Cape Hatteras LIghthouse. Orion standing on his head on the side.

The night sky is exceptionally clear here, especially for sea level. Outer Banks 2012.

This is the lighthouse that was moved in 1999: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Hatteras_Light

It claims to be one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. There may be some justification for that - the largest Flickr Outer Banks group has 13,000 photos, of those fully 780 return for a search of "Hatteras lighthouse". That's fully 6% plus of all group photos, and there are four other Outer Blanks lighthouses!

Straight 30 sec exposure, f2.8, iso 1600. . . . . . . #2413

Click 'til Large! . . . . . . . . . . . .(or press 'L' key). . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ### .

Going nuts fulfilling the requirement for the letter N with a bag of flange nuts. These nuts do away with the need for a separate washer along with the inevitable fumbling while handling them.

A little over half of a 100-piece bag (54, to be exact) was used for this photo. Even though I bought more of these nuts than I will realistically need, at least I now found a justification besides a much lower cost per fastener for buying so many. :)

Justification of Red List category

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22692081

Ro's one and a bit lashes finally got the better of me so in a fit of madness I yanked them all out. photgraphic evidence of the value of counting to ten :-0

*edit for justification* more than half of the lashes on one eye were already missing. *guilt trip*

Protest for Lebanon and Gaza © Linda Dawn Hammond / IndyFoto July 29, 2006 "Of the 615 people so far confirmed dead, Save The Children says that almost half are children. They make up one third of the 3,225 injured, and about 45 per cent of the nearly one million Lebanese refugees are under the age of 18, according to Unicef."

WORLD WIDE PETITION - CEASEFIRE CAMPAIGN

www.ceasefirecampaign.org/

news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1211289.ece

Help save the children, victims of war .

This photo was not staged. A 2 year old Palestinian baby, Isabelle, playing with a protest sign. Her mother had poured some water on her to cool off and it had created a small puddle, which the child had then played with. Across from Israeli Consulate, July 29th, 2006 protest march from the Israeli Consulate to the American consulate, Toronto, in support of the Lebanese people caught up in the deadly Israeli attack on their country. Demand for an immediate ceasefire. Unfortunately, no-one in "power" appears to be listening.

Innocent people, the majority of whom are children, continue to die. How many perished today, as the buildings they were hiding in came tumbling down around them? Places where the media either cannot or dare not penetrate? The targeted bombing of the UN observer post, with the resultant deaths of 4 unarmed foreign peacekeepers, appears to have achieved what may have been its intended goal- the UN has since pulled out its 50 remaining unarmed observers from their posts along the Southern border. This could have been STOPPED WEEKS AGO! "Two soldiers" are no justification for this kind of carnage- the "response" to their "kidnapping" serves as a cynical excuse for Israel to destabilize a neighbouring country, compromising their sovereignty and elected government's authority. Nato forces, if employed, should be there to keep the peace, NOT prop up a puppet government put in place by occupying forces. Let's hope that isn't the next strategy...

If you have the stomach to see what Israel did to the children of Quana, go to this image site- but be warned, it is graphic.

www.videos.informationclearinghouse.info/lebpic/

Please take the time and read the following articles by the amazing Robert Fisk- a voice of truth, wisdom and courage.

news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1211295.ece

Robert Fisk: Entire Lebanese family killed in Israeli attack on hospital

news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1205977.ece

Robert Fisk: 'How can we stand by and allow this to go on?'

news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1207612.ece

Robert Fisk: A Nato-led force would be in Israel's interests, but not Lebanon's

Robert Fisk's Website

www.robert-fisk.com/

www.hrw.org/reports/2007/09/05/why-they-died-0

In five months of research, Human Rights Watch investigated 94 cases of air, artillery and ground attacks by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to discern the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 510 civilians and 51 combatants, nearly half the at least 1,125 Lebanese deaths during the conflict. Of the approximately 510 Lebanese civilian deaths investigated by Human Rights Watch, at least 300 were women or children.

Buy this photo on Getty Images : Getty Images

The former Van Nelle Factory (Dutch: Van Nellefabriek) on the Schie river in Rotterdam, is an important historic industrial building in the world.

The buildings were designed by architect Leendert van der Vlugt from the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office in cooperation with civil engineer J.G. Wiebenga, at that time a specialist for constructions in reinforced concrete, and built between 1925 and 1931. It is an example of Nieuwe Bouwen, modern architecture in the Netherlands.

In the 20th century it was a factory, processing coffee, tea and tobacco and later on additional chewing gum, cigarettes, instant pudding and rice. Currently it houses a wide variety of new media and design companies and is known as the Van Nelle Design Factory ("Van Nelle Ontwerpfabriek" in Dutch). Some of the areas are used for meetings, conventions and events.

The Van Nelle Factory shows the influence of Russian constructivism.

The Van Nelle Factory is a Dutch national monument (Rijksmonument) and is on the list of sites under consideration for the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site (Tentative list). The Justification of Outstanding Universal Value will be presented 2013 to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

In June 2014 it was added to the Unesco list of world heritage sites.

See where this picture was taken. [?]

Getty ID G13675761

Submitted 15/10/2014

Accepted 07/11/2014

I returned this weekend from being on a two year hiatus from Portland's Japanese Gardens. It was good to be back, I used to visit these gardens quite a bit. I even had a membership for a couple of years. But then I stopped going. Part of it was because my interest in seeing other areas kept me from getting up there. And part of it was the new policies the Garden implemented a couple of years ago regarding photography. For one, they added a tripod admission charge of $2. For two, they required photographers to pay $150 annual photographer membership in order to use any photos they took here commercially.

Generally I think the opinion held is that these policies are annoying at best and unfair at worst. I actually disagree. In fact, I can completely understand the Garden implementing, and in their position I am fairly certain I would too.

The Garden itself is a work of art, and I mean that in the fullest sense of the term. It is akin to seeing a fine painting in a gallery or a sculpture in a museum. It is greater than the sum of its parts and has been built into something that is subtle, subjective and wondrous and is rightly recognized internationally as the most authentic Japanese garden in the world, outside of Japan of course. So naturally the Garden attracts visitors from around the world. We come, we meditate, we enjoy, we photograph, we share and gaze. We also leave our mark, slowly but indelibly.

I remember an experience I had in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Inside the cathedral there is a statue of St. Peter and it is believed to be good luck to touch his feet. I did so of course, part of curiosity but partly out of wonder. The statue had been touched so many times by millions of hands over the years that bronze toes were worn smooth of almost all texture and detail. It was ... well the exact word escapes me, but impressive I guess will do, how these many hands bit by bit had worn down the metal of the statue.

Such is the effect these thousands of visitors have had on these gardens. And not always in small ways. I remember visits to the gardens and being able to see tripod scuff marks in the delicate moss at the base of this tree, despite the sign and Garden employees politely requesting everyone to remain off of the moss. I have seen people, photographers and not step off of the paths at the gardens, treading across moss, grass, plants or whatever just to get better views or to see something up close.

I think photographers in general tend to be fairly respectful of the fragility of the places they go to photograph, and I do believe that most of them take a bit extra care when they go off trails, or over fences to get those shots. But I also think many, and maybe almost all, photographers suffer a bit of a justification complex. They tell themselves that since they are a bit more careful, or a bit more appreciative and respectful, or that their pictures will make others more appreciative and respectful of these places that their forays are ok, that the trampling they will do is less harmful than that done by others. Come on, I know most of us have had similar thoughts at some point.

So I am not surprised to see the reaction over the years regarding the Garden's photography policies has largely been against them, when those policies are in place to protect this delicate work of art from us. This point was driven home on this most recent visit when I noticed the addition of all these little bamboo fences. Most everything is fenced in now. Artfully, of course. But in contrast to the relative fencelessness of which I remember these gardens last, it was quite noticeable. And I could not help but think that we all caused this, because if you do not put fences up, then our natural inclination is to wander as far as we can until someone tells us specifically not to wander there, even if common sense or courtesy was already telling us that same thing some time ago.

This is not to say that I think this is all the result of a few bad apples. There are certainly those, and they are easy to blame, and often are. They deserve their share of the credit. But humans are a force of nature, much like wind and water. And much like those elements, we erode. And as is the case with erosion, it happens slowly, tiny little bit by tiny little bit. Those careful and supposedly harmless steps we take have tiny impacts, which alone mean little. But enough of those careful and supposedly harmless steps and suddenly a patch of moss at the base of this tree is worn barren. Or a patch of wildflowers is trampled through, or a previously pristine bed of ferns is mashed flat. I am not pointing any fingers, because the point is we are all involved in our own little way.

I have seen the debates rage over the years about trekking off trail and bushwhacking. I have also had conversations with a couple of my customers who work up at the gardens and have a very different perspective of the daily wear and tear wrought by visitors. Mostly they accept it as the cost of being able to share what they have helped tend to. The garden is a work of art and it something to be shared and viewed, for all that this garden embodies means much much less if it is not shared and seen and experienced.

And while this garden is technically private property and our ability to visit is a gift and not a right, that does not mean we are without responsibility, photographs in mind or not.

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

Caister Castle is the ruinous remains a 15th. century moated castle with a 100 ft. (33 m) high tower.

The manors of Caister Hall and West Caister had been acquired by the Norfolk family of Fastolf in 1363, and Sir John Fastolf was born in a moated manor house that was demolished to make way for the castle.

Fastolf was one of the most famous Lancastrian soldiers and diplomats of the Hundred Years War whose distinguished military career took place mainly in France. He was created a Knight of the Garter and fought at numerous battles, including Agincourt. Fastolf’s name was later adapted by Shakespeare for his character Sir John Falstaff in Henry V, but here the resemblance ends.

Fastolf built the castle between 1432 and 1446, drawing inspiration for the design from the Rysbank Tower at Calais which was familiar to him from his time fighting in France. Accounts which survive, compiled by William Gravour or Gravere, the clerk of works, record the final cost of the castle was £6,046. The moat was filled with water from the River Bure, and the building accounts record that the nearby Pickerill Creek was widened and deepened, and a barge ditch was cut, thereby creating direct water access from the castle to the River Bure via the creek, and thence to the North Sea.

Whilst in London, Fastolf became friends with John Paston who later became his lawyer. On 5th. November 1459 Fastolf died childless, and intestate. He was buried in a chapel built by him at St. Benet’s Abbey in Holm. Paston, with some justification, claimed to be the heir of Fastolf, who bequeathed his extensive estates, including Caister Castle, to Paston. This put him in direct conflict with various major players of the time, such as the Duke of Norfolk and Sir William Yelverton.

Following an ownership dispute, in August 1469 the castle, defended by John Paston junior and approximately 30 men, was besieged by the Duke of Norfolk's force of 4 knights and 3,000 men. The two month defence was unsuccessful, resulting in the death of one of the Paston's longest serving servants by a crossbow wound, and the loss of the severely damaged castle to the Duke. The urgent letters which passed between Margaret Paston and her two sons provide graphic testimony to the violence of the siege. These letters are the first record of private correspondence to survive in Britain and are now held in the British Museum.

Some years later, the castle was ultimately returned to the Paston family's ownership. In 1659, the Paston's sold it to William Crow, an upholsterer and money lender of the City of London. Later, the castle descended by marriage to the Bedingfield family.

The castle, other than the tower, fell into ruin after 1600. It suffered from neglect and the robbing of stonework and other fittings, including in about 1776 when the Rev. David Collyer removed a newel staircase with 122 stone steps from the tower and incorporated it into his house at Wroxham, in Norfolk. The inner moat was filled in between 1842 and 1893, and a lake was created by the widening of the south-eastern side. In 1952 the castle was in the ownership of Charles Hamblen-Thomas, and in the mid-1960's the castle grounds to the south-west were made into a motor museum which remains to the present day.

The castle is of historical interest because it is one of earliest buildings of importance in England to use brick as the main construction material. The clay required for the 1.7 million bricks used in constructing was dug about 1.25 miles away from the castle's site. The freestone from Caen and the plaster of Paris were delivered by ship and timber was brought from Fastolf’s manor at Cotton in Suffolk.

The castle received Grade: I listed building status on 25th. September 1962. (English Heritage Legacy ID: 402085).

An imaginary Christ will not bring a real salvation

(J.I. Packer, "The Puritan View of Preaching the Gospel")

"You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

If we do not preach about sin and God's judgment on it, we cannot present Christ as Savior from sin and the wrath of God. And if we are silent about these things, and preach a Christ who saves only from the sorrows of this world--then we are not preaching the Christ of the Bible. We are, in effect bearing false witness, preaching a false Christ, and our message is another gospel. Such preaching may soothe some, but it will help nobody; for a Christ who is not seen and sought as a Savior from sin, will not be found to save from anything else.

An imaginary Christ will not bring a real salvation; and a half-truth presented as the whole truth is a complete untruth.

He that has learned to feel his sins, and to trust Christ as his Savior, has learned the two hardest and greatest lessons in Christianity.

"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." Romans 4:25

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree" 1 Peter 2:24

We share a terrible history of global destruction

Our crown's propensity towards violence

Capital Imperialism

Driven by the right to reign

At heaven's command, Britain first

Extermination

Mass execution

Murder

Rape

Violence

Plunder

Suppression

Internment

Power is destiny

Glorification and institutionalization of historical benefits

Underlined by imperial knowledge banks

Written by those who are dedicated to logic and rationalization

Strategic justification

The order of might

This is what the colonizers know and do

Read More: www.jjfbbennett.com/2019/12/melbourne-to-darwin-november-...

One-off sponsorship: www.paypal.me/bennettJJFB

Indian Town Point, Antigua

The wind is full of itself. Nothing has stopped its journey up to this point, and it is going to hurl itself against this mass of land to prove nothing can. And so it sends runners of spray ahead of the big waves it pushes, as if moving the greater body of water is too slow for its purpose. I committed myself when I came out on to this little peninsula, there is no shelter. A small arch lies hidden before me, the limestone carved out and eroded away by the sea, leaving a narrow bridge that thunders with each surge. I am alternately pushed along and held back, depending on my orientation to the gale. Wind and water are white noise as I shoot moments, steadying the tripod to minimize vibrations. So much salt is in the air that it must surely be tarnishing my gear, whitening my tan. Out here, there is no right or wrong. It’s all a big barometric pressure gradient. It’s just elements, one versus the other, there are no feelings to hurt. I am impressed by the anger, caught up in the rage. I wish I had the ability to throw my frustrations so recklessly. But I hold them in, until I can no more. It’s just the way I am. I stand in the face of it, wishing my doubts and uncertainties could fly away in that wind. But they won’t. I am on one side of a devil’s bridge, needing resolution, damned if I cross and damned if I don’t. I wish we could talk above the noise of emotions, without the force of righteousness that won’t move, or justifications that won’t stop. There is no agreement that stops the wind or relaxes the sea, it just ends. It’s so…futile. Fighting only diminishes us.

Candid shot, Castle Drogo, Devon, UK.

Nothing is normal. Dramatic castle overlooking the Teign Gorge, undergoing a conservation project to make it watertight

Castle Drogo is a country house and 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. Currently undergoing conservation (2013–2018), the castle is a Grade I listed building. The gardens are Grade II* listed on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo

JPEG exported from LR6. Only a little exposure added.

I haven't shot jpegs since the D40 days and only recently started shooting the D500 RAW/JPEGS. The D500 JPEG engine is top notch and I'm really trying to find the justification of even bothering editing RAWS. I'll continue to shoot both files only because RAW will manipulate easy if the original photo is shot way out of proper exposure.

Buy this photo on Getty Images : Getty Images

The former Van Nelle Factory (Dutch: Van Nellefabriek) on the Schie river in Rotterdam, is an important historic industrial building in the world.

The buildings were designed by architect Leendert van der Vlugt from the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office in cooperation with civil engineer J.G. Wiebenga, at that time a specialist for constructions in reinforced concrete, and built between 1925 and 1931. It is an example of Nieuwe Bouwen, modern architecture in the Netherlands.

In the 20th century it was a factory, processing coffee, tea and tobacco and later on additional chewing gum, cigarettes, instant pudding and rice. Currently it houses a wide variety of new media and design companies and is known as the Van Nelle Design Factory ("Van Nelle Ontwerpfabriek" in Dutch). Some of the areas are used for meetings, conventions and events.

The Van Nelle Factory shows the influence of Russian constructivism.

The Van Nelle Factory is a Dutch national monument (Rijksmonument) and is on the list of sites under consideration for the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site (Tentative list). The Justification of Outstanding Universal Value will be presented 2013 to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

In June 2014 it was added to the Unesco list of world heritage sites.

Submitted 17/10/2014

Accepted 10/11/2014

My lucky stars so bright

Darkness seems so far in this light

When lost; you are my insight

Lucky stars, stay bright tonight.

Polaroid cameras put pizzazz and spontaneity into any party and make camera geeks out of all of us. In able hands they can produce serious (and seriously beautiful) art. What’s not to like about the Polaroid?

Profit.

So says the Polaroid Corporation as it tolls the death knell of a camera that changed photography and, its corollary, how we see the world. Apparently, the ‘instant film camera’ just isn’t instant enough for the growing numbers of digital users who, in a supposed age of impatience and vaporous attention spans, want to see the world without delay. Of course, those lovely little squares of transparent nitrocellulose polymer film embedded with microscopic crystals of iodoquinine sulphate can seem a little primitive, maybe even wasteful and costly. Whatever its deficiencies, the amazing legacy of the Polaroid camera just wasn’t sufficient justification for its continued production.

Polaroid instant film cameras, the last of their line, are being discontinued in 2008. The other side of disruptive technology is the inevitable fading away, like photographs left in sunlight, of the older gadgets that once brought us joy. They become objects of nostalgia, curiosities whose ever-growing shadow is obscurity and oblivion. It is a somehow sad ending to an iconic camera whose origins reach back beyond World War II to Edwin Herbert Land (1901-91), the American scientist famously obsessed with, and responsible for, the success of Polaroid...

Check it out on black

“Everyone knows the usefulness of what is useful, but few know the usefulness of what is useless.”

- Zhuang Zi (Chinese philosopher, died 286 BCE).

Did you know that everything we see is the product of reflected light? We don’t actually see the things-in-themselves, just their reflected light. In my recent series of infrared photographs I hope I made this point visible and clear. We cannot see infrared with the naked eye (in fact the visible light spectrum is just a tiny fraction of the entire electromagnetic spectrum in our universe). So just because we can’t see something with the naked eye, does not mean it is not real. Seeing infrared photographs however, enlightens us to this reality beyond our limited sense of Being. Radio waves is another example. Sure we can’t see them, but if we have an instrument to detect them and “tune in”, we can listen to wonderful music. The ancients would have seen this as pure magic. It is also analogous to spirituality.

In my posting yesterday, “Being Present in the World”, I opened that discussion with the concept of non-duality. We find the world and ourselves most real when we lose ourselves in the present moment and sense what it is to experience Being. The technical term for this philosophical approach is Phenomenology:

“...phenomenology studies the structure of various types of experience ranging from perception, thought, memory, imagination, emotion, desire, and volition to bodily awareness, embodied action, and social activity, including linguistic activity. The structure of these forms of experience typically involves what (Edmund) Husserl called ‘intentionality”, that is, the directedness of experience toward things in the world, the property of consciousness that it is a consciousness of or about something.” plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/

Long books of arcane philosophy have been written on these questions of the meaning of existence and how we understand our place in the world. Is it really possible to know anything about the world apart from our senses? Can we even trust our senses as a guide to what is true? Surely the world really exists “out-there”? Are there worlds we cannot see? But what phenomenology tells us is that it is pointless to look for a completely objectified ready-made world “out-there”, what we must do is understand that our consciousness of the world is what makes the world “real” to us. In perhaps the most influential phenomenological book of all time, “Phenomenology of Perception” (1945), the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty, grounds our understanding of the world in our body. Through our body and senses we participate in the world, and what we learn through this gives us insight into the reality of Being.

So how does all this relate to photography? Or is it in fact just “useless” knowledge?

Let me put this question several different ways. Why do we love taking photographs? What are we trying to achieve? Is it to impress others with our life experiences (as in our latest holiday snaps in Majorca)? Is it to create our own subjective and artistic view of the world? Is it to share the beauty of Nature? Is it to awaken consciences over social issues? Is it a way of impressing ourselves upon the world through taking selfies and sharing them on social media (both go together by the way)? Are we just collectors of image-experiences? Is photography a form of therapy? The list is really endless if we are looking for individual justifications of why we photograph.

But what if we begin by examining our own photographs to see if there are some clues there about our “intentions” (Husserl’s word) when we go out with a camera in hand? Because you can be sure that the kind of photographs we produce will shape our understanding of the world and vice versa. The very fact we talk about “composing a photograph” is a sure sign that we are not merely reproducing an external world. The clearest example of this that I have ever consciously produced is my slide show called “Suburban Dreams 65 Photographs”. www.flickr.com/photos/luminosity7/52275162056/in/dateposted/

But the photograph I’ve chosen to discuss here is of the Low Head Lighthouse at dusk. In fact it is one of the first photographs I took when I bought my Nikon D850. I had decided to make a return to photography after many years, having previously used film cameras. Perhaps these questions might give you some examples of how you can interrogate your own approach to taking photographs. It is also important that these questions are framed in the first person. “I” see it this way, “others” may not. These questions are in fact more important than the specific answers.

* Why did I frame this picture in a portrait or vertical orientation?

* What was the significance of this time of day for me?

* Why did I choose a lighthouse?

* Why did I wait until the light was on to make the photograph?

* What made me decide for colour and not black and white?

* Why did I take the photograph from a beach?

* What was so appealing about the sky that made me give it so much room in my frame?

* Why did I choose to emphasize the various layers in the photograph from the sand, rocks and grass in the foreground to the various layers of light and cloud above the lighthouse?

* What sort of mood am I creating?

We could go on, but the more questions like this we ask of ourselves, the better we will come to understand the role photography plays in helping us to see the world the way we do.

“The Art of Making Photos: Some Phenomenological Reflections”

www.alexandria.unisg.ch/228184/1/Eberle_Thomas_2014a_The_...

Firing Authorities.

Gekoppelde drama's abstracties almanak beïnvloeden moderne essays theoretische scores beïnvloeden gedachten angstig tijdperk veranderen belangrijke werken onconventionele kunstenaar triviale wetten,

simulant des perspectives sculptant des langages expériences discordantes reflétant des justifications causant des affirmations esprit cosmique mouvements transcendantaux destin suggestif formes artistiques,

Apocalypsis directiones internationalism intervals latae sententiae speciali terminos columnas specialis dolos minime insolens salvete conscientia puncta exclusive,

soalan semulajadi analisis eksklusif suara berongga pendapat ortodoks views kontemporari kesesuaian kesesuaian rohani innovators impresario jurnal pasukan berani,

条件を吸収する不可解な教訓グロテスクな重荷あなたが解雇した悪魔の原始的なリーダーのプライベートプランを排除する創造的な直感に不気味な答え!

Steve.D.Hammond.

A WWII-era anti-aircraft cannon sits in the battery at the Pico das Cruzinhas on Mount Brazil,, Angra do Heroismo, Terceira, Azores, Portugal. During WW II, though Portugal declared its neutrality, it prepared for attacks from either side. As had been the case almost since the settlement of Terceira, Monte Brasil was a focal point of the Island defense. The question of whether Portugal was truly neutral is a complex one and is still debated by WWII historians. Most of these historians agree that Portugal played both sides against each other, seeking to benefit itself economically above all. It also worked to keep its longstanding alliance with England which had been in place since the Treaty of Windsor was signed in May 1386. Portugals Prime Minster António de Oliveira Salazar started and led the Estado Novo ("New State"), which was an authoritarian, right wing government with sympathy to the fascist regimes in both Germany and Italy. An examination of Portugal’s relationship with both warring parties shows bias in different way to both the Axis and Allied powers. It sold a far higher percentage of the valuable wolfram mineral to Germany which yielded tungsten that greatly aided the Axis war effort. On the other hand they contributed to the Axis’ defeat by allowing Allied air bases to be constructed on the Azores islands. Their justification for bases ( constructed in secret) was their long standing Treaty of Windsor. They did not commit any troops or financial support to either side and by war’s end had benefited greatly economically.

A random tourist stands on the gun emplacement. She is included, gun at her back, for scale. (She is just lucky, I guess).

Two views of Portugal’s Neutrality:

www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/3/14/was-portugal-...

www.portugal.com/history-and-culture/portugal-during-worl...

Other References:

warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/covering-the-azores-gap...

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230118676_3

NW coast of San Luis Obispo Co., California

Some authorities do not believe there is justification for this taxon (the subspecies). Dr. David Keil, who I respect immensely, has not included the subspecies in his recently updated version of the county flora. "Characters that supposedly distinguish the very local dwarf variant found in the vicinity of Arroyo de la Cruz, recognized by Hoover [in the original, 1970 county flora] as Mariposa clavata var. recurvifolia, break down hopelessly when additional specimens are examined in the field and herbarium"--Keil and Hoover, Vascular Plants of San Luis Obispo County, California

If it does exist, this subspecies is extremely rare.

Perché amiamo tanto le giornate di commemorazione, ma quando arriva il momento di fare davvero la differenza, riappare la signora Ipocrisia con il suo sorriso di circostanza?

Perché feriamo le persone e poi ci giustifichiamo dicendo che lo facciamo “per amore”, per difendere valori, idee, convinzioni… dimenticandoci l’umanità?

Perché nessuno mette mai in dubbio il proprio operato, e tutto ciò che non è conforme diventa subito “sbagliato”?

Perché si diffonde più facilmente un giudizio che un pensiero?

Anche i virus si diffondono. E le brutte abitudini, pure.

Tante domande ancora ci sarebbero da fare. Ma pensare, davvero pensare, sembra ormai un atto rivoluzionario.

I post pieni di cuori e frasi morali spesso funzionano come anestetico collettivo: danno l’impressione di partecipare al bene senza cambiare nulla. Il conforto della superficie: accendere una candela per sentirsi buoni, senza guardare il buio che quella fiamma dovrebbe illuminare.

Quando feriamo “per amore” — di un valore, di una fede, di una patria, di un’idea — stiamo in realtà difendendo la nostra identità. L’amore travestito da giustificazione diventa un’arma contro il disagio del dubbio. Il dubbio è scomodo: sradica, disorienta, mette in crisi. E molti preferiscono il dogma alla fatica dell’autenticità.

La certezza assoluta è un virus mentale potentissimo: si trasmette con lo sguardo approvante del gruppo e cresce nella paura di restare soli o “diversi”. Pensare fino in fondo significa spesso perdere un po’ di appartenenza. Non tutti sono pronti a quella libertà.

Chi si ferma a riflettere vede quanto le convinzioni comuni siano fatte di cartone dipinto. E proprio in quel momento nasce la possibilità di fare la differenza: non contro il mondo, ma diversamente da esso.

Come mantenere vivo il pensiero in una società che ama più la commemorazione che la coscienza?

Why do we love days of commemoration so much, yet when it comes time to truly make a difference, Mrs. Hypocrisy reappears with her polite smile?

Why do we hurt others and then justify it by saying we do it “out of love,” to defend values, ideas, convictions… while forgetting humanity?

Why does no one ever question their own actions, and everything that doesn’t conform is immediately deemed “wrong”?

Why does a judgment spread more easily than a thought?

Viruses spread. Bad habits do too.

There are countless more questions to ask. But thinking—really thinking—seems almost revolutionary nowadays.

Posts full of hearts and moral phrases often act as collective anesthetics: they give the illusion of doing good without changing anything. Comfort on the surface: lighting a candle to feel virtuous, without looking at the darkness that flame is supposed to illuminate.

When we hurt “out of love”—for a value, a faith, a country, an idea—we are really defending our identity. Love, disguised as justification, becomes a weapon against the discomfort of doubt. Doubt is uncomfortable: it uproots, disorients, destabilizes. Many prefer dogma over the effort of authenticity.

Absolute certainty is a powerful mental virus: it spreads through the approving gaze of the group and grows in the fear of being alone or “different.” Thinking deeply often means losing a bit of belonging. Not everyone is ready for that freedom.

Those who pause to reflect see how much common belief is made of painted cardboard. And in that very moment, the real chance to make a difference arises: not against the world, but differently from it.

How can we keep thought alive in a society that values commemoration more than conscience?

Scissor-tailed Kite (Chelictinia riocourii) flight_w_3756

Members of the genus Chelictinia feed both on small insects and rodents. They have peculiar trait, making them different from others. Their talons are flat or rounded, not grooved as in other birds of prey. They are related to Gampsonyx and Elanus groups. It containts only one species.

Uniformly pale grey to almost white underparts. Upperparts uniform darker grey with a long swallow-like tail. The wings have a black carpal patch. A small black eye mask; Side of the face white with a yellow cere. Beak pale yellow with a black tip. Forehead white, crow and nape grey suggesting a hooded appearance. Legs and talons pale yellow. Other birds in genus have different coloration or have black on outer wings.

Occurs in savanna, open bush, and semi-arid wooded habitats at the interface of the Sahel and into the western Rift Valley of Kenya. Highly social, often occurring in small flocks, but also found singly, or in pairs.

Population justification: A single roost of 36,000 birds was reported from Senegal in 2008 and a further 10,000 birds at a roost in Mali in 2012 (Kemp et al. 2014).This equates to approximately 24,000 and 6,700 mature individuals respectively. The population is therefore placed in the band 5,000-25,000 mature individuals_

HFF!

Areas between Swakopmund and Walvisbay have been fenced to protect the Damara tern. Off -road vehicles and quad-biking has been limited to ensure the birds can nest.

Damara Tern ( Sterna balaenarum) - 23 cm. Small, very pale tern. Adult has black cap extending onto nape and very pale grey back. In flight, black triangular wing tip runs from the carpal to primary tip.

Justification

This species is listed as Near Threatened owing to its moderately small population. If this is found to be undergoing a decline, the species may qualify for uplisting to a higher threat category.

Threats

Land claim, dredging and hotel construction threaten some feeding areas; off-road vehicles may destroy nests particularly as the breeding season coincides with peak human activity on beaches in summer.

Please don't use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission. © All rights reserved

# explore 167

" Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,

Or what's a heaven for? "

- - Robert Browning

That has to be one of the finest justifications for GAS that I've ever seen. : ) FWIW Fuji is planning to release their XT-6 in the second half of 2026. Can't wait ! : ))

Please hit L and F11 for a better view. Slainte !

This is the companion photo to the prior one I posted.

On the same frosty clear early winter (technically still fall) morning an Anchorage Yard crew shoves a cut of 189-series 89 ft flat cars loaded with assorted military vehicles that came down overnight from Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks into the new railhead facility. The crew is using GP38u 2004 which is still dressed in its bright blue and yellow 1980s 'Alaska Bold' scheme. The geep came to the Alaska Railroad in 1986 after being rebuilt from an ex Conrail straight GP38 originally blt. Sep. 1969 as PC 7773.

Cut out of virgin forest adjacent the little used old yard, the $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

kosch glauba oder bleiba lassa, wenns et verschtah kasch.

Glaube unter mithilfe des Verstandes

Glaube begegbet der Aufklärung

Erst verstehen dann glauben.

Glaube und Verstand

-

Meine These:

Glaubt der Mensch, so werden

Werke der Liebe werden sicher nicht schaden.

~

Die Natur - und die stete Entwicklung - creation continua -

die ewige Schöpfung sind Zeichen des Verstehens.

- ein „intelligenten Plan“ des Kosmos.

- Hier: Sonnenuntergang -

Die meisten Bibelübersetzungen schreiben an dieser Stelle urtextgetreuer, „dass der Mensch durch Glauben gerechtfertigt“ werde, so etwa die Vulgata (lateinischer Referenz Bibeltext)

Red-necked Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) at Kelowna Downtown Marina, Kelowna, BC.

Today I'm posting series of three species of grebes that we usually see at this location in autumn. Usually just one or two individuals of each species. Occasionally, as a coming series will show, there can be some interaction among them. On this day, however, each 'chose' to be photographed separately from their cousins.

And, of course, the justification for so many shots of 'the same bird' lies in the nuances of the image as the water works its magic in so many different ways....

EXPLORED Jul 5, 2009 #261

Its existence is sufficient justification for the creation of the world.

(Edward Cullen - Crepúsculo)

The painting is engulfing as a result of being primitive, free from justification and the sense of guilt for not being intellectual. It comes from the unconscious creative the psychological drive which is not adapted to a language of nuances and does not require decoding.

Mirits spectator is bombarded with a colorful abundance, with repeating images and metaphors that are easily perceived and identified. For the person who is accustomed to the sophisticated art form, this is a fresh breath of immediate beauty.

Perhaps this is the place and the time to go deeper into the roots of a culture which for generations now has been obscured with theories and isms.

David Gerstein

Vatnajökull in Iceland, a cool set of mountains, fjords and glaciers.

There was a cool light on this random mountain. I admittedly went too far trying to make it stand out, but trying what not to do is just as important as trying what to do ¯\_( ' ˅ ' )_/¯ [insert further vague justifications here]

Find me here:

deviantart.com/gaellenharper

facebook.com/GNHphoto

500px.com/gaellenharper

or H-word.

He's on the last leg of this chapter.

He's my last one on the last leg of this chapter.

He thinks I don't know how cool he's going to be.

He thinks I don't know it's a continuum of how cool he already is.

Excerpt from waymarking.com:

Sevogel Fountain is located at Martinsplatz between St. Martin's Church and the State Archives. A fountain at this point is documented before 1349. The original wooden trough was replaced by a limestone trough in the 14th century. In a redesign of the square 1851-54 the fountain was moved to its present location and equipped with a new trough.

The column with the statue was not added until the end of the 19th century. The statue was created in 1546 by Hans Dobel from Strasbourg for the grain market fountain of the 13th century. It replaced a St. Christopher statue that was destroyed in a flood in 1529, the first successor statue in 1530 became also victim of a flood just two weeks after the inauguration. During the reconstruction of the market alley 1887 this fountain was removed and the column and sculpture were stored in the museum. In 1899 it was finally erected at its present location.

The population soon saw in the halberd bearer the Captain Sevogel, one of the heroes of the Battle of St. Jakob. Over time, the name became official, but actually has no historical justification.

Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page. The 710-foot (220 m) high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powell, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the U.S. with a capacity of 27 million acre-feet (33 km3). The dam is named for Glen Canyon, a series of deep sandstone gorges now flooded by the reservoir; Lake Powell is named for John Wesley Powell, who in 1869 led the first expedition to traverse the Colorado's Grand Canyon by boat.

A dam in Glen Canyon was studied as early as 1924, but these plans were initially dropped in favor of the Hoover Dam (completed in 1936) which was located in the Black Canyon. By the 1950s, due to rapid population growth in the seven U.S. and two Mexican states comprising the Colorado River Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation deemed the construction of additional reservoirs necessary. Contrary to popular belief, Lake Powell was not the result of negotiations over the controversial damming of the Green River within Dinosaur National Monument at Echo Park; the Echo Park Dam proposal was abandoned due to nationwide citizen pressure on Congress to do so. The Glen Canyon Dam remains a central issue for modern environmentalist movements. Beginning in the late 1990s, the Sierra Club and other organizations renewed the call to dismantle the dam and drain Lake Powell in Lower Glen Canyon. Today, Glen Canyon and Lake Powell are managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Since first filling to capacity in 1980, Lake Powell water levels have fluctuated greatly depending on water demand and annual runoff. Operation of Glen Canyon Dam helps ensure an equitable distribution of water between the states of the Upper Colorado River Basin (Colorado, Wyoming, and most of New Mexico and Utah) and the Lower Basin (California, Nevada and most of Arizona). During years of drought, Glen Canyon guarantees a water delivery to the Lower Basin states, without the need for rationing in the Upper Basin. In wet years, it captures extra runoff for future use. The dam is also a major source of hydroelectricity, averaging over 4 billion kilowatt hours per year. The long and winding Lake Powell, known for its scenic beauty and recreational opportunities including houseboating, fishing and water-skiing, attracts millions of tourists each year to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

In addition to its flooding of the scenic Glen Canyon, the dam's economic justification was questioned by some critics. It became "a catalyst for the modern environmental movement," and was one of the last dams of its size to be built in the United States. The dam has been criticized for the large evaporative losses from Lake Powell and its impact on the ecology of the Grand Canyon, which lies downstream; environmental groups continue to advocate for the dam's removal. Water managers and utilities state that the dam is a major source of renewable energy and provides a vital defense against severe droughts.

Buy this photo on Getty Images : Getty Images

The former Van Nelle Factory (Dutch: Van Nellefabriek) on the Schie river in Rotterdam, is an important historic industrial building in the world.

The buildings were designed by architect Leendert van der Vlugt from the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office in cooperation with civil engineer J.G. Wiebenga, at that time a specialist for constructions in reinforced concrete, and built between 1925 and 1931. It is an example of Nieuwe Bouwen, modern architecture in the Netherlands.

In the 20th century it was a factory, processing coffee, tea and tobacco and later on additional chewing gum, cigarettes, instant pudding and rice. Currently it houses a wide variety of new media and design companies and is known as the Van Nelle Design Factory ("Van Nelle Ontwerpfabriek" in Dutch). Some of the areas are used for meetings, conventions and events.

The Van Nelle Factory shows the influence of Russian constructivism.

The Van Nelle Factory is a Dutch national monument (Rijksmonument) and is on the list of sites under consideration for the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site (Tentative list). The Justification of Outstanding Universal Value will be presented 2013 to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

In June 2014 it was added to the Unesco list of world heritage sites.

Getty ID G13675681

Submitted 21/10/2014

Accepted 14/11/2014

Published:

- (China) 08-Sep-2015

We're Here! : Me & My Bookmark

Running out of ideas for your 365 project? Join We're Here!

Strobist: AB1600 with gridded 60X30 softbox camera left. AB800 with gridded HOBD-W overhead. Triggered by Cybersync.

It was the 60th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima yesterday. This was taken on the 50th. The river that the umbrellas are floating peacefully on was used by the victims to try to cool their burns, burns which had never been experienced before in human history. The calculus of justification at the time is still unclear. What should be certain, now knowing the outcome, is that there is no possible future circumstance to justify these terrible weapons of mass incineration and slow death.

Thank you Kinki.

Location: Sri Lanka

Locally known as Sinhala Weli Polnaga

Distribution: Dry zone and semi-arid zone

Length: Less than 25 cm

The saw-scaled viper (SSV) (Echis carinatus) is considered to be a highly venomous snake in Sri Lanka despite any published clinical justification. Being a rarity, the clinical profile of SSV bites is not well established in Sri Lanka. In a medical study, a samples of 48 (N=48) SSV bites cases from the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, the majority (65%) of victims had evidence of local envenoming at the site of the bite; however, 29% showed spontaneous bleeding and 71% had coagulopathy. There were no deaths in the series.

It is the smallest member of the big four snakes that are responsible for causing the most snakebite cases and deaths, due to various factors including their frequent occurrence in highly populated regions, and their inconspicuous nature.

The size of E. carinatus ranges between 38 and 80 cm (15 and 31 in) in total length (body + tail), but usually no more than 60 cm (24 in).

I was out with a friend last night making photos (he frequently browses my Flickr stream, so when you see this Adam, use it as a reminder of our conversation) and we arrived at a particular spot and started doing our photo thing. Or at least I did. He stood there watching me, watching the scenery, looking at his cameras, then back at me. He then asked how I knew how to make a photo of a scene like the one in front of us. Which led eventually to him making a comment along the lines of he didn't know where to start with that scene photographically to make a good picture. My philosophical response was along the lines of, Why does it matter if it is a good photo or not? Which wasn't a particularly helpful answer I know, but he was so frozen by analysis paralysis and I really detected an element of fear in his hesitation, so I was trying to get down to the root of that. I told him that I knew what I was doing based on experience, intuition and a certain lack of caring regarding whether what I was doing would make a good picture or not. And I asked him, if none of the pictures from tonight come out, was it not worth it just being there?

This is one of the harder things I have communicating about my photography. In a real sense, I don't care about the pictures. The pictures I make are a side effect to a process that I enjoy. And when you don't care whether what you are doing with a camera is going to be successful or not, it certainly frees you up and in that freedom I find that I work much better. Maybe I am good because I am decisive and maybe I am decisive because I am not worried about the consequences? For me it is enough to stand at the edge of the ocean, or in a Pacific Northwest forest, or atop a mountain. I don't suffer any fear of missing out with my camera because what I want is already right there. If I can bring home nice photos of it, sure, that's great but I don't worry myself over that. Sometimes I get the shots, sometimes I don't but ultimately it is not why I am there, nor is it why I pull out that camera. Which itself might sound crazy. I don't use my camera to make photos, I use my camera because it is a meditation, it is a tool to focus (no pun intended), it is a justification to linger a bit longer.

That is what I wanted to try to get across to him. I have delivered this same advice in a very different (and briefer) manner before by saying, love doing photography and everything else will follow in due course. Sometimes we get so hung up on how best to make the photos and we fret and worry and ultimately distract ourselves.

Anyway, I know this is very abstract and I also know it is easier to say when you have over a decade of experience doing as much photography as I have and I know it is easy to claim not to worry about the pictures when you have a whole hard drive full of images you love. I know abstract advice isn't easy, but for me this is my truth. And maybe that truth doesn't work for him, or you, or anyone else. I cannot comment on your approach, just my own and offer insight based on that. I invest myself in being there with a camera in hand. I make photos, of course, but that isn't my goal. By the time that shutter fires, that goal has been met.

Pentax 67

Kodak Ektar 100

“People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Romans 4:25

I'm making no apology for the purple injection to my stream!

Dear flickr...I still would prefer the title at the top of my photos...thanks

love sosij

x

Natalia is back at Nitroglobus and I am super glad with her creative, always surprising, colorful and unique works on the walls of the gallery. This time her exhibition is based on the experiences of several people in Second Life love relationships.

An interesting theme in my humble opinion :-)

Opening party:

Tuesday, 10 March 1 pm SLT (= 21 hrs Amsterdam time).

YES .... 1 pm SLT coz it's SUMMER TIME in the USA.

Music by DJ Ferdy

Dido Haas

Taxi to Nitroglobus: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunshine%20Homestead/38/25...

*******

'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 and text by Natalia Seranade

Poster by David Silence

© All Rights Reserved - Black Diamond Images

BDI Australian Beaches

World Heritage Listed - Lord Howe Island

LORD HOWE ISLAND GALLERIES

AUSTRALIA

Lord Howe Island is known as "The Last Paradise" and not without some considerable justification.

The coral surrounding the island and in the lagoon is the furthest southern coral in the world apart from some coral around Balls Pyramid 20km South East of Lord Howe.

With global warming seriously threatening the very existence of Australia's Great Barrier Reef it looks as if Lord Howe will be a last refuge for coral reefs as we know them today.

There are legally limited numbers of cars residents and visitors to World Heritage listed Lord Howe and the only way to get around is on foot or by bicycle or boat.

Accommodation is limited so costs are comparatively high.Nevertheless the natural beauty of this magnificent paradise make every dollar spent well worthwhile.

At least 10 days is needed to actively explore the island and you will need every bit of that time as every day starts early and ends late,and you will be a whole lot fitter by the time you jump reluctantly back on the plane home.

Google Map of Lord Howe Island

UTUBE

For an excellent blog in 2 parts by moloch05 click on these links

LORD HOWE ISLAND Part 1.

LORD HOWE ISLAND Part 2

Black Diamond Images - TOP 500 Images Album

The lure of two green 'Jubilees' featuring in the Severn Valley Railway's Spring Steam Gala was enough justification to get out of bed on what was a wet and miserable Easter Bank Holiday Monday morning. Any gloom soon disappeared with sight of both 'Bahamas' (see earlier posts) and of course, West Coast Railway's No. 45699 'Galatea' working under the guise of long lost classmate No. 45627 'Sierra Leone, seen arriving into Kidderminster with the 09.05am service from Hampton Loade. Copyright Photograph John Whitehouse - all rights reserved

PHOTO NOT MINE

UNIVERSAL QUESTION: DOES ISLAM PROMOTE VIOLENCE?

1. Does Islam promote violence, bloodshed, and brutality since the Qur’an says that Muslims should kill the kuffar wherever they find them?

ANSWER: NO. Let us study the following misquoted verses of the Holy Qur'an used by those who want to perpetuate the myth that Islam promotes violence, and exhorts its followers to kill those outside the faith of Islam.

2.What is the particular verse cited by Islam critics to distort Islam as a religion?

This verse: "Kill the mushriqeen (pagans, polytheists, kuffar)

wherever you find them". [Al-Qur’an 9:5]

----This verse is OFTEN USED by the critics of Islam to show that Islam promotes violence, bloodshed, and brutality. They cite this to support their BIASED theory motivated by religious hatred by identifying Islam with TERRORISM which is the EXACT PROHIBITION IN THE Holy Qur'an.

3. WHY do the critics of Islam intentionally MISQUOTE this verse?

The answer is simple: to show that Muslims WILL NOT SPARE non-Muslims if only to follow this verse and put it into practice.

This is an act that ABSOLUTELY DISTORTS the essence of Islam and the ANTI-THESIS OF WHAT ISLAM IS.

This verse SHOWS ONLY A PART of the entire message in the HOLY QUR'AN. What the critics DID NOT SHOW are the ENTIRE VERSES which is composed of Surah 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.

The intentional skip by not mentioning the other related verses explains the motive of the critics-- TO MISEDUCATE about Islam.

By citing only this particular verse, it provokes MISUNDERSTANDING among the Muslims and the non-Muslims which will lead to an impression that ISLAM is a militant faith and purely anti non-Muslims. If you believe this, you become a victim of the hate campaign against Islam.

Now, in order to understand the entire message of the Holy Qur'an, let me, therefore, cite the hidden and intentionally deleted SURAH 6 by the critics of ISLAM.

It says:

"If one amongst the pagans ask thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of Allah; and then escort him to where he can be secure that is because they are men without knowledge.

" [Al-Qur’an 9:6]

What message do you get from this verse?

The act of FORGIVENESS, right? But staunch critics of

Islam like Arun Shourie in India DID NOT CITE VERSE 6 of SURAH 9 for obvious reasons. What he kept citing in his arguments is VERSE 5 of Chapter 9 of the Holy Qur'an.

Shourie quotes verse 5 of Surah Taubah chapter 9 in his book "The World of Fatwahs’, on page 572. After quoting

verse 5 he jumps to verse 7 of Surah Taubah. Any sensible

person will realize that he has skipped verse 6.

4. WHAT THEREFORE IS THE ENTIRE MESSAGE OF CHAPTER 9 OF THE HOLY QUR'AN?

Chapter 9 of the Holy Qur'an is not a message of war but

of Forgiveness. That even if war has to be made against

those who violated the rights of Muslims or have

transgressed them to serve their evil purpose, still, FORGIVENESS MUST BE GIVEN TO THOSE who

seek for it.

Here, please read the lines of this verse:

"But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."[Al-Qur’an 9:5]

If you will only read the first part about killing and delete the last lines, you will be guilty of "kitman", the intentional deletion of important lines in a verse to produce a different "hostile and violent" meaning.

5. WHAT is the REAL STORY behind CHAPTER 9 of the Holy Quran?

Chapter 9 discussed a history of a PEACE TREATY between the Muslims and the Mushriqs (pagans) of Makkah during that time when the following verse was written. The peace treaty was violated by the Mushriks of Makkah.

To consider preserving peace, the Muslims gave the Mushriks a period of four months to amend their ways

otherwise, the war would be declared against them.

TAKE NOTE of the fairness exercised by the Muslims during that time.: PATIENCE was given to the violators and there was no immediate declaration of war against them.

But this point is obviously hidden by Muslim critics.

The motive behind the intentional skip of VERSE 6 is to avoid making their argument ineffective against Islam.

Why many continue to adhere to this distorted belief is beyond my mind, but it is of prime importance that the truth

must be told to correct a wrong.

6. Miseducation and hate campaign against Islam:

Surah Taubah chapter 9 verse 5 is being used by the critics of Islam as justification for their allegation that Islam promotes violence, brutality, and bloodshed.

The truth about Islam is granting forgiveness to enemies who

repents and secure them in the name of Allah.

What is the point of killing? A true Muslim does not use religion to oppress and terrorize innocent civilians.

This is exactly what Allah (swt) says in the Glorious Qur’an to promote peace in the world.

This is a bit of a cheat, well kind of. It's a picture of two parts, both shot at the same time, same place just needing totally different exposures. If I metered for the hay truck the sky became totally washed out, which wasn't what I was seeing.

My justification is that this is what I saw if not what the camera saw - and besides I shouldn't need to justify a nice image, so I won't. So shut up then…err okay!

This 2022 image shows some of the tracks left by the Perseverance rover as it traveled to the west of this location in Jezero Crater. Part of the justification for this observation is to extend color coverage of the rover’s traverse.

Image cutout is less than 1 km (under a mile) across and the spacecraft altitude was 279 km (173 mi). For full observation details including images with scale bars, visit the source link.

www.uahirise.org/ESP_073635_1985

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona

They call it the crazy....

Justification:

It produces a lot of flowers....

I found it generous rather than crazy =)