View allAll Photos Tagged JUSTIFICATION
Built from the year 1025 to 1061, enlarged from around 1080 to 1106. In 1688 the French conquered Speyer and burned the whole city down, except of the cathedral. But a thunderstorm lit the embers anew and the western part of the cathedral was destroyed. The people of Speyer didn't care much and closed the rest of the cathedral with a wall. The west part was restored 1772–1778 but this time in baroque style. The troups of the French Revolution stole everything they could carry from inside the cathedral in 1794. In 1801 the cathedral became property of the French government. The French wanted to demolish the building in 1805. But the town council of Speyer refused to demolish the building with the justification, that they had not enough money. Therefore Napoléon I. gave the cathedral back to the Catholics of Speyer in 1806. In 1817 Speyer became German again and the cathedral was restored 1818–1822. 1854–1858 the baroque west part was restored in Neo-Romanesque style. The western front was decorated by Gottfried Renn (1818-1900).
Lesson 1 today :
Narcissists in SL
What is a narcissist?
*Perfect charmer at first: flatters you, showers you with attention.
*Constantly needs validation, praise, and admiration.
*Has no genuine empathy - your feelings are secondary.
*Manipulates: distorts facts, belittles you, you're "always" to blame.
*Double standards: he can do anything, you can't.
*Can't maintain genuine closeness - withdraws when you no longer function.
*Behind the facade: a weak ego that constantly needs fuel to fill the inner emptiness.
How do you protect yourself?
#Don't believe the "love bombing" at first > check if words and actions match.
#Set clear boundaries and don't let yourself be intimidated by fear of losing him.
#Trust your gut: if something seems strange to you, it is.
#Don't make yourself dependent - always maintain your own life without fear of consequences.
#Withdraw his energy: no justifications, no drama > just pull away.
Your own peace is the most important thing in your life. Freedom is the most beautiful feeling of all.
Homework for today:
Recognize narcissists - and let them sit with their emptiness in SL.
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ALOE - Selene’s Corset -
ALOE MARKETPLACE -
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CYNFUL SHOP - Dizzy You Up Skirt - Cynful Marketplace
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Throughout history, tobacco has been one of the most important agricultural crops for Herzegovina, a source of finance and the foundation of development. Today, growing tobacco in Herzegovina has no economic justification, and placing it on the list of protected products opens up possibilities for protection through tourism.
Tobacco in Herzegovina was produced on small plots with the old technology of drying in the sun, which all required a lot of human work. Everyone in the family, aged from 7 to 77, was involved in the tobacco business.
... the precious life-blood of a master-spirit.'
Indiana University's Media School
Areopagitica - A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England is a 1644 prose polemic by the English poet, scholar, and polemical author John Milton opposing licensing and censorship. Areopagitica is among history's most influential and impassioned philosophical defences of the principle of a right to freedom of speech and expression. Many of its expressed principles have formed the basis for modern justifications. (Wikipedia)
Spotted Hyaena / Tüpfelhyäne (Crocuta crocuta)
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa
Without justification, probably because of their look, they have a very bad image. But they are brave and successful hunters, not only opportunistic scavengers, they are very vocal and their social behaviour is unique among carnivores and can be compared with baboons.
The only bad thing about them is their usually unpleasant body odour :-))
But I really like them !
Water is the source of all life ..... This is my justification of living life in the Pennines, where it rains more than the sun shines!
Another testament to its rich history and justification for its Capital of Culture designation, Matera is one of the oldest continually inhabited places on earth behind Aleppo and Jericho.
Indeed, humans have lived here for at least 9,000 years, and as such, Matera has featured in many film productions’ historical backdrops. It’s been used as a stand-in for Jerusalem in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, along with Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew, and more recently as the fictional home of Wonder Woman, Themyscira, in the recent movie.
A sentimental journey
back and forth through time
a haze sometimes
clear as crystal on other days
this is where the emotion chimes
hourly, daily, eternally perhaps?
as much as the Sun gives to life
the hidden shadows remain lost
to the extended night
only touched by reality's hurtful frost
perchance can it change at all?
or has time done enough inside
that sentence dressed in ill-fitting words
like Winter nestling in the clutch of Spring
the bane of all nature's lovebirds
herald the call with a cry
in clonos nothing can defy the truth
of intuitive feelings so vivacious
they of the free world fly in the face of our 'society'
reaching up in unison, in search of rightness...
we follow suit for justification of our ills
clarification of the wrongs within
condemnation of all others we deem below us
always in denial of our own contemptuous stance
of which none among us are truly blameless
upon this fact we at least stand shoulder to shoulder-
the blame in part,
consuming thoughts on a diet of weighty emotions
is a recipe for the poor health of purpose
we must all take responsibility for the recycling of such actions.
by anglia24
09h30: 10/04/2008
©2008anglia24
2016-02-24 01.17.11b
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As you gather with your families and your children during the holiday season - please be sure to remember the crimes against humanity being committed by the religious, conservative republicans in this country and how you would feel if your children were stolen from you. Remember the stealing of children when the people you are talking to are telling you their justifications for their heinous crimes right to your face.
A Green Munia (Amandava formosa) was scanning for its morning breakfast with curious eyes in a village store house near jungle. As the morning warm sunshine hit this bird, it made the full justification of this majestic green beauty against a dark shade backdrop. The combination of colours in this composition are very unique here. Pics was taken from a village forest in Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India.
Cuba, "Who wants to do, find the ways. On who doesn't want have no justifications"
The roads in Cuba are sown by large posters to the glory of Castroism. Accompanied by revolutionary slogans, that want to motivate Cubans to follow the right path. Fidel Castro has not created a cult of personality that would place him in sacred character. Heroes of Cuban independence are highlighted in detail by propaganda. And -myth in the myth- Che Guevara his fierce eyes and romantic beard, like a holy image.
92028 approaches Nettle Hill near Ansty on the up main, which has in recent times become the exception rather than the rule, with a slightly delayed 1M16 20.45 Inverness-Euston Caledonian Sleeper service on a bright and fine summer's morning. It was agnoisingly close to some behind bowlage from a freightliner going in the opposite direction, only narrowly avoiding the unwanted instrusion appearing left of frame by mere seconds.
I had the added bonus of 1M11 running in daylight hours (a rarity) this particular morning due to late-running as well, passing some 20 minutes before. The bright, eye-catching GB Railfreight livery makes this one the winner in my view. The unexpected double stamp provided a justification for the late booking made to stay overnight in a local hotel.
Species #1318
(Glaucidium californicum)
Special thanks to my friend Rick Evets for helping me to get this amazing predator.
The northern pygmy owl is a small owl native to western North America. Some taxonomic authorities, including the International Ornithologists' Union, separate this species from the mountain pygmy owl, the Baja pygmy owl, and the Guatemalan pygmy owl, while others, such as the American Ornithological Society, do not recognize the split and consider this bird conspecific with the group, with the northern pygmy owl taking the English name for them all. Furthermore, if the group is considered conspecific, G. gnoma becomes the scientific name because it is older. Clear differences in the territorial calls by males are the basis for the proposed split, with birds in the high elevations of Arizona and Mexico giving a two-note call while their more northerly congeners give a repeated single-note call. Results from DNA sequence comparisons of cytochrome-b have been weak and inconclusive despite being referenced repeatedly as a justification for taxonomic splitting.
Koenig, Weick and Becking. Owls: A Guide to the Owls of the World, 1999
Castle Drogo is a country house and mixed-revivalist castle near Drewsteignton, Devon, England. Constructed between 1911 and 1930, it was the last castle to be built in England. The client was Julius Drewe, the hugely successful founder of the Home and Colonial Stores. Drewe chose the site in the belief that it formed part of the lands of his supposed medieval ancestor, Drogo de Teigne. The architect he chose to realise his dream was Edwin Lutyens, then at the height of his career. Lutyens lamented Drewe's determination to have a castle but nevertheless produced one of his finest buildings. The architectural critic, Christopher Hussey, described the result: "The ultimate justification of Drogo is that it does not pretend to be a castle. It is a castle, as a castle is built, of granite, on a mountain, in the twentieth century".
The castle was given to the National Trust in 1974, the first building constructed in the twentieth century that the Trust acquired. The castle is a Grade I listed building. The gardens are Grade II* listed on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Rebellion cannot exist without the feeling that somewhere, in some way, you are justified. My justification happens to be fashion.
Model: Queentoy Cyberstar
Photographer: Queentoy Cyberstar
Look Details letmeupgradecha.blogspot.com/2015/04/plus-size-justificat...
The Öresund or Øresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen, Swedish: Öresundsbron) is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the longest in Europe with both roadway and railway combined in a single structure, running nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.
The bridge connects the road and rail networks of the Scandinavian Peninsula with those of Central and Western Europe. The international European route E20 crosses via road, the Øresund Line via railway. The construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link (1988–1998), connecting Zealand to Funen and thence to the Jutland Peninsula, and the Øresund Bridge have connected Central and Western Europe to Sweden by road and rail.
The bridge was designed by Jorgen Nissen and Klaus Falbe Hansen from Ove Arup and Partners, and Niels Gimsing and Georg Rotne.
The justification for the additional expenditure and complexity related to digging a tunnel for part of the way, rather than raising that section of the bridge, was to avoid interfering with air traffic from the nearby Copenhagen Airport, to provide a clear channel for ships in good weather or bad, and to prevent ice floes from blocking the strait. Construction began in 1995, with the bridge opening to traffic on 1 July 2000. The bridge received the 2002 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award.
Headed out with the camera the other day. Had no real purpose in mind for photography. But it was the sort of day I knew would immerse me in feeling. And usually that's more than ample justification to bring the camera. Where emotion develops, creativity is soon to follow. My motivation this day was the extreme winds typical of the March lion. I hiked up a nearby ridge where the winds were especially forceful. I've always loved the feeling of being jostled by the unseen force of moving air. Here it was difficult to stand still or even catch my breath at times. All around me the landscape was whipped into a frenzy of motion while ominous cloud shadows rolled across the valley. Everything in motion, every one of my senses filled, the moment was totally immersive. I just felt so alive.
Just over three days later came the dreadful news of the death of my wife's mother. Judy was 86 but still seemed full of life. There was a sense of shock and grief, but it was assuaged by the warmth and love that she exuded in life. Truly a legacy of compassion and caring. In the days since I've thought back to my afternoon in the wind, being blown about in a carefree, childlike fashion...momentarily disconnected from daily stress and worry. Much to be said for living in the moment, never knowing how many moments truly remain. As we mourn the loss of our matriarch, there is that unspoken awareness that we all now must ascend another rung on the ladder of life. And that top rung draws slowly yet inexorably closer. Best we can hope for is a life well loved. Like Judy's.
The Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted out of the lake by windmills. The Beemster Polder was dried during the period 1609 through 1612. It has preserved intact its well-ordered landscape of fields, roads, canals, dykes and settlements, laid out in accordance with classical and Renaissance planning principles. A grid of canals parallels the grid of roads in the Beemster. The grids are offset: the larger feeder canals are offset by approximately one kilometer from the larger roads.
Because of its historical relevance, and because the original structure of the area is still largely intact, the Beemster was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1999. Justification for Inscription is as follows:
Criterion (i): The Beemster Polder is a masterpiece of creative planning, in which the ideals of antiquity and the Renaissance were applied to the design of a reclaimed landscape.
Criterion (ii): The innovative and intellectually imaginative landscape of the Beemster Polder had a profound and lasting impact on reclamation projects in Europe and beyond.
Criterion (iv): The creation of the Beemster Polder marks a major step forward in the interrelationship between humankind and water at a crucial period of social and economic expansion.
See also:
Sometimes I still can't quite believe my luck. I always imagined what it would be like to find the man I wasn't sure was just a figment of my naive imagination. I always felt him with me, within my mind. And I have felt something that cannot be compared to the feeling of a simple imagination or daydream. Whenever I didn't feel like I belonged, and in fact at applied to nearly every moment of my life, it was the only thing that could make me feel fine.
I often sat for hours lost in thought and I was in another dimension of my life, with him, without understanding how that could be possible.
And the older I got, the more time passed and the more often I was disappointed in the illusion of something with a random man, the more often I heard that what I wanted didn't exist, the more naive I felt.
„Such things don‘t exist“.
I knew for sure that I felt it because it existed.
But everything and everyone spoke against this feeling. And then, when I recognized you, I understood. And now, after all this time and all the moments that were meant for you and that I didn't spend like this, you are finally here. And what I feel is even greater than I could have expected. I can't believe you finally found me, I always wondered what would happen if...
And now it's as if I'm finally complete. No, actually I always was, but now I'm growing beyond myself and suddenly everything that was a vague assumption before becomes certainty. I've never felt like this before. Suddenly I understand that love is much more than what I knew about it, greater than any beautiful feeling I understood it to be. Greater than a word can express.
You give me security, I feel one with you and together we grow, become better versions of ourselves and nothing can change my love for you. You are my joy, the sweet secret that denies the madness of this world any justification for its existence. You make everything easier, more beautiful, better.
I love you, Kostaki.
"In our time there are many artists who do something because it is new.. they see their value and their justification in this newness. They are deceiving themselves.. novelty is seldom the essential. This has to do with one thing only.. making a subject better from its intrinsic nature."
- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
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Thanks to all for 12,000.000+ views and kind comments ... !
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Eventually her eyes met a beautiful Snow Globe. There it is, of course! And she had no problems to come up with a justification:
- As a child I had almost similar. I never got tired of staring and turning it around again and again - it fed my imagination endlessly! And this one does the same- therefore it is my candidate!
Canon EOS 20D; 03/06/2009; 1/400 at f/4; ISO 200; white balance: Auto; focal length: 24 mm
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.
Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms[1] and covers 720,000 square metres (7,800,000 square feet). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture,[2] and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987,[2] and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Part of the museum's former collection is now located in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the same institution, but were split after the Chinese Civil War.
The common English name, "the Forbidden City," is a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjinchéng; literally "Purple Forbidden City"). Another English name of similar origin is "Forbidden Palace".[3]
The name "Zijin Cheng" is a name with significance on many levels. Zi, or "Purple", refers to the North Star, which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, and in traditional Chinese astrology was the abode of the Celestial Emperor. The surrounding celestial region, the Ziwei Enclosure (Chinese: 紫微垣; pinyin: Zǐwēiyuán), was the realm of the Celestial Emperor and his family. The Forbidden City, as the residence of the terrestrial emperor, was its earthly counterpart. Jin, or "Forbidden", referred to the fact that no-one could enter or leave the palace without the emperor's permission. Cheng means a walled city.[4]
Today, the site is most commonly known in Chinese as Gùgōng (故宫), which means the "Former Palace."[5] The museum which is based in these buildings is known as the "Palace Museum" (Chinese: 故宫博物院; pinyin: Gùgōng Bówùyùan).
The Forbidden City is the world's largest surviving palace complex and covers 72 ha. It is a rectangle 961 metres (3,150 ft) from north to south and 753 metres (2,470 ft) from east to west. It consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms.[1] The Forbidden City was designed to be the centre of the ancient, walled city of Beijing. It is enclosed in a larger, walled area called the Imperial City. The Imperial City is, in turn, enclosed by the Inner City; to its south lies the Outer City.
The Forbidden City remains important in the civic scheme of Beijing. The central north-south axis remains the central axis of Beijing. This axis extends to the south through Tiananmen gate to Tiananmen Square, the ceremonial centre of the People's Republic of China. To the north, it extends through the Bell and Drum Towers to Yongdingmen.[29] This axis is not exactly aligned north-south, but is tilted by slightly more than two degrees. Researchers now believe that the axis was designed in the Yuan Dynasty to be aligned with Xanadu, the other capital of their empire.[30]
Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang
Brief Description
Seat of supreme power for over five centuries (1416-1911), the Forbidden City in Beijing, with its landscaped gardens and many buildings (whose nearly 10,000 rooms contain furniture and works of art), constitutes a priceless testimony to Chinese civilization during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Imperial Palace of the Qing Dynasty in Shenyang consists of 114 buildings constructed between 1625–26 and 1783. It contains an important library and testifies to the foundation of the last dynasty that ruled China, before it expanded its power to the centre of the country and moved the capital to Beijing. This palace then became auxiliary to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. This remarkable architectural edifice offers important historical testimony to the history of the Qing Dynasty and to the cultural traditions of the Manchu and other tribes in the north of China.
Justification for Inscription World Heritage
Criterion (i): The Imperial Palaces represent masterpieces in the development of imperial palace architecture in China.
Criterion (ii): The architecture of the Imperial Palace complexes, particularly in Shenyang, exhibits an important interchange of influences of traditional architecture and Chinese palace architecture particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Criterion (iii): The Imperial Palaces bear exceptional testimony to Chinese civilisation at the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties, being true reserves of landscapes, architecture, furnishings and objects of art, as well as carrying exceptional evidence to the living traditions and the customs of Shamanism practised by the Manchu people for centuries.
Criterion (iv): The Imperial Palaces provide outstanding examples of the greatest palatial architectural ensembles in China. They illustrate the grandeur of the imperial institution from the Qing Dynasty to the earlier Ming and Yuan dynasties, as well as Manchu traditions, and present evidence on the evolution of this architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In Ucraina scorrono fiumi di sangue e di lacrime. Non si tratta solo di un'operazione militare, ma di una guerra, che semina morte, distruzione e miseria. Le vittime sono sempre più numerose, così come le persone in fuga, specialmente mamme e bambini... (Angelus 6 marzo )
.....Non si arresta, purtroppo la violenta aggressione contro l'Ucraina, un massacro insensato, dove ogni giorno si ripetono scempi e atrocità. Non c'è giustificazione per questo.
Supplico tutti gli attori delle comunità internazionali perché si impegnino davvero nel far cessare questa guerra ripugnante.
... Tutto questo è disumano! Anzi è anche sacrilego, perché va contro la sacralità della vita umana, soprattutto contro la vita indifesa che va rispettata e protetta, non eliminata e che viene prima di ogni strategia!
Non dimentichiamo, è una crudeltà disumana e sacrilega!
.... Stiamo vicini a questo popolo, abbracciamolo con l'affetto , con l'impegno e con la preghiera. Per favore, non abitiamoci alla guerra e alla violenza!,.
( Angelus 20 marzo 2022)
Stop this repulsive, senseless and violent war!
'.... The violent aggression against Ukraine doesn't stop, a senseless massacre where every day is a repetition of slaughter and atrocities. There is not a justification for it!
I plead with the international community to truly commit to ending this abhorrent war... '
Pope Francis
Dal computer
El objetivo de esta conocida parábola es recordar que en ocasiones nos apoyamos en el conformismo y de este modo tenemos la excusa o justificación perfecta para quedarnos estancados…Lee mas www.grada.es/la-vaca-grada-166-amparo-garcia-iglesias/blo...
The objective of this well-known parable is to remember that sometimes we lean on conformism and thus have the perfect excuse or justification to stay stuck... Read more www.grada.es/la-vaca-grada-166-amparo-garcia-iglesias/blo...
Das Ziel dieser bekannten Parabel ist es, uns daran zu erinnern, dass wir uns manchmal auf den Konformismus stützen und somit die perfekte Entschuldigung oder Rechtfertigung haben, um stecken zu bleiben... Weiterlesen www.grada.es/la-vaca-grada-166-amparo-garcia-iglesias/blo...
--
Por favor no use mis imágenes en páginas web, blogs u otros medios sin mi permiso explícito.
©Todos los derechos reservados.
Please don’ t use my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.
© All rights reserved.
Cats assess all risks at 100% probability and this sound will certainly result in being offered, with no justification whatsoever, to the notoriously cat hating vet. Exact same happened last year: first the basket; then shut in the boot of the lurching car thing how he got a licence beats me; finally donated for vet's amusement with needles and horrible poison and nothing to eat for two days.
Listen The Dark Night Of The Soul - Loreena McKennitt
Upon a darkened night
the flame of love was burning in my breast
And by a lantern bright
I fled my house while all in quiet rest
Shrouded by the night
and by the secret stair I quickly fled
The veil concealed my eyes
while all within lay quiet as the dead
Chorus
Oh night thou was my guide
oh night more loving than the rising sun
Oh night that joined the lover
to the beloved one
transforming each of them into the other
Upon that misty night
in secrecy, beyond such mortal sight
Without a guide or light
than that which burned so deeply in my heart
That fire t'was led me on
and shone more bright than of the midday sun
To where he waited still
it was a place where no one else could come
Chorus
Within my pounding heart
which kept itself entirely for him
He fell into his sleep
beneath the cedars all my love I gave
And by the fortress walls
the wind would brush his hair against his brow
And with its smoothest hand
caressed my every sense it would allow
Chorus
I lost myself to him
and laid my face upon my lovers breast
And care and grief grew dim
as in the mornings mist became the light
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
The phrase "dark night of the soul" emerged from the writings of Saint John of the Cross, a Carmelite priest in the 16th century. Dark Night of the Soul, the name of a poem and its theological commentary, are among the Carmelite priest's most well-known writings. The texts tell of the saint's mystical development and the stages he is subjected to on his journey towards union with God. The Dark Night of the Soul is divided into two books that reflect the two phases of the dark night. The first is a purification of the senses. The second and more intense of the two stages is that of the spirit, which is the less common of the two. Dark Night of the Soul further describes the ten steps on the ladder of mystical love, previously described by Saint Thomas Aquinas and in part by Aristotle, referred to by medieval Catholic theologians as the Philosopher, for he established justification for the existence of one true God and thus refuted his master, Plato. The text was written while John of the Cross was imprisoned by his Carmelite brothers, who opposed his reformations to the Order. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, a 19th-century French Carmelite, underwent similar experience. Centering on doubts about the afterlife, she reportedly told her fellow nuns, "If you only knew what darkness I am plunged into."
Loreena writes in the CD booklet about this song:
May, 1993 - Stratford ... have been reading through the poetry of 15th century Spain, and I find myself drawn to one by the mystic writer and visionary St. John of the Cross; the untitled work is an exquisite, richly metaphoric love poem between himself and his god. It could pass as a love poem between any two at any time ... His approach seems more akin to early Islamic or Judaic works in its more direct route to communication to his god ... I have gone over three different translations of the poem, and am struck by how much a translation can alter our interpretation. Am reminded that most holy scriptures come to us in translation, resulting in a diversity of views.
Music by Loreena McKennitt
Lyrics by St. John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz), arr. and adapted by Loreena McKennitt
In Wordpress In Blogger photo.net/photos/Reinante/ In Onexposure
Spare a thought for all the lonely, broken people this Christmas.
For some people, the approach of Christmas brings its own form of dread as the seasonal hype and pressure for the ''Most Wonderful Time of the Year'' just underscores their struggle.
Whether you're down because of work related stress, money troubles, illness or loss, Christmas creeps up with its relentless expectation for you to be happy and full of joy.
I'm here to tell you that it's OK to have a totally crap Christmas.
Don't let the pressure crack you.
At the worst you'll probably get the day off work to edit your best photos from 2015.
Christmas is also good justification for eating an entire pack of Lindt chocolate balls all to yourself while watching 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' for the millionth time.
So, as you see, it's not all bad.
You just have to get through NYE and then it's plain sailing ;)
Merry Bloody Christmas
Gavin
Signs 121.365
Poznan, Poland
Winter
Signs. For reasons, For direction, For clarification. For justification. For consideration. To lead, To follow, To be.
Enjoy the moment.
Join me on my personal website Erik Witsoe or contact me at ewitsoe@gmail.com for cooperation. Thank you.
I also write on Medium and you can find me here: Erik Witsoe.
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"The struggle of visionary souls / does not know clarity / nor solution and lacks / justification"
"De worsteling van geesten / die oog hebben voor de toekomst / kent geen helderheid / geen oplossing en ook geen rechtvaardiging."
lithography, size image 19x23 cm, paper 32x45 cm, ed. 1/5)
Last night it was All Hallows Eve, and the time when lots of people take their best zombie and vampire outfits out of the wardrobe to enjoy scaring folk. But I believe monsters do not need a costume to scare. I will share today a Halloween story, changing a little bit my usual mood here, but to share something that may resonate with the experience of more than one who may read this.
A long time ago, when I first came to Second Life, I used to socialize a lot more than I do nowadays. Although I am very shy and I find it very difficult to interact with people, at least with more than one at a time, as it usually happens with introverts, I do like people and I immediately trust everybody. Not long after I became a regular in the game, I met someone who would change my life forever.
She was the most intelligent person I ever met. I got mesmerized at her knowledge of the World, of science, of humanities, of culture, technology and even the occult. She had travelled half the World and would discuss with me about geopolitics, history, macroeconomy, music, medicine, philosophy, astronomy... There was no field of knowledge that she didn't master.
Almost every night and for a very long time, I would meet her and it became my most absolute joy, always looking forward to the time we'd be together. I learned so much! She encouraged me to meditate and opened my mind to many things; she pushed me to get outside my intellectual comfort zone, to explore knowledge beyond my training and specialization, taught me to get free of prejudice and tried to open a path of enlightenment for me.
I don't think I fell in love with her. I have known real love later in my life and it isn't what I felt for that woman at all. But her knowledge, her larger-than-life personality, her confidence and, why not saying it, her naughtiness as well, were extremely sexy for me at that moment in my life, and she definitely seduced me. She knew absolutely everything about me, and I thought I knew a lot about her.
She was kind to me as well, showing interest in me and making me feel special. This lasted until everything changed. When I felt most comfortable with her, when I verbalized my admiration for her, developed a genuine and strong fascination and affection for her, when I made plans with her and she had become indispensable in my life, then she showed her real face.
She started playing with my emotions in a way that I had never experienced or imagined it was possible. Among other things, she would show sudden changes of mood without any obvious trigger or justification that I could recognize, going from the usual behaviour that I knew and learned to love to a vicious anger. She would scorn me, insult me, bully me, accuse me of things I never did or said, making me feel really confused and sad.
This emotional strain would continue for weeks or months and I would do every effort to show affection and try to understand what was happening, giving my best, trying to talk about how I felt and what could be done to smooth her behaviour. I thought I was in control, but in fact, little by little, my confidence was being eroded, my self-esteem destroyed, and my nerves broken.
I was being bullied with sadism and I was totally blind to what she was doing to me, or more precisely, I knew what she was doing, but I was trying to rationalize it and even take a share of blame, trying to change the things that apparently annoyed her. I thought that the woman who fascinated me with her knowledge of the World, who had treated me nice, who was my friend, needed my help to be the person I had first met.
Over time, and repeatedly, she would remove me from contacts, block me, or disappear from SL for long periods of time, usually as a result of a stupid thing. For example, I remember once saying something like "enjoy your dinner of mackerel with dill sauce" (she was supposedly Swedish), as a joke. That was enough for a huge rant about me being stupid, having a narrow mind, unable to think outside of stereotypes, to finally block me without giving me a chance to explain, and disappearing for several months.
But she would suddenly return one day. I would find a friendly message from her, a smile and a casual "how are you?", and then she would be nice and I would welcome her back in my life with genuine happiness and willing to forget the past. And then the cycle would repeat again. But every time I would be more broken, more lost, more undermined, less human, more in her control. I was genuinely scared to speak my mind freely when we were together, and had to think twice or three times before saying anything, because I feared her reactions. Yet I felt attracted to her like a magnet.
To this nightmare, which lasted some five long years, you have to add something that is not rare in Second Life, but that I only figured out when everything was over and I was able to finally open my eyes and put the pieces together. It was precisely one mistake she made that made me realize, what broke the spell, what opened my eyes and gave me the strength for zero contact and start recovering my freedom.
She had been using at least five or six alts with me, possibly more (with time I counted over twelve in her control). Several but not all of them had supposed links with her (roommates, real life buddies, buddies' girlfriends, ...), and without me knowing, she had been using all these characters to manipulate me and my emotions in extremely Machiavellian and elaborate ways, including pretending that she was in life-threatening situations and others that touched the right emotions in me to end up smashing them violently.
These events happened many years ago, starting in 2008, long enough to have forgotten most details, most anecdotes. But what I did not forget was the fear and the pain of being abused without any justification, and also the impotence and anxiety of being completely unable to understand the person I admired so much, and this scarred me forever. These wounds are not in my mind or my memory; these wounds are in my soul, too deep to ever heal. And I also feared what she could do to me or my loved ones, because she knew everything she needed to hurt me, had she wanted to.
Last night, All Hallows Eve, out of boredom, I visited one of the old places I used to hang out in Second Life. A historic SL musical venue, where many rock and blues lovers meet every day to enjoy the music and the company. It was ages since I had been there. I rezzed in the sim and entered the bar. When I stepped in and checked the crowd, I suddenly saw her name standing out among all the tags hovering in the place. Subsequently, I had time to recognize two additional names in the place: two of her old alts.
I am not exaggerating the slightest, my heart stopped in real panic, I got frozen in my real life chair, as if I had stumbled upon a rattler, after all these years, after not a single atom of admiration or of expectation or interest exist in my heart for this person anymore, after any feeling for that person, good or bad, had been washed away by time. Yet, all of a sudden I felt all of the anxiety and incomprehension and sorrow and fear of those years falling over me again. I felt sheer terror.
I have had my new avatar for less than 1.5 years, after successively deleting any previous accounts over the years. There is no way she could have known I was there, but I was terrorized by simply being in the same virtual place as she was. I reacted after what seemed an eternity teleporting to another place and, after a short time, feeling my heart racing and real physiological and psychological anguish, I shut down SL. This monster is out there, has been out there all the time, and I am sure she was terrorizing somebody at that very same moment I saw her yesterday.
Monsters do not have to sport fangs, blood stains or hockey masks. Monsters only need a clever, sadistic mind and an absolute lack of empathy for others... especially if you trust and tend to empathize. If you ever crossed paths with a narcissist or a psychopath, even in a "harmless" virtual world, you know very well what I am talking about.
If you never lived an experience like this, my story may sound stupid, also because I only explained the context, without indulging in the details. But you must believe me, if you get trapped in the cobweb of a monster, what they do to you is everything but stupid. They come as nice, really charming and nice, but their schemes are very dark. And if you are naïve like myself, if you believe in the goodness of people, it is the perfect recipe for disaster.
After these events and for a long time, I have been suspicious of people, also in my real life, or at least I forced myself not to open up immediately to people who approached me, even if they were very nice... especially if they were very nice. My Second Life changed too until someone gave me reasons to enjoy it again and exploit its most creative side. But the truth is we cannot fight our true nature, and fortunately, most people are not sick in their minds. Most people have genuinely good intentions and are genuinely kind at heart, and I met a bunch in SL (or your Flickr version) too. I will continue trusting and will give my best always, because I can, because you deserve it.
The mystic night of Samhain is over. The souls returned to the Purgatory to cleanse their sins. Please, be safe.
If you see demons everywhere, you will end up becoming one.
Brussels, Belgium, 2024.
So, the state lies to us, does it? Who can tell? In this increasingly confusing world, no one can ever be too sure. Some people want to believe what the state keeps telling us because they just don't want to worry to much. Others don't believe everything they are told and project their scepticism to the political statements of the governments. And still others want to believe that the state is lying to us because they need it as justification for their own crude world view, for which they themselves are happy to lie.
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with its message, the text should serve as a reminder that a healthy dose of scepticism and critical thinking is one of the key qualifications of democratic and informed citizens.
I am concerned about the widespread praise of artificial intelligence as a groundbreaking technology. Many people fail to see that relying on AI for tasks such as reading, summarizing, analyzing, evaluating, and forming educated opinions may lead to a decline in our own skills over time. If we become overly dependent on AI for these abilities, it could make it easier for dishonest politicians from both the government and the opposition to deceive us. There’s value in doing things yourself. It keeps our sense sharp and our skills honed.
There's more on www.chm-photography.com.
Enjoy!
As I was cruising through my catalog, I spotted my "La Jolla" shoot from a few years back and decided I'd take a peek through to see if there was anything else to mine here. I've already posted several shots from this incredible evening. Truly the greatest sunset I've ever witnessed, the colors went through the whole cycle from yellow gold to deep red and purple, and the entire sky from east to west lit up for what seemed like hours. Truly a breathtaking sight to see and thank heaven I had my camera AND an interesting place to shoot. This was 5 years ago or so before I moved up to full frame. Wish I'd had a better lens. The Pentax 12-24mm is a decent enough crop sensor wide angle, and the price was right, but it doesn't compare well to more modern full frame wide angle lenses.
The Hospital Reef at La Jolla has these wonderful "pot hole" formations. When the tide is right the incoming waves fill the pot holes and then recede. I shot many angles and color variants that night, but on second inspection I realized this one had the whole range of sunset color captured in the pots. Each different pot angle picking up a different sky tone. One might look at this image and one might think "Jeez, Sky processes his colors way over the top, this is bullshit". And often times you would be fully justified in such a thought. Guilty as charged. Sometimes. I do like my colors vibrant. But not this time. In fact I had to turn back the saturation and vibrancy a bit (- settings in Lightroom) so that it didn't look too redonculous.
I went back to La Jolla last year to try another shoot there, and unfortunately the sunset fizzled. Sadly, I discovered that whoever owns the building at the edge of the tide pools has installed these massively bright outdoor lights that come on right around sunset, my guess would have to be to annoy the photographers and discourage them from coming.. to the public beach. And the lights are right near the best of these pot formations. Maybe there's a justification for it, I don't know. Seems like a total dick move to me. Boo!
I guess some odd sense of normalcy is setting in with the pandemic right now, initial panic and fear has subsided to lower levels of general anxiety. I don't have too much deep or enlightening to say today. Maybe another post later. Since I'm limited in going out to take photos, I have more time to go through and work on the ones I already have. Trying to appreciate what I have and not be wanting more.
Sometimes an idea works out differently than you expect. This was intended to be a photo of just a passionflower tendril with a droplet at its center, but the droplet would not form an acceptable “lens” based on the imperfect edges to the spiral. Many attempts were made before deciding that another element would be required.
I have a box of wildflower seeds that I collect opportunistically and use when the mood strikes. This one is a favourite: Salsify (also called Yellow Goat’s Beard). The large web-like sail on the seed holds water droplets nicely, and I nudged this seed firmly into the center of the spiral. It didn’t stay there for long, with the weight of the accruing water making it front-heavy and nearly falling out of the tendril. In its descent, friction against the thicker barbs at the end of the seed stopped it. The camera was ready for its previous positioning, but all settings were dialed in. A quick adjustment to framing and focus, and here we are.
Moments after the photo was taken, the seed continued to fall and ended up on the table. For a behind-the-scenes image I placed it back in the approximate location, and you can see that here: donkom.ca/bts/IMG_2283.jpg - a sunflower used as the background, connecting both blue and yellow is support of Ukraine.
And there has been some developments on that front, for those who do not receive regular news updates. There are five main points I’d like to mention:
- Russians have placed a human head impaled on a stick somewhere in Popasna. The thought process to commit such a crime is seemingly pervasive across their armed forces: instill fear for control with zero regard of human life. Russia is showing the world they are ready to head back to the Dark Ages, which began with the fall of Rome. The parallels to Moscow are uncanny.
- Russian forces tortured and murdered at least 50 Ukrainian Prisoners of War in Olenivka prison camp. They claim that Ukrainian forces struck the facility after learning that the prisoners were providing testimony about Ukrainian war crimes. In reality, all evidence indicates that a Russian thermobaric warhead was detonated inside the facility and not indicative of a missile attack. The war crime is a way to fuel the Russian propaganda machine in Moscow, where the Russian version of events will remain unchallenged.
- Amnesty International filed a report stating that Ukrainian forces were using civilian infrastructure and endangering civilian lives in the process. The report was not offered to Amnesty International Ukraine for input and was written by someone using testimony from people in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. As a result, many people have cut ties with the organization with at least one founder leaving. Why is this important? Such a report basically gives Russia full permission in their delusions to fire on all civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, as if they weren’t doing that already. However, for the purposes of propaganda, this can paint such attacks in a heroic light for the Russian population.
- Unexpectedly and with devastating force, significant damage to an air base in Crimea has occurred, destroying more Russian aircraft than at any other point in the war and killing an estimated 60 pilots. The source of the attack is currently unclear, as the distance from Ukrainian-controlled territory is greater than the longest-range weapons that Ukraine has. Some people suggest it was an improvised drone strike that set of a cascade reaction of explosions, others suggest that Ukraine has been given weapons of which the public has no knowledge (fog of war reasoning). Either way, the Kerch bridge leading from Crimea to Russia has been jam packed with cars leaving the region. The Russians no longer feel safe there.
- There are reports that Russia has mined and planted explosives strategically inside and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (the largest such facility in Europe). The head of the Russian forces in the region made “scorched earth” comments; basically, if Russia can’t have it, they’ll destroy it. This would be the largest nuclear disaster in history, resulting in radioactive clouds that would spread across the planet.
What does this all break down to? The complete disregard for human life by the Russian forces continue, and are partially enhanced by their ability to spin their own web of lies and justifications for further diabolical actions. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are grinding the Russian forces down, destroying certain bridges around Kherson and creating intense fear among the Russians in Crimea. For all the terror that Russia inflicts, they gain nothing but fear and uncertainty.
It's only a matter of time before the forces in the Kherson region are so diminished that the area can be liberated with a minimum of casualties to the brave men and women of Ukraine and all fighting alongside them. The demoralized forces from Russia will likely have an escalation of desertion, possibly with increased desperation in tactics.
Ukraine’s biggest challenge will be to bring the fight to the east side of the Dnipro River in the south. If powerful nations around the globe continue to supply Ukraine with more advanced, long-range weaponry, the next stage of the Ukraine War will begin. They all need our support, and we must be prepared for the unspeakable horrors discovered when towns and cities are liberated. Support charities working in the region, write to your government officials, create your own messages of support, rally and make it known that Russia cannot win and cannot be allowed to follow this path of tyrannical madness ever again. We continue our support over here, as best we can.
Life is the never-ending and continuous search of meaning. That is the justification of staying alive in our world.
Lamp post at Coal Harbour Vancouver downtown.
Continuing a tradition of one, a quick post to illustrate where/what Savinja is to friends asking about our second daughter's name, and again to explain a recent absence to Flickr contacts!
Per TS Eliot's theory on the naming of cats (see below), we felt she, like Jessica, would need "a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified..." to her day to day Sophie.
The Savinja river starts way up at the end of Logarksa Dolina, shown here, and the stream flows just left of the shot. A few of my other pictures show how it rushes under a crust of snow, even through caves of snow further up the valley.
The photo itself is something of a poster child for my general Slovenia experience - walk out somewhere engaging in the light, shoot, then walk back in utter terror once night has fallen. Originally I shot this with black and white in mind, and processed it as such, yet in the final stages I flicked back to colour briefly and so liked this eerie oil paint palette I thought I'd take a risk and leave it as is.
Thanks to Ursa and family at Lenar Farm with whom we'll hopefully be staying again next summer in Logarska Dolina, who kindly confirmed that Savinja didn't have any unintended or strange meanings in Slovene. If you're heading to Slovenia and fancy waking up looking at this, I can recommend the Lenar Farm as one of the best places a person can stay anywhere on Earth!
And Sophie Savinja Howarth she would have been, but born on my late Grandmother Verona's birthday, she earned an additional name as a bonus. We'd in fact discussed Verona as a name previously, and only stopped short on the basis that we didn't know the city. Given the specious day of her birth, however, we took the view that knowing the force of personality was justification enough to trump any mere city.
Anyway - thank you to all the kind well wishers on email and Facebook.
For reference;
The Naming Of Cats by T. S. Eliot
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.
LARGE view and read tags at right.
Enjoy and share well this HOLY WEEK, for He died so EACH of us may live.
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Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day today, tomorrow, and Monday 3.17.2008, by blessing your family and yourself at www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en
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"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from u s in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains set lightly upon you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." -Sam Adams
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Recipient passes on emailed HEARSAY SECRETS
Blushing at this end from the joy of reading your latest epistle. Twas cool. Improving toward Perfection is a life time goal of many. Never achieved but trying, right? Some need so much help. If we each do our part, maybe Hades will be a little less full during that long eternal party without air conditioning.
Though at any party on this planet, I do not hang with every body. I stay in the corner, spy a few prior acquaintances or friends, and talk the night away. I am not too much on meeting and making great new friends from a large crowd. In fact, few parties do I attend. Who needs that or them? I am busy partying on Flickr.
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Scripture Needs to Be Read Spiritually, Says Preacher
Delivers Final Lenten Meditation for Pope and Curia
ROME, MARCH 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Scripture is not only inspired by God, but also "breathes forth God," that is, the Holy Spirit inhabits Scripture and animates it, says the preacher of the Pontifical Household.
Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa said this today in the Lenten meditation he delivered to Benedict XVI and the Roman Curia in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel of the Apostolic Palace.
The sermon was the last in a series of meditations the preacher gave this Lent.
The series, titled "The Word of God Is Living and Effective," reflects the theme of the next Synod of Bishops on the word of God, to be held in October.
Father Cantalamessa spoke about the two meanings implied by 2 Timothy 3:16 "all Scripture is inspired by God."
He explained that the more common meaning is the "passive" one, referring to the way that God directed the writers of the holy texts.
The second meaning, the preacher explained, is "active": Scripture, is not only "inspired by God" but also "spirates God." "After having dictated the Scripture, the Holy Spirit is in a way contained within it; he ceaselessly inhabits it and animates it with his divine breath."
Setting him free
Father Cantalamessa then asked, "How do we approach the Scriptures in a way that they truly 'free' the Spirit that they contain?"
He said that "in Scripture, the Spirit cannot be discovered if not by passing through the letter, that is, through the concrete human vesture that the word of God assumed in the different books and inspired authors. In them the divine meaning cannot be discovered, if not by beginning from the human meaning, the one intended by the human author, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Luke, Paul, etc. It is in this that we find the complete justification of the immense effort in study and research that surrounds the book of Scripture."
But, Father Cantalamessa affirmed, there is a "tendency to stop at the letter, considering the Bible an excellent book, the most excellent of human books, if you will, but only a human book. Unfortunately we run the risk of reducing Scripture to a single dimension."
The Pontifical Household preacher pointed to a sign of hope: "That the demand for a spiritual reading of Scripture and one guided by faith is now beginning to be felt by some eminent exegetes."
The Capuchin urged a furthering of this "spiritual reading."
He explained: "To speak of the 'spiritual' reading of the Bible is not to speak of an edifying, mystical, subjective, or worse still, imaginative, reading, in opposition to the scientific reading, which would be objective. On the contrary, it is the most objective reading that there is because it is based on the Spirit of God, not on the spirit of man.
"Spiritual reading is therefore something that is quite precise and objective; it is the reading that is done under the guidance of, or in the light of, the Holy Spirit that inspired Scripture. It is based on a historical event, namely, the redemptive act of Christ which, with his death and resurrection, accomplishes the plan of salvation and realizes all of the figures and the prophecies, it reveals all of the hidden mysteries and offers the true key for reading the Bible."
Toward all truth
Father Cantalamessa said that this "spiritual reading" of Scripture applies to both the Old and New Testaments.
"Reading the New Testament spiritually means reading it in the light of the Holy Spirit given to the Church at Pentecost to lead the Church to all truth, that is, to the complete understanding and actualization of the Gospel," he said.
The preacher affirmed that spiritual reading both integrates and surpassed scientific reading: "Scientific reading knows only one direction, which is that of history; it explains, in fact, that which comes after in light of that which comes before; it explains the New Testament in the light of the Old which precedes it, and it explains the Church in the light of the New Testament.
"Spiritual reading fully recognizes the validity of this direction of research, but it adds an inverse direction to it. This consists in explaining that which comes before in the light of that which comes after, prophecy in the light of its realization, the Old Testament in the light of the New and the New in the light of the tradition of the Church."
Father Cantalamessa contended, then, that "that which is necessary is not therefore a spiritual reading that would take the place of current scientific exegesis, with a mechanical return to the exegesis of the Fathers; it is rather a new spiritual reading corresponding to the enormous progress recorded by the study of 'letter.' It is a reading, in sum, that has the breath and faith of the Fathers and, at the same time, the consistency and seriousness of current biblical science.
The Pontifical Household preacher ended his reflection with a word of hope regarding a return to a spiritual reading like that of the Church fathers.
The Capuchin said "from the four winds the Spirit has begun unexpectedly to blow again" and we "witness the reappearance of the spiritual reading of the Bible and this too is a fruit -- one of the more exquisite -- of the Spirit."
"Participating in Bible and prayer groups, I am stupefied in hearing, at times, reflections on God's word that are analogous to those offered by Origen, Augustine or Gregory the Great in their time, even if it is in a more simple language," he said. "Let us conclude with a prayer that I once heard a woman pray after she was read the episode in which Elijah, ascending up to heaven, leaves Elisha two-thirds of his spirit.
"It is an example of spiritual reading in the sense I have just explained: 'Thank you, Jesus, that ascending to heaven, you do not only leave us two-thirds of your Spirit, but all of your Spirit! Thank you that you did not give your Spirit to just one disciple, but to all men!'"
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EXPLORE # 298, 381, 432 on 3-17-2008, after being on initial list on Sunday, March 16, 2008.
that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness :-(
John Kenneth Galbraith
zinnia, sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina
Present exhibition at Nitroglobus. On the walls of the gallery until the end of March. Don't miss it!
Here's your taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunshine%20Homestead/38/25...
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'The Meaning of Love' (in SL)
Beside the 'happy' and 'sad' love affairs, which are more or less equal to the ones in RL, there are also the love affairs that fail because of the specific RISKS present when getting involved in a virtual relationship. Natalia calls this 'the dark side'.
For example: the large amount of people who lie, who pretend to be a person they are not, giving false information, showing fake pictures, etc.
People with addictions, people with mental disorders, people with more that one avatar (ALTs) used for 'bad' purposes like spying or harassing, or, used even to have other 'lives' with other relationships.
People who do ghosting: the practice of ceasing all communication and contact with a partner, without any apparent justification and subsequently ignoring any attempts to reach out or communicate made by said partner.
Behind the screen people tend to show the good and hide their flaws. There are many disappointments.
It seems that everything in SL happens more fast then in RL: some people meet, immediately start a relationship and get married (partnered). However, most of the time a fast start indicates a fast ending. One of the reasons being that in the minds of the partners they create an ideal figure of who they hope to find. This idealization creates expectations and people get hurt when things don't go as they expected. The mind can turn 'nothing' into 'everything' and 'everything' into 'nothing'.
Love in SL is it real or just a fantasy?
Image by Natalia Seranade
"AE EHL-E-WAFA DARS-E-WAFA KEUN NAHEN DETAY"
The stupid war against terrorism:
This is the stupidest war that I have ever seen.
Michael L. Love Ph.D
01/29/06 02:39 PM
US aggression against so-called terrorists has led predictably to bad results, and we should take all necessary action to stop the war now: It is a stupid, stupid war.
The state of the nation is appalling, but US power is clustered primarily around the centers of wealth (military might, and oil resources) in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, and the situation is only getting worse. This result is not surprising since the premise of the war was flawed to begin with, and the execution of the war has devolved over the course of the past three years, so that the US is stuck in a sink hole, as it were. We must find a way to end this ridiculous war against terrorism and get the US out of Iraq and Afghanistan now. Stop the war now!
The leader of the US is clearly slow of mind, and the claims in support of the war are dubious at best. The resources that are being spent in the pursuit of al-Qaida are largely wasted because they are probably dead. Most of them died on 9/11 on the airplanes, and no terrorism has been reported since that time. Why are the resources of the US being wasted on this demented pursuit?
A simple review of the our history in Iraq will show the idiocy of our leaders. Despite this fact, that all known terrorists died in airplanes on 9/11, we subjected Iraq to repeated bombings, laid waste to their national infrastructure, starved their children with sanctions, and poisoned their environment with depleted uranium, among other egregious things. Then, after using the UN to emasculate their military, we took our exit from international chambers and viciously preempted, an invasion with an aim to throw down a sitting head of state, conquer cities, ports, and oil fields. We cruelly deprived the people of Iraq of their self-determination, lives, and wealth. After all of this depraved behavior on the part of the US, we expect the people of Iraq to welcome us as "liberators", and lay themselves low before our military power. How can we possibly be such imbeciles!
Clearly, the US has fully lost credibility as the protector of any values or virtues in the world; We should disavow the actions of the nation, end the current administration, and bring the troops home expeditiously. In the execution of this war the US appears as the equivalent of perdition's son and a whited sepulchre, vacuously quoting scripture as they kill proudly. They are full of bloodthirsty torture and murders in the dark; attacking their supposed enemies before they even become a credible threat. Given such a history I fear that the US is past redemption, so that no one should be judged for wishing to dissaciate themselves from the nation and their actions. It had such better potential than this.
Saddam was certainly a bad governor and evil person, but for purposes of US global domination, he was also established, propped up, and deliberately genocide-enabled by the US. When he lost favor with the oilygarchy, it was taken it out on the people of Iraq, in a US instigated downward spiral of misery. Before US intervention, Iraq was a secular modern state and friends of the US, not terrorists. Terrorism was no justification for the war, and in fact the war itself was a very act of terrorism. The US has become what we loathe.
At the outset of the war Mr Bush was a weak president, unsupported by a democratic majority, yet he presumed to lead the US into an unpopular war against the wishes of our closest friends. One might expect him to learn the lessons of history and know better, but instead we are subjected to more and more lies from his weak-minded, frenetic, and untrustworthy administration. He has propped up his power with egregious violations of our constitutional principles, such as the Patriot Act, FISA court violations, secret detentions, deportions, tortures, and killings.
This inane government will certainly retort that, "We are killing the terrorists", and if that were true, then it would destroy this argument. I say, "Show me the terrorists, Mr Bush, if you have killed so many". You have not produced a single one since 9/11. Your failure to combat the real problem is exasperating! Senseless.
It is our duty to express our opposition by taking action against this outrageous, evil, and stupid war. For example, we could plan an anti-war moratorium; a national strike, a stay home against the war protest. Many people are boycotting US corporations or attacking centers of wealth in the US. Practice austerity and boycott food products, technology products, computers, and pharmacuticals especially. Use the web and your prescriptions to get generic medicines abroad. Use free software instead of Microsoft. Sell your car, and buy a bicycle. Use public transportation, and send the money that you save to your favorite organization resisting the war. If you feel strongly against the war, then you should do something about it now, even if the impact is low, because it adds to what others are doing. All of these actions will let people know that it is important to stop the war. It is a statement and demonstration against the war, and if we all do it together, then we can stop the madness of the US and Bush administration. This type of activism works.
Use the "Resist War!" banner on your websites to spread the word against the war. Turn your websites black in protest, and link your sites together, and with ours. If we were joined by many other websites, then it could possibly have a major impact, and turn back from this egregious situation. Hundreds of millions of people now agree that the war is wrong, and that it should be ended. If everyone does everything that we can, then the situation will become even more intolerable, and the US will withdraw.
The truth is that the people of Iraq are defending their homeland against an un-provoked act of aggression. The US has killed many of their brave fighters, but they continue to fight. In their desolation, there are many Iraqis remaining who have welcomed us into their cities, but given our abysmal performance, even such subjugation is seriously in doubt. Despite this abhorrent situation, the war continues, and it is madness to think that the continued presence of the US contributes anything positive to the situation. It is in no way possible that the presence of such a desolator can offer any betterment to the people of Iraq. Still I am advocating for enforced reparations to be paid by the US to Iraq and Afghanistan after withdrawl. The dubious leaders of the US are misusing their armed forces in an egregious way. Bring the troops home now before they are ordered to commit any more barbarities. This will have the added benefit of sparing the people of Iraq any further misery at the hand of the US nation. US out! End the conquest and occupation of Iraq now!
On a frosty early winter (technically still fall) morning an Anchorage Yard crew pulls into the old Fort Richardson rail yard with a cut of 189-series 89 ft flat cars loaded with assorted military vehicles that came down overnight from Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. GP38u came to the Alaska Railroad in 1986 after being rebuilt from an ex Conrail straight GP38 originally blt. Sep. 1969 as PC 7773. The geep will run around in the yard then couple to the south end and pull back out to the lead to shove the cars into the new railhead located behind where I'm standing.
This $15 million dollar facility opened the prior year. The following information comes from the US Air Force's Military Construction Program Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Estimates justification data submitted to congress February 2010.
Description of Proposed Construction: Construct a railhead complex to include
loading/unloading rail spurs, loading/unloading ramps and staging area for
marshaling tactical vehicles, a container transfer pad, shipping and receiving
building, security fencing, connection to energy monitoring and control systems
(EMCS), and building information systems.
Supporting facilities will include:
utilities, gates, storm drainage, information systems, lighting, site improvements
and information systems. Heating will be provided by a self contained unit.
Mechanical ventilation will be provided for in all areas. This project will comply
with DoD antiterrorism force protection requirements per unified facilities
criteria.
Requirement: This project will support Airborne Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) and
Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) air and surface deployments, as a rail receiving
and shipping hub for all of Alaska Army Units. The SBCT stationed at Ft Wainwright,
and the Airborne Combat Team require a rail facility to allow equipment to be
shipped by rail to and from the Port of Anchorage. Fort Richardson supports Fort
Wainwright during surface deployment operations and re-deployments. The new rail operations facility will increase the installation's railcar handling capability by
300 percent. Existing capability is about 30 railcars per day; after completion Fort Richardson will have the loading tracks and supporting infrastructure to handle the required 80-100 railcars per day. The need is due to both transformation of the Army forces structure and also changes in the nature of the mission.
Current Situation: The existing facilities consist of lightweight rail and two inadequate end ramps in the warehouse loop area. Current infrastructure will not support required throughput for surface movement required by US Army Alaska. The Stryker vehicle loading and increased movements of both brigades in Alaska is such that rapid rail bed deterioration will occur if the rail system is not upgraded and the facilities augmented with new more substantial facilities and equipment.
Impact if not provided: The existing facilities are not able to meet US Army Alaska's requirement to deploy the Army Units in Alaska within the specified timelines. Rail capability must be provided, at a minimum, which can handle trainsof 80-100 railcar units to/from Fort Wainwright, and other locations throughout
Alaska.
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson
Anchorage, Alaska
Friday November 30, 2012
There is justification for being excited about seeing the very unique Hummingbird. They are found only in North or South America. They beat their wings thousands of times per minute, averaging about 50 times per second. They fly like no other bird. They hover over their food instead of landing. They can fly forward, backward, and upside down. Spanish explorers nicknamed them "flying jewels."
Flickr winning explore in date February 7, 2017 Highest position: 91
Orden: Passeriformes
Familia: Fringilidae
Nombres comunes: Pico Cruzado - Periquito - Turquesa - Piquituerto de la Española
Nombre científico: Loxia megaplaga
Nombre Ingles: Hispaniolan Crossbill
Status: ENDEMICA DE LA HISPANIOLA EN PELIGRO DE EXTINCION.
Lugar de captura: Parque Nacional Sierra de Bahoruco.
Justification of Red List Category
This species has a very small, fragmented and declining range. Although its numbers fluctuate naturally, its available habitat is decreasing as a result of logging, small-scale agriculture and uncontrolled fires. It therefore qualifies as Endangered.
Population justification
The population is estimated to number 600-3,375 individuals, roughly equating to 400-2,300 mature individuals.
Trend justification
There are no new data on population trends; however, the species is suspected to be declining at a slow rate, owing to agricultural encroachment into its habitat.
Wikipedia Information:
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loxia_megaplaga
Wikipedia Informacion:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniolan_crossbill
Avibase scientific information:
avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&avibaseid=30E...
©2017 Carlos A. Objio Sarraff, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or any other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.
©2017 Carlos A. Objio Sarraff, Todos los derechos reservados
Esta imagen no está disponible para su uso en sitios web, blogs o cualquier otro medio sin la autorización expresa y por escrito del fotógrafo.
This is Beinn a' Bheithir's north-facing slopes.
Most right-minded afficianados of light would perhaps consider this side of the mountain fair game for photography at any point in time beyond the March equinox - but not before - with the dawn & dusk light raking across those sharp buttresses & generally illuminating it's extremities; bringing it to life whilst retaining the intrigue of deep shadow areas. I am fully signed up to this approach, of course, & had more of less written it off as a useable photographic subject matter prior to setting out to my airy position above Loch Leven, deciding that my focus should lie elsewhere. I hadn't reckoned on the possibility that Sgorr Dhearg (left peak in the photo) may catch just enough of the rising sun to produce an image that may tantalize the viewer just enough to offset the unrewarding flat light elsewhere. As I type this, I'm still rather positive on the merits of this photograph, but, as is often the case, in the coming days I may see it in a different light & put down this justification as another case of scraping a near-empty barrel. We'll see. . .