From: www.artic.edu/artexplorer/search.php?tab=2&resource=376:

 

An examination of van Gogh's powerful portrait of the local postman's wife.

 

In December 1888, shortly before suffering the breakdown that precipitated Paul Gauguin's departure from Arles, Vincent van Gogh began a portrait of Madame Roulin, the wife of a "Socratic" local postman—the artist's own characterization—with whom he had become friends. Van Gogh completed the first of an eventual five versions of the portrait in January 1889, during his recuperation (the Art Institute's painting is the second in the series). His letters reveal that by then the work had acquired multiple connotations for him. He told one correspondent that he had named it La Berceuse, which means both "lullaby" and "woman rocking a cradle," wondering playfully whether the color did not sing a lullaby of its own. He suggested to Gauguin that its visual music would comfort lonely Icelandic fishermen at sea, and noted how wonderful it would be "to achieve in painting what the music of Berlioz and Wagner has already done." And he advised his brother Theo to place it between two of his sunflower paintings to form a kind of triptych, a "decoration" suitable "for the end wall of a ship's cabin."

 

Analogies between color and music, common since the Romantic period, assumed a new importance in the late 1880s thanks to the Symbolists, who valued subjective expression, poetic association, and formalist ingenuity over mimetic literalism. Here, van Gogh merged divergent aesthetic currents. He began Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle (La Berceuse) as a portrait rooted in the Realist tradition. But the extraordinary flowered wallpaper, whose forms teem with a vitalist energy, and the addition of a cradle rope—clearly an afterthought—transform the work into something richer and more allusive, an arresting paean to motherhood, the life force, and the mysterious power of color.

 

An introduction to van Gogh and Gauguin's relationship and an examination of three of their paintings completed in Arles.

 

VAN GOGH AND GAUGUIN IN ARLES Vincent van Gogh journeyed to Arles in February 1888 with the expressed desire to create a new colony of artists in the temperate climate of southern France. In the summer of 1888, he secured a small house on the outskirts of the city and just across from the public garden. His letters are filled with descriptions of domestic activity, as he bought furniture and utensils and made decorations for what he called "The Studio of the South." Always his aim was to share his life with others, and he constantly exhorted his brother, Theo, as well as his friends Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard to join him in Arles.

 

Bedroom at Arles, made in the months immediately prior to the arrival of Gauguin in Arles, was part of van Gogh's scheme to decorate the walls of his home and studio. He painted great bunches of sunflowers, portraits of his friends, views of the public garden, and other Arlesian scenes to please the ever critical Gauguin. Yet, it was van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles that most moved Gauguin when he saw it shortly after its completion in October 1888. Van Gogh had painted it after a period of nervous collapse and exhaustion from overwork, and to him it represented "inviolable rest" and harmony.

 

The painting occupies a complex and significant place in the psychological history of the artist, since we know that his dreams of creating an enduring art colony in this house were quickly to be dashed. It is, thus, easy to read the "quiet" (a word the artist used to describe his bedroom) here as the calm before the storm. Indeed, the uneasy harmony of the intense palette of colors, the dramatic perspective of the floor and bed, and the very emptiness of the room create a tension at odds with the artist's stated purpose in executing the picture. And yet, what one must remember in considering the Bedroom is that, for its maker, art integrated dream and reality. Van Gogh's actual bedroom at Arles was never so clean, or so restful. The painting resembles a miniature room, so real does the furniture seem, so palpable the space. The tactility of the paint allows us to feel in our minds the surface of each object. We revel in the emptiness and warmth of the room, and, like van Gogh, each of us fills it with ourselves and our dreams.

 

Shortly after the arrival of Gauguin on October 20, van Gogh's work entered a confused, inchoate stage, certainly brought on by Gauguin's response to his art. He was critical of the rapidity with which van Gogh worked and with what he considered to be the younger artist's sloppiness and his overdependence on nature. Gauguin himself painted slowly and deliberately, thinking through each portion of his compositions and reworking them until he achieved a total pictorial harmony. Gauguin's considered methods and desire for pictorial unity and symbolic content are everywhere apparent in Old Women of Arles. Here, Gauguin created a world in which everything is flat and ambiguous. Did he intend us to know that the yellow pyramids to the right of the old women are straw coverings to protect delicate plants in the chilly autumn weather? Why do the women cover their mouths and look away from the viewer? Is the face hidden in the large bush to the lower left some-thing Gauguin intended to include, and, if so, why? What is the ultimate purpose of the two pictorial barriers — the shrub and the gate — that separate the inside of the garden from the world of the viewer? These and many other questions tumble forth as one absorbs this masterpiece from Arles. It has been suggested that Gauguin did this painting in reaction to van Gogh's many representations of the public garden of Arles to demonstrate the evocative power and complex associations with which he could infuse a theme by working from the depths of his imagination. As he stated, "The women here, with their elegant headdresses, have a Greek beauty; their shawls create folds like primitive paintings and make them look like a Greek procession." For all its deliberateness and care of composition, Old Women of Arles is much more mysterious and ultimately disturbing than any picture painted in Arles by van Gogh.

 

After van Gogh's tragic self-mutilation on December 24, he was placed under the care of a physician in the large public hospital in Arles, where he painted several versions of his famous canvas The Cradler (La Berceuse). It represents Madame Roulin, the wife of the artist's friend the postman, but the painting was never intended to function strictly as a portrait. Van Gogh himself called the picture La Berceuse shortly after it was finished and during the period in which he made the four surviving replicas of it. The Chicago canvas is undoubtedly one of those replicas. Van Gogh wished to hang all the versions together and in combination with his Sunflower canvases to create a composite decoration whose subject was consolation and joy. The many passages in his letters referring to La Berceuse suggest that he conceived of the pictures as allegories of motherhood. In one, he spoke of the fact that he intended the painting for sailors at sea — "sailors, who are at once children and martyrs, seeing it in the cabin of their boat should feel the old sense of cradling come over them and remember their own lullabies." When considered in this way, the boat in which the sailors toss and turn becomes a cradle moved not by the sea, but by their mothers. When one remembers that van Gogh himself was alone in what was for him a foreign hospital, far from his family, the fact that he replicated this soothing image four times is scarcely surprising.

HKFP: Thousands gathered at Edinburgh Place on Wednesday evening calling on G20 countries to raise concerns about Hong Kong at the leaders’ summit on Friday, hours after staging a mass march to foreign consulates to lobby country representatives directly.

Crowds wearing all-black spilt out of the public square, many holding signs that read “Free Hong Kong” and “Democracy Now.”

Organisers, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), issued a statement urging a withdrawal of the government’s suspended extradition bill.

“If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out during the G20 summit, and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people,” it read.

The pro-democracy coalition have led millions on marches over recent weeks against the bill, as demands have evolved into calling for universal suffrage ahead of the July 1 pro-democracy rally.

 

CHRF manifesto :

 

"Withdraw the Extradition Bill! Free Hong Kong!

 

A time when democracy and freedom are universal values that are inviolable.

 

Hong Kong people had urged for democratisation for over 30 years. When Hong Kong was handed over to China since 1997, as written in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised that Hong Kong can enjoy One Country Two Systems and a high degree of autonomy. The Basic Law also promised universal suffrage to be implemented in the year of 2007 to 2008. But China broke these promises, and gradually intervened deeply in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

 

Hong Kong people have always insisted on having universal suffrage – to let Hong Kong people rule Hong Kong. Unfortunately, we seem to be further and further away from genuine democracy. In merely 22 years after the hand-over, the One Country Two Systems principle barely survives. During the [legislative] process of the “Extradition Bill”, the Hong Kong Liaison Office blatantly intervened in Hong Kong’s internal affairs and scrapped the promises of [a] high degree of autonomy.

 

This year, the government decided to put the Extradition Bill through Legislative Council, in order to make all people in Hong Kong, including local citizens and expats, to be potentially extradited to China, or to countries which have less protection on human rights and the rule of law. This will destroy existing protection on human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong and will crack down the last defence to freedom and safety.

 

In our current political system, Hong Kong does not have genuine democracy. To stop this evil law from passing, 1.03 million followed by 2 million Hongkongers courageously took to the streets in the past two weeks. Some were even cracked down by the police with excessive, disproportionate force and lethal weapons. But the government only gave a shallow apology, without making any tangible changes.

 

As world leaders meet at the G20 summit, Hong Kong citizens now sincerely urge all of you, including Xi Jinping, to answer our humble questions: Does Hong Kong deserve democracy? Should Hong Kong people enjoy democracy? Can [a] democratic system be implemented in Hong Kong now?

 

Dear friends from around the world. I believe you have seen through media and the Internet, that Hongkongers spared no efforts to safeguard our freedom. Please bear in mind: if the Extradition Bill passes, when you come to Hong Kong to travel, study or for business, you may face unfair trials. If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out, during the G20 summit and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people."

 

www.hongkongfp.com/2019/06/26/democracy-now-hundreds-gath...

  

民陣昨晚在中環愛丁堡廣場舉行集會，有數以千計市民出席，大會以英語、普通話、日語等，呼籲包括國家主席習近平等各國領袖關注香港情况，集會人群擠滿愛丁堡廣場，更擠出大會堂對出的龍和道，警員需封閉東西行車線。

 

news.mingpao.com/pns/港聞/article/20190627/s00002/15615...

LETTER OF ACCESSION TO THE TREATY OF AMITY AND COOPERATION

DILMA ROUSSEFF

PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL

I hereby make known to those who see this Letter of Accession that the National Congress has approved, by means of the Legislative Decree n. 191, on 28 May 2012, the text of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as its additional protocols.

I consequently accept the aforementioned act and consider it lawful and binding, in order to be inviolably enforced.

In witness whereof, I have determined the making of this Letter of Accession, signed by me and bearing the Coat of Arms of the Republic, and countersigned by the Minister of External Relations.

Done at Planalto Palace, in Brasília, on 16 July 2012; 191st of Independence and 124th of the Republic.

INSTRUMENT OF EXTENSION OF THE TREATY OF AMITY AND COOPERATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

WHEREAS the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, which was signed on 24 February 1976 in Bali, Indonesia, was amended by the First, the Second and the Third Protocols Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, which were signed on 15 December 1987, on 25 July 1998, and on 23 July 2010, respectively;

WHEREAS Article 18, Paragraph 3, of the aforesaid Treaty as amended by Article 1 of the aforesaid Third Protocol provides that States outside Southeast Asia and regional organization whose members are only sovereign States may accede to the Treaty subject to the consent of all the States in Southeast Asia, namely, Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam; and

WHEREAS the Federative Republic of Brazil, in the Declaration on Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia by the Federative Republic of Brazil signed in Bali, Indonesia, on 16 November 2011, expressed its desire to accede to the Treaty;

NOW, therefore, the Governments of Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, having considered the said Declaration, hereby consent to the accession to the Treaty as amended by the Protocols, by the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

DONE at Phnom Penh, the Kingdom of Cambodia, this 17th of November in the Year Two Thousand and Twelve.

For Brunei Darussalam:

MOHAMED BOLKIAH

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade

For the Kingdom of Cambodia:

HOR NAMHONG

Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

For the Republic of Indonesia:

DR. R.M. MARTY M. NATALEGAWA

Minister for Foreign Affairs

For the Lao People’s Democratic Republic:

DR. THONGLOUN SISOULITH

Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Foreign Affairs

For Malaysia:

DATO’ SRI ANIFAH BIN HAJI AMAN

Minister of Foreign Affairs

For the Republic of the Union of Myanmar:

U WUNNA MAUNG LWIN

Minister for Foreign Affairs

For the Republic of the Philippines:

ALBERT F. DEL ROSARIO

Secretary of Foreign Affairs

For the Republic of Singapore:

K. SHANMUGAM

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law

For the Kingdom of Thailand:

SURAPONG TOVICHAKCHAIKUL

Minister of Foreign Affairs

For the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam:

PHAM BINH MINH

Minister for Foreign Affairs

TREATY OF AMITY AND COOPERATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Bali, 24 February 1976

PREAMBLE

The High Contracting Parties:

CONSCIOUS of the existing ties of history, geography and culture, which have bound their peoples together;

ANXIOUS to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law and enhancing regional resilience in their relations;

DESIRING to enhance peace, friendship and mutual cooperation on matters affecting Southeast Asia consistent with the spirit and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Ten Principles adopted by the Asian-African Conference in Bandung on 25 April 1955, the Declaration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed in Bangkok on 8 August 1967, and the Declaration signed in Kuala Lumpur on 27 November 1971;

CONVINCED that the settlement of differences or disputes between their countries should be regulated by rational, effective and sufficiently flexible procedures, avoiding negative attitudes which might endanger or hinder cooperation;

BELIEVING in the need for cooperation with all peace-loving nations, both within and outside Southeast Asia, in the furtherance of world peace, stability and harmony;

SOLEMNLY AGREE to enter into a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation as follows:

CHAPTER I

PURPOSE AND PRINCIPLES

Article 1

The purpose of this Treaty is to promote perpetual peace, everlasting amity and cooperation among their peoples which would contribute to their strength, solidarity and closer relationship,

Article 2

In their relations with one another, the High Contracting Parties shall be guided by the following fundamental principles:

a. Mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity of all nations;

b. The right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion;

c. Non-interference in the internal affairs of one another;

d. Settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful means;

e. Renunciation of the threat or use of force;

f. Effective cooperation among themselves.

CHAPTER II

AMITY

Article 3

In pursuance of the purpose of this Treaty the High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to develop and strengthen the traditional, cultural and historical ties of friendship, good neighbourliness and cooperation which bind them together and shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed under this Treaty. In order to promote closer understanding among them, the High Contracting Parties shall encourage and facilitate contact and intercourse among their peoples.

CHAPTER III

COOPERATION

Article 4

The High Contracting Parties shall promote active cooperation in the economic, social, technical, scientific and administrative fields as well as in matters of common ideals and aspirations of international peace and stability in the region and all other matters of common interest.

Article 5

Pursuant to Article 4 the High Contracting Parties shall exert their maximum efforts multilaterally as well as bilaterally on the basis of equality, non-discrimination and mutual benefit.

Article 6

The High Contracting Parties shall collaborate for the acceleration of the economic growth in the region in order to strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and peaceful community of nations in Southeast Asia. To this end, they shall promote the greater utilization of their agriculture and industries, the expansion of their trade and the improvement of their economic infrastructure for the mutual benefit of their peoples. In this regard, they shall continue to explore all avenues for close and beneficial cooperation with other States as well as international and regional organisations outside the region.

Article 7

The High Contracting Parties, in order to achieve social justice and to raise the standards of living of the peoples of the region, shall intensify economic cooperation. For this purpose, they shall adopt appropriate regional strategies for economic development and mutual assistance.

Article 8

The High Contracting Parties shall strive to achieve the closest cooperation on the widest scale and shall seek to provide assistance to one another in the form of training and research facilities in the social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields.

Article 9

The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to foster cooperation in the furtherance of the cause of peace, harmony, and stability in the region. To this end, the High Contracting Parties shall maintain regular contacts and consultations with one another on international and regional matters with a view to coordinating their views actions and policies.

Article 10

Each High Contracting Party shall not in any manner or form participate in any activity which shall constitute a threat to the political and economic stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of another High Contracting Party.

Article 11

The High Contracting Parties shall endeavour to strengthen their respective national resilience in their political, economic, socio-cultural as well as security fields in conformity with their respective ideals and aspirations, free from external interference as well as internal subversive activities in order to preserve their respective national identities.

Article 12

The High Contracting Parties in their efforts to achieve regional prosperity and security, shall endeavour to cooperate in all fields for the promotion of regional resilience, based on the principles of self-confidence, self-reliance, mutual respect, cooperation and solidarity which will constitute the foundation for a strong and viable community of nations in Southeast Asia.

CHAPTER IV

PACIFIC SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES

Article 13

The High Contracting Parties shall have the determination and good faith to prevent disputes from arising. In case disputes on matters directly affecting them should arise, especially disputes likely to disturb regional peace and harmony, they shall refrain from the threat or use of force and shall at all times settle such disputes among themselves through friendly negotiations.

Article 14

To settle disputes through regional processes, the High Contracting Parties shall constitute, as a continuing body, a High Council comprising a Representative at ministerial level from each of the High Contracting Parties to take cognizance of the existence of disputes or situations likely to disturb regional peace and harmony.

Article 15

In the event no solution is reached through direct negotiations, the High Council shall take cognizance of the dispute or the situation and shall recommend to the parties in dispute appropriate means of settlement such as good offices, mediation, inquiry or conciliation. The High Council may however offer its good offices, or upon agreement of the parties in dispute, constitute itself into a committee of mediation, inquiry or conciliation. When deemed necessary, the High Council shall recommend appropriate measures for the prevention of a deterioration of the dispute or the situation.

Article 16

The foregoing provision of this Chapter shall not apply to a dispute unless all the parties to the dispute agree to their application to that dispute. However, this shall not preclude the other High Contracting Parties not party to the dispute from offering all possible assistance to settle the said dispute. Parties to the dispute should be well disposed towards such offers of assistance.

Article 17

Nothing in this Treaty shall preclude recourse to the modes of peaceful settlement contained in Article 33(l) of the Charter of the United Nations. The High Contracting Parties which are parties to a dispute should be encouraged to take initiatives to solve it by friendly negotiations before resorting to the other procedures provided for in the Charter of the United Nations.

CHAPTER V

GENERAL PROVISION

Article 18

This Treaty shall be signed by the Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore and the Kingdom of Thailand. It shall be ratified in accordance with the constitutional procedures of each signatory State.

It shall be open for accession by other States in Southeast Asia.

Article 19

This Treaty shall enter into force on the date of the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification with the Governments of the signatory States which are designated Depositories of this Treaty and the instruments of ratification or accession.

Article 20

This Treaty is drawn up in the official languages of the High Contracting Parties, all of which are equally authoritative. There shall be an agreed common translation of the texts in the English language. Any divergent interpretation of the common text shall be settled by negotiation.

IN FAITH THEREOF the High Contracting Parties have signed the Treaty and have hereto affixed their Seals.

DONE at Denpasar, Bali, this twenty-fourth day of February in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six.

PROTOCOL AMENDING THE TREATY OF AMITY AND COOPERATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Philippines, 15 December 1987

The Government of Brunei Darussalam

The Government of the Republic of Indonesia

The Government of Malaysia

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines

The Government of the Republic of Singapore

The Government of the Kingdom of Thailand

DESIRING to further enhance cooperation With all peace-loving nations, both within and outside Southeast Asia and, in particular, neighbouring States of the Southeast Asia region

CONSIDERING Paragraph 5 of the preamble of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, done at Denpasar, Bali, on 24 February 1976 (hereinafter referred to as the Treaty of Amity) which refers to the need for cooperation with all peace-loving nations, both within and outside Southeast Asia, in the furtherance of world peace, stability and harmony.

HEREBY AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING:

Article 1

Article 18 of the Treaty of Amity shall be amended to read as follows:

"This Treaty shall be signed by the Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore and the Kingdom of Thailand. It shall be ratified in accordance with the constitutional procedures of each signatory State.

It shall be open for accession by other States in Southeast Asia.

States outside Southeast Asia may also accede to this Treaty by the consent of all the States in Southeast Asia which are signatories to this Treaty and Brunei Darussalam."

Article 2

Article 14 of the Treaty of Amity shall be amended to read as follows:

"The settle disputes through regional processes, the High Contracting Parties shall constitute, as a continuing body, a High Council comprising a Representative at ministerial level from each of the High Contracting Parties to take cognizance of the existence of disputes or situations likely to disturb regional peace and harmony.

However, this article shall apply to any of the States outside Southeast Asia which have acceded to the Treaty only in cases where that state is directly involved in the dispute to be settled through the regional processes."

Article 3

This Protocol shall be subject to ratification and shall come into force on the date the last instrument of ratification of the High Contracting Parties is deposited.

DONE at Manila, the fifteenth day of December in the year one thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven.

SECOND PROTOCOL AMENDING THE TREATY OF AMITY AND COOPERATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Manila, Philippines, 25 July 1998

The Government of Brunei Darussalam

The Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia

The Government of the Republic of Indonesia

The Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic

The Government of Malaysia

The Government of the Union of Myanmar

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines

The Government of the Republic of Singapore

The Government of the Kingdom of Thailand

The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The Government of Papua New Guinea

Hereinafter referred to as the High Contracting Parties:

DESIRING to ensure that there is appropriate enhancement of cooperation with all peace-loving nations, both within and outside Southeast Asia and, in particular, neighboring States of the Southeast Asia region;

CONSIDERING Paragraph 5 of the preamble of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, done at Denpasar, Bali, on 24 February 1976 (hereinafter referred to as the Treaty of Amity) which refers to the need for cooperation with all peace-loving nations, both within and outside Southeast Asia, in the furtherance of world peace, stability and harmony.

HEREBY AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING:

Article 1

Article 18, Paragraph 3, of the Treaty of Amity shall be amended to read as follows:

"States outside Southeast Asia may also accede to this Treaty with the consent of all the States in Southeast Asia, namely, Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."

Article 2

This Protocol shall be subject to ratification and shall come into force on the date the last instrument of ratification of the High Contracting Parties is deposited.

DONE at Manila, the twenty-fifth day of July in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight.

THIRD PROTOCOL AMENDING THE TREATY OF AMITY AND COOPERATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Hanoi, Viet Nam, 23 July 2010

Brunei Darussalam

The Kingdom of Cambodia

The Republic of Indonesia

The Lao People's Democratic Republic

Malaysia

The Union of Myanmar

The Republic of the Philippines

The Republic of Singapore

The Kingdom of Thailand

The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

The Commonwealth of Australia

The People's Republic of Bangladesh

The People's Republic of China

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

The French Republic

The Republic of India

Japan

Mongolia

New Zealand

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Papua New Guinea

The Republic of Korea

The Russian Federation

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

The Republic of Turkey

The United States of America

Hereinafter referred to as the High Contracting Parties:

DESIRING to ensure that there is appropriate enhancement of cooperation with all peace-loving nations both within and outside Southeast Asia, in particular, neighbouring States of the Southeast Asian region, as well as with regional organisations whose members are only sovereign States;

CONSIDERING Paragraph 5 of the preamble of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, done at Denpasar, Bali, on 24 February 1976 (hereinafter referred to as the Treaty of Amity) which refers to the need for cooperation with all peace-loving nations, both within and outside Southeast Asia, in the furtherance of world peace, stability and harmony;

HEREBY AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING:

Article 1

Article 18, Paragraph 3, of the Treaty of Amity shall be amended to read as follows:

"This Treaty shall be open for accession by States outside Southeast Asia and regional organisations whose members are only sovereign States subject to the consent of all the States in Southeast Asia, namely, Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam."

Article 2

Article 14, Paragraph 2, of the Treaty of Amity shall be amended to read as follows:

“However, this article shall apply to any of the High Contracting Parties outside Southeast Asia only in cases where that High Contracting Party is directly involved in the dispute to be settled through the regional processes."

Article 3

This Protocol shall be subject to ratification and shall come into force on the date the last instrument of ratification of the High Contracting Parties is deposited.

DONE at Hanoi, Viet Nam, on the Twenty-Third Day of July in the Year Two Thousand and Ten, in a single copy in the English language.

 

Co. C, 15th IND. Infantry Medal of Honor Recepient.

This is a new marker placed behind his Civilian marker.

George L. Banks was born in Lake county, OH., Oct. 13, 1839. His parents, Orin and Olive (Brown) Banks, were natives of Scoharrie county, New York, and born the father January 25, 1803, and the mother March 12, 1805. They were married in 1823, and settled in Lake county, Indiana, in 1845 and stopped, first, in LaPorte county. They passed their lives as country people, were upright Christian folk and were thrifty as farmers of their time. They died in Lake county, Indiana, the father October 29, 1857, and the mother January 27, 1887. The Banks were Scotch-Irish origin and the Browns of English lineage. The parents both belonged to old families of the east and reared a large family of children, as follows: Charles, of Salina, Kansas; Elisha, of McPherson county, Kansas; Parley, of Lake county, Indiana; Mary C., wife of Simon White, of LaPorte county, Indiana; George L., of this notice; Nathaniel P., of Lake county, Indiana; Sarah L., wife of W. B. Adams of Montgomery county, Kansas.

George L. Banks spent his youth and early manhood in LaPorte county, Indiana, and had the advantage of a good country school education. The Civil war came on just after he had reached his majority, and was concerned with the serious affairs of peace, but he enlisted, June 6, 1861, in Company “C”, 15th Inf. under Col. Geo. D. Wagner. The regiment was ordered at once into the field and it took part in the battles of Greenbriar and Elk Water that same year. As the war progressed it participated in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Stone River and Missionary Ridge, where Mr. Banks was wounded, and rendered unfit for service for some weeks. During his later active service he was in battle at Charleston and Dandridge, Tennessee. He was discharged from the army June 25, 1864. In 1897, he received from the Secretary of War a medal of bronze, appropriately engraved and inscribed in commemoration of distinguished service while in the line of duty. Engraved on the face of the medal is:

 

“The Congress to Color Sergeant George L. Banks, 15th Indiana Infantry,

 

“For gallantry at Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, November 25, 1863.”

 

The letter from the Secretary of War notifying Mr. Banks of the honor accorded him and announcing the issuing of the medal states the specific acts of gallantry and is herewith made a part of this record:

 

MEDAL OF HONOR.

 

War Department, Washington, D. C. Sept. 21, 1897.

 

George L. Banks, Esq. – Independence, Kansas.

 

Sir:--You are hereby notified that by direction of the President and under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved March 3, 1963, providing for the presentation of medals of honor to such officers, non-commissioned officers and privates as have most distinguished themselves in action, a Congressional Medal of Honor has this day been presented to you for most distinguished gallantry in action, the following being a statement of the particular service: At Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863, this soldier, then a Color Sergeant, 15th, Indiana Vols., in the assault, led his regiment, calling upon his comrades to follow, and near the summit he was wounded and left behind insensible, but having recovered consciousness rejoined the advance, again took the flag and carried it forward to the enemy’s works, where he was again wounded. In the brigade of eight regiments the flag of the 15th Indiana was the first planted on the Parapet.

 

The medal will be forwarded to you by registered mail as soon as it shall have been engraved.

Respectfully, R. A. Alger, Secretary of War.

 

From volume 4, pages 1840-1841 of A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, written and compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, copyright 1918

 

GEORGE L. BANKS. A sterling pioneer and citizen who is now living virtually retired in the City of Independence, Mr. Banks is specially entitled to recognition in this history. He was one of the early settlers of Montgomery County and has contributed his full quota to its civic and industrial development and progress, and he was long one of the prominent and influential exponents of agricultural industry in this section of the state. High honors also are his for the valiant service which he gave as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war.

 

Mr. Banks was born in Lake County, Indiana, October 13, 1839. His father, Orin Banks, was born in the State of New York, in 1800, and was there reared to manhood, his marriage having been solemnized in Schoharie County, that state. His entire active career was one of close association with the basic industry of agriculture and he was one of the pioneer farmers of LaPorte County, Indiana, where he established his home in 1845. In about 1850 he removed to Lake County, Indiana, where he died in 1856. He was a supporter of the democratic party until the organization of the republican party, when he transferred his allegiance to the latter. He was influential in community affairs and was called upon to serve in various township offices. Both he and his wife were devout members of the Baptist Church, in which he served as a deacon. Mrs. Banks, whose maiden name was Olive Brown, was born in Schoharie County, New York, in 1803, and thus she was eighty-three years old at the time of her death, in 1891, she having been at the time one of the most venerable pioneer women of Lake County, Indiana. Of the children the eldest was Betsey, who became the wife of Major Atkins, and who died in Lake County, Indiana, in 1866, her husband having long survived her and having been a farmer and capitalist of influence. Charles W., a lawyer by profession, died in 1907, in Chambers County, Texas. Morgan, a farmer and merchant, died in McPherson County, Kansas, in 1890. Elisha, who likewise became a representative farmer in McPherson County, died in 1906. Parley A. is a retired farmer and resides at Crown Point, Lake County, Indiana. Mary C. first married Balsar Keith, a farmer, near Union Mills, Indiana, and after his death she became the wife of Simon White, likewise a prosperous farmer of LaPorte County, Indiana. He likewise is deceased and his widow now resides at LaPorte, that county. William A., who died at LaPorte, Indiana, in 1903, had served six years as postmaster of that city and had been a leading importer of live stock in that section of the Hoosier state. George L., of this review, was the next in order of birth. The next two children were sons, both of whom died in infancy. Nathaniel P. is president of a bank at Hobart, Lake County, Indiana. Sarah Lavina is the wife of W. B. Adams, and they reside at Dearing, Montgomery County, Kansas, where Mr. Adams is vice president of a banking institution.

 

George L. Banks acquired his early education in the common schools of Lake and LaPorte counties, Indiana, and he continued to be associated with his father's farming operations until he had attained to the age of seventeen years. In the autumn of the year in which he reached this age he went to Minnesota and found employment in a pioneer sawmill at St. Anthony, the nucleus of the present great City of Minneapolis. The next year, 1857, found him employed in the lumber woods in the wilds of Northern Michigan, and he then returned to the old homestead farm. In Lake County, Indiana, he did a large amount of contract work in the digging of drainage ditches and for one year there he clerked in a grocery store, and afterward was a clerk in a dry-goods store. He finally resumed farming in his native county and was thus engaged at the outbreak of the Civil war. On the 6th of June, 1861, in response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, Mr. Banks enlisted as a private in Company C, Fifteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which gallant command he proceeded to West Virginia and took part in the engagements at Greenbriar and Elkwater. Later he was a participant in the memorable battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Chattanooga. In the battle of Chattanooga he was thrice wounded but his injuries were not serious and he was incapacitated for a few weeks only. Mr. Banks was color sergeant of his regiment in the storming of Missionary Ridge, and most gallantly did he acquit himself on this historic field. The colors were shot down six times, and Mr. Banks himself was wounded on the first and last of these occasions. He was first shot in the ribs, and after regaining consciousness he was again wounded,—this time through the top of the head. His severe injuries incapacitated him from November, 1863, until January 14, 1864, and on the 25th of June of the latter year he was mustered out. Mr. Banks received and greatly prizes the Congressional medal of honor that was presented to him and that bears date of November 25, 1863, and he also has a letter from Hon. Russell A. Alger, at the time the latter was serving as Secretary of War, many years later, congratulating him on his admirable service during the ever memorable battle of Missionary Ridge. Mr. Banks, as color bearer for his regiment, was the first regimental color sergeant to plant the colors on the enemy's works at Missionary Ridge out of a brigade of six regiments, and for this gallant deed he received a medal of honor from Washington, District of Columbia.

 

After the close of the war Mr. Banks returned to his native county, where he followed farming until the spring of 1871, when he came to Kansas and numbered himself among the pioneers of Montgomery County. He settled in Fawn Creek Township, where he took up a pre-emption claim of 160 acres, and there he continued his farming operations for sixteen years. He developed and improved one of the fine farms of the county and was specially influential in township and community affairs. To his efforts was due the defining of the school district and the erection of the first schoolhouse of District No. 91, and this pioneer school was named in his honor. He had the supervision of the erection of the school building and was a member of the school board until he left his farm, in the autumn of 1886, when he returned to Indiana and became the proprietor of a hotel at Angola. In the following spring he exchanged his hotel property for a farm in Hillsdale County, Michigan, where he remained six years. He then sold his Michigan farm, or exchanged the same for property in Montgomery County, Kansas, where he again was actively engaged in agricultural pursuits for the ensuing two years. He thereafter passed two years at Independence, the county seat, but in 1896 he returned to his farm, upon which he continued to reside until 1903, when he resumed his residence at Independence. Here he has been engaged in the real estate and loan business and in the supervision of his various properties, so that he is not yet fully retired from active business, idleness and apathy being entirely foreign to his nature. He is the owner of valuable residential property in Independence, including his own attractive home, at 417 North Fifth Street, and near Bolton, this county, he owns 240 acres of valuable farm land, besides having another farm, of 160 acres, south of Dearing, this county, and 300 acres in Chambers County, Texas. On the farm near Bolton Mr. Banks effected the drilling of the first large oil well in Montgomery County, in 1903, and the same is still producing extensively.

 

Mr. Banks has not only achieved large and worthy success in connection with the practical affairs of life but he has also been most loyal and influential in public affairs in Southeastern Kansas. He served two terms as a representative of Montgomery County in the Kansas Legislature, 1905-7, and made a characteristically excellent record in furthering the interests of his constituent district and of wise legislation in general. He is a progressive republican and is well fortified in his convictions concerning governmental policies. While a resident of Fawn Creek Township he served six years as justice of the peace and later held the office of township trustee, his retirement from the office of justice of the peace having occurred in 1882. He has long been a zealous member of the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Anti-Horse Thief Society. Mr. Banks is one of the most appreciative and valued members of McPherson Post No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic, at Independence, and has not only served several terms as commander of the same but also as junior vice commander of the Department of the Grand Army for Kansas. It is worthy of special record that on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his being mustered in for service in the Civil war his surviving regimental comrades presented him with a beautiful silk flag of the United States, this being a tribute that he deeply appreciated. Mr. Banks is one of the representative men of Montgomery County, has inviolable place in popular esteem and is one of the substantial citizens of Independence, and he is a director and the secretary of the Jefferson State Bank, at Jefferson, this county.

 

On the 8th of October, 1864, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Banks to Miss Olive W. Chandler, and she was summoned to the life eternal nearly forty years later, while their home was on the farm near Bolton, Montgomery County. She was a gracious and gentle woman who was loved by those who came within the compass of her influence, and she died in the year 1902. Of the children of this union the eldest is William N., who is a representative member of the bar of Montgomery County, and is engaged in the practice of his profession at Independence; Charles B. is engaged in the real estate business at Caldwell, Idaho; and Arthur A. is at Denver, Colorado.

 

In 1904 Mr. Banks contracted a second marriage, when Mrs. Helen J. (Clarkson) Shoemaker, widow of Philo Shoemaker, became his wife. They reside in an attractive home at Independence, in which city she had resided prior to her marriage to Mr. Banks. No children have been born of the second marriage.

Sir Edward Coke (pronounced "Cook") (1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634), was a seventeenth-century English jurist and Member of Parliament whose writings on the common law were the definitive legal texts for nearly 150 years. Born into a family of minor Norfolk gentry, Coke traveled to London as a young man to make his living as a barrister. There he rapidly gained prominence as one of the leading attorneys of his time, eventually being appointed Solicitor General and then Attorney General by Queen Elizabeth. As Attorney General, Coke famously prosecuted Sir Walter Raleigh and the Gunpowder Plot conspirators for treason. In 1606, Coke was made Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, later being elevated, in 1613, to Lord Chief Justice of England. As a judge, Coke delivered numerous important decisions, and he gained a reputation as the greatest jurist of his age.[1] Nonetheless, his unwillingness to compromise in the face of challenges to the supremacy of the common law made him increasingly unpopular with James I, and he was eventually removed as Lord Chief Justice in 1616.

 

Despite his dismissal from the bench and his already advanced age, Coke remained an influential political figure, leading parliamentary opposition to the Crown in the 1620s. His career in parliament culminated in 1628 when he acted as one of the primary authors of the Petition of Right. This document reaffirmed the rights of Englishmen and prevented the Crown from infringing them.

 

Coke's enduring fame and importance rests principally on his immensely influential legal writings and on his staunch defense of the rule of law in the face of royal absolutism. His legal texts formed the basis for the modern common law, with lawyers in both England and America learning their law from his Institutes and Reports until the end of the eighteenth century. As a judge and Member of Parliament, Coke supported individual liberty against arbitrary government and sought to ensure that the king's authority was circumscribed by law. In later times, both English reformers and American Patriots, such as John Lilburne, James Otis, and John Adams, used Coke's writings to support their conceptions of inviolable civil liberties.

 

STC146189 Portrait of Edward Coke (1552-1634) from 'Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth', published in 1825 (w/c and gouache on paper) by Essex, Sarah Countess of (d.1838)

watercolour and gouache on paper

Private Collection

The Stapleton Collection

English, out of copyright

I learnt this past week that the punishment of pride, of arrogance, here in this world is loneliness. the most intense and root cause of misery in which nothing allows for happiness. Even the master of hypocrisy cannot deny the wretchedness of its burden.

 

This cause for loneliness will surprise some. They might consider themselves humble and well mannered. the arrogance then, if not with other human beings, is coming with the attitude one might have towards Allah's Chosen Ones, or in terms of rejection in favour of their own "beliefs." all the while knowing they are false, yet clinging to them out of habit and a sense of loyalty to what has already betrayed.

 

Iblis is the perfect manifestation of that loneliness. his arrogance renders him alone. he has followers and disciples, countless, and his "work" continues non-stop but he doesn't want to hang out with those followers and disciples. he wants to be with the one he loves; Subhanahu, and that is what he is deprived of. No, that is what he deprives himself of, in the trap that he is placed in by his own self.

 

The nafs cannot change on its own. it can identify its flaws and repent. continuously, constantly. but it moves a step forward, then regresses, alone, or with another. But the words of someone will change that. tonight might start ramadan and the words of Imam Zain ul Abedin (as) will change that for me as the one who will pray his prayers and those who he includes in those prayers for me. those i know and those i dont.

 

So if you have an anger you wish would dissipate, an ungratefulness that has become second skin, a denial that is hardened, a sadness that wont evaporate, an anxiety that worsens, a faith that seems invisible, a loneliness that is torturing, chose a dua from his book this month and free yourself just by reading it.

 

Ramadan Mubarik!

 

From the prayers of the blessed Imam Zain ul Abedin (as):

www.duas.org/mobile/sahifasajjadia-dua43-new-moon.html

 

When he looked at the crescent moon

 

أَيُّهَا ٱلْخَلْقُ ٱلْمُطِيعُ

ayyuha alkhalqu almuti`u

O obedient creature,

 

ٱلدَّائِبُ ٱلسَّرِيعُ

aldda'ibu alssari`u

speedy and untiring,

 

ٱلْمُتَرَدِّدُ فِي مَنَازِلِ ٱلتَّقْدِيرِ

almutaraddidu fi manazili alttaqdiri

frequenter of the mansions of determination,

 

ٱلْمُتَصَرِّفُ فِي فَلَكِ ٱلتَّدْبِيرِ

almutasarrifu fi falaki alttadbiri

moving about in the sphere of governance!

 

آمَنْتُ بِمَنْ نَوَّرَ بِكَ ٱلظُّلَمَ

amantu biman nawwara bika alzzulama

I have faith in Him Who lights up darkness through you,

 

وَأَوْضَحَ بِكَ ٱلْبُهَمَ

wa awdaha bika albuhama

illuminates jet-black shadows by you,

 

وَجَعَلَكَ آيَةً مِنْ آيَاتِ مُلْكِهِ

wa ja`alaka ayatan min ayati mulkihi

appointed you one of the signs of His kingdom

 

وَعَلاَمَةً مِنْ عَلاَمَاتِ سُلْطَانِهِ

wa `alamatan min `alamati sultanihi

and one of the marks of His authority,

 

فَحَدَّ بِكَ ٱلزَّمَانَ

fahadda bika alzzamana

so, He identified time through You,

 

وَٱمْتَهَنَكَ بِٱلْكَمَالِ وَٱلنُّقْصَانِ

wa imtahanaka bilkamali walnnuqsani

and humbled you through increase and decrease,

 

وَٱلطُّلُوعِ وَٱلأُفُولِ

walttulu`i wal-ufuli

and rising and setting,

 

وَٱلإِنَارَةِ وَٱلْكُسُوفِ

wal-inarati walkusufi

and illumination and eclipse.

 

فِي كُلِّ ذٰلِكَ أَنْتَ لَهُ مُطِيعٌ

fi kulli dhalika anta lahu muti`un

In all of this you are obedient to Him,

 

وَإِلَىٰ إِرَادَتِهِ سَرِيعٌ

wa ila iradatihi sari`un

and prompt toward His will.

 

سُبْحَانَهُ مَا أَعْجَبَ مَا دَبَّرَ مِنْ أَمْرِكَ

subhanahu ma a`jaba ma dabbara min amrika

Glory be to Him! How wonderful is what He has arranged in Your situation!

 

وَأَلْطَفَ مَا صَنَعَ فِي شَأْنِكَ

wa altafa ma sana`a fi sha'nika

How subtle what He has made for Your task!

 

جَعَلَكَ مِفْتَاحَ شَهْرٍ حَادِثٍ لأَمْرٍ حَادِثٍ

ja`alaka miftaha shahrin hadithin li'amrin hadithin

He has made You the key to a new month for a new situation.

 

فَأَسْأَلُ ٱللَّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبَّكَ

fa-as'alu allaha rabbi wa rabbaka

So I ask Allah, my Lord and Your Lord,

 

وَخَالِقِي وَخَالِقَكَ

wa khaliqi wa khaliqaka

my Creator and Your Creator,

 

وَمُقَدِّرِي وَمُقَدِّرَكَ

wa muqaddiri wa muqaddiraka

my Determiner and Your Determiner,

 

وَمُصَوِّرِي وَمُصَوِّرَكَ

wa musawwiri wa musawwiraka

my Form-giver and Your Form-giver,

 

أَنْ يُصَلِّيَ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

an yusalliya `ala muhammadin wa ali muhammadin

that He bless Muhammad and his Household

 

وَأَنْ يَجْعَلَكَ هِلاَلَ بَرَكَةٍ لاَ تَمْحَقُهَا ٱلأَيَّامُ

wa an yaj`alaka hilala barakatin la tamhaquha al-ayyamu

and appoint You a crescent of blessings not effaced by days

 

وَطَهَارَةٍ لاَ تُدَنِّسُهَا ٱلآثَامُ

wa taharatin la tudannisuha al-athamu

and of purity not defiled by sins;

 

هِلاَلَ أَمْنٍ مِنَ ٱلآفَاتِ

hilala amnin min al-afati

a crescent of security from blights

 

وَسَلاَمَةٍ مِنَ ٱلسَّيِّئَاتِ

wa salamatin min alssayyi'ati

and of safety from evil deeds;

 

هِلاَلَ سَعْدٍ لاَ نَحْسَ فِيهِ

hilala sa`din la nahsa fihi

a crescent of auspiciousness containing no misfortune,

 

وَيُمْنٍ لاَ نَكَدَ مَعَهُ

wa yumnin la nakada ma`ahu

of prosperity accompanied by no adversity,

 

وَيُسْرٍ لاَ يُمَازِجُهُ عُسْرٌ

wa yusrin la yumazijuhu `usrun

of ease not mixed with difficulty,

 

وَخيْرٍ لاَ يَشُوبُهُ شَرٍّ

wa khayrin la yashubuhu sharrun

of good unstained by evil;

 

هِلالَ أَمْنٍ وَإِيـمَانٍ

hilala amnin wa imanin

a crescent of security and faith,

 

وَنِعْمَةٍ وَإِحْسَانٍ

wa ni`matin wa ihsanin

favor and good-doing,

 

وَسَلاَمَةٍ وَإِسْلاَمٍ

wa salamatin wa islamin

safety and submission!

 

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

allahumma salli `ala muhammadin wa ali muhammadin

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَٱجْعَلْنَا مِنْ أَرْضَىٰ مَنْ طَلَعَ عَلَيْهِ

waj`alna min arda man tala`a `alayhi

place us among the most satisfied of those over whom the crescent has risen,

 

وَأَزْكَىٰ مَنْ نَظَرَ إِلَيْهِ

wa azka man nazara ilayhi

the purest of those who have looked upon it,

 

وَأَسْعَدَ مَنْ تَعَبَّدَ لَكَ فِيهِ

wa as`ada man ta`abbada laka fihi

the most fortunate of those who have worshiped You under it;

 

وَوَفِّقْنَا ٱللَّهُمَّ فِيهِ لِلطَّاعَةِ وَٱلتَّوْبَةِ

wa waffiqna allahumma fihi liltta`ati walttawbati

give us the success during [the new month] to repent,

 

وَٱعْصِمْنَا فِيهِ مِنَ ٱلآثَامِ وَٱلْحَوْبَةِ

wa`simna fihi min al-athami walhawbati

preserve us within it from misdeeds and exposition to punishment,

 

وَأَوْزِعْنَا فِيهِ شُكْرَ ٱلنِّعْمَةِ

wa awzi`na fihi shukra alnni`mati

allot to us within it thanksgiving for Your favor,

 

وَأَلْبِسْنَا فِيهِ جُنَنَ ٱلْعَافِيَةِ

wa albisna fihi junana al`afiyati

clothe us during it in the shields of well-being,

 

وَأَتْمِمْ عَلَيْنَا بِٱسْتِكْمَالِ طَاعَتِكَ فِيهِ ٱلْمِنَّةَ

wa atmim `alayna bistikmali ta`atika fihi alminnata

and complete for us Your kindness by perfecting therein obedience to You!

 

إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ ٱلْمَنَّانُ ٱلْحَمِيدُ

innaka anta almannanu alhamidu

Surely You are All-kind, Praiseworthy.

 

وَصَلَّىٰ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ ٱلطَّيِّبِينَ

wa salla allahu `ala muhammadin wa alihi alttayyibina

And bless Muhammad and his Household, the good, the pure.

 

وَٱجْعَلْ لَنَا فِيهِ عَوْناً مِنْكَ عَلَىٰ مَا نَدَبْتَنَا إِلَيْهِ

waj`al lana fihi `awnan minka `ala ma nadabtana ilayhi

And grant us aid from You to carry out that which You have ordered us to do in it;

 

مِنْ مُفْتَرَضِ طَاعَتِكَ

min muftaradi ta`atika

Such as the obedience to You which You have made incumbent upon us,

 

وَتَقَبَّلْهَا إِنَّكَ ٱلأَكْرَمُ مِنْ كُلِّ كَرِيمٍ

wa taqabbalha innaka al-akramu min kulli karimin

and accept them from us, for You are the most Generous of all those who show generosity

 

وَٱلأَرْحَمُ مِنْ كُلِّ رَحِيمٍ

wal-arhamu min kulli rahimin

and the most Merciful of all those who show mercy.

 

آمِينَ آمِينَ رَبَّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ

amina amina rabba al`alamina

Respond! Respond! O Lord of the Worlds.

  

When he welcomed the month of Ramadan

www.duas.org/mobile/sahifasajjadia-dua44-coming-of-ramadh...

 

الْحَمْدُ للهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِحَمْدِهِ

aal-h'amdu lil-laahil-lad'ee hadaanaa lih'am-dihee

Praise belongs to God who guided us to His praise

 

وَجَعَلَنَا مِنْ أَهْلِهِ، لِنَكُونَ لِإِحْسَانِهِ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ

wa jaa'lanaa min ah-lih linakoona liih'-saanihee minash-shaakireen

and placed us among the people of praise, that we might be among the thankful for His beneficence

 

وَلِيَجْزِيَنَا عَلَى ذلِكَ جَزَآءَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ

wa leeaj-zeeanaa a'laa d'alika jazaaa-al-muh'-sineen

and that He might recompense us for that with the recompense of the good-doers!

 

وَالْحَمْدُ للهِ الَّذِي حَبَانَا بِدِينِهِ،

wal-h'am-du lil-laahil-lad'ee h'abaanaa bideenih

And praise belongs to God who showed favour to us through His religion,

 

وَاخْتَصَّنَا بِمِلَّتِهِ، وَسَبَّلَنَا فِي سُبُلِ إحْسَانِهِ،

wakh-tas'-s'anaa bimil-latih wa sab-balanaa fee subuli ih'-saanih

singled us out for His creed, and directed us onto the roads of His beneficence,

 

لِنَسْلُكَهَا بِمَنِّهِ إلَى رِضْوَانِهِ،

linas-lukahaa biman-niheee ilaa riz''-waanih

in order that through His kindness we might travel upon them to His good pleasure,

 

حَمْدَاً يَتَقَبَّلُهُ مِنَّا، وَيَرْضَى بِهِ عَنَّا.

h'am-day-yataqab-baluhoo min-naa wa yar-z''aa bihee a'n-naa

a praise which He will accept from us and through which He will be pleased with us!

 

وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّه الَّذِي جَعَلَ مِنْ تِلْكَ السُّبُلِ شَهْرَهُ شَهْرَ رَمَضَانَ،

wal-h'am-du lil-laahil-lad'ee jaa'la min til-kas-subuli shah-rah shah-ra ramaz''aan

And praise belongs to God who appointed among those roads His month, the month of Ramadan,

 

شَهْرَ الصِّيَامِ، وَشَهْرَ الإِسْلاَم، وَشَهْرَ الطَّهُورِ،

shah-ras'-s'eeaam wa shah-ral-is-laam wa shah-rat'-t'ahoor

the month of fasting, the month of submission, the month of purity,

 

وَشَهْرَ التَّمْحِيْصِ، وَشَهْرَ الْقِيَامِ،

wa shah-rat-tam-h'ees' wa shah-ral-qeeaam

the month of putting to test, the month of standing in prayer,

 

الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ فِيْهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدىً لِلنَّاسِ،

(al-lad'eee unzila feehil-qur-aaanu hudana liln-naasi

"in which the Qur'an was sent down as guidance to the people,

 

وَبَيِّنَات مِنَ الْهُدى وَالْفُرْقَانِ،

wa bay-yinaatim-minal-hudaa wal-fur-qaan)

and as clear signs of the Guidance and the Separator" (2:185)!

 

فَأَبَانَ فَضِيْلَتَهُ عَلَى سَائِرِ الشُّهُورِ

faabaana faz''eelatahoo a'laa saaa-irish-shuhoori

He clarified its excellence over other months

 

بِمَا جَعَلَ لَهُ مِنَ الْحُرُمَاتِ الْمَوْفُورَةِ وَالْفَضَائِلِ الْمَشْهُورَةِ،

bimaa jaa'la lahoo minal-h'urumaatil-maw-foorati wal-faz''aaa-ilil-mash-hoorah

by the many sacred things and well-known excellencies which He placed therein,

 

فَحَرَّمَ فِيْهِ ما أَحَلَّ فِي غَيْرِهِ إعْظَاماً،

fah'ar-rama feehee maaa ah'al-la fee ghay-riheee ia'-z'aamaa

for He made unlawful in it what He declared lawful in others to magnify it,

 

وَحَجَرَ فِيْهِ الْمَطَاعِمَ وَالْمَشَارِبَ إكْرَاماً،

wa h'ajara feehil-mat'aai'ma wal-mashaariba ik-raamaa

He prohibited foods and drinks in it to honour it,

 

وَجَعَلَ لَهُ وَقْتاً بَيِّناً لاَ يُجِيزُ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ أَنْ يُقَدَّمَ قَبْلَهُ،

wa jaa'la lahoo waq-taa bay-yinaa laa yujeezu jal-la wa a'z-za ay-yuqad-dama qab-lah

and He appointed for it a clear time which He (majestic and mighty is He) allows not to be set forward

 

وَلا يَقْبَـلُ أَنْ يُؤَخَّرَ عَنْهُ،

wa laa yaq-balu ay-yoo-akh-khara a'n-h

and accepts not to be placed behind.

 

ثُمَّ فَضَّلَ لَيْلَةً وَاحِدَةً مِنْ لَيَالِيهِ عَلَى لَيَالِي أَلْفِ شَهْر،

thum-ma faz''-z''ala lay-lataw-waah'idatam-mil-layaaleehee a'laa layaaleee al-fi shah-ri

Then He made one of its nights surpass the nights of a thousand months

 

وَسَمَّاهَا لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ،

wa sam-maahaa lay-latal-qad-r

and named it the Night of Decree;

 

تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْر،

(tanaz-zalul-malaaa-ikatu war-roohoo feehaa biid'-ni rab-bhim min kul-li am-rin)

"in it the angels and the Spirit descend by the leave of their Lord upon every command,

 

سَلاَمٌ دَائِمُ الْبَرَكَةِ إلَى طُلُوعِ الْفَجْرِ،

salaamun daaa-imul-barakati ilaa t'ulooi'l-faj-ri

a peace" (97:4-5) constant in blessings until the rising of the dawn

 

عَلَى مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ بِمَا أَحْكَمَ مِنْ قَضَائِهِ.

a'laa may-yashaaa-u min i'baadihee bimaaa ah'-kama min qaz''aaa-ih

upon whomsoever He will of His servants according to the decision He has made firm.

 

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ،

al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

O God, bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَأَلْهِمْنَا مَعْرِفَةَ فَضْلِهِ وَإِجْلاَلَ حُرْمَتِهِ

wa al-him-naa maa'-rifata faz''-lih wa ij-laala h'ur-matih

inspire us with knowledge of its excellence, veneration of its inviolability,

 

وَالتَّحَفُّظَ مِمَّا حَظَرْتَ فِيهِ

wat-tah'af-fuz'a mim-maa h'az'ar-ta feeh

and caution against what You hast forbidden within it,

 

وَأَعِنَّـا عَلَى صِيَامِـهِ بِكَفِّ الْجَـوَارِحِ عَنْ مَعَاصِيْكَ،

wa ai'n-naa a'laa s'eeaamihee bikaf-fil-jawaarihee a'm-maa'as'eeka

and help us to fast in it by our restraining our limbs from acts of disobedience toward You

 

وَاسْتِعْمَالِهَا فِيهِ بِمَا يُرْضِيْكَ

was-tia'-maalihaa feehee bimaa yur-z''eek

and our employing them in that which pleases You,

 

حَتَّى لاَ نُصْغِىَ بِأَسْمَاعِنَا إلَى لَغْو،

h'at-taa laa nus'-gheea bi s-maai'naaa ilaa lagh-w

so that we lend not our ears to idle talk

 

وَلا نُسْرِعَ بِأَبْصَارِنَا إلَى لَهْو،

wa laa nus-ria' bi b-s'aarinaaa ilaa lah-w

and hurry not with our eyes to diversion,

 

وَحَتَّى لاَ نَبْسُطَ أَيْدِيَنَا إلَى مَحْظُور،

wa h'at-taa laa nab-sut'a ay-deeanaaa ilaa mah'-z'oor

we stretch not our hands toward the forbidden

 

وَلاَ نَخْطُوَ بِأَقْدَامِنَا إلَى مَحْجُور،

wa laa nakh-t'oo bi q-daaminaaa ilaa mah'-joor

and stride not with our feet toward the prohibited,

 

وَحَتَّى لاَ تَعِيَ بُطُونُنَا إلاَّ مَا أَحْلَلْتَ،

wa h'at-taa laa tae'ea but'oonunaaa il-laa maaa ah'-lal-t

our bellies hold only what You hast made lawful

 

وَلا تَنْطِقَ أَلْسِنَتُنَا إلاَّ بِمَا مَثَّلْتَ

wa laa tant'iqa al-sinatunaaa il-laa bimaa math-thal-t

and our tongues speak only what You hast exemplified,

 

وَلا نَتَكَلَّفَ إلاَّ ما يُدْنِي مِنْ ثَوَابِكَ،

wa laa natakal-lafa il-laa maa yud-nee min thawaabik

we undertake nothing but what brings close to Your reward

 

وَلاَ نَتَعَاطَى إلاّ الَّذِي يَقِيْ مِنْ عِقَابِكَ،

wa laa nataa'at'aaa il-laal-lad'ee yaqee min i'qaabik

and pursue nothing but what protects from Your punishment!

 

ثُمَّ خَلِّصْ ذَلِكَ كُلَّهُ مِنْ رِئآءِ الْمُرَائِينَ وَسُمْعَةِ الْمُسْمِعِينَ،

thum-ma khal-lis' d'alika kul-lahoo min reeaaa-il-muraaa-een wa sum-a'til-mus-mie'en

Then rid all of that from the false show of the false showers and the fame seeking of the fame seekers,

 

لاَ نَشْرَكُ فِيهِ أَحَداً دُونَكَ،

laa nash-raku feeheee ah'adana donak

lest we associate therein anything with You

 

وَلا نَبْتَغِيْ فِيهِ مُرَاداً سِوَاكَ.

wa laa nab-taghee bihee muraadana siwaak

or seek therein any object of desire but You!

 

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ،

al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

O God, bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَقِفْنَـا فِيْـهِ عَلَى مَـوَاقِيْتِ

wa qif-naa feehee a'laa mawaaqeeti

in it make us attend to the appointed moments

 

الصَّلَوَاتِ الْخَمْس بِحُدُودِهَا الَّتِي حَدَّدْتَ،

s'alawaatil-kham-si bih'udoodihaal-latee h'ad-dat-t

of the five prayers within the bounds You hast set,

 

وَفُرُوضِهَا الَّتِي فَرَضْتَ وَوَظَائِفِهَا الَّتِي وَظَّفْتَ،

wa furooz''ihaal-latee faraz''-t wa waz'aaa-ifihaal-latee waz'-z'af-t

the obligations You hast decreed, the duties You hast assigned,

 

وَأَوْقَاتِهَا الَّتِي وَقَّتَّ،

wa aw-qaatihaal-latee waq-qat

and the times You hast specified;

 

وَأَنْزِلْنَا فِيهَا مَنْزِلَةَ الْمُصِيْبينَ لِمَنَازِلِهَا

wa anzil-naa feehaa manzilata al-mus'eebeena limanaazilihaa

and in the prayers make us alight in the station of the keepers of their stations,

 

الْحَافِظِينَ لاِرْكَانِهَا الْمُؤَدِّينَ لَهَـا

al-h'aafiz'eena liar-kaanihaa al-moo-ad-deena lahaa

the guardians of their pillars, their performers in their times,

 

فِي أَوْقَاتِهَـا عَلَى مَا سَنَّـهُ عَبْدُكَ وَرَسُـولُكَ صَلَوَاتُـكَ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِـهِ

feee aw-qaatihaa a'laa maa san-nahoo a'b-duka wa rasooluka s'alawaatuka a'lay-hee wa aaalihee

as Your servant and Your messenger set down in his Sunna (Your blessings be upon him and his Household)

 

فِي رُكُوعِهَا وَسُجُودِهَا وَجَمِيْعِ فَوَاضِلِهَا

fee rukooi'haa wasujoodihaa wa jameei' fawaaz''ilihaa

in their bowings, their prostrations, and all their excellent acts,

 

عَلى أَتَمِّ الطَّهُورِ، وَأَسْبَغِهِ وَأَبْيَنِ الْخُشُوعِ وَأَبْلَغِهِ،

a'laa atam-mit'-t'ahoori wa as-baghih wa ab-yanil-khushooi' wa ab-laghih

with the most complete and ample ritual purity and the most evident and intense humility!

 

وَوَفِّقْنَا فِيهِ لاِنْ نَصِلَ أَرْحَامَنَا بِالبِرِّ وَالصِّلَةِ

wa waf-fiq-naa feeh lian-nas'ila ar-h'aamanaa bil-bir-ri was'-s'ilah

Give us success in this month to tighten our bonds of kin with devotion and gifts,

 

وَأَنْ نَتَعَاهَدَ جِيرَانَنَابِالاِفْضَالِ وَالْعَطِيَّةِ

wa an-nataa'ahada jeeraananaa bil-if-z''aali wal-a't'ee-yah

attend to our neighbours with bestowal and giving,

 

وَأَنْ نُخَلِّصَ أَمْوَالَنَا مِنَ التَّبِعَاتِ،

wa an-nukhal-lis'a am-waalanaa minat-tabia'at

rid our possessions from claims,

 

وَأَنْ نُطَهِّرَهَا بِإخْرَاجِ الزَّكَوَاتِ،

wa an-nut'ah-hirahaa biikh-raajiz-zakawaat

purify them through paying the alms,

 

وَأَنْ نُرَاجِعَ مَنْ هَاجَرَنَـا

wa an-nuraajia' man haajaranaa

go back to him who has gone far from us,

 

وَأَنْ نُنْصِفَ مَنْ ظَلَمَنَا

wa an-nuns'ifa man z'alamanaa

treat justly him who has wronged us,

 

وَأَنْ نُسَـالِمَ مَنْ عَادَانَا

wa an-nusaalima man a'adaanaa

make peace with him who shows enmity toward us

 

حَاشَا مَنْ عُودِيَ فِيْكَ وَلَكَ،

h'aashaa man u'wdeea feeka wa laka

(except him who is regarded as an enemy in You and for You,

 

فَإنَّهُ الْعَدُوُّ الَّذِي لاَ نُوالِيهِ،

fa in-nahu al-a'doo-wul-lad'ee laa nuwaaleeh

for he is the enemy whom we will not befriend,

 

وَالحِزْبُ الَّذِي لاَ نُصَافِيهِ.

wal-h'iz-bul-lad'ee laa nus'aafeeh

the party whom we will not hold dear),

 

وَأَنْ نَتَقَرَّبَ إلَيْكَ فِيْهِ مِنَ الأَعْمَالِ الزَّاكِيَةِ بِمَا تُطَهِّرُنا بِهِ مِنَ الذُّنُوبِ،

wa an-nataqar-raba ilay-ka feehee minal-aa'-maaliz-zaakeeati bimaa tut'ah-hirunaa bihee minad'-d'unoob

and seek nearness to You through blameless works which will purify us from sins

 

وَتَعْصِمُنَا فِيهِ مِمَّا نَسْتَأنِفُ مِنَ الْعُيُوبِ،

wa taa'-s'imunaa feehee mim-maa nas-taa-nifu minal-u'yoob

and preserve us from renewing faults,

 

حَتَّى لا يُورِدَ عَلَيْكَ أَحَدٌ مِنْ مَلاَئِكَتِكَ

h'at-taa laa yoorida a'lay-ka ah'adum-mim-malaaa-ikatika

so that none of Your angels will bring for You

 

إلاّ دُونَ مَا نُورِدُ مِنْ أَبْوابِ الطَّاعَةِ لَكَ، وَأَنْوَاعِ القُرْبَةِ إلَيْكَ.

il-laa doona maa nooridu min ab-waabit'-t'aaa'ti laka wa anwaai'l-qur-bati ilay-k

the kinds of obedience and sorts of nearness-seeking unless they be less than what we bring!

 

أللَّهُمَّ إنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ بِحَقِّ هَذَا الشَّهْرِ،

al-laahum-ma in-neee as-aluka bih'aq-qi had'aash-shah-r

O God, I ask You by the right of this month

 

وَبِحَقِّ مَنْ تَعَبَّدَ لَكَ فِيهِ

wa bih'aq-qi man taa'b-bada laka feehee

and by the right of him who worships You within it

 

مِنِ ابْتِدَائِهِ إلَى وَقْتِ فَنَائِهِ

mini ab-tidaaa-iheee ilaa waq-ti fanaaa-ih

from its beginning to the time of its passing,

 

مِنْ مَلَك قَرَّبْتَهُ أَوْ نَبِيٍّ أَرْسَلْتَهُ

mim-malakin qar-rab-tah aw nabee-yin ar-sal-tah

whether angel You hast brought nigh to You, prophet You hast sent,

 

أَوْ عَبْد صَالِح اخْتَصَصْتَهُ

aw a'b-din s'aalih'in akh-tas'as'-tah

or righteous servant You hast singled out,

 

أَنْ تُصَلِّيَ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ،

an tus'al-leea a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

that You bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَأَهِّلْنَا فِيهِ لِمَا وَعَدْتَ أَوْلِياءَكَ مِنْ كَرَامَتِكَ،

wa ah-hil-naa feehee limaa waa't-ta aw-leeaaa-aka min karaamatik

make us worthy of the generosity You hast promised Your friends,

 

وَأَوْجِبْ لَنَا فِيهِ مَا أَوْجَبْتَ لأِهْلِ الْمُبَالَغَةِ فِي طَاعَتِكَ،

wa aw-jib lanaa feehee maaa aw-jab-ta liah-lil-mubaalaghati fee t'aaa'tik

make incumbent for us what You hast made incumbent for those who go to great lengths in obeying You,

 

وَاجْعَلْنَا فِي نَظْمِ مَنِ اسْتَحَقَّ الرَّفِيْعَ الأعْلَى بِرَحْمَتِكَ.

waj-a'l-naa fee naz'-mi mani as-tah'aq-qar-rafeea'l-aa'-laa birah'-matik

and place us in the ranks of those who deserve through Your mercy the highest elevation!

 

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ،

al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

O God, bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَجَنِّبْنَا الإلْحَادَ فِي تَوْحِيدِكَ وَالتَّقْصِيرَ فِي تَمْجِيدِكَ

wa jan-nib-naa al-il-h'aada fee taw-h'eedik wat-taq-s'eera fee tam-jeedik

turn us aside from deviation in professing Your Unity, falling short in magnifying You,

 

وَالشَّكَّ فِي دِينِـكَ وَالْعَمَى عَنْ سَبِيْلِكَ وَالاغْفَالَ لِحُرْمَتِكَ،

wash-shak-ka fee deenik wal-a'maa a'n sabeelik wal-igh-faala lih'ur-matik

uncertainty in Your religion, blindness toward Your path, heedlessness of Your inviolability,

 

وَالانْخِدَاعَ لِعَدُوِّكَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ.

walin-khidaaa' lia'doo-wikash-shay-t'aanir-rajeem

and being deceived by Your enemy, the accursed Satan!

 

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ

al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

O God, bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَإذَا كَانَ لَكَ فِيْ كُلِّ لَيْلَة مِنْ لَيَالِيْ شَهْرِنَا هَذَا

wa id'aa kaana laka fee kul-li lay-latim-mil-layaalee shah-rinaa had'aa

and when in every night of this month's nights

 

رِقَابٌ يُعْتِقُهَا عَفْوُكَ أَوْ يَهَبُهَا صَفْحُكَ

riqaabuy-yua'-tiquhaa a'f-wuka aw yahabuhaa s'af-h'uk

You hast necks which Your pardon will release and Your forgiveness disregard,

 

فَاجْعَلْ رِقَابَنَا مِنْ تِلْكَ الرِّقَابِ

faj-a'r-r-riqaabanaa min til-kar-riqaab

place our necks among those necks

 

وَاجْعَلْنَا لِشَهْرِنَا مِنْ خَيْرِ أَهْل وَأَصْحَاب.

waj-a'l-naa lishah-rinaa min khay-ri ah-liw-wa as'-h'aab

and place us among the best folk and companions of this our month!

 

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ

al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

O God, bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَامْحَقْ ذُنُوبَنَا مَعَ امِّحاقِ هِلاَلِهِ

wam-h'aq d'unoobanaa maa' im-h'aaqi hilaalih

efface our sins along with the effacing of its crescent moon,

 

وَاسْلَخْ عَنَّا تَبِعَاتِنَا مَعَ انْسِلاَخِ أَيَّامِهِ

was-lakh a'n-naa tabia'atinaa maa' ansilaakhi ay-yaamih

and make us pass forth from the ill effects of our acts with the passing of its days,

 

حَتَّى يَنْقَضِي عَنَّا وَقَدْ صَفَّيْتَنَا فِيهِ مِنَ الْخَطِيئاتِ

h'at-taa yanqaz''eea a'n-naa waqad- s'af-fay-tanaa feehee minal-khat'ee-aat

until it leaves us behind, while within it You hast purified us of offenses

 

وَأَخْلَصْتَنَا فِيهِ مِنَ السَّيِّئاتِ

wa akh-las'-tanaa feehee minas-say-yi-aat

and rid us of evil deeds!

 

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ،

al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

O God, bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَإنْ مِلْنَا فِيهِ فَعَدِّلْنا، وَإنْ زِغْنَا فِيهِ فَقَوِّمْنَا

wa im-mil-naa feehee faa'd-dil-naa wa in zugh-naa feehee faqaw-wim-naa

and should we go off to one side in this month, set us aright; should we swerve, point us straight;

 

وَإنِ اشْتَمَلَ عَلَيْنَا عَدُوُّكَ الشَّيْطَانُ فَاسْتَنْقِذْنَا مِنْهُ

wa ini ash-tamala a'lay-naa a'doo-wukash-shay-t'aanu fas-tanqid'-naa min-h

and should Your enemy Satan enwrap us, rescue us from him!

 

أللَهُمَّ اشْحَنْهُ بِعِبَادَتِنَا إيَّاكَ

al-laahum-ma ash-h'an-hoo bii'baadatinaaa ee-yaak

O God, fill this month with our worship of You,

 

وَزَيِّنْ أَوْقَاتَهُ بِطَاعَتِنَا لَكَ،

wa zay-yin aw-qaatahoo bit'aaa'tinaa laka

adorn its times with our obedience toward You,

 

وَأَعِنَّا فِي نَهَـارِهِ عَلَى صِيَـامِـهِ،

wa ai'n-naa fee nahaarihee a'laa s'eeaamih

help us during its daytime with its fast,

 

وَفِي لَيْلِهِ عَلَى الصَّـلاَةِ

wa fee lay-lihee a'laas'-s'alaati

and in its night with prayer

 

وَالتَّضَرُّعِ إلَيْكَ وَالخُشُوعِ لَكَ،

wat-taz''ar-rui' ilay-k wal-khushooi' laka

and pleading toward You, humility toward You,

 

وَالذِّلَّةِ بَيْنَ يَدَيْكَ

wad'-d'il-lati bay-na yaday-k

and lowliness before You,

 

حَتَّى لا يَشْهَدَ نَهَارُهُ عَلَيْنَا بِغَفْلَة، وَلا لَيْلُهُ بِتَفْرِيط.

h'at-taa laa yash-hada nahaaruhoo a'lay-naa bighaf-latiw-wa laa lay-luhoo bitaf-reet'

so that its daytime may not bear witness against our heedlessness, nor its night against our neglect!

 

أللَّهُمَّ وَاجْعَلْنَا فِي سَائِرِ الشُّهُورِ وَالأَيَّامِ كَذَلِكَ مَا عَمَّرْتَنَا،

al-laahum-ma waj-a'l-naa fee saaa-irish-shuhoori wal-ay-yaami kad'alika maa a'm-mar-tanaa

O God, make us like this in the other months and days as long as You givest us life,

 

وَاجْعَلْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ

waj-a'l-naa min i'baadikas'-s'aalih'een

and place us among Your righteous servants,

 

الَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ الْفِرْدَوْسَ، هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ،

(al-lad'eena yarithoonal-fir-daw-sa hum feehaa khaalidoon)

"those who shall inherit Paradise, therein dwelling forever" (23:11),

 

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَا آتَوْا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ

(wal-lad'eena yoo-toona maaa aaataw-a waquloobuhum

"those who give what they give, while their hearts quake,

 

وَجِلَةٌ أَنَّهُمْ إلَى رَبِّهِمْ رَاجِعُـونَ،

wajilatun an-nahum ilaa rab-bihim raajiu'wn)

that they are returning to their Lord" (23:60),

 

وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَهُمْ لَهَا سَابِقُونَ.

wa minal-lad'eena (yusaariu'wna fil-khay-raati wahum lahaa saabiqoon)

those who "..vie in good works, outracing to them" (23:61)!

 

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ،

al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

O God, bless Muhammad and his Household

 

فِي كُلِّ وَقْت وَكُلِّ أَوَان وَعَلَى كُـلِّ حَال

fee kul-li waq-t wakul-li awaan wa a'laa kul-li h'aal

in every time, in all moments, and in every state,

 

عَـدَدَ مَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى مَنْ صَلَّيْتَ عَلَيْهِ،

a'dada maa s'al-lay-ta a'laa man s'al-lay-ta a'lay-h

to the number that You hast blessed whomsoever You hast blessed

 

وَأَضْعَافَ ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ بِالاضْعافِ

wa az''-a'afa d'alika kul-lihee bil-az''-a'afi

and to multiples of all that, through multiples

 

الَّتِي لا يُحْصِيهَا غَيْرُكَ،

latee laa yuh'-s'eehaa ghay-ruk

which none can count but You!

 

إنَّكَ فَعَّالٌ لِمَا تُرِيدُ.

in-naka faa'-a'alul-limaa tureed

Surely You art Accomplisher of what You desirest.

  

His supplication in the Night Prayer

www.duas.org/mobile/sahifasajjadia-dua32-after-night-pray...

 

أَللَّهُمَّ يَا ذَا الْمُلْكِ الْمُتأبِّدِ بِالْخُلُودِ وَالْسُلْطَانِ

al-laahum-ma yaa d'aal- mul-kil-mutaab-bidi bil-khulood was-sul-t'aan

1.O God, O Possessor of kingdom perpetual in everlastingness,

 

الْمُمْتَنِعِ بِغَيْرِ جُنُود وَلاَ أَعْوَان،

al-mum-tanii' bighay-ri junoodiw-wa laaa aa'-waan

2.authority invincible without armies or helpers,

 

وَالْعِزِّ الْبَاقِي عَلَى مَرِّ الدُّهُورِ،

wal-i'z-zil-baaqee a'laa mar-rid-duhoori

3.might abiding through aeons past,

 

وَخَوَالِي الأَعْوَامِ، وَمَوَاضِي الأَزْمَانِ وَالأيَّامِ،

wa khawaaleel-aa'-waami wamawaaz''eel-az-maani wal-ay-yaam

4.years gone by, times and days elapsed!

 

عَزَّ سُلْطَانُكَ عِزّاً لا حَدَّ لَهُ بِأَوَّلِيَّةٍ وَلاَ مُنْتَهَى لَهُ بِآخِرِيَّةٍ،

a'z-za sul-t'aanuka i'z-zal-laa h'ad-da lahoo biw-walee-yatiw-wa laa muntahaa lahoo biaakharee-yah

5.Your authority is mighty with a might that knows no bound by being first nor utmost end by being last!

 

وَاسْتَعْلَى مُلْكُكَ عُلُوّاً سَقَطَتِ الأشْيَاءُ دُونَ بُلُوغِ أَمَدِهِ

was-taa'-laa mul-kuka u'loo-wana saqat'atil-ash-yaaa-u doona bulooghi amadih

6.Your kingdom towers high with a towering before which all things fall down without reaching its term;

 

وَلاَ يَبْلُغُ أَدْنَى مَا اسْتَأثَرْتَ بِـهِ مِنْ ذَلِكَ أَقْصَى نَعْتِ النَّـاعِتِينَ.

wa laa yab-lughu ad-naa mas-taa-thar-ta bihee min d'alika aq-s'aa naa'-tin-naai'teen

7.the least of it which You hast kept to Yourself is not reached by the furthest description of the describers!

 

ضَلَّتْ فِيْـكَ الصِّفَاتُ وَتَفَسْخَتْ دُونَكَ النُّعُوتُ

z''al-lat feekas'-s'ifaat wa tafas-sakhat doonakan-nuu'wt

8.Attributes go astray in You, descriptions fall apart below You,

 

وَحَارَتْ فِي كِبْرِيِائِكَ لَطَائِفُ الأوْهَامِ،

wa h'aarat fee kib-reeaaa-ika lat'aaa-iful-aw-haami

9.the subtlest of imaginations are bewildered by Your magnificence!

 

كَذلِكَ أَنْتَ اللهُ الأَوَّلُ فِي أَوَّلِيَّتِكَ،

kad'alika antal-laahul-aw-walu feee aw-walee-yatik

10.So art Thou: God, the First in Your firstness,

 

وَعَلَى ذَلِكَ أَنْتَ دَائِمٌ لا تَزُولُ،

wa a'laa d'alika anta daaa-imul-laa tazool

11.and so art You everlastingly. You dost not pass away.

 

وَأَنَا الْعَبْدُ الضَّعِيْفُ عَمَلاً الجَسِيْمُ أَمَلاً،

wa anaal-a'b-d az''-z''ae'efu a'malaan al-jaseemu amalaa

12.But I am the slave, feeble in works, immense in hopes.

 

خَرَجَتْ مِنْ يَدِي أَسْبَابُ الْوُصُلاَت إلاّ مَا وَصَلَهُ رَحْمَتُكَ ،

kharajat mee-yadeee as-baabul-wus'ulaati il-laa maa was'alahoo rah'-matuk

13.The tying links are outside my hand, except what is tied by Your mercy;

 

وَتَقَطَّعَتْ عَنِّي عِصَمُ الآمَالِ

wa taqat'-t'aa't a'n-nee i's'amul-aaamaali

14.the bonds of hopes have been cut away from me,

 

إلاّ مَا أَنَا مُعْتَصِمٌ بِهِ مِنْ عَفْوِكَ،

il-laa maaa ana mua'-tas'imum-bihee min a'f-wik

15.except the pardon to which I hold fast.

 

قَلَّ عِنْدِي مَا أَعْتَدُّ بِهِ مِنْ طَاعَتِكَ

qal-la i'ndee maaa aa'-tad-du bihee min t'aaa'tik

16.Little on my part is the obedience toward You upon which I count,

 

وَكَثُرَ عَلَيَّ مَا أَبُوءُ بِهِ مِنْ مَعْصِيَتِكَ،

wa kathura a'lay-ya maaa abooo-u bihee mim-maa'-s'eeatik

17.and great against me the disobedience toward You to which I have reverted.

 

وَلَنْ يَضِيْقَ عَلَيْكَ عَفْوٌ عَنْ عَبْدِكَ وَإنْ أَسَاءَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي.

wa lay-yaz''eeqa a'lay-ka a'f-wun a'n a'b-dika wa in asaaa-a faa'-fu a'n-nee

18.But pardoning Your slave will not constrain You, even if he be bad, so pardon me!

 

أللَّهًمَّ وَقَدْ أَشْرَفَ عَلَى خَفَايَا الأَعْمَالِ عِلْمُكَ

al-laahum-ma waqad ash-rafa a'laa khafaayaal-aa'-maali i'l-muk

19.O God, Your knowledge watches over hidden works

 

وَانْكَشَفَ كُلُّ مَسْتُور دُونَ خُبْرِكَ

wankashafa kul-lu mas-toorin doona khub-rik

20.every covered thing is exposed before Your awareness,

 

وَلاَ تَنْطَوِي عَنْكَ دَقَائِقُ الأُمُورِ

wa laa tant'awee a'nka daqaaa-iqul-umoor

21.the intricacies of things are not concealed from You,

 

وَلاَ تَعْزُبُ عَنْكَ غَيِّبَاتُ السَّرَائِرِ،

wa laa taa'-zubu a'nka ghay-yibaatus-saraaa-ir

22.and unseen mysteries slip not away from You.

 

وَقَدِ اسْتَحْوَذَ عَلَيَّ عَدُوُّكَ الَّذِي اسْتَنْظَرَكَ لِغِوَايتِي فَأَنْظَرْتَهُ،

wa qadi as-tah'-wad'a a'lay-ya a'doo-wukal-lad'ee s-tanz'araka lighawaayatee faanz'ar-tah

23.But over me Your enemy has gained mastery: He asked a delay from You to lead me astray, and You gavest him the delay!

 

وَاسْتَمْهَلَكَ إلَى يَوْمِ الدِّيْنِ لاِضْلاَلِي فَأَمْهَلْتَهُ،

was-tam-halaka ilaa yaw-mid-deeni liiz''-laalee faam-hal-tah

24.He asked a respite from You until the Day of Doom to misguide me, and You gavest him the respite!

 

فَأوْقَعَنِيْ وَقَدْ هَرَبْتُ إلَيْكَ

faaw-qaa'nee wa qad harab-tu ilay-ka

25.So he threw me down, though I had fled to You

 

مِنْ صَغَائِرِ ذُنُوبٍ مُوبِقَةٍ

min- s'aghaaa-iri d'unoobim-moobiqah

26.from small, ruinous sins

 

وَكَبَائِرِ أَعْمَالٍ مُرْدِيَـةٍ

wa kabaaa-iri aa'-maalim-mur-deeah

27.and great, deadly works,

 

حَتَّى إذَا قَارَفْتُ مَعْصِيَتَـكَ

h'at-taaa id'aa qaaraf-tu maa'-s'eeatak

28.until, when I had yielded to disobeying You

 

وَاسْتَوْجَبْتُ بِسُوءِ سَعْيِي سَخْطَتَكَ

was-taw-jab-tu bisooo-i saa'-yee sakh-t'atak

29.and merited Your anger through my bad efforts,

 

فَتَلَ عَنِّي عِذَارَ غَدْرِهِ،

fatala a'n-nee i'd'aara ghad-rih

30.he turned the bridle of his treachery away from me,

 

وَتَلَقَّانِي بكَلِمَةِ كُفْرهِ،

wa talaq-qaanee bikalimati kuf-rih

31.met me with the word of his ingratitude,

 

وَتَوَلَّى الْبَراءَةَ مِنِّي وَأَدْبَرَ مُوَلِّيَاً عَنِّي،

wa tawal-laal-baraaa-ata min-nee wa ad-bara muwal-leeana a'n-nee

32.undertook to be quit of me, turned his back to flee from me,

 

فَأَصْحَرنِي لِغَضَبِكَ فَرِيداً،

faas'-h'aranee lighaz''abika fareedaa

33.threw me to the desert of Your wrath alone,

 

وَأَخْرَجَني إلى فِنَاءِ نَقِمَتِكَ طَرِيداً

wa akh-rajaneee ilaa finaaa-i naqimatika t'areedaa

34.and sent me as an outcast into the courtyard of Your vengeance.

 

لاَ شَفِيعٌ يَشْفَعُ لِيْ إلَيْـكَ،

laa shafeeu'y-yash-fau' leee ilay-k

35.There is no intercessor to intercede for me with You,

 

وَلاَ خَفِيـرٌ يُؤْمِنُنِي عَلَيْـكَ

wa laa khafeeruy-yoo-minunee a'lay-k

36.no protector to make me feel secure against You,

 

وَلاَ حِصْنٌ يَحْجُبُنِي عَنْكَ

wa laa h'is'-nuy-yah'-jubunee a'nk

37.no fortress to veil me from You,

 

وَلاَ مَلاَذٌ أَلْجَأُ إلَيْهِ مِنْكَ.

wa laa malaad'un al-jaa ilay-hee mink

38.no shelter in which to seek asylum apart from You!

 

فَهَذَا مَقَامُ الْعَائِذِ بِكَ، وَمَحَلُّ الْمُعْتَرِفِ لَكَ،

fahd'aa maqaamul-a'aa-id'i bika wa mah'al-lul-mua'-tarifi lak

39.This is the station of him who takes refuge with You, the place of the confessor to You:

 

فَلاَ يَضِيقَنَّ عَنِّي فَضْلُكَ، وَلا يَقْصُـرَنَّ دونِي عَفْوُكَ،

falaa yaz''eeqan-na a'n-nee faz''-luk wa laa yaq-s'uran-na doonee a'f-wuk

40.Let not Your bounty be too narrow for me, let not Your pardon fall short of me!

 

وَلا أكُنْ أَخْيَبَ عِبَادِكَ التَّائِبِينَ،

wa laaa akun akh-yaba i'baadikat-taaa-ibeen

41.Let me not be the most disappointed of Your repentant servants,

 

وَلاَ أَقْنَطَ وفُودِكَ الآمِلِينَ

wa laaa aq-nat'a wfoodikal-aaamileen

42.nor the most despairing of those who come to You with expectations!

 

وَاغْفِرْ لِي إنَّكَ خَيْرُ الْغَافِرِينَ.

wagh-fir leee in-naka khay-rul-ghaafireen

43.Forgive me, surely You art the best of the forgivers!

 

أللَّهُمَّ إنَّكَ أَمَرْتَنِي فَتَرَكْتُ، وَنَهَيْتَنِي فَرَكِبْتُ،

al-laahum-ma in-nak amar-tanee fatarak-t wa nahay-tanee farakib-t

44.O God, You commanded me, and I refrained, You prohibited me, and I committed.

 

وَسَوَّلَ لِيَ الْخَطَأَ خَاطِرُ السُّوءِ فَفَرَّطْتُ،

wa saw-wala leeal-khat'aaa-a khaat'irus-sooo-i fafar-rat'-t

45.evil thoughts tempted me to offend, and I was negligent.

 

وَلا أَسْتَشْهِدُ عَلَى صِيَامِي نَهَـاراً،

wa laaa as-tash-hidu a'laa s'eeaamee nahaaraa

46.I cannot call upon daytime to witness my fasting,

 

وَلاَ أَسْتَجِيرُ بِتَهَجُّدِي لَيْلاً،

wa laaa as-tajeeru bitahaj-judee lay-laa

47.nor can I seek sanctuary in night because of my vigil;

 

وَلاَ تُثْنِي عَلَيَّ بِإحْيَائِهَا سُنَّةٌ

wa laa tuth-nee a'lay-ya biih'-yaaa-ihaa sun-natun

48.no Sunna praises me for keeping it alive,

 

حَـاشَا فُرُوضِـكَ الَّتِي مَنْ ضَيَّعَها هَلَكَ،

h'aashaa furooz''ikal-latee man z''ay-yaa'haa halak

49.only Your obligations, he who neglects which has perished.

 

وَلَسْتُ أَتَوَسَّلُ إلَيْكَ بِفَضْلِ نَافِلَة

wa las-tu atawas-salu ilay-ka bifaz''-li naafilatin

50.I cannot seek access to You through the excellence of a supererogatory work,

 

مَعَ كَثِيرِ مَا أَغْفَلْتُ مِنْ وَظَائِفِ فُرُوضِكَ،

maa' katheeri maaa agh-fal-tu miw-waz'aaa-ifi furooz''ik

51.given the many duties of Your obligations of which I have been heedless

 

وَتَعَدَّيْتُ عَنْ مَقَامَاتِ حُدُودِكَ

wa taa'd-day-tu a'm-maqaamaati h'udoodika

52.and the stations of Your bounds which I have transgressed,

 

إلَى حُرُمَات انْتَهَكْتُهَا، وَكَبَائِرِ ذُنُوب اجْتَرَحْتُهَا

ilaa h'urumaatin antahak-tuhaa wa kabaaa-iri d'unoobin aj-tarah'-tuhaa

53.thereby violating sacred things and committing great sins,

 

كَانَتْ عَافِيَتُكَ لِي مِنْ فَضَائِحِهَا سِتْراً.

kaanat a'afeeatuka lee min faz''aaa-ih'ihaa sit-raa

54.though You hast given me safety from their disgraces as a covering.

 

وَهَذَا مَقَامُ مَنِ اسْتَحْيَى لِنَفْسِهِ مِنْكَ،

wa had'aa maqaamu man as-tah'-yaa linaf-sihee mink

55.This is the station of him who is ashamed of himself before You,

 

وَسَخِطَ عَلَيْهَا، وَرَضِيَ عَنْكَ

wa sakhit'a a'lay-haa wa raz''eea a'nka

56.angry with himself, and satisfied with You.

 

فَتَلَقَّاكَ بِنَفْس خَاشِعَة، وَرَقَبَة خَاضِعَة، وَظَهْر مُثْقَل مِنَ الْخَطَايَا

fatalaq-qaaka binaf-sin khaashia'h wa raqabatin khaaz''ia'h wa z'ah-rim-muth-qalim-mina alkhat'aayaa

57.He meets You with a humble soul, a neck bent down, a back heavy with offenses,

 

وَاقِفاً بَيْنَ الرَّغْبَةِ إلَيْكَ وَالرَّهْبَةِ مِنْكَ،

waaqifam-bay-nar-ragh-bati ilay-ka war-rah-bati mink

58.hesitating between longing for You and fear of You.

 

وَأَنْتَ أَوْلَى مَنْ رَجَـاهُ،

wa anta aw-laa mar-rajaahoo

59.You art the most worthy of those in whom he might hope,

 

وَأَحَقُّ مَنْ خَشِيَـهُ وَاتّقـاهُ،

wa ah'aq-qu man khasheeahoo wa at-taqaah

60.the most deserving for him to dread and fear.

 

فَاعْطِنِي يَا رَبِّ مَا رَجَوْتُ، وَآمِنِّي مَا حَذِرْتُ،

faaa'-t'inee yaa rab-bi maa rajaw-t wa aaamin-nee maa h'ad'ir-t

61.So give me, my Lord, what I hope for, make me secure against what frightens me,

 

وَعُدْ عَلَيَّ بِعَائِدَةِ رَحْمَتِكَ إنَّكَ أكْرَمُ الْمَسْؤُولِينَ.

wa u'd a'lay-ya bia'aa-idati rah'-matik in-naka ak-ramul-mas-ooleen

62.and act kindly toward me with the kindly act of mercy! Surely You art the most generous of those from whom are asked!

 

أللَّهُمَّ وَإذْ سَتَـرْتَنِي بِعَفْوِكَ وَتَغَمَّـدْتَنِي بِفَضْلِكَ

al-laahum-ma wa id' satar-tanee bia'f-wik wa tagham-mat-tanee bifaz''-lika

63.O God, since You hast covered me with Your pardon and shielded me with Your bounty

 

فِي دَارِ الْفَنَاءِ بِحَضرَةِ الأكْفَاءِ

fee daaril-fanaaa-i bih'az''-ratil-ak-faaa-i

64.in the abode of annihilation and the presence of equals

 

فَأَجِرْنِي مِنْ فَضِيحَاتِ دَارِ الْبَقَاءِ

faajir-nee min faz''eeh'aati daaril-baqaaa-i

65.grant me sanctuary from the disgraces of the Abode of Subsistence

 

عِنْدَ مَوَاقِفِ الأشْهَادِ مِنَ المَلائِكَةِ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ

i'nda mawaaqifil-ash-haad minal-malaaa-ikatil-muqar-rabeen

66.at the standing places of the Witnesses (the angels brought nigh,

 

وَالرُّسُلِ الْمُكَرَّمِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ،

war-rusulil-mukar-rameen wash-shuhadaaa-i was'-s'aalih'een

67.the messengers honoured, the martyrs, the righteous)

 

مِنْ جَار كُنْتُ أُكَاتِمُهُ سَيِّئاتِي

min jaarin kuntu ukaatimuhoo say-yi-aatee

68.before the neighbour from whom I have hidden my evil deeds

 

وَمِنْ ذِي رَحِم كُنْتُ أَحْتَشِمُ مِنْهُ فِي سَرِيرَاتِي،

wa min d'ee rah'imin kuntu ah'-tashimu min-hoo fee sareeraatee

69.and the womb relative before whom I feel ashamed in my secret thoughts!

 

لَمْ أَثِقْ بِهِمْ رَبِّ فِي السِّتْرِ عَلَيَّ،

lam athiq bihim rab-bi fis-sit-ri a'lay

70.I trust them not, my Lord, to cover me over,

 

وَوَثِقْتُ بِكَ رَبِّ فِي الْمَغفِرَةِ لِيْ،

wa wathiq-t bika rab-bi fil-magh-firati lee

71.but I trust You, my Lord, to forgive me!

 

وَأَنْتَ أوْلَى مَنْ وُثِقَ بِهِ وَأَعْطَى مَنْ رُغِبَ إلَيْهِ

wa anta aw-laa maw-wuthiqa bih wa aa'-t'aa mar-rughiba ilay-h

72.You art the most worthy of those in whom confidence is had, the most giving of those who are besought,

 

وَأَرْأَفُ مَنِ اسْتُرْحِمَ فَارْحَمْنِي.

wa ar-afu mani as-tur-h'im far-h'am-nee

73.and the most clement of those from whom mercy is asked. So have mercy upon me!

 

أللهُمَّ وَأنتَ حَدَرْتَنِي مَاءً مَهِيناً مِنْ صُلب،

al-laahum-ma wa anta h'adar-tanee maaa-am-maheenaa min s'ul-bim

74.O God, You caused me to descend as mean water from loins

 

مُتَضَائِقِ الْعِظَامِ حَرِجِ الْمَسَالِكِ

mutaz''aaa-iqil-i'z'aami h'arijil-masaalik

75.of narrow bones and tight passages

 

إلَى رَحِم ضَيِّقَة سَتَرْتَهَا بِالْحُجُبِ

ilaa rah'imin z''ay-yqatin satar-tahaa bil-h'ujub

76.into a constricted womb which You hadst covered with veils;

 

تُصَرِّفُنِي حَالاًَ عَنْ حَال حَتَّى انْتَهَيْتَ بِيْ إلَى تَمَامِ الصُّورَةِ

tus'ar-rifunee h'aalana a'n h'aalin h'at-taa antahay-ta beee ilaa tamaamis'-s'oorah

77.You turned me about from state to state until You tookest me to the completion of the form

 

وَأَثْبَتَّ فِيَّ الْجَوَارحَ

wa ath-bat-ta fee-yal-jawaarih'

78.and fixed within me the bodily parts,

 

كَمَا نَعَتَّ فِي كِتَابِكَ

kamaa naa't-ta fee kitaabik

79.as You hast described in Your Book:

 

نُطْفَةً ثُمَّ عَلَقَةً ثُمَّ مُضْغَةً ثُمَّ عِظَاماً

(nut'-fatan thum-ma a'laqatan thum-ma muz''-ghatan thum-ma i'z'aamana

80.a drop, then a clot, then a tissue, then bones,

 

ثُمَّ كَسَوْتَ الْعِظَامَ لَحْماً ثُمَّ أَنْشَأتَنِي خَلْقَاً آخَرَ كَمَا شِئْتَ،

thum-ma kasaw-tal-i'z'aama lah'-mana thum-ma anshaa-tanee khal-qan aaakhar) kamaa shi-t

81.then You garmented the bones with flesh, then You produced me as another creature as You willed (ref.23:12-14).

 

حَتَّى إذَا احْتَجْتُ إلَى رِزْقِكَ،

h'at-taaa id'aa ah'-taj-tu ilaa riz-qika

82.Then, when I needed Your provision,

 

وَلَمْ أَسْتَغْنِ عَنْ غِيَـاثِ فَضْلِكَ

wa lam as-tagh-ni a'n gheeaathi faz''-lik

83.and could not do without the aid of Your bounty,

 

جَعَلْتَ لِي قُـوتـاً مِنْ فَضْلِ طَعَام وَشَرَاب

jaa'l-ta lee qootam-min faz''-li t'aa'amiw-wa sharaabin

84.You appointed for me a nourishment from the bounty of the food and drink

 

أَجْرَيْتَهُ لاِمَتِكَ الَّتِيْ أَسْكَنْتَنِي جَوْفَهَا وَأَوْدَعْتَنِي قَرَارَ رَحِمِهَا،

aj-ray-tahoo liamatikal-latee as-kantanee jaw-fahaa wa aw-daa'-tanee qaraara rah'imihaa

85.which You bestowed upon Your handmaid in whose belly You gavest me to rest and in the lodging of whose womb You deposited me.

 

وَلَوْ تَكِلُنِي يَا رَبِّ فِي تِلْكَ الْحَـالاتِ إلَى حَوْلِي،

wa law takil-nee yaa rab-bi fee til-kal-h'aalaati ilaa h'aw-leee

86.Hadst You entrusted me in those states, my Lord, to my own force

 

أَوْ تَضْطَرُّنِي إلَى قُوّتي

aw taz''-t'ar-runeee ilaa qoo-watee

87.or driven me to have recourse to my own strength,

 

لَكَانَ الْحَوْلُ عَنِّي مُعْتَزِلاً، وَلَكَانَتِ الْقُوَّةُ مِنِّي بَعِيدَةً،

lakaanal-h'aw-lu a'n-nee mua'-tazilaa wa lakaanati alqoo-watu min-nee bae'edah

88.force would have been removed from me and strength taken far away.

 

فَغَذَوْتَنِي بِفَضْلِكَ غِذَاءَ البَرِّ اللَّطِيفِ ،

faghad'aw-tanee bifaz''-lika ghid'aaa-al-bar-ril-lat'eef

89.So You hast fed me through Your bounty with the food of the Good, the Gentle;

 

تَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ بِي تَطَوُّلاً عَلَيَّ إلَى غَايَتِي هَذِهِ،

taf-a'lu d'alika bee tat'aw-wulana a'lay-ya ilaa ghaayatee had'ih

90.You hast done that for me in graciousness toward me up to this my present point.

 

لاَ أَعْدَمُ بِرَّكَ وَلاَ يُبْطِئُ بِي حُسْنُ صَنِيعِكَ،

laaa aa'-damu bir-rak wa laa yub-t'i-u bee h'us-nu s'aneei'k

91.I do not lack Your goodness nor does Your benefaction keep me waiting.

 

وَلاَ تَتَأكَّدُ مَعَ ذَلِكَ ثِقَتِي،

wa laa tataak-kadu maa' d'alika thiqatee

92.Yet with all that, my trust has not become firm enough

 

فَأَتَفَرَّغَ لِمَا هُوَ أَحْظَى لِيْ عِنْدَكَ،

faatafar-ragha limaa huwa ah'-z'a lee i'ndak

93.that I might free myself for that which is more favoured by You.

 

قَدْ مَلَكَ الشَّيْطَانُ عِنَانِي فِي سُوءِ الظَّنِّ وَضَعْفِ الْيَقِينِ،

qad malakash-shay-t'aanu i'naanee fee sooo-iz'-z'an-ni waz''aa'-fil-yaqeen

94.Satan has taken possession of my reins through my distrust and frail certainty.

 

فَأَنَا أَشْكُو سُوْءَ مُجَاوَرَتِهِ لِي وَطَـاعَةَ نَفْسِي لَـهُ،

faanaa ash-koo sooo-a mujaawaratihee lee wa t'aaa'ta naf-see lah

95.I complain of his evil neighbourhood with me and my soul's obedience toward him!

 

وَأَسْتَعْصِمُـكَ مِنْ مَلَكَتِهِ، وَأَتَضَـرَّعُ إلَيْكَ في صَرفِ كَيدِهِ عَنّي

wa as-taa'-s'imuka mim-malakatih wa ataz''ar-rau' ilay-ka fee s'arf-i kaydihee 'annee

96.I ask You to preserve me against his domination, and I plead with You to turn his trickery away from me!

 

و أسأَلُكَ فِي أَنْ تُسَهِّلَ إلَى رِزْقِي سَبِيلاً،

wa as-aluka feee an tusah-hila ilaa riz-qee sabeela

97.I ask You to make the path to my provision easy,

 

فَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ عَلَى ابْتِدَائِكَ بِالنِّعَمِ الْجِسَامِ،

falakal-h'am-du a'laa ab-tidaaa-ika bin-nia'mil-jisaami

98.since to You belongs praise for Your beginning with immense favours

 

وَإلْهَامِكَ الشُّكْرَ عَلَى الإحْسَانِ وَالإِنْعَامِ ،

haamikash-shuk-ra a'laal-ih'-saani wal-in-a'am

99.and Your inspiring gratitude for beneficence and bestowing favour!

 

فَصَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ

fas'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

100.Bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَسَهِّلْ عَلَيَّ رِزْقِي وَأَنْ تُقَنِّعَنِي بِتَقْدِيرِكَ لِيْ ،

wasah-hil a'lay-ya riz-qee wa an tuq-nia'nee bitaq-deerika lee

101.and make the way to my provision easy for me! [I ask You] to make me content with Your ordainment for me,

 

وَأَنْ تُرْضِيَنِي بِحِصَّتِيْ فِيمَا قَسَمْتَ لِيْ،

wa an tur-z''eeanee bih'is'-s'atee feemaa qasam-ta lee

102.to make me satisfied with my lot in that which You hast apportioned for me

 

وَأَنْ تَجْعَـلَ مَـا ذَهَبَ مِنْ جِسْمِيْ وَعُمُرِيْ

wa an taj-a'la maa d'ahaba min jis-mee wau'm-ree

103.and to place what has gone of my body and my life-span

 

فِي سَبِيْلِ طَاعَتِكَ إنَّكَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ.

fee sabeeli t'aaa'tik in-naka khay-rur-raaziqeen

104.into the path of Your obedience! Surely You art the Best of providers!

 

أللَهُمَّ إنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مَنْ نَارٍ تَغَلَّظْتَ بِهَا عَلَى مَنْ عَصَاكَ،

al-laahum-ma in-neee su'wd'u bika min-naar taghal-laz'-ta bihaa a'laa man a's'aak

105.O God, I seek refuge in You from the Fire through which You art harsh toward him who disobeys You

 

وَتَوَعَّدْتَ بِهَا مَنْ صَدَفَ عَنْ رِضَاكَ،

wa tawaa'-a't-ta bihaa man s'adafa a'r-riz''aak

106.and by which You hast threatened him who turns away from Your good pleasure;

 

وَمِنْ نَارٍ نورُهَا ظُلْمَة وَهَيِّنُهَا أَلِيمٌ، وَبَعِيدُهَا قَرِيبٌ،

wa min-naarin-nooruhaa z'ul-mah wa hay-yinuhaaa aleem wa bae'eduhaa qareeb

107.from the Fire whose light is darkness, whose ease is pain, and whose far is near;

 

وَمِنْ نَارٍ يَأْكُلُ بَعْضَهَا بَعْضٌ،

wa min-naaree-yaa-kulu baa'-z''ahaa baa'-z''

108.from the Fire parts of which devour parts

 

وَيَصُولُ بَعْضُهَا عَلَى بَعْض،

wa yas'oolu baa'-z''uhaa a'laa baa'-z''

109.and parts of which leap upon parts;

 

وَمِنْ نَارٍ تَذَرُ الْعِظَامَ رَمِيماً،

wa min-naarin tad'arul-i'z'aama rameemaa

110.from the Fire which leaves bones decayed

 

وَتَسْقِي أَهْلَهَا حَمِيماً ،

wa tas-qeee ah-lahaa h'ameemaa

111.and lets its people drink boiling water;

 

وَمِنْ نَارٍ لاَ تُبْقِي عَلَى مَنْ تَضَرَّعَ إلَيْهَا،

wa min-naaril-laa tub-qee a'laa man taz''ar-raa' ilay-haa

112.from the Fire which 'does not spare him who pleads to it,'

 

وَلاَ تَرْحَمُ مَنِ اسْتَعْطَفَهَا،

wa laa tar-h'amu mani as-taa'-t'afahaa

113.has no mercy on him who seeks sympathy from it,

 

وَلاَ تَقْدِرُ عَلَى التَّخْفِيفِ عَمَّنْ خَشَعَ لَهَا وَاسْتَسْلَمَ إلَيْهَا،

wa laa taq-diru a'laat-takh-feefi a'm-man khashaa' lahaa was-tas-lama ilay-haa

114.and has no power to relieve him who humbles himself before it and yields himself to it;

 

تَلْقَى سُكَّانَهَا بِأَحَرِّ مَا لَدَيْهَا مِنْ أَلِيْمِ النَّكَالِ وَشَدِيدِ الْوَبَالِ،

tal-qaa suk-kaanahaa bih'ar-ri maa laday-haa min aleemin-nakaali washadeedil-wabaal

115.it meets its inhabitants with the hottest that it possesses: painful punishment and intense noxiousness.

 

وَأَعُوذُ بكَ مِنْ عَقَارِبِهَا الْفَاغِرَةِ أَفْوَاهُهَا،

wa au'wd'u bika min- a'qaaribihaal-faaghirati af-waahuhaa

116.seek refuge in You from its gaping-jawed scorpions,

 

وَحَيّاتِهَا الصَّالِقَةِ بِأَنْيَابِهَا،

wa h'ay-yaatihaas'-s'aaliqati binyaabihaa

117.its scraping-toothed serpents,

 

وَشَرَابِهَا الَّذِي يُقَطِّعُ أَمْعَاءَ وَأَفْئِدَةَ سُكَّانِهَا، وَيَنْزِعُ قُلُوبَهُمْ،

wa sharaabihaal-lad'ee yuqat'-t'iu' am-a'aa-a wa af-idata suk-kaanihaa wa yanziu' quloobahum

118.and its drinks, which tear apart the intestines and hearts of its inhabitants and root out their marrows.

 

وَأَسْتَهْدِيْكَ لِمَا باعَدَ مِنْهَا وَأَخَّرَ عَنْهَا.

wa as-tah-deeka limaa baaa'da min-haa wa akh-khara a'n-haa

119.I ask guidance from You to that which will keep far from it and make it retreat!

 

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِـهِ

al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalih

120.O God, bless Muhammad and his Household,

 

وَأَجِرْنِي مِنْهَا بِفَضْل رَحْمَتِكَ،

wa ajir-nee min-haa bifaz''-li rah'-matik

121.grant me sanctuary from it through the bounty of Your mercy,

 

وَأَقِلْنِي عَثَرَاتِي بِحُسْنِ إقَالَتِكَ ،

wa aqil-nee a'tharaatee bih'us-ni iqaalatik

122.release me from my stumbles through Your good releasing,

 

وَلاَ تَخْذُلْنِي يَا خَيْرَ الْمُجيرِينَ

wa laa takh-d'ul-nee yaa khay-ral-mujeereen

123.and abandon me not, O Best of the sanctuary-granters!

 

أللَّهُمَّ إنَّكَ تَقِي الْكَرِيهَةَ ، وَتُعْطِي الْحَسَنَةَ ،

al-laahum-ma in-nak taqeel-kareehah wa tua'-t'eel-h'asanah

124.O God, You protectest from the disliked, givest the good,

 

وَتَفْعَلُ مَا تُرِيـدُ وَأَنْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْء قَدِيرٌ.

wa taf-a'lu maa tureed wa anta a'laa kul-li shay-in qadeer

125.dost what You wilt, and You art "powerful over everything" (3:26).

 

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ، إذَا ذُكِرَ الأبْرَارُ،

al-laahum-ma s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaaliheee id'aa d'ukiral-ab-raar

126.O God, bless Muhammad and his Household when the pious are mentioned

 

وَصَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد وَآلِهِ مَا اخْتَلَفَ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ

wa s'al-li a'laa muh'am-madiw-wa aaalihee makh-talafal-lay-lu wan-nahaar

127.and bless Muhammad and his Household as long as night and day come

 

صَلاَةً لاَ يَنْقَطِعُ مَدَدُهَا،

s'alaatal-laa yanqat'iu' madaduhaa

128.and go with a blessing whose replenishment is never cut off

 

وَلاَ يُحْصَى عَدَدُهَا صَلاَةً تَشْحَنُ الْهَوَاءَ،

wa laa yuh'-s'aa a'daduhaa s'alaatan tash-h'anul-hawaaa-a

129.and whose number cannot be counted, a blessing that will fill up the air

 

وَتَمْلاُ الأرْضَ وَالسَّماءَ.

wa tam-laal-ar-z''a was-samaaa-

130.and crowd the earth and the heaven!

 

صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّى يَرْضَى،

s'al-laal-laahoo a'lay-hee h'at-taa yarz''aa

131.God bless him until he is well pleased

 

وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ

wa s'al-laal-laahoo a'lay-hee wa aaalihee

132.and God bless him and his Household

 

بَعْدَ الرِّضَا صَلاَةً لا حَدَّ لَها

baa'-dar-riz''aa s'alaatal-laa h'ad-da lahaa

133.after good pleasure with a blessing that has neither bound

 

وَلاَ مُنْتَهَى يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِيْنَ.

wa laa muntahaa yaaa ar-h'amar-raah'imeen

134.nor utmost limit! O Most Merciful of the merciful!

   

Spotmatic II | Super Takumar 55mm | Arista Edu Ultra 100

 

Looking south down Figueroa Street, at 5th Street intersection. Downtown Los Angeles.

 

New iron-clad inviolable method: If you can get the shot with a long lens, do so. If you can't, try the next wider lens. If that doesn't work, use one wider than that.

 

Roll #125, Frame 21. 1m f/8 [ev 1]

Dev: D-76 (1:1, 225mL), 8 min @ 18°C (EI 50). 10 sec rolling agit / min.

There has seldom been a drama-free moment during Pakistan’s short history. The themes have predominantly been of recurrent violence ranging from wars, civil upheavals, military coups, terrorist attacks, political assassinations, and natural disasters. Against this backdrop, the Raymond Davis affair may seem like a storm in a teacup but, if inappropriately handled, it could rapidly transform into a diplomatic tsunami.

 

To avert this possibility, emotions have to be set aside and replaced by a dispassionate appraisal of the incident in which a US national, Raymond Davis (or whatever his real name), shot dead two Pakistani men in central Lahore on January 27. A third citizen was crushed to death by an American Consulate vehicle that came speeding from the wrong end of a one-way street to aid Davis.

 

Davis has claimed that he acted in self-defense. He felt that the two men were armed and were about to attack him. If this is established, then he has not violated the law because self-defense is permissible under articles 96, 97 and 100 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The three men who were killed had not committed any crime either. The individual run over by a car was entirely innocent which the driver of the vehicle was not.

 

However, the eye of the potential storm is the US embassy demand that Davis be released forthwith on the ground that he has diplomatic immunity under article 29 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, which stipulates that: “The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.” This immunity is also applicable under article 37 (2) of the Convention to “members of the administrative and technical staff” of a diplomatic mission.

 

As per article 32 of the Vienna Convention, immunity can be waived by the sending state and this “waiver must always be express.” Had this been done, the brewing crisis could have been defused. However, far from waiving his immunity, Washington has insisted that Davis is under illegal detention and has sought his immediate release.

 

The incident is now sub judice and further comments on legal aspects cannot be made. But this does not preclude an analysis of the concept of diplomatic immunity in terms of its origin as well as some of the instances when it has been invoked by Pakistan and other South Asian countries.

 

It was recognised even in ancient Greece that emissaries between city states would not be able to function unless they were accorded safe passage and protection. Centuries later, in 1709, the British Parliament enacted legislation granting diplomatic immunity to resident ambassadors but its application was confined to England. However, it was not till the Congress of Vienna in 1815 that a serious attempt was made to codify diplomatic immunities and this was further fine-tuned and broadened in its application with the adoption of the Havana Convention regarding Diplomatic Officers in 1928. Several years after the establishment of the United Nations, the draft prepared by the International Law Commission was adopted as the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations on April 18, 1961 and has been ratified by 186 countries.

 

The privileges and immunities incorporated in the Convention are integral to modern diplomatic practice and have been availed of by all countries. Thus, last month, the Indian Embassy in Washington is reported to have made a demarche to the State Department requesting diplomatic immunity for Kamal Nath, a cabinet minister responsible for urban development. The minister had been summoned by a US Court regarding a law suit that alleged his involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. However, Kamal Nath’s lawyers have denied that he has been served any summons though he is quoted by the media as saying: “As far as I know, the US has not rejected it (the Indian Embassy demarche), at least not to my knowledge.”

 

In mid-January 2011, the British government requested a waiver of diplomatic immunity for Anil Verma, a senior Indian Administrative Service officer who had been appointed as Economic Minister at the Indian High Commission in London. Verma had earlier been questioned by the Scotland Yard regarding allegations that he had assaulted and inflicted corporal injuries on his wife after a heated argument on Dec 11, 2010. The British request was turned down by the Indian government which has, instead, recalled Verma to New Delhi.

 

Similarly, in 2004, as widely reported in the media, Pakistan also stood by its Permanent Representative in New York invoking diplomatic immunity after he had been accused of violence against a woman friend following an altercation. This was a relatively minor incident compared to the discovery of heroin in 1975 in the possession of Pakistan’s Ambassador in Spain or the recovery of 16 kilograms of high intensity explosives from Mohammad Arshad Cheema, First Secretary at the Pakistan Embassy in Kathmandu. On both occasions, diplomatic immunity was sought and granted.

 

An even more sensational recourse to diplomatic immunity took place in 1979 when the Burmese ambassador to Sri Lanka killed his wife as she got out of her car after visiting a member of a music band with whom she was allegedly having an affair. The next morning neighbours informed the authorities that the envoy had built a funeral pyre in his back lawn on which he had placed his wife’s body. When the police arrived, the ambassador stopped them at the gate because he said that his residence was Burmese territory. In effect, he had invoked article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations under which the premises of a diplomatic mission are inviolate. Despite the seriousness of the crime, the Sri Lankan Government was unable to proceed against the envoy who was eventually, but not immediately, recalled to his country.

 

The legal fiction of ex-territoriality of diplomatic premises that is conceded by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations has at times been misused, albeit on few occasions, to undermine the security of states. Under such circumstances, the receiving state would be perfectly justified in entering the residences and offices of a diplomatic mission. Thus on Feb 10, 1973, Pakistani security personnel forcibly entered the Iraqi Embassy in Islamabad where, according to reports at the time, 300 Soviet-made submachine guns and 50,000 rounds of ammunition along with a substantial amount of cash had been stockpiled for distribution amongst Baloch separatist groups.

 

If law is reason, free from passion, as the ancient Greeks believed, there is need to temper the inflamed emotions that the Raymond Davis incident has understandably aroused. The death of three Pakistanis is undoubtedly tragic. But a dispassionate assessment has to be made on the question of diplomatic immunity that has been claimed on Davis’ behalf by the US government. The essence of law is not in the shapeless vapours of mere abstractions. It stands on the solid ground of its letter and spirit.

 

The News Pakistan (08/02/2011)

"Royal Bread" it's the best thing since... sliced bread.

 

- - - - -

 

“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” Eric A Blair. 1948.

  

www.chaipat.or.th/chaipat_english/index.php?option=com_co...

 

The Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy and National Development

 

His Majesty’s Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy emphasizes that the producers or consumers try to produce or consume within the limit or limitation of existing income or resources first. This is the principle in decreasing the dependence and increasing the ability to control the production themselves, thus deceasing the risk from not being able to efficiently control the market system.

 

Sufficiency Economy does not mean that one must constantly be frugal. A person can indulge himself in luxury once in a while, provided that it is within his capacity to do so. But the majority of the country’s population often overspends beyond their means. Sufficiency Economy can lead to the goal of establishing economic stability.

 

Fundamentally, Thailand is an agricultural country; therefore, the country’s economy should be keyed towards agro-economy and food stability in order to establish a stable economic system to a certain degree. This is an economic system that can help lessen the risk or economic instability in the long run.

 

“I may add that full sufficiency is impossible. If a family or even a village wants to employ a full sufficiency economy, it would be like returning to the Stone Age…This sufficiency means to have enough to live on. Sufficiency means to lead a reasonably comfortable life, without excess, or overindulgence in luxury, but enough. Some things may seem to be extravagant, but if it brings happiness, it is permissible as long as it is within the means of the individual…”

His Majesty’s birthday speech on 4 December, 1998

  

www.therichest.com/rich-list/world/the-top-10-richest-roy...

 

The Top 10 Richest Royals in the World

 

#10. Karim al Hussayni, Aga Khan IV – $800 million

 

#5. Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Emir Sheikh of Dubai – $4 billion

 

#4. Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, Emir of Abu Dhabi – $15 billion

 

#3. Abdullah bin Abdul Azil al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia – $18 billion

 

#2. Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei – $20 billion

 

#1. Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand – $30 billion

... the current longest-serving head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thailand. He is considered inviolable, with any offense to his dignity punishable. Through the Crown Property Bureau, he has interests in Siam Cement, Christiani & Nielsen, Deves Insurance, Siam Commercial Bank and Shin Corporation. He also owns the largest faceted diamond in the world called the Golden Jubilee Diamond.

 

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www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/10/thailands-politica...

 

The Economist. October 2nd 2014.

 

"The junta’s rule is likely to go on for a while, if for no other reason than that its members cannot bear even the thought of the politicians being in charge when the king dies. It helps that the bureaucracy and most of the wealthiest Thai families back the military government. These rich Chinese-Thai families, along with the Thai elites, control much of the country’s assets. In the course of the 20th century a small group courtiers and businessmen have played their cards right with the monarchy and managed to join them. The result is that 0.1% of Thais own half the nation’s assets, a concentration of wealth that makes America’s mind-bogglingly unequal wealth distribution (where 0.1% of citizens own 22%) look like a socialist dream come true.

 

These very wealthy families crave control and stability above all, not the sort of rapid economic growth that raises living standards for all. So it has always been in their rational interest to support conservative governments. Badly burned in the economic collapse of 1996 and 1997, they fear permanent shifts in government policy, competition and a rising price of access to capital, labour and land. "

  

Young golfer works on his stroke with some encouragement from his friends in Alexandra, a black township on the far outskirts of Johannesburg. All urban blacks are required by law to live in such townships, provided they have

permits to work in the "white" towns and cities that are dependent on their labour. But nowhere in South Africa, not even in the so-called "homelands", do black people have unrestricted, inviolable rights of residence. Throughout the country they live precariously and under constant threat of forced removal.

1/Jan/1982. UN Photo/DB. www.unmultimedia.org/photo/

This is Playden Lane on a not so cold winter's day. The white pole in the centre of the photograph indicates the line of a high pressure gas main which goes somewhere else. There is no mains gas in the village, the gas main is inviolable.

Tortoise Shout

 

I thought he was dumb,

I said he was dumb,

Yet I've heard him cry.

 

First faint scream,

Out of life's unfathomable dawn,

Far off, so far, like a madness, under the horizon's dawning rim,

Far, far off, far scream.

 

Tortoise in extremis.

 

Why were we crucified into sex?

Why were we not left rounded off, and finished in ourselves,

As we began,

As he certainly began, so perfectly alone?

 

A far, was-it-audible scream,

Or did it sound on the plasm direct?

 

Worse than the cry of the new-born,

A scream,

A yell,

A shout,

A pæan,

A death-agony,

A birth-cry,

A submission,

All tiny, tiny, far away, reptile under the first dawn.

 

War-cry, triumph, acute-delight, death-scream reptilian,

Why was the veil torn?

The silken shriek of the soul's torn membrane?

The male soul's membrane

Torn with a shriek half music, half horror.

 

Crucifixion.

Male tortoise, cleaving behind the hovel-wall of that dense female,

Mounted and tense, spread-eagle, out-reaching out of the shell

In tortoise-nakedness,

Long neck, and long vulnerable limbs extruded, spread-eagle over her house-roof,

And the deep, secret, all-penetrating tail curved beneath her walls, is

Reaching and gripping tense, more reaching anguish in uttermost tension

Till suddenly, in the spasm of coition, tupping like a jerking leap, and oh!

Opening its clenched face from his outstretched neck

And giving that fragile yell, that scream,

Super-audible,

From his pink, cleft, old-man's mouth,

Giving up the ghost,

Or screaming in Pentecost, receiving the ghost.

 

His scream, and his moment's subsidence,

The moment of eternal silence,

Yet unreleased, and after the moment, the sudden, startling jerk of coition, and at once

The inexpressible faint yell —

And so on, till the last plasm of my body was melted back

To the primeval rudiments of life, and the secret.

 

So he tups, and screams

Time after time that frail, torn scream

After each jerk, the longish interval,

The tortoise eternity,

Agelong, reptilian persistence,

Heart-throb, slow heart-throb, persistent for the next spasm.

 

I remember, when I was a boy,

I heard the scream of a frog, which was caught with his foot in the mouth of an up-starting snake;

I remember when I first heard bull-frogs break into sound in the spring;

I remember hearing a wild goose out of the throat of night

Cry loudly, beyond the lake of waters;

I remember the first time, out of a bush in the darkness, a nightingale's piercing cries and gurgles startled the depths of my soul;

I remember the scream of a rabbit as I went through a wood at midnight;

I remember the heifer in her heat, blorting and blorting through the hours, persistent and irrepressible;

I remember my first terror hearing the howl of weird, amorous cats;

I remember the scream of a terrified, injured horse, the sheet-lightning

And running away from the sound of a woman in labor, something like an owl whooing,

And listening inwardly to the first bleat of a lamb,

The first wail of an infant,

And my mother singing to herself,

And the first tenor singing of the passionate throat of a young collier, who has long since drunk himself to death,

The first elements of foreign speech

On wild dark lips.

 

And more than all these,

And less than all these,

This last,

Strange, faint coition yell

Of the male tortoise at extremity,

Tiny from under the very edge of the farthest far-off horizon of life.

 

The cross,

The wheel on which our silence first is broken,

Sex, which breaks up our integrity, our single inviolability, our deep silence

Tearing a cry from us.

 

Sex, which breaks us into voice, sets us calling across the deeps, calling, calling for the complement,

Singing, and calling, and singing again, being answered, having found.

 

Torn, to become whole again, after long seeking for what is lost,

The same cry from the tortoise as from Christ, the Osiris-cry of abandonment,

That which is whole, torn asunder,

That which is in part, finding its whole again throughout the universe.

 

D. H. Lawrence

"Inviolable" : GCA Gallery - 2 place Farhat Hached 75013

Książ Castle, Wałbrzych, Poland

 

Książ Castle (Zamek Książ)

Legend has it that the original castle at Książ was built at the end of the 13th century by Bolko I, Duke of Świdnica and Jawor, but it is best known as the fiefdom of the Hochberg family, who purchased it in 1508 and owned it until 1941.

 

The castle we see today took shape during the 16th century, when the central tower, walls and ramparts were added to the original building of the ducal seat, which was itself greatly extended. Though the Thirty Years War saw the castle suffer invasion and conquest (first by Saxons, then Swedes), it survived intact under the masterful stewardship of young Hans Heinrich Hochberg (the same Hochberg who donated trees from the Książ forests to build the Świdnica Peace Church), who at war’s end would redefine the castle, making it more of a stately home than a fortress: much of the defensive wall was taken down, and landscaped gardens replaced ramparts.

www.inyourpocket.com/wroclaw/ksiaz-castle_76476v

 

www.ksiaz.walbrzych.pl/en/turystyka/wystawa

 

“Entry of Alaric into Rome” -The second largest historical painting on Silesia presented in the castle. The painting was not displayed in public since before the Second Word War.

“Entry of Alaric into Rome”, by Wilhelm von Lindenschmit, is one of the largest easel paintings (411 x 613 cm.) in Poland that deals with a historical subject. It portrays a scene associated with the time of the great migrations of peoples.

 

“It shows the triumphant march of Alaric (c. 370 – 410), pre-eminent leader of the German tribes, who conquered Rome. His breach of the inviolable Eternal City has been viewed as marking the ancient empire’s fall. Alaric, on a black horse, makes an eloquent gesture to stop the barbaric plundering, and escorts a procession of Christians who are taking reliquaries and other liturgical valuables back to the basilica of St. Peter. The painter means to express a vision of a spiritual transformation whereby new religious faith is projected into the future, proving stronger than the weakening power of the gods of antique culture,” explained Beata Lejman, curator of the “Metamorphoses of Książ Castle” exhibition.

 

The painter, Wilhelm von Lindenschmit (1829-1895), was a graduate and later a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where many Poles also studied: they included Jan Matejko, Maksymilian and Aleksander Gierymski, and Lindenschmit’ own student, Wojciech Kossak.

www.ksiaz.walbrzych.pl/en/turystyka/wydarzenia/obraz-alar...

The Laws of Physics are inviolable. At least for me and most of us. They are what they are. I guess. When such laws are not obeyed stuff happens........ or doesn't. Something like that is my guess.

 

I didn't pay close attention to the point of focus with this until after I started playing around with the post processing. Def back-focus.... The back-focus is my own fault. After locking focus I moved forward. Works every time. :-) A few other problems as well. But..... I had shot RAW+ so it was raw to the rescue.... OK... not entirely. Anyway, this will remain unfinished. Eventually I'll drive past the location and stop for a few snaps that hopefully will be properly focused. And I'll stop down a little more. Or.. continue to violate the Laws of Physics with the usual success.

 

So...uhmmm..... Yea...A friend of mine worked in a camera shop and had a number of customers return lenses they believed misfocused. Ignorance of the Laws of Physics is no defense.... He would ask the customer to demonstrate the failure. What did he notice on many occasions? The customer would lock focus at wide aperture and them move forward or backward ever so slightly or a bunch. Usually his breaking out a solid tripod and focus ramp thingy proved the lens fine, the customer guilty of pigeon head focusing ..... Not always though. Some, lenses and customers, were clearly defective or needed fine tuning. BTW.... Never buy expensive fast AF glass if your camera lacks AF fine tuning. You could find yourself in a near blind rage and unable to focus.

 

Ah... There are a couple of things about the image that did work as intended so I printed out of curiosity. Just a 5X7... I was also curious to see how bad the unfinished bits would look printed. Printing images that I know are flawed is something I've done several times. Too many times. That way I can learn me some stuff... If next time everything, and I mean everything, comes together with a re-shoot I'll print larger.

 

The end.

  

Alexandra, a black "township" on the far outskirts of Johannesburg. All urban "blacks are required by law to live in such townships, provided they have

permits to work in the "white" towns and cities that are dependent on their labour. But nowhere in South Africa, not even in the so-called "homelands", do

black people have unrestricted, inviolable rights of residence. Throughout the country they live precariously and under constant threat of forced removal.

1/Jan/1982. UN Photo/x. www.unmultimedia.org/photo/

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ST. CECILIA - NOVEMBER 22

 

(2nd century - c.177

Patron: France; martyrs; composers; music; musicians; musical instrument makers; singers.

 

It is under the emperor Alexander Severus that this young Saint, one of the most fragrant flowers of Christian virginity and martyrdom, suffered for the Faith she had chosen; to choose it was at that moment as certain an end to earthly felicity as it is a guarantee, at every epoch, of the eternal felicity of those who remain faithful to it. Cecilia was the daughter of an illustrious patrician, and was the only Christian of her family; she was permitted to attend the reunions held in the catacombs by the Christians, either through her parents’ condescension or out of indifference. She continually kept a copy of the holy Gospel hidden under her clothing over her heart. Her parents obliged her, however, despite her vow of virginity, which most probably they knew nothing of, to marry the young Valerian, whom she esteemed as noble and good, but who was still pagan.

 

During the evening of the wedding day, with the music of the nuptial feast still in the air, Cecilia, this intelligent, beautiful, and noble Roman maiden, renewed her vow. When the new spouses found themselves alone, she gently said to Valerian, “Dear friend, I have a secret to confide to you, but will you promise me to keep it?” He promised her solemnly that nothing would ever make him reveal it, and she continued, “Listen: an Angel of God watches over me, for I belong to God. If he sees that you would approach me under the influence of a sensual love, his anger will be inflamed, and you will succumb to the blows of his vengeance. But if you love me with a perfect love and conserve my virginity inviolable, he will love you as he loves me, and will lavish on you, too, his favors.” Valerian replied that if he might see this Angel, he would certainly correspond to her wishes, and Cecilia answered, “Valerian, if you consent to be purified in the fountain which wells up eternally; if you will believe in the unique, living and true God who reigns in heaven, you will be able to see the Angel.” And to his questions concerning this water and who might bestow it, she directed him to a certain holy old man named Urban.

 

That holy Pontiff rejoiced exceedingly when Valerian came to him the same night, to be instructed and baptized; his long prayer touched the young man greatly, and he too rejoiced with an entirely new joy in his new-found and veritable faith, so far above the religion of the pagans. He returned to his house, and on entering the room where Cecilia had continued to pray for the remainder of the night, he saw the Angel waiting, with two crowns of roses and lilies, which he would place on the head of each of them. Cecilia understood at once that if the lilies symbolized their virginity, the roses foretold for them both the grace of martyrdom. Valerian was told he might ask any grace at all of God, who was very pleased with him; and he requested that his brother Tiburtius might also receive the grace he had obtained; and the conversion of Tiburtius soon afterwards became a reality.

 

The two brothers, who were very wealthy, began to aid the families which had lost their support through the martyrdom of the fathers, spouses, and sons; they saw to the burial of the Christians, and continually braved the same fate as these victims. In effect they were soon captured, and their testimony was such as to convert a young officer chosen to conduct them to the site of their martyrdom. He succeeded in delaying it for a day, and took them to his house, where before the day was ended he had decided to receive Baptism with his entire family and household. The two brothers offered their heads to the sword; and soon afterward the officer they had won for Christ followed them to the eternal divine kingdom. It was Cecilia who saw to the burial of all three martyrs. She then distributed to the poor all the valuable objects of her house, in order that the property of Valerian might not be confiscated according to current Roman law, and knowing that her own time was close at hand.

 

She was soon arrested and arraigned, but having asked a delay after her interrogation, she assembled those who had heard her with admiration and instructed them in the faith; the Pontiff Urban baptized a large number of them. The death appointed for her was suffocation by steam. Saint Cecilia remained unharmed and calm, for a day and a night, in the calderium, or place of hot baths, in her own palace, despite a fire heated to seven times its ordinary violence. Finally, an executioner was sent to dispatch her by the sword; he struck with trembling hand the three blows which the law allowed, and left her still alive. For two days and nights Cecilia would lie with her head half severed, on the pavement of her bath, fully sensible and joyfully awaiting her crown. When her neophytes came to bury her after the departure of the executioner, they found her alive and smiling. They surrounded her there, not daring to touch her, for three days, having collected the precious blood from her wounds. On the third day, after the holy Pontiff Urban had come to bless her, the agony ended, and in the year 177 the virgin Saint gave back her glorious soul to Christ. It was the Supreme Pontiff who presided at her funeral; she was placed in a coffin in the position in which she had lain, as we often see her pictured, and interred in the vault prepared by Saint Callixtus for the Church’s pontiffs. The authentic acts of her life and martyrdom were prepared by Pope Anteros in the year 235. When the tomb was opened in 1599 her body was entirely intact still.

On behalf of a some model, at the request of the IMG model agency, AFD groups immediately cease and refrain from any unauthorized use and sale of the name, image and likeness of the model, which is an intrusion into inviolability, discredit, humiliation, embarrassment and possibly irreparable harm to the commercial interests of the model.

"If God’s light is extinguished, man’s divine dignity is also extinguished. Then the human creature would cease to be God’s image, to which we must pay honour in every person, in the weak, in the stranger, in the poor. Then we would no longer all be brothers and sisters, children of the one Father, who belong to one another on account of that one Father. The kind of arrogant violence that then arises, the way man then despises and tramples upon man: we saw this in all its cruelty in the last century. Only if God’s light shines over man and within him, only if every single person is desired, known and loved by God is his dignity inviolable, however wretched his situation may be."

 

– Pope Benedict XVI.

 

My sermon for Christmas day can be read here, and this glass relief sculpture of the shepherds at the Bethlehem manger is in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

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HKFP: Thousands gathered at Edinburgh Place on Wednesday evening calling on G20 countries to raise concerns about Hong Kong at the leaders’ summit on Friday, hours after staging a mass march to foreign consulates to lobby country representatives directly.

Crowds wearing all-black spilt out of the public square, many holding signs that read “Free Hong Kong” and “Democracy Now.”

Organisers, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), issued a statement urging a withdrawal of the government’s suspended extradition bill.

“If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out during the G20 summit, and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people,” it read.

The pro-democracy coalition have led millions on marches over recent weeks against the bill, as demands have evolved into calling for universal suffrage ahead of the July 1 pro-democracy rally.

 

CHRF manifesto :

 

"Withdraw the Extradition Bill! Free Hong Kong!

 

A time when democracy and freedom are universal values that are inviolable.

 

Hong Kong people had urged for democratisation for over 30 years. When Hong Kong was handed over to China since 1997, as written in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised that Hong Kong can enjoy One Country Two Systems and a high degree of autonomy. The Basic Law also promised universal suffrage to be implemented in the year of 2007 to 2008. But China broke these promises, and gradually intervened deeply in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

 

Hong Kong people have always insisted on having universal suffrage – to let Hong Kong people rule Hong Kong. Unfortunately, we seem to be further and further away from genuine democracy. In merely 22 years after the hand-over, the One Country Two Systems principle barely survives. During the [legislative] process of the “Extradition Bill”, the Hong Kong Liaison Office blatantly intervened in Hong Kong’s internal affairs and scrapped the promises of [a] high degree of autonomy.

 

This year, the government decided to put the Extradition Bill through Legislative Council, in order to make all people in Hong Kong, including local citizens and expats, to be potentially extradited to China, or to countries which have less protection on human rights and the rule of law. This will destroy existing protection on human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong and will crack down the last defence to freedom and safety.

 

In our current political system, Hong Kong does not have genuine democracy. To stop this evil law from passing, 1.03 million followed by 2 million Hongkongers courageously took to the streets in the past two weeks. Some were even cracked down by the police with excessive, disproportionate force and lethal weapons. But the government only gave a shallow apology, without making any tangible changes.

 

As world leaders meet at the G20 summit, Hong Kong citizens now sincerely urge all of you, including Xi Jinping, to answer our humble questions: Does Hong Kong deserve democracy? Should Hong Kong people enjoy democracy? Can [a] democratic system be implemented in Hong Kong now?

 

Dear friends from around the world. I believe you have seen through media and the Internet, that Hongkongers spared no efforts to safeguard our freedom. Please bear in mind: if the Extradition Bill passes, when you come to Hong Kong to travel, study or for business, you may face unfair trials. If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out, during the G20 summit and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people."

 

www.hongkongfp.com/2019/06/26/democracy-now-hundreds-gath...

  

民陣昨晚在中環愛丁堡廣場舉行集會，有數以千計市民出席，大會以英語、普通話、日語等，呼籲包括國家主席習近平等各國領袖關注香港情况，集會人群擠滿愛丁堡廣場，更擠出大會堂對出的龍和道，警員需封閉東西行車線。

 

news.mingpao.com/pns/港聞/article/20190627/s00002/15615...

via Instagram ift.tt/2jRUkYe

"Unity is inviolable forever" by Viktor Ivanov

More Historical Media and Info

II. A GAME OF CHESS

by T. S. Eliot, from The Wasteland

 

The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,

Glowed on the marble, where the glass

Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines

From which a golden Cupidon peeped out

(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)

Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra

Reflecting light upon the table as

The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,

From satin cases poured in rich profusion;

In vials of ivory and coloured glass

Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,

Unguent, powdered, or liquid - troubled, confused

And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air

That freshened from the window, these ascended

In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,

Flung their smoke into the laquearia,

Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling.

Huge sea-wood fed with copper

Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,

In which sad light a carved dolphin swam.

Above the antique mantel was displayed

As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene

The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king

So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale

Filled all the desert with inviolable voice

And still she cried, and still the world pursues,

"Jug Jug" to dirty ears.

And other withered stumps of time

Were told upon the walls; staring forms

Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.

Footsteps shuffled on the stair.

Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair

Spread out in fiery points

Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.

 

"My nerves are bad to-night. Yes, bad. Stay with me.

"Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak.

"What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?

"I never know what you are thinking. Think."

 

I think we are in rats' alley

Where the dead men lost their bones.

 

"What is that noise?"

The wind under the door.

"What is that noise now? What is the wind doing?"

Nothing again nothing.

"Do

"You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember

"Nothing?"

 

I remember

Those are pearls that were his eyes.

"Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?"

But

O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag -

It's so elegant

So intelligent

"What shall I do now? What shall I do?"

I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street

"With my hair down, so. What shall we do to-morrow?

"What shall we ever do?"

The hot water at ten.

And if it rains, a closed car at four.

And we shall play a game of chess,

Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.

 

When Lil's husband got demobbed, I said -

I didn't mince my words, I said to her myself,

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

Now Albert's coming back, make yourself a bit smart.

He'll want to know what you done with that money he gave you

To get yourself some teeth. He did, I was there.

You have them all out, Lil, and get a nice set,

He said, I swear, I can't bear to look at you.

And no more can't I, I said, and think of poor Albert,

He's been in the army four years, he wants a good time,

And if you don't give it him, there's others will, I said.

Oh is there, she said. Something o' that, I said.

Then I'll know who to thank, she said, and give me a straight look.

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

If you don't like it you can get on with it, I said.

Others can pick and choose if you can't.

But if Albert makes off, it won't be for lack of telling.

You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique.

(And her only thirty-one.)

I can't help it, she said, pulling a long face,

It's them pills I took, to bring it off, she said.

(She's had five already, and nearly died of young George.)

The chemist said it would be alright, but I've never been the same.

You are a proper fool, I said.

Well, if Albert won't leave you alone, there it is, I said,

What you get married for if you don't want children?

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

Well, that Sunday Albert was home, they had a hot gammon,

And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot -

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight.

Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight.

Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.

HKFP: Thousands gathered at Edinburgh Place on Wednesday evening calling on G20 countries to raise concerns about Hong Kong at the leaders’ summit on Friday, hours after staging a mass march to foreign consulates to lobby country representatives directly.

Crowds wearing all-black spilt out of the public square, many holding signs that read “Free Hong Kong” and “Democracy Now.”

Organisers, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), issued a statement urging a withdrawal of the government’s suspended extradition bill.

“If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out during the G20 summit, and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people,” it read.

The pro-democracy coalition have led millions on marches over recent weeks against the bill, as demands have evolved into calling for universal suffrage ahead of the July 1 pro-democracy rally.

 

CHRF manifesto :

 

"Withdraw the Extradition Bill! Free Hong Kong!

 

A time when democracy and freedom are universal values that are inviolable.

 

Hong Kong people had urged for democratisation for over 30 years. When Hong Kong was handed over to China since 1997, as written in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised that Hong Kong can enjoy One Country Two Systems and a high degree of autonomy. The Basic Law also promised universal suffrage to be implemented in the year of 2007 to 2008. But China broke these promises, and gradually intervened deeply in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

 

Hong Kong people have always insisted on having universal suffrage – to let Hong Kong people rule Hong Kong. Unfortunately, we seem to be further and further away from genuine democracy. In merely 22 years after the hand-over, the One Country Two Systems principle barely survives. During the [legislative] process of the “Extradition Bill”, the Hong Kong Liaison Office blatantly intervened in Hong Kong’s internal affairs and scrapped the promises of [a] high degree of autonomy.

 

This year, the government decided to put the Extradition Bill through Legislative Council, in order to make all people in Hong Kong, including local citizens and expats, to be potentially extradited to China, or to countries which have less protection on human rights and the rule of law. This will destroy existing protection on human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong and will crack down the last defence to freedom and safety.

 

In our current political system, Hong Kong does not have genuine democracy. To stop this evil law from passing, 1.03 million followed by 2 million Hongkongers courageously took to the streets in the past two weeks. Some were even cracked down by the police with excessive, disproportionate force and lethal weapons. But the government only gave a shallow apology, without making any tangible changes.

 

As world leaders meet at the G20 summit, Hong Kong citizens now sincerely urge all of you, including Xi Jinping, to answer our humble questions: Does Hong Kong deserve democracy? Should Hong Kong people enjoy democracy? Can [a] democratic system be implemented in Hong Kong now?

 

Dear friends from around the world. I believe you have seen through media and the Internet, that Hongkongers spared no efforts to safeguard our freedom. Please bear in mind: if the Extradition Bill passes, when you come to Hong Kong to travel, study or for business, you may face unfair trials. If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out, during the G20 summit and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people."

 

www.hongkongfp.com/2019/06/26/democracy-now-hundreds-gath...

  

民陣昨晚在中環愛丁堡廣場舉行集會，有數以千計市民出席，大會以英語、普通話、日語等，呼籲包括國家主席習近平等各國領袖關注香港情况，集會人群擠滿愛丁堡廣場，更擠出大會堂對出的龍和道，警員需封閉東西行車線。

 

news.mingpao.com/pns/港聞/article/20190627/s00002/15615...

HKFP: Thousands gathered at Edinburgh Place on Wednesday evening calling on G20 countries to raise concerns about Hong Kong at the leaders’ summit on Friday, hours after staging a mass march to foreign consulates to lobby country representatives directly.

Crowds wearing all-black spilt out of the public square, many holding signs that read “Free Hong Kong” and “Democracy Now.”

Organisers, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), issued a statement urging a withdrawal of the government’s suspended extradition bill.

“If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out during the G20 summit, and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people,” it read.

The pro-democracy coalition have led millions on marches over recent weeks against the bill, as demands have evolved into calling for universal suffrage ahead of the July 1 pro-democracy rally.

 

CHRF manifesto :

 

"Withdraw the Extradition Bill! Free Hong Kong!

 

A time when democracy and freedom are universal values that are inviolable.

 

Hong Kong people had urged for democratisation for over 30 years. When Hong Kong was handed over to China since 1997, as written in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised that Hong Kong can enjoy One Country Two Systems and a high degree of autonomy. The Basic Law also promised universal suffrage to be implemented in the year of 2007 to 2008. But China broke these promises, and gradually intervened deeply in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

 

Hong Kong people have always insisted on having universal suffrage – to let Hong Kong people rule Hong Kong. Unfortunately, we seem to be further and further away from genuine democracy. In merely 22 years after the hand-over, the One Country Two Systems principle barely survives. During the [legislative] process of the “Extradition Bill”, the Hong Kong Liaison Office blatantly intervened in Hong Kong’s internal affairs and scrapped the promises of [a] high degree of autonomy.

 

This year, the government decided to put the Extradition Bill through Legislative Council, in order to make all people in Hong Kong, including local citizens and expats, to be potentially extradited to China, or to countries which have less protection on human rights and the rule of law. This will destroy existing protection on human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong and will crack down the last defence to freedom and safety.

 

In our current political system, Hong Kong does not have genuine democracy. To stop this evil law from passing, 1.03 million followed by 2 million Hongkongers courageously took to the streets in the past two weeks. Some were even cracked down by the police with excessive, disproportionate force and lethal weapons. But the government only gave a shallow apology, without making any tangible changes.

 

As world leaders meet at the G20 summit, Hong Kong citizens now sincerely urge all of you, including Xi Jinping, to answer our humble questions: Does Hong Kong deserve democracy? Should Hong Kong people enjoy democracy? Can [a] democratic system be implemented in Hong Kong now?

 

Dear friends from around the world. I believe you have seen through media and the Internet, that Hongkongers spared no efforts to safeguard our freedom. Please bear in mind: if the Extradition Bill passes, when you come to Hong Kong to travel, study or for business, you may face unfair trials. If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out, during the G20 summit and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people."

 

www.hongkongfp.com/2019/06/26/democracy-now-hundreds-gath...

  

民陣昨晚在中環愛丁堡廣場舉行集會，有數以千計市民出席，大會以英語、普通話、日語等，呼籲包括國家主席習近平等各國領袖關注香港情况，集會人群擠滿愛丁堡廣場，更擠出大會堂對出的龍和道，警員需封閉東西行車線。

 

news.mingpao.com/pns/港聞/article/20190627/s00002/15615...

HKFP: Thousands gathered at Edinburgh Place on Wednesday evening calling on G20 countries to raise concerns about Hong Kong at the leaders’ summit on Friday, hours after staging a mass march to foreign consulates to lobby country representatives directly.

Crowds wearing all-black spilt out of the public square, many holding signs that read “Free Hong Kong” and “Democracy Now.”

Organisers, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), issued a statement urging a withdrawal of the government’s suspended extradition bill.

“If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out during the G20 summit, and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people,” it read.

The pro-democracy coalition have led millions on marches over recent weeks against the bill, as demands have evolved into calling for universal suffrage ahead of the July 1 pro-democracy rally.

 

CHRF manifesto :

 

"Withdraw the Extradition Bill! Free Hong Kong!

 

A time when democracy and freedom are universal values that are inviolable.

 

Hong Kong people had urged for democratisation for over 30 years. When Hong Kong was handed over to China since 1997, as written in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised that Hong Kong can enjoy One Country Two Systems and a high degree of autonomy. The Basic Law also promised universal suffrage to be implemented in the year of 2007 to 2008. But China broke these promises, and gradually intervened deeply in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

 

Hong Kong people have always insisted on having universal suffrage – to let Hong Kong people rule Hong Kong. Unfortunately, we seem to be further and further away from genuine democracy. In merely 22 years after the hand-over, the One Country Two Systems principle barely survives. During the [legislative] process of the “Extradition Bill”, the Hong Kong Liaison Office blatantly intervened in Hong Kong’s internal affairs and scrapped the promises of [a] high degree of autonomy.

 

This year, the government decided to put the Extradition Bill through Legislative Council, in order to make all people in Hong Kong, including local citizens and expats, to be potentially extradited to China, or to countries which have less protection on human rights and the rule of law. This will destroy existing protection on human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong and will crack down the last defence to freedom and safety.

 

In our current political system, Hong Kong does not have genuine democracy. To stop this evil law from passing, 1.03 million followed by 2 million Hongkongers courageously took to the streets in the past two weeks. Some were even cracked down by the police with excessive, disproportionate force and lethal weapons. But the government only gave a shallow apology, without making any tangible changes.

 

As world leaders meet at the G20 summit, Hong Kong citizens now sincerely urge all of you, including Xi Jinping, to answer our humble questions: Does Hong Kong deserve democracy? Should Hong Kong people enjoy democracy? Can [a] democratic system be implemented in Hong Kong now?

 

Dear friends from around the world. I believe you have seen through media and the Internet, that Hongkongers spared no efforts to safeguard our freedom. Please bear in mind: if the Extradition Bill passes, when you come to Hong Kong to travel, study or for business, you may face unfair trials. If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out, during the G20 summit and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people."

 

www.hongkongfp.com/2019/06/26/democracy-now-hundreds-gath...

  

民陣昨晚在中環愛丁堡廣場舉行集會，有數以千計市民出席，大會以英語、普通話、日語等，呼籲包括國家主席習近平等各國領袖關注香港情况，集會人群擠滿愛丁堡廣場，更擠出大會堂對出的龍和道，警員需封閉東西行車線。

 

news.mingpao.com/pns/港聞/article/20190627/s00002/15615...

HKFP: Thousands gathered at Edinburgh Place on Wednesday evening calling on G20 countries to raise concerns about Hong Kong at the leaders’ summit on Friday, hours after staging a mass march to foreign consulates to lobby country representatives directly.

Crowds wearing all-black spilt out of the public square, many holding signs that read “Free Hong Kong” and “Democracy Now.”

Organisers, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), issued a statement urging a withdrawal of the government’s suspended extradition bill.

“If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out during the G20 summit, and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people,” it read.

The pro-democracy coalition have led millions on marches over recent weeks against the bill, as demands have evolved into calling for universal suffrage ahead of the July 1 pro-democracy rally.

 

CHRF manifesto :

 

"Withdraw the Extradition Bill! Free Hong Kong!

 

A time when democracy and freedom are universal values that are inviolable.

 

Hong Kong people had urged for democratisation for over 30 years. When Hong Kong was handed over to China since 1997, as written in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised that Hong Kong can enjoy One Country Two Systems and a high degree of autonomy. The Basic Law also promised universal suffrage to be implemented in the year of 2007 to 2008. But China broke these promises, and gradually intervened deeply in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

 

Hong Kong people have always insisted on having universal suffrage – to let Hong Kong people rule Hong Kong. Unfortunately, we seem to be further and further away from genuine democracy. In merely 22 years after the hand-over, the One Country Two Systems principle barely survives. During the [legislative] process of the “Extradition Bill”, the Hong Kong Liaison Office blatantly intervened in Hong Kong’s internal affairs and scrapped the promises of [a] high degree of autonomy.

 

This year, the government decided to put the Extradition Bill through Legislative Council, in order to make all people in Hong Kong, including local citizens and expats, to be potentially extradited to China, or to countries which have less protection on human rights and the rule of law. This will destroy existing protection on human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong and will crack down the last defence to freedom and safety.

 

In our current political system, Hong Kong does not have genuine democracy. To stop this evil law from passing, 1.03 million followed by 2 million Hongkongers courageously took to the streets in the past two weeks. Some were even cracked down by the police with excessive, disproportionate force and lethal weapons. But the government only gave a shallow apology, without making any tangible changes.

 

As world leaders meet at the G20 summit, Hong Kong citizens now sincerely urge all of you, including Xi Jinping, to answer our humble questions: Does Hong Kong deserve democracy? Should Hong Kong people enjoy democracy? Can [a] democratic system be implemented in Hong Kong now?

 

Dear friends from around the world. I believe you have seen through media and the Internet, that Hongkongers spared no efforts to safeguard our freedom. Please bear in mind: if the Extradition Bill passes, when you come to Hong Kong to travel, study or for business, you may face unfair trials. If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out, during the G20 summit and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people."

 

www.hongkongfp.com/2019/06/26/democracy-now-hundreds-gath...

  

民陣昨晚在中環愛丁堡廣場舉行集會，有數以千計市民出席，大會以英語、普通話、日語等，呼籲包括國家主席習近平等各國領袖關注香港情况，集會人群擠滿愛丁堡廣場，更擠出大會堂對出的龍和道，警員需封閉東西行車線。

 

news.mingpao.com/pns/港聞/article/20190627/s00002/15615...

Hospitium is the ancient Greco-Roman concept of hospitality as a divine right of the guest and a divine duty of the host. Similar or broadly equivalent customs were and are also known in other cultures, though not always by that name. Among the Greeks and Romans, hospitium was of a twofold character: private and public.

 

In Homeric times, all strangers, without exception, were regarded as being under the protection of Zeus Xenios, the god of strangers and suppliants, and had the right to hospitality. (It is doubtful whether, as is commonly assumed,[citation needed] they were considered as ipso facto enemies; they were rather guests.) Immediately on his arrival, the stranger was clothed and entertained, and no inquiry was made as to his name or antecedents until the duties of hospitality had been fulfilled. When the guest parted from his host he was often presented with gifts (ξένια), and sometimes a die (ἀστράγαλος) was broken between them. Each then took a part, a family connection was established, and the broken die served as a symbol of recognition; thus the members of each family found in the other hosts and protectors in case of need.

 

Violation by the host of the duties of hospitality was likely to provoke the wrath of the gods; but it does not appear that anything beyond this religious sanction existed to guard the rights of a traveler. Similar customs seem to have existed among the Italian peoples. Amongst the Romans, private hospitality, which had existed from the earliest times, was more accurately and legally defined than amongst the Greeks, the tie between host and guest being almost as strong as that between patron and client. It was of the nature of a contract, entered into by mutual promise, the clasping of hands, and exchange of an agreement in writing (tabula hospitalis) or of a token (tessera or symbolum), and was rendered hereditary by the division of the tessera. The advantages thus obtained by the guest were, the right of hospitality when traveling and, above all, the protection of his host (representing him as his patron) in a court of law. The contract was sacred and inviolable, undertaken in the name of Jupiter Hospitalis, and could only be dissolved by a formal act.

 

This private connection developed into a custom according to which a state appointed one of the citizens of a foreign state as its representative Proxenos (πρόξενος) to protect any of its citizens travelling or resident in his country. Sometimes an individual came forward voluntarily to perform these duties on behalf of another state etheloproxenos (ἐθελοπρόξενος). The proxenus is generally compared to the modern consul or minister resident. His duties were to afford hospitality to strangers from the state whose proxenus he was, to introduce its ambassadors, to procure them admission to the assembly and seats in the theatre, and in general to look after the commercial and political interests of the state by which he had been appointed to his office.

 

Many cases occur where such an office was hereditary; thus the family of Callias at Athens were proxeni of the Spartans. We find the office mentioned in a Corcyraean inscription dating probably from the 7th century BC, and it continued to grow more important and frequent throughout Greek history. There is no proof that any direct emolument was ever attached to the office, while the expense and trouble entailed by it must often have been very great. Probably the honors which it brought with it were sufficient recompense. These consisted partly in the general respect and esteem paid to a proxenus, and partly in many more substantial honors conferred by special decree of the state whose representative he was, such as freedom from taxation and public burdens, the right of acquiring property in Attica, admission to the senate and popular assemblies, and perhaps even full citizenship.

 

Public hospitium seems also to have existed among the Italian races; but the circumstances of their history prevented it from becoming so important as in Greece. Cases, however, occur of the establishment of public hospitality between two cities (Rome and Caere, Livy v. 50), and of towns entering into a position of clientship to some distinguished Roman, who then became patronus of such a town. Foreigners were frequently granted the right of public hospitality by the senate down to the end of the republic. The public hospes had a right to entertainment at the public expense, admission to sacrifices and games, the right of buying and selling on his own account, and of bringing an action at law without the intervention of a Roman patron.

 

A full bibliography of the subject will be found in the article in Daremberg and Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquités, to which may be added Rudolf von Jhering. Die Gastfreundschaft im Altertum (1887); see also Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (3rd ed., 1890).

 

In the Middle Ages, the term was extended, across Europe, to refer to the building or complex of buildings attached to a monastery, where pilgrims and other lesser guests could find hospitality or hospitium, including dormitory-based accommodation.

 

The York Museum Gardens are botanic gardens in the centre of York, England, beside the River Ouse. They cover an area of 10 acres (4.0 ha) of the former grounds of St Mary's Abbey, and were created in the 1830s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society along with the Yorkshire Museum which they contain.

 

The gardens are held in trust by the City of York Council and are managed by the York Museums Trust. They were designed in a gardenesque style by landscape architect Sir John Murray Naysmith, and contain a variety of species of plants, trees and birds. Admission is free. A variety of events take place in the gardens, such as open-air theatre performances and festival activities.

 

There are several historic buildings in the gardens. They contain the remains of the west corner of the Roman fort of Eboracum, including the Multangular Tower and parts of the Roman walls. In the same area there is also the Anglian Tower, which was probably built into the remains of a late Roman period fortress. During the Middle Ages, the tower was expanded and the Roman walls were incorporated into York's city walls. Most of the other buildings dating from the Middle Ages are associated with St Mary's Abbey, including the ruins of the abbey church, the Hospitium, the lodge and part of the surviving precinct wall. The remains of St. Leonard's Hospital chapel and undercroft are on the east side of the gardens. The Yorkshire Philosophical Society constructed several buildings in the gardens during the 19th and early 20th century, including the Yorkshire Museum and its octagonal observatory. The museum houses four permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology and astronomy.

 

The gardens, which were given to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society by the British Royal Family in 1828, occupy part of the former grounds of St. Mary's Abbey. The society acquired the land to build a museum to house its collections; the Yorkshire Museum was completed in 1830. The land was granted to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society under the condition that botanical gardens would be established on the site. These were created during the 1830s in a gardenesque style design by landscape architect Sir John Murray Naysmith. They originally contained a conservatory, a pond and a menagerie, which was destroyed when a bear escaped from it and had brief control of the area. The then Princess Victoria visited the gardens in 1835, the year that they were first open to the public. In 1854 the gardens were described as "one of the principal attractions of York". At this time entrance was free to members and for non-members entrance cost one shilling except on Saturday when it cost six pence.

 

In 1960, the gardens and the Yorkshire Museum were given in trust to the City of York Council and they became a public park. Since 2002, they have been managed by the York Museums Trust, along with York Castle Museum and York Art Gallery. The gardens are maintained by the Askham Bryan College of Agriculture.

 

York Museum Gardens cover an area of 10 acres (4.0 ha) on the north bank of the River Ouse, just outside the city walls in the centre of York. There are four entrances to the gardens: on Marygate (off Bootham) by St Olave's Church, on Museum Street by Lendal Bridge, via a path at the side of King's Manor, and from the riverside walk next to the River Ouse. The site slopes gently down towards the river and is made up of historical buildings and undulating lawns interspersed with plants and trees. The gardens are open to the public during daylight hours, so the opening and closing times vary throughout the year. Normally admission is free but there are charges for some events. In 2010 it was estimated that the gardens attract 1.3 million visitors a year. Drinking alcohol, cycling and ball games are not allowed in the gardens.

 

There are approximately 4,500 plants and trees in the collection, some of the varieties native to England and some from other parts of the world. Planting consists of large beds containing predominantly shrubs and trees, and lawns interspersed with individual trees. Species of tree include a monkey puzzle tree along with oak and chestnut trees; six of the trees in the gardens are classed as county champion trees: Fraxinus angustifolia 'Lentiscifolia', Pyrus elaeagrifolia, Carpinus betulus 'Incisa', Alnus glutinosa 'Imperialis', Tilia cordata, Fagus sylvatica 'Miltonensis' There is a rockery next to the Marygate entrance, by the ruins of the abbey church, and in front of the entrance to the Yorkshire Museum there is a terrace bordered with beds of white roses, the symbol of Yorkshire.

 

There is an 'Edible Wood' located behind York Art Gallery, in the north-west corner of the gardens. The wood was planted in July 2015 and features plants that have an edible component and are both attractive and useful.

 

In the early 19th century, the gardens included a menagerie. Henry Baines' daughter, Fanny, recalled 70 years later that in this period the menageries contained a bear, a golden eagle, and several monkeys, amongst other animals. In 1831, a bear from the menagerie got loose in the gardens and reportedly chased the Keeper of the Yorkshire Museum, John Phillips, and Reverend Harcourt into an outbuilding. The bear was subsequently sent to London Zoo.

 

The gardens are home to a population of semi-tame grey squirrels and many species of birds. A 1970 report covering the period 1965–1969 listed the vertebrates resident in the gardens at that time: Common wood pigeon, Tawny owl, Blue tit, Eurasian Wren, Dunnock, European Robin, European greenfinch, Mistle thrush, Song thrush, Blackbird, and House sparrow, Common shrew, Wood mouse, and Brown rat. Until 2006 a family of peacocks had been in residence for at least 70 years, though numbers had fluctuated since at least 2001 as birds occasionally escaped or were involved in traffic accidents on nearby Museum Street.

 

In 2012 the gardens was one of the release sites for a new population of the endangered Tansy beetle and, as of 2015, is one of the best places to see them in the wild. In 2018 a leaf-mining fly, Phytomyza scotina, was discovered mining the leaves of sage plants in the gardens – it was subsequently described as a new species for Britain.

 

There is a geological oddity close to the main gates, consisting of a large boulder of pink granite that was discovered during construction of the city's railway station. Since this type of stone is not local it was determined as having been transported there from Shap in Cumbria by glacial action during the last ice age. In 2015, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of the geological map of Britain by William Smith, a mosaic map was commissioned for the Gardens from artist Janette Ireland which shows the geological strata of Yorkshire in pebbles of the corresponding stone

 

As well as being a popular recreational space for both residents and visitors, the gardens are the venue for special events such as open-air theatre and music performances. In 1970, bands including Roxy Music, Hawkwind and Pink Fairies staged concerts here. During the 20th-century revival of the York Mystery Plays, performances were held on a fixed stage in the gardens among the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey. In the 1950s, York actress Dame Judi Dench acted in the plays performed in the gardens, and played the Virgin Mary in 1957. The Mystery Plays returned to the gardens between 2–27 August 2012 and involved over one thousand local volunteers. In 2006, between 800 and 1,000 people celebrated the Chinese New Year with displays that included lion dancers, In 2007 The Lord Chamberlain's Men presented a production of Romeo & Juliet. Also in 2007, during the Jorvik Viking festival, there were demonstrations of Viking craft skills and battle training. The Yorkshire Museum and the Museum Gardens first hosted the Eboracum Roman Festival in 2016. It has since become an annual event. In 2019 the gardens hosted the York Proms, an open-air classical music concert.

 

The gardens are the location of York's Saluting Station, one of only 12 in the United Kingdom, with 21-gun salutes being fired at noon to celebrate occasions related to the British Royal Family throughout the year. At these times a military band marches to the gardens before the salute is fired. On 9 September 2022 a 96-gun salute was held in commemoration of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, one for each year of her life. This was followed, on 10 September by a 21-gun salute to mark the Proclamation of accession of Charles III.

 

There is a designated 'Artist's Garden' behind the Art Gallery, within the Museum Gardens. Sculptural works are displayed in this open air space. Exhibitions in this space have included:

Foundation Myths by Charles Holland (2016–2017) was the first exhibition in the Artist's Garden.

 

Leisureland Golf by Doug Fishbourne (June–September 2017) was a fully playable crazy-golf course and sculptural installation.

 

The Pollinarium (27 September – 6 October 2018) was a timber structure, covered with flowering plants and shown as part of the York Mediale.

 

Michael Lyons: Ancient and Modern (25 May 2019 – May 2020) is a series of sculptures by Michael Lyons. It is the first time such a large exhibition of outdoor sculpture has been displayed in York.

 

Ghosts in the Garden (23 September - 7 November 2022) is a series of wire-mesh sculptures of historical figures on display throughout the Artist's garden and Museum Gardens as well as at the Treasurer's House, York, Merchant Adventurers' Hall, Barley Hall, and St Anthony’s Garden.

 

In the northeast of Museum Gardens there are remains of the west corner of the fortifications that surrounded the Roman fort of Eboracum. The original defences, consisting of turf ramparts on a green wood foundation, were built by the Ninth Legion between 71 and 74 AD. Later those were replaced by a clay mound with a turf front on a new oak foundation, and eventually wooden battlements were added, which were then replaced by limestone walls and towers. These stone defences are some of the few Roman remains that are visible above ground in York.

 

The Multangular Tower is the western corner tower of the Roman fortress, and consists of both Roman and medieval architecture. The tower has 10 sides, from which it derives its modern name "multangular", and is 19 feet (5.8 m) high. It was built in its late Roman form during the early 4th century, when it was constructed with three floors to house a catapult. Five Roman stone coffins are in the Multangular Tower, which were brought from graveyards in other areas of York.

 

A 76-foot (23 m) section of 4th-century wall connects the Multangular Tower to a small interval tower. The side of the wall and towers facing into Museum Gardens is carefully faced in stone, as during the Roman period it was on display. The other side is rougher because it was originally covered by an earth bank. The wall and towers were still in use after the end of the Roman period in Britain, and were subsequently incorporated into the medieval city walls. As late as the English Civil War they were being used to defend the city, and there is a hole in the wall along from the Multangular Tower that was made by a cannonball during this period. The Roman parts of the wall and towers are constructed of regular rectangular limestone blocks with a band of red tile running through them. The later medieval additions can be identified by the use of much larger blocks of limestone that cut through the red tiles in places and by the cross shaped arrow slits on the Multangular Tower.

 

To the north of the Multangular Tower there is a stretch of the medieval city wall with the remains of the original Roman wall running parallel to it on the city side. Built into this part of the wall is the stone Anglian Tower, which was once thought to have been built during the reign of Edwin of Northumbria, but now is generally thought to be of the very late Roman period.[40] Behind the Anglian Tower are a series of banks showing the level of the defences during the Roman, early Middle Ages, Norman, and late medieval periods.

 

The gardens contain several buildings dating back to the medieval period, most of them relating to St Mary's Abbey. The Benedictine Abbey's origins date back to 1086 when Alan Count of Brittany granted St Olave's Church and the adjoining land to the monk Stephen of Whitby, who became the first abbot of St. Mary's. When St Olave's Church became too small, a larger church in a Romanesque style was built nearby, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1089 by William II. This was replaced between 1270 and 1279 by a church in a Gothic style. The abbey became the wealthiest monastery in the North of England, worth over £2,085 a year before it was dissolved by Henry VIII on 25 November 1539. Over the next 200 years the abbey fell into disrepair and the abbey church was largely dismantled for its stone.

 

Stones from the abbey church can be seen lining paths throughout the gardens, but the major ruins of the church are on the western side. The church was aligned on a northeast axis because of the shape and size of the site, instead of pointing to the east, the normal alignment for churches in England. Part of the north and west walls that formed the nave and crossing, designed in Gothic style by architect Simon of Pabenham in the 13th century, remain standing. The ruins include dummy lancet windows, tracery windows and "tracery remains to show that the patterns alternated between a single large circle over two lights and three small circles over three lights". The column capitals are decorated with foliage in a stiff-leaf style as well as in a naturalistic style, although this stonework is weatherworn and so this decoration is hard to distinguish. Sections of the foundations of the church and its Norman predecessor are exposed, and a plan of their layouts can be seen in the grass. Finds excavated from the site, including life-sized statues of Christian saints, can be seen in the Yorkshire Museum.

 

St Mary's Lodge was built around 1470 as an addition to the late 12th-century buildings that formed the gatehouse at the main entrance to the abbey, – now the Marygate entrance to the gardens. Some remains of the 12th-century gatehouse can still be seen, in particular the archway attached to the side of the lodge. The lodge is built of stone, and does not contain timber framing like the nearby Hospitium. The lodge, along with the attached railings, gates and gate piers are all Grade I listed buildings, which means that they are of outstanding interest. Originally, the lodge may have been used as a guesthouse for the abbey, and was the point where the poor could claim alms from the abbey. After the abbey's dissolution, the lodge became a courthouse until 1722, when part of the building became the Brown Cow pub. In 1840 John Philips, the Yorkshire Museum's curator, restored and converted it to use as his home while retaining its external appearance. The lodge subsequently became used as offices, and during the early 21st century became the headquarters of the York Museums Trust.

 

Along with the lodge, some of the abbey's precinct walls are still standing. A section of the remaining walls runs along the north-west part of the gardens and extends further along Marygate to Bootham. The walls were constructed in 1266 and increased in height and crenellated in 1318 under a royal licence from Edward III. Originally there was a defensive ditch along the outside of the walls. The walls include several towers, not all of them dating from the medieval period; the semicircular tower near the gatehouse is a 19th-century reconstruction. The walls and towers were used for the abbey's defence, e.g. in disputes with the City of York over land ownership and taxes, and played a role in the defence of the city during the siege of York.

 

The Hospitium is located between the ruins of St Mary's Abbey Church and the River Ouse, and is thought to have originally been a guest house for visitors to the abbey of low social rank, or possibly a barn. It was originally part of a group of buildings in the abbey grounds that included a brew-house, stables, mill and, near the main gate, a boarding school with 50 pupils. The oldest parts of the ground floor were built around 1300, but the upper storey has been extensively restored in modern times. The ruined gateway at the side dates back to the 15th century, and was probably the entrance to a passage that ran towards the water-gate by the river.

 

The remains of St. Leonard's Hospital chapel and undercroft are on the east side of the gardens, by the Museum Street entrance. The hospital was the largest in England during the Middle Ages, and was run by a community of men and women of the Augustinian order. During the 14th century, the hospital could have contained as many as 240 patients, 18 clergy and 30 choristers. St. Leonard's Hospital was closed during the dissolution of the monasteries, when it was surrendered to Henry VIII by Thomas Magnus. The undercroft and chapel were part of the infirmary built between 1225 and 1250. The interior of the undercroft, accessible from the gardens, has a rib vaulted ceiling and houses a collection of Roman and medieval stonework. In 1999, the hospital and surrounding area in Museum Gardens was one of three sites in York to feature in a live edition of the British Channel 4 television show Time Team.

 

Between the Museum Street entrance to the gardens and the River Ouse is a short stretch of York's city walls, which ends at the medieval Lendal Tower.

 

William Hincks was instrumental in establishing the gardens. Henry John Wilkinson reports as follows: "Mr. Hincks was lecturer on botany at the York School of Medicine, and the services he rendered to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society for over ten years deserve our grateful thanks. He devoted his leisure time to convert the " waste land " into a botanical and ornamental* garden, and in this work he was ably assisted by the late sub-curator, Henry Baines. "

 

The Yorkshire Philosophical Society constructed several buildings in the gardens during the 19th and early 20th centuries, including the Yorkshire Museum, one of the first purpose-built museums in Britain. The Yorkshire Museum was designed by architect William Wilkins in a Greek Revival style and was officially opened in February 1830. On 26 September 1831 the inaugural meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science was held at the Yorkshire Museum. Three of the museum's permanent collections are housed in the Yorkshire Museum building all of which have English designated collection status, which means they are "pre-eminent collections of national and international importance". The biology collection contains 200,000 specimens, including both fauna and flora, with most of the collection made up of insects. There are two stuffed specimens of the extinct great auk, an almost complete skeleton of an extinct moa and a large collection of specimens from the Yorkshire region including the remains of elephants, cave bears and hyena from Kirkdale Cave dated to the Quaternary period, around 125,000 years ago. The geological collection contains over 112,500 specimens of rocks, minerals and fossils. Fossils make up most of the collection numbering over 100,000 samples, and include important specimens from the Carboniferous, Mesozoic and Tertiary periods. The archaeology collection has close to a million objects that date from around 500,000 BC to the 20th century, including the Coppergate Helmet discovered in York in 1982, and the Ormside Bowl, an intricate example of an Anglian silversmith.

 

Most of the museum's astronomy collection is housed in the octagonal observatory in the centre of the gardens, built during 1832 and 1833. The design of its rotating roof is credited to John Smeaton designer of the Eddystone Lighthouse. A 4.5-inch (11 cm) telescope built in 1850 by the instrument maker Thomas Cooke of York was installed during the observatory's 1981 restoration. It is Yorkshire's oldest working observatory and as of August 2007 was opened to the public by a team of volunteers. The building is currently opened every Thursday and Saturday 11.30 until 2.30. The clock in the observatory was made by Barraud of London in 1811, and during the 19th century it was used to set the time for other clocks in York.

 

At the eastern, Museum Street, entrance to the gardens is Museum Gardens' Lodge built in 1874 to a design by George Fowler Jones in a Victorian Gothic revival style. The lodge now houses the Yorkshire Philosophical Society's offices and reading room.

 

The curator's house ('Manor cottage'), built in 1844 and originally called the keeper's house, is located by King's Manor. It was designed by J B Atkinson and was built using reclaimed limestone from St. Mary's Abbey.

 

The Tempest Anderson Hall is a 300-seat auditorium-style lecture theatre built in 1912 as an annexe to the Yorkshire Museum. Dr Tempest Anderson, a York surgeon and vulcanologist, presented the hall to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society to replace its existing lecture theatre. Designed by E. Ridsdale Tate, it is an early example of the use of reinforced concrete and is a Grade I listed building. In the late 20th century it housed a cinema, but it is now used as a conference venue and lecture theatre.

 

York's first swimming bath was located in the south-west corner of the Museum Gardens. It was an open-air pool designed by the architects Samuel and Richard Hey Sharp, one of the designers of the Yorkshire Museum, and measured 110 feet (34 m) by 80 feet (24 m) and had a capacity of approximately 290,000 gallons. It opened to the public on 8 August 1837, and employed a Keeper of the baths throughout its lifespan.

 

York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss. It is the county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a minster, castle, and city walls. It is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the wider City of York district. Through the title of Duke of York, it is the namesake of New York City.

 

The city was founded under the name of Eboracum in 71 AD. It then became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and later of the kingdoms of Deira, Northumbria, and Scandinavian York. In the Middle Ages, it became the northern England ecclesiastical province's centre, and grew as a wool-trading centre. In the 19th century, it became a major railway network hub and confectionery manufacturing centre. In the Second World War, part of the Baedeker Blitz bombed the city. Although less targeted during the war than other, more industrialised northern cities, several historic buildings were gutted and restoration took place up until the 1960s.

 

The city is one of 15 in England to have a lord mayor, and one of three to have "The Right Honourable" title affixed, the others being London's and Bristol's. Historic governance of the city was as a county corporate, not included in the county's riding system. The city has since been covered by a municipal borough, county borough, and since 1996 a non-metropolitan district (the City of York), which also includes surrounding villages and rural areas, and the town of Haxby. The current district's local council is responsible for providing all local services and facilities throughout this area. York's built-up area had a population of 141,685 at the 2021 UK census, and the wider city (the local government district) had a population of 202,800, a 2.4% increase compared to the 2011 census.

 

The history of York, England, as a city dates to the beginning of the first millennium AD but archaeological evidence for the presence of people in the region of York dates back much further to between 8000 and 7000 BC. As York was a town in Roman times, its Celtic name is recorded in Roman sources (as Eboracum and Eburacum); after 400, Angles took over the area and adapted the name by folk etymology to Old English Eoforwīc or Eoforīc, which means "wild-boar town" or "rich in wild-boar". The Vikings, who took over the area later, in turn adapted the name by folk etymology to Norse Jórvík meaning "wild-boar bay", 'jór' being a contraction of the Old Norse word for wild boar, 'jǫfurr'. The modern Welsh name is Efrog.

 

After the Anglian settlement of the North of England, Anglian York was first capital of Deira and later Northumbria, and by the early 7th century, York was an important royal centre for the Northumbrian kings. Following the Norman Conquest of 1066 York was substantially damaged, but in time became an important urban centre as the administrative centre of the county of Yorkshire. York prospered during much of the later medieval era; the later years of the 14th and the earlier years of the 15th centuries were characterised by particular prosperity. During the English Civil War, the city was regarded as a Royalist stronghold and was besieged and eventually captured by Parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax in 1644. After the war, York retained its pre-eminence in the North, and, by 1660, was the third-largest city in England after London and Norwich.

 

Modern York has 34 Conservation Areas, 2,084 Listed buildings and 22 Scheduled Ancient Monuments in its care. Every year, thousands of tourists come to see the surviving medieval buildings, interspersed with Roman and Viking remains and Georgian architecture.

 

Archaeological evidence suggests that people were settled in the region of York between 8000 and 7000 BC, although it is not known if these were permanent or temporary settlements. Polished stone axes indicate the presence of people during the Neolithic period in the area where the city of York is now, especially on the south-west bank of the River Ouse, just outside the city centre near where Scarborough Bridge is now. Evidence for people continues into the Bronze Age with a hoard of flint tools and weapons found by Holgate Beck between the railway and the River Ouse, burials and bronzes found on both sides of the River Ouse and a beaker vessel found in Bootham. Iron Age burials have been found near the area on the south-west bank of the Ouse where the concentration of Neolithic axes was found. Few other finds from this period have been found in York itself, but evidence of a late Iron Age farmstead has been uncovered at Lingcroft Farm 3 miles (4.8 km) away at Naburn.

 

The Romans called the tribes in the region around York the Brigantes and the Parisii. York may have been on the border between these two tribes. During the Roman conquest of Britain the Brigantes became a Roman client state, but, when their leadership changed becoming more hostile to Rome, Roman General Quintus Petillius Cerialis led the Ninth Legion north of the Humber.

 

York was founded in 71 AD when Cerialis and the Ninth Legion constructed a military fortress (castra) on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss. The fortress was later rebuilt in stone, covered an area of 50 acres, and was inhabited by 6,000 soldiers. The earliest known mention of Eburacum by name is from a wooden stylus tablet from the Roman fortress of Vindolanda along Hadrian's Wall, dated to c. 95–104 AD, where it is called Eburaci. Much of the Roman fortress lies under the foundations of York Minster, and excavations in the Minster's undercroft have revealed some of the original walls.

 

At some time between 109 AD and 122 AD the garrison of the Ninth Legion was replaced by the Sixth Legion. There is no documented trace of the Ninth Legion after 117 AD, and various theories have been proposed as to what happened to it. The Sixth Legion remained in York until the end of Roman occupation about 400 AD. The Emperors Hadrian, Septimius Severus and Constantius I all held court in York during their various campaigns. During his stay, the Emperor Severus proclaimed York capital of the province of Britannia Inferior, and it is likely that it was he who granted York the privileges of a colonia or city. Constantius I died during his stay in York, and his son Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor by the troops based in the fortress.

 

Economically the military presence was important with workshops growing up to supply the needs of the 5,000 troops garrisoned there and in its early stages York operated a command economy. Production included military pottery until the mid-third century; military tile kilns have been found in the Aldwark-Peasholme Green area, glassworking at Coppergate, metalworks and leatherworks producing military equipment in Tanner Row. New trading opportunities led local people to create a permanent civilian settlement on the south-west bank of the River Ouse opposite the fortress. By 237 it had been made a colonia one of only four in Britain and the others were founded for retired soldiers. York was self-governing, with a council made up of rich locals, including merchants, and veteran soldiers.

 

Evidence of Roman religious beliefs in York have been found including altars to Mars, Hercules, Jupiter and Fortune, while phallic amulets are the most commonly found type of good luck charm. In terms of number of reference the most popular deities were the spiritual representation (genius) of York and the Mother Goddess; there is also evidence of local or regional deities. There was also a Christian community in York although it is not known when it was first formed and there is virtually no archaeological record of it. The first evidence of this community is a document noting the attendance of Bishop Eborius of Eboracum at the Council of Arles (314), and bishops also attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the Council of Serdica, and the Council of Ariminum.

 

By 400 AD York's fortunes had changed for the worse. The town was undergoing periodic winter floods from the rivers Ouse and Foss, its wharf-side facilities were buried under several feet of silt and the primary Roman bridge connecting the town with the fortress may have become derelict. By this time Eboracum was probably no longer a population centre, though it likely remained a centre of authority. While the colonia remained above flood levels, it was largely abandoned as well, retaining only a small ribbon of population for a time.

 

There is little written evidence about York in the centuries following the Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410, a pattern repeated throughout Sub-Roman Britain. There is archaeological evidence for continued settlement at York near the Ouse in the 5th century, and private Roman houses, especially suburban villas, remained occupied after the Roman withdrawal.

 

Some scholars have suggested that York remained a significant regional centre for the Britons, based largely on literary evidence. Several manuscripts of the Historia Brittonum, written c. 830, contain a list of 28 or 33 "civitates", originally used to describe British tribal centres under Roman rule but here translated as Old Welsh cair (caer) and probably indicating "fortified cities". Among these settlements is Cair Ebrauc. Later, the text states that Ida was the first Anglian king of Bernicia and ruler over Cair Ebrauc. These are generally taken as references to a successor to old Roman Eburacum. This mention has led to speculation about Ebrauc in post-Roman times.

 

Christopher Allen Snyder makes note of the evidence for Eboracum continuing to function, perhaps as a military outpost or the seat of a minor kingdom based on some old territory of the Brigantes. Snyder cites historian and archaeologist Nick Higham in saying that the settlement had declined so much by the end of the Roman period that it was unlikely to have been a significant post-Roman regional centre.

 

Scholar Peter Field suggests that the City of Legions (urbs legionum) mentioned by Gildas in his 6th-century De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is a reference to York, rather than Caerleon; if this were the case it could provide some contemporary information about Ebrauc.

 

A Peredur son of Efrawg is the hero of a 12th- or 13th-century Welsh romance; this would have been a variant of Ebrauc along with "Efrawg" or "Efrog", suggesting the city had royal associations in later tradition.

 

What later became parts of the North Riding and City of York were conquered by a Bythonic to early Angle version of Deira, Based around the Derwent.

 

Angles settled in the area in the early 5th century. Cemeteries that are identifiably Anglian date from this period. Cremation cemeteries from the 6th century have been excavated close to York on The Mount and at Heworth; there are, however, few objects from inside the city, and whether York was settled at all at this period remains unclear. The fortress's fate after 400 AD is not clear, it is unlikely to have been a base of Romano-British power in opposition to the Anglians. Flooded area reclamation would not be initiated until the 7th century under Edwin of Northumbria. After Angle settlement of Northern England, York was the Anglo-capital of Deira and one of the capitals when the kingdom united with Bernicia, later known as Northumbria.

 

By the early 7th century, York was an important royal centre for the Northumbrian kings, for it was here that Paulinus of York (later St Paulinus) came to set up his wooden church, the precursor of York Minster, and it was here that King Edwin of Northumbria was baptised in 627. The first Minster is believed to have been built in 627, although the location of the early Minster is a matter of dispute.

 

Throughout the succeeding centuries, York remained an important royal and ecclesiastical centre, the seat of a bishop, and later, from 735, of an archbishop. Very little about Anglian York is known and few documents survive. It is known that the building and rebuilding of the Minster was carried out, along with the construction of a thirty-altar church dedicated to Alma Sophia (Holy Wisdom), which may have been on the same site.

 

York became a centre of learning under Northumbrian rule, with the establishment of the library and school, the ancestor of St Peter's School. Alcuin, later adviser to Charlemagne, was its most distinguished pupil and then master.

 

Of this great royal and ecclesiastical centre, little is yet known archaeologically. Excavations on the Roman fortress walls have shown that they may have survived more or less intact for much of their circuit, and the Anglian Tower, a small square tower built to fill a gap in the Roman way, may be a repair of the Anglian period. The survival of the walls and gates shows that the Roman street pattern survived, at least in part, inside the fortress. Certainly excavations beneath York Minster have shown that the great hall of the Roman headquarters building still stood and was used until the 9th century.

 

By the 8th century York was an active commercial centre with established trading links to other areas of England, northern France, the Low Countries and the Rhineland. Excavations near the junction of the River Foss and River Ouse in Fishergate found buildings dating from the 7th and 9th century. These were located away from the Roman centre of the city may form a trading settlement that served the royal and ecclesiastical century. This and other discoveries indicate an occupation pattern during the 7th to 9th century that followed the line of the rivers, creating a long linear settlement along the River Ouse and extending along some of the River Foss.

 

In November 866 AD a large army of Danish Vikings, called the "Great Heathen Army", captured York, unopposed due to conflict in the Kingdom of Northumbria. The next year they held the city when the Northumbrians tried to retake it; the army left the same year putting a local puppet king in charge of York and the area around York they controlled. The army returned in 875 and its leader Halfdan took control of York. From York, Viking kings ruled an area, known to historians as "The Kingdom of Jorvik", with Danes migrating and settling in large numbers in the Kingdom and in York. In York the Old Norse placename Konungsgurtha, Kings Court, recorded in the late 14th century in relation to an area immediately outside the site of the porta principalis sinistra, the west gatehouse of the Roman encampment, perpetuated today as King's Square, perhaps indicates a Viking royal palace site based on the remains of the east gate of the Roman fortress. In 954 the last Viking king, Eric Bloodaxe, was expelled and his kingdom was incorporated in the newly consolidated Anglo-Saxon state.

 

A renowned scholar of this era was Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York.

 

Several churches were built in York during the Viking Age including St Olave's, built before 1055 on Marygate, which is dedicated to St. Olaf King of Norway and St Mary Bishophill Junior which has a 10th century tower whose height was increased in the early 11th century.

 

Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, York was substantially damaged by the punitive harrying of the north (1069) launched by William the Conqueror in response to regional revolt. Two castles were erected in the city on either side of the River Ouse. In time York became an important urban centre as the administrative centre of the county of Yorkshire, as the seat of an archbishop, and at times in the later 13th and 14th centuries as an alternative seat of royal government. It was an important trading centre. Several religious houses were founded following the Conquest, including St Mary's Abbey and Holy Trinity Priory. The city as a possession of the crown also came to house a substantial Jewish community under the protection of the sheriff.

 

On 16 March 1190 a mob of townsfolk forced the Jews in York to flee into the castle keep (later replaced by Clifford's Tower), which was under the control of the sheriff. The castle was set on fire and the Jews were massacred. It is likely that various local magnates who were debtors of the Jews helped instigate this massacre or, at least, did nothing to prevent it. It came during a time of widespread attacks against Jews in Britain. The Jewish community in York did recover after the massacre and a Jewish presence remained in York until the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290.

 

York prospered during much of the later medieval era. Twenty-one medieval parish churches survive in whole or in part, though only eight of these are regularly used for worship. Many medieval era timber-framed buildings survive in the city. While Slum clearances in the 19th century removed some of the more decrepit ancient examples of medieval architecture in the city, such as the medieval Water Lanes, streets such as The Shambles still survive to this day. The Shambles mostly date from the later medieval era with many examples of timber-framed shops with overhanging upper floors. The street was originally occupied by butchers but is now a popular tourist attraction consisting of mostly souvenir shops. Some retain the outdoor shelves and the hooks on which meat was displayed. The medieval city walls, with their entrance gates, known as bars, encompassed virtually the entire city and survive to this day. The city was also designated as a county corporate, giving it effective county status.

 

The later years of the 14th and the earlier years of the 15th centuries were characterised by particular prosperity. It is in this period that the York Mystery Plays, a regular cycle of religious pageants (or plays) associated with the Corpus Christi cycle and performed by the various craft guilds grew up. Among the more important personages associated with this period was Nicholas Blackburn senior, Lord Mayor in 1412 and a leading merchant. He is depicted with his wife Margaret Blackburn in glass in the (now) east window of All Saints' Church in North Street. There seems to have been economic contraction and a dwindling in York's regional importance in the period from the later 15th century. The construction of the city's new Guildhall around the middle of the century can be seen as an attempt to project civic confidence in the face of growing uncertainty. Brandsby-type ware and Humber ware ceramics were popular in the city at this time.

 

Few buildings of significance were put up in the century after the completion of the Minster in 1472, the exceptions being the completion of the King's Manor (which from 1537 to 1641 housed the Council of the North) and the rebuilding of the church of St. Michael le Belfrey, where Guy Fawkes was baptised in 1570.

 

During the dissolution of the monasteries all the monastic institutions in the City were closed including St. Leonards Hospital and in 1539 St. Mary's Abbey. In 1547, fifteen parish churches were closed, reducing their number from forty to twenty-five, a reflection of the decline in the city's population. Despite the English Reformation making the practice of Roman Catholicism illegal, a Catholic Christian community remained in York although this was mainly in secret. Its members included St. Margaret Clitherow who was executed in 1586 for harbouring a priest and Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.

 

Following his break with Parliament, King Charles I established his Court in York in 1642 for six months. Subsequently, during the English Civil War, the city was regarded as a Royalist stronghold and was besieged and eventually captured by Parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax in 1644. After the war, York slowly regained its former pre-eminence in the North, and, by 1660, was the third-largest city in England after London and Norwich.

 

In 1686 the Bar Convent was founded, in secret due to anti-catholic Laws, making it the oldest surviving convent in England.

 

York elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons.

 

The Judges Lodgings is a Grade I listed townhouse that was built between 1711 and 1726 and later used to house judges when they attended the quarterly sessions of the Assizes at York Castle.

 

On 22 March 1739 the highwayman Dick Turpin was convicted at the York Grand Jury House of horse-stealing, and was hanged at the Knavesmire on 7 April 1739. Turpin is buried in the churchyard of St George's Church, where his tombstone also shows his alias, John Palmer.

 

In 1740, the city's first hospital, York County Hospital, opened in Monkgate and it moved into larger premises in 1745. The building was funded by public subscription. The building was expanded on the same site in 1851, and finally closed in 1976 when York District Hospital was opened.

 

In 1796 Quaker William Tuke founded The Retreat, a hospital for the mentally ill, situated in the east of the city outside the city walls, which used moral treatment.

 

The Yorkshire Museum was opened in 1830, and the British Association for the Advancement of Science held its first meeting here in 1831.

 

Largely thanks to the efforts of "Railway King" George Hudson, York became a major centre for the railways during the 19th century, a status it maintained well into the 20th century. The Colliergate drill hall was completed in 1872 and the Tower Street drill hall was completed in 1885.

 

On 29 April 1942, York was bombed as part of the retaliatory Baedeker Blitz by the German Luftwaffe; 92 people were killed and hundreds injured. Buildings damaged in the raid included the Railway Station, Rowntree's Factory, St Martin-le-Grand Church, the Bar Convent and the Guildhall which was completely gutted and not restored until 1960.

 

During the Cold War the headquarters of the Number 20 Group, Royal Observer Corps was moved to the newly constructed York Cold War Bunker in the Holgate area of town. It was opened on 16 December 1961, was in operation until 1991, and was then turned into a museum owned by English Heritage. In 1971 York was made an army Saluting Station, firing gun salutes five times a year such as the Queen's Birthday. The date marked 1900 years of army in York. The University of York was launched on sites at Heslington and the King's Manor and took its first students in 1963. In 1975 the National Railway Museum was opened, near the centre of York.

 

In October and November 2000 the River Ouse rose and York experienced very severe flooding; over 300 houses were flooded though no-one was seriously hurt.

Omertá inviolable.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NKLjYY6JGw&feature=related

Photo By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) - Own work

  

John of Nepomuk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Last edited on 2 April 2019, at 13:10 (UTC).

“Saint

John of Nepomuk

Johannes von Nepomuk Hinterglasbild

Priest and Martyr

Bornc.1345

DiedMarch 20, 1393

BeatifiedMay 31, 1721

CanonizedMarch 19, 1729 by Benedict XIII

FeastMay 16

Attributeshalo of five stars, palm, priestly dress, cross, bridge, angel indicating silence by a finger over the lips, Biretta

PatronageBohemia, San Juan, Batangas, Malibay, Pasay City, Alfonso, Cavite, Moalboal, Cebu, Cabiao, Spanish Navy Marines

Saint John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (Czech: Jan Nepomucký; German: Johannes Nepomuk; Latin: Ioannes Nepomucenus[1]) (c. 1345 – March 20, 1393)[2] is the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning.[2]

Jan z Pomuku came from the small market town of Pomuk (later renamed Nepomuk) in Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic, which belonged to the nearby Cistercian abbey.

Born in the 1340s, his father was a certain Velflín (Welflin, Wölflin) and his mother is unknown. His father's name is probably diminutive of the German name Wolfgang.[3]

Jan first studied at the University of Prague, then furthered his studies in canon law at the University of Padua from 1383 to 1387. In 1393 he was made the vicar-general of Saint Giles Cathedral by Jan of Jenštejn (1348–1400), who was the Archbishop of Prague from 1378 to 1396. In the same year, on March 20, he was tortured and thrown into the river Vltava from Charles Bridge in Prague by order of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia.

At issue was the appointment of a new abbot for the rich and powerful Benedictine Abbey of Kladruby; its abbot was a territorial magnate whose resources would be crucial to Wenceslaus in his struggles with nobles. Wenceslaus at the same time was backing the Avignon papacy, whereas the Archbishop of Prague followed its rival, the pope at Rome. Contrary to the wishes of Wenceslaus, John confirmed the archbishop's candidate for Abbot of Kladruby, and was drowned on the emperor's orders on March 20, 1393.

This account is based on four contemporary documents. The first is the accusation of the king, presented to Pope Boniface IX on April 23, 1393, by Archbishop John of Jenštejn, who immediately went to Rome together with the new abbot of Kladruby.[4]

A few years later Abbott Ladolf of Sagan listed John of Nepomuk in the catalog of Sagan abbots, completed in 1398,[5] as well as in the treatise "De longævo schismate", lib. VII, c. xix.[6]

A further document is the "Chronik des Deutschordens"/Chronik des Landes Preussen, a chronicle of the Teutonic Order compiled by John of Posilge, who died in 1405.[7]

In the above accusation, John of Jenštejn already calls John of Nepomuk a "saint martyr". The biography of the bishop (written by his chaplain) describes John of Nepomuk as "gloriosum Christi martyrem miraculisque coruscum" (in English: "a glorious martyr of Christ and sparkling with miracles").

Thus, the vicar put to death for defending the laws and the autonomy of the Catholic Church became revered as a saint directly after his death.

Later accounts

The prototypical statue of John of Nepomuk at Charles Bridge in Prague, at the site where the saint was thrown into Vltava. Made by Jan Brokoff upon a model by Matthias Rauchmiller in 1683, on the supposed 300th anniversary of the saint's death, which was until the mid-18th century presumed to had happened in 1383. It was the basis for a number of statues of the saint all across the Europe.

Much additional biographical information comes from Bohemian annalists who wrote 60 or more years after the events they recount. Although they may have taken advantage of sources not available today, their contribution is considered legendary by many historians, particularly by the Protestant ones.

In his chronicle Chronica regum Romanorum, completed in 1459, Thomas Ebendorfer (d. 1464) states that King Wenceslaus had drowned the confessor (the priest who heard the confession) of his wife, indicated as Magister Jan, because he had stated that only the one who rules properly deserves the name of king and had refused to betray the seal of Confession. This is the first source to mention this refusal as a motivation of the condemnation of John of Nepomuk.

In his Instructions for the King, completed in 1471, Paul Zidek provides further details.[8] King Wenceslaus was afraid that his wife had a lover. As she was used to confessing to Magister Jan, King Wenceslaus ordered him to reveal the name of the lover, but to no avail. Therefore, the king ordered John to be drowned. Note that in these chronicles neither the date of the events nor the name of the queen is mentioned.

In 1483 John of Krumlov, dean of St. Vitus cathedral, states that the Saint died in 1383 (one decade earlier than the recognized date, perhaps due to a transcription error).[9] As the first wife of Wenceslaus died in 1386, this change of date also causes uncertainty about the name of the queen.[10]

The mistake of John of Krumlov crept into the Annales Bohemorum[11] of Wenceslaus Hajek of Liboczan (Václav Hájek z Libočan), the "Bohemian Livy". He suggested that two Jan di Nepomuks may have existed and have both been killed by King Wenceslaus. The first one is the queen's confessor, who died in 1383; the other the vicar of the archbishop, who disagreed with the king on the election of the abbot of Kladruby and was drowned in 1393. As Hajek's annals enjoyed a wide success, they influenced all subsequent historians for two centuries, up to the Latin edition, critically annotated by the translator, which considerably reduced Hajek's credit as a reliable historian.

Further and less reliable details about John of Nepomuk come from the annalists of the 17th and 18th centuries. Boleslaus Balbinus, S.J., in his Vita b. Joannis Nepomuceni martyris[12] gives the most rich account.

Although the theory of Hajek of Liboczan has no credit today, some historians believe the vicar's refusal to betray the seal of the confessional might have been the secret reason why Wenceslaus took vengeance on John of Nepomuk as soon as a credible excuse provided the opportunity.

A controversial figure

Catholics see John of Nepomuk as a martyr to the cause of defending the Seal of the Confessional. Romantic nationalists regard him as a Czech martyr to imperial interference. Most historians present him as a victim of a late version of the inveterate investiture controversy between secular rulers and the Catholic hierarchy.

The connection of John of Nepomuk with the inviolability of the confessional is part of the transformation of an historical figure into a legend, which can be traced through successive stages. The archbishop, who hastened to Rome soon after the crime, in his charge against Wenceslaus, called the victim a martyr; in the vita written a few years later miracles are already recorded, by which the drowned man was discovered. About the middle of the 15th century the statement appears for the first time that the refusal to violate the seal of confession was the cause of John's death. Two decades later (1471), the dean of Prague, Paul Zidek, makes John the queen's confessor. The chronicler Wenceslaus Hajek speaks in 1541 (perhaps due to an incorrect reading of his sources) of two Johns of Nepomuk being drowned; the first as confessor, the second for his confirmation of the abbot.

The legend is especially indebted for its growth to the Jesuit historiographer Boleslaus Balbinus the "Bohemian Pliny", whose Vita beati Joannis Nepomuceni martyris was published in Prague, 1670. Although the Prague metropolitan chapter did not accept the biography dedicated to it, "as being frequently destitute of historical foundation and erroneous, a bungling work of mythological rhetoric", Balbinus stuck to it. In 1683 the Charles Bridge was adorned with a statue of the saint, which has had numerous successors; in 1708 the first church was dedicated to him at Hradec Králové; a more famous Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk was founded in 1719.

Meanwhile, in spite of the objection of the Jesuits, the process was inaugurated which ended with his canonization. On May 31, 1721, he was beatified, and on March 19, 1729, he was canonized under Pope Benedict XIII. The acts of the process, comprising 500 pages, distinguish two Johns of Nepomuk and sanction the cult of the one who was drowned in 1383 as a martyr of the sacrament of penance.

According to some Protestant sources, the figure of St. John Nepomuk is a legend due to Jesuits and that its historical kernel is really Jan Hus, who was metamorphosed from a Bohemian Reformer into a Roman Catholic saint: the Nepomuk story would be based on Wenceslaus Hajek's blending of the Jan who was drowned in 1393 and the Jan who was burned in 1415. The resemblances are certainly striking, extending to the manner of celebrating their commemorations. But when the Jesuits came to Prague, the Nepomuk veneration had long been widespread; and the idea of canonization originated in opposition not to the Hussites, but to Protestantism, as a weapon of the Counter-Reformation. In the image of the saint which gradually arose is reflected the religious history of Bohemia.

A coincidental drought in the region a year later helped the legend along; the church convinced the peasants that the drought represented God's punishment for the killing of Jan Nepomucký. Building on that success, they attempted to paint the king as even blacker, with certain clerical circles spreading reports of John's courage, saying that as confessor to the Queen he had refused to reveal her secrets, and that was why he had been murdered. Belief in John's supernatural powers culminated with the discovery of the saint's supposed tongue when three centuries later his tomb was opened and a piece of reddened tissue fell out of his skull.

Regional Significance

The figure of Saint John of Nepomuk is often encountered in Central Europe, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, and, although rarely, Ukraine. He is usually portrayed with a halo of five stars, commemorating the stars that hovered over the Vltava River on the night of his murder. Other attributes useful to identify his pictures are: a priestly dress, the palm of martyrs, carrying a cross, an angel indicating silence by a finger over the lips. His tomb, a Baroque monument cast in silver and silver-gilt that was designed by Fischer von Erlach, stands in St Vitus Cathedral, Prague.

A statue of Saint John of Nepomuk has often been erected on bridges in many countries, such as on the Ponte Milvio in Rome. The one in Prague was extremely popular as late as the 19th Century, when people people traveled from Tyrol, Hungary, and particularly Bohemia to Prague to celebrate his feast day, May 16.[14] There is a white statue of St. John of Nepomuk in the small village of Divina, in Slovakia.[15] There is also a commemorative plaque on a bridge leading out of Obergurgl, Austria depicting Nepomuk holding a finger to his lips, as if protecting a secret.

Notes[edit]

^ Sanctus Johannes Nepomucenus Christi Heiliger Blut-Zeug. 1723.

^ Jump up to: a b Krčmář, Mgr. Luděk. "Saint John of Nepomuk". SJN.cz. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. If in 1369 John of Pomuk was a notary public, he must have been more than twenty years old. Thus he was probably born sometimes between 1340 and 1350 [1349].

^ Bernard L. Fontana, A Gift of Angels: The Art of Mission San Xavier Del Bac (Tucson 2010), p.298.

^ Pubitschka, Gesch., IV, app.; Pelzel ed., "Geschichte König Wenzels", I: "Urkundenbuch", 143-63

^ l'ed. Stenzel in "Scrittura. il rerum Silesiacarum", I, 1835, pp. 213 sqq.

^ Archiv für österreichische Geschichte, LX, 1880, pp. 418 sq.

^ "Scriptores rerum Prussicarum", III, Leipzig 1860 -, 87

^ cf. Schmude in "Zeitschrift für kathol. Theologie", 1883, 90 sqq.

^ St. John of Nepomuk official website, SJN.cz

^ The first queen was Johanna of Bavaria; the second one was her cousin Sofia of Bavaria.

^ Kronika česká, first printed in Bohemian, Prague 1541; then translated in German and after two centuries also in Latin by Gelasius Dobner (6 volumes., Prague, 1761–83).

^ Bohuslav Balbinus. Vita beati Joannis Nepomuceni martyris, Praga, 1670; It was reprinted in the Bollandists' Acta sanctorum III, May, pp 668–80.

^ Adam Więcek (1964). Jan Jiří Urbanský český sochař ve Slezsku (in Czech).

^ Chamber's Book of Days, 1871, p. 640.

^ www.tkkbs.sk. "Biskup Galis požehnal obnovenú sochu sv. Jána Nepomuckého v Divine". Retrieved 2017-07-01.

P vip.svgBiography portal046CupolaSPietro.jpgCatholicism portalGloriole blur.svgSaints portalFlag of the Czech Republic.svgCzech Republic portal

External links

The "official" page of John of Nepomuk

Catholic Encyclopedia (1910): "St. John Nepomucene" This provides a Catholic point of view

Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Calvin College: "John of Nepomuk" This provides a Protestant point of view. It was also the source of the initial version of this article.

Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Nepomuk, John of" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Zdarns.cz”

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

  

HKFP: Thousands gathered at Edinburgh Place on Wednesday evening calling on G20 countries to raise concerns about Hong Kong at the leaders’ summit on Friday, hours after staging a mass march to foreign consulates to lobby country representatives directly.

Crowds wearing all-black spilt out of the public square, many holding signs that read “Free Hong Kong” and “Democracy Now.”

Organisers, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), issued a statement urging a withdrawal of the government’s suspended extradition bill.

“If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out during the G20 summit, and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people,” it read.

The pro-democracy coalition have led millions on marches over recent weeks against the bill, as demands have evolved into calling for universal suffrage ahead of the July 1 pro-democracy rally.

 

CHRF manifesto :

 

"Withdraw the Extradition Bill! Free Hong Kong!

 

A time when democracy and freedom are universal values that are inviolable.

 

Hong Kong people had urged for democratisation for over 30 years. When Hong Kong was handed over to China since 1997, as written in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised that Hong Kong can enjoy One Country Two Systems and a high degree of autonomy. The Basic Law also promised universal suffrage to be implemented in the year of 2007 to 2008. But China broke these promises, and gradually intervened deeply in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

 

Hong Kong people have always insisted on having universal suffrage – to let Hong Kong people rule Hong Kong. Unfortunately, we seem to be further and further away from genuine democracy. In merely 22 years after the hand-over, the One Country Two Systems principle barely survives. During the [legislative] process of the “Extradition Bill”, the Hong Kong Liaison Office blatantly intervened in Hong Kong’s internal affairs and scrapped the promises of [a] high degree of autonomy.

 

This year, the government decided to put the Extradition Bill through Legislative Council, in order to make all people in Hong Kong, including local citizens and expats, to be potentially extradited to China, or to countries which have less protection on human rights and the rule of law. This will destroy existing protection on human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong and will crack down the last defence to freedom and safety.

 

In our current political system, Hong Kong does not have genuine democracy. To stop this evil law from passing, 1.03 million followed by 2 million Hongkongers courageously took to the streets in the past two weeks. Some were even cracked down by the police with excessive, disproportionate force and lethal weapons. But the government only gave a shallow apology, without making any tangible changes.

 

As world leaders meet at the G20 summit, Hong Kong citizens now sincerely urge all of you, including Xi Jinping, to answer our humble questions: Does Hong Kong deserve democracy? Should Hong Kong people enjoy democracy? Can [a] democratic system be implemented in Hong Kong now?

 

Dear friends from around the world. I believe you have seen through media and the Internet, that Hongkongers spared no efforts to safeguard our freedom. Please bear in mind: if the Extradition Bill passes, when you come to Hong Kong to travel, study or for business, you may face unfair trials. If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out, during the G20 summit and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people."

 

www.hongkongfp.com/2019/06/26/democracy-now-hundreds-gath...

  

民陣昨晚在中環愛丁堡廣場舉行集會，有數以千計市民出席，大會以英語、普通話、日語等，呼籲包括國家主席習近平等各國領袖關注香港情况，集會人群擠滿愛丁堡廣場，更擠出大會堂對出的龍和道，警員需封閉東西行車線。

 

news.mingpao.com/pns/港聞/article/20190627/s00002/15615...

First Anniversary Of Somaliland Marines.

Somaliland a eighteen years old nation, not recognized fully yet but will be soon, Somaliland is the little country that can do it.

 

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

African Union – An obstacle to Somaliland Colonial Border

 

Medeshi 26 Aug, 2008

African Union – An obstacle to Somaliland Colonial Border

Abdulazez Al-Motairi

In the African Union (AU) there are countries that support Somaliland Cause of independence and others oppose it. Somaliland diplomatic fight back to win its lost sovereignty from the failed state of former Somalia, has received daring welcome from many African states. AU recommends the colonial border, but when it comes to Somaliland: AU says NO to Somaliland Colonial Border

Anti-Somaliland figures in the black continent mainly Somalis initiate their argument on colonial borders against Somaliland; they believe changing the colonial border in African will open Pandora Box of disintegration in many area of the countries.

However, this argument indirectly supports Somaliland, because Hargiesa Administration is demarcating the Somali map according to colonial border. Somaliland is demanding to restore centuries old British Somaliland Protectorate border, which existed until 1960. In July 28th 1886, British Parliament and Queen Victoria duly ratified current borderline of Somaliland, as the area was under Great Britain.

Moreover, Great Britain and Italian Government signed an agreements delimiting border between British Somaliland (Now Republic of Somaliland) and Italian Somalia (Now Republic of Somalia) on 1884. This again supports Somaliland´s call to restore colonial border in former Somalia. Somaliland Colonial Border is a victim of AU Policies, which implements regulations to some countries and denies the others.

Subsequently, both British Somaliland and Italian Somalia won independence on 26th June 1960 and 1st July 1960 respectively. More than 34 countries recognized British Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state including majority of AU Member States. Somaliland is demanding independence within its colonial borders.

Britain, as colonizing power in Somaliland, signed agreements with neighboring authorities including French in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Italy in Italian Somalia: to respect the colonial border of British Somaliland (Now Republic of Somaliland).

Based on aforesaid facts, AU has no right to suppress Somaliland´s claim of independence as per Cairo Accord. Like Somaliland and Somalia, many African countries united like Senegal and Gambia, where Egypt united with an Asian country – The Syria. Also, Eritrea disintegrated from Ethiopia based on colonial border and decision of the people of Eritrea. Senegal – Gambia and Egypt – Syria ended their unity without consulting to AU, because the unity wasn´t in their interest and as per Cairo agreement. So, why not the accord implemented in Somaliland?

All these nations joined to achieve social, religious or political agendas and later withdraw from such unions because unity is not on color, language and religion…etc. The unity should have pre-agreements to implement equality and justice between the uniting parties. Many Somalis advocate for the unity of Somalia based on religion, color, language and culture but it is quiet far from the fact inside Somalia.

BORDER CHANGING PRECEDENT – Dr. Bob Arnot NBC NEWS

Here is the irony. Julius Nyerere, first president of Tanzania, in the formative stages of the OAU, pleaded against redrawing African borders so that British Somaliland would not joint with Italian Somalia. Why? The fear was that a united Somalia would be a harbinger for the emergence of Greater Somalia, which, in order to annex surrounding Somali territories, would invade Ethiopia and Kenya. (The Republic of Somalia did invade Ethiopia in 1977, and Somali raiders still attack Kenya).

Even more ironic, Nyerere redrew his own borders, joining Tanganyika with Zanzibar to form Tanzania. Yet nearly 40 years later, Nyerere´s argument is being used to prevent Somaliland from being recognized as a sovereign state even though it was, briefly, an independent state after its liberation from British.

On balance, the OAU´s doctrine on the "inviolability" of boundaries inherited from the colonial powers does not apply to Somaliland because it is situated within the boundaries of the British Somaliland Protectorate defined in 1886 when it was declared a British protectorate.Somalilanders lament that the United States and the United Nations have had little trouble with redrawing borders in the Balkans or the former Soviet Union, but still resist to recognize their nascent republic. - Dr. Bob Arnot NBC NEWS

THE ORIGINAL SIN – JULY 1ST, 1960 UNITY:

The Somalis were uneducated with little experience in fledging unity; the people wanted unity of Somali-speaker without understanding the need of the unity and its consequences. The Somali people scattered in five countries in the region starting from Djibouti, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. The Somalis make about 30% of East African population.

Somaliland was first Somali-speaking nation to gain independence on June 26th, 1960 from Great Britain and four days later Italian Somalia (Former Somalia) on July 1st, 1960. Djibouti gained independence from French on 1977.

Somaliland took the first step to establish the united Somali Republic on July 1st, 1960 – only four days from Independence Day June 26th, 1960. Somaliland elders and politicians traveled all the way to Mogadishu to achieve their dream of uniting Somalis. They handed over their sovereignty without any conditions except one – to see united Somali Republic and all Somali speakers should be its citizens. This initiative of unity cost Somaliland lives of thousands of its citizens, and lost of sovereignty until today.

First President of Somali Republic Adan Adde – one of the Somali Intellectuals – asked Somalilanders to stay away for a while. He requested the Somalilanders to wait until the south Somalia solves their differences than we can talk of unity with Somaliland. But the enthusiastic Somalilanders for unity rejected and demanded immediate unity without preconditions.

About decade and half, Djibouti gained independence on 1977 and all Somalis were thinking that Djibouti will join Somalia but that did not happen. Djibouti declared independence and turned down the offer of joining Somalia. Somalilanders, who lost trust in the unity on 1977, advised Djibouti to stay away.

Many people start the failure of Somalia from 1991, but the situation in Somalia started deteriorating after 1964 failed military coup led by military officers from Somaliland. Somalilanders unveiled their lost density and government and how much they have been cheated by Somali government. In other hand, NFD and majority of Somalis in Ethiopia decided to remain under Kenya and Ethiopia respectively, which ended the idea of united Somalis. This was the only reason that Somalilanders handed over their government to Italian Somalia.

Somalis are not the only community that was divided but there are many African communities who share culture, language and even religion under different countries because of the colonial border.

Somaliland can only stay with Somalia if the world delimits the Political Map based culture, language, religion and ethics. However, Somaliland respects the AU Accord in Cairo on 1963 and demands independence based on terms of the accord. The Anti-Somaliland figures always overlook the AU Accord and spread propaganda against Somaliland demand of independence.

HOW LONG SOMALILAND TO REMAIN HOSTAGE FOR FAILED SOMALIA:

AU stopped Somaliland efforts to win recognition, after international communities including US conditioned AU recognition to Somaliland. AU, as we mentioned earlier, is maintaining colonial borders in an attempt to avoid future disintegration in the black continent. AU, clearly, knows that Somaliland is demanding independence based on colonial borders but unfortunately did not get good support from AU.

AU sent fact-finding mission to Somaliland on 2005, and the mission reported that Somaliland is different than Somalia and should recognition should be considered. The AU downgraded the hard work of Somalilanders and preferred it over the failure in Somalia.

Somaliland established the entire infrastructure necessary for a modern government including Cabinet, Parliament, Multiparty system, Army and Police… etc. Somaliland attracted the eyes of international community including USA especially during visit of Assistant Undersecretary of State Department Dr. Frazier to Hargiesa. This visit was sign of goodwill from USA to the people of Somaliland.

However, the world tells Somaliland to process their file through African Union (AU) and if AU support Somaliland independence that the result of the world will follow. So, why AU is pushing Somaliland back into failure? Why AU prefers failed Somalia over Somaliland? Aren´t Somalilanders an Africans and has rights in AU? What will be faith of Somaliland if Somalia remains in current turmoil for another 50 years, Will AU keep Somaliland back until Somalia solves its differences? What is the mistake Somaliland did to Somalia? So, AU can punish Somaliland to hold until Somalia wakes.

AU should address to these questions and other millions, because the people of Somaliland need explanation from AU, and Why AU is giving side to Somalia against Somaliland?

The people of Somaliland are committed to continue their independence with or without Somalia, and nobody will be able to stop Somalilanders from deciding their destiny.

Source : The American Chronicle

Posted by Medeshi on Tuesday, August 26, 2008

thegentlemanangler.com/historic-tales/divine-seduction-an...

Aethalides was a gifted child interested to learn of everything that surrounded him. He had long wondered why he lacked a father and had only his mother Melidora (also known as Eupolemeia) in his life. He received the following response when he eventually inquired of his mother as to the lack of a paternal influence:“Know then, my dearest child, pursued she, that I was scarce thirteen years old, when in the evening of a hot summer's day, I chanced to fall asleep under the hedge of roses, which grows on the side of the little rivulet, which runs through our garden. My mother not being yet returned from the town, whither her business had carried her, and the servants employed in some more remote part of the garden, I lay thus till the dusk of the night was far advanced. The freshness of the cool breezes, and the stillness of the place, which was rendered more agreeable by the warbling notes of corresponding nightingales, contributed so irresistibly to tie down my senses with the silken cords of Morpheus, that I did not awake before I found myself irrecoverably within the arms and power of a most beautiful young man. I would have employed my strength in resistance, but the sudden surprise had deprived me of it. I would have raised my voice for help, but fear had disarmed my tongue: And the attention, which I could not avoid giving to an accident so new to me, conspired to complete my undoing. For whether love had so early begun to find the way to my heart, or whether it was only a childish prelude to it, the features of this person so resembled those of a handsome youth of Paphos, whom I had eagerly gazed at the day before, when he came to our house (as he frequently did) to buy fruits, that, notwithstanding the anguish I ought to have felt upon such an occasion, by that fatal prepossession of my fancy, I was all over melted into tenderness. There was nothing to restrain him from indulging the warmth of his passion to the last degree of desire, but the eternal and unalterable Rules of nature; which at length, after repeated instances of his first provocation, consented to free me from his embraces. By this time my senses, having re-assembled themselves to condole with me upon this violation of my honour, plunged me into an inexpressible sorrow. I lay still on the ground, and I question whether my grief would ever have suffered me to rise, if the charming ravisher had not gently lifted me up.After having folded me in his arms with a forcible transport, he addressed himself thus to me, in the sweetest accents that ever my ears were blessed with al."Farewell, my lovely Melidora and to calm all your troubles, remember that the son of Jove was the author of them. Yes, most amiable nymph, it is Hermes, who has this night improved his immortality in your fruition; who has assumed the person of Neantbus, the Son of Chrysandery to gain the easier admittance to your heart; and in his shape will continue to perform the kind offices due to you and your offspring all the days of your lives.”He had scarce said these words, when the voices of the servants, who had been searching for me all over the garden, reached our ears upon which the God your father, unwilling to make any discovery to my prejudice, flew to the little wicket in the wall, and unlocked it with as much dexterity, as if he had had the real key. And that Neantbus our landlord the merchant's son, who is so fond of you, and whosepreference so often blesses this roof, is indeed nothing less than what he seems to be, but the artful son of the thunderer, who retains the form of that son of Chrysander, which was long since shipwrecked near the island of Rhodes, that he may the more favourably continue to his helpless dependants the protection, which by his means is become so necessary to them.”She finished her discourse with giving her son a charge of the strictest secrecy, which for his part he kept inviolably; but the whimsical conditions of his half immortality after death being published to the world, gave undoubted tokens of his heavenly extraction.The preceding account has been edited from “The secret history of Pythagoras”, translated by Samuel Croxall from the original copy lately found (1751) at Otranto in Italy.Aethalides was one of the Argonauts who travelled on a quest to find the Golden Fleece and he is remembered as a Greek hero.Aethalides had received from his father the faculty of remembering everything, even after travelling to the underworld (Hades). He was further allowed to reside alternately in the upper and in the lower world. As his soul could not forget anything even after death, it remembered that from the body of Aethalides it successively migrated into those of Euphorbus (the Trojan warrior), Hermotimus (the philosopher), Pyrrhus (the painter and philosopher) and at last into that of Pythagoras, in whom it still retained the recollection of its former migrations.This illustration depicts Pythagoras teaching music and is part of a fresco entitled “The School of Athens” painted by Raphael and digital copy is courtesy of Wikipedia.Pythagorus teaching music

1989 scanned Fiicrome 100 ASA slide. John Berger, an influential art critic wrote that "A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her image of herself. From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually...Men look at women, women watch themselves being looked at." "Ways of Seeing p 46"

 

Much the same point emerges though perhaps more elegantly in a recent New Yorker description by Judith Thurman of the Vermeer's celebrated portrait of the Girl with a Pearl Earring: ".. she exists inviolably in her own sphere, possessed of her own dignity: the beholder’s gaze may interrogate her mysteries, but it can’t reduce her to an object. A great portrait is proof against pathos." Think Mona Lisa.

 

Berger was focusing on Western art. I don't have the words to describe this woman's "attitude" but I do like this woman because she does NOT seem to be an example of what Berger describes! She commands her post in sisal factory like a posssiby lascivious Queen.

Sir Edward Coke (pronounced "Cook") (1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634), was a seventeenth-century English jurist and Member of Parliament whose writings on the common law were the definitive legal texts for nearly 150 years. Born into a family of minor Norfolk gentry, Coke traveled to London as a young man to make his living as a barrister. There he rapidly gained prominence as one of the leading attorneys of his time, eventually being appointed Solicitor General and then Attorney General by Queen Elizabeth. As Attorney General, Coke gained fame for prosecuting Sir Walter Raleigh and the Gunpowder Plot conspirators for treason. In 1606, Coke was made Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, later being elevated, in 1613, to Lord Chief Justice of England. As a judge, Coke delivered numerous important decisions, and he gained a reputation as the greatest jurist of his age.[1] Nonetheless, his unwillingness to compromise in the face of challenges to the supremacy of the common law made him increasingly unpopular with James I, and he was eventually removed as Lord Chief Justice in 1616.

 

Despite his dismissal from the bench and his already advanced age, Coke remained an influential political figure, leading parliamentary opposition to the Crown in the 1620s. His career in parliament culminated in 1628 when he acted as one of the primary authors of the Petition of Right. This document reaffirmed the rights of Englishmen and prevented the Crown from infringing them.

 

Coke's enduring fame and importance rests principally on his immensely influential legal writings and on his staunch defense of the rule of law in the face of royal absolutism. His legal texts formed the basis for the modern common law, with lawyers in both England and America learning their law from his Institutes and Reports until the end of the eighteenth century. As a judge and Member of Parliament, Coke supported individual liberty against arbitrary government and sought to ensure that the king's authority was circumscribed by law. In later times, both English reformers and American Patriots, such as John Lilburne, James Otis, and John Adams, used Coke's writings to support their conceptions of inviolable civil liberties.

Coins of the Bible – Redemption Comes

 

WIDOW¹S MITE Capanius 6-9 A.D.

The smallest of Greek bronze coins. The word “mite” was used in the Bible and was obviously referred to as the smallest coin known and used by the Jews. Luke 21:1-3 . . . ³And he looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a certain poor widow casting in thither

two mites. And he said, of a truth I say unto you that this poor widow hast cast in more than they all. For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God; but she of her penury hath cast in all of the living she had.²

 

HEROD ANTIPAS 4 B.C.-40 A.D.

This ruler, known as a tetrarch, was the son of Herod the Great, and his original heir. His second wife was Herodias, who was the wife of his brother. He built Tiberius in honor of his patron, the notorious Emperor Tiberius, where he issued his coins. This replica has a palm branch, the title, “Herod the Tetrach,” and a border of dots on the obverse.

The reverse has a wreath with ³Tiberius² in Greek, in the center. As a result of his relations with Herodias, he put John the Baptist to death. Matthew 6:14-27 . . . ³For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John and bound him in prison. For Herodias¹s sake, his brother Philip¹s wife, for he had married her . . . and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in and danced and pleased Herod . . . the king said unto the damsel ask me whatsoever thou wilt. And she came in . . . and asked saying I

will that thou give me by and by, in a charger, the head of John the Baptist.²

 

TRIBUTE PENNY Tiberius 14-37 A.D.

This coin, called ³penny² in the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, should be called ³tribute denarius.² In ancient times, while the Roman\ legions occupied Britain, the denarius was the standard coin. Tiberius was the Roman Emperor (Caesar) who ruled during Jesus¹ lifetime. Mark 12:14-16 .

³Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? But he, knowing their hypocrisy said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he said unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto Him, Caesar¹s. And Jesus said unto them,

Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar¹s and to God the things that are

God¹s.²

 

LEPTON Pontius Pilate 26-36 A.D.

Pontius Pilate, known to all Christians for his delivery of Jesus to the crucifixion, was Governor of the Holy Land. He came from the household of Tiberius and was probably a freedman. The coin shows a simpulum (ladle) said to be a sacred vessel presented to the Temple by Tiberius. The obverse has three

ears of grain bound together. The legend reads, ³Money of Julia Caesar² (wife of Tiberius). John 18:28-19:42 . . .²Pilate then went out unto them, and said, what accusation bring ye against this man . . .²

 

SHEKEL OF TYRE 1 B.C.-1 A.D.

The thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas by the Pharisees for the betraying of Christ are thought to be these coins. The replicas come from those minted in the Phoenician city of Tyre. The shekel, acceptable as Temple dues, was referred to as ³Tyrian money². The obverse shows a laureated head of Melkarth, a

Phoenician god in the form of the Greek god Heracles. An eagle stands on a ship¹s prow with a palm branch in the background. The legend in Greek reads: Tyre sacred and inviolable sanctuary.² The club is a symbol of Melkarth.

  

STATER OF ANTIOCH 27 B.C.-14 A.D.

This replica of the Tetradrachm of Antioch in Syria may also possibly be the type of silver coin given to Judas for the betrayal of Christ. On the obverse is a portrait of Emperor Augustus.

The reverse depicts a female figure representing the Tyche patron goddess of Antioch with the river

Orontes at her feet. Matthew 26:15 . . . ³And said unto them what will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.²

 

MUSEUM REPLICAS

The coin reproductions included in this set are duplicates of originals in the British Museum or in other fine collections.

   

From the Fourth State of the Nation Address of President Diosdado Macapagal delivered on January 25, 1965:

 

"Not only have we maintained peace and tranquility among ourselves but we have also been fortunate to be saved from the international turmoil that has beset our immediate neighbors like Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Free China and India. We attribute this to our policy of firm opposition to international communism, aggression, subversion and infiltration in our country and to our security alliance with the United States and other free nations.

 

The rule of law—we all feel gratified that our people will not accept any system other than the rule of law which assures justice to the humblest citizen vis a viz the most powerful in the land. All have contributed to the impregnability of the rule of law in our society but we believe that the outstanding credit for this stability in our democratic institutions belongs to the Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief of Justice Cesar Bengzon all of whose members have upheld with zeal the inviolability of the rule of law in our free society."

 

(Photo from the National Library of the Philippines.)

This piece is about encrypted data and the bad guys who steal it. When I thought of encrypted data, I thought of a human fingerprint and how it is literally a manifestation of what is inviolably unique about us. I thought to depict one’s interior and deeply personal DNA. To communicate how our uniqueness is so often diminished and violated and “stolen” these days.

I used the universal symbol of theft, the generic black-cloaked burglar. He lurks behind the scrim of a loosely drawn human profile, encroaching upon the imperfect water color of a human head with its fingerprint brain. Layers of my piece are deliberately transparent and overlapping to convey “intrusion.”

A cacophony of numbers, letters, codes, and secret passwords represent our pathetic defense against the onslaught of HTML bad guys trying to steal our encrypted data.

 

For more information please visit www.cisco.com/go/pci2/

 

Artist: Nancy Nimoy

Wall monument with portrait - "Beneath this tablet are deposited the remains of the late Sir Edward Boughton, bart, of Poston Court Herefordshire, who died 25th January 1794 aged 52

He was a man of clear discrimination, of sound judgment, of unshaken fidelity in his friendships and of inviolable honours and integrity"

 

He was the son of Shuckburgh Boughton 1763 and Mary 1786 daughter of Algernon Greville by Mary daughter of Arthur Somerset

He was the grandson of Sir William Boughton, 4th Bart & 2nd wife Catherine daughter of Sir Charles Shuckburqh, 2nd Bart. [1660].

 

He succeeded as 8th Baronet in August 1780 on the death of a distant cousin Theodosius Edward Allesley Boughton of Lawford Hall near Rugby Warks, who was poisoned days after his 21st birthday by his brother-in-law Captain Donellan whose wife would inherit if he died before he was 21. - a famous case of its time. After his brother in law was executed in 1781 for his murder , his sister m2 Sir Egerton Leigh 1818 of nearby Newbold on Avon flic.kr/p/8E5vUZ

 

Edward demolished Lawford Hall and sold most of the estates in Warwickshire and Leicestershire to enlarge those at Poston Court, which had been purchased by his father.

He was Sheriff of Herefordshire 1786-87.

He died unmarried , his heir as 9th baronet was his younger brother Sir Charles William Rouse Boughton 1821 flic.kr/p/LjXv5M 1st baronet of Rous Lench , father of the 10th baronet Sir William Edward Boughton 1856

- Church of St. Bartholomew , Vowchruch Herefordshire

www.geni.com/people/Sir-Edward-Boughton-8th-Baronet/60000...

17/365

 

No reproduction of this image is allowed without prior permission of the photographer. Ninguna reproducción de esta imagen está permitida sin el previo permiso del fotógrafo.

  

© Paola Suárez

All rights reserved

Todos los derechos reservados

  

La situation actuelle de l’Indri est catastrophique, victime de la déforestation intensive : agriculture sur brûlis, coupe de bois précieux (palissandre, bois de rose, ébène …), récolte de bois pour le charbon de bois.

Les parcs ne sont même plus des sanctuaires inviolables et nous avons vu des feux allumés dans le Parc national de Ranomafana, ce qui n’existait pas il y a quelques années !

Protégé jusqu’à maintenant par les légendes qui l’entourent, il est normalement considéré comme « fady » (tabou) et ne doit pas être chassé mais les bienfaits de la civilisation moderne ont engendré la perte des traditions et il est maintenant consommé pour sa viande !

 

L’IUCN a classé l’Indri en CR ( critically endangered ), classement annonçant son extinction si des mesures draconiennes ne sont pas prises, sa population est très difficile à estimer, vu la difficulté d’accès des dernières forêts primaires de Madagascar. L’IUCN donne une fourchette de 1 000 à 10 000 individus, la moyenne possible est peut-être donc de 5 000 ?

 

Aucun Indri n’a survécu en captivité !!

 

Sources :

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indri_indri en français et anglais

www.iucnredlist.org/species/10826/16115457

L’excellent livre Primates de Jean-Jacques Petter et François Desbordes chez Nathan.

 

The actual situation is terrific, victim of intensive deforestation : agriculture brulis, precious wood cut ( palissandre, rose wood, eben …), wood harvesting for charcoal.

Parks are absolutely not inviolable sanctuaries and we saw lighted fires in Ranomafan national Park, this did not exist some years ago !

Protected until now by the surrounding legends, he is normally considered as « fady » (taboo) and must not be hunted but the modern civilization benefits fathered tradition lost and some people ate him !

 

IUCN classified his as CR ( critically endangered ), this classification announcing his extinction if drastic measures are not taken, his population is very hard to estimate, given hard access in the last primary forests of Madagascar. IUCN gives a margin between 1 000 and 10 000 individuals, possible average is perhaps 5 000 ?

 

No Indri survived in captivity !

 

Sources :

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indri_indri en français et anglais

www.iucnredlist.org/species/10826/16115457

The excellent book Primates from Jean-Jacques Petter and François Desbordes Nathan editor.

Charter for Compassion:

charterforcompassion.org/

 

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/CharterforCompassion

 

Twitter:

twitter.com/TheCharter

 

Happy New Year, everyone. This seemed like a wonderful way to start

the new year.

 

Once when I was in my early twenties, my Christmas present to everyone

was stationery that I designed. I did brushwork for the words "Deus

caritas est." This is usually translated as "God is love" or "God is

charity," but caritas is the root word for many other similar words -

caring, care, and even the word heart in some languages. Even younger,

there was a story I read in the children's magazine Highlights, about always using

your imagination to see the other person's side, their point of view,

what their life is like. This is very like the famous aphorism that

goes something like "never judge a man until you've walked a mile in

his moccasins" (at least that's the way I learned it as a child). And

thus the word "compassion" which, when taken back to its etymological

roots, literally means "to feel passion with" (as in Christ's passion,

not sex) or "to suffer with" or "to feel pity with."

 

It isn't just in our language that all languages and cultures have a

tradition somewhere of looking into the other's heart and through

their eyes, it is also part of every faith tradition of which I am

aware. That is what inspired this website and online initiative - that

every faith shares this common root, and the centrality of this single

concept in human ethics, ideals, and goals.

 

The Charter for Compassion is not just a wonderful idea, but also a

wonderful implementation. They are using socila media lightly and

effectively, sharing information, encouraging people to share their

stories, making it extremely easy for people to actually focus on the

concept. Part of what best illustrates this process is that after I

registered and endorsed the charter, the website did NOT automatically

direct me to something asking for money. They are building an online

community that centers around the concept of compassion, without

muddying the waters with other matters. Being me, and a librarian, I

of course had to dig around and see who was behind it. There are no

secrets that I could find hints of, complete address, contact

information, all that. The funding is from the Fetzer Institute but the purpose of

the Charter site seems to closely aligned with their central mission

that it didn't raise any red flags for me. When I dug deeper, I found

Fetzer is also associated with the Dalai Lama and the American Library

Association as well as Speaking of Faith (one of my favorite radio

shows) and TED (of the famous videos), among many other organizations.

 

Here is the charter. But think about going to the site, looking at

what they are doing, and how they are doing it.

   

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious,

ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all

others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to

work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to

dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there,

and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being,

treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity

and respect.

 

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain

consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak

violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish,

exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by

denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common

humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately

and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name

of religion.

 

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to

the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient

principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence,

hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given

accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions

and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and

religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the

suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

 

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic

force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to

transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic,

ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep

interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to

a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and

indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global

community.

The North American B-25 Mitchell Medium Bomber was an American Aircraft introduced into World War Two in 1941 and named in honour of Major General William ''Billy'' Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S Military Aviation. Used by many Allied Air Forces, the B-25 served in every Theater of World War Two, and after the war ended, many remained in service, operating across four decades. Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 B-25's were built, these included several limited models such as the F-10 Reconnaissance Aircraft, the AT-24 Crew Trainers, and the United States Marine Corps' PBJ-1 Patrol Bomber.

 

The Air Corps issued a specification for a Medium Bomber in March 1939 that was capable of carrying a payload of 2,400lb over 1,200 miles 300mph, North American Aviation used its NA-40B design to develop the NA-62, which competed for the Medium Bomber Contract. No. YB-25 was available for prototype service tests. In September 1939, the Air Corps ordered the NA-62 into production as the B-25, along with the other new Air Corps Medium Bomber, the Martin B-26 Marauder "off the drawing board".

 

Early into B-25 production, NAA incorporated a significant redesign to the wing dihedral, the first nine Aircraft had a constant-dihedral, meaning the wing had a consistent, upward angle from the fuselage to the wingtip. This design caused stability problems. "Flattening" the outer wing panels by giving them a slight anhedral angle just outboard of the engine nacelles nullified the problem and gave the B-25 its ''gull wing'' configuration. Less noticeable changes during this period included an increase in the size of the tail fins and a decrease in their inward tilt at their tops.

 

The B-25B first gained fame as the Bomber used in the 18th April 1942 ''Doolittle Raid'' in which 16 B-25B's led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle attacked mainland Japan, four months after the Bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Mission gave a much-needed lift in spirits to the Americans and alarmed the Japanese, who had believed their home islands to be inviolable by Enemy Forces. Although the amount of actual damage done was relatively minor, it forced the Japanese to divert Troops for Home Defense for the remainder of the war. The Raiders took off from the Carrier U.S.S 'Hornet' and successfully bombed Tokyo and four other Japanese cities without loss. Fifteen of the Bombers subsequently crash-landed en route to recovery fields in eastern China. These losses were the result of the Task Force being spotted by a Japanese vessel, forcing the Bombers to take off 170 miles early, fuel exhaustion, stormy nighttime conditions with zero visibility, and lack of activated Electronic Homing Aids at the Rrecovery Bases. Only one B-25 Bomber landed intact, in Siberia, where its five-man crew was interned and the Aircraft confiscated. Of the 80 Aircrew Members, 69 survived their Historic Mission and eventually made it back to American Lines.

 

Although the B-25 was originally designed to Bomb from Medium Altitudes in Level Flight, it was used frequently in the Southwest Pacific Theatre in Treetop-Level Strafing and Missions with Parachute-Retarded Fragmentation Bombs against Japanese Airfields in New Guinea and the Philippines. These Heavily Armed Mitchells were Field-Modified at Townsville, Australia, under the direction of Major Paul I. "Pappy" Gunn and North American Technical Representative Jack Fox. These "Commerce Destroyers" were also used on Strafing and Skip Bombing Missions against Japanese shipping trying to resupply their Armies.

 

Under the leadership of Lieutenant General George C. Kenney, Mitchell B-25's of the Far East Air Forces and its existing components, the Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces, devastated Japanese Targets in the Southwest Pacific Theater during 1944 to 1945. The USAAF played a significant role in pushing the Japanese back to their home islands. The type operated with great effect in the Central Pacific, Alaska, North Africa, Mediterranean, and China-Burma-India Theaters.

  

▪︎Role: Medium Bomber

▪︎National Origin: United States

▪︎Manufacturer: North American Aviation

▪︎First Flight: 19th August 1940

▪︎Introduction: 1941

▪︎Retired: 1979 (Indonesia)

▪︎Primary Users: United States Army Air Forces / Royal Air Force / Soviet Air Force / United ▪︎States Marine Corps

▪︎Number Built: 9,816

▪︎Developed From: North American NA-40

▪︎Developed Into: North American XB-28

▪︎Crew: 5 (Pilot, Navigator / Bombardier, Turret Gunner / Engineer, Radio Operator / Waist ▪︎Gunner, Tail Gunner)

▪︎Length: 52ft 11in

▪︎Wingspan: 67ft 7in

▪︎Height: 16ft 4in

▪︎Wing Area: 618 sq ft

▪︎Empty Weight: 19,480lb

▪︎Maximum Takeoff Weight: 35,000lb

▪︎Powerplant: 2 x Wright R-2600-92 Twin Cyclone 14-cylinder Two-Row Air-Cooled Radial Piston Engines 1,700hp each

▪︎Maximum Speed: 272mph at 13,000ft

▪︎Cruise Speed: 230mph

▪︎Range: 1,350 miles

▪︎Service Ceiling: 24,200ft

▪︎Weapons: 12 to 18 x .50in Machine Guns and 2.95in) T13E1 Cannon

▪︎Armament: Hardpoints 2,000lb Ventral Shackles to hold one external Mk.13 Torpedo / Racks for eight 5in High Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR) / 3,000lb Bombs.

150/150 cm collage. stones inspiration. inviolable nature of maternity....

  

according to wikipedia

 

A hijab or ḥijāb (Arabic: حجاب, (he-zjab)pronounced [ħiˈʒæːb]/[ħiˈɡæːb]) is both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general.

 

The Arabic word literally means curtain or cover (noun). Most Islamic legal systems define this type of modest dressing as covering everything except the face and hands in public.[1][2] According to Islamic scholarship, hijab is given the wider meaning of modesty, privacy, and morality;[3] the word for a headscarf or veil used in the Qur'an is khimār (خمار) and not hijab. Still another definition is metaphysical, where al-hijab refers to "the veil which separates man or the world from God."[2]

 

Muslims differ as to whether the hijab should be required on women in public, as it is in countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, or whether it should be banned in schools, as it is in France and Turkey.

  

According to the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, the meaning of hijab has evolved over time:

 

The term hijab or veil is not used in the Qur'an to refer to an article of clothing for women or men, rather it refers to a spatial curtain that divides or provides privacy. The Qur'an instructs the male believers (Muslims) to talk to wives of Prophet Muhammad behind a hijab. This hijab was the responsibility of the men and not the wives of Prophet Muhammad. However, in later Muslim societies this instruction, specific to the wives of Prophet Muhammad, was generalized, leading to the segregation of the Muslim men and women. The modesty in Qur'an concerns both men's and women's gaze, gait, garments, and genitalia. The clothing for women involves khumūr over the necklines and jilbab (cloaks) in public so that they may be identified and not harmed. Guidelines for covering of the entire body except for the hands, the feet and the face, are found in texts of fiqh and hadith that are developed later.[4]

 

In Indonesia, notably the nation with the largest Muslim population, and some cultures or languages influenced by it namely Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, the term jilbab is used instead with few exceptions to refer to the hijab, as opposed to its "correct" modern Arabic definition. In some cases, colloquial use of the term Jilbab may refer to any pre-Islamic female traditional head-dress.

 

Qur'an

 

The Qur'an instructs both Muslim men and women to dress in a modest way.

 

The clearest verse on the requirement of the hijab is surah 24:30-31, asking women to draw their khimar over their bosoms.[5][6]

 

And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their khimar over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to [...] (Qur'an 24:31)

 

In the following verse, Muslim women are asked to draw their jilbab over them (when they go out), as a measure to distinguish themselves from others, so that they are not harassed. Sura 33:59 reads:[6]

 

Those who harass believing men and believing women undeservedly, bear (on themselves) a calumny and a grievous sin. O Prophet! Enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad) That is most convenient, that they may be distinguished and not be harassed. [...] (Qur'an 33:58–59)

 

Other Muslims take a relativist approach to ħijāb. They believe that the commandment to maintain modesty must be interpreted with regard to the surrounding society. What is considered modest or daring in one society may not be considered so in another. It is important, they say, for believers to wear clothing that communicates modesty and reserve in the situations in which they find themselves.[7]

 

Along with scriptural arguments, Leila Ahmed argues that head covering should not be compulsory in Islam because the veil predates the revelation of the Qur'an. Head-covering was introduced into Arabia long before Muhammad, primarily through Arab contacts with Syria and Iran, where the hijab was a sign of social status. After all, only a woman who need not work in the fields could afford to remain secluded and veiled.[8][9]

 

Leila Ahmed argues for a more liberal approach to hijab. Among her arguments is that while some Qur'anic verses enjoin women in general to Qur'an 33:58–59. “draw their Jilbabs (overgarment or cloak) around them to be recognized as believers and so that no harm will come to them.” and Qur'an 24:31. “guard their private parts... and drape down khimar over their breasts [when in the presence of unrelated men]”, they urge modesty.

 

However according to the vast majority of Muslims Sunni and Shia, al-Mawrid al-Qawrid Arabic dictionary, Hans-Wehr Dictionary of Arabic into English, and the exhaustive ancient Arabic dictionary "Lisan al-arab", (literally the tongue of the Arabs) the word 'Khimar' means and was used to refer to a piece of cloth that covers the head, or headscarf today called 'hijab'.

 

Other verses do mention separation of men and women but they refer specifically to the wives of the prophet:

 

Abide still in your homes and make not a dazzling display like that of the former times of ignorance:(Qur'an 33:32–33)

 

And when ye ask of them [the wives of the Prophet] anything, ask it of them from behind a curtain.(Qur'an 33:53)

 

According to Leila Ahmed, nowhere in the whole of the Qur'an is the term hijab applied to any woman other than the wives of Muhammad..[8][10]

 

According to at least two authors, (Reza Aslam and Leila Ahmed) the stipulations of the hijab were originally meant only for Muhammad's wives, and were intended to maintain their inviolability. This was because Muhammad conducted all religious and civic affairs in the mosque adjacent to his home:

 

People were constantly coming in and out of this compound at all hours of the day. When delegations from other tribes come to speak with Prophet Muhammad, they would set up their tents for days at a time inside the open courtyard, just a few feet away from the apartments in which Prophet Muhammad's wives slept. And new emigrants who arrived in Yatrib would often stay within the mosque's walls until they could find suitable homes.[8]

 

According to Ahmed:

 

By instituting seclusion Prophet Muhammad was creating a distance between his wives and this thronging community on their doorstep.[11]

 

They argue that the term darabat al-hijab ("taking the veil"), was used synonymously and interchangeably with "becoming Prophet Muhammad's wife", and that during Muhammad's life, no other Muslim woman wore the hijab. Aslam suggests that Muslim women started to wear the hijab to emulate Muhammad's wives, who are revered as "Mothers of the Believers" in Islam,[8] and states "there was no tradition of veiling until around 627 C.E." in the Muslim community.[8][11]

  

The four major Sunni schools of thought (Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali) hold that entire body of the woman, except her face and hands- though many[who?] say face, hands, and feet-, is part of her awrah, that is the parts of her body that must be covered during prayer and in public settings.[13][14]

 

Some Muslims[who?] recommend that women wear clothing that is not form fitting to the body: either modest forms of western clothing (long shirts and skirts), or the more traditional jilbāb, a high-necked, loose robe that covers the arms and legs. A khimār or shaylah, a scarf or cowl that covers all but the face, is also worn in many different styles. Some Salafi scholars encourage covering the face, while some follow the opinion that it is only not obligatory to cover the face and the hands but mustahab (Highly recommended). Other scholars oppose face covering, particularly in the west where the woman may draw more attention as a result. These garments are very different in cut than most of the traditional forms of ħijāb, and they are worn worldwide by Muslims.

 

Detailed scholarly attention has been focused on prescribing female dress. Most scholars agree that the basic requirements are that when in the presence of someone of the opposite sex (other than a close family member - see mahram), a woman should cover her body, and walk and dress in a way which does not draw sexual attention to her. Some scholars go so far as to specify exactly which areas of the body must be covered. In some cases, this is everything save the eyes but most require everything save the face and hands to be covered. In nearly all Muslim cultures, young girls are not required to wear a ħijāb. There is not a single agreed age when a woman should begin wearing a ħijāb; however, in many Muslim countries, puberty is the dividing line.

 

In private, and in the presence of mahrams, the rules on dress are relaxed. However, in the presence of husband, most scholars stress the importance of mutual freedom and pleasure of the husband and wife.[15]

  

The burqa (also spelled burka) is the garment that covers women most completely: either only the eyes are visible, or nothing at all. Originating in what is now Pakistan, it is more commonly associated with the Afghan chadri. Typically, a burqa is composed of many yards of light material pleated around a cap that fits over the top of the head, or a scarf over the face (save the eyes). This type of veil is cultural as well as religious.

 

It has become tradition that Muslims in general, and Salafis in particular, believe the Qur'ān demands women wear the garments known today as jilbāb and khumūr (the khumūr must be worn underneath the jilbāb). However, Qur'ān translators and commentators translate the Arabic into English words with a general meaning, such as veils, head-coverings and shawls.[16] Ghamidi argues that verses [Qur'an 24:30] teach etiquette for male and female interactions, where khumūr is mentioned in reference to the clothing of Arab women in the 7th century, but there is no command to actually wear them in any specific way. Hence he considers head-covering a preferable practice but not a directive of the sharia (law).[17]

[edit] Men's dress

 

Although certain general standards are widely accepted, there has been little interest in narrowly prescribing what constitutes modest dress for Muslim men. Most mainstream scholars say that men should cover themselves from the navel to the knees; a minority say that the hadith that are held to require this are weak and possibly inauthentic. They argue that there are hadith indicating that the Islamic prophet Muħammad wore clothing that uncovered his thigh when riding camels, and hold that if Muħammad believed that this was permissible, then it is surely permissible for other Muslim males.[citation needed]

 

As a practical matter, however, the opinion that Muslim men must cover themselves between the navel and the knees is predominant, and most Muslims believe that a man who fails to observe this requirement during salah must perform the prayer again,[citation needed] properly covered, in order for it to be valid. Three of the four Sunni Madh'hab, or schools of law, require that the knees be covered; the Maliki school recommends but does not require knee covering.

 

According to some hadith, Muslim men are asked not to wear gold jewellery, silk clothing, or other adornments that are considered feminine. Some scholars say that these prohibitions should be generalized to prohibit the lavish display of wealth on one's person.[18]

 

In more secular Muslim nations, such as Turkey or Tunisia, many women are choosing, or being coerced, to wear the Hijab, Burqa, Niqab, etc. because of the widespread growth of the Islamic revival in those areas.[citation needed] Similarly, increasing numbers of men are abandoning the Western dress of jeans and t-shirts, that dominated places like Egypt 20 to 30 years ago, in favour of more traditional Islamic clothing such as the Galabiyya.

 

In Iran many women, especially younger ones, have taken to wearing transparent, colorful and very loosly worn Hijabs instead of Chadors or mantoos to protest but keep within the law of the state.

 

The colors of this clothing varies. It is mostly black, but in many African countries women wear clothes of many different colours depending on their tribe, area, or family. In Turkey, where the hijab is banned in private and state universities and schools, 11% of women wear it, though 60% wear traditional non-Islamic headscarves, figures of which are often confused with hijab.[19] [20][21]

 

In many of the western nations, there has been a general rise of hijab-wearing women. They are especially common in Muslim Student Associations at college campuses.

 

Some Muslims have criticized strict dress codes that they believe go beyond the demands of hijab, using Qur'an 66:1 to apply to dress codes as well; the verse suggests that it is wrong to refrain from what is permitted by God.[cit

  

John Esposito, professor of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, writes that the customs of veiling and seclusion of women in early Islam were assimilated from the conquered Persian and Byzantine societies and then later on they were viewed as appropriate expressions of Quranic norms and values. The Qur'an does not stipulate veiling or seclusion; on the contrary, it tends to emphasize the participation of religious responsibility of both men and women in society.[22] He claims that "in the midst of rapid social and economic change when traditional security and support systems are increasingly eroded and replaced by the state, (...) hijab maintains that the state has failed to provide equal rights for men and women because the debate has been conducted within the Islamic framework, which provides women with equivalent rather than equal rights within the family."[23]

 

Bloom and Blair also write that the Qur'an doesn't require women to wear veils; rather, it was a social habit picked up with the expansion of Islam. In fact, since it was impractical for working women to wear veils, "A veiled woman silently announced that her husband was rich enough to keep her idle."[24]

[edit] Modern practice

 

Some governments encourage and even oblige women to wear the hijab, whilst others have banned it in at least some public settings.

 

Some Muslims believe hijab covering for women should be compulsory as part of sharia, i.e. Muslim law. Wearing of the hijab was enforced by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and is enforced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Emirate required women to cover not only their head but their face as well, because "the face of a woman is a source of corruption" for men not related to them.[25] While some women wholeheartedly embrace the rules, others protest by observing the rules in slipshod or inconsistent fashion, or flouting them whenever possible. Sudan's criminal code allows the flogging or fining of anyone who “violates public morality or wears indecent clothing”, albeit without defining "indecent clothing",

 

Turkey, Tunisia, and Tajikistan are Muslim-majority countries where the law prohibits the wearing of hijab in government buildings, schools, and universities. In Tunisia, women were banned from wearing hijab in state offices in 1981 and in the 1980s and 1990s more restrictions were put in place.[26] The Turkish government recently attempted to lift a ban on Muslim headscarves at universities, but were overturned by the country's Constitutional Court.[27]

 

On March 15, 2004, France passed a law banning "symbols or clothes through which students conspicuously display their religious affiliation" in public primary schools, middle schools, and secondary schools. In the Belgian city of Maaseik, Niqāb has been banned.[28] (2006)

 

On July 13, 2010, France's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public. There were 335 votes for the bill and only one against in the 557-seat National Assembly.

[edit] Non-governmental

 

Non-governmental enforcement of hijab is found in many parts of the Muslim world.

 

Successful informal coercion of women by sectors of society to wear hijab has been reported in Gaza where Mujama' al-Islami, the predecessor of HAMAS, reportedly used "a mixture of consent and coercion" to "`restore` hijab" on urban educated women in Gaza in the late 1970s and 1980s.[29]

 

Similar behavior was displayed by Hamas itself during the first intifada in Palestine. Though a relatively small movement at this time, Hamas exploited the political vacuum left by perceived failures in strategy by the Palestinian factions to call for a 'return' to Islam as a path to success, a campaign that focused on the role of women.[30] Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the hijab alongside other measures, including insisting women stay at home, segregation from men and the promoting of polygamy. In the course of this campaign women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the hijab was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'.[31]

 

In France, according to journalist Jane Kramer, veiling among school girls became increasingly common following the 9/11 Attack of 2001, due to coercion by "fathers and uncles and brothers and even their male classmates" of the school girls. "Girls who did not conform were excoriated, or chased, or beaten by fanatical young men meting out Islamic justice."[32] According to the American magazine The Weekly Standard, a survey conducted in France in May 2003 reportedly "found that 77% of girls wearing the hijab said they did so because of physical threats from Islamist groups."[33]

 

In India a 2001 "acid attack on four young Muslim women in Srinagar ... by an unknown militant outfit, [was followed by] swift compliance by women of all ages on the issue of wearing the chadar (head-dress) in public."[34][35][36]

 

In Basra Iraq, "more than 100 women who didn't adhere to strict Islamic dress code" were killed between the summer of 2007 and spring of 2008 by Islamist militias (primarily the Mahdi Army) who controlled the police there, according to the CBS news program 60 Minutes.[37]

 

Islamists in other countries have been accused of attacking or threatening to attack the faces of women in an effort to intimidate them from wearing of makeup or allegedly immodest dress.[38][39][40]

[edit] Hijab by country

  

The veil has become the subject of lively contemporary debate, in Muslim countries as well as within Western countries with Muslim populations. For example, in 2006 British government minister Jack Straw suggested that communication with some of the Muslim members of his constituency would be made significantly easier if they ceased covering their faces.[41] In broader terms, the sweep of the debate is captured by Bodman and Tohidi, stating that 'the meaning of the hijab ranges from a form of empowerment for the woman choosing to wear it to a means of seclusion and containment imposed by others'.[42] The subject has also become highly politicized. There is a diverse range of views on the wearing of the hijab in general. Sadiki interviews a woman who views it as 'submission to God's commandments'.[43] Rubenberg illustrates how even secular women in Muslim countries can be made to wear the veil due to a social or political context.[44] Some criticise the hijab in its own right as a regressive device, such as Polly Toynbee stating that it 'turns women into things'.[45] Faisal al Yafai meanwhile argues that the veil should be debated, but that more pressing issues like political and legal rights of women should be a greater priority.[46]

 

Writers such as Leila Ahmed and Karen Armstrong have highlighted how the veil became a symbol of resistance to colonialism, particularly in Egypt in the latter part of the 19th Century, and again today in the post-colonial period. In The Battle for God, Armstrong writes:

 

“The veiled woman has, over the years, become a symbol of Islamic self-assertion and a rejection of Western cultural hegemony.”[47]

 

While in Women and Gender, Ahmed states:

 

“...it was the discourses of the West, and specifically the discourse of colonial domination, that in the first place determined the meaning of the veil in geopolitical discourses and thereby set the terms for its emergence as a symbol of resistance.”[48]

 

The issue of the veil has thus been “hijacked” to a degree by cultural essentialists on both sides of the divide.[citation needed] Arguments against veiling have been co-opted, along with wider “feminist” discourse, to create a colonial “feminism” that uses questions of Muslim women’s dress amongst others to justify “patriarchal colonialism in the service of particular political ends.”[citation needed] Thus, efforts to improve the situation of women in Muslim (and other non-Western) societies are judged purely on what they wear.[citation needed] Meanwhile, for Islamists, rejection of “Western” modes of dress is not enough: resistance and independence can only be demonstrated by the “wholesale affirmation of indigenous culture”[49]—a prime example being the wearing of the veil.

 

Tracing the Victorian law of coverture, Legal Scholar L. Ali Khan provides a critique of the British male elite that wishes to impose its own "comfort views" to unveil Muslim women from Asia, Africa, and Middle East.[50]

 

In her discussion of findings from interviews of university-educated Moroccan Muslim women who choose to wear the Hijab, Hessini argues that wearing the Hijab is used as a method of separation of women from men when women work and therefore step into what is perceived to be the men’s public space, so in this case, when women have the right and are able to work, a method has been found to maintain the traditional societal arrangements.[51]

 

Academic Rema Hammai quotes a Palestinian woman reflective of an "activist" resistance to "hijabization" in Gaza saying that "in my community it's natural to wear" hijab. "The problem is when little boys, including my son, feel they have the right to tell me to wear it."[52] Similarly Iranian-American novelist Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, Marjane Satrapi, author of the graphic novel Persepolis, and Parvin Darabi, who wrote Rage Against the Veil are some of the famous opponents of compulsory hijab, which was protested when first imposed.[53]

 

Cheryl Benard, writing an opinion piece in Rand Corporation, criticized those who used fear to enforce the hijab and stated that "in Pakistan, Kashmir, and Afghanistan, hundreds of women have been blinded or maimed when acid was thrown on their unveiled faces by male fanatics who considered them improperly dressed."[54]

 

Lubna al-Hussein, a journalist in Khartoum, was arrested by the Public Order Police for wearing trousers. She is protesting the punishment for breaking hijab: forty lashes and an indeterminate fine.

"Inviolable" : GCA Gallery - 2 place Farhat Hached 75013

HKFP: Thousands gathered at Edinburgh Place on Wednesday evening calling on G20 countries to raise concerns about Hong Kong at the leaders’ summit on Friday, hours after staging a mass march to foreign consulates to lobby country representatives directly.

Crowds wearing all-black spilt out of the public square, many holding signs that read “Free Hong Kong” and “Democracy Now.”

Organisers, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), issued a statement urging a withdrawal of the government’s suspended extradition bill.

“If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out during the G20 summit, and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people,” it read.

The pro-democracy coalition have led millions on marches over recent weeks against the bill, as demands have evolved into calling for universal suffrage ahead of the July 1 pro-democracy rally.

 

CHRF manifesto :

 

"Withdraw the Extradition Bill! Free Hong Kong!

 

A time when democracy and freedom are universal values that are inviolable.

 

Hong Kong people had urged for democratisation for over 30 years. When Hong Kong was handed over to China since 1997, as written in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised that Hong Kong can enjoy One Country Two Systems and a high degree of autonomy. The Basic Law also promised universal suffrage to be implemented in the year of 2007 to 2008. But China broke these promises, and gradually intervened deeply in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

 

Hong Kong people have always insisted on having universal suffrage – to let Hong Kong people rule Hong Kong. Unfortunately, we seem to be further and further away from genuine democracy. In merely 22 years after the hand-over, the One Country Two Systems principle barely survives. During the [legislative] process of the “Extradition Bill”, the Hong Kong Liaison Office blatantly intervened in Hong Kong’s internal affairs and scrapped the promises of [a] high degree of autonomy.

 

This year, the government decided to put the Extradition Bill through Legislative Council, in order to make all people in Hong Kong, including local citizens and expats, to be potentially extradited to China, or to countries which have less protection on human rights and the rule of law. This will destroy existing protection on human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong and will crack down the last defence to freedom and safety.

 

In our current political system, Hong Kong does not have genuine democracy. To stop this evil law from passing, 1.03 million followed by 2 million Hongkongers courageously took to the streets in the past two weeks. Some were even cracked down by the police with excessive, disproportionate force and lethal weapons. But the government only gave a shallow apology, without making any tangible changes.

 

As world leaders meet at the G20 summit, Hong Kong citizens now sincerely urge all of you, including Xi Jinping, to answer our humble questions: Does Hong Kong deserve democracy? Should Hong Kong people enjoy democracy? Can [a] democratic system be implemented in Hong Kong now?

 

Dear friends from around the world. I believe you have seen through media and the Internet, that Hongkongers spared no efforts to safeguard our freedom. Please bear in mind: if the Extradition Bill passes, when you come to Hong Kong to travel, study or for business, you may face unfair trials. If you believe in values like democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law like we do, please, we urge all of you to voice out, during the G20 summit and defend our rights together with Hong Kong people."

 

www.hongkongfp.com/2019/06/26/democracy-now-hundreds-gath...

  

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