View allAll Photos Tagged JUSTIFICATION
Somebody had to build a Balrog this round of MELO... figured it was my turn. ;) So, in fact, I built 4 balrogs--at least 4 balrog heads, until I finally found the right direction in Mbrick's awesome Balrock. So I adapted my previous body structure (and some points of my previous heads) and threw in some lights behind the eyes and mouth and under the head flames.
I wanted to go in a slightly different direction from the other balrogs so far in the competition, plus avoid the fiery theme of last round and the yellow/orange of my first hero shot. Thus the blue flame--and here is my concept art justification.
Check out my Instagram for a picture of just the monster! He's kinda cute and a bit playable, actually.
The mountains were inspired by Spartan Brick's previous entry--I felt like he had a clever thing going with the corners, but I wanted to see them peak at the center instead of the edges. Some complicated SNOT stuff going on to get the white caps! Full disclosure: "only" two mountains are actually built--again, see Instagram for the behind the scenes!
And where would we be without my version of the story... so here goes:
Glorfindel is traveling with a band of folks along a narrow mountain path (for very important reasons far beyond my ken) when all of a sudden, a massive demonic black beast of a balrog takes a flying leap from the far rear where the bad guys were in full chase and lands among the women and children and starts whipping around him with a fiery whip. This is a serious no-no, so Glorfindel jumps in his turn and slashes at the beast. Distracted from his easy meal, the beast jumps onto another, higher, rock, where Glorfindel follows him. Then in one split second, Glorfindel slashes off his whip arm, slashes in several other places, gets slashed at in turn, and then drives his sword into the beast's belly. With a hideous roar, the beast plunges backwards, first grabbing hold of Glorfindel's hair (and this, brothers, is why you keep it short, or at least comb the knots out so there's nothing to hold by) and dragging him down into the abyss. And everyone lives happily ever after, including Glorfindel, because apparently elves are immortal (and therefore needn't comb their hair).
Flickr | YouTube | GenevaD.com | Rebrickable | Pinterest | Instagram
The petition to end the Badger cull instead of expanding into new areas has now topped 37,000 and is a third of the way to a potential debate in Parliament. If you haven't signed yet please add your name to the list here:
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/165672
I remember asking my Dad about the difference between cull and kill and I was not convinced by his explanation. We were talking about Red Deer while on a family holiday to the Highlands when I was about ten years old at the time. Chambers Dictionary says to select; to pick out (individuals, eg seal or deer), as inferior or superfluous members of a group. I have never heard the word cull used for Hitler's atrocities because the word implies justification, which would be abhorrent. But the definition seems to fit that better than what is happening to our Badgers. The word cull seems to be used to soften what is happening. To somehow make wholesale slaughter justified or at least more acceptable. These Badgers are not superfluous or inferior. They just have the misfortune to live in certain areas where rightful protection has been lifted to appease the NFU. There is no scientific justification for extending this killing. It is being done purely for political reasons.
Fork-tailed Woodnymph
A text, in english, from Birdlife International:
Justification
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 has not been quantified, but it is not believed to 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.
Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.
SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: #http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html#.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'common' (Stotz et al. (1996).
Trend justification
This species is suspected to lose 15.9-17.6% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (12 years) based on a model of Amazonian deforestation (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). It is therefore suspected to decline by <25% over three generations.
References
Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Further web sources of information
Explore HBW Alive for further information on this species
Search for photos and videos,and hear sounds of this species from the Internet Bird Collection
Text account compilers
Ekstrom, J., Butchart, S.
IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Thalurania furcata. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2015) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015.
This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.
To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife
To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.
Beija-flor-tesoura-verde
Texto, em português, da WikiAves:
O beija-flor-tesoura-verde é uma ave da ordem dos Apodiformes, da família Trochilidae.
Também é conhecido como beija-flor-de-barriga-violeta. No livro Aves do Brasil, edição Pantanal e Cerrado, consta como beija-flor-de-ventre-roxo.
Seu nome significa: do (grego) thalos = criança, descendente de; e ouranos céu, celeste, referente ao azul do céu; e do (latim) furcata, furcatus = bifurcada. ⇒ Pássaro filho do azul celeste com cauda bifurcada.
Mede cerca de 9,7 cm de comprimento. Macho com partes superiores esverdeadas, garganta verde-metálica, peito e barriga azul-violeta-brilhante; fêmea com as partes inferiores cinza.
Possui doze subespécies:
Thalurania furcata furcata (Gmelin, 1788) - ocorre no extremo Leste da Venezuela, Guianas e Norte do Brasil, ao norte do Rio Amazonas;
Thalurania furcata refulgens (Gould, 1853) - ocorre no Nordeste da Venezuela, na Península de Paría e na Serra de Cumaná;
Thalurania furcata fissilis (Berlepsch & Hartert, 1902) - ocorre no Leste da Venezuela, e na região adjacente no extremo Oeste da Guiana e Nordeste do Brasil;
Thalurania furcata nigrofasciata (Gould, 1846) - ocorre do Sudoeste da Colômbia até o extremo Sul da Venezuela e Noroeste do Brasil;
Thalurania furcata viridipectus (Gould, 1848) - ocorre do Leste da Cordilheira dos Andes na Leste da Colômbia até o Nordeste do Peru;
Thalurania furcata jelskii (Taczanowski, 1874) - ocorre na região tropical Leste do Peru e na região adjacente no Brasil;
Thalurania furcata simoni (Hellmayr, 1906) - ocorre na Amazônia ao Sul do Rio Amazonas no extremo Leste do Peru e no Oeste do Brasil;
Thalurania furcata balzani (Simon, 1896) - ocorre na região Norte e Central do Brasil ao sul do Rio Amazonas;
Thalurania furcata furcatoides (Gould, 1861) - ocorre no baixo Rio Amazonas, na região Leste do Brasil ao Sul do Rio Amazonas;
Thalurania furcata boliviana (Boucard, 1894) - ocorre nos sopés da Cordilheira dos Andes no Sudeste do Peru e no Nordeste da Bolívia;
Thalurania furcata baeri (Hellmayr, 1907) - ocorre da região Central e Nordeste do Brasil até o Sudeste da Bolívia e no Norte da Argentina;
Thalurania furcata eriphile (Lesson, 1832) - ocorre do Sudeste do Brasil, Leste do Paraguai até o Nordeste da Argentina, na região de Misiones.
Alimenta-se em flores à pouca altura, buscando também insetos na vegetação ou capturando-os no ar.
Faz ninho em forma de taça profunda, preso por teias de aranha a forquilhas ou pequenos ramos, a cerca de 2 m de altura. Põe 2 ovos brancos. Os filhotes deixam o ninho após 18 a 24 dias.
Comum no sub-bosque de florestas altas, capoeiras e florestas de várzea. Vive solitário, defendendo seu território de maneira agressiva.
Distribuição Geográfica:
Quase todo o Brasil, da Amazônia ao Paraná. Encontrado também do México à Bolívia, Paraguai e Argentina.
Referências:
Portal Brasil 500 Pássaros, Beija-flor-tesoura-verde - Disponível em webserver.eln.gov.br/Pass500/BIRDS/1birds/p159.htm Acesso em 09 mai. 2009
CLEMENTS, J. F.; The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2005.
Classificação Científica
Reino: Animalia
Filo: Chordata
Classe: Aves
Ordem: Apodiformes
Família: Trochilidae
Vigors, 1825
Subfamília: Trochilinae
Vigors, 1825
Espécie: T. furcata
Nome Científico
Thalurania furcata
(Gmelin, 1788)
Nome em Inglês
Fork-tailed Woodnymph
Estado de Conservação
(IUCN 3.1)
Pouco Preocupante
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
Hosea 6:2 (ESV)
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
The Fontana del Moro is one of the three monumental fountains of Piazza Navona, in Rome. It was built by enriching a polylobate tank by Giacomo della Porta from 1575-76, based on a project by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, completed in 1654 by Giovanni Antonio Mari and financed by Olimpia Maidalchini.
An initial intervention by Bernini was not accepted by the pope. A subsequent attempt finally met the favor of Innocent X: a powerful human-marine character who, standing on a large shell, holds by the tail and strangles with his legs a dolphin, who wiggles in vain. Water flows from the fish's mouth as a result of strangulation:
Bernini, in fact, in his fountains always tried to provide a logical justification for the escape of water, giving it at the same time a spectacular character. The somatic features of the figure vaguely recall the characteristics of a colored man: it was for this reason that the statue was first called "of the Ethiopian" and then "of the Moor", a name that was eventually extended to the whole fountain.
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La fontana del Moro è una delle tre fontane monumentali di piazza Navona, a Roma. Fu realizzata arricchendo una vasca polilobata di Giacomo della Porta del 1575-76, sulla base di un progetto di Gian Lorenzo Bernini, completato nel 1654 da Giovanni Antonio Mari e finanziato da Olimpia Maidalchini.
Un primo intervento del Bernini non fu accolto dal papa . Un successivo tentativo incontrò finalmente il favore di Innocenzo X: un personaggio marino-umano dalle dimensioni possenti che, ergendosi su una grossa conchiglia, trattiene per la coda e strangola con le gambe un delfino, che si dimena invano. L'acqua sgorga dalla bocca del pesce, come risultato dello strangolamento:
Bernini, infatti, nelle sue fontane tentava sempre di fornire una giustificazione logica della fuoriuscita dell'acqua, donandole al contempo un carattere spettacolare. I tratti somatici della figura richiamano vagamente le caratteristiche di un uomo di colore: fu per questo motivo che la statua venne detta dapprima «dell'Etiope» e poi «del Moro», nome che venne esteso infine a tutta la fontana.
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
John 8:12 (ESV)
I Am the Light of the World
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
A text, in english, from Wikipedia, The Free enciclopédia:
The planalto hermit (Phaethornis pretrei) is a species of bird in the Trochilidae family, the hummingbirds. It is found in eastern and south-central Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and marginally in north-western Argentina.
It is usually easily recognized by its relatively large size, broad white tips to all the rectrices, and cinnamon-buff underparts and rump – the latter contrasing clearly with its tail and remaining upperparts.
This is essentially a non-forest hermit, being found in a wide range of open and semi-open habitats, including Caatinga, Cerrado, and the Pantanal. It is widespread and generally common, and therefore considered to be of Least Concern by BirdLife International.
A text, in english, from Birdlife International:
www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=1815
Justification
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 has not been quantified, but it is not believed to 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.
Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.
SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: #http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html#.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'fairly common' (Stotz et al. (1996).
References
Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Further web sources of information
Explore HBW Alive for further information on this species
Search for photos and videos,and hear sounds of this species from the Internet Bird Collection
Text account compilers
Ekstrom, J., Butchart, S.
IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Phaethornis pretrei. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 21/12/2015. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2015) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 21/12/2015.
This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.
A text, in english, from Handbook of the birds of the world - Alive:
www.hbw.com/species/planalto-hermit-phaethornis-pretrei
Family Hummingbirds (Trochilidae) Least Concern
Planalto Hermit (Phaethornis pretrei)
Taxonomy
French: Ermite de Prêtre German: Zimtroter Schattenkolibri Spanish: Ermitaño del Planalto
Taxonomy: Trochilus Pretrei Lesson and DeLattre, 1839, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Closely related to P. augusti. Proposed races garleppi and pallidiventris are based on aberrant specimens; schwarti (Bahia) and minor (N Goiás, S Maranhão) based on individual variation. Monotypic.
Distribution:
E Bolivia, N Argentina (Salta, Jujuy, Santiago del Estero and Misiones) and Paraguay to E Brazil (S & E of Amazonian rainforest area).
Descriptive notes
c. 14–16·5 cm; male 4·5–7 g, female 3–5 g. Medium-sized hermit with olive-green upperparts, prominent reddish uppertail-coverts, cinnamon-red... read more
Voice
Song exhibits considerable variation: often a sequence of evenly-spaced, alternating, single and... read more
Habitat
Non-forest, vegetation-rich areas, or dry forest, predominantly in mountainous regions, also second... read more
Food and feeding
Nectar of various flowering plants (e.g. Hibiscus rosasinensis); small arthropods. Probably feeds by trap-lining.
Breeding
Sept–Apr in Brazil; nest records in Sept in NW Argentina and Aug in Brazil. Nest is a long, cone-shaped cup constructed of plant... read more
Movements
No reliable information available; thought to be partly migratory within certain areas.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Common throughout range. Accepts man-made habitats, e.g. gardens, parks. In SE Brazil, abundance varies from 2 pairs/km... read more
O rabo-branco-acanelado (Phaethornis pretrei) é uma espécie de ave da família Trochilidae.
Pode ser encontrada nos seguintes países: Argentina, Bolívia, Brasil e Paraguai.
Os seus habitats naturais são: florestas secas tropicais ou subtropicais , florestas subtropicais ou tropicais húmidas de baixa altitude e florestas secundárias altamente degradadas.
Rabo-branco é o nome vulgar dado às aves troquilídeas (beija-flores) classificadas no género Phaethornis. O grupo inclui 26 espécies, 2 das quais são endêmicas do Brasil.
Os rabo-brancos são aves de pequenas dimensões, com comprimento variável entre 8 e 16 cm. Caracterizam-se pelo bico longo e arredondado e pela bochecha escura, debruada a branco. Na maioria das espécies, as rectrizes (penas da cauda) centrais são mais alongadas e claras, conferindo à cauda o aspecto de uma cunha branca.
Espécies:
Phaethornis anthophilus (Boucier, 1843)
Phaetornis atrimentalis Lawrence, 1858
Phaethornis augusti (Bourcier, 1847)
Phaethornis bourcieri (Lesson, 1832) - Rabo-branco-de-bico-reto
Phaethornis eurynome (Lesson, 1832) - Rabo-branco-de-garganta-rajada
Phaethornis griseogularis Gould, 1851 - Rabo-branco-de-garganta-cinza
Phaethornis guy (Lesson, 1833)
Phaethornis hispidus (Gould, 1846) - Rabo-branco-cinza
Phaethornis longirostris (Delattre, 1843)
Phaethornis idaliae (Boucier e Mulsant, 1856) - Rabo-branco-mirim
Phaethornis koepckeae Weske e Terborgh, 1977
Phaethornis longuemareus (Lesson, 1832)
Phaethornis malaris (Nordmann, 1835) - Besourão-de-bico-grande
Phaethornis nattereri Berlepsch, 1887 - Besourão-de-sobre-amarelo
Phaethornis philippii (Bourcier, 1847) - Rabo-branco-amarelo
Phaethornis pretrei (Lesson e Delattre, 1839) -Rabo-branco-acanelado
Phaethornis ruber (Linnaeus, 1758) - Rabo-branco-rubro
Phaethornis rupurumii Boucard, 1892 - Rabo-branco-do-rupununi
Phaethornis squalidus (Temminck, 1822) - Rabo-branco-pequeno
Phaethornis subochraceus Todd, 1815 - Rabo-branco-de-barriga-fulva
Phaethornis superciliosus (Linnaeus, 1766) - Rabo-branco-de-bigodes
Phaethornis stuarti Hartert, 1897
Phaetornis striigularis Gould, 1854
Phaethornis syrmatophorus Gould, 1851
Phaethornis yaruqui (Bourcier, 1851).
A seguir, texto do site passarinhando:
dimaserose.blogspot.com.br/2008/07/beija-flor-de-rabo-bra...
Uma das maiores espécies de beija-flores brasileiras, destaca-se por ter a cauda longa e cada pena da mesma terminando em uma ponta branca, contrastando com o centro negro. O bico é comprido e levemente curvado para baixo, mandíbula vermelha. Máscara negra até depois dos olhos, bordejada acima e abaixo por uma faixa clara, em contraste com o peito e barriga canelas. As costas são esverdeadas, com a área próxima à cauda canela (foto). Vive no interior da mata ciliar e do cerradão, às vezes na mata seca da RPPN. Atravessa a parte baixa das matas em vôos muito rápidos, no meio da vegetação fechada, emitindo um chamado agudo e curto nesses deslocamentos. Visita as flores do sub bosque e da copa, sempre na área sombreada. Voa em locais abertos, mas pousa abrigado nas sombras. O ninho é construído com uma mistura de teias de aranha, folhas e pequenos filamentos. Pendendo em uma folha ou cipó, possui uma longa extensão alongada e fina, a qual fica balançando com o vento. Às vezes, constrói o ninho sob pontes ou dentro de casas pouco usadas. Além das teias de aranhas, usa a saliva como fixador (os beija-flores são uma das poucas aves com glândulas salivares expressivas). Para apanhar as teias de aranha, percorre os lugares com maior possibilidade de encontro, inclusive beirais e interior de casas. Como outros beija-flores, costuma verificar teias de aranha para apanhar insetos presos nelas. Desses hábitos nasceu o nome comum dessa espécie.
This image is a little contrived in that there's a lot of tweaks and adjustments in processing. Here's my justification: I have stood at the foot of this slipway on dozens of occasions trying to find the shot that worked. I have always loved the way the slope leads into the pathway and the crowning trees. The way St Catherine's breakwater carries the eye around into the wide frame has always appealed to me too. However the light never quite works, and the colours of the rocks are somewhat heavy and bland and really don't come to life even when hit by the warm morning sun.
So I have played with the frame, reduced contrast everywhere except where I want the eye to linger and have then used dodging/burning to trick the eye a little more. Ideally I would take this shot in the blue hour with a full moon sitting behind those trees..... I'll keep an eye out for that configuration ;-)
I took a series of shots and then worked out this treatment in processing. I would have shot it differently from a technical perspective had I decided on this treatment in advance... I may do it properly one day!
At Pastor Charles Calvin's house, there is much preparation for the Thanksgiving meal. Pastor Calvin's son, Charles Jr. is just arriving with a much needed final sack of supplies. As Charles Jr. approaches the house, he sees the happy scene through the window, and his thoughts go to salvation.
""Test me, Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind. For Your faithful love is before my eyes, and I live by Your truth. I do not sit with the worthless or associate with hypocrites. I hate a crowd of evildoers, and I do not sit with the wicked. I wash my hands in innocence and go around Your altar, Lord, raising my voice in thanksgiving and telling about Your wonderful works." Psalm 26:2-7
"Before God saved me, how my life was like this. On the outside, looking in. I professed to be a Christian. My father is a beloved pastor. I talked the talk and I did a fairly good job of walking the walk. But I never felt the joy and peace they seemed to. I always felt like I was outside, in the cold, looking in on a warm gathering. Not really a part of it.
And then God opened my eyes through 2 Timothy 3:5, " having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people." I had an appearance of Godliness. I acted like a Christian, and worked hard to convince myself I was one. But I had denied the power of God in true salvation which is that He changes us, radically, fundamentally, from the inside out. I had been trying to have Christianity my way, when in truth Jesus is the way.
Then God saved me and I no longer felt like an outsider. 2 Corinthians 5:17 proved true, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Now, when I walk through that door and join them, I'm one of them. Thank you Lord."
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
Although heaven will be our first encounter with true, complete perfection, the Lord is already at work in the lives of His people preparing us for that perfection.
God begins the process of perfecting us from the moment we are converted from unbelief to faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit regenerates us. He gives us new hearts with new, holy desires (Ezekiel 36:26). He transforms our stubborn wills. He opens our hearts to embrace the truth rather than reject it, to believe rather than doubt. He gives us a hunger for righteousness and a desire for Him. Thus the new birth transforms the inner person. From that point, everything that occurs in our lives—good or bad—God uses to make us like Christ (Romans 8:28–30).
In terms of our moral and legal status, believers are judged perfect immediately—not on the basis of who we are or what we have done, but because of what Christ has done for us. We are forgiven of all our sin. We are clothed with a perfect righteousness (Isaiah 61:10; Romans 4:5), which instantly gives us a standing before God without any fear of condemnation (Romans 5:1; 8:1). And when Paul writes that God has “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6), he is again speaking of this position of favor with God that we have been granted by grace alone.
We are not literally, physically seated with Christ in the heavenlies, of course. We are not mystically present there through some kind of spiritual telepathy. But legally, in the eternal court of God, we have been granted full rights to heaven. That is the high legal standing we enjoy even now, on this side of heaven.
But God does not stop there. Having judicially declared us righteous (Scripture calls that justification), God never stops conforming us to the image of His Son (that is sanctification). Although our legal standing is already perfect, God is also making us perfect. Heaven is a place of perfect holiness, and we would not be fit to live there unless we too could be made holy. In a sense, then, the blessing of justification is God’s guarantee that He will ultimately conform us to the image of His Son. “Those whom He justified He also glorified” (Romans 8:30).
The seeds of Christlikeness are planted at the moment of conversion. Peter says that believers have been granted “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). If you are a Christian, the life of God dwells in your soul, and with it all that you need for heaven. You have already passed from death to life (John 5:24). You are a new person (2 Corinthians 5:17). Whereas you were once enslaved to sin, you have now become a slave of righteousness (Romans 6:18). Instead of receiving the wages of sin—death—you have received God’s gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). And eternal life means abundant life (John 10:10). That is what Paul means when he writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Now let’s be honest. Even the most committed Christian doesn’t always live as if “the new has come.” We don’t always feel like a “new creation.” Usually we are more keenly aware of the sin that oozes from within us than we are of the rivers of living water Christ spoke of. Although we “have the firstfruits of the Spirit, [we] groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). And we groan this way all our lives. Remember, it was a mature apostle, not a fragile new Christian, who cried out in Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
Here’s the problem: Like Lazarus, we came forth from the grave still bound in grave clothes. We are incarcerated in human flesh. Flesh in the biblical sense refers not just to the physical body, but to the sinful thoughts and habits that remain with us until our bodies are finally glorified. When Paul speaks of flesh and spirit he is not contrasting the material body with the immaterial spirit—setting up a kind of dualism, the way gnostic and New Age doctrines do. He uses the word flesh to speak of a tendency to sin—a sin principle that remains even in the redeemed person.
Paul clearly spells out the problem from his own experience in Romans 7.
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. (Romans 7:15-–21)
As believers we are new creatures—reborn souls—vested with everything necessary for life and godliness, but we cannot fully appreciate the newness of our position in Christ because of the persistent presence of sin.
Like Paul, we “delight in the law of God, in [our] inner being” (Romans 7:22). Only the principle of eternal life in us can explain such love for the law of God. But at the same time, the flesh constricts and fetters us like tightly bound grave clothes. This flesh principle wars against the principle of new life in Christ. So we feel like captives to the law of sin in our own members (Romans 7:23).
How can this be? After all, Paul earlier wrote in this very epistle that our bondage to sin is broken. We are supposed to “have been set free from sin” (Romans 6:22). How is it that just one scant chapter later, he says we are “captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:23)?
The answer is, being a captive is not quite the same thing as being enslaved. As unredeemed sinners, we were full-time slaves of sin—willing servants, in fact. But as Christians who are not yet glorified, we are captives, unwilling prisoners of an already defeated enemy. Although sin can buffet and abuse us, it does not own us, and it cannot ultimately destroy us. Sin’s authority and dominion are broken. It “lies close at hand” in the believer’s life (Romans 7:21), but it is no longer our master. Our real allegiance is now to the principle of righteousness (Romans 7:22). It is in this sense that “the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Even though we still fall into old patterns of sinful thinking and behavior, those things no longer define who we are. Sin is now an anomaly and an intruder, not the sum and substance of our character.
God is changing us from the inside out. He has planted the incorruptible seed of eternal life deep in the believer’s soul. We have new desires to please God. We have new hearts and a whole new love for God. And all those are factors that contribute to our ultimate growth in grace.
Although sin has crippled our souls and marred our spirits—scarred our thoughts, will, and emotions—we who know Christ have already had a taste of redemption. As we set our hearts on heaven and mortify the remaining sin in our members, we can experience the transforming power of Christ’s glory on a daily basis. And we long for that day when we will be completely redeemed. We yearn to reach that place where the seed of perfection that has been planted within us will bloom into fullness and we will be completely redeemed, finally made perfect (Hebrews 12:23). That is exactly what heaven is all about.
- "Changed From The Inside Out"
John MacArthur
2013
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Happy Thanksgiving 2022 as we at Paprihaven celebrate gratitude through God through the Psalms!
Previous Thanksgiving at Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23317280855/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/38546781536/
2018:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/45946160821/
2019:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49117569293/
2020:
flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50634408816/
2021:
Fork-tailed Woodnymph
A text, in english, from Birdlife International:
Justification
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 has not been quantified, but it is not believed to 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.
Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.
SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: #http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html#.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'common' (Stotz et al. (1996).
Trend justification
This species is suspected to lose 15.9-17.6% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (12 years) based on a model of Amazonian deforestation (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). It is therefore suspected to decline by <25% over three generations.
References
Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Further web sources of information
Explore HBW Alive for further information on this species
Search for photos and videos,and hear sounds of this species from the Internet Bird Collection
Text account compilers
Ekstrom, J., Butchart, S.
IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Thalurania furcata. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2015) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015.
This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.
To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife
To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.
Beija-flor-tesoura-verde
Texto, em português, da WikiAves:
O beija-flor-tesoura-verde é uma ave da ordem dos Apodiformes, da família Trochilidae.
Também é conhecido como beija-flor-de-barriga-violeta. No livro Aves do Brasil, edição Pantanal e Cerrado, consta como beija-flor-de-ventre-roxo.
Seu nome significa: do (grego) thalos = criança, descendente de; e ouranos céu, celeste, referente ao azul do céu; e do (latim) furcata, furcatus = bifurcada. ⇒ Pássaro filho do azul celeste com cauda bifurcada.
Mede cerca de 9,7 cm de comprimento. Macho com partes superiores esverdeadas, garganta verde-metálica, peito e barriga azul-violeta-brilhante; fêmea com as partes inferiores cinza.
Possui doze subespécies:
Thalurania furcata furcata (Gmelin, 1788) - ocorre no extremo Leste da Venezuela, Guianas e Norte do Brasil, ao norte do Rio Amazonas;
Thalurania furcata refulgens (Gould, 1853) - ocorre no Nordeste da Venezuela, na Península de Paría e na Serra de Cumaná;
Thalurania furcata fissilis (Berlepsch & Hartert, 1902) - ocorre no Leste da Venezuela, e na região adjacente no extremo Oeste da Guiana e Nordeste do Brasil;
Thalurania furcata nigrofasciata (Gould, 1846) - ocorre do Sudoeste da Colômbia até o extremo Sul da Venezuela e Noroeste do Brasil;
Thalurania furcata viridipectus (Gould, 1848) - ocorre do Leste da Cordilheira dos Andes na Leste da Colômbia até o Nordeste do Peru;
Thalurania furcata jelskii (Taczanowski, 1874) - ocorre na região tropical Leste do Peru e na região adjacente no Brasil;
Thalurania furcata simoni (Hellmayr, 1906) - ocorre na Amazônia ao Sul do Rio Amazonas no extremo Leste do Peru e no Oeste do Brasil;
Thalurania furcata balzani (Simon, 1896) - ocorre na região Norte e Central do Brasil ao sul do Rio Amazonas;
Thalurania furcata furcatoides (Gould, 1861) - ocorre no baixo Rio Amazonas, na região Leste do Brasil ao Sul do Rio Amazonas;
Thalurania furcata boliviana (Boucard, 1894) - ocorre nos sopés da Cordilheira dos Andes no Sudeste do Peru e no Nordeste da Bolívia;
Thalurania furcata baeri (Hellmayr, 1907) - ocorre da região Central e Nordeste do Brasil até o Sudeste da Bolívia e no Norte da Argentina;
Thalurania furcata eriphile (Lesson, 1832) - ocorre do Sudeste do Brasil, Leste do Paraguai até o Nordeste da Argentina, na região de Misiones.
Alimenta-se em flores à pouca altura, buscando também insetos na vegetação ou capturando-os no ar.
Faz ninho em forma de taça profunda, preso por teias de aranha a forquilhas ou pequenos ramos, a cerca de 2 m de altura. Põe 2 ovos brancos. Os filhotes deixam o ninho após 18 a 24 dias.
Comum no sub-bosque de florestas altas, capoeiras e florestas de várzea. Vive solitário, defendendo seu território de maneira agressiva.
Distribuição Geográfica:
Quase todo o Brasil, da Amazônia ao Paraná. Encontrado também do México à Bolívia, Paraguai e Argentina.
Referências:
Portal Brasil 500 Pássaros, Beija-flor-tesoura-verde - Disponível em webserver.eln.gov.br/Pass500/BIRDS/1birds/p159.htm Acesso em 09 mai. 2009
CLEMENTS, J. F.; The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2005.
Classificação Científica
Reino: Animalia
Filo: Chordata
Classe: Aves
Ordem: Apodiformes
Família: Trochilidae
Vigors, 1825
Subfamília: Trochilinae
Vigors, 1825
Espécie: T. furcata
Nome Científico
Thalurania furcata
(Gmelin, 1788)
Nome em Inglês
Fork-tailed Woodnymph
Estado de Conservação
(IUCN 3.1)
Pouco Preocupante
Back when I was still a working stiff, I often took little detours on my way to work to catch the morning light along the bay. I recently found this little marshland scene while combing through the archives and I was immediately back standing along the bay on a soft winter morning watching the egrets comb the marshland for their breakfast. One of my contacts recently remarked that photos are little captured memories that forever memorialize a specific moment in time. I so agree with that. At the time, I thought it was a great justification for being late to work. I'm not sure my boss felt the same, but hey, once you hit your 60's I think you deserve a little slack.
Bay Land Preserve, Palo Alto CA
World Heritage:
"..the landscape of the Val d'Orcia was celebrated by painters from the Sienese School, which flourished during the Renaissance. Images of the Val d'Orcia have come to be seen as icons of the Renaissance and have profoundly influenced the development of landscape thinking."
(from justification for inscription as world heritage)
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
A mix of Galaxy 135mm and Tair 3 300mm. Both lenses have aperture's without designated stops. The Galaxy's T2 needed quite a work around to get it to M42 (ever ready chair-feet felt stickers and some copper model builder's thread). It has enough blades to assure a round aperture for all the stops and nice to film with - solid metal. The Galaxy is certainly amongst the cheapest of vintage lenses currently available and a good Tair 3 is among the more expensive (with real justification) so a pleasure to put them together. The main Galaxy shots are of the frog dipping in a forest lake and other forest ripples.
AJ
#172
A later generation of Rossendale Transport double-decker (and one of its finest), Volvo B7TL / East Lancs Myllennium Vyking 102 in the original 'Easyride' low-floor livery and still sporting its builders badge on the dash panel. An unexpected arrival at the time, having seen a few months of service across the Irish Sea (as 07-KE-5308 with Circle Line), a quirk in the system at the time, meant that Rossendale were able to register this as a brand new vehicle in September 2007, so with some justification, it can lay claim to being the Company's last new double-decker. Seen here in Haslingden, resplendent in the early Spring sunshine and at a time when there was much more variety and interest plying the 464 than can be found today.
This image is copyright and must not be reproduced or downloaded without the permission of the photographer.
• Parts: 36,800+ (~1,130 unique)
• 📐 Scale: 1:650
• 📏 Dimensions: 32in x 51in (80cm x 130cm)
• 📚 Research, Design + Build Time: 4 months
• Photography: James Vitullo 📷
• ©️ MMXXIV - Rocco Buttliere, LLC
___________________________________
During a brief stint in Washington D.C. in 2023, I spent the better part of a summer evening exploring the grounds of Capitol Hill. Few landscapes invite as much inquiry along winding paths paired with plenty of moments for quiet introspection on marble benches; all in picturesque view of the Capitol dome. These on-site experiences are exactly the form of anecdotal justification I seek when considering whether to recreate such monumental places in the first place.
In tackling any work of such storied precedence as the US Capitol, I always seek to expand the conversation beyond existing works in the medium of plastic bricks. While the consistent 1:650 scale among my works has always ensured some level of originality, it is no guarantee of further insight that cannot already be gleaned from existing works by other artists. With this in mind, I set out to capture the full 100-acre site currently maintained by The Architect of the Capitol. What's more, the diorama depicts a particular time of year - specifically late March to early April - as illustrated by the iconic presence of hundreds of cherry blossoms rendered in two shades of light pink.
The diorama starts downhill at the trapezoidal Capitol Reflecting Pool, with the Grant Memorial taking pride of place along its eastern edge and the US Botanic Garden across the street to the south. The diorama expands from there, capturing the radiating pathways meandering uphill, as designed by Frederick Law Olmsted within the parcels laid out in the city plan by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. The piece culminates with the widely imitated US Capitol Building, perched atop a plinth projecting from the Capitol Visitor Center on the opposite side.
Topping everything off is a custom-made representation of the Statue of Freedom (as designed by Thomas Crawford), steadfastly overlooking the National Mall from atop the dome. The statue was designed in collaboration with BigKidBrix and was sized comparably to the minifigure statuette / trophy element.
The piece was designed over the course of about two months: first in December 2023 through January 2024, paused during the build-out of SPQR - Phase II, then resumed between March and April. The build-out lasted from July through August and was completed by September. The piece will soon be added to my personal gallery of works, now available for touring exhibitions.
#Artist #SupportArtists #FineArt #SmallBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #ChicagoArtist #LEGO #LEGOArchitecture #LEGOArt #LEGOArtist #InstaLEGO #GoBricks #USCapitol #USCapitolBuilding #CapitolHill #WashingtonDC #ArchitectOfTheCapitol #America #USA #Diorama #AmericanHistory
Having played "Things can only get better" humiliating Sunak, even more than Sunak was already humiliating himself announcing the General Election in the soaking rain, the word had clearly gone out that Steve Bray was not going to be allowed to repeat that on the morning after the General Election defeat of Sunak and the Tories.
Initially a junior police liaison officer asked Steve Bray not play his music (a rude Tory version of "Bye Bye Baby") through an amplifier because it would disturb the people working in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; possibly the most pathetic justification imaginable. When he played the music a further time, not very loudly, the bearded officer appeared and said he would be arrested and the amps confiscated and further discussions ensued.
Finally Superintendent Withers appeared with his red epaulettes, stony faced, refused to provide the name of the senior commander who had issued the instruction and made it clear that they were actually going to act on this excessive abuse of police discretion. Steve Bray then tried to use the unamplified old style megaphone and was threatened with the confiscation of that as well and ultimately had no option but to walk away as Sunak's car exited Downing Street for his final humiliation before the King.
It will be interesting to see if the new Labour Government repeals the Police Crime Sentencing And Courts Act 2022 which gifted the police such oppressive powers to silence protest to the point of the unamplified human voice.
La visita fiscale disposta dai giudici a Silvio Berlusconi per l'appello alla vicenda sui diritti televisivi hanno stabilito che non sussitono impedimenti per cui l'ex premier possa non possa partecipare alla prossima udienza. Insomma la richiesta avanzata dai legali del cavaliere è stata rigettata.
Berlusconi, ricoverato da ieri all'ospedale San Raffaele, avrebbe contratto una infiammazione agli occhi, ovvero l'uveite. Una giustificazione che ha aperto nell'aula del tribunale un'aspra diatriba tra accusa e difesa, tanto da aver fatto slittare la conclusione della requisitoria del processo Ruby a lunedì prossimo e forse anche la sentenza.
Tuttavia l'accertamento ha dato un esito un po' diverso, rispetto a quello sperato da Berlusconi. I medici, infatti, nominati dalla Corte d'appello di Milano, Pasquale Troiani e Carlo Goj, insieme al collega nominato dalla difesa, Umberto Genovese, sono arrivati all'ospedale San Raffaele per visitare Silvio Berlusconi e stabilire se questo disturbo agli occhi gli impedisce di essere presente in aula al processo sui diritti tv di Mediaset. Alla fine la Corte d'Appello ha stabilito che "non esiste assoluto impedimento alla partecipazione all'udienza del processo Mediaset presso la seconda sezione del Tribunale d'Appello di Milano
The visit by the judges fiscal willing to Silvio Berlusconi for the call to each other on television rights have determined that sussitono impediments that the former prime minister would not be able to participate at the next hearing. In short, the request made by the lawyers of the knight was rejected.
Berlusconi, who was hospitalized yesterday's San Raffaele hospital, he contracted an eye inflammation, or uveitis. A justification which opened in the courtroom bitter dispute between prosecution and defense, so as to have delayed the conclusion of the indictment process Ruby next Monday and perhaps the judgment.
However, the assessment gave an outcome a little 'different than hoped for by Berlusconi. The doctors, in fact, appointed by the Court of Appeal of Milan, Carlo Pasquale Trojans and Goj, together with his colleague appointed by the defense, Umberto Genovese, came to visit San Raffaele hospital Silvio Berlusconi and whether this eye disorder prevents him from to be present in court at the trial on TV rights by Mediaset. At the end of the Court of Appeals stated that "there is no absolute bar to participation in the hearing process Mediaset in the second section of the Court of Appeal of Milan
I Am the True Vine
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
(John 15:1-11 ESV)
The error in the thesis of "art for art's sake" really amounts to supposing that there are relativities which bear their adequate justification within themselves, in their own relative nature, and that consequently there are criteria of value inaccessible to pure intelligence and foreign to objective truth. This error involves abolishing the primacy of the spirit and its replacement either by instinct or taste, by criteria that are either purely subjective or else arbitrary.
We have already seen that the definition, laws and criteria of art cannot be derived from art itself, that is, from the competence of the artist as such; the foundations of art lie in the spirit, in metaphysical, theological and mystical knowledge, not in knowledge of the craft alone nor yet in genius, for this may be anything at all; in other words the intrinsic principles of art are essentially subordinate to extrinsic principles of a higher order.
Art is an activity, an exteriorisation, and thus depends by definition on a knowledge that transcends it and gives it order; apart from such knowledge art has no justification: it is knowledge which determines action, manifestation, form, and never the reverse.
It is not necessary to produce works of art oneself in order to have the right to judge an artistic production in its essentials; decisive artistic competence only comes into play in relation to an intellectual competence which must be already present.
No relative point of view can claim unqualified competence except in the case of innocuous activities in which competence applies anyhow in a very narrow field; now human art derives from a relative point of view; it is an application, not a principle.
---
Frithjof Schuon
---
Quoted in: The Essential Frithjof Schuon (edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
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
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is flove, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ga 5:22–23.
Deuteronomy 7:6–9 (ESV)
6 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that iwhere I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am lthe way, and mthe truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have pknown my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 14:1–7.
We found this at a thrift store. CM asked an elderly fellow who works there if there was a testing station. The man not only walked us to the unofficial testing area (Two wall sockets outside the bathrooms.) but turned out to be delightful with fun conversation!
We tested, it worked, we bought it. I still don't know why we actually tested it. We saw it and compared it to some Barbies in the toy section and agreed it's a really fun 1:6 prop. We're certainly not going to keep it plugged in the Barbie house.
But, I think it gave us some sense of justification for spending, I think, $5. I mean, you know, it really does work. 😊
Olive-winged Bulbul (Pycnonotus plumosus)
Justification
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 has not been quantified, but it is not believed to 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.
Taxonomic source(s)
Sibley, C. G.; Monroe, B. L. 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as generally abundant throughout its range (del Hoyo et al. 2005).
Trend justification
The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.
[Credit: www.birdlife.org/]
Happy Resurrection Day (Easter) To All! May God Grace you with His Peace!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIu54XO74g0
O GREAT REDEEMER - Doxology
Eternal King, enthroned in light,
The heavens bow at Your command.
You rule the world in power and might,
Yet grieve the fallen state of man.
Immortal hands becoming flesh
Reach out to pay the sinner’s price.
To bear the punishment of death,
One pure atoning sacrifice.
O Great Redeemer,
O the power of Your name.
O Mighty Warrior, Strong to Save,
Worthy the Lamb for sinners slain.
O great Redeemer.
The mystery of grace unfolds.
The blood of Christ now covers us.
And darkness trembles to behold The Risen King, victorious!
O Great Redeemer,
O the power of Your name.
O Mighty Warrior, Strong to Save,
Worthy the Lamb for sinners slain.
O great Redeemer.
O great Redeemer.
O Great Redeemer,
O the power of Your name.
O Mighty Warrior, Strong to Save,
Worthy the Lamb for sinners slain.
Worthy the Lamb for sinners slain.
O great Redeemer. O great Redeemer.
© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
Street candid taken in Glasgow, Scotland. On a day where the affectionately named 'pigeon-man' of Morecombe, an elderly man who received an ASBO in December prohibiting him from feeding feral pigeons, has been jailed for 6 weeks for continuing to feed the wild birds. There is a protest campaign against his sentence which, frankly, I find criminal in itself!
Sure, feral pigeons are a nuisance but they present such a ridiculously small risk to public health that I cannot fathom the justification of imprisoning an elderly man for feeding them!
I really hope this mentality doesn't spread to Glasgow, the pigeons are a part of the city in my eyes and the urban jungle without a little wildlife would be a very desolate place indeed.
Finding Yourself to Your Own Ruin
1 Samuel 16:7; Luke 19:3; John 7:24; 2 Corinthians 10:7; Philippians 2:21
You will quickly be deceived if you look only to the outward appearance of men, and you will often be disappointed if you seek comfort and gain in them. If, however, you seek Jesus in all things, you will surely find Him. Likewise, if you seek yourself, you will find yourself—to your own ruin. For the man who does not seek Jesus does himself much greater harm than the whole world and all his enemies could ever do.
THOMAS À KEMPIS
Elliot Ritzema and Rebecca Brant, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Medieval Church (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
The view of Slioch (981m) across Loch Maree has become one of the classic calendar shots ........with some justification.
Buy this photo on Getty Images : Getty Images
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:
The practical use of a ghost light is mainly for safety. A ghost light enables one to navigate the theater to find the lighting control console and to avoid accidents such as falling into the orchestra pit and stepping on or tripping over set pieces. Aside from its obvious practical purpose, there are a number of superstitions associated with the origin and purpose of ghost lights.
The superstitious have various justifications for the ghost light in relation to the supernatural. A popular theatrical superstition holds that every theater has a ghost, and some theaters have traditions to appease ghosts that reach far back into their history. For example, the Palace Theatre, London keeps two seats in their balcony permanently bolted open to provide seating for the theater ghosts. Similar superstitions hold that ghost lights provide opportunities for ghosts to perform onstage, thus appeasing them and preventing them from cursing the theater or sabotaging the set or production. This is also used to explain the traditional one day a week that theaters are closed.
The Iowa Traction had been on "my list" for years and years. I had always intended to visit but never made it, even driving through the area but never taking the time to seek them out. It always fell in that grey area-dead zone of worthy subjects a few hours away, stuff I wouldn't reach when shooting local, yet too close when on a big trip with my sights set farther away. I knew I was playing regret roulette and tried to justify this lapse with justifications like; electric isn't really my thing, they just switch don't they? and it's already been done to death by others. Thankfully, my brother had visited a couple of times and prevailed upon me that indeed it was a good show and worth the trip.
So it was on this crisp fall morning we had ourselves in position when the sunrise coincided with Iowa Traction kicking things off by running motor 50 east from the shops at Emery to Mason City. Here they are passing the entrance to the Chevron biodiesel plant, a major IATR customer that would be high on the switch list this day. October 16, 2023.
Revive Us Again
1 LORD, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ps 85:title–7.
“ Odette fece a Swann il 'suo' tè, gli domandò: - Limone o panna? – e, avendo egli risposto – Panna, - disse ridendo: Una nuvola! – E, com’egli lo dichiarò buono: - Vedete che so quel che vi piace -. Quel tè realmente era parso a Swann qualcosa di prezioso, come a lei; e l’amore ha tanto bisogno di trovarsi una giustificazione, una garanzia di durata, in piaceri che invece non esisterebbero senza di esso e con esso hanno un termine, che quando alle sette l’aveva lasciata per tornare a casa a vestirsi, per tutto il percorso in carrozza, non potendo contenere la gioia che quel pomeriggio aveva suscitato in lui, si ripeteva: ' Sarebbe molto piacevole avere così una personcina dalla quale si potesse trovare questa cosa tanto rara, un buon tè'.
Marcel Proust, Un Amore di Swann
A Love of Swann
"Odette did to Swann 'his' tea, she asked him: - Lemon or cream? - and, as he answered - Cream, - she said with a laugh: A cloud! - And, as he declared it good: - You see that I know what you like -. That tea really seemed to Swann something valuable, like her, and love so desperately needs to find a justification, a guarantee of duration, in pleasures which instead would not exist without it and with it have a deadline, that when the seven he left her to go home to dress, for all the way into the carriage,could not to contain the joy that afternoon had caused him , he repeated : ' It would be very nice to have such a little person from which you could find this so rare, a good tea '.
Marcel Proust, A love of Swann
Model: me
Photographer: me
Copyright © 2011 Katia Celestini. Tutti i diritti riservati.
www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guid...
Sparrowhawks are small birds of prey. They're adapted for hunting birds in confined spaces like dense woodland, so gardens are ideal hunting grounds for them. Adult male sparrowhawks have bluish-grey back and wings and orangey-brown bars on their chest and belly. Females and young birds have brown back and wings, and brown bars underneath. Sparrowhawks have bright yellow or orangey eyes, long, yellow legs and long talons. Females are larger than males, as with most birds of prey.
Overview
Latin name
Accipiter nisus
Family
Hawks and eagles (Accipitridae)
Where to see them
Sparrowhawks breed in woodland but also visit gardens and more open country. They can be seen in towns and cities, as well as rural areas. Listen for the alarm calls of smaller birds as they spot a sparrowhawk and will alert other birds in the area to the danger. In the UK sparrowhawks are found everywhere, except for parts of the Scottish Highlands, the Western Isles and Shetland.
When to see them
At any time of year; you might see birds displaying to each other in early spring, when males perform a 'rollercoaster' flight, climbing up and diving back down again to impress females.
What they eat
Mainly small birds, but 120 different species have been recorded. Males can catch birds up to thrush size, but females, being bigger, can catch birds up to pigeon size. Some sparrowhawks catch bats.
Population
UK Breeding:- 35,000 pairs
A top predator
As a top predator, sparrowhawks can only thrive if their prey is present in good numbers and has a healthy population.
Over the centuries the natural balance between sparrowhawks and their prey had meant that hawk numbers remained stable until the 1800s, when they suffered persecution at the hands of Victorian trophy hunters or landowners and gamekeepers.
Reduced illegal killing during World War II allowed sparrowhawk numbers to recover, but numbers were declining again by 1950 as a result of the widespread use of organochlorine pesticides, such as DDT. These accumulated in the birds and resulted in a number of problems, including thinning of eggshells that reduced breeding success. By the late 1950s sparrowhawk numbers crashed across the UK, and they almost disappeared from eastern England where the use of these pesticides was heaviest.
The population only started to increase after the chemicals were banned following a public outcry against their poisoning effects. But breeding did not recommence in eastern regions until the early 1980s. By around 1990, the national population was estimated to be about 32,000 breeding pairs. During the 1990s, numbers again declined in some regions - perhaps in response to reduced food availability. A further survey showed there had also been a decline in numbers between 2005 and 2008.
Balancing act
Some people are worried that sparrowhawks eat too many small birds and cause their population to fall or even become extinct. Emotions can cloud the fact that the scientific research points to the contrary. Long-term scientific studies have shown that sparrowhawks generally have no or little impact on songbird populations.
A number of previous studies found that songbirds were no more common when sparrowhawks were absent than when they were present. When pesticides entering the food chain decimated the sparrowhawk population in the 1960s and 70s, songbird numbers remained unchanged.
It is also worth remembering that sparrowhawks and songbirds have existed side by side for thousands of years without any detrimental effect on songbird numbers. Food availability and the number of suitable nesting sites naturally restrict the number of sparrowhawks in an area.
A natural surplus
Small birds can rear between five and 15 young in a season.
In the absence of predators such as sparrowhawks, the vast majority of these would die anyway, of starvation or disease. The reason that small birds raise so many young is an evolutionary adaptation because so many will die.
Only one or two of these 5-15 young need to survive to breed themselves in order to keep the songbird population stable. If they all survived to breed there wouldn't be enough nest holes, caterpillars or territories to support such numbers.
Survival of the fittest
Sparrowhawks remove the most vulnerable individuals, so those with the best escape tactics survive. This brings immense stability to the system, as the fittest and healthiest individuals survive. These are much more likely to breed successfully themselves and produce a greater number of fitter young birds that have a better chance of survival.
If habitat is diverse and contains plenty of food and cover for small birds, the balance is tipped further in favour of the prey. In contrast, reducing the quality of the habitat can make songbirds more vulnerable to predators such as sparrowhawks.
The sparrowhawk has no serious predators itself, although its chicks and fledglings are taken by pine martens and goshawks. This threat is, however, not significant as both of these are scarce in the UK.
Important research
An important scientific study conducted by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and funded by Songbird Survival was published in March 2010 and looked at the relationship between populations of sparrowhawk and prey species over a period of 33 years.
This study concluded that for the majority of songbird species, there is no evidence that increases in sparrowhawks are associated with songbird population declines. It is also clear that for the majority of declining species with unfavourable conservation status, population declines are due to factors other than predation.
For three songbird species (bullfinches, tree sparrows and reed buntings) there was evidence of a negative correlation between hawk presence and songbird numbers. But a correlation does not necessarily mean that sparrowhawks are the cause of the decline. This is valuable research but the RSPB would welcome further investigations in order to understand fully the effects of predation on songbird populations.
Breeding
Sparrowhawks require woodland, or at least a small clump of trees, for nesting.
Their territories are well spaced - pairs do not tolerate another nest close by. The distance between each nest varies ranges from 0.5 km to 2.1 km. This is determined by the local food supply - the better the food supply, the smaller each territory will be.
The nest is usually built in lower parts of the canopy, close to the trunk of a tree and usually concealed from view. It is a sturdy platform of twigs, lined with bark flakes. A central 'cup' prevents the eggs from rolling out. Nest building can take several weeks and is often completed long before the eggs are laid.
Perfect timing
Sparrowhawk chicks hatch when there are plenty of fledgling small birds around, in the same way that blue tits synchronise their breeding to coincide with the peak availability of caterpillars.
Three to six eggs are laid at two-day intervals during May. Incubation lasts for 32-35 days and the eggs hatch in succession over two or more days, so that the chicks are different sizes. The female helps the chicks to break out of their shell. They are covered in pure white short down, and their eyes are already partly open when they hatch.
Succesive hatching is an adaptation to cope with an unpredictable food supply. If food is short, the youngest chick will die and reduce the brood to a manageable size.
Caring parents
The chicks are very vulnerable in the first week of their lives as they cannot control their body temperature. They are therefore brooded almost constantly at this time, and then progressively less until they are able to do so.
The female has sole care of the eggs and young, while the males' role (from egg-laying through to fledging) is to provide all food required by the female and the chicks. The female will hunt as the chicks get older, but only if the male is unable to catch adequate food by himself.
Flying the nest
The chicks are ready to fledge when they are around four weeks old. Initially, they leave the nest for brief periods, but continue to return to it to be fed - and to sleep at night.
Over time, they venture farther and spend longer periods away from the nest. Once their feathers are fully grown, they begin to chase other birds and practise the skills that will make them efficient hunters, able to feed themselves.
Three or four weeks after fledging, the young will have learned to hunt, and then disperse establish their own hunting territories and begin independent life.
Hunting
Sparrowhawks don't specialise in particular species, but take whatever is available and easy to catch.
As a result, the most frequently caught birds are numerous and conspicuous, or are sick, old, weak or injured.
The female takes prey up to wood pigeon size, but the smaller male does not catch anything bigger than the mistle thrush. In summer, about 40 per cent of a sparrowhawk's diet is fledglings.
They employ many hunting techniques, depending on the habitat and prey.
They are not built for stamina and long chases, though they have the ability to manoeuvre in pursuit better than any other raptor. In order to be successful they have to be able to approach their prey closely and undetected.
The usual flying speed is 30-40 kph, but a sparrowhawk is capable of up to 50 kph in short bursts. Hunting sparrowhawks can be so focussed on their task that they put themselves at risk of harm from collisions. Because they're quite easily seen, and small birds will give warning calls to each other, only about one attack in ten results in capture.
Sparrowhawks spend more time hunting in habitats where prey availability is high and the chance of success is greatest. They have learnt that gardens are an easy source of prey, bringing the realities of nature up close to our homes.
Pigeons
Some pigeon fanciers and their organisations have called for birds of prey, particularly sparrowhawks and peregrines, to be removed or killed to protect their interests. These calls continue despite the results of scientific studies, which clearly and consistently conclude that removal or lethal control is not justified.
Any change in the law to protect racing pigeons at the expense of protected birds of prey is resisted by the RSPB. There is no scientific justification for suggesting that the killing or removal of birds of prey is an appropriate, proportionate response to this issue.
Pigeon owners must accept there are some natural risks in the environment into which they choose to deliberately release their birds. Bird of prey impacts on racing pigeons are extremely low when compared to other factors such as straying, bad weather, domestic cats and collisions.
Identification
It's always a thrill to see a bird of prey, especially if it's in your own back garden, but sometimes working out what it is can be tricky.
Our Wildlife Enquiries team probably receives more queries about sparrowhawks than any other species. They can be confused with several other birds of prey. Find out what to look for.
Young sparrowhawks have brown wings and backs, with chestnut-brown edges to the feathers. Their breast feathers have brown streaks or chevrons.
Adult female sparrowhawks are also brownish, but with horizontal bars on the breast feathers and a greyer back and wings.
Adult male sparrowhawks have orange breasts and slate-grey or bluish backs and wings. As they get older, their eyes turn from yellow to orange
Kestrels sometimes come into gardens, but sparrowhawks are more common visitors.
If your bird is sitting still, have a look at its eyes. Sparrowhawks have piercing yellow or orangey irises, whereas kestrels' eyes are all-dark.
Though peregrines are breeding successfully in many UK cities now, a bird which has killed a pigeon in your garden is still more likely to be a sparrowhawk.
Male sparrowhawks are smaller than the females, and tend to take smaller prey, but a female is capable of taking a collared dove or even a woodpigeon. Again, look at the eyes - peregrine eyes are all-dark.
In 99 per cent of garden situations, merlins can be ruled out. They are supremely adapted for hunting in open country - the enclosed spaces of gardens just aren't their style. It's very unlikely that you'll see one sitting on a fence or roof.
Unlike sparrowhawks, merlins and other falcons always have all-dark eyes
Goshawks can look similar to sparrowhawks (a large female sparrowhawk can be almost the same size as a male goshawk), but again, they don't really 'do' gardens. They are very shy birds which inhabit large areas of woodland or tracts of open countryside.
Legal status
The sparrowhawk was the last bird of prey to be protected, in 1961 rather than 1954 for all the others.
It is now fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it an offence to kill, injure or take an adult sparrowhawk, or to take, damage or destroy an active nest or its contents
Mortality
Sparrowhawks are short-lived compared with other birds of prey. The average lifespan for a sparrowhawk is 2.7 years, and very few live longer than seven years. About one third of the adults die each year, and around two-thirds of the fledged young die in their first year, the most common cause being starvation.
Food availability and the quality of parental care are critical factors influencing a sparrowhawk's survival. Lack of food also limits the production of young. Only just over half of sparrowhawk nests produce young in any breeding season.
The rate of death among young sparrowhawks peaks in August and September, but adult mortality is at its highest in March and April when food supply is at its lowest.
Prolonged hard winter weather can cause a significant drop in the subsequent breeding population.
Population trends and threats
Several factors contributed to a decline in sparrowhawk numbers in the past.
Deforestation over thousands of years, because of man's need for firewood and agriculture, reduced the amount of suitable habitat.
The development of efficient guns and their use in game preservation resulted in indiscriminate killing of birds of prey from the 1840s until they were first given legal protection in 1961.
Sparrowhawks survived this, although their numbers were significantly reduced. Other species fared less well and this illegal killing caused the UK-wide or regional extinction of several other birds of prey species.
Although DDT residues are still found in sparrowhawks, pesticide contamination no longer depresses the population. Illegal killing is also much reduced following the legal protection given to sparrowhawks. Lack of suitable habitat and food availability are probably the main factors limiting sparrowhawk numbers today.
Three weeks after a six weeks' lockdown, Ireland is heading back into another one. Is there a justification? It's difficult to say. In any free society, getting the whole truth often depends on the efforts of a free press and the related willingness of people to question what they are told. Coronavirus has destroyed many lives and businesses but for me the greatest revelation has been how little the government trusts its own citizens and how little those citizens really care.
Yesterday Chris Packham launched a Government petition to Ban driven grouse shooting. I have already signed and anyone else can sign too here: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/266770
I won't try to reword Chris Packham's justification for the petition so here it is verbatim
"Ban Driven Grouse Shooting: Wilful blindness is no longer an option.
Chris Packham, Ruth Tingay and Mark Avery (Wild Justice) believe that intensive grouse shooting is bad for people, the environment and wildlife. People; grouse shooting is economically insignificant when contrasted with other real and potential uses of the UK’s uplands. Environment; muirburn impacts negatively upon climate change and drainage leads to flooding and erosion. Wildlife; the wholesale culling of all predators and Mountain Hares has a disastrous effect on the ecology of these areas and the industry is underpinned by a criminal tradition of raptor persecution which shows no signs of abating. It’s time to provide an opportunity to implement immediate , legislative and meaningful measures to address this abhorrently destructive practice."
And this is a photograph of a male Hen Harrier, Britain's most persecuted bird of prey thanks to its habit of taking occasional grouse chicks to feed its own chicks. Hen Harriers rarely survive to breed on driven grouse moor, and when they do it is with 24 hour protection. But even with 24/7 protection the male bird often disappears while he is away collecting food for his chicks. Many young Hen Harriers are satellite tagged, but tags frequently suddenly stop functioning when a young harrier ventures onto a grouse moor. When tags were placed on Montagu's Harriers in the Netherlands (where they don't have grouse shooting) they have about a 6% failure rate (and the tags usually showed signs of malfunction before failing completely), but the "failure" rate is a staggering 78.7% for British tagged Hen Harriers. A paper was published in Nature this year entitled "Patterns of satellite tagged hen harrier disappearances suggest widespread illegal killing on British grouse moors". This paper concluded "Using data from 58 satellite tracked hen harriers, we show high rates of unexpected tag failure and low first year survival compared to other harrier populations. The likelihood of harriers dying or disappearing increased as their use of grouse moors increased." The only logical explantion is that these birds are being shot and the tags destroyed.
Met Chief, Sir Paul Stephenson on this controversial kettling tactic,"people were cordoned for their own vulnerability"
Yeah right.
The Police van was left 'abandoned' by the police to give justification for their controversial kettling tactics, and so the BBC and the rest of the worlds media can discredit the protest and focus on the violence, just as Royal Bank of Scotland in the City of London was mysteriously the only building in the area during the G20 protests not to be boarded up and subsequently smashed.
A protester is about to be shot by a member of the Police Tactical Unit (PTU) of the Hong Kong Police Force during the 2019-20 Hong Kong protests.
This incident occurred on october the 1st, 2019 when protestors and the police were clashing together which resulted that the police officer opened fire on the protestor who attacked him with a pvc pipe managing to hit the officer in the arm before the protester was shot in the shoulder but survived.
While many tried to question the justification of the shooting, including doctor, lawyers, politicians, his fellow students and peers and many civil groups. The police justified this action by pointing out that it was self-defense. As the officers were attacked by the protesters with petrol bombs and other weapons. Which was rejected by those said groups. Some of which called it ‘’an attempted murder’’ by the police.
This event resulted into a massive backlash among the pro-democracy camp and elements of the general population. While this is the first time during the protests when someone is getting shot, it was not the first time when the police opened fire, nor will this be the last.
Footage of the aftermath was circulating on the internet with many netizens pointing out that the police tried to tamper with evidence by replacing the pipe with an hard rod.
While opinions of this event and the overall protests are divided among the people both inside and outside of Hong Kong, we shouldn’t forget that the first casualty of war is always the truth and that in the end the normal citizens are the ones who will be the most affected by this ballgame. The question if these actions of the HKPF is justified is up to you to decide whenever the Police handled this situation rightfully or that they overextended their power. Same goes for the actions of some of the protesters if they can be considered to be justified or not. We are living in a society where the world is not all that black and white anymore and we do sometimes forget that in the end, we all fight what we claim we fight for.
This also appears in an stop-motion animation I made that was uploaded on my second channel. The link can be found below:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGX097ZOhJQ
Brickizimo, was kind enough to sent me the parts. They are an company located in the EU that sells, brickmania kits, brickarms, all that good stuff, here’s a link to their store:
Custom weapons/gear: Brickarms
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
Psalm 30:11–12 (ESV)
11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
"God uses hardship and affliction as a means of discipline, a means of training His children, of helping them mature in their spiritual lives' - John MacArthur
Hallel Yaffa Ariel was brutally murdered in her home in Kiryat Arba. There can be no justification for such acts of terror."
www.yahoo.com/news/teen-girl-killed-west-bank-stabbing-us...
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An 8mm fisheye shot of the beautiful new basement access stair in Rhodes House, Oxford.
Like many Oxford University buildings, this isn't normally open to the public so the Oxford Preservation Trust organised 'Open Doors' weekend provides a much appreciated chance to explore such buildings.
Rhodes House was the last venue on our Flickr photowalk 'Open Doors' itinerary and I'm glad we had a chance to visit as it's not somewhere I'd set foot in before.
More fisheye photos here : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157655179707591
From the RIBA Journal, "But that demanded a new access stair in Baker’s memorial hall, which required buy-in from local planners and Historic England. ‘Their initial reticence forced us to address their concerns with something as good as it could be, and though bold, it was absolutely the right solution,’ says Davies. Stanton Williams associate Tom Fotheringham adds that the firm’s handsome, self-supporting limestone stair, designed with engineer Webb Yates, has both a functional and architectonic purpose. ‘Part of the justification was that the alternatives were more harmful to the building and that it could enhance the quality of the volume by making it feel less transitory – giving it gravitas.’
But if gravitas at this lower level pre-supposes darkness or weight, visitors may be surprised, for the architect has used cleverly inserted roof glazing to bring unexpected lightness, beauty and utility to formerly unlit spaces."
© D.Godliman