country girl..........I am sure that I would not know how to act properly..........they are so beautiful and feminine and experienced and confident...........maybe I could just drive by...........a girl can dream! ( sigh)

- William Allen Butler

 

(**EXPLORED**)

 

View On Black

 

You now know my dirty little secret. I am hopelessly addicted to gaudy costume jewelry. This isn't even a fraction of my collection. I've got rings and bracelets and necklaces to wear with any outfit, for any occassion, and I still need more. A girl can never have too much jewelry.

 

totw: Accessorize

365 Days (self portraits): Day 90

Apollo Beach Declaring Love For Tampa Bay Florida Or Beer Can Island? - IMRAN™

During one of the nonstop rain days here, I took Kennedy for a walk to the Apollo Beach beach, because the dog park has been a slushy mess for too long. There weren’t too many people around. In typical Florida fashion, there was rain falling, but there were also beautiful patches of blue sky shining over the waters of Tampa Bay, and around Beer Can Island. This “I❤️U” someone had marked into the sand remained clearly visible. From the direction of writing, I’m not sure if someone at BCI wrote that for me. 😄 In that case, I Love You Two!

 

© 2019 IMRAN™

   

I declare February LOVE, romance and beauty month.

 

To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again.

-- quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Gerbera is a genus of ornamental plants from the sunflower family. It was named in honour of the German naturalist Traugott Gerber.

 

It has approximately 30 species in the wild, extending to South America, Africa and tropical Asia.

Colours include white, yellow, orange, red, and pink. The center of the flower is sometimes black.

It is the fifth most used cut flower in the world (after rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, and tulip).

  

I love 'creating' and playing with light in the studio, comp in camera, gives me a real 'PHOTOGRAPHY' buzz, lol, M, (*_*)

  

For more of my other work or if you want to PURCHASE (ONLY PLACE TO BUY MY IMAGES!), VIEW THE NEW PORTFOLIOS AND LATEST NEWS HERE on our website: www.indigo2photography.com

IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

   

After declaring himself Rom Nel, Theo has set out to subjugate the cosmos under a rebuilt Arkhan Empire. Stampeding across the stars, he and his armies leave little but ruins behind them.

Hadrian's Wall (Latin: Vallum Hadriani, also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or Vallum Aelium in Latin), is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian.[1] Running from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west of what is now northern England, it was a stone wall with large ditches in front of it and behind it that crossed the whole width of the island. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large forts, smaller milecastles, and intervening turrets. In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been customs posts.

 

Hadrian's Wall Path generally runs very close to the wall. Almost all of the standing masonry of the wall was removed in early modern times and used for local roads and farmhouses. None of it stands to its original height, but modern work has exposed much of the footings, and some segments display a few courses of modern masonry reconstruction. Many of the excavated forts on or near the wall are open to the public, and various nearby museums present its history. The largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain, it runs a total of 73 miles (117.5 kilometres) in northern England. Regarded as a British cultural icon, Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient tourist attractions. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The turf-built Antonine Wall in what is now central Scotland, which briefly superseded Hadrian's Wall before being abandoned, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008.

 

Hadrian's Wall marked the boundary between Roman Britannia and unconquered Caledonia to the north. The wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the Anglo-Scottish border, though it is sometimes loosely or colloquially described as being such.

 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.

 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

 

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.

 

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

 

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

 

History

Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.

 

The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.

 

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

 

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.

 

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

 

Roman invasion

The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

 

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

 

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

 

Establishment of Roman rule

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

 

On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.

 

While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

 

There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

 

In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

 

For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

 

Roman military organisation in the north

In 84 AD

In 84 AD

 

In 155 AD

In 155 AD

 

Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall

There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

 

Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

 

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

 

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

 

The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.

 

During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.

 

In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.

 

The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.

 

3rd century

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

 

Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

 

The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

 

Northern campaigns, 208–211

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

 

As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.

 

During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.

 

Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

 

The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

 

Diocletian's reforms

As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).

 

The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.

 

Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.

 

The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.

 

The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

 

Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.

 

In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

 

A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

 

4th century

Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

 

In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

 

As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.

 

Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

 

End of Roman rule

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.

 

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

 

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

 

Sub-Roman Britain

Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

 

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

 

Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.

 

Trade

During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

 

Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.

 

These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.

 

It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.

 

From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

 

Economy

Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

 

The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.

 

By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.

 

Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.

 

Government

Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain

Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

 

To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.

 

Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

 

Demographics

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.

 

Town and country

During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

 

Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

 

Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C

 

Alcester (Alauna)

Alchester

Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C

Bath (Aquae Sulis) C

Brough (Petuaria) C

Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)

Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C

Caernarfon (Segontium) C

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C

Caister-on-Sea C

Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C

Carlisle (Luguvalium) C

Carmarthen (Moridunum) C

Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)

Chester (Deva Victrix) C

Chester-le-Street (Concangis)

Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C

Cirencester (Corinium) C

Colchester (Camulodunum) C

Corbridge (Coria) C

Dorchester (Durnovaria) C

Dover (Portus Dubris)

Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C

Gloucester (Glevum) C

Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)

Ilchester (Lindinis) C

Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C

Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C

London (Londinium) C

Manchester (Mamucium) C

Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)

Northwich (Condate)

St Albans (Verulamium) C

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C

Towcester (Lactodurum)

Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C

Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C

York (Eboracum) C

 

Religion

The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.

 

The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.

 

Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.

 

Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

 

Christianity

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.

 

The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.

 

A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.

 

Environmental changes

The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas

 

Legacy

During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.

 

Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe

September 23, 1944

State Dept Declares Quarantine of beach

Declaring adamantly: "I'm Here!" during a brief rain shower.

Véritable chef d'œuvre d'architecture moderne, Brasilia a été déclarée Patrimoine mondial de l'humanité en 1987 par l'UNESCO.

 

L'urbaniste Lúcio Costa a imaginé le Plan pilote qui donne à la ville une forme d'avion, inscrit dans un lac artificiel : le lac Paranoá. Les quartiers résidentiels sont fonctionnels et s'auto-suffisent : centres commerciaux, écoles et parcs sont à proximité.

 

Les bâtiments principaux ont été conçus par l'architecte Oscar Niemeyer : la cathédrale (4 000 places), le Congrès national (Chambre des députés et Sénat), le Ministère des Affaires étrangères, le Tribunal suprême et le Palais de la présidence.Les pouvoirs judiciaire, exécutif et législatif sont regroupés autour de la majestueuse Place des Trois Pouvoirs.La ville s'organise autour de deux axes perpendiculaires : l’Eixo monumental et l’Eixo Rodoviário (ou simplement Eixāo).L'Eixo monumental, orienté est-ouest, coupe la ville en deux parties symétriques. Il est considéré par les Brésiliens comme la plus large avenue du monde, avec 250 m séparant ses deux fois six voies au point le plus large. Vu du ciel, il représente la flèche, le fuselage de l'avion.

 

À sa pointe est se situe la place des trois pouvoirs ainsi que l'esplanade des ministères.L'Eixāo, courbe, traverse la ville du nord au sud. Vue du ciel, elle représente les ailes de l'avion. L'aile sud et l'aile nord, organisées en superquadras le long de l'axe, regroupent environ 300 000 habitants.

 

Il est constitué d'une piste principale de deux fois trois voies, accessibles à partir des axes secondaires (eixinhos en portugais, littéralement petits axes). Les axes secondaires se trouvent de part et d'autre de l'Eixao, chacun étant constitué de deux fois deux voies. L'Eixāo permet de traverser l'Eixo monumental sous un tunnel. L'Eixão est exclusivement réservé à la circulation des véhicules, des passages souterrains sont aménagés pour la traversée des piétons. Deux autres axes traversent de nord à sud le Plano Piloto, respectivement à l'ouest et à l'est de l'Eixão : W3 et L2. Ces axes sont bordés de commerces et de résidences.Au croisement des deux axes se trouve la rodoviária, qui accueille la station Central du métro et qui est aussi celle du réseau autobus.

got to love that little pot belly...

Want to declare your undying love for each other? Here is a romantic, if not unusual way to do so.

 

As you walk along the beautiful Pont des Arts (pictured below) you’ll notice that the sides of the bridge are filled with locks of every shape and size. Many have initials, some are adorned with dates and symbols of love.

 

In Paris, if you want to declare your love for each other, you take a walk along the Pont des Arts, find a special place, gaze into each other’s eyes and whisper sweet nothings then attach the lock to the bridge, remove the key and throw it into the Seine. How romantic! Well, it IS the city of love – even when the temperature was in the mid-30s.

 

The practice is not without controversy. Some say the locks are an eyesore – spoiling the beauty of the bridge. Authorities periodically come and remove the locks – the spoil sports! Then there’s the environmental issue – all those metal keys being thrown into the Seine. Quel dommage!

 

The bridge is renowned for being the place for lovers – who could forget (or not) the place where Big told Carrie that he loved her.

 

I saw a couple of combination locks and heard the story of one enterprising French man who would recycle the lock for the next lover – where’s the romance in scrambling a combination – symbolically removing the key and throwing it into the Seine to remain for eternity sounds far more romantic. So girls beware – if it’s not a lock with a key – he’s not the man for you!

Barack Obama declares victory with a fist pound(or pump)

 

"I can stand before you and say I will be the Democratic nominee for President Of the United States"

 

17,000 supporters strong inside the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and an additional 15,000 watching a big screen outside, Barack Obama began his campaign against John McCain.

 

Flickr Explore #65 on 06/03/08

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

~ Psalm 19:1

 

There were so many meteors raining down as I shot this series of photos! I'm afraid the star trail obscures them, but it really was a remarkable light show!

 

I shot 240 images (2 hrs and 12 minutes), but this star trail is a stack of the first 135 images.

   

Washington DC, Wednesday evening August 10, 2014. Around fifty social justice activists associated with Code Pink and other peace groups rallied in front of the White House to protest the recent US bombing of Iraq, the upcoming US bombing of Syria and the bombing of God only knows where else. President Obama is speaking to the world tonight from the State Floor of the White House essentially declaring, as his predecessors have done, the continuation of an endless state of worldwide war without Congressional approval. In recent polling between 63 and 70 some percent of Americans approved of US bombing in Iraq and Syria. Thirteen years of bombing wasn't enough? What did that accomplish? Why do so many of us believe in such a destructive idea? The prelude to every tragic, murderous American foreign policy misadventure is always presented by the corporate media, parroting the propaganda rationalizations of the state (and the war machine contractors who profit from it...), promoting a climate of terror among the misinformed public about the latest hobgoblin (e.g. ISIS). As you can see from this photograph, there are usually some bold malcontents who protest the call for more state violence but they will have to come up with better arguments than the raised middle finger to combat the curses of war and barbaric militarism promoted by ISIS, the Western-affiliated corporatist governments and other extremist groups.

Postscript. I don't know if this dude's beef has anything to do with any of the issues raised by peace groups demonstrating in front of the White House on this night. I can't determine from a cursory reading of Mr. Chance Addison's website if he is involved in the peace movement. I do thank him for letting me photograph him. Chance, please return to the loving (?) arms of your family and friends in Spokane. It would be my pleasure to buy you a pizza and a tank of gas on your way out of this wicked town.

Scripture declares that the roots of human problems are in the heart. It is the root system of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 Genesis 6:5) that produces the fruit of a person’s words and deeds. What controls the heart shapes behavior. What rules the heart influences each part of the person’s life. ~ Paul Tripp

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above1 proclaims his handiwork.

2 Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech, nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,

5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,

and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them,

and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,

previving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple;

8 the precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

9 the fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

and drippings of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors?

Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;

let them not have dominion over me!

Then I shall be blameless,

and innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

declaring february to be folksy february

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He hath set a tabernacle for the sun, Psalm 19:1-4

"Cross process" is the other art filter featured in Olympus Viewer 2 (download it and use your PEN's serial number to activate) that wasn't available in the E-P1. Thanks to a tip from Ryojin-san, I've been able to try out both the diorama and cross process art filters with my trusty little E-P1. Steveston, Richmond, BC. February 5, 2011.

These will be my choices available for M. I'd really appreciate it if you would declare which one you'd prefer, so I'll know how many of each to make. Mermaid in a margarita glass, monkey or Mr. Manatee...

 

Here's a list of the swappers- as you pick, I'll update my list. The sooner they all get picked, the sooner I can start on them! I like to do them assembly-line fashion, so I can't start until then.

 

smoochie - MONKEY

JanBran - MONKEY

Spiced Coffee - MR. MANATEE

Marilynkb - MERMAID

FourMonkeysQuilts - MR. MANATEE

Quiltinkimmie - MERMAID

Edyb1 - MERMAID

Friedazzzz - MONKEY

ladmquilter - MONKEY

Imsewcrafty - MERMAID

SewGentle - MONKEY

Silort - MONKEY

SewSheDid - MERMAID

Handmade-by-Melissa - MONKEY

jgmehlin - MR. MANATEE

Girltwin - MERMAID

Needlesnnotions - MONKEY

mindboggld- MERMAID

Sandy in Buenos Aires - MERMAID

Uniqueandnovel - MERMAID

Sewwunderful - MERMAID

Chocolate-isthe-best-medicine - MONKEY

Needleanddime - MR. MANATEE

Ky in Tex - MONKEY

LethargicLass - MR. MANATEE

The end of 2017 saw Air Berlin become a major casualty after the airline was forced to declare insolvency due to bankruptcy. The majority of slots had been purchased by EasyJet and Lufthansa, with Lufthansa Group acquiring the majority of assets including subsidiaries LGW and Niki.

However, plans for Lufthansa to acquire Niki were quickly scuppered after the European Commission deemed the acquisition as anti-competitive, given Lufthansa Group already owns Austrian Airlines.

Niki was forced to close after the ruling by the European Commission and Lufthansa Group decided to liquidate the company and closed on 14th December 2017. However, the story didn't end...

Following the closure, major airline group, IAG announced it was bidding for Niki's assets and was later confirmed to be the only bidder for the airline. The deal was confirmed on 29th December 2017 when IAG announced it would acquire Niki for €36.5million and will be absorbed into its low-cost European airline, Vueling.

With the acquisition, Vueling will expand in Eastern Europe which is their weakest part of their European network. Their bases have predominantly been in Western Europe in France, Italy and Spain.

Currently, Vueling operates a large Airbus A320 family fleet with 105 in service, which includes 5 Airbus A319's, 85 Airbus A320's and 15 Airbus A321's. Vueling have 2 Airbus A320ceo's and 47 Airbus A320neo's on-order.

Mike Alpha November is one of 85 Airbus A320's in service with Vueling, delivered new to the low-cost carrier in April 2014 initially on lease from AWAS, now from Macquarie AirFinance since September 2015 and she is powered by 2 CFM International CFM56-5B4/3 engines.

Airbus A320-214(WL) EC-MAN 'Vueling fa volare Roma' on short finals into Runway 23R at Manchester (MAN) on VY8748 from Barcelona-El Prat (BCN).

 

Update: As of 23rd January 2018, Austrian and German regulators have confirmed that instead of IAG, Niki Lauda will purchase Niki.

Caloocan City, Philippines

It looked like an impending clash between the darkness and light =) Just a magnificent display of God's awesome creation!

 

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

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